I just finished David duChemin’s All Questions Answered webinar a few minutes ago. I had a huge collection of questions sent in by his followers and students and winnowed down the list to maybe a dozen questions.
I found his answers to the questions of interest, but it was his excursions on tangents generated by the questions that I enjoyed even more. It was an hour and a half of listening to him brain dump his thoughts and feelings about the craft and he is articulate. So, it was an easy listen.
I cannot recall if I have any of his books. If not, I will need to rectify that. I am signed up for one of his courses and need to get after that as well. I will learn something, I am sure.
One of the questions was something like “What do you photograph for?” He had an articulate answer for the question (it makes him feel alive) and then enumerated a list of other reasons photographers have for spending the time, effort, and money making photographs. It was a good list.
He also spent time talking about finding the subject/genre that lights a fire in you. Ask the question “What am I passionate about?” Then go chase that.
The rhetorical question “What if I can only travel with my family?” was asked, and he shared Alain Laboile’s craft, which is he only photographs his family1. As with all art, one just has to find a way to make it work within the structure of one’s life.
I have written any number of times — I make photographs because it is one of the things that feeds my soul. There is a focus and joy that comes from noticing something as I move through my daily life and then taking a few minutes to explore it with a camera.
The header image is an example. Sera and I were hiking the trail in the national forest. She was hunting chipmunks. I was looking for the interplay of light, shadow, and texture in the world around me. This particular bit of lichen on a branch caught my eye. There is plenty of light and shadow. There is a muted set of colors, punctuated by the bright light green of the lichen. There is a randomness in the fall of the pine needles. Then there is the branch at a diagonal through the frame.
These things caught my eye2. It is one of several images made of similar subjects that day. Sera happily hunted while I paused to make the images. Then we were off on the trail again, both of us on the lookout for our prey.
Life is short. If there is something that would make you happy, go do that. Make sure it gets done. Because, one day, it will be too late.
I remain grateful. Life is good.
1Note to self: Buy one of Laboile’s books and study the images.
2With a nod and an homage to Wife, who said this to me many times.