time for a not so much the news category.

I Hang out with the Tampa Bay Strobist Collective, and some of the members casually practice whenever we can. It is pretty much the only real active “club” I engage with- whenever I can. Rick Sammon held a seminar last night & offered members of this meetup group free admission.So My friend Phil from the group called me and we rode out together in search of enlightenment and fresh ideas to bring into our artistic shooting.Rick Sammon has written quite a bit about photography so to get to hang out in in and discuss photography is indeed a rare occasion. If you want to know more  an easy google search will reveal the multitude of articles attributed to his name.
The man is a fantastic, engaging speaker.

Along the way  we decided to leave early and look for something to practice shooting at. Deterred by the rain I made a few shots from out of the window, where the Phenomenon of low altitude sunset and obscured by clouds, the light coming under the umbrella of low ceiling, dark storm clouds leads to eerie lighting. [I tried to capture it in the photo above]

It was quite rainy in Tampa Last night -and this morning, but that should’t stop you from trying to make something from that kind of light. There were a few moments where the sun coming under the storm from the west made some fascinating ambience against the dark clouds and popped foreground zone elements. It was like subtraction of light occuuring for a brief moment in nature… However, the  conditions were changing quite rapidly and I couldn’t get out of the truck fast enough to get the shot. I will be looking for these conditions again.

practice practice practice:

So with the onslaught of rain I decided to try to put that into my pictures since its what I had to work with. I wanted to burn the reflections in low light with a slower shutter speed, but handheld thru the windshield. No worries, I had my friend at the wheel so I could hold the camera for a longer than usual exposure and play around.

rainy day in Tampa

rainy day in Tampa :) Southbound on Racetrack road, North of Oldsmar, Florida

I hope this will scroll well when I am done trying to upload these. fingers crossed they look right:

•extended shutter light painting… actually these are cars in intersection, right before the tail light exposure  taken above. The advantage point to shooting the taillight is just that, they are moving away from the center of the frame. But I happen to be moving (panning) left past the stopped oncoming traffic. I was going to cut this one but a my friend Phil liked it on facebook. So, here it is:

So we arrive at the Seminar…One of the best things about the Rick Sammon Seminar, In my opinion,is that he is an engaging speaker, and that energy supports his technique of looking your subject in the eye & keeping the flow.

The discussion then took a turn for conscious choices that we make technichally, to get the shots we want. We Discussed in an open forum, considerations to make when capturing the subjects eye & how to use a catchlight. The presentation was done with  a projected slideshow with shots of his workflow & behind the scenes around his office that does double duty as a photostudio to recreate some great shots. The Ideas about shooting instinctivly were creativly displayed as a flow chart that shows your concious awakening of skills.
The Mirror effect of meeting with your own energy in the photo is deeply interesting. I wonder perhaps if it is possible to just reflect upon, rather than be a part of , what is portrayed in your subjects mood. you know, to be subjectively detached, and still capture a certain mood… However I love the idea that infusing your energy results in it showing in your shots.
To think like a painter, he said, will allow you to open up your photography
its all about photographing the light and its opposite- the shadow and with that the rule of thumb is always to keep it simple.
that is brilliant.
I also wonder if thats why nobody brought out any strobes. I didn’t get out my speedlight. just my 1.8. I sort of wish I had set up a dignified portrait of the man with a long snoot and grid with a shadow of the cover of his book in the bokeh. but instead there are a few candids to show that I got to say hi to Rick Sammon, and thats cool enough for me. I didn’t realize it, but I just finished reading his book at the Hillsboro Public Library. It was the cover that caught my eye. It was great to see exclusive photos from his Africa trip. If it had occurred to me, I would have checked the book out again and had him autograph it and then return it to the library. Oh well.

Seminars like this are really good boon to an artists creativity & will be valuable to anyone who wants to progress in their craft Keep these conventions of the brilliant minds on the radar. There are Online resources like never before, webinars and you tube, but just getting out and shooting and challenging your self and practice is what its all about so getting something serendipitous into that moment , blending the viewer and the viewed, looking both ways thru the camera. & doing so without overthinking it.

by Scott

my photo of Rick & Gina Marie                                                                &Gina’s Pic of me & Rick :)