Saturday, September 4, 2010
It would be hard to find someone more concerned with the beauty of a blade than Mr. Ambrosi, whose hands show a fine crosshatch of cuts on top of old blisters and burns.
A good knife sharpener knows “how to feel it with your fingers, how to see it,” he said. It’s a craft requiring special training, he said, and even then, “some people just don’t have it.”
A great New York Times article about Ambrosi Cutlery and their efforts to balance an evolving business with the daily practice of a centuries old craft.
Posted by zenfoto at 6:41 pm
Monday, August 30, 2010
A number of months ago, I spent a few weekends in downtown San Jose as a personal exercise to try my hand at urban photography. It’s good to push yourself outside your comfort zones. Driving into town, I passed alongside a building lavishly decorated in some wonderful graffiti. The light wasn’t ideal so I made a couple of quick handheld images from my truck with a mental note to return under better conditions with my 4×5 view camera. The thought of a diffusely lit scene that could be printed on Ilfochrome Paper felt like a really strong opportunity.
Alas, I got caught up in other things as we so often do and then, driving through town last friday, I passed the building and the walls had been painted over in beige. I suspect the next urban inspiration I come upon, I’ll make sure and see the potential through.
Posted by zenfoto at 4:17 pm
Friday, August 27, 2010
After weeks working on primarily nothing but web sites, it’s a refreshing change of pace to get back to darkroom work. While it’s a little hard to convey digitally, one uniquely magical moment in the traditional wet darkroom workflow is pulling a finished print. Out in the light in the water as it’s rinsed, the print glows luminously with a glossy sheen that, while transient, reminds you why you go to such effort in the first place.
Hint: click the image to see a larger version. The image, Blushing Brides, can be seen in the gallery as well.
Posted by zenfoto at 11:55 pm
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
My daughter’s homework last night included a lesson on symmetry which inspired me to search back through a group of photographs I made wandering some secondary roads through the farmlands of the Salinas Valley a few weeks ago.
As a compositional element, symmetry is tricky. It’s at once powerful but can quickly start to feel cliché. The subject matter is also important. Symmetrical lines are inherent to agriculture and taking an angle of view that emphasizes line and, in this case, slight variations in color and texture, seemed to make a successful image. It was one of my favorites of the day.
Posted by zenfoto at 10:47 am
Monday, August 23, 2010
One of my favorite images thus far this year was made along Cascade Creek in Yosemite National Park during the upswing of spring snowmelt. I’d scouted the area a week earlier on a trip with my daughter. I was confident in the photograph and had considered that my camera’s placement would be a bit risky. But despite the precautions, I wasn’t prepared for what happened.
The image to the right captures a right-of-passage every photographer goes through at some point or another. Read the full story and see the final print.
Posted by zenfoto at 1:03 pm
Sunday, August 22, 2010
“Moonlight Over Zion”
© Maynard Dixon. From a private collection.
I’m a huge fan of Maynard Dixon. His powerful compositions, with their emphasis on design and color, are inspiration to any landscape photographer wanting to improve their craft. Dixon charished the country around Zion National Park. He and his wife, Edith Hamilton, built a home and studio in Mt. Carmel (just east of Zion) and over the years, hosted, collaborated, and encouraged many artists.
This week, the Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts hosts Maynard Dixon Country, an art show, gathering and sale of work by thirty-forty of America’s premier artists.
I visited the Mt. Carmel home and studio a couple years ago — the event should be great.
Posted by zenfoto at 9:22 am
Saturday, August 21, 2010
“…putting one’s head, one’s eye, and one’s heart on the same axis.”
- Henri Cartier-Bresson, Photographer
Posted by zenfoto at 9:14 pm
