Patterns

cafetables
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

There are patterns everywhere. Nature is filled with patterns. We build everything using 3 basic shapes, square, rectangle, triangle. These create their own patterns. Look for patterns from above, below, the side, there will be one.

clock, Museum de Orsy, Paris

clock
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Paris is a wonderful city to photograph in. The old buildings, the parks, the museums, the people. But you can say the same thing about Bluffton, Beaufort, New York, anyplace in the world. There are photographs in every place, you just have to look for them

Defining Oneself

birdofparidise
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

If I had to define myself as a photographer, it would probably be as a landscape photographer, though I take photographs of flowers, building, people, nudes, etc. Yet I think I approach each object, view, etc., as a landscape. A relative once asked me why I took photographs of nudes. I told him that to me it was just another landscape.

flowers before falls

flowersbeforefalls
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Sometimes a photograph just is laying there right in front of you. This was at Yosemite, we were looking at the falls when I saw the flowers in front. I squatted down and took the picture.

Palm

DSC_0009
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

I find myself shooting almost entirely in the raw mode. I've read articles that say it takes too long and that jpeg is fine, but if you take pride in your photographs you should shoot in the best mode possible, and take the time in Photoshop to make the photograph as good as you can.

There's always a picture

DSC_0011
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

While shopping with my wife for furniture for our new house, she was in a store looking at clothes and I was outside walking around the shopping center looking for pictures. I found this one, green seeds and a red flower. There is always a picture, sometimes you have to find it, sometimes it finds you.

heron

heron
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Moved down to South Carolina, near Hilton Head. This is one of the birds that hang out nearby. Someone might say to me "How can you take that picture?" My answer would be "How can you not take that picture?"

Falling in love with a photo

wall-beaufort
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

At the camera club that I belonged to, people were always saying that ou shouldn't fall in love with one of your photographs, because then you couldn't be objective. And If you weren't objective you might submit the "photograph you loved" to the monthly judging and it would score low, as if a score justifies taking a photograph. I like showing my images but I found the monthly judging way too subjective with the judges bringing their own baggage to the judging. Even though my pictures scored well, in the last year of my membership I didn't submit any pictures (I didn't quit in anger, I am moving to a different state, over 13 hours away. The reasons were the above, and also because I didn't feel like printing large images (11x14 or 13x19) for judging as large images always scored higher with the judges.
To get back to the subject I digressed from, what's wrong with loving a photograph. You always be your first and most important judge. You are picking the image to print and display, they should always generate a feeling of love in you, otherwise why take the photograph and then print it.

It's not that I'm an early riser, I just didn't get to sleep last night

boatfogfingerlakes
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Sometimes you just have to get up early. Get up before the fog lifts, the sun gets too high in the sky. There are less cars, people, etc. to get in the way of the photograph. People tend to move slower, more deliberate, so you can see a shot develop.

The Right Moment

abandoned-store-beaufort
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

When to take a picture? Cartier-Bresson spoke of the "decisive moment" but is there a decisive moment when taking a picture of a flower, a landscape? Maplethorpe took fantastic pictures of flowers but they were studio work and could have been done at any time of day or night. Walker Evans took wonderful pictures of decrepit buildings down South, and though the lighting was definitely perfect, you could hardly call it a "decisive moment." When a picture feels right, take it. If It doesn't, look around, walk away, come back, try a different position. Above all, take the photograph when you want to take it.

The Mind's Eye

Tybee-Island-Lighthouse-1
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

In meditation I just sit and count my breath. I count my breaths, in 1, out 2, until I reach 10, then start over again. Sitting as still as I can, not moving. If I itch I don't scratch, if my arm aches, I don't rub it. If we did this before we photograph, if we still the mind and not worry about the pictures we took in the past or the pictures we will take in the future buth only think of the photograph we are taking now, we can concentrate on this picture. Slow down, get the rhythm of the moment, look around, get the photograph you can get now. This moment won't come again. Don't be concerned that it isn't the right time of day, the golden light, even if the light isn't right, you are not here at sunrise or sunset. You are here now, you may not be here later. Take the photograph, come back if you can, but enjoy the moment now.

A Photograph

112_1225
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

What is a photograph? Is it a collection of crystals, or a collection of pixels? Is it a memory that we want to cherish or something we would love to forget? Is it abstract or concrete? Can we identify what is in the photograph or is it undefineable? Does it matter? Is a good picture of a bad thing good, is a bad picture of a good thing bad? Is a great picture the work of an artist or the engineer who designed the camera? When we take a photograph are we capturing the moment or expressing an emotion? When a person views a photograph it is through his own lens, not the lens of the photographer, carrying his own likes and dislikes, his history, how he feels at the moment, and worrying about what he will do it the future. We can not please everyone who looks at our photographs, we can only please ourselves.

The Photographic "Eye"

lumspond
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

A friend once told me that her boyfriend could have the best camera, be in a great location, and still produce boring snapshots. She said I had the "eye" for photography. Comparing my pictures to his, she was right, he did take boring pictures. What is this "eye" she was talking about. I think the "eye" is just a desire to take good photographs, to look a little further, to turn away from the "postcard shot" and see what else there is to photograph. You can still take the postcard shot, but look around while you are there, try a different angle, crop the picture in the camera differently, go outside your comfort zone, experiment.

Perception

blurredreeds2
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

When we look at an object we assigned it a name that we have been taught represents the object, thus making communications with other people easier. But maybe that name, that word, limits us as photographers. Working from a preconception of what the object is, rather than approaching that object as something new, something we haven't experienced before, and capture it with fresh eyes. Maybe if we try to experience the flower, the chair, the vista, the sunset, as something new, we will actually create a new way of seeing it.

scull-oars

scull-oars
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Photographer Haiku

Poised photographer
Is this the moment or not
Snap goes the shutter

Map-of-the-Known-World2_1

Map-of-the-Known-World2_1
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Even monkeys fall out of trees-Japanese proverb
Photography is an art and art involves success and failure. If you don't try something you automatically fail to do it. At least if you try something, you have the possibility of success. With the new digital SLRs, you can see if your attempt translated into a successful photograph of what you had in mind (allowing for the fact that you are hampered by the smallness of the LED screen. Also because there is no film to develop, 2 other things come into play in the success equation, lower cost (film cost about $8 or $9 for a roll of 36 and another $8 or so for developing) therefore inspiring you to exdperiment more, and the quick turnaround time so you can see if your thought translated in to a good picture. If you don't climb the tree you can't fall down, but you also can not reach the top either.

leavesflower

leavesflower
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Did the Buddha ever have to scratch his ass? When a person meditates using zazen meditation he is to sit still, something that is difficult for us humans to do. Some part of your body will itch, and you will want to scratch it. But it teaches you to be still and observe, you just might see something you would miss otherwise. You don't always have to be at one of the scenic wonders of the world to take a photograph you are proud of, in fact you never have to be.
If only you could hear the sound of snow - `Hakuin Ekaku

leavesflower

leavesflower
Originally uploaded by fauselr.