I am so excited to share this with you!
When I released my first book, “Seeing Simplified – How to see and craft great imagery,” I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to write a simple, yet thoughtful book in which I would share my process of seeing and crafting imagery. I wanted it to be my own observations from the field.
When the book was released, I was genuinely surprised and grateful as to how well it was received. Over the last year many of you who purchased my first book sent me your kind notes for which I am so grateful. In fact, many people encouraged me to write more. I listened.
My first book dealt with creative street photography. However, as I was going through my image library, I realized I have just as many travel and landscape images as street photographs. In fact, my passion for road trips across North America has only increased over the years. There is nothing more exciting than loading up the car and hitting the road with my camera. But I am not talking about taking major highways and visiting the most popular roadside attractions. This is not where my visual interests lie. I much prefer taking small, less travelled roads which take me through rural communities, towns and cities far away from main highways. This is where I take satisfaction in finding my own visuals and crafting new imagery.
To purchase your own copy please go to https://gumroad.com/l/rINfn
When I was writing this book, I realized that the terms we use to describe our photography are quite limited: street, landscape, portrait, etc. I would like to point out they all become a part of one’s seeing when on the road. The road doesn’t know whether you are a street photographer or landscape photographer. On my recent travels I enjoyed the challenge of thinking “street” and “abstract” when I visited ghost towns in Montana or “landscape” and “portrait” when I photographed the small towns of Palouse. This is the beauty of photography. The moment you stop seeing yourself as a travel or street photographer, you start seeing much more and arranging the elements in front of you in ways you could never anticipate. It is a great adventure in seeing, but also in self-discovery.
I hope my short personal deliberations will be a starting point for you. Next time you take a road trip or fly to some great location or maybe just walk around your neighbourhood, feel, observe and craft imagery without worrying about labels and trends – just make them your own.
Happy travels,
Olaf
To purchase your own copy please go to https://gumroad.com/l/rINfn
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Hello Olaf, just a question. Are your two books also translated into German? Thanks and Greetings Thomas Kaiser
Hi Olaf, I bought your latest ebook earlier today and I have started to read and enjoy it. Congratulations, the photos are excellent. I noticed that you have used mainly 4×3 aspect ratio which adds a lot to the enjoyment of the images, in my opinion. There is something rather satisfying about this ratio compared to 3×2 and it’s a pity that Fuji don’t seem to offer this as an option in their image size menus. I sometimes print for exhibitions and I have started crop to this ratio more often.
Thank you so much for your support and for sharing your kind note. I agree with you, the 4×3 ratio is somehow more natural and eye-friendly. I like it too. All the best!