See what I see...

Driving through Red Deer on Thursday evening I caught a gorgeous sunset and regretted that I did not have my cell cam with me. It was the perfect image unfolding over field of evenly growing grass. These types of pictures are gifts where a photographer has little to do but press the button on his machine and let the lenses do the rest.

I find myself to have been fortunate to go through my photo training on the tail end of the traditional era. Yeah I had to slave away in the darkroom hour upon hour in relentless pursuit of that perfect image. I remember shooting on a classic manual Pentax SLR and wondering if everything was in working order while I tried to equally focus on capturing a worthy image. No instant gratification here. It could be days before you could view what you had shot. I often wondered when that magical moment would happen when I’d be in the zone and earn my “eye”. It took longer then I expected and I still struggle to create relevant images.

These days I consider myself somewhat of a rebel in the sense that amongst the onslaught of technology laden digital rigs that anyone with money to blow out their collective asses can buy; I’m using the equivalent of a modern day Brownie to capture my stuff. Yes my Photoshop experience is a huge help in making my finds presentable in my Facebook albums but I rely mainly on traditionally based aspects of the software to tweak the basics of levels and curves. No fancy plugins or effects here. You can almost smell that lovely oily and eggy essence of my sepia shots as if they were just pulled out of the chemical bath in a darkroom.

And here are my favorite shots from what I’ve been working on for the past little bit:



This shot was taken when I first moved to Alberta. I was dealing with a lot of doubt, fear, and loss in my life and seeing this scene unfold outside my study window gave me a moment of pure peace.



The first shot I took artistically with the sepia setting on my cell phone camera. Even in the instant preview sans imaging correction I knew that I had stumbled on a new personal creative avenue. I love this Christian iconography that still bears deep spiritual meaning to me.

This shot draws some sharp criticism from many of my Facebook friends. And I welcome it all. Far from being homosexual I see it as an image of self-confrontation which can be an exhausting experience but necessary for one to grow. There is indeed an underlying sensual aspect to the shot. But for those who seek real intimacy the realization should be that in order to be this close to someone else you need to be whole within yourself first.

I really did not want to go to Bently with my father. I knew that it would be another obscure church and it seemed as if my Dad had been laxed in his preparation for his sermon. I was in no good Sabbath mood. However when I walked into the church I saw this shot and took it quickly. The balance is simple yet elegant.