I was reading an article or forum somewhere on the internet or from one of my photography books that said (taken with a grain of salt) that in order to be a "good" photographer you have to have a balance for liking the technical side of photography and the joy of simply taking pictures or making art. The technical side of photography includes understanding how to use equipment such as len's, camera bodies, and accessories with all their associated functions. Technical aspects of photography also include post-production work such as processing film or in today's advanced world using computer software to edit photos, however this is seen as a form of art in itself for many who use these programs for their desired photographic effects. On the other hand, the art of photography is a complex connection that a photographer creates in order to make an image for what he or she sees as aesthetic. The art of photography focuses less on the equipment a photographer uses because these are simply tools needed to create a vision.

Often people are obsessed with their fancy equipment and how to be technically superb in using them. However, these people often lack artistic capabilities or vision for creating superb images. As a counter argument people could say that art is in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately in order for art to be recognized it has to be more than just appealing to the artist but to a broad group of people from all walks of life.

It is very difficult to make an image that is technically superb but more importantly artistically engaging to people other than the creator. I suppose that is what I am striving for with my photography. 

For the picture above I used Adobe Photoshop B&W control to highlight certain colors that were included in the spectrum of the photo. After adding a subtle glow this automatically gave luminance to the head lights. I really like how this turned out.

Relax

We all need to relax a bit more in this busy world, so take the opportunity to find that perfect park bench at sunset and breath some fresh air.

Freedom

I have started to add a copyright sign to my images, although according to copyright laws you don't need to put this on your images because as soon as you press your shutter button the image is copyright and you are the sole owner of the photograph unless otherwise agreed upon. But, I don't really understand what the laws are through blogger as under the agreement with blogger it states "By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Google services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish and distribute such Content on Google services for the purpose of displaying and distributing Google services." However they put in bold "Google claims no ownership or control over any Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through Google services."

Anyways the photos I post are not exceptionally good in terms of professional photography so who would want to steal my images anyway? I guess I worry to much. Putting that copyright just makes me feel better and shows ownership of the photograph.

Gabe

Senescence Photography and other news

(Since I have not posted anything very substantial in terms of writing since I started my blog I decided to email this out to my those most important to me in addition to posting this on my blog http://zamorano89.blogspot.com)

I have been playing around with an idea for a photographic website that I want to eventually design and own called senescence. I would like to submit this website to coolphotoblogs.com in order to contribute to the photoblogging community. I have made a "work-in-progress" website idea through blogger connected to the following URL  http://senescence-photography.blogspot.com/

I would love feedback on the gallery I have posted of my favorite pictures and/or the website idea.  I don't have a clue how to design a website but I bought a domain name from godaddy.com and may have my website designer friend now living in Australia host my site once I figure out the technical details.


In other news I started orientating/working in Williams Lake hospital as a Provisional Registered Nurse. What this means is that I carry a temporary license to practice as a new graduate RN who has not yet passed/written the RN exam. But basically I am working as an RN with full responsibility of the patients that are under my care each day I work. It is a bit nerve racking but the team at Cariboo Memorial Hospital is extremely supportive and my manager is one of the most hardworking people I have met.

During a meeting with my manager on my first day we went over some paperwork and talked about working as an RN on the medical/surgical floor. I am amazed at how passionate my manager is and was surprised when she showed me a simple piece of paper with nine inpatient unit values. She showed me this paper last in order to define what was truly important about working as a team member on this floor. She also emphasized that she would not have hired me if she did not believe that I represented the following values:

-Respect
-Collaboration & Teamwork
-Positive Attitude
-Mentoring
-Trust
-Community
-Quality
-Accountability
-Family & Holistic Care

She told me that if anyone on the floor, including myself or her, is not representing and working on these values there has to be communication on resolving this matter in order to maintain an equilibrium of positivity and excellence.


In addition to this experience, after morning report (where we briefly overview each patient on the ward) our manager asked us to rate our physical and emotional states on a scale from one to ten. She stated that today she was an 8-8 both physically and mentally. At our own choice to divulge this information we all sheepishly stated our state of being that morning. One co-worker stated she was a five-five half sarcastically and half seriously. I noticed that we all did our part to help her out that day and work collaboratively as a team.

After reflecting on these experience I realize how fortunate I am to be working in an area with an amazing manager and incredible co-workers who work as a true team. In an area of rural nursing where the workload is exhausting, maintaining a positive team moral is essential to keep our overworked health care providers from burning out and leaving a career that is an essential part to our communities and the general health of all Canadians. 

Gabe

Highway Drive Sunset

Wire

Geese

Christianne

Taken at sunset in March

Hyster

For some reason I have an affinity to the texture and color of old metal or machinery such as the old trucks that I photographed in Falkland (see April 14th post).

Just outside of Pemberton I saw this very blue tractor. The cut out brand name on the side of the tractor caught my attention.

Jump!