Red: A photo essay
Every so often when I get a chance to take a break from work to focus on making images for me I like to shoot what I see. That ideology is similar to the pervious post “Night Photography: Snow,” that I posted a few nights back. When I first started my career as a photographer I had a lot of these moments. These were the good ol days of just shooting purely for fun and for testing. Testing ideas, locations, types of work, and cameras. I could calculate out all the images I’ve made, all the time I’ve spent making them, but there is not real value in doing that because every time I make an image now, it is a reflection of those moments.
One seemingly colder than usually day in November I took a walk around Northampton, Ma with my Fuji X-Pro 2. This was before I discovered that I could just pop the lens back into place and make all right again with the planes of focus. When I parked the car I grabbed my camera and a spare battery and proceeded to take a walk. I had no plan in place. No set goal or idea of what I would like to photograph. I looked over my should just as the car door shut and I saw this image.
I didn’t see the bullet holes until I was processing the shoot. What I saw was the color red, brilliant and intense. The shadow stood out the most as a dark red image overlaid on the exterior of a defunct dinner. I decided in that moment I was going to shoot the color red. If I saw an object, person, or scene with red, it would be composed in my lens.
This was not an exercise in red. This was not a red car syndrome project. It was, however, an afternoon of walking around and identifying elements around me that I could tie into photographs I had just made. Had I stepped out of the car and saw the color blue or a old bicycle, they could have inspired me just as much as the red shadow crawling up the side of the Diner. When a photographer takes time to un-think and clear their minds to create work just for the purposes of creating, they are free to see, free to produce, free to re-think and see. I can’t say that every image I make inspires the next, but when I take time to make photographs like this, when I have a few hours or a day, or when I travel and shoot, I produce work that will in some way affect my future work. That is the nature of creativity.
Desaturated red brick with strong shadow of a lamp.
Man in red pants
Red awning
Tis the seasons, Mrs. Claus suit
Red books in a store front
Red bags
Red car
Red rugs in a store front
Red shadow on a car
A red prayer
Gumballs
Circles
Man in red walks dog
Man in red walks dog even more
A woman in red coat
Boy with red balloon
UPDATE: Professional Photography: Be careful what you read
As I have said in the past, with my former blogs, I used to do various articles related to photography. Over the past two years I have been busy with numerous projects, clients, and new ventures that blogging has fallen behind. Also, as I have stated, I am going back to the practice of blogging on a more frequent basis. From time to time I go to Google and just enter various words and throw photography into the mix. I am kind of like Rob Dyrdek, when he bings his words on Ridiculousness. I will not for the life of me read any articles on Digital Photography School. In fact, if you are planning to google that right after reading this, or copy and pasted that from this piece, your wasting your time. Trust me, NOTHING good is on that site. When I did read it a few times, many many many years ago, 90% of what I read was incorrect and written by people that didnt know what they are talking about. The same can be applied for Ken Rockwell's blog. He likes to "discuss" cameras. Ken Rockwell likes to tell people people what they should buy. I do not think I have ever seen any of his photography. I certainly have not seen him in any publication that I have read. He made this post about Professional Photography, which I think is a mere rant, joke, an intimate look about how he has NO idea where the photography industry is. I will agree with him that photography can be low paying, but that is when you are starting out, have no idea what you are doing, or no idea how to be a professional photographer. Being a professional means that your entire income is derived from the work that is done. What he does not discuss is having your own studio, building a business, or how to run a business. Instead, his article is geared towards, this is how you do it, but there is nothing in it really. As far as I am concerned, he is unaware of what it means to be a professional. I say that because as a camera hobbyist, he knows how to read reviews and then post them on his blog, knowing that he has a following after many years of spouting Nikon this or that.
UPDATE - - -FroKnowsPhoto this guy is funny and hits the nail on the head about Ken Rockwell. Watch his video. Bit long, but insightful.
If you want to be a professional photographer, shoot a lot, find your niche, build your portfolio, solicit your work, build up a client base, generate invoices, shoot, retouch, and repeat. There are fancy things you can do to become a professional. Once you get to the right level, you'll figure it out. The moral of the story is, make photographs. If you love it, live it, breath it, enjoy it.
