Recently, during an African safari, I spent several days photographing animals. We saw all of the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo) and many other animals in one day. It was the first time I made a concerted effort to make wildlife photographs, which was excellent practice. I gained an increased appreciation for how moments of peak action (or lack thereof) can make or break some photographs. I made many competent photographs that entertained my family at home, which I have no intention of using professionally.

In between these sessions, I spent a few hours photographing the skulls of animals displayed in the camp. Initially, I photographed very freely, exploring many ways of photographing them. As I reviewed the images, I learned from both the successes and the failures, gradually refining my the point of view of the collection. I appreciate the images that go beyond direct representation and become suggestive of something more through abstraction and metaphor. Ultimately, these images, which I consider sketches, will lead to final results, which will result in professional products.

Unexpectedly, I found that these sessions helped me develop my thinking on how to incorporate the process of sketching, both with words, drawings and photographs, into the development and presentation of future professional work. In the right contexts, I might even publish, display or sell select sketches.

This session also helped me explore longstanding personal themes within my life and work. These images expand my understanding of the power of photography to transform our perceptions of a subject through close observation. They highlight for me the limitations of vision (and photography) to see beneath or beyond surfaces. They confirm how I frequently try to suggest the often unseen foundations of the things I photograph. They remind me of how much I love to draw bones, especially the human skeleton. They reinforce my longstanding desire to create sculptures, many influenced by these forms. They resurface my artistic influences; in particular Georgia O’Keefe and Henry Moore. I’m sure there are other valuable resources I can mine from this experience, if I give both the process and these results further thought.

Explorations often have many unintended consequences; often these become the discoveries we’re looking for when we engage in experiments. You’ll learn more from simply observing your creative process, without judgment, than from anything else. Awareness is everything. What makes a process of experimentation even more successful, richer and more relevant is subsequently reviewing our results and continually refining our lines of inquiry.

How could experimentation help you reveal, connect with and develop your influences?

What experiments would be most helpful to you?

These images were made in Mala Mala, South Africa during my recent South Africa Photo Safari (sponsored by NIK).

Apps used were PicGrunger and Snapseed.

See more images and find more posts on The Huffington Post.

Category: huffington post, iPhone
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PhotoChangedAgain

Here’s an excerpt from my first post on Huffington Post.

“Photography’s constant move towards ease, speed, economy, and ubiquity continues today and it has recently reached a new critical apex.

In the first decade of the 21st century, Apple released the iPhone (2007) and a host of independent applications followed, designed to preview, make, process, enhance, and distribute photographs in seconds. Photography just got easier, faster, less expensive, and more ubiquitious …
When did you discover you can do this?

5-15 seconds     Make and save image

15-30 seconds  Process an image

15-30 seconds  Comment on an image and transmit it to others

15-30 seconds  Find other people’s images

15-30 seconds Comment on other people’s images or put them to other uses

In about a minute you can make, process, comment on, and distribute an image. It can take you a similar amount of time to do the same with someone else’s image.

If you haven’t done it yet, try it now. I just did. Doing this will change the way you experience and think about photography …”

Read the full post here.

I share useful links to posts on the history of photography, camera, and camera phone too.

Find iPhone Apps and Accessories I use here.

Category: Cell Phone, huffington post, iPhone
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jpconhuffpo

I’ve started writing for the Huffington Post. Initially, I’ll be focussing on cell phone photography. It is a game changer. Did you know people win Pulitzer prizes and sell fine art prints with cell phone photographs? But they did this with traditional cameras too. What excites me most about cell phone photography are the many different things you can do with cell phone photographs – get a quick diagnosis, find out where you are, see someplace you want to visit before you get there, find the nearest store for items, compare prices, make 3D immersive images, help enrich 3D models on Google maps … the list goes on and on and keeps expanding everyday. Cell phone photography has really gotten my head thinking in new exciting ways! I’ll share my insights on Huffington Post.

The first is live now. More are scheduled for this week. Stay tuned!

You can find all my posts here.

Find iPhone Apps and Accessories I use here.

Category: huffington post, iPhone
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