Saturday Evening Poetry

Something has been called to my attention. Lately, I have been trying very hard to convince you all (probably more so myself) that photography is my only passion, the one thing which impels me to rise in the morning and prevents me from taking food or drink, or resting in the evening when all the world has gone to sleep. The fact of the matter is that is not the truth. Yes, I love photography, and yes, I am impeled to create an image I think will convey a specific message, but I am not a traditional photographer per se. I am an artist. I arrived on this Earth with a voice so desperate to speak, and only now have I learned to whom it wants to speak. It is you. It is everyone. If you have a heartbeat, it is for you that I intend my message to go out to. I want you to know me. While it is probably not possible that you see as I see, I hope only that you can approximate my vision and understand what I am trying to say.

That being said, I would like to share a little poetry with you. Hope you enjoy it.

 

No serenity in this silence

Please, not a diamond sacrifice

Or portents of what the future holds

For I’ve not yet lived through this life

 

Don’t you know I can’t settle down?

I will not while away

Every hour, every breath

While still this tongue has words to say

 

Steady this madly beating heart

And hold me when it’s cold

But know that I have no intention

Of growing tired, growing old

 

Even the birds fly south

And I tell you, someday I must too

For longing is a bitter mistress

Crueler even than leaving you

 

You will see me once again

If only in the azure sky

Please know that I am so happy, so free

And wishing you the same in life

 

Hazel eyes will wink at you

And smiles will brush your lips

You will taste those tears again

But they will not be of regret

 

As she holds you close at night

Remember me until

You see me in your dreams, alright

and carefree and you can let me go.

Apologies

Yes, yes, yes, yes… It’s been ages since my last post. My apologies for keeping you waiting, my anxious readers.

Oddly enough, my lack of activity has not been because I’ve had no subject matter to write about. It’s been quite the contrary. I have so much material to write about, in fact, that I have little capacity in my mind to organize and thus form coherent concepts to publicly distribute. Welcome to my world.

Anyways, I’ve been so busy I haven’t shot a photo since… well, Saturday. But STILL. That was THREE days ago. 72 hours. 4,320 minutes. 259, 200 seconds. That’s a LONG time. But of course, I digress.

With all this time spent Not-Shooting, I got to venture into another world, the world of Editing. It’s a very different landscape, and the work I’ve done so far has drastically altered my perspective on what you can do with an image.

Here is a sample image. This is what it looked like before:

This is the after version:

Nothing too crazy, obviously. I actually spent the most time learning to tone down my editing technique as I had a tendency to opt for a higher contrast which was not what I was after for this particular image.

I also did a black and white version as well, using Lightroom, but I’m not as big a fan of it as the above, created in Aperture. I’m currently using the trial versions of both in order to decide which pool to place my money in, so if any of you out there, my dear readers, would like to put in your two cents it’d be much appreciated.

Ciao,

TS

Leave the World Behind

Last weekend, I went to Vasquez Rocks country park with a group of photography friends, some of them familiar, some of them new faces. Following are the images I captured during my visit there.

Everyone has a passion. It is the one thing that they will go day or night without sleep, without food, without stopping to rest their body weary from the journey. As I climbed rock outcroppings, traversed through valleys and lay on my belly in a cave barely large enough for me in an effort to take the perfect shot, I forgot all else. I left the world behind.

Find your passion. Fuel it. Savor it. Leave the world behind. 

Within the Cave

In the Distance

The Mark of a Photographer

A Solitary Figure

Focus

Recently I obtained (by nefarious means, of course) a new lens. This one is a 50mm f/1.8 for all you interested photographers out there. For those of you not fluent in Photospeak, it essentially means a very small lens which, despite its diminutive size, takes some stunning photos. Of course, it helps to have a half-decent photographer behind the camera (not to be tooting my own horn). This lens uses manual focus only, meaning I have to be fairly quick on the draw, so to speak.

Here are some shots I took recently: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Can Show You the Door…

…but you have to walk through it.

I won’t judge you for hesitating, even turning around and walking the other way. I can assure you, however, that whatever lies behind that door is as unknown to me as it is to you. It could be terrifying, magnificent, tragic, enlightening, beautiful or ordinary, but it is most definitely exciting, and you will grow as a person as a result of experiencing it. This is a new year but it will grow old with the passing of time. Make sure to discover it before it’s too late.