Texas Tracks
Now that we are in 2009 I’m going to rework the nature of this blog. Up to now I have been mostly posting photographs and some writing that I have done. I have been involved with photography since I was 15 years old but it wasn’t until college that I worked with great earnest. The hard worked paid off. I was the first undergraduate student to have a gallery exhibition at TCU. Two other friends of mine participated. Steve Dakin had a couple of photos and Ken Brookner and I shared the rest of the space equally.
Both Ken and I wandered though business life for many years. He returned to photography several years ago and you can follow his link on this blog to see what he’s up to. I decided in the last year to put a large amount of time and effort back into my photography.
I have continued to take pictures over all these intervening years. A few were done as jobs I was paid for but most of it was just when I was on vacation and the like. There was just too much work and not enough time. Now I have made the time and I have spent the last six months working with photos every day. This has allowed me to find my place again and gain a direction. To get there I did the only thing a photographer can do. Take a lot of pictures and learn to use the tools.
I currently use two cameras. One is a Nikon D2xs and the other is a Leica M8. I still have several film cameras but with the wonderful tools and technology available I can’t see the point of using film unless I wanted to move into large format cameras.
I love film and it is sad but true. I work with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. The printer I’m currently using is an Epson R2400. I use it to produce all my B&W prints now and color as well. I’m also working with Palladium printing so the darkroom is still getting a workout. The main reason I’m doing this is simple. With the advent of digital photography and the cheap prosumer cameras and software, everyone is now a photographer regardless of training. I find my photographs now compete with folks who just picked up a camera and after spending 40 years of my life working and studying this art it is a bit upsetting. There doesn’t seem to be a good way to make it through the noise. Palladium printing is one way. It is a time consuming and tedious process that only an artist would love and subject himself too. I am also working with HDR photography.
One thing I won’t do is take myself too seriously. I work in the movie industry as a writer/producer so the demands I make on myself to “perform” are very harsh indeed. I intend to use this blog to more clearly articulate my vision and photographs now that I have found my place. To do this I will choose a photo and write some detail about the why, what and how of it. I think that will be infinitely more interesting than a constant barrage of new photos that seem unlinked and with out purpose. Happy 2009. Oh and this photo is the one I used on my invitation to that show at TCU so long ago.
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