Hometown 05

After publishing my images last week I noticed that I had photographed the buildings that you could see on a postcard. Every town has those buildings but this is not the essence on your city. This week I challenge you to photograph ordinary neighborhoods. Show where the people of your city are living and develop a portrait of your neighborhood.

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This is a typical street in Merced. You see the curved lines revealing that this is a newer neighborhood of Merced. Curved streets just have more curb appeal than the straight streets of the past. I was lucky that this year there are still beautiful clouds around that definitely help to create an interesting image.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

Hometown 01

This week I challenge you to photograph in your hometown. Create five images that give the viewer an idea where you live.

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The first shot has the purpose to establish the location.  I live in Merced, CA. In the out of focus background you see people walking on the street. The atmosphere is relaxed and reflects typical small town mentality.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

Conceptual Photography Day 5

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This is my final image. I photographed one of my sketches and created this image. “Balance” creates for me a “fragile” form of stability. This feeling is expressed using the three legs of this stand as a background. “Balance” itself is represented by the two screws, one is in the light the other in the shadow. Also I choose the square format as the utmost form of “Balance.” Enjoy and happy photographing. 

PS: Next weeks photographic challenge is “Hometown.” I thought I give you two extra days to brainstorm, research and doodle!

Conceptual Photography Day 4

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Now it is time to photograph. Shoot your concept and constantly evaluate. When you work on an idea many images will pop up. You will find images that express your drawn sketches or you will come up with totally new images. When I looked at the door this morning I stumbled over the door knobs. I decided to photograph them. In post production I changed the background to a neutral gray. In addition I removed the metal parts in the middle of the door. I did this becaus I did not want to photograph a door locking mechanism. My theme is “Balance.” I had to do something to the image to make the viewer wonder about what this image is all about.

Enjoy and happy thinking!

Conceptual Photography Day 2

“Balance” – I must admit, nothing really clicked with me and I get frustrated real fast. I learned over time that a good amount of frustration is part of life and can be actually your friend. If nothing really clicks, ask a friend and/or use the Internet. I asked David, my business partner, last night and one of his first thoughts was “bicycle.” I did not think about a bike and so I appreciated the thought.  I went to the Internet and using my search engine,  “balance sheet” came up. Early this morning I photographed an Iris and I noticed that I balanced natural and artificial light, another avenue to explore.

Also, when you do the search you can look at all the images that come up. I saw many images with balances stones. So keep on searching until something comes up in your head.

Conceptual Photography Day 1

According to Wikipedia Conceptional Photography means that and “Idea precedes the actual photograph” (See the article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_photography)  I would go a little bit further. Conceptual photography includes feelings, ideas, faith, basically anything that the eye “normally” can’t see. The art is to show these “invisible things” by showing “visible things,”  for instance showing joy by photographing a child that just received a great gift etc. This week I challenge you to create one photograph that expresses “Balance!”

Imagine a client comes up to you and want an image that says “Balance.” How would you proceed? Where would you start and how would you get a great image for your client. During this week I will share with you my “work-flow” and at the end I will hopefully have a great image that I could sell to my client.

So, let’s get started! I like to start from scratch, using my sketchbook, which I hope every serious photographer has. It is a simple notebook where I write down my thought. I sit down and brain storm the word “Balance:”

Fiddler on the Roof, scale, justice, tightrope, edge, constitution, balance of power, balanced diet, rhythm, cane, walk the talk, balanced image, static, office chair, sleep – awake.

That’s it for the first day!