Amanda & Chris

One of my greatest friends asked me to photograph his daughters wedding. The wedding took place August 8th in Scottsdale Arizona. Mother Nature cooperated and the weather was mild (only 100 degrees or so but it was a dry heat). The bride was beautiful, the groom was gracious, and the families worked together to make everything perfect. I was honored to be a part of their special day.

Talent

I was thirteen when I borrowed (with out asking) my uncles copy of Glass Houses. It was in 8 track format, and I remember the satisfying firmness with which it slid into the deck. I listened to this album over and over. 52 Street, Piano Man, The Stranger, and Glass Houses were on this 13 year old’s playlist. Billy Joel’s music opened the door to a world of peace and contentment that I had not known.

For the last 6 months or so I have had the opportunity to photograph the bands working with Off The Air Productions owned and operated by Greg Edwards. Not since I was thirteen and hanging out in New Jersey with Bill have I enjoyed music this much. My playlist reads like an Off The Air billing. The musicians are diverse and bring with them tremendous talent. Greg calls the genre Independent, Indie for short. Whether it is dependent or not it certainly speaks to me, and has helped me refine my idea of success with in the music industry and the arts in general.

A pattern has developed within the images produced during the Off The Air events. The best photographs are of the more talented musicians. Stop It! I know some of you are rolling your eyes as if this should be obvious. It is not. Because I am not saying that the more talented are better looking. They are not. I am saying that they are more photogenic. Specifically that they are more photogenic when they are playing their music. The subjects in these photographs were not present until the music started. Their appearance was sudden and purposeful. Sometimes I photograph the musicians loading up afterward. These photographs rarely make it through the first cut. The men and women that make the music are not the same men and women loading the van.

I suggest that the best of these photographs are not of people. They are of talent. The kind of talent that opens up new worlds for a lonely 13 year old.

Welcome

This Blog is about photography, and I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas. I want to start out by saying a quick word about spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I do not have good writing skills. I work to improve them, but they do not come easy to me. I know that we are judged on how we speak and write. Never the less I have decided that while I will continue to work on improving my writing skills, I will not let my lack of them keep me from writing. Please feel free to point out my mistakes. I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to correct them. For those of you that will undoubtedly refer me to my computer's spell checker I say this. While the spell checker is very useful I doubt that this technology will have a roll in taking over the world.
Thank you very much for visiting.
Douglas S. Holcomb