Taking Pictures, Sharing Pictures, and Growing

065/365 - 04-Jun-09 - Rainy Places
Originally uploaded by Seton Droppers

What is it about taking pictures? And why do I share them?

I have never really figured this out. I know I love several aspects of taking pictures. Sometimes it is simply the technical act of capturing the picture in the first place. I love it when technology does something neat. There has always been magic in seeing something in front of me and attempting to "catch" it, and later sharing what I have captured. There is transformation as well. When I was in seventh or eighth grade art class we had our first lessons in darkroom technique. What fun to process our film, then project the image through the enlarger, and create the print. Of course the alchemy of watching the print develop, the stop bath, the fixer, and the washing were important.

Today I have gone all digital. Being a good geek I love watching my computer churn for a while to produce some amazing new creation. My work life has been technology. Filling the "pipes" to the Internet and web. Can I find an application that completely fills the technology I am charged with caring for? Disks, fiber optics, data bases, CPU cycles -- Watch the application chew them up. Movies are great places to wonder about technology. Exactly how many computers did they use to create the latest Star Trek movie, for example?

OK, so what does all this have to do with photography? The answer, I think, is now I am not satisfied simply taking the picture -- The picture needs to "say" something. Now I am not talking about technology. I am not talking about something I can write down a list of rule that make it work. I just don't always get it. I see something that attracts my attention, I attempt to capture that, and I try to print it and share it and it looks just, well, not "special". At least to me. Some of you disagree with the "not special", you tell me about how the image speaks to you, or you find it an interesting and new way of seeing, or that it captures the moment. Thank you. I enjoy the encouragement, perhaps more than you know.

But I am still not satisified. I have images and ideas that are fighting to get out and I simply can't figure out what questions to ask, how to capture the magic, what makes the picture. And it is even harder when I am using the Web. Back in art class there were people and we talked. Well some of us/you tried while others (me for example) built the habit of hiding in a corner and not risking hearing what you would say. So here I am in my little world, taking pictures, trying to biuld some friendships where I am willing to trust the comments and criticism without crying (too much) and improving. But I just can't quite seem to do it since every says Trust Yourself. I will keep working, but can I also find a place to get encouragement and help figuring out what I am?

Photography or Info Sec - Oh Wait I CAN Have It All!

A couple months ago on my Flickr stream I mentioned I had created a "sketchbook" and I intend to create a formal photography portfolio. I did this after a discussion with a photographer friend and the realization that I really do love photography.

I am having a great time at work as well. I am working for my employer as the in-house Information Security professional, have successfully achieved industry certification in that field, and enjoy working on projects and further study in the field.

I find it interesting how my mind works with things I do. Having made the photography statement I proceeded to run a couple different scenarios in my head imagining my life as a "photographer", thinking how much better it would be to do something I love for a career. While I was happily imagining myself making money with photography I also found myself taking fewer pictures and not always getting very excited about picture possibilities.

And, as it has a habit of doing, "Life" invaded my mind as well. This spring and summer Patty and I have spent a little time thinking about The Future and taking stock of where we are and what our resources are. Do we have any? Well, yes, of course. Do we have everything we want? No. (Does anybody?) Do we have most or all of what we need? Yes. But working, for more than a few years, is definitely part of our future.

So, you ask, where is all of this going, anyway? (If your not asking I sure am...)

Well, here is what I realized in the past couple of weeks: I CAN have it both ways! I have many wonderful examples of professionals successfully enjoying both professional careers AND significant artistic lifestyles, living all around me. A month or so ago I ran across an article in The Washington Post about a very well respected local Jazz combo that was playing one last gig at the club it had been playing in for the past twenty or more years. Why the breakup? Three of the members are all retiring from successful professional careers and moving out of town. Add the amateur choruses, church choirs, and other groups. And that is just the musicians. When I am visiting work sites there are wonderful collections of paintings, photographs, sculpture, and other art on the walls and in display cases, created by full-time employees, people that love art and love working.

So here is my new plan, a new scenario: Go to work, take pictures, and enjoy life a whole lot! I DO plan on becoming a better photographer, and I DO plan to improve "Information Security", and no, I don't currently have a plan to give one up and only do the other. (But I will most likely always think the "other" is "so much better" when I am in the middle of a long, boring, assignment in the first, no matter which I am in.