Paul Lester Photo

Hooker Falls – Thinking about it…
On another post, Intern said:

back to … I want to learn photography .. or give it up.. My interest has really declined.

I know that from time to time an interest will wane. I used to bowl a lot. For years, I bowled so much, I mean, 100 games per week plus 5 leagues. During that time, I took a hiatus from photography. In all honesty, I can’t believe how much time I took off. Sure, I still took the requisite family photos when we went on vacation, but other than that, my cameras remained dormant for many years. I guess that I could only support one obsession at a time. Add to that a new wife and 2 kids and, well, I was very busy. One of my friends remarked about the end of my bowling career. He said it was like the scene from Forest Gump where he took off running and ran across the entire country, everyone was supporting him, etc. and then one day decided that he was tired of running and that was it! It happened to me with bowling that way. I just quit. I guess that I had a certain number of turns in my mind/body, and when I hit that number, the interest died.

Point of no return

Shortly after I dropped my bowling obsession, I picked up the camera again and started having some fun. I returned back to my 35 mm film cameras, purchased a view camera, played with that for a while, then purchased my first digital camera having a whopping 3 megapixels, that was back in 2003, I believe. It’s done nothing but escalate since then. It has turned back into a full fledged, all absorbing hobby! I take my camera nearly everywhere. I’m getting better though, notice that I said ‘nearly’. So, after a long hiatus, it’s been four strong years and slows no signs of slowing.

Success!

Regarding Intern’s statement: Getting past all of the technical details, such as how to use shutter priority, or manual, for example, allows you to be more creative with your camera. Using these modes will not make you more creative, but it will give you some idea of what you can do with them. When you get an idea, you’ll know, technically what to do. The camera will not be an obstacle. Also, you might try varying your subjects, location, time of day, whatever just to keep things fresh. If you don’t feel like shooting, don’t. Perhaps you could sit quietly and just observe with or without the camera. I like to sit an watch sometimes.

Vera & Isaura – At play

Personally, until March, I shot almost exclusively landscapes, now it’s almost exclusively people, but in reality, it’s whatever catches my eye. I have no constraints anymore. The camera has become a tool to record my life, or at least my version of it. I’ve been doing it so long that the technical aspect is second nature and I don’t even give it a thought, but it is a passion, so it’s no big deal to shoot nearly every day. My camera travels with me to and from work. There’s always something of interest because I’m interested in most things, I guess.

To help our friend out, how do you keep it fresh? Does your desire to shoot ever wane? How long did it take you to get over the technical details? Any advice?

Regarding the above pictures. This is not recommended practice! Several people die every year on these seemingly low (20 ft) waterfalls. This gentleman was fortunate in his dives. He took the plunge 3 times. I took these pictures yesterday on our day trip to Hooker Falls, which is located in Dupont State Forest in Cedar Mountain, NC, about 120 miles west of Charlotte. I plan to return in October with my friends from the Jekyll Island Workshop to catch some fall colors.

How much of art can be taught? Can any of it?

Thinking back of the 27 years, or so, that I’ve wielded a camera, I have taken 3 courses having to do with photography. I have read a number of books, all of which start to look exactly the same after a short while. I’ve also read a number of good essays, among my favorites: Letting go of the Camera (Brooks Jenson), On being a photographer (Bill Jay), Art & Fear (Ted Orland).

Regarding the courses, it all started with NYIP, the New York Institute of Photography home study course. Back in the day, before the Internet or digital cameras (yes kids, there was such a time!), I would have to do my assignment, develop and print the assignment, mail it off to New York, then wait to get my critique and rating sheet back via snail mail. It was a fun time full of anticipation. The instructors were very helpful and always kind. My photography grew by leaps and bounds. It was during this time that I was conquering the technical aspect of photography and learning the aesthetics. The NYIP also helped with aesthetics by providing compositional guidelines, etc. It was very valuable. That was circa 1982. I don’t know how long it took me to finish the course, but it took several months, each one of them joyous.

Fast forward ahead to 2006, some 24 years later. In September of 2006, I took my first workshop: Light, Place, and the Grand Landscape. The workshop consisted of a mix of individuals, some were fairly new to photography, some not so new. Technically, I would say that I was advanced. Aesthetically, I would say that I already had my own style. So, regarding photography, I got very little out of it in the way of learning. I did, however, get to go to a nice place, meet nice people, and find an instructor whom I really liked, Craig Tanner. Now, some of those same people are coming to North Carolina for a reunion of sorts. We’ll be photographing the fall color on the Blue Ridge Parkway in October.

The next workshop didn’t take me nearly so long to attend. I attended The Next Step Workshop, again with Craig, in March of 2007. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 5 months already. In this workshop I learned nothing about the technical aspect, but red-lined in the spiritual department and in pushing my limits and letting go. This workshop was tough, in a way, because it caused you to think outside of the box, let go of control, and just ‘be’ while photographing. I can say that this was a life altering workshop. I was already headed down this path, but this workshop came at the right time, as all things do.

So, those are the only bits of training that I’ve had through the years. I wonder, does school training, such as earning a Fine Arts degree, offer any advantages? Can an art curriculum, which seems to teach you the ‘right’ way to do art, be valuable since art is such an intensely personal thing? Given that most university degrees are about 2 years of ‘well roundedness (get the money!)’ and 2 years of study on your major, can 2 solid years of art appreciation, art theory, etc. be worthwhile for the artist? I imagine that it can, but I don’t imagine that it makes him/her a better artist. Studying basketball won’t make you a better player, playing it will.

As Paul Butzi said: Art is a verb. I’m inclined to agree. It’s not something that you sit and listen to some guy drone on about, it’s something that you do! Sure, there are useful things that a university, or school environment, can teach, such as how to run a business, but I doubt that art is one of them.

In the end I think that Art is one of those undefinable things. You can recognize it, enjoy it, and love it, but you cannot define it. As no one has been able to define it, I doubt that anyone can teach it. You just have to do it. You need to be as a child: non analytical, fully in the moment, and just full of joy.