Tuesday (Back) in Texas - An Aha Moment...or Month

First of all, I want to thank Tracey for keeping things rolling here while I have been gone.  I had intended to post while I was on tour in England, but logistics and my schedule made that impossible.  I felt like I was letting my friend down, but she wasn't having any of those feelings from me.  for that, I am eternally grateful!


One of the greatest moments in a teacher's world is when a student has an "Aha moment," that moment when the student's glazed over eyes become crystal clear, something clicks and all of the sudden all of the jumbled pieces of the puzzle fall effortlessly into place.  Witnessing such a moment in one of my students is what keeps me doing what I'm doing.  Recently, I experienced such a moment not from the perspective of a teacher, but rather from that of a student.  I had an "Aha" moment.  I was somewhat surprised by it, but am continuing to savor that moment, doing my best to absorb all that it has to offer me.

This is my fourth year of taking a photo a day.  During the first year, my primary goal was to establish and maintain, what I perceived to be at that time, such a lofty discipline - a photo a day every single day.  Having conquered that, my intention during my second year was to create and establish my own style of photography.  I wanted there to be something about my photos that made them uniquely mine, like when I hear a piece of music by Bach or Debussy, there is no question that I am hearing Bach or Debussy.  Sadly, after two and a half years, I have yet to do this.

Yes, I do tend to photograph certain  subjects - my family, food, Lego; so do lots of other photographers.  I often shoot with my camera set to VIVID creating a somewhat unique color saturation in my photos;  this is only a camera setting and is available to anyone.  I prefer a 4x5 rather than a 4x6 crop; that has nothing to do with a personal style.  These are choices I've made that perhaps contribute to establishing my personal style, but they are not enough; they are not "it.".  There has to be something else.  What is it that creates a unique photograophic style?

My "aha" moment recently came when I realized that a big piece of what creates a photographer's personal style is true passion for what they are photographing.  It doesn't matter what the subject is - people, street scenes, food, Lego, flowers, whatever - we have to love looking at it.  Our job as photographers is to share a uique perspective of whatever it is that stirs up such passion within us.  That is what has been missing in my photos.  For all this time I have been passionate about taking pictures.  This, however, is completely different from being passionate about creating a compelling image of a particular something, a something to which I feel strongly connected, a something in which I see beauty where perhaps others don't, a something where my photograph might offer a perspective not yet seen by others.  Yes, the technical stuff is important, having all those camera settings correct and finding good light, but those things are unnecessary without a subject to photograph.

This brings me to the second part of my "aha" moment...finally discovering what it is that I am drawn to photograph.  I do enjoy portraits.  This was somewhat of a surprise to me because for many years I wanted no people in any of my photos.  I would go out of my way or wait forever to get the shot I wanted free of all humans.  I'm not sure what that was all about.  It's something to be expolored at another time.  Lol!  I now also like to photograph food, another bit of a shock to me.  Photographing food  has forced me out of my comfort zone.  For a long time I wanted nothing to do with photographing food because my attitude (still) is that bad food photography is that worst kind of bad photography.  I feared that I would fall victim to my own harsh judgements and I most certainly did not want that!  My raw technical skills have been challenged and have improved because of photographing food.  Though I find enjoyment in portraiture and food photography, neither of these is where I have found true passion.

On my recent trip to England, I discovered that I love photographing architecture.  At first I thought that these feelings were coming solely from the fact that I was surrounded by amazing cathedrals, structures like nothing we have in the United States.  If that was the case, I was in for a huge let down being that I had only thirteen days in such surroundings.  Upon further reflection, I realize that it is not just the old building to which I am drawn, but rather to their geometry.  Every structure, old or new, has geometry.  I also photographed buildings and bridges while in Pittsburgh last month.  I love all of the the lines and the angles.  The squares and rectangles.  The circles.  The triangles. The convergence of lines and all of these other shapes.  I like searching for and finding a perspective that reveals shapes beyond the obvious.   This is where I now want to focus my attention.  Architecture is the subject with which I want to work to create and establish my personal photographic style.  For now, it is the place where my passion lies.

As I ponder this new revelation,  I find myself saying, "Duh.  Big surprise!"  Why?  When I think back to those dreaded days of high school, I loved geometry.  It was my favorite math class.  Calculus? Not so much.  I am also fascinated by origami, another manifestation of the intrigue of shapes.  My favorite puzzle is Tangrams.  I love piecing quilts and hate actually quilting them.  My newly discovered passion in photography is not much different than my passion in math classes, crafts, or puzzles.  Geometry.  When you add light and shadow to the already fascinating lines and shapes of architectural structures, a whole new world emerges, a world for which I have great respect.

Looking back over my photos from July, I can now see that my "aha" moment really is rather an "aha" month that began with my trip to Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Cityscape

The lines of the Pittsburgh bridges

Reflections on Pittsburgh

As my visit went on, I began focusing on smaller details.

Building on a Building

Skylines

Archi-texture

The modern mirrored buildings and green building practices provided me with some fascinating photo opportunities.  I only wish that I had had more time to spend time photographing this beautiful city.  Unfortunately, I was in Pittsburgh for a conference and my free time was quite limited.

Forty eight hours after returning home from Pittsburgh, we left for almost two weeks in England.  Thankfully, my photography time on that trip was not nearly as limited, and it was during these last few weeks of July that I realized my love of photographing architecture.

I did take some photos of "the big picture"...

Wells Cathedral

Tintern Abbey

Shrine to Apollo at Stourhead Gardens

but, I quickly realized that focusing on less was really more.

Bristol City Hall

from the interior of Tintern Abbey

Berkeley Castle

from the garden at Bristol Cathedral

Ely Cathedral

Bristol Cathedral

I became fascinted with the view through windows...

Tintern Abbey

Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle

Wells Cathedral

Tintern Abbey

...and doors.

Tintern Abbey

Berkeley Castle

St. Mary Redcliffe - Bristol

Chepstow Castle 

Steps.

Wells Cathedral - leading to the Chapter House

Exterior Spiral Stairs at Cambridge University

Sometimes the architecture just provides a beautiful backdrop for another subject.

Lavendar at St. Mary Redcliffe

The Quire at Bristol Cathedral

I
 really don't like choosing a favorite of anything, but as I continue to scour the hundreds of photos that I took during the month of July, there are many that I really like, but one continues to jump out at me.  I suspect that only a part of this dominance is due to the technical aspects of the photo itself.  The real meaning is in the feelings and emotions that I experienced in this place and the photo's ability to draw me right back into them.

The Magic and Mystery of Tintern Abbey

I treasure every moment that I was away, but I am glad to be home.  Obviously Dallas does not provide the same types of architecture as Medieval England; it does, however, have many opportunities for architectural photography.  They are just different.  

It is not a city's or a building's job to look interesting or intriguing or beautiful; it is the photographer's job to find those aspects and perspectives in what's there and convey beauty and intrigue in our photos.

My hope is that each of you will findthe thing or things that you love to photograph, find a passion that makes your internal light shine brightly.  And then, snap away to your heart's content!

Thanks for reading.

Kris