Pictures of my father

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With this posting I was reminded of The Cure song pictures of you.  It gave me a great idea!  I'm going to change the format a little and ask something of you today.  I want you to photograph your father in such a way that reminds you of a special moment with him.  A picture that evokes emotion, try to let your audience know who he is and what he means to you.  There is no time limit for this project, and I would love to see what you come up with, so please share!  You can send a link to your picture in the comments.

What do you remember the most, was it a fishing trip, camping trip, a memorable vacation.  I know this is a broad question that could possibly take three pages to answer in essay form, but I want you to do it in a single picture.  Your imagination is going to be pushed a little with this project so take your time.  Some of us don't have a dad to photograph, he might have passed away or no longer in the picture.  In that case take a snap shot or two that tells a story of a positive role model in your life.  My dad was not around so I don't have many picture that help with this project, however I had my uncles, all great men that looked after me as if I was their own child.  They're all great men who were all responsible for who I am today.

How do I capture a feeling of admiration, respect, and love?

This picture means a lot to me and I wanted to share it with you.  The image is of a father and his son talking in the silhouette It is how I wanted to show the relationship I have with all my uncles.  You see there are no true distinct faces the son and father could be anyone.  There is a conversation going on, perhaps some sage advise is being dispensed.  They are outside I would like to think they are camping one of my favorite activities to do.

I took this photo at my uncles birthday and it's one of his favorites, that reminds me I need to make a print of this and have it framed for him.   Looking back I probably should have a much shallower depth of field but I exposed it the way I wanted so when it came out I was extremely happy.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this picture, so please leave a comment and provide some feedback.

Mr. Winters I want to be a photographer

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Who wants to be a photographer?
I knew that being a photo journalist for National Geographic would be my dream job, however I ended up being a day dreaming systems technician.  In the grand scheme of things I shot a little to the right but I have to blame myself. I was afraid that pursuing a career that involved creativity might be beyond my capabilities and that I should put effort into something more "practical". (Note to self never sell yourself short, most importantly to yourself) I would much rather be a poor starving photographer, as a posed to a poor starving systems technician. The chance to travel to distant lands, and see first hand the wonders of the world. The opportunity to see people live their lives in different countries experiencing culture first hand, new adventures everyday good and bad. I wanted to witness and record them with a camera and at that time I did not care what I had. Leica, Nikon, Canon, Pentax or even a disposable just as long as I had a camera by my side.  I am willing to do what ever it takes to be the best.  This requires work, work that I want and willing to do.  One of the reasons I started this blog was to promote my work and keep myself taking pictures everyday for new and original content.  My hope for what I'm putting out is for somebody with that same dream to take the plunge and share their experiences with others.

Who here found the artist that inspired them and sent them an email or letter?
Guilty once again!
An amazing photographer by the name of Dan Winters inspired me to work hard, and push myself to create everyday, and to keep pushing never settling for average. When I first saw his photography I was in love he has the ability to see past a persons physical appearance and.... "Now this might sound like a cliché but he captures their emotions, thoughts, joy, and fears". We see actors one way but by viewing his work you no longer see an actor you see a man or women that you can relate to. Someone with vulnerabilities, and when I continued to look through his catalog, I knew I wanted to capture this type of honesty as well. I recomend you go to his site and look at his work, I think you will find a new artist that inspires you.  I found this amazing article in which he is interviewed for a little Q&A Dan Winters interview is done in three parts, and is a must read.

I sent him an email explaining who I was and that I really enjoyed looking at his art.  I told him that his photography moved me into becoming a better photographer and that one day he would see my work out there in the world.  I was... well still am a little confident.  I also sent him a picture that I thought he would enjoy.  This picture here is what I sent.  One week later he replied to me and told me to keep up the good work and that I had done a very good job with my photograph, I wish I could find the email, but I think I accidentally deleted it I can't find it anywhere.  Yes I am VERY mad at myself.  Anyway its not the end of the world, he was probably being polite but it encourages me to work hard and take risks.

An email that hit hard

I received an email from a good friend that had recently read Photo-logic. I was extremely nervous to hear her thoughts on it because she's in my top 5 list of amazing writers. I knew she would not sugar coat it, NOT one bit. After I read her email my first impression was WTF except I was quite loud with the obcenity, as a matter of fact I had to read it a few times just to make sure I was not miss reading anything. Who is this writer that had me sitting on pins and needles? Please allow me to tell you.
Courtney Perkes is a phenomenal writer for The Orenge County Register and probably the most honest person out there. We first met in Austin during SXSW and spent the entire day listening to moving music, drinking cold beer, watching interesting documentries, and eating the best vegitarian pizza. I had the honor of meeting her sister and brother as well both fantastic and interesting people.
When I first started writing I shared a very personal story with another professional writer. She gave it back to me with so much red ink on it that I no longer recognised it. My first thought was "Did I just get an F" Fortunatly for her we were in the middle of a coffee shop but if we had not been I probably would have told her off. I swore then and there I would never let someone critique my work. (That lasted about 3 months) So I ask Courtney to read my blog and provide me a little feed back of my new creation. Her reply is "I'll email you later" trust me this was not what I wanted to hear from her. I was preparing for the worst possible review, (note to self let's be positive) anyway worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair it gives you something to do but you don't get anywhere by doing it.
I'm posting a copy of her email below, no changes have been made to it you can ask her if you don't believe me.

Hi James,
I had no idea you were a talented writer as well as photographer. Your blog entries are fun, personal and relatable. The water at the river walk looks like glass. How did you take the photo? Court

I never answered her question so I thought it would be appropriate on this post. In my post "Someone to watch over us" I wanted to keep a low ISO (the sensors sensitivity) or you could think of it as the sensitivity of the film, now because of this I was going to need a long exposure. I left the shutter open for 30 seconds so any movement from the water blurred in the picture. Giving the water in the picture a glassy look, it also helped that there was no wind that day. To show another example of this, stay tuned because I'll be posting another picture that needed a long exposure giving the ocean a unique look. I want to thank everyone for being patient with me, soon I'll be home and be able to upload some amazing pictures for you. Keep looking or you can add this site to your reader and you will be notified of my next post.