Month: June 2010

Art?

Is a photograph of an art an art? Is a photograph of a sculpture an art? Is a photograph of a painting an art?

What is important in a photograph – an image or how it was made? Similarly for paintings: if we have two visually undistinguishable copies would we value the one that is proven to be original thru chemical analysis higher? Does it mean it is more important how something was made than its purpose?

I don’t have answers to either of the questions. It is just something I find interesting to think about.

Trusting Equipment

Since when have we started trusting our equipment to the level when we don’t use our brains anymore?

On my recent trip to Yosemite I was taking photos of a waterfall and saw a man taking a photo of his lovely wife and daughter with the waterfall in background. I was in a very good mood and decided to help him get a better picture. I gave him an advice to use fill flash to lit up their faces, since waterfall in background was bright and the sun was slightly behind. The man turned to me and said that he has a new camera that can detect when background is too bright and will pop the flash automatically.

I did not want to argue with him but found it very interesting that we started trusting equipment more than our common sense. I guess I must resist an urge to help anyone with “smarter than human” camera.

Sunset at Highlands Blvd

Great things happen when you least expect them. Like tonight on my way home I saw this gorgeous sunset. I just had to stop and take some photographs.

Sunset at Highlands Blvd

Sunset at Highlands Blvd

Better late than never

Fog in Yosemite Valley

The goal on my last trip to Yosemite was to wake up before sunrise every day and be at a point of interest early before sunrise. First day I woke up at four in the morning before alarm even went off. I guess I was refreshed and eager to photograph.

Next day I missed it. The alarm probably went off but I did not hear it. (This type of things happen when there is a load river rushing down just outside your tent. I’ve learnt the lesson and put alarm next to my ear the next night.) So, what do you do in this case? Stay in a sleeping bag for a bit more and let yourself relax? Or do you get packed quickly and move to capture whatever is left of early morning?

At first I wanted to be lazy but then I thought that I came there to photograph and I would photograph. We packed quickly and went to Tunnel View again. And I was so glad we did! When we got to the Tunnel View (for the third time during the trip), we saw fog flowing into the Yosemite Valley and clouds falling down from El Capitan like waterfalls.

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