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I'm trying to experiment with changing depth of field, and this lit candle in a pub with a wall light in the background seemed like a reasonable subject to have a go with.
Marbles lit by candlelight
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I lit these lithops by shining an led light through an old camera lens onto them. Thanks to flickr user yellowcloud for showing how its done.
CPKC 01H-24 in Montreal West right at sunset, on its way to the first stop of the night in Kahnawake.
Countless candles burn in the pre-dawn darkness around Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.
For the story, visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/light-a-candle-boudha...
All Lit Up! by artist Anna Lomax, is this year’s Christmas tree installation at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. December 03, 2024. Photo: Edmond Terakopian
The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking. -- Robert H. Schuller
I had a friend a while back ask me who my five favorite photographers were. It was a question that I think I have only just now answered, as the list tends to evolve as I come across new photography. I read a lot and make full use of the library, plus I work in a camera shop that sees hundreds of photographers pass through it a week. I am also a member of a small on-line community called Flickr, that is home to just a few photographers as well. ;-)
I never took any formal college courses on photography. On one hand, I am skeptical about most of them, not necessarily regarding what they teach, but how they teach it. But on the other hand, I do miss the fact that taking classes like that forces you to be exposed to photography you never would have taken the time to become acquainted with. As such I tend to venture a lot outside of the Flickr realm: checking out books at the library, going to gallery openings, looking at non-Flickr photographers' websites, etc. I think it is a valuable learning device.
To tie this in briefly with Flickr, I think it is all too easy to get caught up in the relatively sheltered world of photography it presents. And it is sheltered here. All at the same time, I find both an amazing variety of photography and a frustratingly limited scope of photography. It is contradictory in a way that both can exist, but they do. Also, in terms of the internet, you find a different type of photography tends to succeed. Bright, colorful, dramatic images do well. Quiet, subtle, introspective images less well. This is not a knock against the former, I am posting a fairly bright, colorful image here after all (in no small part because I imagine it will tend to attract more views to this posting, helping to spread the titles of some of the books I am going to list a bit further).
Anyway, to bring this all back around. I want to offer a piece of advice, branch out. Expose yourself to as many different types of photography as you can get your hands on. Even if you do not think it applies to your photography, it does. Trust me on that. I have learned valuable ways of seeing landscapes by looking at books of portraiture. Really. Because seeing other photography doesn't teach you how to take better pictures, per se, but rather it teaches you how to see better.
So to wrap up, a few days ago one of my contacts asked me what my favorite photography books were. I narrowed it down to ten, five of which I am going to post tonight, five another night. Some of these books you will have heard of, some not. I highly recommend them all for different reasons.
In no particular order:
Snaps by Elliot Erwitt
Simply, an astounding book of snapshot photography. One of the first photography books I bought. It is still a favorite of mine. Erwitt has an amazing sense of humor in his photography, but mostly, this book teaches you to always have your eyes open, everywhere.
Full Moon by Michael Light
This book is collected from the photographry taken during the Apollo missions. It is organized roughly to chronicle liftoff, exiting Earth's orbit, landing on the moon, return to Earth, splash down. The Hasselblad photographs taken on the surface of the moon are mind blowing. This book will take you places most of us can only ever dream about going.
Mountain Light by Galen Rowell
Perhaps my favorite landscape photography book ever. Personally I think Galen is a bit underappreciated by many landscape photographers, as most of them look at his images and then think that in order to shoot like Galen just involves finding colorful and dramatic light. Galen though had a much more intimate approach to his photography and it shines in this book. The other aspect of Galen that is often not mentioned, is how freely and openly he wrote of his photographic philosophy. He rarely talked much about which filters and lenses he shot and instead concentrated on what he was thinking or feeling. Pick this book up as much for his essays as for the pictures, heck pick it up mainly for the essays.
Koudelka by Josef Koudelka
When I publish my list of favorite photographers, I think Koudelka's name will be at the top. The man almost magically finds the most surreal moments in the most ordinary settings. This book is full of such photos. Highly inspiring.
Wild Beauty by Terry Toedtemeier and John Laursen
This book was published shortly before Toedtemeier's death and preceded an elegant exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. It is mostly geared towards all my Pacific Northwest landscape photography peers, but not just. It is a collection of historical photos ranging from 1867-1957 of the Columbia River Gorge in northern Oregon. It is a marvelous span of photographs that teaches all about vision and time.
Alright, there are five for tonight. I shall not keep you here any longer, now to dust off those library cards!