Photography as a Tool

While resting my arm I've had some time to get in touch with the little photographer in me.  I love taking pictures of the patterns and colors in the world around me almost as much as I love painting.

This ancient Indian foot trail worn into the side of a rock wall was fascinating to me as the shadow patterns moved up it's face in an undulating pattern.  

While I can make the world look like I want it to look with my paintings, photography helps me to view light and shadow in a different way, allowing me to see patterns that I might otherwise miss.

The extreme values of the light and shadow express the intense light of the southwest in this portrait.

Like painting, each of us expresses what we see in unique ways when looking through a camera's viewfinder.  What catches my eye might never register to yours and vice versa.    

The warm, golden sunset contrasted against the cool shade of the concrete make this photo interesting to my eye, while the girl hanging at the top of the composition gives the picture plane tension.  

 I feel like the pictures I take affect what I paint because they make me more aware of what attracted my eye in the first place, helping me see what elements matter to me.  They have heightened my awareness of my own tastes.  

Pushing the main tree shape close to the center of the picture makes the viewer have to look around it to see the background, changing the main subject from the distant mountains to the tree and back again.  

Framing a photo the way I might compose a painting of a subject has helped me see new ways to create compositions as I plan paintings.  I love to set up photos based on the "Golden Mean," or the classical format, then push the edges of that format to see what interesting pictures I can get as a result.  

The warm color palette of this tree, flanked by the small, cooler reflection of sky makes this interesting to my eye. 

Although I don't often paint from photos, I do use them as references.  While most of my photos will only ever be tools for my own use, I get multiple benefits from taking pictures.  Awareness of my personal motivation for what I choose to paint, new ways to see contrast/patterns and expanding my compositional skills are only a few of those.  As a visual person, photography certainly expands my horizons and helps me in my quest to learn and grow.  

Thanks for stopping by!