What did you do last summer?

[tom dinning]

I am reminded of when I was a child and days at the beach in summer. Irrespective of weather, the family would head for Manly with sandwiches packed, sunscreen at the ready, and surfboards waxed.
Al omg with the paraphernalia of swimming and sun baking, somewhere an one the towels Dad would pack a camera.
Events like this where, for some obscure reason, worth recording. My mother would claim we would always have these memories if we had the photos to remind us.
The photo was and always has been an integral part of family life since it’s invention and ready access by most individuals.
nothing has changed in that regard. More than ever, the photo is essential for the passing of any event.
A large portion of those photos are recorded without a great deal of emphasis on winning approval beyond that offered by recognition and recall. Billions of photos are recorded each year by billions of people from all walks of life. A small proportion of those recorded are designed for anything other than admiration of the content. My wife is typical. She records every movement and event of her great grand son. I couldn’t give an ants fart for such images but I have my own obsessions. My niece is a hot rod fan. Her images are of little more than puffs of smoke disappearing into the distance.
This and other aspects of the functions of the photograph have brought me to a point of Zen, if you will.
no! I’m not going to get all cosmic. But since this a place of discussion and the topics relate around photography I’d like to present a point of view that others might be interested in.
pits more of a philosophical approach. It avoids, quite by purpose, any hint of technical and compositional technique. There is no mention of lenses, cameras, pixels, post processing, comparisons and criteria. It is driven by function only.
Now you might be thinking that I’m a raving loony or some academic knob head. Quite the contrary. I’m like all of you with one exception: I have never been exposed to traditional means of photographing. I’ve not been exposed to rules or guidelines.
my interest in photograph is beyond the image we see and more of what we can achieve if we think differently.

enough for now.
I’m off to sleep.

what did you do last summer?

 

[gramps]

what did you do last summer?

Tracked down the Puffins.


Puffin Preening by Roger, on Flickr


Guillemots


Guillemots by Roger, on Flickr


and Gannets


Northern Gannets by Roger, on Flickr


and photographed the local wildlife.


Extinction Rebellion - Day 3 by Roger, on Flickr

 

[tom dinning]

Hi gramps.
Now I’ve got something to talk about.
Saturday is a quiet day once the housework is done.

Your first image falls nicely into what I (and others) call Descriptive photographs. That is, a likeness or facsimile of an object thing or place.
The success of such imagery is simple: does the image resemble accurately the object, thing or place photographed.
This purpose was, of course, the original intent of photography. W.H.Fox Talbot had exactly this in mind when he photographed ordinary objects around his home way back in 1834 or there about.
The following years saw an onslaught of such imagery, especially in portraiture. This was the first generation of people who would be seen exactly as they were by future generations. I know exactly what my great great grand father looked like because of this.
The manner in which we can judge such imagery is in their effectiveness. Is there an ‘Effective’ button we can click?

The last photo, on the other hand is more about what’s going on. This type of photograph is Explanatory. The viewer will judge the effectiveness if they can get a comprehensive idea of what is taking place.

in both images, a title might assist in determining the effectiveness. Without a title, we might mistake the first for a duck and the last for a dance move without some directive title, although I doubt it.

it’s hard to read into descriptive images more than is presented other than recognition.
With explanatory images there is often a emotional respond which adds another dimension to the determination.
I mean, how hard is it not to like a puffin. On the other hand, an extinction rebellionist raises all sorts of issues. All,I can think of is why isn’t this bloke at work doing something useful?

cheers
Tom

 

[gramps]

Glad they made you think Tom ... thanks for the comments.

 

[F1.2]

Summer ? did I miss something

 

[ancient_mariner]

A little late to the party. Last summer we explored a little of a different culture.

Morocco Mono - mending nets in Essaouira by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Looking for work - Mogador by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

and saw some interesting places

Mountain village near Todra by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

Ait Benhaddou at dawn 2 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

We did see a little 'wildlife' like Roger's, including a punchup between tourists and locals (reason unknown) but didn't get useful images of that.

 

[justpix]

Hi, a few of my summer activities:

- Animals in my garden:






-Travel (Bilbao-Spain) :






-Vintage car events :

 

[jpgreenwood]

I was sent to Singapore and Indonesia with work. Really enjoyed it. A once in a lifetime trip.
DSC_5444 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
P1030187 by jason greenwood, on Flickr

 

[mrtoad]

LAN1-11 by mrcrow_uk, on Flickr

visited national trust sites in our area...several times!!