Photographers Subjective Choices of Interest

Have you ever pondered just what it is about certain subjects or scenes that captivate your creative eye? There are broad generalities like people, historical monuments, general scenic, etc., then sub-categories; under people ~ cowboys, dancers, children, nude iron workers.... My observations over the years seems to indicate that those photographers who pursue a thematic course, tend to get more recognition than those in the 'general shooter' category. Just my observation.

I consider myself a 'generalist' shooter. That is, I didn't have a specific subject or element that I stayed with over a period of time to build a body of work for that specific subject. When something caught my creative eye I captured it. Interestingly enough, if you do this over a long enough period of time and the total accumulation of images can then fill more than one portfolios divided by subject. I will say that there was a couple of subjects that I did return to, often. One being people, sub-category Children. The second being under scenic, was water. Water draws me like iron filings towards a magnet.

Many of my scenic images from the days of carrying a 5x7 view camera have to do with water, a good many of those images were of rivers, more specifically the Willamette River running through the Willamette Valley. Appropriate, no? This river also happened to meander past where I lived in those days, a sailor's walk from my house. Just think of my river shots something akin to Monet's Haystack images, although he's ahead of me thus far on that count. No need to tell photographers the best light for shooting outdoors is around sunrise and sunset. Being a single parent with two short ones was not conducive to being away at those times of day, thus many of my images fall outside that preferred arena of lighting.

A good many images were shot in the morning, some were snapped at the end of the day, my favorite time of day for capturing images. This image is one of the rare ones taken late in the day. Said short ones were on the scene, enjoying the river with our black lab, Major Woo, while I looked through the lens under the dark cloth. I have left this image a bit larger to allow a bit closer feel for the image.

Salted Silver Print ~ "Late Afternoon Sun"
1986 ~ 5"x7" ~ Unique
Willamette River, Eugene, Oregon