The Blog At Ainsworth Images

Friday, April 3, 2012

“Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.” ~ Yousuf Karsh

Start with the heart then use your mind to profit from what you have learned over the years about your craft and you can’t go far wrong. You need to have strong feelings about your work to create something that others will have similar emotions about. One would think this obvious, but when you look at so much of the work that is out there on the web, you have to wonder.
This is an image of Mt. Hood taken from the eastern side with seemingly endless amber fields in the foreground on a warm, sunny day with beautiful blue skies.

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  April 4, 2012

“I began to realize that film sees the world differently than the human eye, and that sometimes those differences can make a photograph more powerful than what you actually observed.”  ~ Galen Rowell

Perhaps true, but such an image can more clearly show what you felt at the time. That’s the power of our medium in the hands of someone who has developed his/her craft to the highest levels. One hopes to reveal the invisible power of nature over her creatures, the power that makes dogs run with joy, and captures the full attention and imagination of children at the beach. It’s a phenomenon I never tire of observing, and the challenge of capturing even a small bit of  this mysterious power in an image keeps me fully engaged as an artist.

“Terrible Tillie” is a lighthouse on a rock at the extreme left of the image in Cannon Beach, Oregon. The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse has watched over the Oregon coast for more than 100 years. Famous photos chronicle its erection and years of service in the tumultuous Pacific. Storm upon storm has broken gigantic waves against the structure, which was completed in 1881. Now the lighthouse is privately owned and functions as a columbarium, an eerie final resting place for the ashes of the deceased.

Enjoy,
Tom

Friday,  March 30, 2012

“…damn everything that is grim, dull, motionless, unrisking, inward turning,
damn everything that won’t get into the circle, that won’t enjoy, that won’t throw
its heart into the tension, surprise, fear and delight of the circus, the round
world, the full existence…”  ~ e.e. cummings

To be a true artist you must risk, jump into the circle, enter into the tension, otherwise you will just be a bystander. To be an artist you must be a precipitator, you must be able to enter into experience with your whole being, to feel to touch, to become part of. Only then will you be able to create that which will resonate with others, to touch them in an intimate way with your work.

This is a typical Portland Oregon scene, someone has done some self-decoration on their little automobile! Apparently they are “into the circle.”

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  March 28, 2012

“Painting or poetry is made as one makes love – a total embrace, prudence thrown to the winds, nothing held back.”  ~ Joan Miro

What the above quote means to me is that one must put one’s whole self into one’s work, no holds barred. This is not usually a problem for the true artist, for the work is life itself to her. I know I don’t feel quite right when I don’t work for a time.

What could be more Northwest than espresso, rain and bikes?

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  March 14, 2012

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.”  ~ Ansel Adams

“What one feels,” is probably the most important thing for an artist in any medium. If you don’t feel anything for the work, how can you expect it to resonate with anyone else. Not likely. Your heart, soul, mind, your very self must be at the center of your work or it will lack that vital something the sets it apart.

I met this gentleman late one evening in the fall at the train station in Portland, Oregon. He wanted to know why I wished to take his photo, I told him the truth, that he was one handsome cowboy!

Enjoy,
Tom

Friday,  March 9, 2012

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.”  ~ Edward Steichen

I love this quote because it illustrates the basic truth that the camera is just a tool, like a paintbrush to a painter. It’s the combined instinct, knowledge and skill of the photographer on one side and the soul of the person on the other working together in a special harmony that creates  a great portrait.

To me this is a perfect illustration to what has been said above!

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  March 7, 2012

“The job of art is to chase the ugly away.”  ~ Bono

Not everyone would agree with Bono, but I have no problem with it. My love of this beautiful, mysterious planet is what inspires me to want to capture it in images, to share them with others and hopefully make more people aware of the need to protect it from those who would defile it. I stand with John Muir, Ansel Adams, Bono and John Lennon and all those, big and small who have worked to enlighten people to that need.

This is an image from high about the Columbia Gorge on a very cloudy day, where every once in awhile the sun would break though the clouds and provide magically lit scenes.

Enjoy,
Tom

Friday, March 2, 2012

“There’s no retirement for an artist, it’s your way of living so there’s no end to it.” ~ Henry Moore

I’ve never know an artist that wanted to retire. To an artist, their work is a bit of a compulsion, fueled by passion, vision, love, hate, joy and sorrow. Not necessarily in equal amounts or equally if each artist, but the point is, to an artist the work is her life. There is no separation between the two.

To the gull, there is no separation between themselves, the sea, wind, sun or rain. One cannot exist without the other.

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  February 29, 2012

“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.”  ~ Echart Tolle

I can’t speak for all artists, I do know, however, that this is true for me. Both when I am out in the field capturing images and afterwards during post I go into a meditative state where I allow my inner intuitions to guide me to my final image. I have been working for a long enough time as an artist, and I know my tools well enough that I don’t have to put a lot of time into framing a image, it’s intuitive,  so I can just wander and let my senses guide me.

This is one of the sand gardens in Portland Japanese Garden, on a typical rainy day. The garden is lovely in all seasons and very peaceful.

Enjoy,
Tom

Wednesday,  February 8, 2012

“Where light and shadow fall on your subject – that is the essence of expression and art through photography.”  ~ Scott Boume

Light and shadow, darkness and light, all of life exists between these two, and so of course does art, being a part of life. How to direct the light and thereby the viewers eye is the challenge that all artists must take on and conquer. Color is also light and how we use it convey feelings and emotions to the viewer, this is true even with black and white. Painting with light, what a wonderful adventure!

Here the natural light of day is almost gone, the little lights of the town are just coming to life. It makes for a wonderful, intimate scene with overtones of man living with the vastness of nature, the loneliness at the end of day and other poetic meanings that one can read into it.

Enjoy,
Tom