Analyzing My New Zealand Photos
Lacking originality, a reflection of a burnt out, passive and unthinking state. That's what I felt about quite a few of my New Zealand photos. I think that as i rushed from place to place, wielding my d70 and borrowed film xpan, the burdensome weight of a dual chore to capture everything beautiful and serene tired both my neck and artistic tolerance. I remember going for the trip thinking, I'm here to just capture that which is beautiful, that which is stunning and natural. What i got was that with a whole lot of technical shortcomings considering that i was not committed to bringing a tripod and that it was one of the first few times i was shooting landscapes. This led to, composition flaws as well as technical faults which bring the photos just short of the perfect capture. 
Besides the fact that my set lacks variety and depth of thought or scope of experience, some of the shots did turn out rather decent and 'nice to look at' from a poster/postcard point of view. Alison along with several other photographer friends kinda identified the problem straight away, saying that the shorts were very pretty to look at, the place is beautiful, but if one were to be a stickler for originality, that might be where the problem lies. "The scope is limited" was the most accurate phrase from Chris. "Your shots are flat" represented the technical shortcomings. In summary, they had no character, and even if i wanted to pull of typically cliche scenic shots, the technical knowledge wasn't there to support it. I didn't know what kind of culture or feel I wanted to achieve, and my photography did not display any form of maturity. All this, while every body else's photography is growing and showing great depth of thought. I wonder where I want mine to go.
Although i am so sick of writing captions, I shall write one for this. The rugged landscape as we drove round the outskirts of the fjord in the above picture was what the little boy in the first picture was looking at. Ok no, actually he was looking out the opposite side of the bus, not the side overlooking the valley but at the side hugging the the hill. I have no idea why. Could have been the rain that he was staring at, or the water falls that sprouted from the rain, cant quite remember. And so here is the link, for the merely pleasant shots, which reflected a tired and unthinking photographer. I quite like it for its pretty-ness and to know that i can take somewhat pretty nature shots, but nothing more. http://www.flickr.com/photos/23469236@N00/sets/72157604044992335/
On a totally different note, I think that today, I admit for one of the first few times that I am actually quite sad about not being in pes a or b. Some might think its outright stupidity to to want to be upgraded and sure lots of people in combat fit positions want to be doing office work, but I think the common sentiment by those that complete combat fit NS is that the bonds and camaraderie are great. And that the experience is irreplaceable, by virtue of the fact that nothing else in life forces you through 2 years of military training. And so, I'm not quite frustrated anymore, or angry, but rather sad that everyone else has gone off to share this experience while I'm not with them. Plus, I never thought i'd say this but it almost makes me feel less assured about what I'm doing in my 2 years now. But just taking a look at this week and the coming one, I'm quite glad that people are out and i can finally meet up with zong and the rest, arthur, seow and the tennis guys. ah well....that is the state we are in, I shall have to live with it. More about my lack of will to meet deadlines without supervision and my passive burn out some other time.
posted by gneh-snah @ 5:36 AM
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