“My name is Don Komarechka. Mild-mannered advertising guy, video game and photography enthusiast by day; by night… well, pretty much all the same stuff. I also enjoy tinkering with computers, technology, and I have an eye for the unique and interesting things in life.
I spend a lot of my time in front of the computer, usually doing something productive but I’ve been known to waste time almost as often.
Yeah, you probably knew all that.”
I am a 25 year old photographer born and raised in South Plainfield, a suburban town in Central New Jersey. I am obsessed with oceans, tides, and New Jersey shore towns. I often wake up in the middle of the night and drive several hours to watch the sun rise on my favorite beaches – there is no better way to start a day.
I guess you could say I’m at an odd point in my life. I find myself trying to grow up without selling out, to become a man without growing old, and to make a living without sacrificing my ideals. I hate calling myself an artist, there are several things about that label that I take issue with. I’m sort of an “anti-art” artist, if that makes any sense. In the last few years I’ve really grown weary of pretentious photographers who are more interested in socializing and ego-stroking than they are with actually creating images or artworks that actually mean something to someone….
I’ve been at this whole photography thing for almost 10 years now, and I plan to keep on doing it until the day that I die. I don’t often have “gallery openings” and I’ve never been “published”, but that’s the way I like it. To me, this whole thing isn’t a race or a contest. I’m not jockeying for social status or praise. I’m simply doing something that makes me happy, and if anyone on the outside is enjoying it as well then my job here is done.
I spent many years as a Nikon digital shooter, but just last year made the switch to Canon (and couldn’t be happier!). I’m currently shooting with a Canon 5D and a 24-70mm L lens. I also own a pretty nice Alien Bees studio lighting setup, but very rarely use it…justin gaynor photography
Have a photography blog you want the world to discover? Here’s your chance!
There are a ton of photography blogs I’ve yet to discover. However, today I’m reviewing some great photo blogs bookmarked from previous posts.
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<via Vanilla Days>
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<via Mostly Lisa>
I knew it would eventually come to this , but it doesn’t make it any easier to say…but, yes, there are some photos you need to stop taking! The art of photography is creating a piece of “art”…not cookie-cutter imitations of every favorite photo you’ve ever seen. Be original…it’s your photoblog…your blog to post your original photography…it’s your opportunity to create an audience for your work..so please..make the most of your exposure…and be an original.
Photographers are like any other group in society..be it artists, model, engineers, school teachers….you get the idea…Many view success as the ability to imitate other successful people, ideas, or concepts…While it’s true this is a safe strategy for not failing, to define success by copying others appears to be a stretch.
Take chances with your photography…take a chance on producing something new, fresh, creative, inventive…let it fly….If you’re looking to achieve greatness, it will not come from simple imitation…Do your own thing…Yes, there will be failures….and laughter…but laughter only from those too afraid to not always play it safe…
Without further delay….
1. Sunset Sunrise Syndrome- There was no need to drag the drama out to the end of this post…Yes, sunset photos or sunrise photos, you pick…just stop it…enough already…unless you specialize in stock photography of sunsets or sunrises, you need to check yourself today…Learn from the warning signs…As the sky turns orange just around dusk, you start to get very anxious…blood pressure rises…must find camera…as if this is the last sunset mankind will ever witness…Trust me, if today marked the last sunset you ever photographed, you’d be a better photographer for it. What helped me overcome SSS (sunset/sunrise syndrome), was to learn to turn my back to the big orange ball and photograph the effects it’s soft light on other objects, the long shadows, the spilling of glowing light..It takes time to shake this addiction, but it can be done.
2. Homeless Dude – Now, someone please tell me who wrote the law that homeless dude was art! For Pete’s sake…”I’ve got no money, job, food, access to running water or a roof over my head..but I am photogenic”…What?…I understand Dorothea Lange…the Dust Bowl..I get that…but she was paid by the government to document their plight..to record the conditions…However, SUV geek with photo gear in hand, walking the city streets, looking for “art in a park”?…Maybe I’m being a tad cynical…but if I have any advice for this one, it’s “put photogear in bag, buy homeless dude lunch, and engage him/her with conversation”, not your DSLR…
3. Ansel Adams Clones – Anybody with just a little bit of formal photography training background, knows about Ansel Adams, each of his images, the Zone System, his passion for perfection, etc…These images have been done…done for a long time…they’re iconic, yes…cemented in history…However, being able to replicate these images with a prosumer digital camera and a bootleg copy of Photoshop does not put you in the same universe with this legend…Stop it…People immediately know what your intentions were the second to throw the image on the screen…Oh yeah, it does look a little like Moonrise…
4. Holy Macro – Modern photographic equipment is amazing….the capabilities for macro photography are mind-boggling..But I’ve never been able to understand Macro photography dude…who painfully toils over getting as close as possible to the lady bug on the picnic table, the Spring time flowers, the bees on the fresh blooms…Just don’t get it..Even if perfectly executed, these images look like they can straight out of Scientific American…Who cares about those images? How many relatives really want the framed flower pictures or the calendar you made again this year at Cafepress, for Christmas?…Let me just be honest with you…zero…I clearly understand this is an art form I under appreciate…this is obvious to all…but my post, my opinion…please take me off the Christmas list.
5. The Wildlifer – Yes, you know him well…maybe a neighbor and surely a relative…the photog that stalks the yellow- bellied sapsucker through the backyard, complete with remote triggers, bait, selected background, fill-flash lighting set-up…with all the intensity of a lion chasing a gazelle on the Seranghetti…which leads me back to ..”what the hell do you do with these images?”..I see this dude every weekend on my way to the beach..knee-deep in sludge..wading through the marsh..for that perfect Blue Heron image..
6. My Kid’s So Cute Dude – I’ll keep this one short….keep your kid’s photos off the Internet, and leave them on your office desk, living room wall, or refrigerator…Sorry to break this to you, but no one wants to see photos of your kids…Hell, I don’t even know you..and, if someone did enjoy these images…that’s a whole other issue….Unless, you’re a professional photographer, specializing in children’s photography..Just say no.
7. The Backup Wedding Photographers – Got a soft spot in my heart for the wedding photographer…it isn’t pretty..and the money (regardless of the dollar figure) ain’t even close to being enough for spending an entire day with two dysfunctional families and a soon to be divorced couple…not to mention having “Cousin Willy” and “Uncle Larry” snipe every pose you set up…which took you months or years to develop…oh..and will have the prints available …for free… to the family..if not by the end of the day…definitely by breakfast the following morning..In a dying industry, these clowns can push you to the brink….
8. Erotic Eastern Europe Dude – Does every photographer in Eastern Europe shoot soft pron? (the spelling, yeah I know) Hey Erotic Eastern Europe dude, ever thought about shooting different for a change…like sunsets?
9. Model Hoo Hum – Yes, I feature my fair share of fashion and model photography..I “appreciate” the art form that is fashion and glamour photography(said with straight face)…but some of these modeling sites…please..Models, save your dad a few gray hairs and go back to medical school…Cheesy photography art is not a career path…it’s the penny stock of the Internet. Note to cheese-ball fashion photographers…we’re trying to sell the clothes here..not the model.
10. iSick of iPhone Photos- Cool…yes, iPhones are cool…and since I currently have a Verizon calling plan, I cannot have one, yet….but I have to be honest..the photos I ‘ve seen from these devices are pretty crappy…and not just the iPhone photos from the splashdown in the Hudson…in general, the images appear to be an overpriced digital Holga! I love my Holga..and the $29 price tag…but for 300+ bones, the photos should be much better.
There you have it…light me up..hope I didn’t step on too many toes…and trust me, there will be plenty more of each category I just blasted, posted on this very site….If I missed one of your pet peeves, please share!