The Importance of Photography

Hey Readers,

Designing the aesthetics of this blog and posting quality pictures has been fairly easy so far. There are so many cool pictures at our disposal from Jason Nava that we haven't snapped a photo yet, except to show you all the nxt | FASHION show.  Photography is a part of life for the folks at JNava, as well as an integral part of the company. All of the photos used on their website are composed very professionally and good use of light is immediately noticeable. The website is designed very well and the photos are clear, creative, and effective. Jason has used photography to enhance his brand and company. It is exciting to write a blog for a company like this because the art, especially the photography, really keeps me engaged.

Photography is important to everyone. Some people don't realize it but we see thousands of photos every day and to take one that stands out to people is more impressive than it may seem. To a certain extent our memory has pictures of the past but photos have the unique ability of giving your brain a reference for that moment in time. Nostalgia, emotion, and clarity come rushing back and are very real when you have a good picture to bring you there. I think that is the main importance of photography, its power to clarify your memories and bring you back.

I picked up photography during my freshman year of high school when it was first offered to me as a class. My friends all decided on pottery, where they spent the majority of the semester trying to make bongs that the teacher wouldn’t recognize as bongs. Despite missing out on that, I really enjoyed getting to walk around town taking pictures during school. I now have a digital camera but I am glad I got to learn on an old Pentax 1000 film SLR. With the things a digital camera and Photoshop can do these days it is no wonder that film has become obsolete to most. However dragging and editing two photos together just isn’t the same as a dark room. Developing the film, dodging and burning to get exposures right, and seeing the final product slowly materialize in the bins of chemicals makes a good photo so much more rewarding. There are a dozen times you can mess up the process, some of which can ruin your irreplaceable film. It gives you an appreciation for the trouble people had to go through to take pictures until fairly recently. Photography is an integral part of nearly all world cultures by now and provides many different functions and uses.

Effects and uses of photography:

Document a moment in time (google images)

Capture artistic expression and human emotion (from JNava fb page)

Modeling (from JNava fb)

Nature, Wildlife, Travel, etc... (hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park)

Sun rays are a cool effect (Chairlift in Whistler, BC)

Find creativity in everyday objects (found on the internet long ago)

Use of a great vantage point just like above (found on the internet long ago)

Use of light and color (long exposure of lights being twirled)

Edit photos to apear unreal (great Vans image from internet)