“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever…It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
Aaron Siskind
I remember the first time I saw Ansel Adams work. I was mesmerized by it. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. How could black and white pictures look so amazing? That’s when the photography bug bit me.
In today’s high-tech world, anyone can point and shoot. Novices use photography to record memories. Photography is an art from and a form of nonverbal communication. Good photographers are artists who tell a story through their photographs.
Photography is more complex than just point and shoot. A good photographer is creative and understands composition and its elements. They are 1) light 2) color 3) contrast and tone, 4) line 5) form 6) pattern 7) balance 8) movement 9) positive and negative space 10) texture 11) camera position 12) focal length 13) shutter speed.
A good photographer has to be able to do more than point and shoot. For instance, lighting and color can completely change the mood of a photograph. Many photos are printed dark and brooding in an effort to impart dramatic or mysterious effects when it is better to match the tonalities and contrast level to match the desired mood rather than to a standard formula.
For those photographers who want to improve their photography skills I highly recommend reading, “The Art of Photography” (A Personal Approach to Artistic Expression) written by Bruce Branbaum. He is an internationally recognized fine art photographer. His photographs are held in public and private collections worldwide and represented by photography galleries in the USA and Europe. He is an ardent environmentalist and in 1974 was awarded the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams award for photography.
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”
Ansel Adams
doubledacres 
Wonderful!!! I love this. Capturing
on film, the smells, sights, sounds, and feels of our lives is often Universal need. A need to revisit those moments of light, texture, from every element… the details caught forever on film, boosted by memories in our minds, felt throughout our beings. Your photos of course “take me home”. What that means, for me, is peace, contentment, familiar in a good way… please keep that camera close, post pics and blogs, often. Thank you 🥰
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You have such a way with words. I am envious of you talent. Thank you.
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Absolutly Wayne. Only the artist knows how many elements has gone into the picture, how many retakes and how much of the shot was intuitive.
I have a friend who made a floating blind from a belly boat. He pours hot water into the waders which helps float longer in the icy river in winter. He takes amazing waterfowl and wildlife.
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Wow! Now that is being creative. On a normal day on the river I shoot 130 to 200 pictures but after editing and everything I might get 20 to 30 that I think are worthy of making the cut.
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Such a beautiful post! I’m just a very amateur photographer and I took photography years ago in high school. Back then with my dad’s Canon with black and white film we learned how to develop the film in the lab they had and it was so incredibly fun. Learning all the things with fstop, and manual photo taking to all the things you listed. So FUN!! I Love your BEAUTIFUL photos Wayne!! 💖
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Diana I hope you know how much I appreciate you. You always inspire me to go out and do what I love. I did the black and whites in my college class and we had a dark room. I even built my own dark room at home. I had a Minolta and I still have it. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and to comment.
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AWW, you are so sweet! And dark room!! I couldn’t remember the name and it’s so fun to share our passions!! Keep sharing my sweet friend! 😀
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I love sharing my passion of photography with people who appreciate it. You have no idea how much your comments inspire me. Thank you!
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Photographs capture the history and more. They have the capacity to amaze us. An artist knows more so his photography has a different standard than the rest.
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