9/29/10

On beauty.

In college, I modeled for an art class for a few days. Calm down, I was clothed; they wanted instrumentalists.

One day one of the students mentioned an article they had read on Thomas Kinkade (you know, the "painter of light") and the professor, Dr. Cameron, just about fell over with disdain. He was everything that was wrong with popular art. He had no intrinsic creativity. People liked his work because it was easy to like. And so on and so forth.

Of course I was agog. It's okay not to like his work, it is a bit overly sentimental, but to hate it? And with so much vigor? It wasn't until a few years later, when I began to see the trends in publishing that leaned heavily toward marketing and zeitgeist as opposed to artistry and inspiration, that I could understand her fervor.

However, is it possible to be a modern artist and still admit that Kinkade's paintings are beautiful? Let's leave the postmodern dialogues about the subjectivity of beauty for another day; are his paintings void of value in today's ever-increasingly realist art scene and therefore void of value at all?

When it comes to art that I create or enjoy, I like for it to be beautiful. Like, unapologetically Classical/Baroque beautiful. Music, art, prose, photography - must be beautiful. That doesn't mean that I can't or haven't enjoyed art of different or starkly realistic aesthetics. But at the end of the day, I need beauty.

People like Dr. Cameron--academics--ultimately control which artistic philosophy makes it into the history books. Don't be surprised if, years down the line, you read an article in Time magazine that derides Mr. Kinkade as a proven hack, though you distinctly remember plenty of people buying and loving his paintings. And if, at the end of the day, you get a nagging idea that truly beautiful art gives you a feeling that nothing academic, nothing in the galleries, can.

9/23/10

Biltmore.

Though the Biltmore Estate (castle) is in North Carolina, I didn't include it in my week of NC photos because, you know, things had to be narrowed down. But then a fellow blogger mentioned in a recent post that she had been to the Biltmore and...well...I couldn't stop myself.

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No one is allowed to take pictures inside the estate - which is a maaaaajor, super-duper bummer - so it's kind of something you just have to travel to Asheville to see. There is an official pictorial guide that you can purchase with the history of the house and George Vanderbilt and his family, but I think it's one of those things where it's only truly fascinating once you've been there.

Anyway, there are gardens and ponds and trails and pagodas and a grand vista of Vanderbilt's vast acreage, which in his day stretched to the Pisgah mountains in the distance. There's more than enough to photograph on the grounds to keep you happy, and inside, well, you just have to flex your mind's camera. :)

9/22/10

Failures.

In the course of a photography hobby or career, one is bound to have some pretty awkward, disappointing, or appalling experiences. I figured, just to keep myself honest (since I've accomplished so much already, obviously), I'd detail a few of my own here.

Over the summer my mom had a dinner soiree for her foundation, and I volunteered to photograph the evening. Though the ballroom at the Hilton was lovely, the speakers podium was set up against floor-to-ceiling windows giving a view of downtown. There was no way to photograph the speakers without them being seriously backlit or shown at an angle that obscured their face. Then, I failed to utilize a fast enough shutter speed (still lots of learning left to do at that point, folks...) so most of the photographs of people had motion blur. It was NOT the collection of photos I was hoping it would be. I'm still trying to get over it.

When I was scoping out Spanish Lake park for photographic opportunities, I drove around for a tiny bit to get a feel of the size of the place, and then headed back to find a parking spot. I took a side road that I thought would lead me to a parking lot entrance, but it didn't. So, I continued driving thinking surely it would let me out somewhere rational at some point. Then I started noticing all the old people walking, the bikers, the mothers with strollers. Yup. I had inadvertently driven onto a trail. Mortified, I just kept driving, thinking surely it had to end soon, but it didn't. Then I got stuck behind a biker going 5 mph who couldn't hear me behind him because of his headphones. Eventually I came to a bridge that I knew I couldn't cross lest I wanted to end up on the news, so I turned around and drove slowly all the way back. Humiliation is a strong word, but the mistake alone was bad enough; the way the people on the trail were looking at me was worse. I didn't go back for a week, paranoid that someone would recognize my face or my car.

This spring I was out capturing pictures of the spring blossoms, and I wanted to find this crazy tree I had passed many times during the course of my work at a former job. I think it was one of those trees the parks department implores people not to prune or clip because they don't know what they're doing and the tree ends up looking apocalyptic. So, I parked across the street and up just a bit, and got out to snap literally two pictures. Immediately this lady who was eavesdropping on her porch down the way yelled, "Excuse me! Excuse me!" I assumed, for my own sake, that she was talking to some boys that were standing on the corner. Snap, snap. As I got back in the car, the owner of the mangled tree emerged from her house, phone in hand, and stood and stared at me. I peeled off. Seriously, I thought the cops were going to show up at my apartment. I will never photograph in a neighborhood again.

Even though I mentioned returning to the Cathedral Basilica to take more photographs, I never posted any new ones, frankly because all of the joy was sucked out of the day. How? Well, after taking tons of photos and sitting down on a pew to take a creative break, I realized that by opting to leave my purse in the car--in the trunk, actually--I had forgotten to put my keys in my camera bag. That's a horrible feeling. I had no job and no money, and it was going to cost a LOT to call a locksmith. So I ended up calling my dad, and he had to drive a good twenty miles to come get me, take me twenty miles back to my apartment to get my spare car key, go BACK to the cathedral, and then drive home. He was a really good sport about it. I. Was. Pissed. (But thanks, Dad!)

There was that time I went to a concert and didn't realize there was a much better setting on my camera I should have been using until, oh, the encore. And the time I drove way out of my way to photograph some ducks only to find out that ducks don't like people, so it was pretty pointless without a telephoto lens. Or the time I begged my mom to let me photograph the riverfront fireworks on the Fourth from one of the big windows in her office building, only to realize that my sad little point and shoot was not up to the task. Disappointing times, those were.

Well. We all have stories. Some of us more than others...seriously, be glad the Spanish Lake debacle didn't happen to you.

9/20/10

Time-lapse highway.

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I NEED to perfect this technique. The hardest part will be getting safely to a highway overpass and not freaking out about some shady character coming up behind me, LOL. Guess I should bring a friend.

I took these photos while walking back from the balloon glow.

9/19/10

Lens flare.

According to Christina Dickson, lens flare is caused by strong rays of light directly hitting your lens and causing a slight sun burst. It doesn't require any skill to achieve lens flare in your photographs, but it does take some to learn how to harness it, and to get rid of it when you don't want it.

Lens flare done correctly has been an acceptable phenomenon for decades. Although it means balls of light intrude on your composition, it can be pretty cool. Exhibit A:

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Although I made no conscious attempt to achieve lens flare, it still works for several reasons. One, it brings a symmetry to the picture - the sun at the very top is centered, bringing rays of light straight down through the grass. This ends up throwing the lens flare spots near the bottom, where they are relatively unobtrusive. Also, the color of the flare is pretty close to the color of the grass, so again, it doesn't markedly stand out.

Contrast that with Exhibit B:

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The lens flare is red and far too stark and noticeable against the green treetops. It sits squarely in the middle of the mountain view, so it can't be ignored. It basically is a big chicken pox mark in the middle of an otherwise very nice picture that I will never be able to use without learning some serious Photoshop.

So, what to do? Well, according to Dickson's article that I linked to above, there are five simple things you can do if you want to purposely create good lens flare.

1. Logically, shoot into the sun. Your camera can handle it (but not for very long!).
2. Position your subject with its back to the sun.
3. Use manual mode to overcompensate for the backlight, because your camera's automatic metering may think otherwise.
4. Shoot at an angle.
5. Use manual focus to clarify your subject, to prevent your camera from focusing on that big sun you're aiming at.

What if you don't want lens flare? What if it's ruining your picture? According to Darren Rowse:

1. Use a lens hood. You know, the big circular flap professionals always have on their camera in pictures of them on the job...even on a cloudy day or indoors...or just posing for a still shot...
2. Use your hand to act as a lens hood if you don't have one. Be sure to try out different angles.
3. Try a slightly different focal length with your zoom lens.
4. Move. It may only require a slight adjustment and you can still maintain something close to the original composition you wanted.
5. Re-place objects in your composition to block the flare; a tree, a person, the corner of a building, etc.

Usually lens flare is so quirky and bright that it adds something to your photograph that you weren't expecting, and you end up pleasantly surprised. There are many, many different ways it can show up (think the rotating spots that appear in footage of the sun cresting over the earth from space), and I personally think that, after you learn how to avoid bad lens flare, it would be way more fun to spend time learning how to use it.

9/18/10

Balloon glow.

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The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is this weekend. Last night the Balloon Glow was held. Millions attended.

At least, that's what it felt like.

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The balloons did not stay constantly lit but were triggered by the whims of the - let's call them "engineers" - sitting inside the baskets. Every now and then a horn would blast, signaling them all to light up at once, and Funny is watching a massive throng of people all screech to a halt at once and throw up their cameras.

The Balloon Race is today, featuring a big pink hare at the forefront, but I'm too exhausted for all that. Maybe next year. :)

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9/17/10

Blue Ridge Parkway.

There's plenty to see along the BRP. With an abundance of gorgeous open-air views, trails, waterfalls, overlooks, wildflowers, and the unexpected, it is one of the most scenic drives in America, and you'll stay occupied: it winds through multiple states. It's perfect for those who, of course, love nature, and aren't easily bored by what at first seem to be repititious mountain landscapes. You have to look closer.

Plenty of guidebooks provide a list of attractions accessibly by the Parkway; Doughton Park, Crabtree Falls, and the Jeffress Trail are just three of them. I have so many photos from many days spent winding the curves of the Parkway that simply a random selection is all I can afford you. You should see it for yourself. :)

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9/16/10

The E.B. Jeffress Trail.

By now it should be obvious that I like waterfalls and hikes.

The Jeffress trail is easily accessible off the Blue Ridge Parkway (tomorrow's destination), and a fairly stress-free walk takes you down to a view of the cascades; along the way you see snatches of the surrounding mountain vistas through the trees. It is incredibly peaceful, and what I love about these places is they're never overrun with tourists - just the occasional nature-lover.

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9/15/10

Crabtree Falls.

Much of the fun of hiking for me is being allowed the time to focus on the aspects of nature that get overlooked in the daily rush. Varieties of leaves, flower petals on the earthen floor, the strange nature of roots, the way the sunlight hits the trees - all of these things are there to be experienced, and there simply is rarely enough time in life to afford ourselves the luxury.

At the end of a mile-long hike, descending downward over rocks and roots that jut out of the ground, Crabtree Falls stands, waiting to make it all worth our while.

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9/14/10

Hanging Rock.

Hanging Rock State Park is home to scenic walking trails, two waterfalls that positively gush when the weather's been rainy enough, and...the hanging rock part of it? Haven't gotten there yet. But I will next time.

I love the many textures one can find in the area of the upper falls, and how golden the light really is near sunset.

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9/13/10

Doughton Park.

Doughton Park is a national park nestled just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. There's a cozy lodge in which to stay a night or two, and a moderate, easy hike up toward the bluffs, which gives you such a peaceful, quiet walk through an ocean of broom sedge toward a beautiful view of the mountains (and sunsets). It's one of my favorite places in the world.

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Where shall we go tomorrow?