IT’S SEEMS FITTING NOW that I commented only twice last year in this blog: on the catastrophic February deep freeze and on the death of our beloved Abby. Covid lingered like a foul odor the entire year, of course, but those two experiences more than anything seemed to paralyze my creative energies.
I’ve begun to emerge from that slog by rediscovering and relearning photography, the art and the science of it as well as the creative and intellectual process behind it. I rarely made any images while awaking from my dormancy, but I did a lot of looking and listening and thinking.
I reflected on how and when photography became part of my identity, starting in school with that great old Nikon, my dabbling in sports photography, then later the fusion of nature-art that springs from my love of a good trail. I remembered a point — the point, really, when I was working with the great photography staff of The Dallas Morning News — when photography became less about taking pictures and more about connection.
Now I’m reconnecting.
Despite years of encouragement from friends, family, and colleagues, I’ve always known how my photographs rate. There are so many incredible photographers in the world, and it is only discouraging when I make comparisons, so I try not to. It’s never been about that anyway. Still … my recommitment to this thing called photography has to come with some level of ambition. Besides “better” images (whatever that means), I’m mainly aspiring to an improved creative process and for an enhanced image-capturing experience, whether that’s when I’m in nature or pointing the camera at people and events.
Exploring how to achieve these photography goals has led me to discover some new influences (including Brenda Petrella) and to appreciate even more one who’s always been a mentor (Sandy Marak). Brenda’s online photography school pops with encouragement and enlightenment, and Sandy, besides being one of the nicest people on the planet, is an impassioned photographer who’s taught me so much. I’ve also had the humbling experience of finding out just how much I didn’t know about photography technology — not just about camera gear but also the tools that can boost my creative process and my post-processing. I finally made the all-in commitment to Lightroom and have revisited each piece of my existing gear and identified the new gear I want to help me improve.
Time to leave behind the paralysis — and the analysis — and get out there.