Jones House, Academy Street, Cary NC
The ability to successfully get from visualization to a finished product comes from skill with the tools of the trade. We have trouble determining the “here” and the “there” but we have all sorts of tools, tips, tricks, hardware and software to figure out how to get from “here” to “there.” We’re not sure what the starting and ending points are, but we have great technology to help us get from here to there. The common preference is to learn the technology and then try to figure out how to use it. If the preference is to showcase the tools, then the end result is a photograph looking like it is the victim of some form of technical legerdemain.
Consider the opposite approach to figure out what you want to accomplish and make the tools the servant to the artist. Learning what to do and how to do it is a necessary part of being an artist, but it is not the reason to be a photographer these days. In the past, there was an entire class of photographers that were worshipped because of their technical prowess in making very ordinary images. With the great technological leveling of the digital age, there is no longer any reason to worship a photographer because of his skill with software. It is the skill in getting from here to there that is worthy of worship.
The 2014 Photo Safari is a done deal. My hopes and plans for the daily blogfest while on the road was run off the rails due to many technical and logistical reasons. The thoughts and images enroute were dutifully recorded and their appearance in this spot is imminent.
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