View allAll Photos Tagged Practicing
self portrait practice with lighting.
a quick pic before i head out.
thinking of taking part in the 365 project.. hmm...
HAPPY CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR! :)
Here's a shot I tried to load last night, but Flickr wasn't cooperating. I was talking with a woman who does face painting, as she was packing up after a long day. I noticed this page of sketches in front of her; she had used it to practice.
My wife took delivery of a new macro lens today and sent me out to play.I first got shots of a Male Holly Blue but it was on the bare ground, taking minerals from Bird faeces, so not an attractive shot. I also managed shots of a Speckled Wood but not great as it was nervous and I'm out of stalking practice. So for a test run, this little Hover Fly on a Marigold.
I found myself so angry this morning while reading people’s excuses for using Ai. So many people stating they use it to do creative tasks because they’re “not ✨talented✨ like the rest of us.”
I stand behind the idea that with most people whose work you appreciate, it’s not a matter of raw talent blessed to them by the gods. It’s WORK. It’s pure drive, effort, stupidity, and the willingness to do things over and over no matter how bad your results may be until slowly they’re not so bad anymore.
I am so tired of seeing Ai and thinking about it, let alone hearing lazy people (and I mean this with as little harshness as I can manage, people are being made lazier by the day by these sorts of things) make excuses why it’s ok for them to not try and to just get a dopamine hit from that social media like/favorite.
I spend so much time practicing in different photography conditions, trying different settings on my camera, & experimenting with techniques. I am not just naturally talented, although I know I have an eye for composition/framing. (Which, again, as evidenced from my film scan of a 1995 sunset & powerlines sky photo I recently posted… I’VE HAD TO PRACTICE AT FOR YEARS.) The same goes for my illustrating, my sewing, my style/fashion projects, my writing, and my small forays into music making.
I am a creative person who tries everything and does their best to hone various skills so I can best combine all facets of my creativity to create multi-media art. Sometimes that means YouTube videos, sometimes that means collage work, and sometimes that means doing styling/hair/makeup, setting up a scene, photographing it, creatively editing it, and making a collage from all of that or illustrating digitally over my images.
None of it is just raw unfiltered natural talent, it’s skill borne by constantly making bad art, taking bad photos, and writing shitty songs or stories.
The entitlement behind these excuses is infuriating. The more I see people lean into instant gratification demands instead of just being new to something and learning, the more I worry about the fate of people’s mental states. I know it’s disheartening to want to “be a great photographer/illustrator/writer” and start in at it and not instantly be applauded for how earth shattering your work is, but know that the people you admire have been putting in the work.
Some mornings I go out to practice night photography and I’m being lazy. I don’t want to take the tripod or use my remote and on those mornings I come back with nothing to share because I took a bunch of blurry grainy photos. Sometimes there is nothing to come of a photo session/walk but a learning experience and I am frustrated but grateful every time.
I took 3x as many shots this morning than you’re seeing here but this is all that came out even semi-acceptable for me because I didn’t want to dig out my remote and the settings I was using meant every little wobble, no matter how imperceptible, caused blurriness.
Please, when you have someone in your life who is destroying the very planet we live on, the only one we have, and lining the pockets of the corrupt ultra wealthy who run these scam Ai sites to “make art,” sit them down and talk to them. Lead them away from it.
Talk openly about your struggles as a creative, show the work that goes into taking your photos that people love. Be transparent and helpful to people who are interested in getting started and please, never ever play it off as just “natural talent.”
Practicing social distancing - the fences at the work site for the new Preston Western Distributor Road linking the M55 to the A 583 at Windy Nook where work continues despite everything. Its on my walk along the preston Guild Wheel
Sketched quickly from the imagination (really just plop down the washes and let it go where it may). I'm using these to practice technique without getting "attached" to the work. I think I'll be doing quite a few of these for a while.
Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton watercolor in a 9x12" ProArt watercolor sketchbook. Just Ultramarine, and Raw and Burnt Sienna.
A water polo player relaxes before it is his turn to take another practice shot.
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Just a random scene of Old Chouchala Sea Beach, Halishahar, CTG- from 2017.
চৌচালা সি বিচ, হালিশহর, চট্টগ্রাম।
Practice event for for the 77th Members Meeting at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, taking place in April.
The day represents car racing from the era of the 1950's and 1960's glory days at Goodwood.
Check out my video footage from the day:
On the St. Charles Streetcar, New Orleans, Louisiana. He was playing that umbrella like a clarinet. Maybe practicing for a later gig . . . .
A water polo player takes a practice shot to warm up for the UC Irvine vs Cal Lutheran match.
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The Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 is a fascinating lens. Not that sharp, but with such depth of field the sharpness is secondary to the effect. Shooting late into the evening with low ISO is also a big plus. This isn't a Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH, or even a knock-off, but for us mortals, it's a fun lens.