Sunday, March 29, 2015

Only Time Will Tell


It is Palm Sunday and usually I'm in the Centro to photograph the processions. I love seeing Jesus come down San Francisco on a donkey and sometimes it isn't a very cooperative donkey. I love the way the procession is back lit. But I've been there a lot of times to photograph the event and that is not to say that I wouldn't find a special image or two. But not today.

I am still processing the images I shot in Port Aransas and I need to get it done while the way I felt when I was making the image is still fresh. Just because I clicked the shutter and have a digital file of what I saw doesn't mean the camera has a soul. After all, it is a computer that captures an image. The camera doesn't look out across the wetlands with a low lying fog and think, Oh, my God. Isn't that beautiful the way the flats disappear into the horizon. But I think that and hit the shutter button.

Some of the images made in the fog give me trouble. The light was low and I'm looking for subtle and delicate tonalities. There is a fine line between a subtle and delicate image and a flat image. For images I really like, I don't consider the process complete until I have a print. So, I'll make a work print and prop it up on my display ledge for a while to evaluate whether I need to make more adjustments before I make a final print.

Is that what I felt the morning I made the image? Is it subtle and delicate or is it flat? Only time will tell.



7 comments:

  1. i haven't seen hide nor hair of you. NOW I know where you are.........what a talent you have along with a fantastic eye. Can't wait to see the finished project.........I so enjoyed each one you shared with us while on your trip.

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  2. I really appreciate your comments about trying to find the soul of a photograph. Like most shooters, I often see a shot and remember what was going through my head when I tripped the shutter. But, for anyone else, it is just a photograph. Finding that balance is what makes your photography art.

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    1. Steve, I think when we are emotionally attached to an image, which of course we are not every time we hit the shutter button, and we capture some soul in it, it is more than just a photograph to some people who see it. They may not feel the same thing we did but if it connects with them in any way then they also felt a spirit we tried to embed in the image.

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  3. I love your photos no matter what you aim your camera at.

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  4. My favorite Palm Sunday procession in San Miguel was several years ago, when "Jesus", the typically handsome, young white guy with a beard, lost control of the donkey who was hell bent on walking on the sidewalk instead of the street. A rancher intervened and got hold of the situation.

    al

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  5. My favorite Palm Sunday procession in San Miguel was several years ago, when "Jesus", the typically handsome, young white guy with a beard, lost control of the donkey who was hell bent on walking on the sidewalk instead of the street. A rancher intervened and got hold of the situation.

    al

    ReplyDelete