Week #50

Don't Let the Rain Stop You

"Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."

Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

Week #48

Man Feeding the Birds

"At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect - a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known."

Robert Adams - Why People Photograph

Week #43

Light On The Wall

"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever.....It remembers the little things, long after we have forgotten everything."

Aaron Siskind

Week #42

Street Reflection

Here is another shot from my Paris workshop. Though street photography usually implies that there are people included in the image, there are times when the urban landscape is enough in and of itself. Here the street had just been washed down leaving this wonderful puddle of water to reflect back the street scene. 

Week #41

Walking to the Louvre

I've just been back home for a few days from Paris but the sights and sounds of the city are still fresh in my heart. What brought me to the City of Lights was a Street Photography workshop taught by Valerie Jardin. What I left Paris with is a new love for this city and most of all for street photography.

We explored many of the iconic sites of the city but Valerie always urged us to try to look in fresh ways, capturing the city as an urban landscape with the human element. This day we were walking into the courtyard of the Louvre. Hopefully I was successful capturing the sense of place but in a new way.

Valerie is a gifted teacher and I would recommend anyone who wishes to explore this area of photography to sign up for one of her workshops. As an extra bonus, the participants are also amazing and fun people that just add to a great experience.

See you on the street! 

Week #40

 

Student Reading by the Pantheon 

 

Bookstore Browsing 

 

 

 Reading on a Sunday Morning

Back home from my wonderful time in Paris. The people of Paris can be found reading everywhere. To support this habit, there are also book shops on every corner. Maybe today I will open an actual book, not my Kindle,  and curl up with a cup of tea and read the day away.

I'll post later this week with more thoughts on Paris and the Street Photography class I took with Valerie Jardin.

Week #39

 Waiting For Time

Today was the first day of our Paris Photography workshop with Valerie Jardin. What a great group of participants and of course how wonderful to spend a week learning from one of the best Street Photographers in the world. Stayed tuned for more images from my week in Paris.

Week #36

My Week in Images

Sunrise in the Park

Looking Up

Waiting

This week I was on a mission to figure out which of my cameras I should take to Paris. I would like to take just one camera with me so I am deciding between my Fuji XT10 and my Fuji X100T. Both are small cameras, which is very important for me, but one has a fixed lens and the other I could bring along several prime lenses. It's important to me to keep my equipment simple since I don't want my equipment to get in way of the experience. 

For the entire week I shot with my Fuji X100T. This is such a great camera, so easy to tuck in my purse and take with me all week. These images were taken around the town where I live. I tried a little landscape, street, and abstract photography to get a sense of using the camera in a variety of environments. 

I'm pleased with the results so this decision is going to be much harder than I thought. Stayed tuned for next week when I put my Fuji XT10 through the same paces.

Week #35

Side by Side

"Photography is the power of observation not the application of technology."

Ken Rockwell

In a few weeks I will be in Paris taking a week long street photography course with Valerie Jardin. In preparation, I thought I would take my camera with me yesterday as I went out to our local library. One of the concepts that I am working with is what makes an interesting image. There are always people out in the streets, but how do you capture a moment that really expresses the human condition?