Saturday, January 19, 2008

Photography


If you're looking for tea, you came to the wrong place today. Sorry.

My father was a photographer. He was the kind or person who would get an idea to pursue something, and then he would go do it. Get books. Teach himself. Practice. Try to make a living out of it. See also: Magician, Painter, Carpenter. Even in his declining years, when he could no longer work, he took up gardening, roses and tomatoes. The occasional herb.

After he died I inherited his cameras, and for a while it was a hobby of mine. I bought books, equipment. Maybe I was okay at it; my wife says I was. But I never felt so for very long, and eventually I moved on. To tea among other things, so I was delighted when starting a blog allowed for the two interests to merge. You, reader, may or may not like my pictures, but I think if you look at my early posts and compare recent ones, you would likely agree that at least I have improved.

I do get compliments on the pictures from time to time, which pleases me because I try, and they are important to me, not because I think of myself as a great photographer. I'm not. My "improvement" can be attributed two two things: 1) I discovered my camera has a nifty button for close-up shots--who knew? 2) I discovered that good, copious, natural light, fickle as it may be, is the amateur photographer's friend, lover, and soul mate.

Which leads me to how any of this is relevant in any way to this blog. It is winter. Most days by the time I get home from work, my light is gone. The simple solution is to stock up on pictures when I get a day off; I'll photograph a few different tea sessions and write a review later in the week. This is only a problem when I haven't had a day off in a while, which I haven't had in two weeks. This is why there haven't been any new posts this week, and why there won't be any, besides this one, for a while longer. I have depleted my stores.

That I plan the blog around lighting, reveals how important the pictures are to me. There you have it; a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at Another Tea Blog. And of me, I suppose.

7 comments:

Salsero said...

Loved the post, Space, especially since we know how little time you have for such things lately.

Is that your dad in the second photo? and ... a sister?

As usual or even more so, gorgeous images you've chosen to share with us.

Space Samurai said...

Thanks, Sal.

Yes, that's my Dad. I was never sure who the girl was. A hired assistan, someone he was sleeping with, how knows?

Thanks again.

MarshalN said...

Agreed completely -- sunlight is great, especially when the colour of the tea is an important piece of information that is too often distorted by artificial light. A few days ago when the ground was covered in snow my place brightened up considerably. It was really nice.

Hope you get to take more pictures soon!

toki said...

Rainy and snowy days are the best lighting to me. The mood these weather create is sexy and unexpected. Of course, a stand is a must. Can't wait to see more tea beauty from your blog! Cheers -T

Philippe said...

Like you, I got the same compliments... !
I try to take nice pictures to illustrate my blog. I love this art because tea is a real source of inspiration for an amateur photographer !

Thanks for the link ;-)

Patrick said...

The photographs on your blog are beautiful and I had noticed your artistic sense of light. I bought my first camera, a very small and handy one, a month ago and am still trying to tame this temperamental piece of technology; up to now, results were hardly under control, especially indoors under artificial light...
Yet yours are really inspiring, making "Another Tea Blog" one of the most pleasant english-speaking blogs on the topic of tea!

Steve R said...

I'm still waiting for you to re-open your tea blog....of course if you have time