Sunday, February 28, 2010

OMFG Neil Young in the Olympics!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARRIN! I LOVE YOU!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Waiting for Karrin's plane to arrive.

Good Enough?

As spring approaches, it seems like possibilities are aprouting in front of me. It's unexpected, it's exciting, and it's hard to grasp. I started really learning photography when I was about eight years old. My father had a darkroom for his own photography, and he took me into it and taught me how to develop black-and-white negatives and then make prints. You never forget the sharp, intriguing smell of Dektol. But for most of my young life I pursued drawing instead. I was good enough at it to win a bunch of significant awards and a scholarship, but when I looked at illustrators I admired I knew, realistically, that I could never be at that level. I also pursued music very seriously when I was younger, spending years writing and recording original music. But again, when I looked the the musicians I admired, I knew that I would never be at their level. In both drawing and music I had enough talent to impress people, but not nearly enough to make a career of it. Many years of passionate dedication to drawing and to music did not lead to any open doors or opportunities. I was good, but not good enough. In the early 2000's I rediscovered photography. In 2004 I joined a tiny little upstart photography website called Flickr -- back then it was a very small community and it was possible to know who everybody on the site was. Sharing photos online was the spark that made me turn serious. Over the next six years I worked at photography and worked to find my place in the field. Eventually I found that I was most interested in commercial and editorial fashion photography, and also worked to develop my own quirky style of art photography -- a style I've recently started calling "neoantiquarian." For the last few years I've been working hard specifically at photographing models, and learning a commercial style that can actually find a market. And for these last few years I have been fully expecting to find that, exactly as I did with both drawing and music, I was good enough to impress some people, but not good enough to make a career of it. And I certainly DID find myself looking at the photographers I most admired -- Carmen Gonzalez, Bogna Kuczerawy, Lasse Hoile, Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir and others -- and thinking I could never do the kind of work that they do. They were on another level. But that is changing with surprising speed. In the last two weeks I have done a series of shoots which have been a tremendous step forward for me in virtually every way. My photography itself has very suddenly gotten much better, but so has my ability to give direction to models when called for, and even the post-production work I do has advanced significantly and suddenly. Growth does not always happen at a smooth, gradual rate; sometimes there is a big leap forward. And that has just happened to me: a dramatic, sudden breakthrough to a new skill level. In the last couple weeks I've done the best commercial and editorial work I've ever done. And a few shots in particular -- such as "L'esprit de l'espoir" and "Luna" have actually shocked me into realizing that I'm quickly approaching the level of those photographers I admired and believed I could never approach. I've also only just begun doing beauty shots, and have found that I love doing them and I seem to be (again, to my surprise) pretty good at them! My beauty shots of Briauna, Taylor and Mackenzie all turned out pretty nice, for somebody who have never done this kind of thing until so recently. Now when I step back and look at my work as objectively as possible, I'm startled when I realize that this photography is mine. I was never anywhere nearly as good at drawing as I am at photography now. And I was certainly nowhere near as good at anything musical. Photography is not only where my passion lies, but it is also where my true talent lies. When I look at the work I've done in the last two weeks, it's hard for me to grasp that these photos were my own work -- I made them. It's very uncomfortable, difficult and just plain weird for me to be confronted with the realization that I'm pretty good at something. I still can't quite look in a mirror and say, "I'm really good at photography." But I'm starting to see the evidence in front of me, and it's gradually getting harder to deny that I've got talent. And it does seem possible that just maybe I can turn it into a career.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Woke up feeling awful this morning so I canceled tonight's shoot. I'm going to just TRY to relax & finish and post a couple more photos.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

(singing) "Shoot through wire, through the wire, through the wire -- croquet!"
10 Reasons to Avoid Talking On the Phone http://ping.fm/kvxhF I'm loving this!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Brought the computer and the current photo hard drive to the living room so I can watch "Next Top Model" while working on photos.
It pleases me to brazenly split my infinitives.
I'm so happy with the past week's shoots. Briauna, Taylor, Anna, you were all amazing. I have lots more photos to process and post!
"Sleep, sleep, I know that I'm only dreaming/ Through closed eyes I see West German skies on the ceiling..."

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Ack! I've done so many photo shoots lately, I'm WAY behind on processing now! :-

Saturday, February 20, 2010

While I would REALLY love to set up a wireless network, I can't make my website accessible through this LinkSys router. I'm clueless here.
Today's shoot in Everett seems to have fallen through. Hmm. So I'll enjoy sunshine now and work on Taylor's & Briauna's photos tonight.

Friday, February 19, 2010

File under "internet services that are totally free, totally hilarious, and totally useless." http://ping.fm/nHnKn

Thursday, February 18, 2010

If you actually liked the Snuggy, you're going to LOVE this. http://ping.fm/gyens

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Those who think cynicism is oh-so-intelligent need to have THIS scorched into their retinas. http://ping.fm/FF0uT

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

An amusing moment from Monday: Doing close-up beauty shots of a 5-foot-eleven model & having to stand on my tip-toes to get the shots.
Very happy with the new photos I posted late last night! Check my Facebook or Flickr.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy that Canada got the gold in mogul. But now I'm taking Karrin to the airport. She's off to Vegas again for a couple weeks. *sniff*
Happy Valentine's Day! I love you, Karrin! Later a picnic, but with this rain it'll be under a shelter. Then she flies to Vegas at 8pm.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

8 Romantic Songs You Didn't Know Were About Rape. For reals. http://ping.fm/Skzfe
Am I right in thinking that the adjustments to the men's luge track mean no men's records are likely to be broken this year? olympics
The awesome poetry slam guy from the opening ceremonies: http://ping.fm/plCZd olympics
There's no debating that Rush is Canada's most successful band by a long shot, so why the F**K were they not at the olympics ?

Friday, February 12, 2010

Oh god! Awesome awesome awesome! Watch all the way to the very end! http://ping.fm/rswVL

Thursday, February 11, 2010

"And it's high time, Cymbaline! Please wake me..." Damn, I still love the KQED show and still desperately want the audio in stereo!
Beaker vs. YouTube = awesome! http://ping.fm/3Yd8o

Monday, February 08, 2010

Please unsubscribe me from your internet. LULZ! http://ping.fm/uysNf
The more I think about it, the more I like the term "Neoantequarian." What do you think? http://ping.fm/sW7nE

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Don't watch the stupidbowl -- turn on @animalplanet and watch the puppybowl instead!
Football sucks! REAL men watch the PUPPY BOWL on @animalplanet puppybowl
Setting up shoots from Feb. 15th to 25th. Hoping it will be a busy, productive time.

Friday, February 05, 2010

I've got some details now. My photo "For Anne Brigman, Wherever You Are" will be appearing on the cover of the book "Terugblik" ("Retrospection", in English). The book will be a literary memoir by Dutch author Inez van Dullemen, an associate of D.H. Lawrence. She is the author of 25 books over the last 60 years. I'm honored to have my photo selected to be the visual "face" of her forthcoming memoir.
I've got some details now. My photo "For Anne Brigman, Wherever You Are" will be appearing on the cover of the book "Terugblik" ("Retrospection", in English). The book will be a literary memoir by Dutch author Inez van Dullemen, an associate of D.H. Lawrence. She is the author of 25 books over the last 60 years. I'm ho...nored to have my photo selected to be the visual "face" of her forthcoming memoir.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Just set up a proper Facebook page for Dave Ward Photography. Please become a fan at http://ping.fm/zozNl

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Holland's premiere literary publisher wants to use one of my photos on the cover of a literary memoir!