#marc levoy

So, this coursework from Marc Levoy’s lectures is to intentionally take a “bad” photograph. As a writer, one of the principles I take to heart is “tools, not rules,” and I’ve taken that to heart. The idea is that there are a ton of rules that go into just about any craft. But true mastery of those principles lies in having enough understanding of them to know how to violate them for a positive effect. A run-on sentence might be distracting, but it might also be the internal rambling thoughts of a pending anxiety attack. Sentence fragments, likewise, can impart a quick pace, like half-caught details in the middle of frenetic action. This is where craft becomes artistry, when the creator is more concerned about creating an emotion instead of simply communicating an idea.

I’ve been taking opportunities here and there to explore this when I’ve had the opportunity. One of the elements of good composition is achieving critical focus, and in order to violate that, I’d have to rely on other strengths in the image. And the strength I chose was color. And what better subject for imparting colors is there than the changing leaves?

So, this is what I came up with. I think the strong diagonal orange and reds against the light sky blue lend the image some structure, but I’m not entirely happy about the limbs in the background. I don’t know. Maybe it works.

For context, here’s the same subject with the same processing applied, except I focused on the closest leaf. The aperture is wide open, so the depth of field is razor thin, and I actually sort of like this shot more.

Having the context there makes the out-of-focus areas have more meaning, but it draws attention away. It’s certainly something worth thinking about.

While I was at it, I grabbed another blurry shot of dead leaves on the ground. It might make a decent background.

Right now, my wrist hurts and my back hurts, but I’ve finally finished preparing for a little project. A little about myself: I’m Burnnie Holliday, and I have a small part-time business called BLH Photography. And no, I really don’t have any idea why I chose the username “steamingdivot.” Yes, it’s from Pretty Woman. No, I haven’t watched that movie in years. But I also hate coming up with usernames, and I have a touch of self-deprecating humor. I’m a photographer and a writer, and I like to think of myself as something of an artist.

With my interest in photography, I’m always looking at different photography-related things online. One of those things is Ted Forbes’ YouTube channel Art of Photography. I started following his channel because of a very popular video he once posted called “Nobody Cares About Your Photography.” I liked the way he addressed the subject, so I wound up following his channel. More recently, on October 17 2016, he posted a long-awaited announcement about photo assignments. The way he’s setting up these assignments is that he’s asking people to create a Tumblr for followers to share their photography, but also get a physical notebook to keep those photos in as well.

Cool. I like that idea. It even got me thinking about how to create a physical portfolio to take to my clients. Now, at first, I had no idea how a notebook would work. Not even thinking about the best ways to make the photos stick to notebook paper or the fact that I’m a stickler about good notebooks and good pens, but printed photos have a thickness. Putting a bunch of photos in a notebook is going to make that notebook thicker. So, I had to figure out a way to accommodate that.

Well, I have a solution.

If anybody is wondering, this is what I bought:

Discbound notebook. I got a Tūl notebook from Office Depot, but there are other kinds out there.

Large 2″ discs

Dot grid paper

Discbound hole punch (the most expensive part of this endeavor, but I can use it for my business later)

Black cardstock

Archive-safe craft glue

Once I dialed in the right spacing, I punched out all 50 sheets of cardstock (hence the pain), used the clear covers from the notebook, and put a sheet of dot grid between each sheet of cardstock. It’s not incredibly clear above — I sort of snapped that shot really fast right before posting this — but there’s a good bit of room for it to grow. And if it gets too thick, well, I can take unused sheets out later. The dot grid sheets then get glued to the back of the cardstock, so it all turns as one page. Neat, right? So, during the course of this project, I’m also going to see if this will be a viable method, or if I’m going to need to figure out something to look a little more professional for the business

This comes near the same time that I’ve also been looking at the freely-offered digital photography course from Marc Levoy. He has optional “homework” that may get interspersed here, but not in the notebook. And if other little photo challenges come up, I might use that as well. I’ll create tags for all of them as I go so it organizes cleanly.

So, now that I’ve built my notebook, the first assignment is to gather 15-20 photos of things that I love in order to establish a body of work. Ted mentions getting shots which are “brand new,” but the thing is, I take pictures of things I love pretty constantly. Also, my wife and daugher are sort of away for the weekend. So, I’m going to pull some of the things I’ve done recently and use some of those. They’ll be posted here once I’ve selected them and had a chance to shoot more.