How does your photography reflect your vision?

It's been a while since I last added to my supposedly weekly blog, and I must apologize for my tardiness. My life, it seems, as resembled more of a roller-coaster these past couple of months, than a growing, dynamic journey where I can see where I've been, where I've come from and have an idea of where I'm going to. I've been questioning the meaning and purpose of my life and of course, the moment you start comparing yourself to friends, it's not long before you nose-dive into the muck and mire of depression.

My life may not be headlined in National Geographic images or coffee table books, but I food on my table, friends who I value and treasure, 3 incredible children who I'm proud of, a 78-year old mother who keeps me in her prayers (thanks Mom!) on-again/off-again siblings who I hear from occasionally, and given the distance we live from one another, that falls into the category of miracles.

This past week I got an email giving me advance notice about another E-book that photographer and author David DuChemin was releasing. This one is called, The Vision Driven Photographer, Notes on Discovering & Refining Your Vision.

While I love Dave's body of work, his international experiences, what I value most is his from-the-heart writing. In many ways, it's almost as though he and I are sitting down having a drink in his or my living room as he talks about how I can get in touch with my inner self again instead of moping about just how pitiful life is. In other words, this E-book (can be downloaded HERE) is food for the soul.

Dave says that vision matters because

...it is the place we begin, and the road we travel, on the way to our goal - creating compelling photographs that express something we've no other means of expression but through the frame...Learning to discover, and then express, our vision will make better photographs through a more fulfilling creative process.

He establishes the difference between vision, style and technique before giving us concrete examples, suggestions and exercises that will help to tap into or develop our vision. What I find most interesting about this E-book is that while it speaks directly to the photographer, it applies just as well to the watercolour artist as it does to the animator as it does to someone struggling in their marriage. Even though quoted out of context, the words from the Old Testament poet, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." (Proverbs 29:18a), remain valid.

I could highly encourage you to purchase and download a copy from of this E-book from pixelatedimage.com and read it at your leisure. It is a $5 investment that you won't regret making. Furthermore, promotional code DRIVEN4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of The Vision Driven Photographer for only $4 OR use the code DRIVEN20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes start at 1:00am PST, November 24th, 2010 and expire at 11:59pm PST November 28th, 2010.

One final note, some of you know that I am leading an 11-day safari to Botswana next June. Yesterday I got notice that one seat is now available. If you are interested, or know anyone who is, please contact me. The cost, without airfare to Johannesburg, is close to $3000, a steal especially when everything is included. You will have two professional photographers, one of which is also a wildlife expert, on board to help you master your camera and capture incredible images.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Black and White Anyone?

Many people have asked me questions like,"Which is the best camera to get", and my immediate reply is "The one you have in your pocket!" Needless to say, I get looks which suggest they question my sanity and intelligence.

Even a cursory glance at the list of cameras that are available today is staggering. Vendor after vendor offers cameras that seemingly have a never-ending amount of pixels packed into the chip. It's easy to get so caught up in the sales hype, and the draw of owning a bigger, better, faster, smarter, face-recognizing camera that you completely forget about practising your art and developing your eye.

When was the last time that you ignored the reviews on the latest and greatest, and headed outdoors to take photographs of ducks or flowers or statues in the cemetery or even the signs that clutter rail-road crossings?

A photographer is an artist who paints with light. There is no right way or wrong way to take photographs but a good photo is one that is well-composed, breaks a few rules, captures an emotion and grabs your attention. Very few photographer's are able to put down their camera, pull out the digital card, print off the image and be totally satisfied. Just as analog photographers (who used film) had to know the ins and outs of developing, dodging, burning, printing, fixing and mounting their images, so digital photographers must be familiar with their modern day darkroom. It doesn't matter if your darkroom is Photoshop, Phase One, Lightroom, Aperture or Picasa available on Google, whatever you use needs to be mastered.

The last time I went to a book store, I was overwhelmed at the selection of books available on Photoshop. What's more, they start at $20 and go up from there, and are often rehashed versions of an older book.

What to do? A Canadian photographer David duChemin is not only passionate about photography, but capturing gorgeous images without spending a ton of money on equipment or books. Consequently, he has created graphic rich PDFs or eBooks which cost a mere $5 each that guide you in subjects as diverse as the Business of Photography to creating incredible black and white images. These eBooks can be purchased at PixelatedImage.com

The latest is a 51-page Ebook by Andrew Gibson. This is Part 2 called “The Magic of Black and White” and helps you convert your color digital images into spectacular-looking black and white images.

David (and his team) are inspiring, encouraging but most of all have a heart for people who want to have better photographs but struggle on how to achieve the best image. Take a look and see what you think. OF COURSE there’s a special offer:
For the first few days only, if you use the promotional code MAGIC4 when you checkout, you can have the latest Ebook for only $4 OR they can use the code MAGIC20 to get 20% off when they buy 5 or more books from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST June 1, 2010.