An Epic Ramble

"Standing Tall"

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Been waiting to find time to post this latest image on the blog and on 500px. Taken on an epic ramble through Toronto a week ago with my friend Dave Pratt of Dave Pratt Photography who I finally met in person while he visited here in Ontario. I noticed over the course of the day that both of us had similar styles of exploring with cameras. Ramble along, let something stand out or catch our eye, content to let a detail or subject speak to us, in the midst of good conversation and idea swapping. But that's not always how a ramble with a fellow photographer has gone. And it made me think... obviously we have all have different ways we photograph something, but sometimes we have different exploration styles that lead to the photography itself.

I'm a happy rambler. I like to head in a general direction, without a set target in mind for the most part. I truly like the process of exploring. What feeds my desire to photograph something is catching it at that moment, the way I've stumbled across it, like finding treasure. There were a number of times Dave laughed at me last Saturday because something would get my attention, I'd raise the camera, get the golden nugget in the lens, snap away, and then cackle gleefully. Victory by Nikon. What can I say, it makes me giddy.

Some photographers are more destination oriented though. It's about already having a more "selective objective" in mind. This is me once in a blue moon. A location or subject that spoke to me so strongly that I knew exactly how I wanted to get it in the camera the next time I photographed it. And when the time is right, you don't ramble, and wander, and stray along the way, you zone in on that one objective and work it for all you're worth while you shoot. This is rarely my personal preference when shooting with other photographers... it means every one's photos look slightly familiar at the end of the day because you had one designated spot you all focused on getting in camera. But I will approach a shoot like this once in a while when I'm on my own, setting out with my own goals. It becomes more about solidifying a vision, a set intention that excites you.

Are you a rambler, a wandering explorer like me? Or do you fall into the selective objective type approach more often than not? Neither one is better than the other... but your approach feeds your overall style at some point. Think about it!

The Epic Personal Challenge! ~ Exploration Thursday

"The Big Bang"

The Epic Personal Challenge #1

Today's image is the result of a conversation I had with good friend and photographer David A. Pratt the other week. We've both been learning and working in photography now for a few years at around the same time, albeit from different countries and it's not unusual for us to encourage the other in some practical way, or exploring a new technique in camera, or in editing, or processing... well you get the picture. (pardon the pun)

The conversation involved which other photographers we'd been following that week, whose new work we admired and ended with us deciding to do a spontaneous bi-weekly photo challenge to keep our creativity honed. Easy enough to do on your own I suppose, but much more exciting when someone else is in on it too. And so began The EPC! (Epic Personal Challenge)

The grand thing about this is every other week we'll just pick a random theme and have to find ways to give our own interpretation of it in a photograph (not a new concept really but so much fun)... and the interesting part is waiting to see how the other is going to approach it. Last week's challenge was , you guessed it, Rust and Decay. But our approach and decision making in regards to subject matter, interpretation, and even processing were completely different. To compare the image above to Dave's resulting photograph and his description of it, you can view his image HERE. See? Vastly different.

While he found an object that exuded rust and decay with great textures and a really gritty sidelight suitable to the theme, I went in a different direction and chose to make the rust, found in the inside of an old wheelbarrow, it's own subject, giving an abstract feel the felt like some kind of crazy sky or atmosphere in space effect. I think the differences are fantastic... Dave's approach made me realize just how varied every interpretation will be, sometimes I get too caught up in my own style that I forget that the possibilities are endless. Photo challenges are the perfect way to have fun with your camera, have fun with your peers, and start seeing your world around you better. And after we revealed our images to each other, we decided we needed a round two!

So this bi-weekly challenge for the EPC is "Machinery" and already I'm finding this a very challenging theme. And loving it. The cool thing is, you never know what else you'll stumble across while out on your scavenger hunt for the assigned subject matter. I have three images now waiting for next week's blog that were exciting all on their own merit while I was out hunting decay and rust... so you can see how this kind of activity can be very important to your own personal exploration of your craft.

Dave and I are very social people as well... if we hear from enough of you that you'd like to join us for the EPC, I'm sure a FB group or page or blog can be put together... or if you'd like to simply follow along on your own, feel free to contact me or leave a comment with a link to your results so I can include you here on the blog as well in two weeks time. I'll be posting our results every other Thursday... and I'll have Dave do some guest blogging those days as well, so you can hear his thought process behind it all... what do ya say Dave? Hmmm?

If you'd like to see today's image larger just click on it above, and if you visit David Pratt's photo in the link above or on flickr, he'd love to hear your comments too. Thanks for the ramble gang! Have a great one!