Haunted?
This is a headshot I took when out and about in Portland, OR. This gentleman was sitting outside of a store selling newspapers.
To protect the innocent I won’t say any more. The shot was taken quite quickly, so not the most mindful of moments. I found myself in a hurry, not taking the time, and not composing well.
If anything saves the shot it is that the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens is truly a gem of a lens. Small, lightweight, and quite sharp. It is an optical marvel and I believe it can be had new for about $100. I was glad I was using the D70 because on a D40 I would have had to focus manually. Then again, manual focusing is not a bad thing (I did plenty of that with my old film camera), but given the circumstances, it would have been a bit more time consuming. Still, it would have slowed me down and perhaps reminded me to be more mindful of what I was doing.
I did not have a tripod with me that day so I had to lean against a pillar, but even then I was pretty wobbly. I did the Black and White conversion in Photoshop CS3.
EXIF: Nikon D70, ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/30, 50mm, no flash, handheld.
Read More »Why Exposure Latitude(s)?
Great question. So, why choose the term Exposure Latitude(s) for this blog? Let me start with the definition of exposure latitude:
Exposure latitude is the range of exposure for a particular photographic film or emulsion. A film with a wide range of exposure latitude (that is, with greater latitude) has far more flexibility in terms of exposure possibilities than film with a narrow exposure latitude. Greater exposure latitude usually translates into increased range (increased opportunity) to get an acceptable negative/image.
As you can see it is a photographic term, but it also holds a few other connotations for me. Here are a few:
1) Exposure: photographers are as open to exposure as film negative. Some, if not most, photographers walk out of the house not necessarily knowing what they are going to shoot on any given day. Most ofen I walk out the door without a detailed plan of what I intend to shoot. I walk, I look, I ponder, and I stumble across possibilities that speak to me. I strive sometimes to see deeply a moment, and to capture it photographically. Some photographic moments are quite serendipitous. BUT… photography requires that I be open to the moment, that I be out there present, and that I, in a way expose myself to the world. One caveat: this does not in any way invalidate the notion that the photographer ought to also approach this art/craft with a clear sense of "making" a shot, taking much into consideration before venturing out.
2) Latitude: This term can be understood as location, a geographical positioning marker. In that way, it speaks to me of being in place, "on location" if you will. It also means range in the above sense of exposure latitude. For me that translates into having flexibility, openness, range, and not being narrow minded about what I see. It reminds me to not get too boxed in or try too hard to pigeon-hole what I encounter –not being too constrained by categories. Finally, latitude sounds close to attitude, and I think photography is also about an attitude, a disposition, an inclination. That disposition and attitude is primarily about openness, about experiencing the moment, about sustaining our attention to the present moment. I’m reminded that in the space program attitude means orientation (as in the attitude of the capsule upon re-entry). Photographers then, have an orientation, an attitude. For me that attitude is about the openness and flexibility necessary to make photography be a practice of mindfulness.
There you have it. Exposure Latitude(s), is truly about the dynamic range I seek to cultivate in my photographic practice. That dynamic range is about remaining open to the moment, about flexibility, about sustaining attention and getting out of my own way so that I can be as present as possible and look deeply. It certainly does not have to be the same for you.
Read More »Welcome
Welcome to Exposure-Latitude(s) blog. This blog is a simple attempt to capture some of my thoughts about photography as practice. By practice I mean that photography is an activity whose continued engagement facilitates, if I do it mindfully, greater realization on my part, greater insight about life. It definitely fosters greater awareness about my own foibles, conditioning, attachments and delusions.
Hence, photography allows me to focus (no pun intended) on the self as connected to everything else that is out there and that sometimes is given relief in the shots I take. Sometimes that "connection" is found in the stories the shots are meant to capture. Sometimes that connection is found serendipitously in what emerges from a shot, even if unintentionally captured.
Photography is a process of (visual) emplotment, a weaving together of various elements in order to generate a single garment, hopefully meaningful to others. Sometimes it is not a single garment that emerges, and multiple plots can be followed, adduced, or simply imagined.
In any case, one thing to say for sure is that it is like a lens trained on my life (as it is my stories I tell no?), and that such sustained attention can be a practice of mindfulness. It certainly does not mean that photography is necessarily a self-centered practice, just that it starts with, as Dogen so long ago noted, the self in order to forget the self.
Not sure how often I will post here. I already have another blog, but for now, this might prove a space to test out ideas and sound out thoughts about the photographic imagination. Feel free to join me.
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