August 2013: A Photographic Month In Review

             At the end of each month on this blog, I intend to review important photographic events at the end of that period. Its not only a way to keep readers aware of what I've been up to, but also different personal observations on them as well. Of course other special events will be discussed as they happen. But since in this case I am dealing with a newly formed blog,I'll get the ball rolling here with my first month in review. So here it goes:

-On August 20th I realized it had been nearly a decade since I photographed Downtown Bangor. At that time my original Aiptek digital camera was very new. And being the end of GW Bush's second term,there was much graffiti in the then very uncertain downtown era standing against the controversial president.  When I returned this year,all of that had changed without me even realizing it. The town has retaken its more historical air that is one of its finer qualities. Since I obviously had a far superior camera this time around,I was in a far better position to pick up that flavor in these select photos from that session.

                             
                              *I've always liked buildings that utilize two separate colors of mortar. That's one of the things that makes downtown Bangor such an interesting place to photograph.

                              *Once and awhile,it's possible to run into those contrasts of color that the literature we learn from make to look so unreachable in ones own backyard. Yet here it was.

                          *Perhaps it was the generational cynicism of those in my age group that led me to start believing that photographing reflections cheapens the art of photography itself. That may be what some people think,but if the lighting and back round blends just right some amazing things can come from different reflections.

*There was something very European in atmosphere about this triangular pattern of ivy which was growing on the wall in a back alley garden set up near the center of town. 














             
    

*One relic of the GW Bush era attitude I found in the present day was this simple bit of graffiti that appears to actually reflect a present day concern revolving around the ever present oil crisis.

*Viewing upon structures of all sorts from an askew angle has always been my favorite aspect of architectural photography. Its a bit constructionist in the matter of a model builder-which happens to be a hobby of mine.

-After several summers of trying to locate it,my family and I finally managed to locate Nervous Nellies Jams & Jellies in Deer Isle,Maine. There we found a life sized diorama set up to resemble a frontier town-complete with mock blues juke joints,a woodland castle and everything populated by metal and wooden sculptures created by artist/craftsman Peter Beerits. Many separate posts could come from all the different sites to see here. In this case,I chose to select some of my own favorites of Mister Beerits' creations-from one artist to another. Its important to give even implicit support.

        And there you have it! My August month in review. I am hoping that this new blog gets off to a good start here! Enjoy what you see here,comment and ask questions. Positively inquiring people are always welcomed! 

WELCOME EVERYONE!

                     Greetings! My name is Andre'. Now there are hundreds of photography blogs of all sorts all over cyberspace. When deciding to create this particular blog I asked myself two questions. One: what made my photographs any more special than anyone else's?  Two: Haven't so many other people pondered the same question that just asking it is superfluous? The conclusion that came from these questions are that photographs,especially in the digital age, are a lot like snowflakes. No two of them are identical,even if they are from the same place. As a result,no two people can take the same photograph twice. Simplistic idea right? Well I thought so. Yet its been said that the simplest ideas end up being the most profound. Hope there's a moral in there somehow. Of course,it makes it all the better to realize each photograph is another footprint in time. Anyway I'm randomly rambling-as random as my photographs tend to me. I'll start by talking a little about my own personal adventures in the world of photography.

                   Having been a junior shutterbug as most 1980's era American children with an old blue Fischer Price 110 film camera,sometime in late preadolescence I developed a serious interest in cameras and photography. In my grandparents basement they had cameras of all sorts. Rectangular Kodak Brownies from the roaring 20's,plastic twin lens cameras with vertical viewers from the 1950's and even an enormous black Kodak Instant Camera (apparently mimicking Polaroid) from a couple decades after that. My late grandfather gave them to me,probably hoping I'd tinker with them and develop an interest in fixing things the way he had. Well it worked like a charm...almost. Turns out the interest that came from that was that of photography itself. Even though most schoolmates I had weren't exactly supportive,
the fact my entire extended family even were cheering me on was more than enough encouragement to pursue that interest. 

                The first 35mm camera I had was a small white Vivitar-what they called a point and shoot model. Preset exposure,no close up focusing. Taught me the basics but little more. Within a summers time I'd already moved beyond it sadly. Around that time I became deeply immersed in John Hedgecoe's The Photographers Handbook. I memorized pictures and passages in that book in the manner that many people memorize bible versus. It was not only an informative journey but spiritual in a very secular sort of way. Upon reading further I came to the conclusion what I wanted was an SLR,or single-lens reflex camera,where two sets of mirrors allowed you to see right through the lens with your viewfinder. It seems very exciting. I would no longer be just an observer through the camera's eye. The camera would be my eye. 

              A lady named Andy at Bangor Photo helped show me the ropes of different types of SLR's before settling on the Pentax K1000,what was then the traditional beginners manual 35mm SLR,for a Christmas gift. Since this coincided with my first year of homeschooling, it all came largely from more self education via Hedgecoe's book. While a brief time associated with the Bangor Camera Club proved to be...ironically insightful that's the way it went for the next five/six years-photographing everything in many different ways using everything from B&W to slide film. Following a family trip to Montreal,the camera finally broke down-destroying all the photos I'd taken while visiting there. After that I was actually camera-less for about a year. I ended up with a Pentax P30T,which fit K1000 lenes and helped me learn some things about semi automated cameras. But I never developed the attachment to that camera as I did to my first SLR and in another five years that camera broke down as well.

           By this time I was 24. Again at Christmas,my partner at the time decided to introduce me to the world of digital cameras. In his case,there were budgetary concerns obviously.The camera of choice was an Aiptek DV4500. Actually it was very close to an overpriced plastic toy. And the digital camera aspect of it,though 4 megapixel resolution,was very poor from what I now understand. That camera lasted a couple of years before it snapped into in the spring of 2007. Luckily by then I'd purchased my first digital SLR-an Olympus E500 model that came with a wide-angle and telephoto zoom lends. This is the primary camera I use today. And the best one that I've had so far. It has allowed me to get the results of a manual camera with various automated settings as well as a manual exposure option. Four years ago I supplemented this with a used Sanyo S770 compact digital camera. In fact that camera is the one with which I photographed the sunflower you see on this post-earlier today.

           So technically this marks a twenty year journey-from rewinding film to be developed in grocery stores to just exchanges memory cards of different sizes and shapes in and out of cameras and computers. On that level,it's mostly been very exciting and a lot of fun. With the bare minimum of bumps along the way. Never thought much of the whole "artists have to suffer" cliche anyway. On a creative level it's represented something more significant. Personally I've suffered through my share of disappointments and setbacks during my years as a photographer-ranging from the fairly mundane to ones even I still don't fully understand. And although I haven't gone totally professional with my photography,I will say without unneeded egoism that my work (if not always subject matter) in near the professional level anyway. And in doing so, photography has proven a much needed confidence booster to me as well as being highly therapeutic during the rougher times. Its one of the few things I do very well. And though I am not as well traveled as most photographers at my level of experience usually are, it's my pleasure to share some of the moments of my photographic journey with you-past,present and future,from this point onward!
              
P.S. This is my first and only photography blog. And I am a little nervous
about starting this new venture-unsure if it will be successful. It would help 
me out if all of you who read and/or are interested in this blog please subscribe 
to it. And if you would recommend that all of your photography loving online 
friends to read it and do the same. And most of all-comment en mass. I appreciate
all of your support. Thank you!