Ten Thousand Hours Photography

10,000 Hours Deliberate Practice Learning the Art of Photography

June 2022

Ten Thousand Hours deliberate practice studying the art of photography

This journal records my actual ten thousand hours deliberate practice studying the art of photography.

Hours 6,529 to 6,605

(July 2022)

30th June

Hours 6,604 to 6,605

(½h) shooting on the beach.

(1½h) processing those images in Capture One Pro.

29th June

Hours 6,602 to 6,603

(1h) shooting on the beach.

(1h) processing those images in Capture One Pro.

28th June

Hours 6,600 to 6,601

(½h) shooting on the beach

(1½h) processing those images; potentially interesting compositions without the sky.

27th June

Hours 6,597 to 6,599

(2h) working on the “Surrealist Photography” post.

(1h) updating my Artistic Timeline spreadsheet.

26th June

Hours 6,593 to 6,596

(1h) updating this journal and creating the July graphic.

(3h) entering the Danube digital circuit (FIAP) with 8 new images – first salon entered in 2022.

25th June

Hours 6,591 to 6,592

(1h) making changes to images for Alison Vincent Glass.

Alison Vincent Glass – Sculpture with dramatic background

(1h) updating this website and social media with images from Alison Vincent Glass and the Stoke Poges Photographic Club’s outing to the British Wildlife Centre.

24th June

Hours 6,588 to 6,590

(1h) Analysing the following images sent to me by Yin Wong who thought it might provide inspiration for one of my photos featuring Monsieur Magriite (or me dressed as Magritte).

Image won an award at the Artic Salon

My musings:

  • Very clean, empty background; helped by the mist
  • All lines, explicit and implied, lead to a single vanishing-point
  • The silhouetted man walking towards this vanishing-point is a metaphor for desperation  
  • The mystery is enhanced by association with old spy films such as a John le Carre’s “The Spy who came in from the cold”
  • Low horizon adds to the sense of distance.

(2h) making changes for Alison Vincent Photography – All images square and the line below the plinth removed or minimised.

23rd June

Hours 6,583 to 6,587

(4h) processing Alison Vincent’s images in Photoshop.

“Sculpture on plain background” – background lighting faked in photoshop

(1h) updating this journal.

22nd June

Hours 6,578 to 6,582

(2h) processing the Saw Advert below. My only issue with this is that the sawdust is not very visible. Otherwise I am pleased with it.

My attempt…Brief
Karl Taylor Education – My attempt at Challenge 9 – Saw Advert

(2h) Shooting with Alison Vincent Glass: Sculpture for the TV Appearance.

“Environmental shot of Alison’s sculpture in her home”

(1h) Culling and initially processing Alison’s sculpture images in Capture One Pro.

21st June

Hours 6,574 to 6,577

(½h) planning the

(2½h) Shooting the saw – using just about every piece of equipment I own as shown below.

“Shooting the Saw Advert for the Karl Taylor Education challenge.”

(1h) producing a composite image.

20th June

Hours 6,573

(1h) Plan the Karl Taylor Education – Working to a brief Challenge – Saw Advertisement.

19th June

Hour 6,572

(½h) updating the list of top 20 fine art photographers from 17th below.

(½h) processing the Red Squirrel image below:

18th June

Hours 6,568 to 6,571

(1½h) updating this journal mainly with regard to the note from yesterday’s YouTubes, which each needed a good deal of thinking about.

(1½h) YouTubes about Wolfgang Tillmans, the #1 in yesterday’s list of art photographers, and an artist I wasn’t really familiar with apart from recognising his image of Alex and Lutz sitting half naked in a tree, and the fact that he won the 2000 Turner Prize.

(1h) practicing shooting glass with white and black surrounds.

17th June

Hours 6,566 to 6,567

(½h) updating my “Field Mouse” image below to make the background look less obviously controlled.

“Field Mouse”

(1½h) YouTube:

  • Lighting Glass:
  • PIXimperfect: “How to Create Shadows from Scratch in Photoshop!” create multiple layers from the contact shadow to the outer shadows by applying the following steps:
    • Draw out the shape of the shadow using the pen or irregular polygon tool
    • Fill with black (or gradient?)
    • Convert to a smart object then blur using field blur so that the edges of the shadow are sharpest close to the object and fade further away
    • Reduce opacity.
  • CAI: “The Most Famous Fine Art Photography Artists: A Reasoned Top 20”
    1. Wolfgang Tillmans – b1968 Germany/ UK – 2000 Winner of the Turner Prize – varied contemporary work
    2. Cindy Sherman – b1954 USA – Cinematic self-portraits
    3. Thomas Ruff – b1958 Germany – Wide variety of Contemporary Work
    4. Man Ray – 1890-1976 USA/ France – Abstract and surrealism
    5. Nan Goldin – b1953 USA – Life on the fringe of society
    6. Andreas Gursky – b1955 Germany – Large scale created scenes, e.g. Tokyo Stock Exchange
    7. Candid Hofer – b1944 Germany – large scale architectural interiors
    8. Robert Mapplethorpe – 1946-1989 USA – Celebrity portraits and S&M
    9. Zanele Muholi – b1972 South Africa – LGBTQI & Black politics in SA
    10. Shirin Neshat – b1957 Iran/ USA – Cultural and sexual politics
    11. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy – 1895-1946 Austria/ USA – Abstraction
    12. Nobuyoshi Araki – 1940 Japan – Japanese women, often tied up
    13. Jeff Wall – b1946 Canada – Nearly Documentary
    14. Henri Cartier-Bresson – 1908-2004 France – Street photography “The Decisive Moment”
    15. Carrie Mae Weems – b1953 USA – Political issues
    16. Catherine Opie – b1961 USA – Californian life and landscape
    17. Bernd & Hilla Becher – 1931-2007 & 1934-2015 Germany – Industrial Buildings – Urban lanscapes
    18. Walker Evans – b1903-1975 USA – “A Tenant Farmer’s Wife”
    19. Diane Arbus – b1923 USA
    20. Rineke Dijkstra – b1959 Holland – portraits of adolescent girls
  • Honourable mentions:
    • Lee Friedlander
    • Robert Frank
    • Allan Sekula
    • Alfred Stiegletz
  • Missing from the list but would certainly be in my top 20:
    • Sebastian Salgado
    • Hiroshi Sugimoto
    • Daido Moriyama
    • Michael Kenna
    • Edward Burtynsky
    • Bill Brant (possibly)
    • Alex Webb (possibly)

16th June

Hour 6,565

(½h) updating this journal

(½h) reviewing the photo book I was leant by a friend: “Flower Art”, by the Japanese photographer Makoto Azuma, who does extreme flower photography involving elements such as:

  • Tons of flowers
  • Taking displays to the edge of space
  • Displays in the middle of the desert or at the polar icecaps.

15th June

Hours 6,563 to 6,564

(1h) creating the following, revised, version of the image that Yin sent to me suggesting that I add M Magritte.

“Taped Meerkat Meets M Magritte”

The tricky bit with the above is getting the shadow to look right. Still not happy with this. I have 3 shadow layers for each added element:

  • Contact shadow – black immediately under feet
  • Inner shadow – directional shadow immediately behind the subject, in this case quite light
  • Outer shadow – generally darkening resulting from the presence of the object.

(1h) working on the following which was shot on the iPhone and enhanced in Topaz GigaPixel

“Field Mouse”

14th June

Hours 6,561 to 6,562

(½h) updating this journal

(1½h) creating the following versions of the dog eating ice-cream and Magritte at Slough images as suggested by Yin.

Hand added back in.Original, presented to the Mono group.
2nd Magritte, on opposite platform, slightly smallerOriginal

13th June

Hours 6,559 to 6,560

(1h) working on the Magritte at Slough Station image below before sending with the other revisions to Yin Wong (active member of the Amersham Mono group) for comment.

“Magritte at Slough Station II”

(1h) adding a Magritte to Yin’s Brick Lane image below.

“Meerkat Taped and M Magritte”

12th June

Hours 6,554 to 6,558

(4h) shooting at the British Wildlife Centre

Stag almost in Silhouette

(1h) editing the nearly 2,000 exposures down to 25, and processing these in Capture One Pro.

11th June

Hours 6,552 to 6,553

(1h) YouTube:

  • The Photographic Eye: “6 Life Lessons for Photographers“
    1. No one cares about your photography – do it for yourself
    2. Photography is a journey – one is always learning
    3. Be generous with your knowledge – you learn by teaching
    4. The real tools of the photographer’s trade are not the cameras lenses and filters but the books they have ready and images they have seen
    5. Dealing with imposter Syndrome as a photographer – do not define yourself by negative feedback
    6. Learn the language of photography – how to see and how to tell a story
    7. Celebrate your accomplishments
  • The Art of Photography: Interviews with Ralph Gibson:

(1h) shooting and processing the image, right, inspired by the above talk.

10th June

Hours 6,550 to 6,551

(½h) updating this journal; mainly with notes from yesterday’s mono meeting.

(1½h) re-editing the following in light of the comments from the Amersham Mono group.

9th June

Hours 6,548 to 6,549

(2h) Amersham Mono Group my images below:

Image…..Comments
“Magritte at Slough Station”

Maybe add another Magritte on the opposite platform with the two of them looking at each other.

“Horse’s Eye”

Try a square crop, slightly higher. This will restore the perspective of looking at the side of the horse’s head rather than front on.
“Bulldog with Icecream”

Grass a bit distracting.

Try a tighter crop, removing grass and girl’s right hand. This should produce a strong diagonal.

8th June

Hour 6,547

(1h) writing the “Surrealism” post

7th June

Hour 6,546

(1h) Producing images for this Thursday’s Amersham Mono group meeting including the following

“Crop of Pony’s Eye”
“Magritte at Slough Station”

6th June

Hours 6,544 to 6,545

(2h) creating mono images of the pony’s eye and dog eating icecream.

“Dog Eating Icecream”

5th June

Hours 6,539 to 6,543

(1h) “Surrealism” post

(1h) YouTube: The Photographic Eye: “Start Seeing (and Taking) Better Photos Today“

  • Look at the world “Photographically” – having the viewfinder set to mono, as per Simon Ellingworth’s tip on the Street Photography course, week before last, helps
  • Pretend you only have a limited number of shots – consider carefully before pressing the shutter
  • Think more, shoot less.

(1h) shooting new pony pictures and at the Stoke Poges Jubilee Picnic

(2h) processing the above.

4th June

Hours 6,536 to 6,538

(2h) finishing the “Spring 2022” post

(1h) reviewing yesterday’s list of top-10 painters and updating this journal

3rd June

Hours 6,533 to 6,535

(1h) collating my top 10 images for the “Spring 2022” post.

Top-10 images from Spring 2022

(1h) understanding the criteria for a Royal Photographic Society, Landscape Associate Panel, and rewriting my Statement of Intent. Specifically saying what I hope it will convey to the viewer.

(½h) YouTube: Contemporary Art Issue: “The Story of Gerhard Richter” which caused me to reconsider my top-10 painters of the 20th and 21st Centuries:

  1. Pablo Picasso (without doubt no. 1)
  2. Jackson Pollock
  3. Mark Rothko
  4. Rene Magritte
  5. Salvador Dali
  6. Francis Bacon
  7. Andy Warhol
  8. Jean-Michelle Basquiat
  9. Edward Hopper
  10. Gerhard Richter

(Not quite making the list are: Claude Monet, Paul Klee, Dorothea Tanning, Piet Mondrian, David Hockney, Jenny Saville, Paul Cezanne, Josef Albers).

(½h) updating this Journal.

2nd June

Hours 6,531 to 6,532

(1h) very first draft and outline of “Spring 2022” post

(1h) YouTube:

1st June

Hours 6,529 to 6,530

(1h) updating this journal and all new month admin.

(1h) working on the following mono image from the Street Photography course in Soho last week.

(May 2022)