Minor White

Finally a photographer who is attuned to me at a deep spiritual level. When I started reading about him today I got really excited, especially when I read one of his quotes

'No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer It has chosen"

I was getting so caught up in the technical, the elements and design I had forgotten what is so special about taking photos. The opportunity to capture something magical, special. The following photo does just that, and to think that it is only of an ordinary barn, I am inspired to be this great.

This photo uses light beautifully, the shadows and the light grass, the exposure playing a part in creating the magical

my subtractive photography

Tuesday, and the first class for the week. I just remebered a key word I learnt Subtractive. Photography is like making a scuplture from a block of marble. You take away what you don't need until you are left with the finished product. In photography I take away the elements, parts that don't contribute to the story, and voila I am left with the beautiful image

Ralph Gibson

In my reading about photographers I came across a photo of a staircase. I never thought of this as something you could photograph in the way this photographer does. It adds an artistic touch to an object and takes photography towards the fine art world..

What i see in a photo

I took some photos last night. I wanted them to symbolise the gloomy weather and for this I thought dark building, a cityscape would do the job. I ended up just down from the Rose Gardens and shot back into the city and the port. I made myself focus in composition and only took around 8 shots. I narrowed it down to two. I them looked at both images and studied them by the elements and principles that I got last week. I can see how an image has elements that make it work. It was exciting to see how certain elements made guided how I looked at the photo and why one was more appealing than the other.

Yet one has a better mood to it than the other.

weekend weather

On Saturday I went to the library to get some books on famous photographers. I ended up with Photography in 100 Words and PhotoArt. Photography in 100 Words I have read before so it was interesting to see how I interpret the images now. I "see" more in the photos now, how they are constructed, how the use of certain elements make the photo work.

On my way back along High St I walked past two scenes that I could photograph, with the right light. One is like the shot I did of Queen St at the end of the day and if I can get the same light then I can capture a certain historic mood. The other is a tree in Vulcan lane, just need an angle and backdrop that will work.

Sunday it rains and the light is gloomy. I have been reading my page on how to analyze a photo and looking at the elements and principles of a photo. I then apply these to the images I am seeing in the books.

I come across Polly Borland, an Australian photographer from Melbourne, my place of birth. I love the shot of the Queen. The close perspective and the sparkling yellow make her shine is a way not captured before.

Friday 5th August - Learning what little I know

Today I learnt that what I think is good is not necessarily. Composition, telling a story play a key part. Yes the light was good, and yes I captured the essence of movement, but I didn't captivate the reader. And isn' that what photography is all about, a tool to tell a story, just like what I write, the photo must tell a story. I'm sure a famous photographer said that.

This weekend is to look at the light, and the shadows. And I think that I need to study how I compose a shot, start to pull my images apart and look at the elements and principles..

These are the shots I took late in the day, shadows and light..

Thursday 4th August - more photos

Yesterday I took photos at Auckland University during lunchtime. I thought I had some good photos of a market crowd only to find that the photos were soft. I had not paid attention to my subject and made sure that was in focus. They say you lose by your mistakes.

And that night I went to the corner of Symonds st and K'rd to take some more crowd photos. Having driven past it yesterday at around 5pm I noticed the light was good and wanted to come back to take some photos. Finally I got some great shots with movement, something that I had wanted to do successfully. See for yourselves.