Cheating

Ok.  I could argue that, if this had been a leap year I wouldn’t have been cheating.  Or, that because March has 31 days and February only 28, gifting February an extra day to make the difference only 30-29 was a just and proper way to distribute my time (based on a calendar created by the Romans and imposed on us by the Vatican that really does not make much sense).  But I’ll be honest - I cheated.  Just a bit . . . . No, I have to admit, I simply cheated.

This morning (well, probably yesterday since this won't post until tomorrow), I cheated on my goal of studying a different photographer every month, and finished my studying of Joe Cornish.  It’s March 1 and Joe is the February photographer (not sure who is March yet . . . .).  Call me a cheater.  The truth of it is, I’m glad I cheated.  

I’ve been making my way through Joe Cornish and Roly Smith’s “This Land,” and in-between being asked on Monday if I’d teach a class on conservation easements and actually teaching the class at 8:30 on Wednesday morning, I hadn’t quite finished the book.  I had one last section of photographs to study and, unknowingly, a several-page passage written by Joe (Roly did the text for the most part, Joe all of the photographs).  It was time well spent.  

In addition to images that made me think, and filled me with awe and inspiration, as is so often the case, Joe’s words were a basket of jewels.  From commenting on the equipment, the process and their demands, to the realities of the landscape and the need to “take the opportunities as and when they arise.”  From the odd habits that must flow from this type of photography (“By the time I was heading downhill again, other were on their way up, an amusing reversal of the previous afternoon.  It is what happens to those who prioritize light.”  Replace “hill” with “beach” and you have Ann and me), to photographic seeing (the choice between making a broad landscape, or of “making a subtle observation of a woodland.”).  All of it words I can relate to and motivation to keep at it.

This was a good month.  I encourage you to do a Google Images or YouTube search on Joe Cornish Photographs/Photographer.  You will not regret it.

I leave you with an image I was a bit unsure of from our Redwoods trip.  My concerns with one aspect of the image was alleviated by studying Joe’s images this morning and realizing that the area of concern actually played an important part in making the image work.  It is a better image with the “flaw” than without.  That’s why it’s good to study photographers.  Even if you do cheat every once in a while.