Sponsored by the Chinese Women’s League, this two day festival is held on the Potomac River near Georgetown. I happened upon the races while killing time one day back in June. Looked like a blast. Next year I’ll try to cover more of the events over the full two days.
Riding the rails of DC’s Metro. Hands hanging on, shoulder to shoulder, packed. Standing in last car I see stations zip past.
From December. Chilly winter morning at DC’s L’Enfant Plaza. Always on the look out for interesting interactions of light and shadows.
Steam vent and silhouette. L’Enfant Plaza, Washington, DC.
“Reading maketh a full man.” ~ Francis Bacon
To be a better photographer, one should read books. Many books.
I noticed the other day there was yet another book list making the rounds on the intertubes. You know the kind, the top fifty or one-hundred essential books. Always with the tag line “How many have you read?” I’m a sucker for these. Even though I never agree with all the books on the various lists, I like to discover where the curators and I do find accord. But as I was scrolling through this latest and shaking my head or rolling my eyes at the inclusion of this book or that book, it occurred to me I should just make my own damn list! Why not, right? My parents raised an avid reader who’s reached a nice ripe middle age and has lost track of how many books he’s read. You can continue to mock other people’s lists, but what’s the point? Time to come up with your own, Mr Smartie-pants.
OK then, for what it’s worth and in no particular order…
Michael Kircher’s 50 Essential Books™
Sure To Make You A Better Photographer.
(also Spouse, Parent, Friend, Lover … You can thank me later. ) 🙂
Please feel free to share the books that most influenced you in the comments. The more the better.
Talk to anyone who went to Key West in the 1970s or early 1980s and you will, without question, hear some version of, “Oh you should have seen it back when I first went down there! It was so cool back then. No chain restaurants, no Starbucks, no fast-food joints, everything was local and unique. Now it’s just a big tourist trap!”
Everyone laments the commercialization of their favorite vacation spots, it’s true. Its never fun to go back years later and discover the bar you thought was so choice, and that probably only you and a few locals even knew existed, is now an Au Bon Pain. Jimmy Buffett, one of the original troubadours of Key West, the man who many times in concert complained about the commercialization of this once funky, drunken town…even HE opened a cheesy restaurant/bar/gift shop down on Duval Street, naming it after one of his songs!
But in spite all of this, Key West is still Key West. It still has groovy, local-flavor joints to hang out in. Little hideaways. Quiet places that the large crowds never seem to find. Sure, the Weekend Warriors from Miami descend most Friday nights, turning Duval Street into The French Quarter during Mardi Gras for a couple days. But big deal. Who really wants to hang out on Duval Street anyway?
Go down for a week and do things when everyone else isn’t. Don’t go to Mallory Square for sunset. Don’t eat at Sloppy Joe’s. (Or worse, Cheeseburger In Paradise!) Don’t let the crowds coming in from cruise ships bother you. They’re only there for a while. The place will settle down again once they’re gone.
The unique and funky version of Key West is still there. You just need to dig a little deeper to find it. Guide books have their place, for sure, but the great thing about traveling is the exploring, searching and discovering. You never know what might be just around the corner.
Above sunset not at Mallory Square.
Last June we took a four day road trip and headed north on I-95 aiming for Chester, CT. It was someone’s (ahem!) 50th Birthday and a get away was in order. We’re fairly familiar with the area having spent time over the years in Mystic, Essex and other parts along the coast there.
Every third Thursday from May to September the Nilsson Spring Street Gallery in Chester holds their Concerts In The Garden series. Music and the occasional play are enjoyed once a month by locals and sporadic vagabonds like us. The gardens are gorgeous, the amphitheater nice and intimate. It was a relatively cool evening the night we were there. Perfect for drinking beer (BYOB), eating pizza (homemade at the gallery) and listening to some blues.
Ramblin’ Dan Stevens and his band gave us some downright righteous Americana that night. His rapport with the audience is comfortable and easy going. His blues guitar is straight up bad-ass, no doubt about it. He’s toured all over, bringing his take on traditional American blues to audiences in the U.S., Europe and even the Virgin Islands.
In addition to his six-string acoustic, he often pulls out his homemade axes: a three-string cigar box guitar and a one-string Diddly Bow. With these, and using what looks to be a 3/4″ socket, he’ll bore down deep into some slide guitar mojo that would make Duane Allman even crack a smile.
The new season at the Nilsson Gallery is soon upon us, and a return visit is likely. Until then, here are a few images from last year’s groovy show.
And by the way, the art in the gallery is by Leif Nilsson. Worth a visit all itself.
At the Cowboy Bar on Jackson’s main drag, Bill Allard gives a little extra body english
to his shot. David Alan Harvey and workshop attendees watch from the other end.
In 2006 I attended a workshop in Jackson, Wyoming. The Summit Series of Photography Workshops. It was an experience that will live with me forever. I met and learned from the likes of William Albert Allard, David Alan Harvey, Mary Ann Golon and James Hill. I met one of my best friends there, fellow attendee and now photojournalist Jeremy Wade Shockley.
It was a week of all out exploration. And not only the world of photography, but equally important, of our selves as well.
Early morning shooting, daily critiques, workflow and post processing classes, portfolio reviews. Every evening a lecture from one or two photographers and/or editors. Afterward, dinner and drinks at one of the local bars. These moments of unscripted, off the cuff, freewheeling conversations that arose when everyone was “off the clock” were some of the most important and enlightening. The refrain of the attendees quickly became, “Eh, we can sleep next week.” It was a nonstop buffet of photographic nourishment.
Rich Clarkson created this amazing workshop series. Here he explains his idea of Team Teaching and its benefits.
Workshop founder Rich Clarkson on Team Teaching from Summit Series of Workshops on Vimeo.
I will attest to the concept of team teaching. Getting such a comprehensive review of your work, receiving the wisdom of a variety of top notch professionals, each with vastly different experiences from their own photographic lives… these benefits just are not found in a one-on-one setting.
That one grueling week challenged me in so many ways. It tested my confidence and my abilities. And it pushed me to challenge myself. Clarkson and his team got me to consider new ideas and thought processes even before I look through the viewfinder. Ultimately, the workshop instilled in me a desire to be more than just a better photographer.
Oh, and hey, they’re running a contest right now. The winner receives free tuition to the workshop of his or her choosing! Go on over to their site and sign up.
Keep shooting.
-MK
Found myself in the ever snowful Washington, DC the other day.
Thought I’d put the camera through it’s paces in B&W mode. Went with the Yellow filter effect. Not much post processing in Lightroom. Little contrast here and there and a couple needed lightening. Otherwise all just out of camera.
Trying to catch the train.
C & O Canal National Historical Park.