Dan Mitchell

Dan Mitchell posted this comment in response to Dwight Jones' photograph and commentary. - Dan is kind enough to let us see his photograph (refered to in his comment) - Even on good days, results are not always predictable. This was brought home to me yet again a few weeks ago when I was in Yosemite shooting fall colors. I had stopped at a spot with wildly colorful autumn foliage and I was carefully setting up shots from different points of view and with different framing. At one point I decided to move up the bank of the river a ways to frame an image that included reflections of the leaves in a still pool.

While walking along I looked up at a completely different subject from the one that was on my mind and somewhere deep down in my brain thought "that might be a good picture." But I was too focused on the other image, so I just hand held the shot (at least I enabled IS!) and moved back to my original subject.

When I got home I found that the foliage photos were fine but not spectacular... and this one photo that I had almost off-handedly grabbed was possibly the most effective one of the entire trip.

Thanksgiving "salute" for Michel Legendre

This Brasseurs' for you along with a little hockey talk - Let's go Pens.

Jim Jirka ~ Bud Light Mobile

A big departure from my comfort zone. It looks as though I purchased a good sample of a Holga. I didn’t see light leaks.

publisher's comment - no light leaks? Sounds like a defect to me. Demand a refund/replacement.

An Eggleston kind of Thanksgiving

I don't know if this photograph is just derivative, art about art, too heavy on concept/theory, or art for art's sake, but then again, all art (and artists) stand on the shoulders of that which came before.

Now I'm fairly certain that the great unwashed masses won't see it as "art", but a little knowledge about the medium of photography and WIlliam Eggleston in particular wouldn't hurt if anyone would choose to ponder it for more than a few seconds.

But of course, maybe it was just an overdose of tripophan that made me do it.

In any event, I hope everyone who partakes had a Happy Turkey Day.

krappy kamera ku

There's something about toy cameras I just can't resist. In this case the extremely diminutive Minox Leica M3. Make no doubt about it - dispite its look, namesake and price (currently under $200), it's a krappy kamera - a no adjustments (there is an "iffy" auto exposure function), fixed focus, non-precision viewfinder, press the button and shoot. The claimed 4 megapixels is arrived at by interpolation. All of which conspires to create, to my eye and sensibility, a wonderful photograph.

If you have not had the experience of photographing with a krappy kamera, I highly recommend it. There are loads of film and digital krappy kameras out there, many well under $100. Most fit easily into a pocket, some so small that they can get lost in your spare change, so there's no reason not to have them with you all the time. And photographing doesn't get any less involved from the tech side than just pressing the button.

Dwight Jones

Every photographer has had magic days when everything works and other days when nothing works. I stopped at this pond last month while on my way to work. I only had a few minutes to spare. I didn't have my "good" camera. But for some reason, the pictures seemed to work.

I have stopped at this same spot may times, but only occasionally find the magic. I tried to duplicate this shot several times, but without magic. The leaves are falling now This one shot will have to do for the fall of '06. Each season has its own magic if we will only stop to see it.

Photopop 7.0 ~ youthful exuberance

a virgin to a professional camera until 4 days ago, I'd like to share my initial thoughts.

To a degree (let me stress "to a degree" to Brandy), there is an uncanny resemblance to my first encounters with my wife. I find myself using any excuse I can to sneak out of the house at midnight to get a few nightscapes...i.e. cats need food, baby will need more diapers eventually, won't he? My dog is also excited that I am walking her more and spending more time out of the house to get a few snaps in the cemetary where we go on a daily basis. Last night I even had dreams about vignette-ing some obscure image I couldn't quite make out. In the long run our "marriage" should produce a deeper respect and admiration for each other as time goes by.

As for my photos, I think of them as my children (don't be jealous Hugo). Like photographs, children are everywhere, but if I raise them right and they inherit some good genes, every so often they may standout and someone may remark on how well behaved or athletic they are. That's the ultimate compliment to me. Oh, and if the child happens to turn out to be a superstar or famous someday, I'll take all the credit (hehe).

But I think the point is that there is a part of me (maybe not my g-spot, like gravitas) that is brought alive by the process of creating and/or viewing good photography.

Kent Wiley

....in my pursuit of "not pretty" compositions...

publisher's note This from a man who states, "I'm still trying to wrestle my way out of the Full Nelson that pretty pictures have on my photography."

publisher's comment - I have a hard time seeing this as anything but the butt-hole discharge of affluent - or is that effluent? - America. Environmental degradation bathed in the warm folds of smug self-indulgence.

Of course, perhaps I am being unduly influenced by the wretched annual consumer bacchanal of "Black Friday".

In any event, I like it quite a bit, In fact, I would probably hang this photograph on my wall.