The Blog At Ainsworth Images

Wednesday,  January 25, 2012

“The artist, and particularly the poet, is always an anarchist in the best sense of the word. He must heed only the call that arises within him from three strong voices: the voice of death, with all its foreboding, the voice of love and the voice of art.”  ~ Federico Garcia Lorca

I have been an artist my whole life. I have always considered poetry the purest form of art. That has led me to strive to reveal the poetry within all things in my images. To paraphrase Galen Rowell, I think of my images as my symphonies. I work on each one, from the first visualization, to the final sharpening in post as a complete and complex composition, attempting to express my inner feelings at the time of capture. Like all artists, I don’t always succeed, but when I do, I feel I have given my all.

Here are some wonderfully lit clouds, at sunset, with some blue sky still visible, along with some bare trees.

Enjoy,
Tom

Friday,  January 20, 2012

“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”  ~ Picasso

Then the challenge is to bring that emotion to your image so that it grabs the viewer. It what bring life to the image and engages the viewer. You have to have insight, talent and technical skill to carry it off and it takes a lifetime to achieve. You can create great work along the way, but  the goal is to constantly improve your ability to communicate your vision.

This is another image that shows nature as a sculptress, this time a relief with great texture on the sand and in the water.

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  January19, 2012

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”  ~ Albert Einstein

Is not all life mysterious? I am mysterious, even to myself, all the creatures we see and hear are mysterious the view thru a telescope is most mysterious. I personally embrace the mysterious and agree with John Muir that “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.“

OK, I’m not saying that this is the most original or creative image in the universe, however, talk about mysterious, look what comes to light as the tide recedes! A whole galaxy of mysterious creatures that live out their own existence beneath the waters, (unless I gather some of those large Mussels and cook em’ up!) Anyway, the mysterious is everywhere you look and if you look with a quiet mind and open eyes even the everyday is full of mystery, just waiting for you to reveal it in you images.

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday, 

January11, 2012

“A favorite quote I love to share is this. “It was exposed forever on the thin emulsion of my mind” to which I add, “and a beat of the heart.” There is simply no ISO that can capture that.”  ~ Moose Peterson

This is a quote I found over on Moose’s site. (Link) He uses it to explain why he tends not to push the ISO. It’s an important point to me, because it emphasizes an important state of mind for the artist. The artist must feel and experience deeply to create great work.  If an image doesn’t come from the heart its a dead image, but there are some moments so special nothing can capture it but the heart itself!

Nature, using her tools of water and wind sculpts wonderful patterns, full of life and motion. Here is one such creation that caught my eye and imagination.

Enjoy,
Tom

Friday, January 6, 2012

“Photography is all about light, composition and, most importantly, emotion.”  ~ Larry Wilder

If you don’t feel anything from your images, why would anyone else. You must connect with your image and then use all the resources at your command to project that feeling into your work, then others will connect with it as well.

This is a fantastic rock formation on the beach in Oceanside, Oregon. Here the tide was low enough to allow me capture it at just the angle I was looking for. This was a very low tide, otherwise I would have been neck deep in very cold water!

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

“To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June.” ~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Every time of the year has its delights. To sit by the fire, reading a book in January, perhaps with a nice, warm cup of tea can be enjoyable and restive to the soul. Springtime, of course has its own joys, but seems far away in January, so, to my mind, it’s best to enjoy each season appropriately!

I was tempted to turn this early morning, winter seascape into Black & White, but I really like the pale blue of the sky and thought the image was stronger retaining it. It enhances the overall “moodiness” of the image.

Enjoy,
Tom

Friday, December 30, 2011

“You have done what you could — some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ~ Emerson

This is a great way to start the NewYear, “unencumbered with your old nonsense, serenely and with a high spirit.” It’s also a good way to start your work each day, so it’s kept fresh and new and full of possibility. You can’t fix the past, but what you do in the present will surely affect the future. So today is our key to tomorrow. If we keep that in our mind as we move forward we will shape our tomorrow in very powerful ways. Let do it! Starting today!

Nature is a wonderful Sculptress. You can see it in her rock formations, patterns left in the sand and certainly in this piece of driftwood. Her works are endless and of a boundless variety to those with eyes to see.

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  December 28, 2011

“Year’s end,

all corners

of this floating world, swept.”  ~ Basho

I have always been enamored of the Japanese Haiku. To me it seems like the purest of all poetry, simple in nature and yet very profound. So much said with so few words, so much feeling packed into such a condensed package. I try to achieve the same thing in my images. Some call it minimalist, I prefer “simple elegance” because it is so much more descriptive, like Haiku itself. Call it what you may, it is what appeal most to me when creating my body of work for it represents my purest vision.

This little poem is full of subtle meaning for the new year, sweep out the old, be ready for the new and don’t take anything too seriously. It also has a feeling of being at peace with the past and a looking forward to what is to come.

These beach houses, on the bluff, overlooking the sea have that lonely feeling the New Year seem to bring, coming as it does at the start of winter. Not an unpleasant feeling, but kind of a completeness mingled in with the solitude.

Enjoy,
Tom

Friday,  December 16, 2011

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  ~ Proverbs

It is easier to “look“ than to “see.” To see takes inner vision as well as outer vision. Then it takes skill and training to be able to print your vision to paper, but all the skill in the world will not make your images vital and alive, you must have the inner vision to pull this off! Inner vision comes with involvement with what you are imaging, one must care about what they choose to represent, to enter into a kind of relationship with that subject then the magic happens. Then your skill will make it come alive on screen and in print and your vision will travel out into the world for others to enjoy.

Look at these kids having a great time dancing with the waves on a very cold day in November, off the Oregon coast. How good it is to be young!

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  December 14, 2011

“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.”  ~ Paulo Coelho

You can also become blind by seeing the same landscape as unchanging. A perfect example of this for me is Haystack Rock at Canon Beach, Oregon, a monolith towering 235 feet over the beach. For awhile, each time I would go back I would say to myself; “It will be difficult to get anymore images, I have done it so many times.” Yet each time it has surprised me, until I came to understand it was quite like the moon. It has endless moods, it is almost like a planet, it gives shelter and sustenance to a wide variety of lifeforms and it exudes a power that seems to capture all who visit. I am now quite certain I will never tire of capturing its many moods and apparitions.

Here is Haystack exhibiting one of her many auras.

Enjoy,
Tom