Guest Blogger: Photographer Dan MacDonald

Today I'm pleased to have a guest post by Dan MacDonald. I attended the School of Film & Photography at Montana State University with Dan and had the opportunity to witness his creativity through his photographic projects and the installations for his work at our senior shows. Today Dan shares his new project with us:

Sometimes I Stop Along the Way

I started this project while on a trip this past summer, but the idea had been germinating for sometime before that. I should also start by saying this project is probably an outgrowth of a larger interest I have in architecture. I am not so much interested in the technical aspects or even the design of buildings, but I am interested in them more as a potential physical expression of personal, social, and cultural feeling. Which leads me to the rest areas. Some are utilitarian, some are quite elaborate (sadly none of the ones I’ve shot so far), some have extremely trendy architecture that screams out which decade it was designed in and some are for more modest with a specific era of design and construction difficult to pinpoint. What I find interesting about them is their purpose is extremely utilitarian, primarily a sanitary place to dispose of bodily waste, and secondarily a place to stop along the way for rest from a journey. Yet many states have used them to showcase quite a bit of local pride, and often the designs of these areas reflect some version of the local culture of the region they’re in. Yet I think they’re often overlooked, people are usually in a hurry to get wherever they’re going on a trip, and I mean honestly it’s a place to poop. Yet someone, perhaps a team of someones, spent hours designing this unusual space and yet oddly purposeful place, and more people spent many hours constructing it. 

So I’ve set out to document as many rest areas as I can, my criteria for the project so far has been to only shoot ones that I actually have to stop and (ahem), rest at. I’ve tried to shoot them in a straight-forward documentary fashion that doesn’t try to make them more than they are, but I am taking a more considered shot than just jumping out of the car and snapping the first angle I see. Usually I’ve taken no more than 5 shots at each one and these are shot digitally but have nothing but the most modest of color correction comparable to what would be easily achievable with color film and C-prints. The rest areas seen so far in this project are mostly in Montana, but there are some from Washington, Oregon, and California as well. I see this project continuing for quite some time to come as my travels hopefully take me all over the country.

More of Dan's project and other recent work can be seen on his blog.

From Homelessness to Home: The Young Family

This is a continuation of a series. You can see an explanation of the project and the first family here and another family here.

Today I'm pleased to introduce the Young Family:

Karen is raising her two sons, Bryan (12) and Nathan (7), in this apartment that she's had for the past four years. It's the very same apartment they moved in to after their Family Promise experience.

Click here to hear from Nancy and her praise for Family Promise:

 The two boys (Nathan, left and Bryan, right) share their room equally, each getting a wall to decorate as their own with posters and memorabilia. 

Nathan was super excited to show me all of his favorite things, although sometimes he had trouble choosing his favorite. :) His bed is made up with a quilt each boy received from Family Promise.

 I had a great time hanging out with the kids and trying to capture their smiles. Even 12-year old Bryan starting loosening up a bit towards the end...

...even enough to show me his mad hacky sack skills.

What do you think of this project and images so far? I'd love to hear any feedback you have, positive or negative, or ideas you might have to share. I understand that your comments will won't have anything to do with the families I photographed. One thing I miss about being in school is having regular constructive criticism of my work. Thanks for any comments you might have!

Landscape Photography as an Opportunity to Slow Down

I recently had an email conversation with a friend who asked my advice about photographing a particular scene he had come across while hiking. He was frustrated with the photographs he made because he felt like he wasn't able to capture the beauty of what he saw. I admitted that this is actually one of the reasons I do not like landscape photography very much - it seems like I can only make boring landscape photographs. I can relate to the frustration. However, after giving him some suggestions of a few things to try, I came across this blog post by photographer David duChemin. I love this advice from his short blog post:

"Don’t allow yourself to be seduced by your subject matter. A beautiful scene isn’t necessarily a beautiful photograph." He goes on to encourage us: "Instead allow yourself to be seduced by, and fall in love with the light, the moment, and the geometry of the frame."

When I first started really concentrating on photography and learning about light, I felt like the world was new. Potential photographs were everywhere! In other words, I paid attention to how the light fell on things and I noticed the beauty in the things around me everyday. One of my daily prayers now is that I will be more aware of my environment and my surroundings. I don't want to surf through life without taking in all the little beautiful details. I want to find things to love about every moment.

This is one landscape image that I feel did turn out the way I had hoped. I photographed this herd of buffalo hanging out in the fog while traveling through the southern section of Yellowstone park early one morning. The fog was so thick it felt sad and heavy yet peaceful.  
©2011, Leslie McDaniel

What are your frustrations with landscape photography and what tricks or tools have helped you to make the photograph you want?

And finally, how do you make yourself slow down and take in the fleeting moments of your life?

From Homelessness to Home: The Reuter Family

Meet Nancy and her son Austin. Nancy's story from homelessness to home involves going from living in an unsafe roommate situation to living in a warehouse. Finally, she was connected with Family Promise and has now lived on her own with her son for a couple years. She and Austin both loved their experience in Family Promise, but were obviously ready for their own place towards the end. Even now, they remain connected to Family Promise who also helped them to find a working vehicle when their old one died.

Austin loves having his own room and has decorated it to represent the things he loves. He also has a goal to climb Mt. Everest one day so he hung the Nepali flag above his bed.

Listen to Austin's response when I asked him how Family Promise has changed him: 

In the hour and a half I spent with these guys, I could tell this mom & son duo have a great time together. 

 Nancy & Austin pose outside their home.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for ways to photograph my future project participants?

Guest Blogger: Lea Alexander

Today's guest post comes from photographer Lea Alexander. Lea is another fantastic artist I met when she and some friends moved into our Memphis bungalow. Her housemate, Kathleen Murray, guest posted for me in February. You can check out her post here. You can follow Lea on Instagram at Photoyo.

When I was first asked to do this blog post I wondered what I would write about. This post actually comes at a perfect time because just a few weeks ago I was in Atlanta attending the Society for Photographic Education conference. I felt that this conference was just what I needed. I have been out of graduate school for a few years now and I have found myself in some sort of slump ever since. These conferences are full of many different lectures. Some are fantastic. Some not so much. But the keynote speaker for this conference was Abelardo Morell. I adore his work so I knew that was totally worth the trip! His talk was great. He took us through his work from the beginning to what he is currently working on. I left there ready to photograph. Another great thing about this conference was that I got many ideas from each lecture I went to. Dan Burkholder, well known for his process of creating digital negatives, gave a talk on using your iPhone and the many different apps that can be used and what these apps do best. This talk was great to hear because though I say I have been in a slump, I have been using my iPhone pretty much everyday to photograph the world around me.

I have come to terms with the fact that the use of my iPhone camera is my main way of photographing right now and that it is ok to incorporate other art forms in what I am working on. I don’t believe that to be a “real” photographer you have to have the best gear or the latest technology or only stick to just photography. By using my phone, I can document everything around me and often photograph without it being obvious what I am doing. The networking of people who use their phone as a form of communication is continuing to grow and grow. I have been using the Instagram app a good bit lately and have really enjoyed it. It allows me to upload photos, which then allows everyone who is following me to view them and comment if they want to. I hear there are now Instameets where you can meet up with people in your city who use Instagram. This use of technology allows us to view photos and meet people that we may have never met otherwise! Amazing!

And I actually enjoy editing these photos with the many apps that are available. You are able to have a finished product in no time at all. So I think I have determined that I have not really been in a slump, but just quietly working and that somehow all of these photos will come together. Printing these images makes this process even better because it gives me proof that I have created something. A printed image makes all the difference in the world, even if you have to go to some drug store to print it out. 

If you ever have a chance to go to a photo conference or listen to an artist of any kind give a lecture, GO. Even if you don’t think that it influences you, there may be one word that changes everything about your art. And who cares if you use the camera on your phone to create images?  The main thing is the fact that you are creating. And that can lead to anything…

Abelardo Morell’s website: http://www.abelardomorell.net/

Dan Burkholder’s website: http://www.danburkholder.com/

Fallen by Lea Alexander

Metal Curtain by Lea Alexander

From Homelessness to Home: The Wright Family

My newest social issue project involves photographing families who were once homeless and who now have a home. The families I plan to photograph have gone through Family Promise, a local non-profit organization that offers help to families with children who are experiencing homelessness. Their website states that they have an 80% success rate of "homeless to home transition". The purpose of the organization as stated on their website is: "Our interfaith, nonsectarian network brings the faith community together to help our community’s families regain housing, independence and dignity in a time of need." While in the program, the families stay at local churches who cooperate with Family Promise. Volunteers from each church spend time hanging out with and feeding the family in the evenings during their stay. In the daytime, the families search for jobs, attend school, or spend time at the Family Promise "day house" doing tasks such as laundry or using the computer.

I had the pleasure to meet and photograph the Wright family this past Friday in the home they've had for just a couple of months. During my interview with them, they both discussed the benefits of the program as well as the difficult times. After their move from Wyoming, the couple spoke of the love and friendliness they experienced from Bozeman residents, particularly the volunteers they met through Family Promise. Heather told me of countless times she was moved to tears at the unconditional love they felt from volunteers during the program.

Meet Jason, Heather, & Hailey Wright: 

 

Click below to hear from Heather on why they chose enter the Family Promise program to help them get back on their feet (this is a very short raw & unedited clip from the interview I conducted last Friday):

Of the two family portraits, which do you like better and why?

Reconsidering Your Cell Phone's Camera

One of the things that bothers me the most about the photography business is this constant chatter about which particular camera we all use. When I'm out on a job, I can always spot the ones that will ask. You know who they are. They're the ones lingering around, twisting their head back and forth, trying to see the brand of camera you're using. If they can't tell, they'll ask. If they can tell, they'll immediately launch into their own opinions about your choice or explain why they've either chosen the same brand or gone with the other. Yes, I realize there are more brands of cameras out there than the big two, but to everyone who has ever wanted to engage me in this conversation, there are only two. I'm not trying to alienate anyone who uses brand x or y, and if this is you, this conversation probably irritates you for a whole different reason. I've had this exhausting conversation with both consumers and pros. My humble opinion is that it doesn't matter. When someone asks me for a recommendation for which to buy, I simply say go with your budget, then pick the one that feels better in your hands or has a specific feature that you really like. Beyond that, just read the manual and learn how to use every part of it.

I'm sure that most of you have heard the phrase "The best camera is the one that's with you." Most of you have cameras on your cell phones, and if you do, you probably already use it regularly. But do you consider it a tool to create images that are just as beautiful as your "big" camera? When using your cell phone's camera, you can still control two very important things to make a beautiful image: lighting and composition. There are many professional photographers now who are creating whole portfolios of work from their cell phone. Two you should check out are Jeremy Cowart and Chase Jarvis.

I'll leave you with one image I recently created with my cell phone's camera, which is 5 megapixels...more than my first digital point and shoot camera! You may recognize this owl from my Polaroid post.

(Processed with Old Photo Pro)

Do you know of other photographers purposefully using their cell phones to create new bodies of work? Leave a comment with a link to their gallery. I'd love to check it out!