This past Thursday I met up with three of my audiophile friends for Chinese in Jersey. After we finished eating and discussing all things stereo and the mess our country is in I cracked open my fortune cookie. And there it was. So simple, yet so profound!
Yes, perseverance and patience really do pay off in audiophilia, which is my obsessive and somewhat out there hobby. But also in life. And of course in photography … which in my case, is much more than a hobby!
I remember how long it took to make my first good photograph. About three years of trying until I finally saw and made a photograph that looked to me how I truly envisioned it to be in my mind’s eye. The results of that fateful moment led to a rage to photograph that has sustained me for over 50 years. But it hasn’t always been easy. In fact it usually isn’t easy at all. Most of the pictures I make are also rans or worse, and the keepers are a small percentage of the pictures I make.
I’m often reminded of what Ansel Adams said, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” Think about that for a moment. Adams made thousands of images most of us would die for, yet very few made the cut! Beyond the journey photography takes me on and the ideas I want to express, the most important thing that keeps me going is knowing that those keepers are out there. I just need to persevere and be patient. If I am they will come.
Stay well,
Michael
If you build it they will come.
If you take them it will happen.
Does that make sense? The first line is from the movie Field of Dreams.
Anyway, keep taking those pictures.
Thanks Jeff, will do! Now we need to get you making pictures again!
Best,
Michael
Well, if this were a hobby, I’d give it up. It’s an obsession and a life – and must be. So, to people who say it’s a hobby, you know my answer. Michael, 3 years to make a good photo? I made my portrait of Phillip almost as soon as Bob Doherty U of L Art Dept Chair handed me the Spotmatic that came from David Chan in Hong Kong. And funny he was, saying “These “guys” can make anything!” OK, a bit off color, I suppose. And, how do you judge a good photo? My only answer might be: If you’re a pro photographer and you make a living from photography, then what you produce could be called “good.” But you know I really don’t believe that. OTH, at this stage of my life, I would like, no pun, to “GoPro.” Hey., maybe a good idea. As I am in a wacky psychedelitcattessen now, and others are making good Youtube flims and at least earning enough for big bowls of wonton soup, full of wontons, roast pork, crispy wontons, shrimp wontons, sometimes, bean sprouts, a lot, (!) etc. What you don’t get in most East Coast Chinese joints. Audiophiles for what, Chinese? The PRC, the local Chinese audiophile community? Tawian, where some good gear comes as well as the Mainland? Chinese New Year? But that was in January and was then in Borneo. Had to wait for a Malaysian-Chinese guy to open the shop about Feb 1st. And there, Ta Da, I bought a Yashica D. And long ago again at U of L, after using the Pentax, my teacher and his sidekick, not Doherty, put a Yashica D in my hands, on loan. Said, you photograph a little like another “Paul.” Is this enough of a tangent? Oh, but one more thing. I think the $88 Douk Audio (8?) plus third party op amps + the single drivers I will at some point pick up in Java -should give good enough tunes. Get a decent TT somewhere and live in Audio Pig Heaven
Reading again,
Maybe there are good noodles in Cherry Hill Park, New Jersey!