Friday, January 4, 2013

Loosen Up, Relax

January 2, 2013

I sometimes have a tendency to worry too much about an image's sharpness. It's easy to get all tied up in "pixel peeping," which can lead to discarding an image because an eyelash is out of focus. It's a really silly thing.

01-02-2013
Freja hurries to catch up to Teri as we walk home from the Grumpy Troll.

Sometimes it's nice to just loosen up a bit, shoot from the hip. Using perspective, light, and color to simply create an image. It doesn't always have to be a perfectly sharp, technically precise image. All it has to be is something that draws a viewer into it.

Whether I've done that with today's photo is to yet to be seen. I'll have to wait to see peoples' reaction to it.

January 3, 2013

Ten years ago, when I did my first Photo a Day project, I remember how stressed I'd initially become over worrying about what to shoot. For the first few months I'd obsessively try to plan out ahead of time places to go, subjects to photograph. As time passed I learned that the best shots came when I simply relaxed, and let my day unfold. An approach I plan on taking from the very beginning of this project.

01-03-2013
Alex Bledsoe having a discussion with me as our kids played.

Today was a perfect example. Alex brought his son Charlie over for our usual Thursday play date with Freja. As the kids ran around, wrestling, building stuff, and doing what 5 year olds do, we sat in my office drinking coffee and talking. I have to admit it's really great to have made a lot of friends in this town. It's especially nice to have made a friend who works in the arts as well, and can relate to my own experiences. The fact that our kids seem to love each other, and play well together, is also a perk!


Freja and Charlie take a break from playing to eat apples & honey.