Artistic Philosophy

Still I write.

T.A. SultaZ — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:20:52 +0000

I am a writer. I haven’t made much money with my craft, even though that is my desire, but still I write. I’m not the greatest, nor will I go down in history as the greatest. Even knowing this, I still work to hone my craft, to fine tune it, to become better, to become the best writer I possibly can. Maybe one day my writing will support me, but until that day comes, I write.

Sorry for the delay

T.A. SultaZ — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:33:27 +0000

I’ve been away from my blog for a while. Just get lazy, is all. I’m going to try and be more current and active. I know I’ve said this before, but I’m really gonna try this time. I like the idea of a blog, but life gets in the way and it just falls to the side.

Use the tools at hand, to get the image you want. Ansel Adams would have.

T.A. SultaZ — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 04:04:33 +0000

When I first began my migration from analog to digital, I was plagued by the dilemma of whether to use Photoshop or not to enhance my images. I felt that if I used Photoshop, than I wasn’t being true to the art form. What would Ansel Adams do? He would stick to the old ways of artistic expression and not adopt digital as his new medium. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I found some quotes by Ansel but the one that rang the most appropriate is below:

“Photographers are, in a sense, composers and the negatives are their scores. …In the electronic age, I am sure that scanning techniques will be developed to achieve prints of extraordinary subtlety from the original negative scores. If I could return in twenty years or so I would hope to see astounding interpretations of my most expressive images. It is true no one could print my negatives as I did, but they might well get more out of them by electronic means. Image quality is not the product of a machine, but of the person who directs the machine, and there are no limits to imagination and expression.” - Ansel Adams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZND3eczqoIA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWhQGU2RYuM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7b6bH1gmmk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGPsLx8aL8k&feature=related

It is clearly obvious that Ansel would have wanted us to use these new technologies, not only on our own work, but his as well. So if someone says that you are cheating, faking or not being a purist for using some of the new software, just know that the greatest photographer of all times was on your side.

But don’t take this as a sign to get lazy with your work, still strive for perfection in your original image, but when the ideal you envisioned is just not there, use what’s at hand. Take the image below. I am in Afghanistan, at the time of this writing, and it is dull, dry and grey, everywhere, not an interesting image in site. So what did I do? I used the tools at hand to create the following image.

SultaZ.com is back

T.A. SultaZ — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:34:51 +0000

I am so happy, after being off the web for a year and half, sultaz.com is finally back. I was able to obtain the name again. Check back later for updates to my site.

The Ultimate Artist

T.A. SultaZ — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:06:13 +0000

Who the greatest artist of all time is, has been debated for years and will continue to be debated as new artist appear on the scene. I would like to name the ultimate artist, the greatest ever. Her name is Mother Nature.

Mother Nature has been painting and creating great works of art for longer than man has existed. She uses a wide ranging pallet of colors and mixes them into breath taking images. She is my favorite artist of all time and I dare someone to point to a better one.

Art is…..

T.A. SultaZ — Thu, 20 May 2010 06:53:51 +0000

What is art? That is a question not easily answered. One man’s art is another man’s garbage and vice-versa. Take Jackson Pollock as an example.

Jackson Pollock has a devout following of art lovers who adore his work. I, on the other hand, am not as impressed. Some of his work isn’t bad, but anyone with a paint brush can drizzle some paint. Maybe I am being overly critical, but, nevertheless, that is my opinion. On the other hand, artists such as Salvador Dali required immense amount of talent to compose the works that he created.

What do you think?

Need to step away for a bit

T.A. SultaZ — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:59:10 +0000

I have a major certification test to study for and a thesis paper to write, so I will be stepping away from this site for the next couple of months.

Check back periodically for updates.

Thank you for your support.

The Rule of Thirds

T.A. SultaZ — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:55:00 +0000

The rule of thirds is a common, and one of the most basic, rules in photography. Basically this rule merely states that the view finder is divided into thirds and then your goal, as the photographer, is to avoid the center third of the image. This is the rule at it’s most simplistic form. Allow me illustrate.

Below is one of my images, divided into thirds.

In this image you will see that there are two sets of thirds, the vertical thirds and the horizontal thirds. Which portion you decide to put your focal point is entirely on you. Your goal is to make the image as visually appealing as possible. In this case, I felt that the road had much more character than the plain blue sky, so I position my focal point, the converging lines near the center-top third of the image.

The arrow points to my focal point in this image. If the road had been plain and the sky was filled with puffy white clouds, then my focal point could have been moved to the bottom-center third. We would have seen little of the road and had lots of blue sky and puffy clouds.

As with all rules, this one is not set in stone. By all means, if the image lends itself to being centered, do it.

Happy New Year

T.A. SultaZ — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 10:59:40 +0000

A new year has come; a chance for new changes. A lot of us have seen many, many new years, but has it ever made a difference. Have you kept those New Years resolutions to lose weight or to stop procrastinating. Most haven’t, to include myself.

Rather than waiting for a new year to make a resolution, make one today or tomorrow. Make one each day you live, even if it only reaffirming the one from yesterday. Without constantly working on your resolutions, they will fall to the way side.

Make a resolution to find something creative to do. Something artistic. You don’t have to be able to draw, paint, or sculpt like the masters; express you soul through something you find creative and artistic.

Share it with the world. I dare you.

Why Photography is art.

T.A. SultaZ — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:36:50 +0000

Many artists will vehemently protest that photography is not art. “Any monkey can pick up a camera and press a button.” They say.

While the previous statement is true, it is equally as true that any monkey can pick up a brush and paint. Don’t believe me? Below are two paintings, one is by legendary painter Jackson Pollock and the other is a painting by Congo the chimpanzee. See if you can connect the correct painting to its respective artist. It’s okay, I can way.

If you guessed that number one was Jackson Pollock, you’d be wrong; that would be a work by Congo. Apes aren’t the only animal painters, we have

Jojo the elephant.

Maggie the sea lion.

Pinto the miniature pig.

And, Cholla the horse.

Did you notice something, none of the last four even had hands, yet they created paintings which sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Let’s see one of them hold a camera and press the shutter button.

Now I am not trying to start a war between artists, quite the contrary. I just want artists in other disiplines to recognize that photographers can be artist. But even I can admit that there is a clear difference between a family vacation photo,

and

Art.