Murky Dismal and the Rainbow Effect

Good morning everyone. We are already off the dock and out training for this weeks Great Schooner Race. We have some hard core racers with us, veterans of many a battle and defenders of the Cutty Sark Cup as well as aficionados of fun. There will be a great opportunity for folks to view the start of the Race from the Rockland Breakwater. The finish will be just off of Camden followed by a big fete for the competitors afterwards. We’ll report in later with all the results.

So after a week with Jim Dugan, who, by the way, paddled out to Mark I 4 miles off Camden and back yesterday, my photography skills are hopefully a dight better. We saw a few rainbows last week and Jim was quick to point out that rainbows are some of the most abused images he knows of. (I am paraphrasing.) Jim has nothing against rainbows but it is way too easy to want to put pictures of rainbows everywhere you can imagine for friends and neighbors to see. For us hack photographers we think we suddenly have this rare image caught in a moment of sheer magic that the entire world needs to see. Unfortunately, rarely does the image communicate the wonder we felt at that moment. Like peeing your pants in a charcoal gray suit it often leaves us with a worm fuzzy feeling but others don’t get the same effect. So call me “Murky Dismal” but if I took anything away from Jim’s lessons last week it is this: Images I share with others shouldn’t need explaining. They should tell their own story to the viewer. If you invite your friends over for a slideshow and find them asleep in their chairs when you turn the lights back on that should tell you something. So get out there and shoot, shoot, shoot! Don’t just spray and pray but really think about the subject of your image and what you want it to say to others. Shoot as if it was the only means of communication you have. Then invite your friends over for a slideshow and see what happens.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.