Photography Brain Dump

• If college were free (and less hoop-jumpish), I’d have like forty degrees by now. As it stands though, I just sponge up learning where I can. Hence why a couple weeks back, I found myself in strange learning scenario #2,019–taking photos in a studio loft at the Elevator Building in Detroit.
• I can explain.
• But first, the Elevator Building. As we all know by now, refurbished buildings are a little bit of a shiny nickel to me. I go right to them. This one–the former home of the Detroit Elevator Co.–has been rehabbed into a hub for area artists. They kept the original timber ceiling beams and thick brick walls, added a glass-enclosed rooftop balcony and a community kitchen and put out the call for artists.
• I was there for a photo group. Did I mention that? And happened to run into one of my new fav photographers, Stephen McGee. Stephen is a fantastic photo and video journalist with an impressive portfolio and noticeable absence of ego that smacks of Jesus. (That’s him in the photo I took while we were experimenting with structure/lines.)
• Part of photography, as it turns out, is knowing what you like. And that’s about the only part I’ve got down. I like bold colors, intense lines, closeups, abstracts. I want a picture to make me regret I wasn’t there in the moment it was photographed.
• Along those lines, one of my favorite photo blogs is called MUTE.
• I also like the portraits of Sukanto Debnath. Take the stunning woman below, for example. Had she been all-out grinning or even had her eyes wide open, engaging the camera, this would’ve been half the shot it ended up being.
• Also a fan of Prateek Dubey who captured the squirrely bearded fellow below the woman. Same deal. He was looking out of the corner of his glasses, beard touseled up in the elements. And that was the right shot.

• I don’t always know exactly why I like photos. Some things you just like because you like them. It’s an art, not a science. That’s what Miles behind Mute says anyway. So I’m going to go with that.
• Or if you’re just looking for interesting, check out Shorpy–a site that archives historic photos that’ll keep the nostalgia-lover in you coming back.
• A lot of photographic principles are good metaphors for life and growth. Select only the best shots. Be intentional about what belongs in the frame. The farther you are away from the light source, the more likely your image is to get lost in the shadows. I could write volumes of cheesy devotionals on the metaphors in this stuff.
• I’ll spare you that though.
• Lastly, the more I get into photography, the more I agree with recent research which shows that beauty …wait for it… is linked to community satisfaction.