Photographers have two hurdles to overcome when making a photograph. The first is technical. Can one make a technically competent photograph? With the sophisticated camera and lens technology available to us, technically perfect photographic images are almost guaranteed every time we press the shutter release. We see a scene that captivates us and we respond viscerally, subconsciously and without a lot of examination record what we saw. The camera handles the technical details of focus, exposure and stabilization automagically.
The second (and sometimes insurmountable) second hurdle is to persuade the audience to be reminded of an experience of their own by looking at a group of photographs and reading some words. This is the tough part of creating art. Trying to connect to the audience's experiences or thoughts to establish a common bond through the photographs and text.
Back to my roots with the Grand Landscape, this time it’s Smith Rocks in Central Oregon. A very popular place for rock climbing there are usually lots of climbers on the rock faces. One of the things we noticed during this year’s Photo Safari is scenes of natural wonder are now much more regulated (that means fenced off or paved over) than they were thirty years ago.
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