Photography

I'm an amateur photographer. I have lots of insecurities about my talents, though. I guess I'm far more critical than I should be. I like a lot of the stuff I shoot, so you would think that I would like the results I get. Sometimes I don't.

I think about my Dad alot. He has so much talent, and he has the same problem I do. He takes awesome pictures, but he constantly second guesses himself, and lacks the confidence to promote himself and his pictures. Unfortunately, my Dad doesn't travel alot, so the pictures he takes are of the local and surrounding area of his home. The thing is, he STILL makes that mundane, everyday, "I see that all the time," stuff look so good! His wedding stuff is amazing. No matter what he shoots, it looks fabulous.

When I was growing up, just about everything Dad shot was medium format. He never got his film developed like my film. He went to a camera shop instead of to the local chain store. His film intrigued me because it was so different. Back then, I thought that taking pictures with my 110mm film was an achievement! Then I graduated to 35mm and felt like I was in the big time. But Dad's negatives still looked different. 120mm negatives were bigger and cleaner and the corresponding pictures were crisp and bright.

I borrowed a Yashica camera from my brother in law to try the 120mm film, but I was dissapointed when I realized that the shutter didn't work. It was cool having it in my hand and looking down into the viewfinder. It reminded me of when Dad would let me hold his camera when he was changing film or charging his flash.

I hope that looking at my pictures will inspire someone to use whatever camera they have, and not to think that great pictures only come from big, expensive cameras. True, I wouldn't turn one down, but I think that my little point and shoot 8mp camera can do awesome things by itself, not to mention the everlasting workhorse Canon AE-1.

I found a site recently that made me swoon. This guy makes me feel more confident in my own eye. I freely admit that his camera and techniques produce cleaner pictures than mine, but I'm encouraged that with more experience and time, I can create the same atmosphere in my photos that he does. Some of his stuff really spoke to me and the way I look at lines through the camera. Take a look at his site. His wife also has a site, one that is more ethereal.