Chad's Blog

"Photoshop it!"

		Tuesday, 26 February 08 - 06:44 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Photography

Given my passion for photography and having some equipment/software that is slightly above "amateur" (notice I didn't say skills), I found this article really interesting:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23342630/

Even as an amateur I have a "Professional" version of Photoshop so have some firsthand knowledge about how photos can be altered and manipulated.

Done for the right reasons, to enhance the photo/display it's great.   Done for the wrong reasons (note Katie Kouric's transformation in CBS's promotion of her, and fake papparazzi photos, not to mention potential crimes as noted in the article), it's not so great.

 

On Second Thought...

		Thursday, 03 January 08 - 03:21 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Photography

As I think about it more, I don't think I'm going to post a lot of my photography on this blog (as I mentioned yesterday), for a number of different reasons.   I'll post some, but probably not a lot.

1) This is not a slam on Terapad or anything to do with their blog hosting, but the photos wouldn't be "secure".  i.e. anyone could download the photo and use it in any way they desire or actually call it their "own" work.

2) Since I'm not entirely sure how far I'm going to take this photography thing, I'd like to protect my work a little more.

3) If all goes well, I may actually offer some of my work "for sale".   I know that you can do some e-commerce through Terapad, but if I'm going to start establishing it as a "business", I'd want it separate from my day to day blog.

4) Customer ease of use.   I'm thinking of ways to set up a secure "gallery" that is easy for people to use/view and thumbnails to view larger images.

With all of the above, and a few other reasons, I plan to build a new website totally devoted to my photography work.   I'll link to it from here when it is ready.

Speaking of blessings....

		Wednesday, 02 January 08 - 04:32 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Photography

Last week, I blogged about the realization of the many many blessings in my life.  Well, speaking of blessings, I have to tell you....the last couple of weeks have been FILLED with them!   In the last 12 calendar days, I've only worked a partial day from home and 2 days in the office (I RARELY am away from the office that much).   I get that there were 2 holidays in there, but still...it was a nice break for me.   It's afforded me the opportunity to spend time with friends, family, loved ones.   Laughter, sleep, reading, TV, football, movies.   I've been to the theater 3 times in recent weeks (an even bigger rarity given my despise for the cost).   I saw lots of family and some I haven't seen for a while.  Played, laughed, loved with friends and family.   Spent time with my wife and boys, which is precious given our busy schedules.  

I could go on and on about all of it (and I will in later posts), but perhaps the biggest highlight for me...on Monday, my wife and I got up early, drove to Ledges State Park and we hiked for about 4 hours.  The roads in/out of the park were closed so we had to hike in/out to the trails too.   I forgot the pedometer so I don't know exactly how far we went in all, but I'd say around 10 miles probably.  Up/Down the "ledges" and trails, through snow/ice and over frozen (and sometimes not so frozen) creeks and streams.   We were the only ones in the whole park and it was just awesome.   Very peaceful, very quiet, and some very good quality time with my wife.   Nothing says "I love you" more than holding each others gloves while you have to pee in the woods...  in the 12 degree Iowa winter temps. 

The other good thing for me.  I got re-inspired to take some photos.   I had my good camera in my backpack and at first didn't really feel like taking any pictures, but then I wanted to take a bunch!   I've hinted a couple times on this blog about my love of photography.  In November 2006, my Mom said that for Christmas all she wanted from me was a collection of some of my "best" pictures.   So I put together a book for her and my Dad and left many blank pages at the end, with every intention of continuing to fill those pages.   So much so, that this is what I wrote and included on page 1:

Photography, I’ve come to learn, is art.  Art, is about expression.  Expression is about interpretation.  And, interpretation is as varied and unique as each individual person who views the artwork.

 

First, there is expression by the subject matter, regardless of whether it is living or inanimate.   Each subject matter has a story to tell and it’s up to the artist to extract that in their work, hence, the artist’s interpretation and expression on how they perceive the story that needs to be told.

 

Finally, the observer/viewer/consumer of the art has their own interpretation of what they are looking at.

 

Expressions, interpretations and opinions can vary greatly.   What follows on these pages are my interpretations as seen through the lens of my camera.   A photograph is a “snap shot” in the truest sense, it is a single point in time, forever captured in one image, one click of the shutter.   What happened before, and after, that click becomes irrelevant.

 

This journey of learning photography, correction, of becoming an artist…has been exciting and challenging, but a journey that I hope continues and takes many more twists and turns along the road. 

 

So, you’ll find blank pages at the end of this book, and room to add countless more pages.

 

“Stop taking pictures, and start making art.”  Good advice.   Let’s say, the best is yet to come!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Luke, Chapter 2 – The real reason for the season…

 

Love Always,

 

Chad

December 2006

Well, as you know from the blog, a few days later my Dad died.....and I lost my interest in photography for a while.   Not solely because of his death, but because his death changed me....and I lost my way for a while, to be quite honest.   It made me question everything I did/wanted and I lost ambition around certain things.   Photography was an unfortunate casualty, much to the disappointment of the two biggest fans of my work -- my wife and my Mom.

 

Well, I think I have the fire back, thanks to continued nudging from both of them...and 4 hrs in the cold with my wife, admiring God's creation.   I hope to start posting some of my work on this site....so keep checking back.   I'm going to do it this time, not just talk about it.

 

Stay tuned...."the best is yet to come"

What's your dream?

		Monday, 25 June 07 - 07:58 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Photography

As a serious amateur photographer, I can really appreciate really good photos when I see them.   Sometimes it's followed by an arrogant (usually mistaken) "I could have taken that picture", but when I see really good, I mean really good professional stuff, it's just amazing.   I know just enough about photography to be able to understand the photographers descriptions of how they got the picture (f stops, lighting, setup, lens, focal point, etc).

But check out some of these shots.   Regardless of content (if you're not a sports fan), these are some amazing photos when you consider how the picture had to be set up, or angle it was taken from, or circumstances surrounding it.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0706/gallery.canon.bruty/content.1.html?cnn=yes

What's my dream?   I'd love to some day make a living doing nothing but taking photos.  Now, that might sound easy, but I guarantee it's not.  I'd like to be a professional photographer.   Now, you have to be a little careful with that word "professional".   Technically, a professional photographer is anyone who has ever sold one of their photos for money.   I've done that.   But I don't consider myself a pro.   I would gauge "professional" by the quality of the image more so than the dollars it can be sold for.

Maybe some day.

Rekindle a passion...

		Friday, 18 May 07 - 04:13 PM (GMT) By Chad Holtz in Photography

Ok, I know the title of this post is a little mis-leading....it's my shameless attempt to get you to open it and read it....ha!

So, I did something this week that I haven't done for a while....I got my camera back out.   I didn't realize how long it'd been (February) until I looked at the last pictures I took, a GORGEOUS Iowa sunset (which I will upload here soon).

You'd never know it by looking at my "Gallery" section of this blog, but photography is a huge passion for me.   So much so that I've taken several classes and even contemplate what it would be like to open a photography business.   By the way, I plan to update my gallery soon....(Brett--I really mean it this time!!).

So, why has it been so long since I've had my camera out?   I don't know...a combination of many factors.   But as I sat giving advice this week to someone that I think should pursue a dream of theirs, I thought "Real nice buddy....easy to dish out the advice as your dream/passion sits in the closet!"   So, I want to get back into it.

Here's an example of a picture I took right when I got my new camera and had no clue what I was doing....knowing what I know now, I'd do a few things differently, but I still like the picture:

... More items are available in my News Archive