{"id":75284,"date":"2017-12-28T05:41:09","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T13:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=75284"},"modified":"2017-12-28T05:42:23","modified_gmt":"2017-12-28T13:42:23","slug":"photography-is-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/28\/photography-is-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Photography is Magic!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent thought I had: photography is fun precisely because it is a series of visual experimentation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

MASTERS<\/a><\/h2>\n
\"LEARN<\/a>
LEARN FROM THE MASTERS BOOK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Learn how to become your own master in photography ><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

STREET NOTES: Mobile Edition<\/a><\/h2>\n
\"\"
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STREET NOTES: Reinspire Yourself in Street photography ><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

PHOTO JOURNAL<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Find more meaning in your photographic life with PHOTO JOURNAL ><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Why photography, not painting?<\/h2>\n
\"Orange
Orange and blue. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been studying a lot of painting, and I started to wonder \u00e2\u20ac\u201d what is the value of photography over painting?<\/p>\n

It seems the biggest benefit of photography is that there is no way, with 100% certainty \u00e2\u20ac\u201d what your photograph is gonna look like, until you shoot it.<\/p>\n

\n

Why is photography fun?<\/h2>\n
\"Flash
Flash photo and mirror. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I photograph to see what the world looks like photographed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d – Garry Winogrand\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Photographs lie. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153objective truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of reality. You depict your own reality.<\/p>\n

When you shoot with a flash, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no 100% way to predict the outcome of the photograph. Whereas with painting, everything must be 100% premeditated.<\/p>\n

\"Golden
Golden hour. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Therefore, photography is fun because of the chaos, randomness, and the element of surprise \u00e2\u20ac\u201djust like magic! That sense of enhancement with the final result \u00e2\u20ac\u201dsurprising you.<\/p>\n

\n

Photography is like a hat trick! (Magic)<\/h2>\n
\"Hand
Hand and selfie shadow. Blue and red. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photography is like magic. It is the opportunity for us to transform the banal and ordinary into something different, unique, and beautiful.<\/p>\n

Randomness is fun<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been thinking more and more \u00e2\u20ac\u201d photography is great for its transformative property.<\/p>\n

If you shoot film, there is so much randomness and magic that happens when light hits the photovoltaic paper.<\/p>\n

\"Marseille,
Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With digital \u00e2\u20ac\u201dit is magic too. The ability for light to be translated into 1s and 0s with the digital sensor \u00e2\u20ac\u201dand for modern technology to translate light into a different interpretation.<\/p>\n

\n

Shoot things to see what they look like as photographs<\/h2>\n
\"Marseille,
American red. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lens sees the world different than us.<\/p>\n

For example, we have two eyes (side by side, in a panoramic, landscape orientation). The camera lens only has one \u00e2\u20ac\u0153eye\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

\"Golden
Golden hour, boy in orange jacket by water. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our two eyes can perceive depth. The single lens cannot.<\/p>\n

The camera has the ability to shoot vertically, our eyes cannot.<\/p>\n

Depending on the focal length of the lens you use, you see the world differently. I think the human eye is roughly a 40mm Perspective. If you shoot with a wide-angle 28mm lens<\/a>, it transforms the world. If you shoot with a telephoto-zoom lens like a 200mm, the world will look different.<\/p>\n

If you shoot black and white, you transform the world. If you shoot high contrast and saturated color, you transform the world.<\/p>\n

You interpret reality with your lens<\/h2>\n
\"Cindy
Cindy drinking coffee, low angle. Red table. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it is our duty to faithfully depict the world in visual facts. No, it is our duty to present our own vision of reality with others.<\/p>\n

This is the genius of the surrealists, the cubists, and the impressionists. They didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seek to make pictures that showed the world as it was \u00e2\u20ac\u201d they sought to abstract and interpret<\/em> the world, how they saw it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Therefore know as a photographer, you are an interpreter of reality.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Visual experimentation assignments<\/h2>\n
\"Cindy
Cindy eyes and red chair. Marseille, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So to end this essay, treat photography like visual interpretation. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just a kid, playing scientist, using the camera as your fun little research-experimentation tool.<\/p>\n

Ideas:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Shoot with a flash<\/a>, to see what the photos will look like. Shoot two photos of each scene, one with flash, one without. <\/li>\n
  2. Shoot only jpeg<\/a>, and experiment with different jpeg filters and settings. Experiment with high contrast black and white, and high contrast-saturation color. <\/li>\n
  3. Shoot with a wide-angle lens like a 28mm<\/a> lens, and get very close to your subjects, and purposefully distort your scenes. Realize the power of the lens to distort your scenes \u00e2\u20ac\u201da fun Surrealist<\/a> Technique. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Have fun,
    \nERIC<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"Conquer<\/a><\/p>\n

    Take your street photography to the next level:<\/p>\n

    See upcoming experiences<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    MASTERS<\/a><\/h2>\n
    \"Learn<\/a>
    Learn From the Masters of Street Photography Book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Learn timeless lessons from the masters of street photography ><\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    STREET NOTES<\/a><\/h2>\n
    \"\"<\/a>
    STREET NOTES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Take your street photography to the next level with STREET NOTES ><\/a><\/p>\n

    STREET NOTES MOBILE EDITION ><\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    HENRI NECK STRAP<\/a><\/h2>\n
    \"HENRI<\/a>
    HENRI NECK STRAP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Never miss another decisive moment ever again ><\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    HENRI WRIST STRAP: PHANTOM BLACK<\/a><\/h2>\n
    \"Henri<\/a>
    Henri PHANTOM BLACK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Conquer the streets with HENRI PHANTOM BLACK ><\/a><\/p>\n

    \n

    FREE Ultimate Beginners Guide To Street Photography PDF Visualizations ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A recent thought I had: photography is fun precisely because it is a series of visual experimentation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/9BE4BADA-76E7-424B-9C8E-5A61447713F0.jpeg?fit=4928%2C3264&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75284"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75288,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75284\/revisions\/75288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}