From a Different Perspective

I've been aware for quite some time, that I don't have 'traditional' taste when it comes to photography and art, etc. I tend to gravitate to stuff that is 'out there' a bit - abstract images, unusual angles, unique subject matter. Which probably seems a little weird, if you know me very well... since I have a normal boring job, I dress conservatively, my hair is a standard color, I have no body piercings (although I do have a couple of tattoos)...

Don't get me wrong, I think I've mentioned before that I fully appreciate perfectly composed landscapes, taken at the golden hour and all that. A brilliant blue sky and colorful wildflowers really wake up the senses, for sure. But recently I spent a fantastic day out in the backcountry, photographing an area and seeing it from a completely different perspective... You see, the blooming flowers had long since packed it in for the season, and the sky was nothing but a grey mass. In fact, it even flurried on and off for much of the day. Sounds unintriguing, I know... however, the flat-ish light on a palette of spruce and larch trees, with snow-dusted mountains in the background... I can't describe how amazing I thought it was! The scenery was nearly monochrome, with bursts of yellow and dark green, and of course the results don't have the makings of photos you'd see in a standard, come-visit-the-Rockies brochure. But it's totally what you'd see hanging on the walls in my gallery if I had one.

Something else that I'm not a big fan of are weddings... and I'm especially no fan of the stuffy, formal pictures that usually go along with them. So earlier in the fall, when I received an invite to a backyard ceremony for two friends, I took along a bunch of camera gear and decided to try to take as many un-stuffy, informal pictures as I could, both of them and of their guests. They ended up having someone else in attendance who seemed to be in charge of taking wedding photos... so I lurked around as stealthily as possible, staying out of the professional's way. I actually had alot of fun! I took a ton of pics that I thought were glorious - candid and unassuming - and my gift to the couple was an album I made, filled with my recordings of their day.

Again however, photography is seriously subjective... and sometimes I mistakenly assume that just because I think something's cool, everybody will think it's cool. Oh well. Overall, I try to be open-minded, and I always love to see other people's photos, I love to hear what makes their photography special to them. Now you know a little bit of what makes mine special to me!