Passing It On by Gord Barker

     For the past year or so, my son, Greg has had an interest in photography and visual imaging in general. He was an avid gamer and the interest started with him editing gaming footage for his on-line friends.

    While I was in Spain earlier this year, he purchased his first serious camera, a Canon RP with a 24-105mm zoom lens. Until that acquisition, he was using a Canon M3 that I had passed on to him when I went to the Fuji system.  So for he has created some pretty impressive images and has joined the Paris Photo Collective. 

Greg winning the Golden Lens Cap award at a meet-up of the
Paris Photo Collective

    Our approach to image making is very different and definitely reflects a generational change in our pursuit of the craft. Greg is a product of the digital age. For most of his life he has had access to computers and the powers inherent in them. To that end, he is far more adept than I at the use of post processing to enhance his images  before final presentation. Give him almost any image and he can work magic with it. 

   

    I, on the other hand, started my photographic journey in the days of film where the prevailing mantra was "Get it right in camera!" Getting it right in camera was necessary to avoid hours in a darkroom trying to salvage an image. The mantra still serves in the avoidance of spending time in front of a computer screen working in post processing programs like Lightroom or Photoshop. Rather than denigrate each other's approach to the craft, we celebrate the differences as strengths. As previously stated Greg is a wizard at post processing while I am more proficient at camera handling. With a little input from both sides of the photographic process we are able to generate some great images. Working together, we are in the process of creating our own little photographic dynasty. It's always better if individuals can share in creative work and learn from one another in the process.                                                                                                        

     Both Father and Son currently have photos on display as part of the Paris Photo Collective Show at the Dog-Eared Café. https://www.dogearedcafe.ca/ It's the first public show of the group. If you're in the Paris, On. area, check it out if you can.

         ...more later

    

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