The COVID-19 pandemic, as of this writing, has been with us for a year and a quarter. Leaving all politics aside and following health guidelines I chose not to become a statistic…enough said.
The garage is clean, it’s now Spring and I’ve mostly kept the weeds under control in the garden. But what to do during this time to stay creative? I chose to learn more at home by reading about the art and craft of photography. There is also a barge full of tutorials on the internet ranging from beginner to advanced techniques. I’ve followed mostly four photographers that offered information, tools, and techniques that I could apply to my approach to photography; namely, Blake Rudis, Matt Kloskowski, Hudson Henry, and Joe Brady. They are so kind to share their wealth of information and have given me many ideas of how to realize my vision in post processing and things to consider once I get back in the field.
I used to process negatives and make proof prints in the darkroom when I got back from the field. Now, I download and review RAW files on the screen. I will not speak for other photographers, but I tend to "cherry pick" the best images for further processing and printing. Thus, I have a serious backlog of proof sheets that were processed from the darkroom days, as well as folders full of digital images from 2007 to the present. I realized that I could use this opportunity to review all of the images and see what develops, as we say.
This time to reflect on old images has been an important part of my photographic journey. It has given me time to really think about why I took a particular photograph. Was it the subject, a feeling, contrast, angle, time of day, light, texture, a fleeting moment’s grab shot, or something studied and composed? Did I have the final print in mind? Most of the time I did. Sometimes while I was developing or editing, the final image turned out either better or quite different than expected. In any case, while putting these two new “pandemic galleries” together, the time spent with the images has let me reflect on all of the wonderful opportunities that I’ve had creating them, from my original experiences and thoughts about the photograph, through to the final prints and selected images in these galleries.
You are welcome to browse through and enjoy my two new galleries titled “Pandemic Projects-Monochrome” and “Pandemic Projects-Color”. With thanks to Blake, Matt, Hudson, Joe, and most of all to my wife whose understanding and support has been invaluable during this time of self-imposed isolation.
Return to Galleries here.