Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Play Me a Memory

Truck On Gravel Road
San Rafael Valley
Near Patagonia, AZ

Feeling inspired again. The creative juices are flowing so I thought I would play you a memory; something from my travels in the San Rafael Valley near Patogonia, AZ, a place where you get lost between sky and endless grass. It's a good place, a happy place where my heart is content and worry free where melancholy makes way for joy.

This morning I want to share this place with you. I want to play you a different kind of tune one whose refrains are joyous. It's a road we need to choose but it's way off the the main thoroughfare. You have to choose to go there. It doesn't come easily. It's a conscious choice. You really need to drive down it and remember it at will.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than being the cantor like Billy Joel's "Piano Man". He's the go to fellow to perk you up with a melody. My instrument of choice is my camera. The memories played back are the same. Hope my images do the same for you.

Monday, May 27, 2013

It Came to Me

Prickly Pear Cactus at Sunset
Pima Canyon
Tucson, AZ

Many years ago, I met an artist in San Miguel de Allende, who spoke about her art in poetic almost metaphysical phrases. When I asked her about her process she would say, "it just came to me." Nearly each piece started and finished on some kind of external impulse, inspiration followed by a dissipation of the same. It could very well be the ebbs and flows of the creative process. I do not portend to know.

What I know is this for several long weeks, I've not had the inspiration to write or even process images. It's true, I've been tired and distracted by work but I've felt a very real piece of me gone hollow by my neglect and absence.  Writing and photographing is who I am. Whether or not I earn money doing it is irrelevant to my process and to my being.

We do find many distractions along the journey but we should stay true to our compass and course. The journey you are on is not about anyone else. You own it solely. It holds your destiny. Some were born to lead and some were born to follow. I choose to follow my own path and to find my way.

At the end of my life, I will conclude my journey. I want to make sure that all that has "come to me" is fulfilled by my creativity. To this extent the vast expanses of the unobstructed desert suite my needs well.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Change of Venue

Belly Dancer Before Show
Granbury, TX

It's been a while since I've had an opportunity to write. Been busy with regular job duties and in the interim two long weekend trips. Celebrated my father's 90th birthday in Florida and the following weekend did a whirlwind trip back home to Dallas to visit family, friends, and even did a quick shoot in Granbury, TX.

Belly Dancer Before Processing
This particular image is far from what I accustomed, landscapes. However I try to incorporate some of the same techniques. The original image had many distractions which took away from the natural pose my subject gave me. Given that I was not in a studio with strobe lights and props, I turned it into one digitally with post processing. The results were nonetheless appealing.

Few truly understand the vision required to fine tune an image to make it aesthetically and artistically appealing. It's ok, I understand but you really do get what you pay for. There's more to all of this than just pointing and shooting the camera. The digital world frees you up from one chore so that you can in fact spend your time being more not less creative.