For the last several years I have been concentrating on becoming a better photographer. Not particularly in the technical aspects of photography, like exposure, depth of field, focus and choice of shutter speed, but in the more abstract concepts of photography, such as composition and evoking an emotional reaction from people.
That is really what got me started making actions to create more artistic interpretations of my photographs. After attending the Freeman Patterson and André Gallant Workshop where I learned some new techniques, like panning and multiples, my photography has changed significantly. Much more of my photographs are created with the intention of applying some techniques that make the image more abstract, or at least less representational. Freeman helped me tremendously with my technique on choosing and shooting multiples, where 9, 10 or 16 frames are all stacked on top of each other to create a sense of motion. And André helped me learn how to pan, convincing me to buy a neutral density filter to make the panning much easier. It was also André who helped me develop the Photoshop techniques that I would eventually turn into a series of actions.
As I studied more of the montage techniques, I developed an entire series of actions. After distributing those to a few close friends and acquaintances, I got additional feedback that helped me to refine many of the actions.
I am always open to new techniques and methods. Feel free to contact me through this blog to give me feedback about improvements that could be made to these actions, or new techniques that I could add to the collection.