Your worst photograph...

Park, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Birches, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Track, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Blur, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Firs, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Forest, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Well, Matthew Dutile caught my eye with the title Why You Should (Or Shouldn’t) Abandon Your Flickr Account. And there was one thing in the writing which I liked, because I strongly disagree with it: "You’re only as good as your worst image. Eventually you may realize that while you’ve got some good ones, others are pretty bad. You don’t want a potential client to have to wade through the bad ones. All they should see is your best."

I'm not seeking a paying audience, I'm taking photographs for myself. And in this, bad photographs are important, because they are the ones you learn from. And perhaps there are some such ones in this set from today?

But in any case, it was good to be out skiing today, for 1 1/2 hours. Coming back from Belgium I once again have appreciation for the snow of the Finnish winter.

Did I already post a link to this inverview of Maloof, on Vivian Maier?

Wet day

Light, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Birches, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Snow, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Balloon, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Street, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

It rained today, quite a change from the -15 °C temperature two days ago. The first and second photograph above show the same subject, a bit differently framed, than in the posting from day before yesterday. Can you spot the difference in the mood?

And can you spot the balloon (very much expired) in the fourth photograph from today?

I have been pondering Vivian Maier - not the exhibited photographs, but those which seem to be bypassed by Maloof. This pondering was caused by the interview of Maloof, which contained this: "From the mid 1970's through 1995, she definitely has a change in style. She switches to color in the mid 70's, uses a 35mm camera (mostly a Leica), and I get the feeling that she is seeing the world differently at that time. Her work becomes more abstract in some respects, but also very literal in others. I'll explain. Her abstract work often involves found objects either on the curb, in a garbage can or a similar setting. Some are quite good but there are so many that just leaving me scratching my head as to what she was trying to get across with the picture."

I would very much like to see these photographs, to try to see what see was aiming for late in her "career". Maybe it was nothing, but maybe it was ... mastery of her art.

Another source for information about Maier is here.

Hurry

Wall, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Red and blue, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Fence, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Shadows, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Birch, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

TOP has an excellent mini-review of the Vivian Maier show. I wrote about her earlier, and I'm still undecided: there are a couple of real gems, but not all of the work shown is first-rate.

I noticed a significant increase in the traffic to this site, and investigated. The reason? Apparently the Olympus XZ-1 is generating bigger and bigger waves, and people search for information and commentary about it. I haven't yet decided whether to investigate the camera in earnest. Well, it isn't yet available here, so no hurry here.

One question which begs the answer: is the sensor of the XZ-1 the same as on the Panasonic LX5? Some claim it is, but on the other hand there is no mention that is multi-aspect as the LX5 is. But what then is the source of the sensor?

Otherwise, this was a day of hurry. The next few days will be busy also.

Talent

View, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Garden, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Trees, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Treetops, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Blur, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Birches, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Alan Briot posted at Luminous Landscape an interesting article titled Rethinking Talent, in which he wrote: "For me, if there is such a thing as talent, it is the ability to make the best use of your time, when doing something you deeply care about, by engaging in regular practice, study and dedication. Talent is also seeking help from people who are where you want to be, because the experience of someone who is more experienced than you is one of the most valuable assets you can find. Finally, talent is not giving up when faced with difficulties. Talent, in other words, is the ability to focus, work hard, seek guidance and not give up."

Somewhat different view to talent is provided by the story of a nanny, Vivian Maier, who took 100,000 photographs, never showed them to others, and was discovered after her death to be a world-class street photographer. A view on her photographs is found at the "B" blog by Blake Andrews. Wikipedia has the fundamentals of her story.

Of what I have seen of Maier's photographs, there are a handful images which really make an impression. First-rate work. However, not all images picked by the current owner of her work, John Maloof, are of such a high quality, at least in web-sized images. But Maloof has apparently gone through only a part of the vast body of work, so there is a lot to anticipate. However, I suspect that someone else would have made different choices on what photographs to show to the public.

In any case, what does Maier's story tell of talent? Well, at least that there is a lot of talent in the world which has not been discovered, maybe even photographers who are not personally aware of their talent.