Really now, what’s there to know about depth? Ensure a foreground, middle ground, and background, right? WRONG. There is more to it than that. David DuChemin explores the subject of depth, in depth. Dimension does not usually get a lot of talk but here David gives “depth” it’s due.  ”A Deeper Frame” is not his largest eBook that he has written. It only weighs in at 23 pages and 12.5MB. However, the content is all good. David explains, as he always does so well, ways to turn a two dimensional frame into a dimensional scene that has depth. He explains with examples of his photography. David uses arrows and diagrams over-laid on his images to ensure the reader understands what he is talking about. It certainly helps us visual people get a more solid understanding of concepts.

David also talks about optics and lenses such as what 24mm or 200mm really mean. It’s not something, I had thought about much but I am glad to know it now. After all, we should know our tools very well to be a good craftsman/woman. This is where David fills in with some technical explanations for us. I am very glad for that portion of the eBook.

I also like his analogy of thinking of the frame NOT as flat but more of a CUBE. I usually try to get an element of dimension in my photos but “A Deeper Frame” now offers me some other techniques and ways of looking at the frame, or cube, to get the desired results. So, the next time you are trying to frame a scene that is “deep in meaning”, you will be able to add a feeling of dimension to the scene with the help of “A Deeper Frame“.

From Pixelated Image Blog:

“For the next five days only you can have A DEEPER FRAME for $4 (discount code DEEP4). Or you can buy 5 eBooks for the price of 4 (discount codeDEEP20). That’s our usual deal. But this is my 12th eBook, and I’m feeling punchy, so we’re offering our deepest discount yet. 12 eBooks for $40.That’s about 34% off the already ridiculous price. That’s $3.33/eBook! Use discount code DEEPER12 when you Visit Craft&Vision, fill your shopping cart and check out. These codes expires at 11:59pm PST July 2, 2011.”

For those who don’t know what A.R.T is…  it’s an acronym  for Artist Round Table. It was part workshop but mostly conversation hosted by Ray Ketchum. Dr. Ray, as I like to think of him is what I would call an Art Psychologist. Sports athletes may use a sport psychologist to help them improve their game. Dr. Ray helps the artist with art. In our case, photography. Anyways, there was literally, a round table for us to discuss and converse about photography, art, and most importantly -what is our own unique voice and how do we find it.  Today’s post will hit a few points of what I took from ART.

Well… where to start? There were many discussions at the round table and other venues but all had a core subject -FINDING YOUR VOICE. In other words, are we truly expressing ourselves? or are we echoing what somebody else has taught us? We finally decided that we all have a voice and it is like a finger print and  nobody else can copy it.  We must be ourselves and let our photography speak for us, not for somebody else.

As Dr. Ray would say, “get out of the way of yourself”.  Or,  as writer Wes Cecil say’s, “don’t try to be clever”.As David DuChemin says, “shoot from the heart”. To me, these people are saying don’t over think of complicate your photography. Just shoot with your instinct. Your instinct is the true you. Shoot with your gut, your heart, your instinct.

I will use hockey as a metaphor.  Sometimes, when a hockey team is desperately trying to score a goal, they try to hard. They tend to cough up the puck to the opposing team by making fancy passes. They try to get “clever”. A coach’s favourite saying would be, “The players are gripping the stick to tight”. In other words, they are trying to hard. They haven’t relaxed enough to let their instinct take over and have fun. That is how goals are scored. Stick to the basics, be relaxed, have fun, and don’t over think.

How do we “shoot from the heart”? or “let our voice speak”? First, relax and don’t get uptight looking for the perfect frame. Enjoy the moment.  I have figured out that when I  get a little tingle in my chest, I push the button on the camera. That is when I get my strongest images.  I have learned it is the true me showing in the images when I shoot with my gut.

This is what happened with the image above. Because I like dogs, I was looking for a portrait shot with the dog, Juniper.  However, she wasn’t co-operating with what I was kinda looking for. My gut told me to keep the camera in portrait orientation though her positioning changed to suit a landscape orientation. I kept framing her in portrait orientation regardless of what her movement… and then my gut said, “push the button”. The image above is the end result. I broke some rules without thinking about it. I did not “break the rules” for the purpose of “breaking the rules”. I just went with my gut, my instinct, my heart. The result is a broken rule or two and an image that has a feeling of oddity. Now, I  don’t think of myself as too odd of a person. However, sometimes my thinking is odd and I definitely  have a sense of humour. Those things don’t show up in my landscape photos but they do with Juniper. I think the image of Juniper say’s more about me and my “voice” than any of my pretty landscape images do.

I know there is a technical issue that I am not happy with but the  feel of the photograph works for me. That’s the important thing. That’s why I published it.

I tend to think about photographic “style” along the lines of how musicians play music. A young rocker may play strictly heavy metal in his younger years. Over time, perhaps, mellowing and maturing with age. The rocker begins to explore different styles or genres of music. One example of this is Lee Aaron, heavy metal’s first “Metal Queen”. In the 80′s she was heavy metal. Today she is a jazz singer. Though, I think she still does the odd metal show for her old fans.

On the other hand, AC/DC is a band that has stuck to it’s formula for years. It works. It sells. Now, I DON’T dislike AC/DC but I wonder what if they experimented with jazz? Could be interesting, don’t ya think?

Last month I had a thirteen hour car drive. I threw all of my John Mellencamp collection into the car stereo then hit random. I listened to Mellencamp THE WHOLE thirteen hour drive. There was a few repeated songs(ya, I have a lot of Mellencamp music) BUT I didn’t get bored of his music because he constantly experiments with new things. He doesn’t stick to a formulatic song maker like AC/DC does. With Mellencamp, you get straight up rock, blues, country, or another genre I call, “just music”. The only constant with Mellencamp is that he sings about life.

That being said, wouldn’t it be interesting to see David DuChemin experiment with HDR or shoot a sporting event?(We’ll let him heal first.) or Trey Ratcliff do black and white portraits in a studio?

To change, experiment, or exploring different “angles” of your art is growth. I believe exploring different things may even add to or strengthen your style. At least, that’s the way I see it. Variety is the spice of life… right?

Darwin Wigget is one of my favourite landscape photographers.  One day I hope to attend one of his popular Fire & Ice photo tours during the winter in the Rockies… one day. So, the next best thing is probably this ebook that Darwin has written for Craft & Vision. At the price, how can one go wrong?

Winter in the Rockies is laid out as other similar Print & Process books.  It’s 12.8MB with 71 pages of eye candy. As other Print & Process  books, it starts out with an introduction then 50 of Darwin’s favourite images that go back to his film days. They are laid out with one or sometimes two images per page. Darwin hasn’t just thrown in his most “sell-able” images. He includes many of his abstract images that is not usually seen in landscape photography. We get to see the real Darwin not just his bread and butter images.

After the display of eye-candy of the incredible Rockies, The Process is discussed. Darwin goes on to explain what it takes to do winter photography in the Rockies of BC and Alberta. He discusses attitude, preperation, dress for winter, keeping the camera warm, winter light, and winter abstraction. I admit that I already knew about some of these topics since I have mountain experience. Luckily, I am only a long days drive away from Darwin’s favourite places to shoot. However, Darwin gives us experienced winter people great winter shooting tips and locations that I did not realize.  So, regardless of your winter or mountain experience, Darwin still offers us fresh information for us to take out into the field.

Near the end of the ebook, Darwin goes through each image one by one with us. He explains the process and techniques behind each image on an individual basis. It’s great insight into how each image was created. Thanks, Darwin. Once again, Craft & Vision publish another great product full of amazing images and wonderful content.

Pick up the PDF of  Darwin’s Winter in the Canadian Rockies before January 22, 11:59pm PST, it’s yours for $4 if you use the code: ROCKIES4 when you checkout. Or use ROCKIES20 to get 20% off your entire purchase when you buy 5 or more of the PDF eBooks (ie, the discounts don’t extend to the Apple iPad/iPod apps) from the Craft & Vision collection.

I can’t think of a better phrase than Help Portrait’s “A picture is worth”. In recent months, this phrase has become more and more apparent to me. I am realizing that photographs play an important role to us in many ways. Of course, there is the commercial side of things. Photographs are used to help sell products which helps an economy sputter along. Today, I just want to talk about the ways in which I have personally experienced the importance of a photograph.

Leave a smile

In the Fall of 2010, there was a death in my family. My step-father had died. We family members gathered as many photographs as we could find of Step-Dad for his Celebration of Life. Sadly, there was not great deal of them. Step-Dad didn’t like to be photographed. When we did find some photo’s of him, he rarely smiled. This is not how we want to remember him. Our memories know Step-Dad as a man with a great sense of humour and a big smile. When he smiled, his eyes grew big and lit up. He smiled with his eyes. Sadly, there are no images of him with one of his unique and  genuine smiles. His smile will have to live on in the minds of people who knew him. For those who did not know him, they would probably think that he was a grumpy old man according to the photographs that he left behind. This was certainly not the case. He was a happy man who took nothing for granted and appreciated any little detail that life offered. I think it’s tragic that Step-Dad did not leave us a photograph that showed us his true personality.

Not affordable for some

For my trip to Cuba, I did something that I totally regret. I did not take my Pogo by Zink. It’s a little printer that you can print directly off the camera, kinda like the old polaroid.  It crossed my mind to pack the Pogo but figured that I probably wouldn’t use it much so I left it behind. Afterall, I used it very little in Thailand, right? Well, soon after I arrived in Havana, I realized that YES, I would have used it TONS! Whenever I had taken photo’s of people, they would rush up to me to view the LCD on the back of the camera. It wasn’t once or twice but most of the time!  This got me thinking that I had taken photography for granted. I mean, most people in Western Society have a camera in their pocket in the last few years in the form of a cell phone. If not a camera in their pocket, they most likely own one at home. This is not the case in Cuba. I rarely saw a cell phone or camera owned by a Cuban. A camera is not in reach of most people there. Therefore, they valued having their image preserved as they don’t usually have the opportunity to do so. Taking the Pogo along would have allowed me to leave prints behind for the people. I am thinking that a Help Portrait event in Cuba would be HUGE!

Create Heirlooms

During the Holiday Season, I attended a gathering at a home of the Douglas family. Though, I had been to their cabin before, it was my first time at their family home. While there, I was shown a photo book that was made by their son, Steve. It was a gift to his parents for Christmas. The book was a collage of photographs of the kids and grand-kids at the family cabin over a period of seven years.   I have been to their cabin before. There they have a whole wall dedicated to photos of all the kids at the cabin. Gazing across the wall and seeing the kids growing up puts a smile on your face. The cabin wall is not the only place they had photographs. In their family home, they had another wall full of photographs. This time it was a wall of their deceased family and ancestors going back to, what looked like, the late 1800′s. There is a portrait of Grandma Douglas’ great-great-grandparents. What a family treasure to have decorating the family room.

Conclusion

The Douglas family certainly know the importance of a photograph. Luckily, they live in a country which allows them the economic freedom to take lots of pictures.  My advice for myself and others is this:

• Don’t be camera shy, leave a smile.
• Take lots of family photos. Your’e not a photographer?  Hire a good one to create those heirlooms. Display them. Pass them down.
• Give to those who cannot afford a photograph.