Five / Seven

Self-portrait : Photographer at year's end

As we countdown to the new year tonight, I've been thinking about the last year and my adventures in photography. When I started this blog in 2007, my intention was to post a photo-a-day of Washington, D.C., and its surrounding environs. As time has progressed, I've managed mostly to do that and I'm pleased that I have. But what I've enjoyed more is a) how my eye for crafting a picture has developed, b) the response I've had to some of my work, and c) the talented people I've met along the way. That said, here are five things I've learned as a result of seeing life through a lens and seven photographers who inspire my work.

1. Everything is a potential picture.
How you frame it is what makes it noteworthy.

2. I'm more creative and artistic than I thought I was.

3. Inspiration is best when shared.

4. Including people in pictures makes them more interesting.

5. Even if your family doesn't like having their picture taken, take them.
You'll never regret it.

*****

The insight doesn't stop there. Here are seven photographers from around the blogosphere who inspire my work. For fun, I've added some side-by-side comparisons.

Ramsey at Fog Bay

Fog Bay was one of the first photography blogs I ever came across. In addition to breathtaking photos from around the Bay Area, Ramsey's format is one I adopted for my photo blog: photos and information about the city I currently call home. The added bonus of his blog: It's mostly about San Francisco, a city I love like no other.

San Francisco's Tranamerica Pyramid and Flat Iron Building
on Broadway, as captured by Ramsey of Fog Bay. Seeing an icon
in a new light inspires my photographs of some of Washington's
better known, but often poorly photographed sites.

Debi Cates at Odessa Photo-a-Day

I can't remember how I found Debi's blog, but I praise the heavens that I did! Debi has the most exquisite eye and can turn something so seemingly banal to the rest of us into art. These two photos (here and here) are currently among my favorites.

The intricacy of simplicity as captured in Debi's photo of a set of smokestacks gives pause
and has trained my eye to see the potential in things I might otherwise walk through or by
and never bother to photograph, like the breezeway at National Cathedral.

Rob at Twin Cities Daily Photo

Rob's twilight and night photography and his ability to crop and frame continually leave me in awe. His photos are often exceptional and high-quality. On top of that, he has the cutest dog in photobloggerdom! Case in point here and here, among others. Also, he likes Pink Martini, therefore that makes him extra cool.

Taking photos after the bright light of day has faded often eluded me until I started reading Rob's blog.
His use of the "golden hour" has created some stunning results and is a technique I've learned and
put to good use, I think. Striped Sunset is a fine example of Rob's skill with low light.

Maya at Maya Photography

Like Rob, Maya also has a great eye for cropping and framing, but she also has the ability to see the potential for a great picture where someone else (namely me) would be annoyed by some something or other supposedly blocking or obscuring the thing I want to photograph. Case in point: the first photo in this series. Maya is also the first photoblogger I've met in person. I hope I get to meet and shoot photos with some more of you in 2009.

Maya's photo of Seattle's EMP through winter trees took my breath away when I saw it on her blog.
I was hanging out with her the day she took this picture and it's one I completely missed because
the trees were a distraction. In my narrow mind, at least. After seeing this picture, I realized what
I was missing and decided to try a whole new approach when photographing this year's
Festival of Lights at the Washington Mormon Temple.

Virginia at Birmingham Daily Photo and Paris Through My Lens

Virginia is the one to credit for pushing me to photograph strangers. While my sister says I can make friends with a rock (the other day, she upgraded that and said, I "could make friends with a cactus, while the rest of [my family] would be too afraid to approach the prickly bastard"), photographing strangers is a challenge for me. Doing the 100 Strangers series has pushed me out of my comfort zone and opened a whole new area of photography for me. I also love watching VJ's eye and photography evolve. And, I've had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone on several occasions. She is quintessentially Southern and an absolute kick in the pants, bless her heart!

Pushing me to photograph strangers has resulted in meeting people and having conversations I
wouldn't otherwise. Virginia's beautiful portraits of strangers she meets, like this mother and her son
in the airport in Paris, are moving and nudge me to create what I hope are meaningful portraits, too.

Bob at Saint Louis Daily Photo and Gateway Arch

Bob's photos of gritty, midwestern, not-quite-southern Saint Louis are incredible, but it is his pictures of the iconic Gateway Arch by Eero Saarinen that blow me away. His ability to capture, recapture, and capture again an allegedly average metropolitan tourist attraction is stunning. As I photograph typical attractions in D.C., I try to find new ways of presenting what would otherwise be ho-hum monuments and every time I step in front of one to photograph it, I ask myself, "How would Bob shoot this?"

Seeing the Gateway Arch from as many angles as possible provides infinite possibilities. Bob's ability to
capture this monument-to-architecture inspired me to find unique ways of photographing what I
otherwise felt was a dull monument--the U.S. Air Force Memorial. The result? I now love this memorial.

Nic at London Daily Nature Photo

Finally, Nic of London Daily Nature Photo. First of all, Nic's photos are beautiful--well-composed and brilliantly executed--and second, he was gracious enough to share a tip or two on how to approach and photograph wild things that flit and fly. I always appreciate a gracious photographer.

Nic's fine eye and patience for photographing nature--especially things that don't sit still for long--
has gone a long way toward improving my ability to photograph flighty things.

So there you have it! Those are the five things I've learned in the last year looking through a lens and seven photographers who inspire my eye. Thank you to everyone who visits D.C. Confidential and thank you to those of you--named and unnamed--who inspire me!

Happy New Year and here's to some great photography in 2009!

Photo copyrights: Janet (Self-Portrait and Bald Eagle), Ramsey (TransAmerica Tower), Debi (Imaginary Place in Reality), Rob (Striped Sunset), Maya (EMP), Virginia (Mother and Son), Bob (The Skinny), and Nic (Chaffinch). Used with permission. All rights reserved.