inspiration – Page 2

POI# 4

June 16, 2010 by alex 2 Comments

minolta And then there is Jim. When I got my very first 35mm SLR (which I still have BTW) he would tolerantly let me “take pictures” of him anytime anywhere! Early morning even before coffee (yikes!) or, more formally, as I attempted to practice the finer points of portraiture.

As well as having almost infinite patience for these artistic quirks, Jim was a very handsome guy, – it was impossible to take a bad photo of him. For years I mistakenly attributed all those good photos of him to my emerging photographic talent, and I coasted on this grand deception for ages until, over time I actually did become a pretty good photographer. (And it wasn’t till much later a portrait pro pointed out the various flaws in my subsequent portrait photos, that I came to know the embarrassing truth – my early success was a fluke and the beauty was all Jim and not me.)

POI #3

June 8, 2010 by alex Leave a Comment

What can a nature photographer learn from a wedding and portrait photographer?

Well, if you’re me and the wedding photographer is Patty Boge, an awful lot! Patty and I worked together at a software development company. We didn’t work in the same department and didn’t really see each other too often (with 125 employees on 2 floors I didn’t see too many people too often!!!). But one day she mentioned that she was leaving the company because she was going to devote all her time to her photography business. I remarked that that was pretty cool and that I also knew my way around a camera. She wanted to see some of my photos so I put a few on a CD for her.

Next thing I knew she has shopped it around to all her pro photographer buddies who apparently were impressed enough to want to meet with me to talk about my “work” and help me advance in a new career. And the rest, my friend, is a story that you already know.

So I have a more than profound appreciation for Patty – it was her that got me into the biz!

POI – people of influence: #1

June 1, 2010 by alex Leave a Comment

Not neccessarily the Number 1 POI, but influencial for sure. Deepak Chopra. He has influenced my perceptions about imagination and creativity. Despite what you may think about his “new age” philosophy, he has a way of helping you see alternatives. To me, imagination and the art of seeing is all about the alternative.

What we see everyday might be mundane and even boring, but with the right influence or suggestion, we can begin to see alternatives in the everyday views. My image “The Devil’s in the Details” is a bit of the embodiment of this. The title is only a suggestion, but you begin to see the alternative views when you look past the reality of a bush, because of the way our perceptions work.

If you are open to different ways of thinking – and thus, seeing, read a few pages from Deepak’s books. Enlightening in so many ways.

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