Queen Mary, port side, Long Beach, CA
Hello, and welcome to my blog. So happy you could drop by. Allow me to give you an introduction to what you can expect to find here:
After nearly a year of pondering it, I finally began this venture for several reasons. Although I already have a primary web site where some of my photographs are displayed, it is not as easy to update as one that is powered by such useful blogging software as that provided by TypePad (ease of use is a key factor; there are not enough hours in the day). And the images there tend to be grouped together in series or distinct bodies of work. The ability to quickly and easily update the blog from any computer was a compelling reason to delve into the "blogoshpere", as was the fact that I could post images that were not necessarily related to each other, or even images that exist quite nicely on their own and might never be a part of a larger series.
Another reason I was interested in starting a blog was to have a way to communicate with my readers and students and share my thoughts about photography, the digital darkroom, and the creative process. I have been a photographer for 25 years and I am keenly interested in the intent, motivation, influences, and serendipitous chance that drive the act of creative image making. These thoughts and musings may take the form of short essays on the creative process, posts sharing my own experiences in art making (both the triumphs and the failures; sometimes we learn more from the failures), comments on the direction of digital imaging technology, Photoshop tips and techniques, as well as the occasional stream-of-consciousness ramble or surreal Haiku.
You can also keep up to date about my current book projects, workshops and travels (that is, if you're not buried in your own projects, work and travel). What you will not find here are technical reviews of products. I may mention a product or technique related to a certain product now and then, but I am far too busy to try and keep up to date with every new innovation in the world of digital photography. There are other web sites that do that very well. This is not one of those sites. This is a blog about my photography and my thoughts on making images. It is as much a place for me to discuss new ideas as it is to share fully formed concepts.
Why f/1.4?
I love to photograph with my lens aperture wide open in order to create very shallow depth of field. One of my favorite lenses for this purpose has a maximum aperture of f/1.4. While not all of the photographs you see here will have shallow depth of field, I feel the name conveys one of the qualities that I like in my own and other people's images. I also like the idea that it suggests focusing closely on a given subject and not letting the clutter of the rest of the world distract you too much. I think artists, no matter what their chosen medium, need more time filled moments like this, to focus on their art making and let the distractions fade away into a soft, quiet blur.
Odds and Ends
The frequency of my posts will vary depending on my schedule. There
will be times when new material may appear on a daily basis, and there
will be other times when my updates will be less frequent. I don't plan on becoming a slave to the blog.
In terms of the images featured here, it will probably be a combination of straight photography (i.e., not overly manipulated in Photoshop), images that bear more obvious traces of digital enhancing (hey, I am a Photoshop author, after all...) as well as some of my pinhole images taken on 120 film with a modified Holga camera. My explorations with the photographic process may take me in many directions, however, so new formats and image flavors are not out of the question.
Hello Sean,
I found your image of Queen Mary portside
on Google images and then further explored
your blog site, or whatever you call it.
I am not familiar to blogging, but really like your eye for photography. You truly do
capture the essence of the locations or subjects you are shooting.
I do not know what Typepad or any of that is but would like to be on your list of your thoughts and images that you post. You think and see the world similar to myself, yet I do not venture out like you do.
I am doing some work for the Queen Mary complex and your image has inspired me.
Keep up the good work, Kevin in Oceanside CA
Posted by: Kevin Immel | 28 October 2005 at 03:00 PM
As always, Sean, your insight, expertise, and wonderful sense of humor are hugely inspirational to me . . . being a part of your vision & thoughts via the delightful morsels of wisdom that you share here is always a highlight of my day! Thank you . . .
Posted by: Tami | 29 January 2006 at 07:18 AM
Kevin, Tami...Thanks for the comments. I am glad you are enjoying the imagery.
Posted by: Sean | 29 January 2006 at 10:06 AM