inspiration

20240216 LakeMagadi DSC5834 Enhanced NR

The Nature of the Abstract

With its beautiful colors, intricate patterns, and graceful flamingos, Lake Magadi has been a highlight of my 30-year journey as a nature photographer. It felt like a final exam of sorts: a technical challenge requiring abstract compositions and quick captures of giant flocks of birds within a limited time. But it was so much more than that.

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Resting Puffin

Capturing Wildlife Photos with a Tilt-Shift Effect

The photos I was capturing were certainly different, but I have learned over the years that different just to be different doesn’t mean a photo is good. I was sharing some of the photos that I was happy with, though I knew I wasn’t quite there yet. The entire process of learning and using this lens was such a great reminder to give things time and patience, not give up, and continue to push to learn how to use the gear for great photography.

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Photo 014 Clustered Bonnet Mycena Inclinata RST098762

The Changing Face of Macro Photography

The photographic world at present is in a continual state of flux. New products, devices and accessories appear almost daily. Technology is moving so quickly it’s sometimes hard to keep abreast. The future of photography as a business is challenging, but also exciting. Macro photography in the past may have been seen as a specialist field with limited interest, but that’s no longer the case, it’s come a long way, and its popularity has grown immensely in recent years and continues to do so.

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Peripheral Landscapes Murray Livingston

Peripheral Landscapes

Perception is not limited to just the visual sense, but rather it is a way of interacting with the world around us. Murray Livingston suggests that engaging a perceptive agency that is out-of-sight requires surrendering ourselves to a conversation with nature and being open to what lies beyond our horizons. He explores the concept of periphery in photography, which refers to the edges or margins of a photograph; this is important because it forces the viewer to imagine what lies beyond the frame and can become an ethical question of what the photographer reveals or conceals.

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Ian Plant 7

Your Subject is Not Your Subject

Good photography is a process of making an effective photograph that is often counterintuitive. To excel at photography, one must learn to see the world the way the camera sees it, use limitations as artistic opportunities, and include other visual elements that work together with the subject to engage the viewer with the story being told.

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688 118 Oak Leaf Rock Creek Canyon

Simplicity

Hank discusses the importance of simplicity in photography, paired with the differences between the way the camera captures a scene versus how the human eye perceives that same scene. He emphasizes that the power of photography lies in its ability to express feeling and perception, rather than serving solely as a document of a moment in time. He notes that it is the artist’s job to clearly communicate their intended message through their photograph, rather than leaving it up to the viewer to search for the meaning.

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