New lens and wanted to share some usage tips.

Photography is what I like to call art for scientists. There's chemistry involved and formulas. And rules. I belong to a photographic society that serves to better my work through competition, but there's even a science to the entries. The “best” entries follow a similar set of guidelines. Whether you shoot digital or film, small format or large, you are constrained by the medium... to an extent.

 

Knowing the guidelines in photography is important and I compare that knowledge to what I learned in an art class in college. Picasso could create wonderful abstracts because he had vast knowledge of the human form. So too, that knowing composition, the effect of contrast, aperture, shutter speed and knowing how to use your camera is very important.

 

With that knowledge you can create repeatable results and photographs that surpass snapshots or mundane visual records and put some energy and yourself into your works. Knowing composition, the effect of contrast, aperture, shutter speed and knowing how to use your camera is very important. With that knowledge you can create repeatable results and photographs that surpass snapshots or mundane visual records. And then you can set about breaking the rules! The best photographs are often the ones that a rule-breakers. 

 

This portrait titled "Contemplation" breaks some rules of portraiture, but is one of my most successful efforts in photography. The subject is looking towards the left edge of the frame, only one eye is seen with the other hidden, although not a profile shot. There are lines invading the face. Yet, all of the rules that can dictate "good" portrait technique would have made a very different photograph. And one that would have been a bit boring. I encourage you to take risks.

 

In the photograph, “Julian, California – Winter”, you are able to view a soft scene both in color and lack of sharpness in the edges. The photograph breaks some technical rules of color balance and sharpness to the benefit of rendering this scene with more of a painterly brush. The benefit of this rule breaking is creating a memory of the day that has feeling. It’s simply more inviting and creates its own reality.

 

Get to know photography and then find the aspects that you enjoy to become a true artist in this wonderful medium.

 

Be thoughtfully rebellious,

Kevin

Beauty - Cross-processed, expired slide film
In a time where most photographers, amateur and professional, have turned to digital technology to record images, there are a few that never left the film world or have returned. In my own photograph, I see a place for both worlds to combine, where digital has its place and so does film. There is something about seeing a 6x7cm format slide, a tiny representation of a moment in time, that is unlike anything else.

When you see a strip of film, it's almost like a chapter of a book, a tangible, fragile, yet lasting recording of what an artist has had the good fortune of witnessing. I find it much different than the immediacy of digital where one can look at a screen to get a rough interpretation of the sensor's rendition of the scene. There is also the anticipation that is finally revealed in a series of souvenirs, that moment when you take the film out for the development tank and hang it to dry that is always special.

While I do use digital and recognize its place and even its economy in the photographic workflow, for me, it lacks the intimacy that one can feel from using film. I find it humorous that mobile phone apps and image editing software and now even some digital cameras are allowing photographers to make their digital images film-like. But I don't find the filters and gimmicks to be as useful as thoughtfully choosing a particular film or format. I use 35mm, 6x4.5cm, 6x6cm, 6x7cm and 6x12cm cameras to capture those fleeting moments on black and white and color negative or slide film; choosing tools to fit the need for the project. And even choosing digital when it makes the most sense.

For me, there is no real digital vs. film debate. It is the same debate one might have over using 35mm or medium format or black and white vs. color, there is needless energy wasted on most debates of this nature. When you see an image that reaches into your soul, it could be taken with anything, the medium used becomes secondary to the artist's gift to the world.

Best,
Kevin