Post 32- Craving Recognition?

My good friend Dave Vowles and I have been debating Fine Art Photography and we have both been influenced and inspired by the work of Julia Anna Gospodaru and the (En)visionography movement she has created. I have recently found that she has created a closed Facebook Group to display Black and White Fine Art Photographs and have been following it for the past week. The group is curated by Julia herself and has a number of strict criteria about the content that is allowed. The rules state that works that do not fit the criteria or get little support will be removed from the page quite quickly.
I have observed that most of the images seem to be of buildings and bridges often surrounded by calm waters and cloudless grey skies. Portraits are specifically excluded from the site "unless the exhibit an artistic approach".
I have so far posted two images. The first was a study of a woman finely dressed in steampunk vintage clothing at an event at Papplewick Pumping Station. Near the end of the closing day of the event, together with two others, she proceeded to climb onto the coal heap and play apparently delighting in getting dirty. I posted this image and it received two likes but disappeared on the second day. Apparently this had been removed by the curators but no reason was given. Was it removed for not being classed as fine art or for getting insufficient support?

The second image I posted was a study of a small part of the Knife Angel. This sculpture was made from knives handed in a Police Weapon Amnesties and attracted a lot of interest in the three weeks it was outside Derby Cathedral. This image has been on the Facebook page now for a little over 24hrs and has received 5 likes. I will watch with interest to see how long it remains on the page.

This experience raises two issues. Are these two image worthy of being categorised as examples of Fine Art Photography? And why am I still so obsessed with how many likes my posted images receive?
Fine Art Photographs show subject matter in a way that originally only existed  in the mind of the images creator using captured images processed using software. In both the images above I initially processed them as colour images but saw the potential for them to become more striking in high contrast monochrome, more closely cropped and framed than the originals. Is this sequence good enough to qualify as "fine art" or is it necessary to have a vision of an end product before the initial captures. I feel a need to get clarification on this point. 
I am quite well aware that there will be a spectrum of quality going from poor examples of fine art photographs to high quality examples and am quite happy for these two images to be placed lower down on the scale.
On the subject of seeking to peer review my images by posting them on sites like this I am more clear. True artists produce work that they themselves believe have merit and do not need or seek the praise of others. I have not even come close to this state of mind and am still craving the recognition that comes from Facebook Likes. Maybe when I am further along my journey towards the goal of visual literacy I will be less dependant on likes.

Post 31- "To share or not to share that is the question"

"To share or not to share that is the question"

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the 30 posts in my blog over the past 11 months but until recently had not made them public.
The act of writing has been an end in itself as it has forced me to take stock of my progress on the journey towards some level of visual literacy. It has also enabled me to record my excitement at discovering new methods and approaches to photography.
During a recent photo field trip to Leicester Dave Vowles, Barrie Upton and myself got talking about the works of art on display at the New Walk Museum and I discovered similarities in the way Dave and I interpreted the works. We got talking about my blog and Dave said he would be interested in reading it. I sent him the link.
Since then we have exchanged numerous emails on the comments he has added to my blog posts. This process has enabled both of us to gain an appreciation of the views we share and discus the areas where our approaches are different.
This process has been very interesting and has made the whole process of blogging more educational.
Thank you Dave! I have thoroughly enjoyed the exchanges and learned a lot.

I intend to share my blog more widely but have yet to decide whether to cherry pick friends I think will take it seriously or broadcast its existence more widely among fellow camera club members.

Post 30- Fine Art Photography???

Thanks to a comment on this blog by good friend Dave Vowles I had cause to look up an article on Fine Art Photography (FAP).
The article defined FAP as the creation of an image which represents something that exists only in the photographers mind. I like this definition as it seems to give free range to use my imagination to envision images and then attempt to create images.  So HERE WE GO! The Sky is the limit.

It did not exist anywhere else but in my imagination before I created the images so it fits the definition.  But is it Fine Art??????
I leave that decision to you Dear Reader.

Post 29- Photographic Recycling

I have been unable to get out of the house much this week because Moy has been unwell with a serious cold. Despite this I have, this week,  created more images than usual using the textured overlay techniques explained by Heather Burns at last weeks Ockbrook Photo Club.
I have found that I already have, on my computer hard drive, a massive number of images suitable to be combined into composite images. I have not needed to take any new photos to create these new images. This is truly a case of Photographic recycling.

Today being Armistice Day I have created a composite of two images, both taken 4 years ago. I have combined an image taken at the National Memorial Arboretum with one of poppies taken in Chellaston to produce what I hope is an image fitting of this significant day of memorial.

I am thrilled that Heather Burns has "Liked" this image on Facebook. She has also  agreed to my Friend request and offered support should I request it.

Post 28- Textured Overlays and Composite Images

Last week at Ockbrook Photo Club we had a talk from Heather Burns. Heather is an image maker who uses blending techniques in Photoshop to produce composite images that defy description. She is entirely self taught.

She is very modest about her skills but the creativity she demonstrates in her work is of the very highest order. She started out photographing musicians and many of her images have been used on album and CD covers and it is here that she started to build her Photoshop skills. Her talent was further developed and refined as part of the mentoring programme in the Guild of Photographers and as part of the Guild has received two Master Craftsmen Awards.
She believes that the only limit to the scope of these technique is the image makers imagination.

I was so impressed with the basic simplicity of the technique that I have been using it to produce simple, two layer, effects, some of which I have shown below.

Although I have mastered the basic techniques it remains to  be seen if I can develop additional skills and use these and my imagination to produce more complex works.

I have been playing with these techniques for a couple of days and am now able to add new elements to the images. I am quite pleased with the results.