On June 19th, Eli Vega is the featured guest speaker, and will present Close-ups, Abstracts, & Special Effects.
For Eli Vega, there is no doubt that photography is, or should be, art. The foundation for Eli’s photo art is his three years as an art major, where he learned the masters, composition, design, form, texture, color theory, etc. He applies the elements of art to his photography. As he says, he likes to make the common uncommon; the sane insane. One of his favorite quotes is, “There is no ‘must’ in art because art is always free.” For Eli that means releasing the reins on imagination–explore; be brave; don’t be afraid to miss.
Here is how Eli describes his approach to photography.
“I don’t like for the camera, or its engineered graphs, to tell me I’m wrong; that my photograph will turn out wrong. In order for me to create my photo art, I can’t rely or depend on a left brain engineered device to tell me what to do. Instead, I tell it what I want it to do–what f/stop to use; what exposure to use, etc. There is no such thing as a “correct” exposure; there is only the right exposure, as defined by me, the artist behind the camera. Some of my most dramatic images were created at a -2 stops underexposure. If I had listened to my camera, my exposure was way off. Photography is more art than science. I have more fun, and still create high quality images, when I approach my photography from that perspective.
The best photography is found where technical know-how (left brain) and creative aesthetics (right brain) meet. For me, photography is 75% creative aesthetics; 25% technical know-how. That doesn’t mean that I only know 25% of the technical know-how I should know or that I don’t pay attention to the technical know-how. What it does mean is that the technical know-how is a small percentage of the overall outcome.
In my Right Brain Photography workshops, I don’t spend much time at all on the technical know-how. That is a given. Right brain photography is about using (or sharpening) our intuition, imagination, creativity, extracting, surrealism, impressionism, and even the application of Asian philosophy to photography. One student commented, ‘I wasn’t expecting much from this workshop, but I learned a lot.’ Another student said, ‘I see things differently now.’ During a recent 1-on-1 lesson, my student commented with joy, ‘I think photography will be fun now, like it is supposed to be.’
I like what Jackson Pollock said about his work: ‘I like it when I don’t have complete control over what I do.'”
Eli Vega, a highly published photographer, has over twenty years of photography experience. He is a regular presenter or judge for Colorado camera clubs, art groups and even assisted living communities. He has created and introduces his three photography models/paradigms in some of his classes and workshops, such as at the Rocky Mountain Nature Association. Eli is known to say, “I look with my eyes, but see with my imagination.” “I see something before I see it,” and “Be an artist first, photographer second.”
For more information on Eli’s classes, workshops, and private lessons, visit him on his website www.elivega.net. Eli already teaches Right Brain Photography at Rocky Mountain National Park. This year in August, he will offer the same workshop at Garden of The Gods, where he will teach how to “paint with light.”
