i hate naming these things!

[lizheaemma]

I personally see no reason not to crop photographs! I feel that photography is an art from start to finish and it's personal choise! Is it you or others that make you not want to crop and if it's you, why?

 

[craig]

It is "others" (and the voices in my head). I think it comes from years of shooting slide flim and only displaying them through a projecter, or in most cases just a lupe and light table. Art Directors are especially critical. Theoretically, the contact print or transparency is the true test of an image. If the shot has to be enlarged or reduced quality suffers. Theoretically, the same goes for exposure. The less time spent in the darkroom or photoshop the better. The less time spent in production of the shot the more money you make. If you can nail the exposure you do not have to bracket. Allowing more film/space for different angles etc.

 

[lizheaemma]

OK I hear where you are comming from! I have never taken a picture for money or that it mattered if anyone other then myself found pleasing! Ya, if you can nail the shot without doing anything then that is the best of circumstances! Do you get a chance to do much phototagraphy for pleasure or is it all for work? Can you draw the line between the two?
I would thing that with the quality of digital images, that a crop would not be anywhere near as degrading to picture quality then it would be in film! I don't know I'd suggest you play with it! If you don't like that way that it feels then don't do it! If you find out that you do then go for it!

I keep thinking that I might make a submission in a local art show but I don't know how I feel about beening judged like that! I think that I also need a new camera before I try that!

 

[craig]

Ahh!! the aged old question. Are you advertising or editorial? 70% percent of my work is advertising. The other 30 is editorial work. I love editorial work! Yes I do make a strong distinction between both those fields and my personal work. For example: my most recent personal work is focused on "industrial" and general abstracts. Shot religiously for at least 6 hours per weekend. In a way I may be shooting something that would never make it in the Graphic Arts field, but is perfectly acceptable in the Art field.
We must always remember that photography (like a lot of things) can be taken on a lot of different levels. For years all I did was advertising. It damn near killed me (that is a little dramatic).
Oh yea! of course show your work! You should think of it in the context of not being judged, but displaying your art.

 

[MuffinJuice]

i'd just like to saw i find your children simply beautiful. i love children, you're very lucky, and very impressive (as in having a lasting impression on me LoL) pictures.
thank you very much

 

[lizheaemma]

MuffinJuice: Thank you! and ..... what is muffin juice, it sound like something that my four year old might like


craig: What do you love to shot that means tones to you? What makes you smile? What makes you laugh? What do you want to remember forever?
Not somthing that you would thing of as accaptable in art circles or as something that you would ever earn money for?

I'm just curious if this is one in the same for you?

Some of my worst pics are my favorites....
This is one of my girls tonight, she had just bitten off the snowman's nose!
It really could use some photoshop as that *&^* flash picks up very blasted snow flake and it was far to dark too go with out it!
But this pic makes me smile and it will make me smile in 50 years!

 

[lizheaemma]

OK it was driving me nut so I fixed I think that this look better!

 

[craig]

I'm glad to see that winter has hit in other parts of the world.(it is beginning to resemble Hoth Ice Planet from Star Wars here in WY) Once again you have produced a tender shot!
I may have not been clear. My personal work is exactly that. Personal to me. The photos are what I feel, and they are an extension of what is Craig. I even have passion for the commercial/editorial work that I do. Maybe what I am trying to say is that photography is a driving force in my life. The work can be critically analyzed 'till we are all blue in the face, but the fact remains that this is Craig Blank's work, and few things make me more proud. Showing my work, and having it critiqued by AD's or whoever, is what helps me grow as an artist and a human being. It is all well and good taking photos that you like, but one of the few truths in photography is "show the world"
Don't worry, all photos are well archived, and will be with us for years to come. Even though I am (almost) digital. I worry about those who delete their shots "in the camera" Who can say that 50 years from now they wouldn't be good photos?

 

[lizheaemma]

That's what I was wondering! If your work and the things that you where doing was what made you tick? I have so many pics saved :?
I don't think that I am ready to show the word! At least untill I get a better camera!

 

[craig]

So many photos saved. If I had any kind of sense I would put he cd's in a fire proof box. At least make dupes and put them in a different location, and my film and prints too. AHHH!!! what if all the electricity in the world goes out. All kidding aside, being archival is extremly important. We all know the importance of rolling upon a photograph years later and saying "hey, I remeber when I took that! That's a great photo!"

Oh yea, it is the photographer not the camera, sort of.