Coming out of the woodshed..

[rorytate]

Hi y'all

I've been a smugmugger for about 2 years but have only just begun exploring all the possibilities of this site and I gotta say, I'm amazed at all the features, tools, and facilities available to us!

I moved to S. E. Oklahoma about 4 years ago and have never looked back, photographically, as my site may show. My equipment includes 2 Canon 10Ds, assorted wide angle and telephoto lenses and other useful stuff.

My area of least photographic interest is cameras and equipment. When I take folks out for a few landscape lessons, I insist they leave their cameras at home for the first 2 trips. From where I am now in this hobby, its all about one's rapport and affinity with what he or she sees or doesn't see. I set about training their photographic eye. Find stuff you like alot, and then figure out why. After we work out one's personal artistic directions I allow them to take a Kodak Instamatic - nothing else. If they can't compose a reasonable photo with one of those we go back to the 'no camera' technique until the artistic eye becomes more developed. My students have had pretty good results so far with this approach, and I've mostly weened them off the "I need better equipment" crutch in order to take a better photo.

Where I'm going with the above monologue is in the direction of artistic critique rather than discussing the data in my EXIF file. That's what I hope to gain here - artistic improvement. If that includes being smarter about setting the depth of field on a particular lens, so be it.

In looking over the images on this hosting site, I will definitely have a lot to learn for years to come. I am in awe over some of them and that's the reason I'm saying to y'all:

Howdy- I hope I can give a little and learn a whole lot from this crew of creative cohorts.

Below are a couple of my own personal favorites. Hope ya like `em.

Rory Tate
Canadian, Okla.

http://www.rory-tate.smugmug.com/gallery/445915#42182811http://rory-tate.smugmug.com/photos/42182811-M.jpg

Illinois River shot in the late fall.


Hooray..I just did what Andy said and voila..the 2nd picture!
Feel free to say anything you'd like. I've noticed that the criiques
are very instructive.

http://Rory-Tate.smugmug.com/photos/131085536-M.jpg
http://www.rory-tate.smugmug.com/gallery/445915#42182809http://rory-tate.smugmug.com/photos/42182809-M.jpg

[frg]

Dunno that I'm qualified to give artistic critique........ but I find your photos beautifully composed and very well thought out:clap :clap :clap :clap

[pathfinder]

Welcome to dgrin, rorytate.

I enjoyed your description of your technique to train one's photographic eye, so to speak..

Many folks think that new equipment will let them see better, but myself, I, just want a much better compositional eye.

Marc Muench asks what did you like in your photograph - what did you feel about it. His way of trying to refine one's vision, I think.

Anyway, welcome to dgrin. I look forward to seeing more of your work, and having your thoughts on images posted here.

Pathfinder

[rorytate]

Don't you be talkin' to me about "qualified". I just saw your photo of Lake Cathie, for cryin' out loud! That's 5th Avenue gallery quality in case you didn't know. :thumb
So many thanks for your very qualified comments.

Rory Tate
Canadian, Okla.

[rorytate]

First of all, I consider any comment from Marc a very great honor as I gobble up all his publications at B&N, Borders, etc. And, before I forget, let say this about Marc's photos - among many other things, they rivit your attention from the first dust mote in the foreground to the last sky wash in the background. So much picture in which to travel and lose one self in. Well I better stop here as I could write a great deal more.

For myself and my photos, I seek, for the most part, the emotionally evokative. For example, in the canoe photo, I went spinning down to emotions I had as a 6 year old. Those are feelings that really don't have words but lots of expectation, interest and wanting to reach out and touch/experience. 'Good, old times as a kid' represents that photo for me. And, early morning always held the greatest sense of expectation.

The Egret photo was all about form, empty volumes and full volumes of space, motion, eye travel, lots of mystery and places to put your own imagination into the image.

My photographic guru has always been the great Japanese landscape photographer, Shinzo Maeda. Although he passed away in 1998, he has many books to lose yourself in. This may explain my love of water and mist.

I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to express myself as it's not often one has this chance to speak to such a group.

Rory Tate,
Canadian, Okla.

[Andy]

Addendum: The 2 photos mentioned above 'disappeared'. I was able to upload the first one but now I evidently have a restriction of only being able to upload 1 photo.

Hi, please see our tute on how to post a photo:
http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1083138

You posted these links:

http://www.rory-tate.smugmug.com/gallery/445915#42182811
http://rory-tate.smugmug.com/photos/42182811-M.jpg

the first is a gallery link, that's won't embed a photo :D

The second photo is in a gallery where you have Ext Links turned OFF.
http://rory-tate.smugmug.com/gallery/445915/0/42182811#131086192
Turn them ON to allow photos to be shown in a forum posting :D

:wave hope this helps!