This is why I like photography
- Thread starter Jagerbomb52
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HiloHawaiian
Well-Known Member
Sorry, this will be long, it’s 24F outside — all I have is espresso, my iPad, and time to kill 
Excellent video, really hit home for me...The PRIMARY message, which is why I liked it so much, is that Peter was a human camera since childhood. Obsessed, it dominated his life. Alain and I as well, no idea how/why.
I think I mentioned in another post, I recently met a famous landscape photographer Alain Briot. http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/
An ad on CL to buy a shop vac got me to his house. Seeing his excellent work everywhere and commenting non-stop, I hesitated telling him I made my living the same way, (but in the far less-glamorous corporate world). He guessed it. I asked how. He used the word passion, “I hear it in your voice, I see it in your eyes...” — with a perfect French artist accent, LOL. We started talking at length about photography. It frustrates him to no end that folks pay $$$$$ to travel to Death Valley for a personal seminar, lugging $20K in the best cameras and lenses, but lacking any passion why they are there.
Alain said you can’t teach that aspect of it — you feel it — live it, or you don’t. You’re a human camera, or you’re a camera operator.
Don’t get me wrong, you can still be a be a very good photographer/videographer without that passion thing — which is a double-edged sword. It can ruin marriages, friendships, jobs — having to deal with folks who don’t get it. I missed my 1st wife’s B-Day and our wedding anniversary (again) b/c I chose to fly to Moscow, then Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan to get one photo of a Proton rocket launch at a dawn light direction only available in an early March launch — at -20F. My cameras froze solid the 1st & 2nd attempts years earlier. I was obsessed with this shot for a decade, knowing it would be really unique — used to market cheap Russian launches of Western satellites. I befriended a Russian Space Forces General (we weren’t supposed to fraternize with Rooski’s, but I did). He loved photography, wanted to help me. He could go anywhere, anytime, I had KGB following me 24/7. He was a super guy, I dined with him too. With his considerable help breaking many rules, I got the shot. We still keep in touch...
Gone 3 weeks, no way to contact me, house was empty when I got home...
So, I can totally relate to the passion Peter had to get that shot of the lake. This aspect of the video is really well documented. Yea, the lake shot is great, but how he got the unique shot is well told — the last minute travel decision, the fog, the various frustrations, the coffee by the lake, the patience, the optimism, AND talent. Talent alone would have put him on the hill with everybody else. I too would have immediately walked away from the crowded hill, thinking that’s where the lazy people go. I’d have wandered around until something developed, or not. Another point Alain & I agree on. Don’t get obsessed with one pre-planned shot. I can’t tell you how many times I got that shot, then turned around and noticed a much better one — totally unplanned. My volunteer helpers (& 2nd wife) always groaned — there he goes again...
Excellent video, really hit home for me...The PRIMARY message, which is why I liked it so much, is that Peter was a human camera since childhood. Obsessed, it dominated his life. Alain and I as well, no idea how/why.
I think I mentioned in another post, I recently met a famous landscape photographer Alain Briot. http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/
An ad on CL to buy a shop vac got me to his house. Seeing his excellent work everywhere and commenting non-stop, I hesitated telling him I made my living the same way, (but in the far less-glamorous corporate world). He guessed it. I asked how. He used the word passion, “I hear it in your voice, I see it in your eyes...” — with a perfect French artist accent, LOL. We started talking at length about photography. It frustrates him to no end that folks pay $$$$$ to travel to Death Valley for a personal seminar, lugging $20K in the best cameras and lenses, but lacking any passion why they are there.
Alain said you can’t teach that aspect of it — you feel it — live it, or you don’t. You’re a human camera, or you’re a camera operator.
Don’t get me wrong, you can still be a be a very good photographer/videographer without that passion thing — which is a double-edged sword. It can ruin marriages, friendships, jobs — having to deal with folks who don’t get it. I missed my 1st wife’s B-Day and our wedding anniversary (again) b/c I chose to fly to Moscow, then Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan to get one photo of a Proton rocket launch at a dawn light direction only available in an early March launch — at -20F. My cameras froze solid the 1st & 2nd attempts years earlier. I was obsessed with this shot for a decade, knowing it would be really unique — used to market cheap Russian launches of Western satellites. I befriended a Russian Space Forces General (we weren’t supposed to fraternize with Rooski’s, but I did). He loved photography, wanted to help me. He could go anywhere, anytime, I had KGB following me 24/7. He was a super guy, I dined with him too. With his considerable help breaking many rules, I got the shot. We still keep in touch...
Gone 3 weeks, no way to contact me, house was empty when I got home...
So, I can totally relate to the passion Peter had to get that shot of the lake. This aspect of the video is really well documented. Yea, the lake shot is great, but how he got the unique shot is well told — the last minute travel decision, the fog, the various frustrations, the coffee by the lake, the patience, the optimism, AND talent. Talent alone would have put him on the hill with everybody else. I too would have immediately walked away from the crowded hill, thinking that’s where the lazy people go. I’d have wandered around until something developed, or not. Another point Alain & I agree on. Don’t get obsessed with one pre-planned shot. I can’t tell you how many times I got that shot, then turned around and noticed a much better one — totally unplanned. My volunteer helpers (& 2nd wife) always groaned — there he goes again...
HiloHawaiian
Well-Known Member
I don’t own any of these pictures, so it took me a looooong time to find a copy!
A little more of what I think you are talking about. I know Casey is not everyones favorite for a Youtuber but he seems to have settled down in the last year. He is a great video, just do what makes you happy
HiloHawaiian
Well-Known Member
LOL, Exactly. “My only secret is that I never quit doing it...”. That nails it.........
I retired.....well, kinda, b/c I can’t stop either. Flying drones shooting video helps feed the fix, and the occasional real job. Casey’s style doesn’t bother me. Humorous, irreverent, blunt, yea, he’s mellowed a bit, thankfully... I’d rather have that than blokes to drone on and on, and on...
The last 2-3 min. Are really good. I especially liked the approx. words: “I’m living the dream....but the dream has ebbs and flows, not always great, but rarely bad...”. Also: Learn everything about what you love to do, even if it doesn’t really interest you that much. That is so damn true. I was offered a job to be essentially a metrologist. (?), only because aerospace engineers like the way I shot super-close-up slices of metals when the main guy got really ill. I wanted no part of the job, but it really was kinda fun, I learned a ton. I got better at it b/c I understood lighting, really proving to me beyond all doubt photography is all about lighting & composition no matter how macro/micro/telescopic. Like that last pano you posted!
I retired.....well, kinda, b/c I can’t stop either. Flying drones shooting video helps feed the fix, and the occasional real job. Casey’s style doesn’t bother me. Humorous, irreverent, blunt, yea, he’s mellowed a bit, thankfully... I’d rather have that than blokes to drone on and on, and on...
The last 2-3 min. Are really good. I especially liked the approx. words: “I’m living the dream....but the dream has ebbs and flows, not always great, but rarely bad...”. Also: Learn everything about what you love to do, even if it doesn’t really interest you that much. That is so damn true. I was offered a job to be essentially a metrologist. (?), only because aerospace engineers like the way I shot super-close-up slices of metals when the main guy got really ill. I wanted no part of the job, but it really was kinda fun, I learned a ton. I got better at it b/c I understood lighting, really proving to me beyond all doubt photography is all about lighting & composition no matter how macro/micro/telescopic. Like that last pano you posted!
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