Even in the digital age, three books that I think that every new photographer should read
Pretty much every aspect of our lives these days are digital, from the television to watch, the music we listen to and the cameras that we use to make images. I know a number of people who feel that we were better off in an analog world, I am not one of those, I don’t see digital better or worse than analog, just different. With that said, there is a lot that we can, and should, learn from the analog era, especially when it comes to photography. I sort of feel that these three books should be required reading when a new photographer buys their first camera.
What a lot of new photographers, and even some that have been doing this for a little while, don’t realize is that even though the technology has changed, drastically, over the last 100 or so years, the basic concepts, as well as what the camera is actually doing hasn’t. At the end of the day a camera is still capturing light and projecting it into a surface that is sensitive to that very light.
The Camera, The Negative and The Print have been available in publication for decades, and are still in print today. I have had copies if them in my library since my very early days in photography, and would highly recommend that if you have read them, pick them up and learn from a master.
Houses on the east shore of Lake Union in Seattle during the golden light of sunset
During a recent break from the gray skies and rain, I decided to head up to Seattle for a little evening / night shooting with my friend Gary Wells. We had a great time and started the evening off at Gasworks Park. For those not familiar with Gasworks Park, it offers a nice view of the Seattle skyline and sits on the northern shore of Lake Union.
We arrived just before sunset and as I was waiting for the sun to go down and the city to light up, the setting sun cast a gorgeous glow on the houses along the eastern shore of the lake. I couldn’t resist grabbing a few shots during the fleeting golden light.
The Great Wheel on the Seattle waterfront provides many different photographic opportunities and I never get tired of shooting it. For this collection I decided to take more of an abstract look at the wheel and how the light display interacts with exposures up to 6 seconds long.
I hope you enjoy, I am quite pleased with the results and had a lot of fun shooting them.
The steps to the Washington State Capitol building at night
Five days into the new year and I am posting an image I made last June of the capitol steps at the Washington State Capitol building in Olympia, WA.
This image really isn’t more than just a snapshot I made while walking around the capitol campus one night, and technically there are numerous issues with it, but for some reason I have always liked the image and finally decided to share it here on my blog.
No worries though, even though I still have a few images from last year that I plan on sharing, I have already been out shooting some in the new year and there will be images captured in 2016 on the blog very soon.
