Sauvie Island, late Fall

I thought I'd post some of the shots I took about a week ago out on Sauvie Island - probably autumn's last gasp around here. We took a couple of long hikes, and at times the trails were so covered over with fallen yellow leaves that we were literally slogging through them. And, so typically Oregon, just gray skies and lightly falling rain. I love this time of year!

The past couple months have been fun for me, as I've given myself some challenges to get out of the studio and just pick up the camera and start looking. Actually, seeing. I think it's been good exercise, and has helped to re-charge the creative batteries back in the studio, too. Plus, many of my friends have been sharing their photos with me here, and that's been a terrific joy for me.

I'm going to be continuing our discussion about looking at photographs, and how we go about presenting our work. This has been a wonderful, challenging direction this blog has taken, and I continue to look forward to your input. And your photos. Everything I read and see from you inspires the heck out of me, and makes me realize just how high the bar is out there for truly creative, beautiful photography.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Dave        dhuttphoto@comcast.net

For Discussion ~ How Do We Look At Photographs?

I brought this up on my last post, but really wanted to revisit this topic in greater detail. Are we cheating ourselves out of fully enjoying and appreciating photography? When we were using film and paper, everything had to be printed and we were used to the idea that we would visit galleries to see beautifully printed photos. That experience could be a very moving one, as photographers took great care in making and presenting their work.

I have always thought, as the son of an artist, that viewing any artwork - a painting, a sculpture, a photograph - was a most intimate experience, forged by the necessary connection between artist and viewer. The artifact we look at is directly from the artist's hand. Are we getting the same experience from a computer monitor?

As a photographer who has exhibited - and loves nothing more than to see photos exhibited - I think we're missing some intangible, but very real qualities that don't express well with a computer. Things like the texture of the paper, or the size of the image itself: is it on a grand scale that invites awe, or something small and delicate that draws the viewer inward? Art demands our attention, not just a fleeting glance.
Don't get me wrong, I shoot exclusively digital and am delighted at the potential for sharing images that it offers. These wonderful black & whites, recently made by my brother Jim Hutt, are a perfect example of that. But I'm hoping that we take time to develop our printing skills, taking advantage of the incredible media that's available to us, and taking the time to visit and encourage the galleries that are exhibiting photographs.
Your thoughts?  Mine do tend to ramble.....

We're Still Seeing Red ~

Here's a photo taken by my 13 - year old niece Becca with her mom's new Nikon. She's just discovering her interest in photography, and took our "seeing red" challenge quite to heart! I wasn't that much older than her when I first starting taking pictures with my dad's old rangefinder Yashica, so I'm excited to see her go at it!

Here's an image my sister calls simply "cool red wall", which she took while out shooting with my niece. This is what I love about photography, and about giving ourselves artistic projects that focus our attention to details we otherwise miss while going about our daily lives. Seeing art in the world around us is the ultimate human talent, and we don't always need a camera for that. But capturing it is sublime!

I love this old barn image that Becca took: the warm tone, the rough textures, and the old tree that's chewing up the roof. You have to wonder how many people go past this without ever seeing it. Becca, I hope you continue to use your eyes and your camera (or your mom's!) to photograph your world. It's inspiring for all of us who practice this craft!

Wholmer, redux

I posted this image by Will Wholmer a couple weeks ago, but that particular file was pretty low-res and just didn't do the shot justice. It's such an incredible photo that I wanted to see it here with the quality it deserves. I thought about it today as I drove under this beautiful bridge on my way to shoot some of the Oregon fall scenery on Sauvie Island ~ hopefully, some images to follow! But it also got me thinking about how we view photographs these days, and whether it's on a blog or Facebook, I just don't think the computer monitor gives us as good an experience as seeing the same image beautifully printed and properly displayed. I'd love to see this gorgeous photo of Will's up in a gallery someday. I'd pay to see it. So would you.

Red Round 3

We're still getting some interesting submissions for our "Red" challenge, and it's wonderful to see how creative people respond to artistic challenges. It's great to just get out and shoot, and for me, it's just as great to sit back and look at others' photos. Here's a couple from my big bro Jim.

He took these red-themed photos in Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado. Accompanying him was our 13-year old niece Becca, who is turning out to be  a wonderful photographer as well. We're going to see some of her photos here soon, I think! Jim, like me, is a Canon shooter, and these were taken with his 40D. I really love his style of shooting and printing, which makes me think he just has a lot of fun with it. The Joy of Photography shouldn't be only a book title, it should be the way we approach our craft very day.

And that got me to reminiscing about my earlier days working with digital photography! I took this shot way, way back when... with a Nikon 995. Remember those? They were sweet indeed. I took this shot of a flaming red Japanese maple in my front yard in Portland, and wondered how it might have held up after all this time...

I hope you're holding up well after all this time, too!  

D

Viewers' Choice!

Alright, this should be fun! Here's the Red photo that Whitney shot just yesterday ~ and I have to say, it's beautiful! I love having these self-imposed "assignments"; it really brings out the creative mojo that we sometimes miss in our day-to-day shooting. And we're leaving the voting up to our friends here in the blogosphere - - what do you think?

This one below is mine. I like it. I like Whitney's better.

And by all means, this light-hearted informal contest is not over. It never really is, because it's something to continually work on. And you guys out there: send something over! Not only do you get the benefit of exercising your creative muscle in the company of your fellow photographers, but there might -- just might -- be a coffee in it for you.  Can't tell me you can pass that up.....

Let me know which one you like the most!