Panoramic landscape photos, the ones that are composed of several individual shots that are stitched together
My neck of the woods
When I think of Russian landscape, at least that of the European part of Russia, the history of which is heavily influenced by the invasions of Mongols and Tartars, I imagine it as a vast steppe. In reality, until relatively recent times (mid-XVIII century), the European Russia was dominated by forests.
When I go to Russia this year, I would like to try to take some photos of (whatever remains of) its forests. Generally, I find that photographing forests is not easy – the light is limited, the focus of the composition if not easy to define, unlike in the pictures of sea coasts or mountains. Nevertheless, some of my favourite landscapes from BC are those of the forests (e.g. the image above.) The West Coast’s forests and the trees themselves, though beautiful, are quite different from those of Russia. I wonder if I would be able to convey this difference in a photograph…
Travel itineraries
Planning is an important stage of travel. Even though spontaneity during the trip itself is crucial for being able to unplug from the daily home routine, thoughtful planning (even if it is done in broad strokes) can make a difference between an enjoyable and a stressful experience on the road. Currently, getting into the specifics of the future summer trip to Europe begins to give it a sense of reality through anticipation.
The latter type of itinerary also better suites my current style of travel photography. I like to focus more on people than on the sites themselves, and having more time in a same location allows me to study the local dynamics a bit deeper, to look at the place through the eyes of a local person. Even just a few days in a city or a town, allows me to makes the vicinity of the home base “my own.” It is the sense of personal preferences (things that I like and don’t like about the place) and forming micro-routines (e.g. finding the best local bakery and a market) that enable this sense of familiarity with the new place to develop.
Two-stage workflow
I like Rick Steves’ travel guides
During the initial stage of a portrait photo shoot, for example, assuming that there would be another chance to re-visit certain aspects, explore additional angles, poses, lighting arrangements, etc. removes the stress of having to accomplish everything perfectly at the first try. This allows me to spend more time on details of the individual shots and on obtaining feedback from other people, who are involved in the shoot (photographers, models, assistants).
The second stage of the shoot, which I really takes place after a break, is where the most unexpected and interested photos are taken. Both the models and the photographers relax, knowing that the must-have images have already been captured. The resulting openness and ease in the interaction between them gives the the portraits from the follow-up session a subtle but important sense of realism and authenticity.
Tourists in Japan
Caucasian people stand of the crowd in Japan. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though. My wife and I have many interesting interactions with Japanese people, while we were in our tourist mode in Kyoto during my sabbatical five years ago.
Often, the children would also ask us to take a picture of them with the famous landmark in the background (and sometimes, posing together with one of us). Far from being a nuisance, these regular encounters with kids, with all their initial awkwardness, pride of having pushed the social barrier (taking to a gaijin) and delight at being understood, became a highlight of our trip to Kyoto.
Street photography in Paris
My first ever visit to Paris was a trip to a conference, followed by a vacation with family. The timing of the conference was perfect in that I had a chance to take photos of the Bastille Day’s fireworks. As I look back through my other photos from that trip, I noticed that I took many candid shots of tourists in the city. I took these photos as we were walking along the streets and parks with my family. Our daughter was not yet two years old, so she was often sleeping in her travel stroller, being pushed by her grandfather, who thoroughly enjoyed this duty.
Sometimes, I quickly walked ahead of my family and took photos of other people. I did not worry about lighting too much, focussing on the dynamics of the street scenes. In retrospect, the lighting was mostly quite good, since we often took our excursions in the late afternoon, to avoid the summer heat. Also, I find that many street photos look better when converted to black-and-white, since there was no opportunity to manage colours in the composition of the busy street scenes.
Our expectations of travelling to Paris with a small child were very guarded, having read many negative opinions online. In reality, however, it turned out to be one of the most pleasant experiences. Parisians were incredibly accommodating and nice to us wherever we went, and our little daughter was often the reason we were invited to skip the long lines at popular tourist attractions.
Rashomon effect
Travel photography is a tremendously popular niche. In fact, taking stock photos while travelling initially attracted me to professional photography. As my focus shifted from “places” to “people” over the past ten years, I find it increasingly interesting to review my own and other photographers’ photos of various destinations.
Interestingly, this effect is present even if I am reviewing only my own photos. As Daniel Gilbert, the author of “Stumbling on Happiness
Street photography in China
My first overseas trip of 2015 will probably be to a research meeting in Shanghai. I have been to China only once before, attending a similar meeting in Beijing. During that trip, I had an opportunity to explore a little bit of the city on my own, in addition to going on an organized tour of the Great Wall. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to take street portraits in China. Everywhere, people of various walks of life were incredibly friendly and easygoing, always willing, if not eager, to pose for a photo. I have probably the largest number of shots with strangers making eye contact with the camera from that trip than from any other country.
Speaking about books, I would like to start looking through the Beijing and Shanghai travel guide
Indigo
My favourite colour is blue. Or maybe, purple, because in painting, it can appear either cool or warm, depending on the adjacent colours. Naturally, I find the colour indigo, which is between blue and purple in the electromagnetic spectrum, fascinating, with all its history and applications in art (fashion) and martial arts.
In Japan, the import of silk from China was restricted during various prolonged periods, and cotton was difficult to dye with anything, except indigo. Over time, an intricate process, indeed an art form in itself, of indigo dyeing
Nowadays, indigo is often used to colour denim fabric. Interestingly, the much thought-after Japanese denim
I took some macro photos of the fabric of two pairs of jeans that I own: a factory-distressed pair bought as a souvenir while I was on sabbatical in Japan (I was lucky to find a size that fit) and a brand new “raw” denim pair (i.e. it has not been washed after dyeing). True denim enthusiasts are rumoured to go month or even years before washing their raw jeans in order to develop the wear patterns that are unique to the wearer. I don’t think I will go that far (my kendo keiko gi is sufficiently sweaty, so I would rather keep my other clothes relatively clean), but breaking in the new jeans will be a fun little project, even just for observing the changing hue of the indigo dye. Perhaps, I will take more closeup shots of the fabric to record the process.
I don’t think I will be able to reproduce the cool wear patterns of the pre-distressed jeans, but it is neat to know that they will be will be one-of-a-king and, in a very direct way, an expression of my lifestyle.
On motivation
“The great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.”
Vincent van Gogh.
Athletes know that motivation is easy to achieve, but difficult to sustain. This is true for any activity, which requires overcoming obstacles through practice. In particular, continuing motivation is essential for an artist. For me, van Gogh exemplifies this most of all. His life has been extensively studied and documented, but he himself also wrote about this in detail in his letters to his brother Theo
My wife and I are making travel plans for the next summer, and I am excited that one of the stops will be Amsterdam. Although my primary reason for going there is a conference on marine engineering, I am really looking forward to going once again to the van Gogh museum. There is something special about seeing the brushstrokes, about which so much has been written and debated over the years. This is my motivation to think about colors in my photography. Also, I find it fascinating how the cycle of mutual influence between Japanese and European art was completed by van Gogh, who applied his distinct technique to re-create the works of ukio-e masters, who themselves were influenced by Western painters.
This is how easy it is to achieve motivation. Check. Now, to the hard part – to carry this initial inspiration through and transform it into some meaningful images from the upcoming trip.
