Black and White Photography by Richard Vanek

Singapore visit

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:04:16 -0500

Dear unknown friend,

I have promised you in one of the latest letters, that I will post some images and write a bit about my visit in Singapore, two weeks ago now. I have decide to prepare that rather right, than only do some quick typing before going to bed. I am not ready with all images and my full article is only in draft, but anyhow I like to give some peek.

Image attached to this letter is not really representative selection from images I have done at the island. But already from this you can get idea that my experience in Singapore where quite in contrast from what I have read and heard before. It has also changed in few days rather drastically.
Singapore is in my eyes after ten days I have spend there, country of huge contrast and mixed cultures. This all has some nice effect, like being able to meet really various type of people and enjoyed food from same variety places, but it also has dark sides. More about both of them in full letter in few days.

As you can see this is the first print, which is possible to buy from me after I redesign my site and closed my online shop. This time it is not printed and delivered by me but thirty party company fotomoto.com. Prints made by them for me are free editions. That means they are not limited to final amount. I will made prints myself for sale as well, but that is another story...

Down a hill, where is the bottom?

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:15:41 -0400

Dear friend,
in a last, almost three, weeks I have not written anything here. And I did that more or less wittingly. I wanted to see if there will be any change in amount of visitors and their reactions between time when I am active and when I am not. The result is kind of liberating. The result is: there is no change! I have received in average only 3-5% less visits and same amount of comments and emails as in times when I am very very active. This lead to assumption, that only activities, which brings more visitors and more activity on pages are activities leading to more exposure of the website between other parts of internet. That leads to more incoming links, more people talk about it and therefore more visitors coming and more reaction is created.
This of course require that the web has certain amount of pages, information. In short it has some level of content.

This has some connection to the topics which are running in my head in last weeks and especially in last days. I am currently in rather disillusion situation. I had some discussion with friends and my wife in last days and kind of discover my real me, me who is not cover by my own illusions about myself, but more the me how people see it. And I am down. Not sure what should I do. In any case this is too wake to talk in journal about. I am just trying to write about it here, but I feel already after first paragraph that I am going to wipe it :-(

Instead of writing I should do some actions, but currently my idealistic mind is depressed by facing the reality. And even I know, sometimes, what should I do I still do not do it. And, the worse, I have no idea. I guess everybody has this kind of downs, but personal experience and personal troubles are always closer ;-)
After a month not writing anything here, this is certainly not the best topic. But I can not help myself. In hope that these writings helped me to get out of it. As I see it know they can help me get out of my down temporarily, it can help me to get back a bit, but I certainly need to make some other actions to overcome my current situation.

Day after day a bringing changes. Previous paragraphs I wrote one and two days ago. Today is a new day. And I have received a letter from the gallery owner who represents me in Slovak Republic. My work is exhibit in the AURA gallery in Zilina for few last month and it seems, at least according to letter, getting some attention. Still no buyers, but even such a email helps.
Following month I am home for at least four weeks. After traveling in October over the whole world it is relaxing to know that I can have a bit of stable days. My plan is to make some changes in current project (Serene Mind) and bring it to the end. Try to push it in some venues and start action in new project, which I have in my mind rather long. Its realization requires studio or at least some kind of space where I can work with lights. You see, after few days of having head down, and two emails from friend I feel better. I should remember this for next down hill fall.

Sleep and piece of mind

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:05:51 -0400

My dear friend,
it is surprising how huge influence on my behavior and my comfort level has a sleep. I knew this for very long time, but it is always rather difficult to follow. I just need at least eight hours of sleep. I remember time when I was only one who I was responsible for. Than when I felt I just took longer sleep, or went to bad at 8pm or even early, than I could be nice, smiling pleasant to talk to.

Now I get that long sleep very rarely and I become acting very shortly and unpleasant to others and to myself as well. Creativity shrinks to zero. Only few hours a day is enjoyable. I hate it. In last few days that leads to all kinds of conflicts and I seems to be not able to do anything special about it. Some beer later in the evening helps sometimes.
I hate to fall in such a rhythm. I am so called early morning person. It is for me much more natural to sleep from 9pm, but be awake even at 4am with no consequences over a day.

Not only conflicts with people around me, but also the lost of creativity is killing me. And one can thing that is only expression, but sometime I have feeling it is just pure fact, live is short and I am making it even shorter.
Oh, my friend who would be if I write this to the paper and supposed to send it in envelop. I should write name and address on it? Writing it here is easy, no destination just shouting out of the ip port. But how much more personal could be the reaction if you are only person who this letter is addressed?

Tell me, if you care...

Colored or paint in Images

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:01:18 -0400

Dear Roy
I wanted to write you earlier, but all those daily tedious tasks always moved my mind to some other, more boring setup, and I have lost the line of thoughts. Now, again few minutes before I go to get some sleep, I was thinking about you.
This year is the first time we are going for our yearly bear tour without you. This Saturday we leaving to Belgium, again, as for all those previous years, just for one day. The girls are going with us this time. You sister was only exception we did in previous years.
While thinking about you, it also pop-up to my mind, that you always wrote postcards from all your world travels to Ema. She always loved your short notes and nice pictures from those interesting places you have visited. Last time from Alaska. Now, you are far away, for long time and it may well be that we will not see each other again, and therefore, when I asked Ema to create first hand colored or let's call it color-in photo, I immediately thought about you and her. Maybe now it is the time she starts sending images to you. Even she probably has not though about it, I would like to dedicate this image, photographed by me in France and paint-in by her, to you.

I wish you both all the love!

Making Prints

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:18:00 -0400

My Dear Friend
I wanted to write you earlier, but somehow I had not complete letter in mind, but today it is so late that I decided to write you what I was doing in last few days. I was and still am rather busy with creating profiles for paper I haven't use for rather long time. It is Ilford Smooth Fine Art paper. It has rather rough surface. I planned to use this paper for my Serene Mind series and combine it with watercolor painting over the photo surface.
Before I could do anything I need to create a profile for my current carbon pigment ink set and this paper. That took most of the Sunday and some hours today. I use my xrite 810 densitometer and time for drying each test strip. I use QTR RIP and I am very happy to be able to use Paul Roark advices and recipes for inks, which I recently mix myself.

This gives me huge flexibility but on other hand requires rather extra work. Something you can compare with preparing chemicals and measuring exposures for each paper and contrast filter, f-stop when using enlarger in dark room.
This brings me back to the idea about limiting print editions. You certainly have read my article "Limiting Print Editions?" and pdf from Brooks Jensen LensWork magazine. If not take a look and you will find out that all these technical details make kind of base for limiting prints made by certain technology natural.

Anyway all this process of making final print and even modifying it by watercolors is very interesting. I have recently read and talk a lot about photography as a art. I incline more and more to use it as a way to express my feelings and dreams. I am loosing interest in photography as a medium for documenting. I am more interested to see inside of a person. Therefore I really enjoyed the photo exposition of Plata group, even I had feeling in front of the some images that they are only made to be different, but again that is my personal view ;-)

In a recent economic and age ;-) circumstances I am thinking again to open a sale of my images, but this time in different way. I am planning not to sell single images, but whole series. Mostly small prints and images ready to hang or use (books) in different ways. For example as folios. But primary I am still like to do this all for a joy of it.
I also increasing number of submission of my work to different competitions, magazines and galleries. I wonder how that will reflect in future.

In back of my mind there is still that little force to push me with starting my own studio, atelier. I love to start doing some conceptual portraits, only financial element of this action is stopping me from doing it. The other day I had idea just to start small and play with it, somewhere where there is a room,let me think, where that can be...

P.S.: if you like to help me please install Alexa toolbar and write review of my site on Alexa pages. If you visit my pages while you have Alexa toolbar it will increase the rating of my web site and it will bring more people to my pages. Thanks!

Fotoclub Plata in Breda

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:38:53 -0400

Tonight I have visited with Viera exposition of photo club Plata from near by city. I know few members of this rather small "private" club for a while. About five years ago we did attended together portfolio course.
I always admired work of members of this photo club. It is so different than other clubs I knew. I was always pulled back from become a member of photo clubs as I knew them. It always was a group of people who drink more coffee together than they work and talk about photos. And even less they never been really creative.

Here it seems to be different. Almost every member has own style. The difference is the power here. And I expect that they not only getting from each other but they also give to each other.

Tonight it was nice refreshment to see them again, even some of them forgotten about me and some of them stayed in their heights and didn't bother to look at me. I do not mind, people are different and I am also not every time the most charming and friendly person.
Images where wonderful and talk to few of them was really nice. I made some new connection with people I didn't know. Just pity that there is not more of these kind of events.

Languages

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:02:34 -0400

Dear friend, or should I say all of you 18 returning visitors ;-)
I was walking night street of the village where I live and was thinking what should I write. Sometimes I have idea and sometimes not. Mostly when I a triggered by something and I have read something, which triggered my mind to thinking I am full of ideas, views. As it seems today my pool of ideas was exhausted at work where I have spend over six hours brainstorming. I really enjoyed it, but after that I had feel of fulfillment, not surprisingly later at the evening I fell really tired.

On my walk I was wondering how all these little information, other people ideas, could seed a spark in me. How nice it would be able to communicate with those people over the glass of wine. We visited friends tonight for dinner and late night talk. All is done in the language I master with difficulties. I, frankly can't express myself full in it. I never been a language talent and all my language knowledge (as you can see on my writings as well) is gain purely by listening and reading. Except my mother and English language I have never studied any other language, but I can communicate fluently in four and with difficulties in two/three more.
Anyway for discussions like I would enjoy I could use only two languages and that is rather impossible in my surrounding. I feel rather limited by that especially after such a experience as I had this week.
Suddenly I have nothing more to write, what terrible it is, I am really tired and my eyes are closing. I need to stop my friend. This was very short letter today. Tomorrow I have plans to make some prints and I will possible write some more to you.

Have a nice afternoon, evening or early morning in Japan ;-)

Childhood is special, do not loose it!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:20:42 -0400

Dear friend,
In last days I am reading more and more. So it goes with my mind, it is more and more active and frankly, feels good ;-)
Today I have read interesting article, which reminds me a lot reasons why I have created Remembering Childhood project. This series of images, if you remember, should help adults to bring back, once forgotten memories and feelings from time when we were very young. This particular article is rather difficult to read and at the same time very easy to understand. Looks like almost two people wrote it,plus all those references and citations from other people makes it at the end rather complex. In any case, if you patient enough, it will bring you joy and certainly trigger some thoughts.

Here is few teasers from it:

I have often felt like saying to adults: quit worrying about the afterlife. This already is the afterlife. You ghouls. You ghostwalking former children. Then I want to ask them: Why do you worry about whether your soul will exist 100 years from now? When is the last time you worried about whether it existed 100 years ago? When is the last time your presumed nonexistence in 1909 bothered you in the slightest? Could it be meaningful to ask what it was like to be me in 1909? I don't mean what would it have been like had I been alive in 1909. I mean what was it like. My sense is that young children would, if asked, have a different understanding of what is at issue in this question than adults would, and that it is when we come to think of the question as adults do that our elanguescence begins, and that our primary vital experience in childhood is reduced to an echo.

So it’s simple: one remembers one's past life, not the life of an individual being, but a life diffused throughout nature, indistinct from nature, and way down, so to speak, at the bottom of the food chain. I also take it that this sort of memory is something that comes quite naturally to small children, and that is forgotten over time as our biographies begin to come together and make us feel like distinct substances. This is why children are by nature pananimists: they know something we’ve forgotten. We get big and dull-witted, we get real-estate licenses and landscapes become ‘land’, and we reimagine the recollection experienced in early childhood as mere learning, and even congratulate ourselves for teaching things to children they could not help but know.

Last letter for today

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:54:26 -0400

Dear friend
I promise, next time I will keep all at the end of the day, I will keep open envelop and pen on the paper. Anytime something pop-ups to my mind I will just add it to the same letter. And at the end I place it to the envelop and bring it to the post. Now when I am using audio note-taker, shouldn't be a problem to remember all what goes in my mind over the whole day.

As I have promised to you early today morning, I have updated Serene Mind series. It now includes some new images, some are removed and order is different. It is now reflecting my last feel about this series.
When I have started richard-vanek.eu and I moved away from piskoftak.com I have decided to present my work purely in series or project. I believe that series of images is more powerful and can express the idea better than single image. It does feel to me like a album and sons. Look at my favorite Pink Floyd. How much better is to listen to the whole album The Wall than to the single song Another Brick in the Wall

I have discovered Clarice Lispector

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:58:17 -0400

Dear friend,
I have just wrote you letter few hours ago, but so many things are floating around and I like to share them with you:

Recently I have read a piece from book The hour of the star by Clarice Lispector. Please read small piece as well and think.

"The typist lived in a kind of limbo, hovering between heaven and hell. She had never given any thought to the concept: 'I am therefore, I am.' I suspect that she felt she had no right to do so, being a mere accident of nature. A foetus wrapped up in newspaper and thrown on to a rubbish dump. Are there thousands of others like her? Yes, thousands of others who are mere accident of nature. And if one thinks about it carefully, aren't we all mere accidents of nature? I have only escaped from a similar fate because I am writer."

***

Later this day I have browse some twitter of my followers and found this note:
# Has it really been 19 years ago today that my dad passed away? I still remember that night so clearly like it was just yesterday.10:05 PM Jul 5th from web
And start wondering how that could be if that was my daughter writings this in some years from now...

What I want to achieve?

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:05:47 -0400

Dear friend,
I guess you are waiting for the new picture, well, I am sorry, but not this time. After my last writing, when I wrote you about technical details, I had need for something else to balance it. I went and read a lot, still do, some more books on my table waiting, even I do read rather lot every evening.
After I was done with the calibration processes and was in the middle of the reading I realize, actually I knew that for long time, that I need to make my photography work flow better. I started with some changes on web and than I moved all my 40k images to lightroom. All this took me a lot of time, but it all feel very good now and seems to work.

Last days I was playing with idea to submit my Serene Mind to lens culture international exposure awards. I wasn't sure at the beginning, but I really believe this is nice way to, with bit of luck, become more visible.
And so, yesterday I did. I actually modified a little whole series and included some new images and excluded some other, which I will reflect on my web pages tonight. And in the middle of that I had in my mind question: Why I do this, what I want to achieve? I meant not only act of submitting my work to this particular event, but in more general about my photography.

Is there or should be there anything like the goal. One can feel perfectly comfortable with only creation. But I know me, I need audience I need to know that somebody enjoy it or hate it.

And I realize that probably, you are never sure, only thing I want is, that more people can see my work and if my images gave them some feelings they lost long time ago, when they help them to thing about events and relationships, I would be happiest person. And for that reason I like to make my images more accessible and to make possible that more people can find them.

All these thoughts are running in my head and if I listen to Ken Robinson (his book is waiting on my table) or I read article like this one by Josh Olson it is triggered even more that drive in my and enthusiasm.
I must say, I have a lot of ideas and who knows why I execute only few of them. Certainly I need to change that and I hope that participation of this lens culture award was a first step in that direction, my friend.

Monitor Calibration

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:45:03 -0400

Following my dear friend is more technical report than letter to you, so if you not really interested in technical details of monitor calibration, please stop right here and wait as I will soon publish new letter with images with text more about culture, creativity education and photography.
***

I have spend last few days, calibrating my monitor and as well monitor, which I use at my daily job. I have some extensive experience with calibration of monitors and printers in general.
Intention was to use twp different monitors side by side. Home I use IBM Lenovo L220xwC and at work I use black and white medical diagnostic five megapixel 12bit monitor made by WIDE corp. IF2105MP.

Home I did first calibrate my monitor for gamma 2.2 in gray scale mode using BARCO calibration software MediCal LE. Than later I have used Xrite eye-one display 2. Xrite is using Eye-one Match 3 software. Lenovo monitor had originally huge color cast. Calibration using Match 3 solved that problem perfectly and I achieve for black and white perfectly neutral tone.
Unfortunately Match 3 was not able to calibrate both monitors, only the primary was possible. Even I used the trick described elsewhere and set WIDE b&w monitor as primary Match 3 failed (I have tried with ATI HD3650, nVidia Quadro FX 1400 and 1700 video cards). It failed from multiple reason, first was that this monitor has no direct control for adjusting brightness and contrast, secondly it failed as Match 3 ignores fact that it is a monochrome monitor and was not able to pass color part of the calibration.
For WIDE IF2105MP I had to use LumiCal calibration software which use directly built-in in light sensor of the monitor. Using this software one can set als maximal brightness (white point) and calibrate to desired curve. By default it is DICOM GSDF curve but one can design gamma 2.2 curve and calibrate monitor for it.

When using eye-one Match 3 software one can notice that desired max brightness (white point) is suggested to be 120 cd/m^2 for photo work. Surprisingly suggest white point for medical monitor and darkened room is 350 cd/m^2 This monitor is not able to produce max brightness less than 170 cd/m^2 so I have set that on my Lenovo monitor. What I have find out is that this is rather high brightness for darkened room and after 3-4 hours of work my eyes are totally tired, while when I was using 120 cd/m^2 I had no problems.

Only software which was able to calibrate both monitors and even set white and black point to the same level was BARCO Medical LE. This one of course has no ability to create color profiles (eye-one Match 3 can do that) not calibrate color casts. I had to use Lumical for setting max brightness of the WIDE IF2105MP monitor and eye-one Match 3 for correcting the color cast of Lenovo L220xwC.

What actually surprised me was that such a technologically advanced monitor as the WIDE one is not really useful for hours and hours of work with photographic images. The enormous brightness (max 650 cd/m^2) it produce is totally killing one eyes even with lighted room. I wonder why I have not noticed that when working at my job with these monitors. Must be the amount of ambient light.
Now only advantage of such a monitor is its resolution 5MP and small dot size 0.2mm. At the end I am rather happy with my Lenovo when calibrated with eye-one Display 2 for price ten time less of WIDE monitor. Before I have tried that I was dreaming how great it would be to use such a monitor (WIDE) for my photo work. It could be very nice if you work in daylight, but I do mostly in room with 60-70 lux. (also suggested by eye-one display 2 Match 3 software)

I would certainly appreciate to read your experience and opinion on this topic, please leave a comment

I can't help myself

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:08:39 -0400

Dear friend,
I have been home only few days by now and I couldn't help myself, but I have changed web again. After running the web site optimization from Google I have changed from page and make twitter toggle in journal page working again. I have removed lijt search as it doesn't bring much of traffic. I am planning to add my own search page, which will certainly bring better results.

On other hand tomorrow traveling again. Among the other things I am planning to visit Dirk Rösler and later, the gallery which is selling my work in Slovakia. It was kind of silent from there and i like to see how my work is presented there.
I have purchased rather special paper from Ilford few weeks ago with a idea to print set of my images from Serene Mind portfolio and use water colors to color it wildly. Actually Viera had this idea after seeing rather abstract images from this series. I though what a wonderful idea, but until now I didn't come to make them. Hopefully after this last short travel I will have time.

So that is it for now. And if you feel like, leave a note how you like the new front page, I am really curious! Google reported increase of visitors passing from front page into next pages by 45% when I was running that experiment for past 17 days.

summer travel

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:26:23 -0400

My dear friend
it has been while I have wrote to you, I was on a journey. It was my summer travel with Viera. We decided against all our early plans and we went to south of France. We have left all here and took just car with camping gears and went wild to south. Shortly, we had a wonderful time. I have not take many pictures and mostly I did snapshots of the tourist kind. The image included in this post is exception and there were few. When I had a mood I try to experiment more, but even more that that I tried to relax and let sun and sea did their job on my mind.

This web was running Google analytic website optimizer experiment. You may noticed new front page, and strangely, even I somehow expected it, I have not received any note or comment from you. Google concluded after two weeks that the new page is better than the old one. I will make it little more dynamic in few following days.
While away I have received a book I have order about web site design. It is a book who doesn't show you how to build one, but how people react on different designs and what is better and what is worse. It is very interesting reading and together with other book I have for a while now will help me to improve and make my pages more personal and dynamic, hopefully more interesting for you, my friend.

In south of France I was looking for places where art is in the air, I found few and it all was very interesting. Quite unexpectedly I have met polish photographer on market in Aix en Provence. His work is basically tourist shots, but what has surprised me how good his darkroom work is. Sometimes little overdone, but certainly very much appreciated by tourist who were buying images from him rather frequently. Even the same evening I have met couple of people in the city walking with his prints.
The atmosphere in such a city full of art and history certainly helps to one mood and inspiration. Even I am have no intention to create similar work, I can imagine myself having studio in such a place ;-)

Now it is only up to me keep the energy and mood I have discovered there and use it here where I live and turn my plans to the results..
I hope you have or had a great summer as well, it has been very warm and nice this year in Europe. Our garden here back home, even without supervision grew nicely and we are using the result of that for our salads and house decoration.
Anyway, I wish you all the best and enjoy the rest of the summer!

New photo: brothers

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:50:48 -0400

In a last hours of Sunday I have worked on following photograph. I named it brothers. Tell me what you see in this image and why you think I called it brothers. It is probably one of the last images for Serene Mind series.

More than one

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:40:12 -0400

My dear friend
today I write this rather short letter. I have forgot to tell you yesterday about my new blogs. I have one rather old and it doesn't contain any new images. It is called Inner World. I publish there sometime, rather sporadically images before I place them in project here on my main web site. They are usually in different form. What I mean they are rectangular or they have different tint, just to try and see before I decide on final form and I place them to appropriate project.

Another new blog is called Daily Photo Clicks. In last few days I have started it to post shot from my mobile. It is updated few times a day. Images are not any high quality, it is more or less kind of reincarnation of the standard photo blog. What I mean blog showing one daily life just by images. Reason for having that one? To have place where I can place snapshots.

And the last one, which doesn't contain any images at the moment has name Photo Experiments. My plan is to publish rather crazy images. Images which I have created based on momentary inspiration, unplanned images. This will be kind of crazy sudden atelier of inspiration.

Each of them of course has own RSS feed and you can subscribe to them. All of them points to this main web site. I created them as a lot of times I felt bounded by style I have created here at www.richard-vanek.eu and I feel need to have places where I can just put something without thinking if it does fit.
So from now on you can see more of my images all over the internet

Last week and more

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:23:58 -0400

Dear friend
sometime I fall into that trap, as been software developer for most of my professional career, I still enjoying to build a system. And that happen to me as well this last week. I was playing so much with my web site that after one nice feature I went and implement another one and another. I was so much in the circle that I even not realized that some parts, and I have to say essential parts, were not working anymore.

With a shock I realize that today evening. After I have build a front test page and start running web optimizing using Google, I went to rest of the side and realize that images in photo projects are not showing up!
Well it is back, but I had to remove filtering out of twitters in journal or you can call it toggling of visibility. I will bring it back, but I need to find out a problem.

Therefore at the moment, new things are, search (I'll refine that soon as well, it is just test if you will use a search). Second is a new test front page (running web optimizer from Google to compare two variants of front page. So once you may see old once the new one. And now disabled hiding of twitter on journal page.
I wonder if this will cause that new visitors will stay longer on my pages and look for more images. That is my goal in first run. Later I like to add some really neat stuff where pages will be dynamically customized based on behavior of the visitor. So based on what pages you have visited, how often you been back and some more, you will see different content.
But do not worry, there will be new images as well I just had this heat of web design in last few days and I am reading interesting articles and books about the topic. So I like to try something as I always been interested about getting more from data you have and use some smart technologies like neural networks and similar.

I hope that this letter was not boring for you, all that technical stuff, I may write more about it if you like later, just let me know in comment. Thanks and have great weekend.

Live chat about my photographs

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:48:18 -0400

Dear friend,
after so many twitter links it is again time for a longer letter. Before I went for short trip to Slovakia I had this idea about doing live talk about my photographs. I am not sure if there would be interest between you to talk with my about this topic. Now when the Skype is offering possibility to share desktop I can not only talk, but also demonstrate and show my images and the way how I work on them.
My idea is to have a session of five or so, people all connected by skype and myself sharing my images and talk about them or about my aproach to modifying them, possibly about some other topic.
If you would have interest about participating in such a session, please leave a comment to this post and mention a topic which you would be most interested in.

One of the previous twitter posts I have mentioned that I have got idea about creating a very critical series of images about current social culture in Slovakia. As you may know Slovakia is country of my origin. I am not living there for almost ten years. Having this time distance and having memories from my childhood makes it very easy for me to see what has changed, much easier as people who are living there all the time.
I have no idea currently how I am going to create this, what aproach I will take, but I feel very strongly about this idea and theme.

Info about changes on this web site

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:57:14 -0400

Dear friend
for whatever reason I have been busy with some changes on these pages. You noticed certainly that menu was moved from right side to left side and some new icons has been placed next to RSS feed icon.
I believe these changes will make it possible to navigate pages on this web site easier. If you are user one or more of those sharing services, like delicious, stumbleupon, facebook,... please use the icon on right top to bookmark pages you like. I noticed that this has enormous impact on amount of people visiting my pages. I would like to see more people visiting and see my photographs.

In a course of last few weeks I went through most of the images I made for serene mind series. I tried to create about ten additional images, but all of them failed in process. Either there didn't fulfill my expectations or I just was not able to get out of the image what I had imagine at the start.
I have two more images at the table now. I will see how do they turn out, but these are the last, which could be added to this body of work. Frankly, I need change again. I think I covered what this approach has to offer to me and now I need to add more of some new spice to it.

So my dear friend, leave me note, if you have to say something about current web pages design. I really appreciate it. I wish you nice summer days!

Today is the day

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:51:51 -0400

My friend,
today is my birthday ;-) yes once a while I do have this day as you do as well. But that is actually not the reason I am writing to you. If you look at my journal or letters to my friend page, you will see quite a few changes. One of the most important is, that this page contains now also text from twitter. Frankly, I hesitated a bit when I start using or looking at twitter some time ago. I saw how people use it for all kinds of purposes and most of them I dislike.

When I changed my blog to this letter style I was thinking what I should do with short news. Sometimes I like to just write you little note and not whole letter, just a small postcard or we can call it SMS. ;-) Than I have realized that this is exactly the way I can use twitter for. Not everybody has a twitter account and not everybody likes to receive twitter updates on their mobile or email or whatever. Now you can see my short messages on my letters cover page where I placed overview of latest twenty items, letter and twits together.
I have also try to make that page a little more attractive. I have put some icons and other little things there.

Not sure if you notice new image in woman project. It is rather different than rest of them in series so maybe it will not stay in it very long, but I was really wondering what do you think about it.
Another little new is that together with friend of mine we creating a project to offer hands on photo creativity workshop. Our intention is to make a course which would coach person to express his/her view, feelings and/or mood using photography in certain environment. That mean create set of images to express certain goal. Use photography as medium and photo post processing as a way to get final result. Idea is to work with you and coach you at certain location with defined set of possibilities to first create a plan and than fine a creative way to express that inner yourself by photos.
In other words, this is not only a photo course about vision, not only a course of photo editing, but more coaching to discover how to express your idea with images. It is in early stage now as we like to do it perfectly and we are planning to have test run before final announcement.

So I hope you doing fine and maybe you will come to our garden party this Saturday, even the weather does not promise sunny afternoon as we expected more than week ago.

Jeff's 33

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:34:20 -0400

When was it, Friday? Yes Friday evening I have received email from my friend Jeff. I have noticed new email address right away and later I read that he shutdown his web site. But majority of his email was something else. Something which never happen to me and why I was incredibly surprised and honored. Jeff went through his notes and archives and he selected thirty three images from me. Images, which I ever published on internet. And he not only send me this selection but he actually write for each and every images small note. This is amazing something. I always wonder how people see my work and which images they like most. Statistics doesn't tell you much, but something like this is incredible. I have decided to show you his selection of my work, where a lot of images are not anymore available online. So take your time and enjoy Jeff's selection of my work from 2002 until 2009.

In City - an absolutely beautiful portrait, that also wonderfully captures the scene and setting that she seems to be sitting there and enjoying... like you are there, sitting there with her, can see, smell, hear the surroundings
late afternoon - Another where you feel you are there, or want to be there, can smell the air... just a nice image
Football Field 2 - Another where I just like the composition
Lost In Woods - love the story and feelings that it tells, the angle, compositon
Horse - The very first one that started it all, and is still one of my favorites of yours
Frozen Fence - just a simple, lovely composition and detail... one that bet is just a beautiful print
ema - great capture, love her expression, plus love the composition
Sunny Doorway - does what you intended - makes me think of home
bike in Södermalm - just an absolutely beautiful image
Furious -
Rolling Down 2
Way To Neverland - still think is one of your most beautiful and wonderful images
Rolling Down - The wonderful capture of the joy of all that is childhood - the simple fun, joys and pleasures
Summer Meadow - another peaceful and serene image... you can feel the warmth of the sun on you
View From The Bus Stop - another where the viewer feels he is there... the familiarity it brings... just feel a link, connection with it
Countryside - just simple, peaceful, serene, a walk to heaven
Jeremias Kazinski - love this candid portrait shot
Bench - Another absolutely wonderful and beautiful image... just love the scale of it, the backdrop, it's all just so magical, like entering into a child's imaginary land
Destination Far - another of those 'scale' images of yours that I like so much... again like visiting the imagination world of a child
Dutch Sea - another where I like the scale, the mood, and somberness of the sea, the sky, the setting
Fishing With Kids - I remember this is one I initially didn't take to, but grew on me... it's like a memory in the mind, trying to see and recall something, a time, people from one's past, in their mind's eye
Butterfly - The crisp detail, once again like a memory, except this one crisp and clear... like remembering that first love, you remember every little, tiniest detail of a wonderful day spent with her... also just love the deep, beautiful black of her show
Last Year's Leaves - The simple, achingly beautiful composition and image
Angel - these images of Viera are just lovely, beautiful and wonderful
I feel you - just like your composition and framing in all of these images, just beautiful
Wind - intimate
Night Wash - just funny, how a simple, everyday, commonplace sight can be a beautiful, simple and elegant image in the hands of someone with a good eye
Tree In The Sky - like the drama, the foreboding
On The Street - I have to be honest, your latest images where you have used your gel filter to create the impressionistic blurring of the it, I don't know, for some reason, just didn't trip my trigger at first... but upon further viewing and reflecting upon them, some of them do grow on me
Above You - it's just lovely and beautiful... again, like a memory
Far Away - you just have a talent Richard, of reaching, tapping into, and creating images that reflect what one feels, sees in their dreams, memories
home - the journey home, whatever one may define and call home, may be long sought after, and hard, but never giving up on it, there it will be, you will find it, return to it, shining there like a warm, knowing beacon, of all that you wish for, long for, know and want it to be
Summer way - remembering the way, it's been long time passed, years, lifetime since last been, but in your mind's eye, you can see it as it once was, and once again you're walking down that path, you are there, you know that just through that clearing, you'll be there, you'll be home

Sitting here...

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:07:43 -0400

Dear friend,
sitting here in dark room early morning, cloudy sky and Peter Gabriel with Genesis songs are playing, I feel so energized. Most of the morning in last few weeks I was rather tired. This music is just pouring energy to my body. How unbelievable beautiful it is, 1969, just few years after I was born. It had to have effect on me somehow. When people look at my images they often say that I have to create more real images, images which showing paint or hard live. I always ask why? Don't we have full TV, news of it? Don't we see it all the time? Isn't that reason why most of people are escaping to stupid consumption kind of relax and turning their minds off?

I guess I wrote about this topic earlier to you, but somehow it comes back to me. Recently, when I goes through my Serene Mind project, I am getting a little bored by some images from the huge collection I have made. I mean those from which I select to the final set. Seems just nice, but they miss that spark for which I look. I am happy when image give visual pleasure, but when it also trigger one to search, think and gave that creative impulse of discovering yourself.

In a last days, I have received unexpected amount of comments to the Night Mood series, which I have made, well let me check, three years ago in one night and one day. Not sure why people noticed it now. Probably somebody puts link to it, but I like to tell you that I always been proud of these few images. Those are, in my opinion, images which they are nice to look at but they let you think. Friend of mine, who's opinion I value very much, has bought one in rather huge print and he likes it very much.
Now listening this beautiful music I think I should finally do next movie with my images and this music.

You know I just feel to write you this letter, letter with just goes as my thoughts are this dark morning. I hope you doing well and if not get some Genesis from 1969 :-)

Summer

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:14:29 -0400

It is now more than ten days, we have this really hot weather and it has not rained here for the same time. This is what I call summer. Working days are busy and weekend as well. Most of the time my mind is wondering wild in clouds and feel dreamy.
I have added following image to the Serene Mind series today as it described my mood. It is like endless way in hot day in the Forrest where bright light is beaming through the leafs. Way is endless and heat of the body is cooled with rare blows of the wind. You walk enjoying the silence and light play of the sun rays. I wish it would never stop.

Last news from twitter

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:19:26 -0400

I am using the Twitter your extensively, but not too much for publishing small info. Like when I change something on web, when I add new image or when I find something interesting.
Here is few last notes. If you like to get the from the first hand follow me on twitter directly.

richo_67

New image on front page part of the series Woman. http://bit.ly/miFpOless than 5 seconds ago from web
I have updated Serene Mind project with new images and improved web presentation, hopefully working with IE8 now. http://bit.ly/FCjoKabout 4 hours ago from web
On twitter I have found link to this documentary pdf magazine http://www.5klatek.pl/ Even I am now far from documentary I enjoyed it!about 14 hours ago from web
In these hot days, my mind is wondering in dreams and clouds. I feel light and flying far http://bit.ly/PnFD511:56 PM Jul 2nd from web
Article in the local newspaper about my work with connection to first price in photo contents. I won with this work http://bit.ly/9ETV711:28 PM Jul 1st from web
My friend has started new infrared photo blog, take a look on first two images: http://bit.ly/wrnJI9:16 PM Jun 30th from web
Both 10fft rolls of Fuji Neopan 400 and 1600 has been sold in less than 24 hours after eBay listing. More things coming http://bit.ly/GUZ0L8:52 PM Jun 30th from web

My last film for sale

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:43:33 -0400

In less than 24 hours this advertisement is not valid anymore, both of my film are sold now. I have some more analog stuff to sale. If you like to give me a offer, you may do so until I put them on eBay. I am planning to sale, Nikon F80 with battery grip, Nikon F100, and 50/1.8 AF-D lens. All in perfect state and for F80 set of new batteries.

My last two bulk rolls of Fuji Neopan for sale. One 400 and one 1600 ISO.