It’s somewhat dated in that the podcasts themselves were published back in 2009, but so much of what he did in that short series is timeless, even though the videos only encompass about 4 hours of air time.  David was also a guest on the podcast here a while back, so we’ve crossed paths a few times.  As you may or may not know, David also suffered some pretty painful injuries from a fall in Italy while teaching a class a while back.  He is in therapy and from my last understanding, almost fully walking again (doctors have given him permission to bear weight on his legs), so if you get a minute, stop over to his blog and give him some “get well” wishes if you haven’t already!

Anyway, todays’ post isn’t so much a back story on David, rather it’s on something David mentioned in his first podcast (you really should check out the entire series too, it had a limited scope, and that gave the arc of critiques he offered that much more meaning and impact – here’s the link again for those of you who missed it above: Within the Frame podcast series ).  What David mentioned almost in passing was this concept of “If Only”.  The thing of it is, we’ve all had these “if only” moments before – can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had this experience.

On one such occasion, I was driving down a road in south Denver, and a wizened lady with her possessions in a shopping cart was crossing the street.  beyond her, the street sloped downward and the mountains of Colorado were shooting up in the distance, in all their grandeur.  It was a moment that beautifully combined elements of several of the artisans I admire, including Cartier-Bressom, Moose Peterson, and of course, Ansel Adams.  It was such a “clickable” moment, but I ended up said to myself (wait for it, you know it’s coming):

If only I had my camera!

If I did have my camera, I would definitely have probably parked the car, halted traffic, and made several compositions to bring one into my permanent portfolio.  There have been others too.  What struck me though, is that we can spend our time cursing the timing, the light, our gear, what we could have, should have, or wanted to do to capture the image….or we can make a mental note of it to hopefully make the image again later!

In his podcast, David mentioned the phrase “In a perfect world” as well.  These two ideas convey rather nicely the entire reason for photography – because there is no perfect world.  The planets will never align themselves for you.  You have to align things yourself.  By recognizing the composition of the moment, the timing, the light, what’s present, what’s lacking, and how you can make the image better – you actually are making yourself better.  So, the teachable moment here is to not kick yourself for the timing of things or the “if only” moments…rather to make note of these elements, because that’s how you truly grow as a photographer – seeing what’s right (and wrong) to make your work and your vision stronger!

What kind of “if only” moments have you had in the past?  Did you make note of what could have made things better?  Did you remember?  Did you ever go back to re-create the image?  Share your own thoughts, moments, and comments below!

As most of you already know, I am a huge fan of esoteric topical content that challenges both the writer and the reader in new directions.  While I like to think that I’ve done my fair share of challenging people to think beyond their immediate “vision” with their cameras and compositions, there are always those who just leave me in the dust, and Mr. David DuChemin is no exception.  I find that he is always a brilliant source of inspiration, so when I read his blog, I find myself hanging on almost every word!  When new releases come out from Craft & Vision, the first thing I do is check the author.  There’s been some good stuff there too, even from people I would consider colleagues, and perhaps friends.  But when David puts out a new eBook, it’s become part and parcel for me to just not even look at the title – I click and buy!  That’s how confidant I am that he will deliver quality both in photography and vision from his insights.

After his mishap in Italy, David certainly has had some time to go introspective, and while the mishap was not good, his latest insights are among the best I’ve read from him.  No joke.  I’m not just blowing sunshine, this is really quality work, that makes me re-think even my entire foundation.  His latest eBook “A Deeper Frame” brings new insights on composition to me.  I’d never thought about bringing together depth of field, with depth of color, and depth of tone.  The included photos for his book are so jaw-dropping and perfect counter points to the text, I am just blown away that these are going for a mere $5!

The photography, the content, hell, even the layout is just superb!  Take a look:

As you can see – just stunning.  Even for the $5, it’s no surprise that these are the hottest items available today!  I’ve found inspiration aplenty in literally every book of his (and my entire library is now filled with them on my iPad!).  I keep encouraging him to write more because what he gives back in these is just stunning!  To really cap things off, he’s also offering discounts! Save 20% through the 2nd, if you use a discount code (DEEP4) in your checkout box.  Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today!

Click here to visit Craft And Vision.

Thanks to David for all you’ve done for the photography community, both through your classes and these eBooks.  I know to you they may not seem like much, but to so many of us, they are sheer inspiration!  For everyone else, if you get an eBook, do also take the time to pick up the RSS feed for his blog – another brilliant source of inspiration (and that one is free!).

David and I also talk about his travels, share a few anecdotes, and look at the world of photography in new and exciting ways – coming at things creatively rather than technically.  Lots of great stuff for your listening enjoyment.  Here’s the show notes for Episode #33 of Learning Digital Photography:

That’s it for today, make sure you get the podcast from either the download link over at PLM, or via iTunes and let me know what you think!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

PODCAST ALERT!!!

The hosting folks are having some technical difficulties, so please bear with them as they sort things out – in the meantime, the ad-free podcast can be downloaded as an mp3 file here!