Film
It’s the pictures I make with film that I want to print the most. Perhaps it’s the perfect blend of being choosy and patient.
Frames
For framing, consider keeping it simple.
Expansive
Wind lifts loose soil and shuffles mesquite branches and swirls across a vast horizon.
Tone Curve
The tone is more critical than the temperature.
Experiment
Many people know that we have more to learn, and from the moment we realize that we’re not the center of everything, it gets better.
Sinar F2
A ground glass will have missing corners so you can see if the lens is projecting from edge to edge. If you can see the lens, it’s giving full coverage.
Tough. Friendly. Hardworking.
Odessa is a pretty good place.
One Big Small Town
If you take pictures from town to town and put everything together, it’s like you’re seeing one big small town.
Photography
Colorado City, Texas
Abandoned Buildings
Abandoned buildings dot rural Texas, but if restored, they’d make great workspaces, and I’d gladly rent one.
Colorado City
Colorado City has potential and possesses a great central business district. It’s on busy Interstate Twenty, far out but not too far away, and surrounded by rolling plains.
f/8 and be there
F/8 is typically the most optimal aperture for everyday lenses.
The end of photo archives
Image archives will become unrealistic because we’ll have too many new photographs.
Watching the sky
Cumulus clouds rise above the horizon, resembling snowcapped mountains where Abilene needs rain — a grudge is a burden none can afford.
Happy Center
Happy, Texas
Nikon D800
I prefer older cameras, and after using a Canon 5D Classic, Nikon’s D800 felt like a significant leap forward. The D800 has a large sensor with a high dynamic range and fits nicely within my budget.
Endure
One must be blind or drunk or in love to live somewhere worse looking than Odessa.
A Home in the Monochrome
In every color image I take, I see a black-and-white photographer trying to escape. It’s black-and-white or bust. Mine are pictures of rust, dents, and dust.
Far from perfect
There are things we can control and things we cannot. There are things we can get out in front of and things we cannot. Therefore, we must do is our best and grow. It’s life.
More Modern
Art made more sense in horse and buggy days because the technology of 1855 more closely resembled that of 1555 than 1955. The first tintypes appeared around 1855, making photography more modern.