Epiphany

Nelson Wheel

So, I imagine I will have to explain the title of this post. For those of you who do not speak English, or do not speak it well (which is, sadly, most of us), an epiphany is a sudden insight into something, My epiphany, or sudden insight, came to me as I was looking at a multitude of other photos by other photographers. And I came to realize that I usually stand back from the subjects of my photos. I am an observer, distanced from my subject. I very rarely get right up in your face. But I found that the images that most stayed with me, left an impression, were those that involved the spectator in the scene. I thought f I had something, some object, in the foreground, as if obstructing your view, you would need to lean over or around that object. So I played hooky from work last Friday and drove down to Nelson, Nevada- which is about 1 hour southeast of us- with my wife and my camera.

This was my favorite image of the day. It is an epiphany that I will work on to perfect and to use as one might use any other tool in their camera bag.

There is a color version , if you care to view and compare.

Or not!

Rule Of Thirds

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

Nelson NV

Brent Mail is a professional photographer from Australia who recently interviewed Cole Thompson, a fine art photographer from the United States. It is a great interview. Please go take a peek! Among many of the things he said that resonated with me concerns the Rule Of Thirds:

“I have my own “Rule of Thirds”. (I don’t like Rules of Photography so I make up my own).

My Rule of Thirds says a great image is comprised of one-third vision, one-third the shot, and one-third processing.

The vision is what drives the other two-thirds.

It drives the shot because when I know what I want the final image to look like, that directs how I capture the image.

Likewise with the processing, which is where I do the majority of the creative work on the image, the vision drives it.”

Get used to his name. Cole Thompson. I expect to be quoting more of his interview from time to time!

Photos By Emilio

Crash And Burn

Black And White Photography, Emilio, Photography

I am very pleased to announce the premiere edition of Monochromia, the brainchild of Joe Giordano of The Visual Chronicle. My name is Emilio and I will be one of 7 contributors, each of us posting one day a week. It will be a black and white only photo blog to which I have the distinction of being the first contributor by dint of a random drawing of names from a hat! If black and white photography is one of your passions, I hope we do not disappoint. If you do not particularly care for black and white photography, please give us at least a week for one of us to hopefully change your mind. The odds should be with us!

My family comes from Fontanarosa, a small town about 1 hour east of Naples, Italy. They settled first in New York, but now those of us who remain reside in the south-west United States. I first picked up a camera to document my passion for nature, the land, and the effects of the weather on my surroundings. My father was a film editor who worked mostly on television commercials in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, and had a black and white darkroom in our garage that he built himself. I assume that’s where my interest began.

To document my travels, I use a digital camera, but I feel the lack of texture decreases the effect I am going for, so I play in Lightroom. I began experimenting with black and white images just lately and find they are much more dramatic, I think. So this opportunity to express myself comes at an opportune time.

I have no argument with people who want to reproduce exactly what the camera sees, without manipulation of any kind. But with every choice you make; the type of lens, the use of filters, the aperture, or the setting of the camera, aren’t you manipulating the image? Therefore, I feel justified in reproducing an image with whatever is at my disposal, so that the viewer can see what I want them to see.

Thank you. I hope you will enjoy and follow our new photo blog. I will be posting on Tuesdays and more of my images can be seen at –

Photos By Emilio