Photography

I finally put some of the large format photography work I’ve been doing up online at http://photography.xavierllora.net/

As I am getting more comfortable with film photography, it seems it helps me to write some experiences and thoughts down. I just wrote down the experience of taking a 4x5 view camera out for the first time. It is more than 7 months using mainly film and being able to touch every part of the process with my hands is more rewarding than digital so far… You can read more about it at “Action in 4x5 bites”. ...

I could not remember when was the last time I loaded a roll of film into a camera. As time moves forward, I walk backwards. That is what I thought when I enrolled in the photography course series where film was king. I had to scramble to get a film camera. The good news, black and white. The bad news, film, chemicals, dark rooms, lots of papers, and huge amounts of time invested. So I have decided to star writing about it a bit. I just hope that eventually it will make sense. I am writing these and more thoughts over at Medium. ...

Catching up with the list of assignments proposed by Harold Davis article series Becoming a More Creative Photographer. The eight assignment is all about new looks. Starting with a place you know very well, find a way to “slip through the cracks” so you are looking around you with new eyes. Create a photographic image that conveys what you are now seeing. ...

Another week, another assignment down the list extracted from Harold Davis article series Becoming a More Creative Photographer, seventh assignment, improving mistakes. Your assignment: The next time something goes wrong with a shoot, grab the problem, turn it into a possibility, and make it the basis of a photograph. Auto-focus, that friend that gets it right most of the time, kind of. Yes, I am guilty of usually relying on autofocus most of the time, mainly as a way to remove one var out of the equation. You can chose where you want the auto-focus easily and the camera does the rest. Mostly. There is a scenario where it always goes wrong. You have a composition where you have objects in the far back and an object in front which you look through. Most of the time, your friend auto-focus will decide to focus on the background, likely because it covers most of the frame. So how would the moment in time if I choose the other option? You get something intriguing. A fence to something uncertain. A fence that dilutes the clear-cut and turns it into an image of interpretation. The changed focus trap an eluding reality giving it a transcending quality. It makes the dirt and unfinished lines into textures. It also turns non-exciting lights into puzzling flares of unknown dusk. I am wondering if it could improved further with another mistake, over/under exposure. Maybe for the next round of experiments. Endless possibilities for improving mistakes. ...