A Reflection on the Little Things - Kirk Tuck (Sun 09 Nov 2014)

The Little Things - Monet's Garden / Giverny (Wed 17 Sep 2014)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes Success (*) and Failure (*):

Funny how all the little things add up to success or failure

via I wrote a blog about an LED panel on Friday. I wrote it in a hurry. I didn't like it so I ultimately deleted it. I'll get a new one up after tomorrow's shoot. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

A reflection on the Little Things. My experience (*). Little things are hard to catch first time around. Only when you reflect (*) that you can see the reason for the success or failure. That's why it is important to reflect. Now you have this experience, if you are paying attention, you can catch the little things next time around. This is what experience brings to a situation. Sometimes it is ignored or undervalued, but good people want to find it, draw on it and react to it. In some ways this blog is a reflection of the little things and that's what keeps me going. Thanks Kirk, I learnt a lot from those little words above.

On Photography - Kirk Tuck (Tue 30 Sep 2014)

Self Portrait (*) - Zurich (Thu 25 Sep 2014)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes Inspiration (*):

The general population now uses imaging as a kind of language. That's the nature of the kinds of working images they want and use in their personal lives. It's a living language.

via After the gold rush. Where is photography headed? (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

Why Photography Matters - Kirk Tuck (Sun 03 Aug 2014)

Untitled - Lisbon (Thu 15 Aug 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Photography (*) and why it Matters (*) :

Shoot (*) for the fun (*) of it. Shoot for your own self-discovery (*). Shoot for the glory (*) of having seen something unique (*) and having savored it well. [..]

Let the images you take be your enduring guides (*) to your own vision (*) and your own past (*) and leave it at that.

via Celebration Post. Landmark. Milestone. Crazy accomplishment. A "Thank You" to the readers who have stuck around over the years. And more. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

Go .. - Kirk Tuck (Mon 28 Jul 2014)

Kyoto's Orange Temple - Fushimi Inari-taisha (*) / Kyoto (Fri 14 Sep 2012)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes:

getting ready to be ready can be forever, and that's too long.

via Starting new projects. Building on old ways of seeing. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

Go (*) Kirk, Go (*).

On Growth - Brooks Jensen / Kirk Tuck (Wed 09 Jul 14)

A Kiss (*) - Rotterdam (Mon 19 Aug 2013)
Brooks Jensen (*) through Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Growth (*):

And he [Brooks Jensen (*)] writes about their constant artistic growth (*). The very act of looking (*) at something through different frames may unleash a wonderful new way of seeing (*) and sharing (*). And the very act of casting your vision (*) onto a totally new subject (*) matter can change (*) everything.

via Does your insistence on using the same camera for years at a time hamper your artistic growth? How do you know? (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

On Technique - Kirk Tuck (Thu 03 Jul 2014)

Born to Run (*) - London Tube / London (Fri 09 Aug 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Technique (*):

In swimming [or running (*), paddling (*), etc] it seems that good technique (*) is everything. Endurance (*) and strength (*) is important but it's all trumped (at least in sprints) by better technique (*). Which requires constant practice (*) and focus (*).

via Independence Eve Swim. With camera in tow. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

On Museums - Kirk Tuck (Fri 30 May 2014)

Jenny's (in pink top) moment in front of the Mona Lisa - Louvre / Paris (Aug 2005)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes:

The past (*) is interesting in some regard because it is littered with treasures (*). Those who have never taken time to savor those treasures (*) are condemned to working without good boundaries and, to a certain extent, without inspiration (*).

via A visit to the museum is rejuvenating for the eyes and the mind. Also, how art taught me to stop caring about sharpness. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

On Photography as a Witness to Life - Kirk Tuck (Tue 05 Mar 2014)

Premier Open 200m Final - 2006 AusDBF National Dragon Boat Champs - Nagambie (Sun 16 April 2006)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes:

The images are self contained historical artifacts that I use to prove to myself that I've lived and experienced (*) the things I have. [..]

We are all on a journey (*) through life and the only important thing in my mind is to understand (*) where I've been and where I might be going. The camera helps me keep track of my progress.

via The mindset of one photographer (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

The Gift of Photography - Kirk Tuck (Thu 29 Jul 2010)

Intersection - Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Photography (*):

You can't swim without a pool.You can't shoot without a camera. Don't leave it at home. The camera is like your shirt or your shoes. Take it everywhere you take your body. Then you'll be ready when the image you love arrives in front of you like a gift. Be gracious. Be ready to accept the gift.

via You have to get wet if you want to learn to swim. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

On Staying Excited - Kirk Tuck (Wed 13 Nov 2013)

Rowers (Detail) - Langelinie / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Staying Interested (*):

I'm happy that I'm still excited about hitting the water on a cold day and pounding out the yards. You'd think that after over fifty years of swimming up and down various pools and watching the black line on the bottom one would get bored but every time in the pool is exciting and fun for me. It's active meditation (*), it's competition (*) and it's concentration (*). Lots of good stuff for your body and brain to do before that first cup of coffee...

via Packing up and getting on the road (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

Rowers - Langelinie / Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)

On Change - Kirk Tuck (Tue 29 Aug 2013)

Untilted - Lisbon (Wed 14 Aug 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Change (*):

the first step to freedom (*) is to throw off the resistance (*) to change (*). [..]

Change (*) is inevitable and fighting (*) it is the first step to failure (*).

via The graying of traditional photography and why everything is getting re-invented in a form we don't understand. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).Untilted - Lisbon (Wed 14 Aug 2013)

A few ways to increase your connection to your photography - Kirk Tuck (Thu 23 Feb 2012)

A3 Prints - New York - Aug 2011
Kirk Tuck (*) writes:

To do what you like in your work, separate from the buzz. [..]

• slow down [..] If you slow down and concentrate on the kinds of images that bring you real joy you'll find a tighter bond with your own work.


• Stop looking at all the sharing sites - When you turn off the outside influences and sit quietly with your own thoughts about art and photography you begin to understand the way you like to see and share art. That's valuable. Everything else is unconscious imitation.


• Do a project - Consistency of vision and subject are worthwhile goals for all artists. Set yourself to the task of creating a body of consistent work. Choose a subject that you love and explore it in depth. Ignore everything else.


• When you choose to do a project have a a goal - Wouldn't it be great if it changed some lives? But no matter where it ends up I will have met interesting people who've taken charge of their own lives and excelled. What fun role models. And the art will be my souvenir of my time spent with them. The prints will be part of the sharing.


• Start thinking beyond the screen - [..] When you slow down and do your art try to go through the whole process of bringing an image to life before you rush out the door to fill up more memory cards and hard drives.


• Really explore the images in front of you. Edit them down. Make them perfect and then print them large [..] Print them till you love them. And learn from the process of presentation. Learn what you like to see, big. The art becomes both portable and present when you pull it off the screen and onto paper. Be sure to go through the whole process so you understand in your gut what you've really created. It will slow you down [..] and focus it on doing work that makes you smile. You are the first audience.


• Finally, forget the online critiques - Find people in your own town, city, region whose work you admire and approach them about forming a sharing circle. Just like a writer's group.

Having a project will move you to take chances. [..] You'll need to discipline yourself to do the [..] And you'll need to learn how to finish.

Having a goal for your work gives it extra meaning.

Sharing the work with live people standing in front of you builds real confidence in the work. Having real critiques is painful but helps engender real growth. Helping real, human, non-virtual friends succeed with their own art is part of a rewarding virtuous circle. Embrace it.

From A few ways to increase your connection to your photography (*) by Kirk Tuck (*) - Thu 23 Feb 2012.

On Photography - The Value of the Print - Kirk Tuck (Thu 20 Mar 2013)

Red and Yellow - Market Street / Sydney (Mar 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes:

Can I suggest that you print out and save some of the digital images you currently take of family and friends? You may not always keep track of the digital work that we make these days but the sheer physical-ness of a printed object makes it a more valuable artifact. One that's easier to access and harder to throw away.

Amazing to me what power there is locked in a single image.

via Old School Instagram. We used to call them Polaroids (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

On Photography - Objectivity and Subjectivity - Kirk Tuck (Mon 04 Mar 2013)

Pacific Dragons - Mixed Black - Fantastic Photos (*) by Ian Amos (*) - CNY 2013 (Sat Feb 23 2013)

Pacific Dragons - Premier Opens - More Fantastic Photos (*) by Ian Amos (*) - CNY 2013 (Sat Feb 23 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Photography (*):

we're in a business and an art where everything is subjective (*). There is no objective (*) measure. Our compulsion to move the technical game forward is an admission that we constantly seek a metric. A means of gauging value.

via When the tools trump the art we all go home. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

Kirk writes about photography, but could just as much about paddling. As they say, there are many ways to skin a cat, and so it is with selection processes in any sport, paddling being my most recent obsession (just on 8 years now - this being my 8th CNY with Pacific Dragons). Having been in many State and National Teams under various coaches, I have experienced just about every selection process, from completely subjective to completely objective and many variations in between. In my experience, the best thing to do, particularly for the marginal paddler like me, is just to go with the coaches way. Coaches coach and paddlers paddle. And so it is.

Many thanks to Ian for taking and sharing the photos.

On Change and Moving Forward - Kirk Tuck (Wed 30 Jan 2013)

Floorboard Cross Section - Kyoto (Sat 15 Sep 2012)
Kirk Tuck (*) talks On Change (*):

The thread that should run through everything though should be to honestly have fun with your work.

You don't have to love everything but you sure have to like the process.

But to fall back in love with the process you have to yield to the idea that everything changes.

It's always tough to stomach that change must include me...

via (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

While Kirk abstracts the above from his working life as a professional photographer, it is a great way to understand the change proces, discontinuities in your life and whether you upto going with it or wallowing around in self pity for what once was (hope that makes sense).

On Technique - Free Speed - Kirk Tuck (Tue 22 Jan 2013)

Pacific Dragons - Masters Men - Five Islands Regatta (Sun 11 Nov 2012)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Technique (*):

With good application of good technique you'll go faster, go further and expend less energy. Seems like a good idea.

via Free Speed (*).

Kirk is not just a professional photographer and writer on photography. He keeps himself fit swimming and is just as informative writing about swimming as he is about photography. Here he is at his definitive best.

An inspirational piece of writing and one I will come back to a few more times on the road to Szeged 2013 (*). Thanks for sharing Kirk.

On Photography - Diligence and Balance - Kirk Tuck (Tue 01 Jan 2013)

Street Art Portrait #1 - Phillip St / Enmore (Sat 15 Dec 2014)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Photography (*):

[..] you have to be diligent. There has to be a balance.

Thank God we invented photography.

It gives us a ready and reliable excuse to push away from our desks, easy chairs, dining room tables and couches in order to head outside and get some creative thinking and seeing done.

A photography secret for living longer and happier lives.

via Good light is what you miss if you spend too much time indoors (*).

Street Art Portrait #2 - Phillip St / Enmore (Sat 15 Dec 2014)

On Photography - I love to make portraits - Kirk Tuck (Fri 07 Dec 2012)

Grandpa (Eric) [1] - John Sharman (*) Gallery / Mogo (Sun 07 Dec 2003)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes about the beauty the wonderful relationship he has with photography in (*):

I love to make portraits.

I love that not all of my subjects are required to smile.

I love that we can spend time talking about life while we're making portraits.

I love to work in black and white but I don't fear color.

I love light that can be both dramatic and flattering.

I love the contrast of dark shirts against light skin.

I love longish lenses and continuous lights.

I love going back and looking at old contact sheets to look at the "paths" not taken and then re-scanning and reprinting to see if my tastes have grown or changed since we last peeked into the contact sheets and made our choices.

Another amazing piece of writing about photography by a professional photographer. Got to love that. Thanks Kirk.

[1] Random Recollection - This is a photo of my Grandfather (my Father's Father). My brother, along with my Aunt took him on a drive and at my Aunt's suggestion we ended up at John Sharman's Art Gallery. My Aunt knows him well and she has a few of his paintings. John had also made some paintings from the cliff on the edge of my Grandfathers property at Malua Bay. One of the paintings is the unframed painting behind my Grandfather. This is a nice reminder of my childhood days spend at Malua Bay with my Grandparents.

I have a few more portraits from that day which I will publish here at some stage.

On Photography - Then and Now

Sculpture - Sculptures by the Sea / Tamarama (Sat 03 Nov 2001)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes in Reaching back Thirty Three Years [..] (*)

I like to go back to stuff I did a long time ago and see how it compares to the stuff I'm doing now.

In many instances I'm disappointed with what I'm doing now when I see the images I made when I was [..] very new to the field of photography.

I know what Kirk means. I look back to these photos and I wonder whether I have really made any progress. In the end I think I have. I have learnt a lot about the medium of photography and it's history. So for that I am grateful.

Sculpture - Sculptures by the Sea / Tamarama (Sat 03 Nov 2001)

On Chasing too Hard - Kirk Tuck (Tue 19 Jun 2012)

Grace and Thomas - Mutton Bird Island / Coffs Harbour (Thu 26 Dec 2002)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes (*) ..

If you chase it too hard you might never catch it...

Made me think of ..

• Michael Leunig's (*) thoughts on How to Get There (*), and


• Drew Ginn's (*) recent pondering's On Succeeding (*).

Similar message, slightly different delivery reflecting the personalities of the writers.