In Search of a Different Photographic Vision.

As many of our members know, I am in search for a different way to photograph. My present selection is minimalist photography because it gets me off the point and shoot habit that I somehow developed over the years. I find great pleasure in shooting many pictures, but finding that most of what I shoot will never get out of my computer is discouraging.
The minimalist approach is now forcing me to use a tripod and to take a lot more time composing each image. The result is very satisfying. I still take a good amount of images, but it is because of my search of the best angle/exposure of the minimalist subject. 
Note: The theme for the April 2014 theme competition is “Minimalist Images”.

Minimalist photography sure provides a lot of discussion points and it helps a lot in getting to know other photographers viewpoints. I found that one of our members was taking excellent minimalist images without fully knowing that he was doing it.  We had several e-mail discussions about it and he told me that he was actually very interested in sumi-e. I had no idea what it was and Google had to help out:
(Sumi-e photography is photography in the style of the Japanese ink brush painters - not only in the colors and textures, but in the subject matter as well)
I took a very close look at all the articles and images on the internet and realized that sumi-e uses most of the same principles of minimalist photography but limits the subject and how it is presented. That is a new challenge for me now, to combine minimalist with sumi-e.

In finalizing our competition themes for 2014 our president Jim introduced a 3rd possible way to photograph: “Wabi Sabi”. It also comes from Japan and is based on a feeling, which is difficult for us westerners to understand. Google to help again:
(Wabi-Sabi is an old aesthetic ideal, originating from Japanese Zen, sometimes described as ‘the beauty of decay’. It has also been referred to as ’imperfect, impermanent and incomplete’. Although its definition has often been eloquently put in to words, there is no such thing as objectiveness when it comes to Wabi-Sabi)
Now this becomes an issue for our members. The theme is scheduled for our October 2014 theme competition and I suggest that you inform yourself of what is considered a wabi sabi photograph. Jim’s explanation on our web site may not help very much. The theme is a challenge, but also exiting and I can’t wait to see the individual interpretations.
BG

Expanded Atlanta Photographic Society Photo Competitions

At our APS board meeting, several suggestions for improving our club operations were discussed and some got approved. One of the suggestions was that we find ways to increase the use of our top notch competition winners. Usually, once our winners have received a ribbon and can no longer be entered, most are probably condemned to a life in our computers, never to see daylight again.

We want to change that for the very best shots by entering those images in world wide competitions. We do not know yet how to do that, but they definitely will be entered under your name, you will get all the awards in your name (if any) and APS will get the bragging rights. In the next few weeks we plan to establish an action group of 3 or 4 officers to gain experience and to set up for year 2013/14. After we know how to do it, we plan to transfer the operation to a members group. Needless to say, before we use any of your images you will have to approve of it. We keep you posted.

BG