Postcards from the Creative Journey

1193 A Replica Is Not The Original

I have done a lot of architectural photography of old buildings. There is something about an old building that leaves me with a sense of craft, skill, personalization, and the intimate involvement of a workman with his product. There are subtle variations and imperfections in the work that can only be the result of hand worked wood or metal. The workmen leave their mark on what they have done. Whether it is intentional or not, we can see the imperfections from the hand of man.

Today’s replicas fail in those small imperfections. Some would say that the perfection of the replicas is wonderful. I would prefer to own the original handmade artifact with its small errors.

1192 A Disturbing Thought…First Published 5/9/2021

In excavating the Lipka photographic archives I have made a meta observation about my photographs. As I progressed from the world of 35 millimeter film to view cameras and 4x5 (and larger) film I have noticed both a decline in the number of images and the variety of photographic compositions.

Not a great surprise, because the difference between 35 mm and sheet film is huge. They are two entirely different styles of photography. With 35 millimeter, one can take a lot of chances in the type of image one is creating. The view camera requires a lot of time to set up, compose, focus and make an exposure. The process is slow and much more expensive than roll film. With the technical restrictions (small apertures, long exposures) of the large camera the amount of effort required to make an image with a view camera both subjects and compositions are more restricted.

Now here’s the troubling part. It is obvious that I underwent a massive photographic change and looking back I wonder if it was for the better. The variety of image types and willingness to push creative boundaries disappeared when I switched to the large format camera. I now wonder if changing to a large format camera was a good creative idea.

Now here’s the good news. After abandoning my Wista 4x5 (with a heavy heart, I might add) and evolving to the digital realm, I have recovered a bit of my creative mojo. There is no cost to make an exposure and processing an image requires little in the way of expense and time. This is a good thing.

1191 Previsualization for the Twenty First Century

As taught by St. Ansel, previsualization required you to see the finished print on the ground glass, estimate the exposure (including the reciprocity effect), consider the developer and developing variations and, the type and grade of paper to be used on the final print. One had to have the end result in mind prior to loading the film holder (with that dollar a sheet sheet film) in your view camera.

In the Twenty First Century, we look at the EVF, check the histogram to confirm exposure, and then fire away knowing we can make multiple exposures (at no cost), determine later whether the image should be color or black and white, and then remove anything we don’t like with generative fill in photoshop.

Yes, Previsualization is still there, but it’s way different than it used to be.

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Previsualized this one to death. Needed HDR to keep the window in the door from being blown out while keeping the wall behind the door from going dead black. You also don't see the nice wire rope and stanchions to keep the tourists from using the door, or tactilely exploring the statue. 

1190 (Un)conventional Wisdom, First Published 6/2/2021

Landscape photographers live for the “golden hours” of the day; the two hours after dawn and the two hours before sunset. It’s great when the weather cooperates, but on the Oregon Coast the weather did not cooperate much today. Fog got in the way where we wanted to photograph. So what do you do when you can’t see very far. You adapt and take what Mother Nature gives and work with it. Keep at it and you will figure out something that works for the day.

1189 On Being Photographic – Again

I’m constantly reminding myself how old I am and how quickly things can change. Go back to my post from August 1, 2024, (a reprint of a post originally made on July 24, 2011). For those of you who do not want to scroll down a bit and read my out-of-date blather, the money quote is, “If it’s just not possible to make photographs every day with your camera, you should be able to exercise your photographic vision on a daily basis.”

Well, how many of you carry a smartphone that has a more capable camera than the one you carried when I first wrote this drivel? (Looking out over the internet to see many people raising their hands.) Looks like just about everyone has one. Think about the people that feed their Instagram or Facebook account daily. They are doing more than being photographic, they are making photographs.

If you are out and about in the world with your smartphone, stop being photographic and remember you are a photographer. There is no need to wish you had your camera with you. You have it with you, just put it in camera mode and capture that image.

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Here's me just finishing a round of golf on a lovely day. Pull out the ol' iPhone and make a nice image without even trying. 

1188 Reclaiming Your Photographic Mojo First Published 4/9/2017

It struck me after last week’s post that it was just about half of what was needed. I suggested that it might be valuable to your creativity to lay off photography for a bit. Well, if you take some time off from photography, you will need to motivate yourself to get back in the groove of being creative or getting your photo mojo working again. None of us want to stop photography completely.

We all own some photographic turf. There’s a subject that we love to photograph more than anything else. Start making those photographs; landscapes, table top still lifes, flowers, macro, whatever it is you love the most get that in front of your camera. The idea is to do something you love and do it successfully. A “quick win” is what you’re after, something that you can look at and say, “Yeah, I can make this type of photograph and make it well.” It’s a pump priming project to get you back in the world with a camera in your hand. It’s a kind of warm up project that will get you doing photography again.

Some folks like new photo gear. While it could be expensive, there’s nothing like trying out a new accessory to get you back out into the world with a camera in your hand. You can test to your hearts content if that’s what it takes to get you back in the world with a camera in hand. But be cautioned, endless gear testing is not really photography. It’s an evaluation of tools to help you make real photographs. The goal is to make real photographs again. You may get something new, do some testing and then figure out how to use it to make photographs.

What’s your next project? What were you thinking about when you took some creative time off? Look at that project again with fresh eyes. Do you have a list of projects you want to do? If not, make that list. Then pick one to complete. Look outside for some projects. Do any of your local arts groups have a call for entry? Enter that contest. It has requirements, a deadline and will force you to do something. Do you need some new photos around the house? There’s another project for you. Starting to get the idea?

You’ve had enough time off. Go out there and make some art.

1187 A Project Completion Conundrum

I don’t think that I can ever finish a project. That doesn’t mean that I will never reach a stopping point, or reaching a point where the work is ready to be shared with others. It’s just that I keep finding new images to add to an existing project. Most of my projects are in one place at a specific time to tell a story. I complete the story and publish the project. Later, I find additional images that are part of the same project. This happened a lot when I was using multiple formats. I have large format negatives and 35-millimeter negatives of the same place. I recently found a few negatives from an already completed project. There are not enough rediscovered images for their own project, but I “finished” the project they should have been in.

The great thing about distributing your work as PDFs on a website is that you can always revise what has been published by adding new images. That can't be done with a photograph on the wall exhibit. 

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This late arrival is now included in "A Place to Fish" in the July 2021 issue of The Lipka Journal. 

1186 Give It A Rest, Will Ya? First Published 4/2/2017

In the quest to advance our personal photography, we are always looking for the next thing to do to improve our technical skills, seek inspiration for future work or plan out projects that have moved beyond the concept stage.

Sometimes we need to take some time to recharge our creative batteries. Not “doing” is as valuable as “doing.” Hitting a creative wall or having a case of “photographer’s block” is something that happens when we’ve been working intensely for a period of time. Stopping work to let our subconscious creative thoughts ferment and bubble up to our consciousness is a great thing. Studies have shown than constant working or thinking without a break of any type results in lower productivity and less creative thought. When your mind stops working, listen to it and take some time off.

So, give it a rest for bit to help improve your creativity. Enjoy the vacation from photography, but don’t be gone so long you forgot how much you like to make photographs.

1185 A Complete Transformation

In a recent trip to Eastern Montana for a family event, we spent a lot of time driving from one town to the next. It’s easy to do in Montana because there is a lot of space between towns. We were passing through a small valley, and I noticed a wonderful scene. Because we were on a schedule, we could not stop to make the photograph.

I thought maybe I should come back the next day and make that photograph.

Then I thought to myself, “Why?” Would I be willing to spend an hour and a half driving to make one image and some variations? The killer question was simply, “How would this image fit into a past, current or future project?” In the past week I have driven past many wonderful scenes of Montana, and I was faced with a whole series of questions., “Do I really need another ‘one of’ landscape photograph? Where does this scene belong in my oeuvre?  Do I need another western landscape as part of my photographic life, or do I need a new project? How can I interpret this scene in a way that is beautiful, meaningful and revelatory about life? What is an oeuvre anyway?

I didn’t have an immediate answer. It may take a while to figure out what the answer should be. We continued driving to our destination.

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PS. That's what part of Eastern Montana looks like.