Community - Matheson Beaumont

With going to live in Queenstown I wanted to know of photographers who known for photographing the South Island, and I came across Matheson Beaumont. He has been photographing South Island landscapes for over 40 years and I love the quality of his work. The thing with a landscape is that it reminds us of locations that we like, and often these are places we grew up or have visited that we love. A location can easily be tied into community, I have taken many photos of small town throughout the country and the sense of a tight knit community has always been something that has attracted me. This is one of the reasons I am moving to Queenstown, to live in a smaller town with a stronger community ties.

This photo is of Lake Wakatipu and is the lake we will be living next to as we build a new community.

This photo is titled Sea and Sky and I love the way Matheson Beaumont has been able to bring the two together, it is just a beautiful and honest photo.

Both of these photos are from his website at http://www.nz-landscapes.co.nz

Moving to a new landscape means moving to a new local community, a new community of friends, as well as the tourist community.

Abstraction

I have always found it difficult to understand abstract art, how do I decide if it is good, are a few splashes of paint on a canvas art? I have a framed picture on my wall of a splash of paint, there is a lovely texture to the splash and it is signed by my 3 month old son Ethan. I have always suspected that if I was to take this framed art, and present it in a certain frame work, and with the appropriate oratory geniusness of it, then it would probably become world famous as a classical piece of art.

But to be fair it is about the intention behind the art, why does someone do it, and what is it that they are trying to tell. With Ethan's art it is a memory for me, not a statement from him, he was only 3 months and needed help to hold the brush.

On television there was a show about abstract art last night and I began to realise what started this trend. When photography came along it challenged the paintings being produced that were real life. So in response the use of colour became more important in the painting, this was a way to differentiate, be better than the photograph. Then photography became colour and painting had to reinvent itself again, here is when abstract art was born. And it has had an illustrious career, challenging the notion of the foundations of art. But that is what art id, the creative spark of an individual, and this will always challenge the norm.

Here is a photo by James Welling, from his photogram series . It is called IVFY and you can find it at this link http://jameswelling.net/categories/7

So could I do this in photoshop and use a gradient, then play around with how I print it on an inkjet printer? Yes I could but it wouldn't have the story behind it.

Sunday city community

n Sunday evening we took Ruby, the other kids are away, and went to the Wynyard Quarter to have a look around, and maybe get some good photos. We arrived as the sun was setting and I didn't really have enough time to find a good location, so I missed the chance to get a good sunset photo.

However, with my new found experience of shooting with slow shutter speeds and using the tripod I managed to get some evening shots that were quite nice. The city is a location full with many diverse communities, from restaurants, to tourist groups, and those that live in the high rises, a city brings them all together to make another community of city dwellers.

Here are a couple of shots of the city's structures that as part of her community we enjoy.

This photo is a long exposure and I was trying to capture the kids around the piano who were playing it. Because of the long exposure I found it difficult to get the right movement of the people. I took four shots and this is the best one.

This photo was shot with around a 20 second exposure. I was trying to capture interesting reflections in the chrome of the funnel.

Global community

Of course all this looking for community is being done by me withing the largest community our civilization has even known, the Internet. Millions of computers across the entire globe link billions of humans into the biggest, most diverse community we have ever created. If we define how evolved me are by how complex our communities are, then we are at the pinnacle of our existence.

Yet, with our need to belong, and our desire for closeness I wonder if this is a good thing. We form relationships with people we will never be able to touch, or smell, or taste. if these relationships become the basis for our communites, then eventually society will collapse. We need to connect with others at our own energetic level, not that defined by the electricity of a computer.

The guy in this photo is retired, he goes to Cornwall Park almost every morning to enjoy his cup of tea, he is part of the community that is Cornwall Park. Meeting someone and getting up close and personal rejuvenates the soul, and is what community is for. So although the Internet has done wonderful things to bring humanity together, it is the being together that is important.

Looking for community

I forgot to mention the last object from the image by Seung Woo Back, almost hidden from view is the metal frame of what might be a kids swing or see-saw, an object that symbolises children and families.

But on to another photographer that I came across. I had a name written in my notebook, I think Grit had given to me but I am not sure. The photographers name is Will Govus and luckily he had a website and a blog. I couldn't find out a lot about him but I liked his outdoor shots, it reminded me of our road trip around New Zealand. One photo in particular caught my eye, and symbolised those fantastic family community times we had travelling.

The image can be found at the following website http://willgovus.com/fatoftheland.html

The photographer is Will Govus and this image is under the Fat of the Land (2010) section .

The camp fire symbolises an object that people meet around, it has a sense of intimacy and builds a sense of communion, and hence community.

The couches seem almost out of place yet they also symbolise an object that people meet on. All families have a couch where they can meet to talk, watch TV, and be with each other. Yet in this image the couch is in nature, and like the soldier photo seems out of place. Not only this but in the back ground are the city lights, so the sense of nature, the outback around the camp fire is disrupted by the proximity of the city community.

It was often like this when we were on the road trip, there were times when we were a small community, in the wilderness, cocooned in our car, yet just around the corner was a larger community of a town, or a city.

Saturday - looking for community in Cornwall park

I was lying in bed at 6:30 am on Saturday debating with myself about going to take some photos at Cornwall park. The light didn't look that good but I wanted to see what the park was like really early, and without mist. I knew I would regret it if I didn't so off I went.

I was lucky and got into a groove with my photography and started to really enjoy it. The people running, the people on bikes, and the early morning light made it enjoyable. I looked for different angles, lines that could draw the eye, and representations of community. I photographed objects, locations, and people and found a flaw in my photography..

I am starting to get good at shooting totally manual, except with the focus when the object is moving fast, as the cyclists were. By the time I had the aperture and shutter where I wanted, and the exposure right, I had run out of time to get the focus where I wanted it. So I will have to say that the following photo was deliberately done to create a sense of movement, believe me!

Well at least it is an image that depicts another community, I will go back next weekend to reshoot, and from lower down and in front.

Fridays Brief - community

Friday we got a new assignment to do with capturing community, people, location, or objects. The first part is to find three photographers that are inspiring, and then to create a number of images that signify my interpretation of community. I spent Friday night going through a book I had taken out of the library PhotArt photography in the 21st century. This is a book on famous photos from many photographers, but by the time I had been through all the photos I only had one that caught my imagination.

Seung Woo Back is a South Korean photographer and I just love his image from his Real World II collection, No 14. When I first saw the image the simplicity of it caught my eye, it is an ordinary backyard and the shot is taken at night. It has a connection to me of old low class houses, a sense of community of the working class. But then I notice the little soldiers and it changes the concept of the image all together. I read about his work and how he likes to play with what we call reality.

Here is the image

It can be found at http://seungwooback.com/ under Works Real World II.

The caption is RW02-010, 2006, 180x225 cm, Digital print

Okay so where does community come into this image. Well first it does by its location. We are all born into a community, the family unit. This community lives in a house, well at least most of the people in the western world do, and these mini communities are part of larger ones, suburbs, cities and countries. The other part of the image that relates to community is the objects that we call soldiers. Soldiers symbolise war, and this is when this is when two or more communities can't get one, so one tries to destroy the other. Yet within this warring communities are the ones formed by the soldiers themselves. We all know the stories of how comrades lay down their lives for each other. Out of the destruction of one community we create others, it is in our nature.

Overnight kimono

Thursday afternoon we get a still life shoot again, and after shooting the coffee cup I wanted something with more colour. That afternoon when I got home I looked around the house and finally decided on the wedding kimono that was a gift to my father. It is big, beautiful, with lovely gold and orange colour throughout. I have often wondered how I could photograph it and do it justice. I decided to try close up and capture different aspects of the designs, predominately the cranes. The afternoon sun is great in the bedroom so I lay it on the bed and spent the next hour shooting it.

The next day is when the problems came. My Achilles heal is being able to edit. Add to this that I had to put four images together into a grid it wasn't long before I got lost with trying to decide on what looked best. I was running out to time to finish so ended up with a group of four that I felt was just safe, but not really inspiring.

So over the weekend I picked another four images, cropped, and tried to figure out how I could play around with them in lightroom to get the grid the way I wanted it. I finally decided on creating a page that I could move around what image was where, and this is the result.

Photography - the art of planned randomness

It may take days to get a single photo of something I am inspired by, and if I do it well others will see it as a seemingly beautifully random snapshot of life.
Little do they know the planning that goes into the shot. This one has been planned for hours, waiting for the right light and I may reshoot, to get that perfect randon image.

My latest research

I have just finished reading the book called Photography in 100 Words by David Clark. It is a book showcasing 50 famous photographers. Each photograph as some text about the photo and key words that the author thinks symbolise the photographer. It was great to see photos in print rather than on the screen. Some of the photos are absolutely amazing and part of my process was to deconstruct them and see what made them a good photo. Look for the elements of the photo before I read about it. This has been a great learning and has helped my objectivity to no end.

Here are some of the pages from the book.

Charlie Waite - geometry, dialog, design, discipline.

I love this is it is about noticing your surroundings and making that extra effort. See the rings around the trunks where the water has been. he waited for 30 minutes for the water level to drop. I would not have even noticed it.

Nadav Kander - celbrate melancholy, uneasy, reaction.

This image he shot at night over a 20 minute exposure. While he was shooting it the owners came home and he chatted to them. I love the mood to it

Ralph Gibson - instinctive, signature, subtractive, patience

I love this as it is a cafe table and this is something I have shot so many times but never in this light, the sense of grace and simplicity makes it an image I strive to be able to do.

I am finding that I look at photos in a different light now (excuse the pun) I am able to look at the technical aspects, but also look at what are the elements that make it work, and why has the photographer done what they have done...

A series for Auckland

I have been working with the idea of making a series of images that are about Auckland's diversity. I have been on a few reckies to check out sites, and have a list of possible places to shoot. I already have some shots from each place but I need to work on the composition, the daylight or night light that I want, and for some I will need to borrow different lenses. The sites range from Devonport to Cornwall Park, and Newmarket under the motorway.

The long Edit

On the weekend I took around 30 photos of a coffee cup. It is white and has a nice curve to it, but nothing that special. I wanted to see if I could capture something of the essence and style of drinking a cup of coffee. I shot in the morning and I shot in the late afternoon. I only used natural light and in hindsight having some diffused light to capture the gold crema of the coffee would have really helped. I would like to think I managed to capture a sense of form that that is representative of the art of coffee.

It took me two hours to edit these and I wanting to do this process a different way to how I normally do it. Normally I would go through and remove the ones I didn't like, ones that were similar, and from the rest put together a montage. But I decided rather than the subtractive approach I would pick ones that I thought would go together until I had a series. This I then turned into a collection (easy in lightroom). I repeated this process until there was only two images left that didn't belong to a collection.

So I ended up with four groups of images, and I like how the process works.

Nadar Kander

Here is a night shot by Nadar Kander. I have been wanting to shoot the motorway at night in Newmarket and this has inspired me to see what I can do

Finding Rinko Kawauchi

As part of my exploring photographers I came across some images from Rink Kawauchi. There is a beauty to them that is so Japanese, that simple elegance with balance.

I love the fireworks and how the slow shutter has created a unusual way to see them, so refreshing. And the photo of the road with the sun blowing out the highlights. Technically wrong yet it works beautifully.

I also enjoyed reading about her and an interview with a magazine, see this link http://pingmag.jp/2006/08/11/10-questions-to-rinko-kawauchi-about-photography/

New assignment

Our next assignment is still life and I am determined to capture a fantastic photo of a cup of coffee. I think how I light it, especially colour, and the angle I shoot from is what will do it. So first some research around some famous still life photographers, such as Carl Kleiner, such simple elegance.

Grave light

Well last night was more successful, I managed to get some night shots with the kids helping. I had shown them some light painting photos and this got them excited. For me I love the time I can take to light the subject at my leisure. Also the effect of movement with this, have a look

I don't know that I will take up light painting as my thing, but I can see how it could be useful to capture a mood to trees at night, and maybe even sheep...

Cornwall Park at night

I had this idea to go to Cornwall park at night and do some more shots around where I had when there was the mist. I drove around in the afternoon to see if I could get in by car after dark but saw that all entrances would be gated at night. I decided in a car park close by and planned to return that night.

I managed to get the two boys to come along, they bought skateboards and off we set. I was surprised at how dark it was, and once we were in I found a spot to start shooting trees and see If I could light them with a torch to create some light effects. I quickly realised that I was going to need the shutter open for at least a few minutes and without a shutter release I could have the shutter open and then be off painting the trees with light. The kids weren't interested in helping, think I will have to bribe them next time. All my shots were too dark, but I did manage to get a two minute exposure of the moon just before I left.

More painting with light

A picture said a thousand words

Painting with Light

With such bad weather going out is not one of my favourite options to do night photography. So instead I made the lounge a darkroom, and practised with long exposures and using a torch. I took three pictures from the wall and played with a long exposure and using an led torch to bathe the picture. It took a while to get something that looked reasonable, and to avoid getting reflections in in, but here are a few that I like how the light changes the mood of the image.

Help with Night Shots

In my ever expanding research and exploration I came across some night shots from a guy called

Troy Paiva and here is his site http://www.lostamerica.com/.

He has a section on his technique, a great resource on how he takes his night shots..

Exploring night and Masters

After my uplifting shots from the morning I had a look at the new assignment. I also went to the library and got the book Rites and Passages by Minor White. It is fascinating to read about someone who I feel akin to. The first photo in the book is a black and white of peeling wallpaper, such a simple subject but filled with grace and style. I much prefer to look at images in print and having a book is so much better than a screen. It feels like the photos can be shown as they were meant to be.

I also had a look at the nocturnes website, amazing that there are people dedicated to shooting at night, www.thenocturnes.com

Here are a few images that I really like and have given me some ideas on what I could shoot at night.

Robert Garrett

Larrie Thomson

C Sarnoff

Yes inspirational stuff. So where do i go and what shall I shoot with long exposures, but hang on I don't have a cable release and they are at least $60 on Trade Me. After a bit of exploring I can do it with the laptop, so maybe I will shot around the home and see what I can create.

Exploring Mist

Saturday was a day of being inspired by mist, and seeing some amazing photos. I started with lying in bed and noticing all the mist. I have seen some cool shots with mist so I went down to Cornwall Park to see if I could capture the mood of mist. I had to work hard to slow myself down and only focus on a limited area to shoot in, and then only take shots that meant something and were well composed. I found an area where I shot the trees and the sheep. And I was rewarded with capturing a moment when the light fell "oh just right"...

Portfolio Submission

Here are the three triptych's. I think that is how you spell it, three groups of three images. Each has a theme and is linked by either colour, shape, or perspective. I have one under View, another under Walkabout, and the last under Light Stalking.


Here is Light Stalking. These are chosen because it is a play on the word light as they all have artificial lights in them. The time of day was perfect to capture the starkness. 5 minutes later the light was overcast and the effect was completely different. The quality of the light determined the mood of the series.

Here is the Walkabout. These are taken over a 10 minute period from the same position. I liked the line and I waited for people to come around the corner to include them in the photograph. All the people I captured are on walkabout themselves, yet in this moment I am still, waiting to capture a moment.

Here is View. A view is how we see the world. We are alwasy looking through something to the other, the thing we are looking at. Yet in these images the view is obstructed by lines, colur, and it is this obstruction that helps define the view.

Friday 12 - What I didnt pick for my portfolio

Yesterday Meighan and I went through my 160 photos and came up with 2 groups of 4 for my portfolio. I started to see how I could group images by colour or shape, or contrast. Using the elements of design I began to realise that I had many shots that were a series of two, but I lacked the third. After having a good look last night at the ones that Meighan had helped me put together I had another go at creating two different groups of images. I came up with some ones that I liked and are what I will submit. And here is the one that I had to drop.

Finally getting it

Today I had to go through my 160 photos and try to create themes. I began to realise that I didn't have many shots that could easily be linked together. I could find two but finding that extra one was difficult.

It took a while but finally I started to see images not by what they were of, but by their colour, form. I started to create a series, then another, and now I have three. I feel like today has been a real breakthrough, My way of seeing my photography is evolving and I am learning new tools to be more objective, less subjective.

Bring it on..

Here is one series I love, linked by the shapes, lines and colour.