Sometimes a Photograph

My daughter, our youngest kid, took some photographs for me last week at my high school class reunion. I never expected such excellence!
by Charlie Leck

I’ve been blown away by some photographs in the last few days. A good friend forwarded an email he received from one of his friends that included an array of wonderful historical photographs that just grabbed my attention and gave me a number of rich, wonderful viewing moments. I spent a considerable time examining nearly every one of them. If I can get permission, I’ll share them here on my blog for you to see also (as of this moment I don’t know what the copyright provisions are).

For this moment, however, I want to share a few very artistic photographs my daughter took at my high school class reunion last week. I had asked her to come out to NJ with me to take photographs of each of the attending classmates and, perhaps, their spouses. She did.

I never expected such startling and beautiful results. Cynthia is a student right now at the International Center of Photography in Manhattan. To this point, she isn’t planning to make this a profession, but just a serious hobby. She’s also working on an advanced degree in the field of education.

I want to share a few of these photographs for your enjoyment. That’s all. You don’t know these former school chums of mine, but I’m betting you’ll still feel a bit of the emotion I felt when I looked at these and others.

Sometimes a photograph can be more than a casual snapshot. We, who too often pull out our iPhones or mini-cameras to casually take little reminders of moments, should remember and appreciate the remarkable power of extraordinary photography – and how it goes far beyond film or video in capturing the power of its subject. Go, for instance, to the web site of the Richard Avedon Foundation and look there at the extraordinary work of one of the masters.

For now, however, enjoy these works of my daughter.

  

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The Heart of Winter

Here in Minnesota, the heart of winter is upon us.
by Charlie Leck

We will have a few days reprieve. Temperatures this week are to be in the thirties. This is mild and that kind of weather is appreciated here by all except the ice-fishing crowd and the cross-country skiers and the skaters and the snowmobilers.

It is beautiful here now. I have posted above a photograph that our youngest kid took while she was home for the long holiday break. She is studying right now at the International Center for Photography in Manhattan.

Her photograph above, reminds me of this line I just read in a Rainer Maria Rilke poem…

“Oh tall tree of our knowing, shedding its leaves;
It’s a matter now of facing the preponderance
of sky appearing through its branches.”

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“Can’t see the forest for the trees…”
It’s amazing that 67 members of the House of Representatives last week voted against a relief package for those East Coast locations damaged by Hurricane Sandy. All 67 were Republicans.

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Nearly a Great Photo!

Close, they say, only counts in horseshoes.
by Charlie Leck

I got very close to a great photo the other day; and then she turned away.

She was standing outside the front door of the health and fitness club I go to, locking her bike into a rack. As I walked by her, she pulled off her biking helmet. Politely, she said hello. Her extremely curly hair, freed from the tight protector, was all asunder and looked fabulous. Her cheeks had gotten bright red from the chilly ride she’d just concluded and her eyes were sparkling and slightly moist. When she smiled at me, her entire face lit up and her bright white teeth glistened.

I knew at once that this would make a great, wonderful photograph.

Quite bluntly, I told her how beautiful she was and how I loved her hair. In reaction, she blushed and started to untangle and press down the wild curls that were going in every possible direction.

“No,” I said with surprising alarm. “Don’t change it! It’s perfect. My camera is in the car and I’m always on the lookout for a great photo. Could I please take your picture?”

“Are you a professional?”

“No, no! Just a hobbyist, but I’m pretty good at what I do. Please let me take a photograph of you.”

She agreed with a bright blush.

I rushed the few feet to my car and grabbed my Nikon D300 out of the trunk and, as I hurried back to where she stood, I pumped the ISO up a couple of notches to make up for the dull, grayness of the day.

By the time I returned, she had turned away and showed me only the back of her head.

“No, no,” I said, “I want to see that beautiful smile and your bright cheeks.”

“Oh, not my face,” she replied. “One never knows what will happen to a photograph these days.”

All the enthusiasm rushed out of me. I told her I understood. In disappointment, I snapped a few shots of the back of her head – no red cheeks, no sparkling eyes, no glistening white teeth and no spectacular smile.

Dang! “Close, but no cigar!”

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A Sunday Morning with Jay Maisel

Sunday mornings are special to me because I do quiet things that I enjoy and not chores that need to be done.
by Charlie Leck

So, I love photography and I’m very happy when I have a camera in my hands and a beautiful world in front of me!

Let’s get things straight from the top: I make no claims about having talent with a camera. I’m okay; but compared to someone who knows what he’s doing, I’m a rank amateur. When I get a really wonderful photograph, I’m a bit surprised. I like those surprises, so I keep taking photographs constantly, just for those surprises.

For instance, I like this photograph of Melissa. She’s so proud of this brother – or boyfriend – who is about to receive his bachelor’s degree. I like all the happiness and pride in the photograph. I put it in the file with all those photos I consider my best. I look at it occasionally and it always makes me smile. Why not?

This is what I mean by doing quiet things on Sunday mornings that I really enjoy.

So, this morning I spent an hour or so with Jay Meisel, an extraordinary photographer from New York City. Jay has a huge sense of humor, a barrel full of wisdom about art and photography and an absolutely fantastic home and studio in Manhattan. If you want to know more about him, you should go to his web site. On the very first page – the home page – of that web site, you immediately find evidence of his enormous talent. If you want to hear a bit from Jay, watch this very nice little video in which he talks very frankly about himself and his work. If you want to learn more about photography, you really should watch it and it will lead you to other pretty exciting stuff.

Santa Fe Workshop Instructor Series – Jay Maisel from StoryPortrait Media on Vimeo.

This morning I watched an hour long video, Another Day with Jay Meisel, on a service I subscribe to (Kelby Training). I tried to find the video for you so you could enjoy the hour without having to pay for it. So far, no luck! I’ll keep trying.

This is the second hour I’ve spent walking through Manhattan and visiting his home with Jay. This master tells me things like: “Talent is over-rated. Work!”

Here’s a You Tube video of Jay, saying little things that inspire me to work harder at my photography.

Maisel began as a student of painting and acknowledges that he was not very good. His instructors, however, knew he had a special talent for color. It all led him, eventually, to a photography career that began in the 1950s. Jay did a lot of commercial work to make a living. Now he only shoots for himself and his work is considered among the tops in photographic arts. His home is a five story building – originally a bank – in Manhattan. It is crammed full of his prints and everything he’s ever shot is carefully stored in the old bank vaults in the basement.

Maisel writes an irregular blog. I try to follow it and it’s always a worthwhile read when I go to it. You can find it here.

Take a look at a portfolio of his work here. It’s really a remarkable presentation. It’s also a gentle thing to do on Sunday morning!

Bear in mind that Maisel doesn’t have Photoshop on his computer. He doesn’t crop his work. As he says, all his cropping is done as he takes the photograph – by the lens itself. He rarely alters a photograph. When he does, it always bears the notation “ai” or altered image. Many of the master’s photographs will look like paintings. Or, they’ll look like someone juiced up the colors on a computer. In fact, they are just the way Maisel photographed them and those colors and complexities were captured by his eye and his camera.

Maisel conducts workshops in Manhattan for guys like I. What the heck? I really should go to one of them and see what I can learn.

I took this photograph in 2008 on Rock Cut Road near Philadelphia, Mississippi. It was one of the most meaningful and extraordinary days of my life and this photograph brings the day back to me again and again.

My photographs are for me. I don't attempt to sell them. They're carefully cataloged on both the computer and in print. I rarely frame one, but there are a few around the house that are meaningful to us.

In September we're going to Prague for a week and I really want to take my best camera equipment with me. It's not an easy thing to do and there is always the worry of losing a camera in traveling. I'll need to think this through and seek some advice from people who always haul their good cameras with them.

This photo I took during the summer of 2010 when family members from France were visiting us for a couple of weeks. They were very photogenic and it was difficult not to pester them constantly with my camera.

Sunday mornings are so wonderful. I make sure I use them for only enjoyable endeavors.

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Photographs by Charlie Leck

I need a break from the election and the recount here in Minnesota and photography takes me away from the disappointments in America's progress!
by Charlie Leck

Not so much for you, but for me I posted today's blog. I just put up a few of the best photographs I've taken over the years...

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If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's explanation of how to do it!

Photos I Really, Really Like

This photograph was sent to me on a postcard by the wife
of this fellow who died just about two years ago. He was a
great guy and this splendid photograph captures the
spirit of him precisely. I smile every time I look at this
terrific picture. I keep it very near my desk so I can see it
often and remind myself of the happiness we should let
loose in ourselves.

A portfolio of wonderful photos I own (sort of)...
by Charlie Leck

Isn’t photography great? What a wonderful hobby and activity!

I’m playing around on Facebook a little bit, trying to figure out its in and outs and its general value to society and to me. Big, inconsequential job!

Right off the top, I can tell you one of the wonderful things about this “social networking service” is that it provides an opportunity to share photos with people we call friends – and I love photographs.

On Facebook, I’m able to communicate with people I really like and see the latest photographs of them and their kin. So, that part I’ve got figured out and I like it.

I’m putting together an album on Facebook – right now – of my favorite photos; that is, photographs I’ve taken and others that have been given or have been sent to me by friends. If you’re on Facebook, you’ll be able to look at this album. They’re things like those I’ve included here, as a little preview for you.

I took this photograph in May of 2007 at Colgate University.

This delightful young lady is one of my daughter's good friends.
I had never seen a more beautiful smile and I had to have a
photograph of it.

I took this photograph in Dallas in 2005. This is one of my brothers,
totally immersed in his enjoyable dinner at Joe's Crab House. When
Frank has a lobster before him, and a bucket of clams, he gets
pretty serious about the moment.

The Pro
This photograph I took in the early '80s on a golfing
trip to Scotland. It was originally a 35mm color photo
that I later digitized and converted to gray scale.
Then, on Photoshop, I used some art filters on it,
including pencil sketch.