" yes, but how do you photogs really feel? "

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george:

How is your summer going?

me:

hothot hot! haha

george:

:0)

me:

looking for new projects to do, and trying to stay cool. how are you doing?

george:

Haven't started looking for work...still getting photos in order...Can't wait to begin some new projects though. Lots of ideas...Doing well...just starting to dig the summer.

me:

yeah, i'm thinking about a few portrait projects as well. just have to pick a few and develop them out. shoot some photos and lay them out to see if it's worth it or not. the summer has been great so far, just to be able to enjoy the heat.

i love the heat. hah

george:

C. Bay...do you have any advice on taking portraits? It's a BIG question...but maybe you have a photographer I can check out for inspiration?

me:

haha, no i always love conversations about photography. for me, a portrait is not only the image you're making.

it's an opportunity to really make a connection with a person.

i think that it's in pursuit of making these connections, which is something that we always strive to do in our daily lives...make connections, that drives me to make portraits...and make them as real and as intimate as possible.

now, this doesn't always mean that this sense of intimacy has to be resultant in an image of a nude. but i do think that my portraits, as well as my nude portraits are trying to convey that yearning for a connection. so, when i make a portrait of someone, i'm looking to have an opportunity to make a connection, and then the image that results from that connection is a visual record of that interaction. does that make sense?

george:

Blog worthy quote right there. I may quote you so be warned. And just so you know...I agree!

me:

photography is the conduit through which i can breach that threshold that we come to at times, the line where we have to make the decision whether we are brave enough to take a chance to get to know somebody. haha.

yeah, i may just use this as a blog post.

george:

:0)

me:

but yes, this is how i feel most of the time

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tonight's homework:

get out there and show them whatcha got.

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" polarizer filter for your soul "

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i'm not sure about the techniques of my other fellow photogs, but i shoot with a polarizer filter on my lenses all the time. even though i know i'm losing between a stop to a stop and a half with it's usage, i know that the ability to deepen blue skies and remove sheen/shine from faces/glass, far outweighs having to shoot slower or at a higher ISO.

i remember the first time i found out about the illustrious polarizer. i was in high school, and was purchasing a darkroom setup which included and enlarger and some other choice tools. the seller was the father of a boy that i went to school with, and he was getting rid of all of this equip. he said that if i could pay him a clean hundred, he'd also throw in a polarizer filter.

since i didn't know what it was, and how it was to be implemented, he showed me how it used two slivers of polarized glass to cancel out certain light. it was magic from the first experience, and that feeling has followed through to my current digital photog self.

i remember just going nuts after that, always looking for the cancelation of shine and sheens on surfaces. i loved darkening the sky to a deep near-black (when shooting b/w film), by stacking an ND filter, a red filter, and a polarizer filter on top like a cherry rocket blasting my images into the obliteration of grays.

in any case, despite all of that glass in front of the lens array and having to shoot so so so slow, i always loved the results. i guess this is why today, with a camera loads heavier and a lens that looks more like a water bottle with a metal skirt, i have a steady hand.

the ability of making my photo more clear, to pull the shades of haze and refracted light aside, and get to the pure intent of the intended image, was and still is a real treat of a moment.

tonight's homework:

buy or borrow a polarizer filter, making sure to do research on brands, linear or circular, thin, threaded, and millimeter. try and test out your normal subject matter, day or night, indoor, studio or outdoor, and see if it's worth it to incorporate this filter into your bag of tools.

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" heat heat, brain brain "

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the most important thing to do when it gets unbearably hot in the summertimes, is to drink lots of water, and to have your cameras at ready.

don't be afraid to put on the sunscreen, a large visor'd cap, and venture out into the streets. there's images out there begging to be made, and there's only so many new images you can make from the confines of your sweaty room.

additionally, let your computer rest a bit, because you don't want to zap its innards with the extra temperatures.

if anyone wants to go on a photowalk or popsicles search, gimme a hit while the gettings good.

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" * :focus {outline: 0;} your life "

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we must, at all times embrace change. whether personal & private, or public & vulnerable. it is all happening, and nothing you did yesterday, are doing right now, or will do tomorrow, can halt this progression of our linear existence.

we're moving ever further along, and riding this time we have together like a beautiful wave that will never end.

tomorrow for me, will mark an end of a certain large period of my life, and begin anew. treacherous and thorned may the paths ahead lie, but i feel present and confident.

this blog then will become not only a looking glass into my personal everydays, but now also will include a more focused and invigorated attempt to make a go of this photog thing. i promise to only be honest and open, and to attempt to share with you the raw and the real, the rough and tumble, the insight and the wayward glance.

thank you to everyone for your collective encouragement and support over the years.

this is our life redesigned, within every passing moment.

we are live.

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