Who are we? Why are you saying we?
Welcome everyone to the about us page. This will help you understand who we are and what we do. I say we because this site and not just about me. It is more than that, from the ones that help me with the site and the design to the host that gives us space to you the reader, the adventurer. It is you that helps make this place special. The human mind itself loves to be creative and stimulated. Being creative is more than just a photo or art, remember when you were a kid in art class and you were tasked with creating a picture, clay sculpture, poem or one of many other things – at that point you were the artist. There are different ways to interpret art but what matters is that it is special to you. We all to often get caught up in what others think – and while this is really nice for others to enjoy your creations it often comes with negative remarks from those that disagree with your creation. How does it matter if someone does not like it? Well…frankly it doesn’t. If YOU like it then that is what matters.
So I could start with – I was born, I grew up….bla bla bla. But let’s start with when I first decided to really look at photography as more than snapping a photo. In 2008 I picked up a REALLY GOOD CAMERA (well to me at the current time it was). My goal was to take better photos of my kids. And I was bent on getting something that performed well in low light. I decided on this little gem of a point and shoot camera – the Fuji FinePix F100FD.
After doing taking some shots and not getting the results that I was after I was then convinced that the camera was junk (of course it was not me…I mean…photography isn’t hard…the camera does all the work, get a nice camera and all is golden…NOT). And so being me I started really looking at why I could not make shots that I wanted. I remember asking someone at the camera store (and they did not laugh at me – though I am sure when I walked out I was the talk of the store for weeks to come) – I said well…you know when you see a picture of person and they are focused and the background is blurry…I want to be able to do that…I also want to be able to make one part of the thing I am shooting focused and the other part blurry…at will…got it? Give me that camera…
And honest to goodness – they did the best thing for me – they said – listen I can sell you any camera in here, however it will not do what you want it to…you know why? Me with a puzzled look…them – because you don’t understand how to work one. What camera do you have now? Me – Fuji F100FD – them – thats a great little point and shoot camera. Me – not really…they turn around grab a photo from behind the wall – blow up rather large – this was taken with your same camera then grabs another – as was this…the second one had that thing where part was blurry and part was not!
So I argued a bit and said – no way! And left in a bit of a huff. Then I started searching google. Google confused me coming up with big words like ISO, shutter speed and aperture to name a few. And I said ****** it – grabbed the camera and started shooting. This was one of the first shots that I took after learning what aperture was and what it did – notice – one part is in focus – most is not…we call this Bokeh (which is a result of DoF (Depth Of Field)) and it is the result of the way aperture works.
Here is another shot from the same day –
Now these were handheld, SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) and with that little point and shoot. So from there I just started shooting. I then picked up a book that would forever help me and forever holds a part of my creative heart Understanding Exposure by: Bryan Peterson.
This is the only book that I ever flipped through on photography and I have never taken a class. Looking through this book I understood about metering a light situation and also about exposing properly the frame. I also understood aperture and shutter speed. And I just started playing around.
What I am really saying is this – everyone says “I am jealous, I love photography, but I could never shoot like you” or “WOW! you must have a really nice camera, what kind is it so that I can shoot like that?”. If you want to shoot better photographs it is 100% possible, if you want to learn photography it is 100% possible but you have to figure it out. It is a journey and you will make mistakes along the way and learn from them and get better.
I then started shooting HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography which takes a number of exposures and blends them in software with an algorithm capture the full realm of the light spectrum. I will go more in depth on this later. But for now – lets go back to boring me.
So I started with just wanting to take better photos of my family (don’t get me wrong…I have always loved photos, viewing them etc…and I always like the thought of taking photos) and it bloomed into something more. I encourage you to step out there and try. If I can help along the way let me know.
Here is me on top of a ledge that drops WAY WAY down there to get the shot – this I don’t recommend and if you do it…your risking your life and am NOT held responsible for you doing things you should not…and another of me shooting the only rise I have ever gotten up to shoot…
I will build this page a bit more later…but for now happy shooting!