Website Update

Please check out my website.  I have been working on it for the past couple days.  Most of the photos are the same and not much different on the copy -- but I love the look.

Something else big, new, and wonderful -- coming soon -- hopefully by June -- online classes!  Keep a check here and on the website about this.

RIP Portable Hard Drive

Last week I experienced a loss -- my wonderful little Simple Tech portable hard drive.  I don't know what happened -- but -- when I plugged the USB cord unto my laptop I got a message that I hope to never see again; "drive is unreadable or corrupt."  

Nice.

So I took the device downstairs to the office -- to the desk top -- and hoped it was a flukey thing.

I got the same message.  Very nice.  So after trying it in yet another computer in the house and getting the third strike -- I figured it was cooked.  What did it -- who knows?  It had worked well just the day before and I had been using it for months with no problems at all.  But...it is toast.

Good news is that my iTunes library and any document on that drive is on my laptop and/or desk top.  Also any photo that I love is also in another place.  What I lost are all of the sort of daily photo files from last March through this past February.  If there were photos in the files that I had planned to revisit -- well -- I won't be visiting now.

Most of my computer lessons I learn the hard way -- this is no exception.  I always back up items of importance.  But what about everything else?  I used to save it some place once -- not twice.  The event of last Thursday made me purchase two new items.  Another small portable hard drive -- because I like to have things like that handy for a class if I need it.  But I want a second back up to insure if my first back up fails I have the data.  I do not like to leave countless photo files on the desk  top and lap top.  So I bought a larger external hard drive.  My husband, who also has his own business, and I will share the space on this hard drive.  Each of us have the small portable hard drives and now will have a second back up.

Since my incident I have seen news stories on backing up files on a couple of the 24-hour news channels.  It is funny to hear them talk about backing up all of your files to a second hard drive.  Nice if that works for you -- it did not for me.  (Although at this point I guess I need to acknowledge that is may not truly be a back up if I delete it from the main computer after saving it off to the hard drive.)  

My game plan now is to store my photos from both of my computers on the portable hard drive. The true, by definition of, back up is on the larger, not portable hard drive.  If the portable fails -- I have it on the big one.  If, by some odd thing, the big one fails; then it is on the portable.  

Do You Really Want Critique?

If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all...is this your philosophy for commentary of photos?

I think of this constantly when I browse through photos on the internet.  A few weeks ago, I joined an internet group site.  While on this site I have found a variety of photo groups.  Many have contests.  I am amazed at the comments I see on photos that are not that good.   "Great photo"  "Nice shot"  "Excellent" are commonly seen on photos that frankly are none of the above.

A few years ago -- when I first got into photography seriously -- I met up with a bunch on the internet.  These guys were brutal.  They did not like anything (or so it seemed).   If I could squeeze a compliment from one of them I was super happy.  Talk about a tough crowd.  But it was the best thing to ever happen to me.  I had this idea that I could show anything remotely OK to anyone and they would just tell me how wonderful it was -- wrong!

As a result of this, I became very critical of my work.  I was not easily swayed to love something because it was colorful or had a nice subject.  I scoured the backgrounds of my photos for distracting elements.  The foreground, whether in focus or not, was scutinized for anything that would make the eye wander.  Bright spots or splashes of color -- if they were not part of the main subject would ruin a photo for me that prior to the 'bad boys of photography' I most likely would have loved.

When I am teaching a class I spend some time going through basic critique criteria.  But I then will add that even though a photo is a technical success, it may still lack something; and conversely, a technically off photo may be an artistic success.  If it is very commonplace -- something you have seen countless times -- what is the point?  I remember one of the guys telling me that one of my photos was nice and would be great on a greeting card.  I did not like that comment -- at all -- it sounded so vanilla to me; nothing special; ho hum.  I don't like to be ho hum.

When I first got my Lensbaby 3G I signed up for an online class.  I did not really want the class to learn how to use it -- I could figure that out.  But the class was by Tony Sweet and I was looking forward to Tony critiquing my photos.  The experience was OK.  I did feel the critique was kind of light and repetitive.  I saw the same phraseology used a few times.  It was good to have him tell me some things about my photos that I had not thought about before.  

So back to the title of this blog -- "Do you really want critique?"  Do you think the people who post photos on Flickr really want critique or do they want a chorus of "Nice photo?"  I am thinking they want the nice comments since that if most of what I see.  Until someone asks me for hard critique -- I hold it back.  What it really comes down to is -- do you (the photographer) like it?  If you (the photographer) like what you (the photographer) are doing and you (the photographer) are completely happy with it -- that is all that matters.   But, if you want to stretch, improve, and take photos that grab people -- you need to ask for critique from people you respect and tell them to not hold back.   And when you do this -- be prepared.

Susan Todd-Raque

Saturday, May 2, at 6pm Nature Undisturbed will present Susan Todd-Raque on collecting photography.   In 1999, Susan founded the very popular event, Atlanta Celebrates Photography.  Susan has presented programs in and around Atlanta; including the Carlos Museum on the Emory campus and the High Museum of Art.  Following a recent presentation, Susan realized that she had the makings for a great book.  The Photography Collector’s Primer was born.  This event at Nature Undisturbed and book are musts for those interested in photography and looking to begin or add to a collection.  For more information on Susan and to purchase the book; visit her website.

Be sure to mark your calendars for this event and the others during Nature Undisturbed.  Come be a part of the beginning of a great photography tradition on the south side of Atlanta.