Tony Sweet is an American photographer, known for his widely published nature photography. He is also a jazz musician, workshop instructor, and author. He worked as a professional jazz drummer for 20 years. He is now best known for his fine art nature and floral images. His photographs are published worldwide and represented in the Getty Picture Agency (Boerner).
His style of photography is about the color design and composition of the image. As mentioned in his interview, he said, "It's very difficult for one to describe ones own style of photography. In general, I look for color and graphic interest in most cases, however I've recently began looking for more sparse subjects for black and white renderings. We are all in a constant state of flux in any creative endeavor. Despite how people love to pigeon hole photographers' styles, there really is only two kinds of photography: good and bad. Initially, I began photographing musicians in night clubs and portraits in my house in Cincinnati. When my first mentor, Tony Gayhart, showed me a nature slide, I decided immediately to pursue this as a career path." (Thomas).
"Purple flower" Fine art photo by Tony Sweet.
"Poinsettia" by Kim Miranda (me)
In this photo, I decided to shoot this in the same way as Tony Sweet did. Here, he focused his image on the center making your attention on the very detail of the flower. His detail on the subject was the one that inspired me to do this. I was impressed by how he captured this photo. The color, the composition was carefully made to achieve this shot.
"2 Red Daisies" Fine art photo by Tony Sweet.
http://tonytsweet.com/-/tonytsweet/gallery.asp?LID=&cat=4003&pID=2&row=15&photoID=9642891&searchTerm=
"Purple Orchids" by Kim Miranda (me)
When I saw this photo by Tony, I knew I had to take a shot that would look exactly like it. I thought I achieved the same concept that he did. He focused more on the flowers creating vibrancy in this image. Notice how he use focus shots in this image. His use of focus shots really inspired me to make this photo.
"Purple and Yellow" Fine art photo by Tony Sweet.
"Creme Pink" by Kim Miranda (me)
"Creme Pink" is currently my favorite photo that I took while doing this virtual essay. It really showed the beauty of this orchid. It is incomparable to what Tony's image here but at the same time similar to what it implies. Basically, Tony made it clear how beautiful those purple daisies with great composition and design of the image. Overall, I really enjoyed my time taking this photo and I'm happy with the result.
"HL fall" Fine art photo by Tony Sweet.
http://tonytsweet.com/-/tonytsweet/gallery.asp?LID=&cat=4003&pID=17&row=15&photoID=330260&searchTerm=
"Autumn" by Kim Miranda (me)
As said by Tony Sweet, "With the constantly changing light, we are constantly changing shooting positions and compositions to accomodate the light." (Thomas). "Autumn" was taken late September. Here, I took this photo many times just trying to achieve a perfect lighting and finally got it. I was satisfied with the way the lighting complemented the colors of the leaves. In this photo by Tony, he blended the color of the leaves to the trunk and the clear lighting of the sun.
"Sunset" Fine art photo by Tony Sweet.
"Sunrise" by Kim Miranda (me)
The "Sunset" photo inspired me to make an image like it. I took the "Sunrise" photo not thinking of what it would look like but just out of pure instinct. Tony Sweet said, "The most effective way to spontaneously react to ones environment is to avoid over intellectualizing, in other words, 'don't think.' " (Briot). This is so true in fine art photography, sometimes the one that we capture without thinking is the one that results into a good photograph. There are many photographers who has this same vision as Tony that is why I chose him to be my inspiration.
"Nature photography is the "jazz" of the photography field. We're always improvising and editing what's in the frame on the fly. We never know what to expect and need to react very quickly to ever changing, fluid situations" - Tony Sweet (Thomas). When taking photos of nature, it is impossible to predict the outcome of the image. Every minute, every second it changes from one frame to another frame that is why it is challenging at the same time exciting. You also feel a sense of accomplishment when you take these pictures and get what you really want or the result you needed. Tony Sweet also mentioned in one on his interview, "I work in the moment, also referred to as the 'zone'. This is a mental 'place' where I am 'One' with my endeavor where time seems to be non-existent and we are unaware of anything but what we are doing at the moment." (Boerner).
"A generalist photographs everything. As one moves through the process, certain subjects engender a passion. The area that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning is the area in which you should specialize. But even as a nature specialist, I'll photograph anything that catches my interest. So, it's fine to develop into a specialist, but don't close your eyes to great imagery of any genre" - Tony Sweet (Boerner).
I like taking nature photographs but I also appreciate other genre that suits my needs. It is anyone's decision to take which subject would they specialize in as long as you enjoy what you are doing and in the end you will find your work very rewarding.
Works Cited:
Boerner, Gerard "Photographer's Profile of the Day..Tony Sweet." Prof. Boerner's Explorations. 15 Nov 2009. Web. 4 Dec 2010. <http://www.boerner.net/jboerner/?p=4503>
Thomas "Interview with Tony Sweet." Photography 24/7. 29 Oct 2009. Web. 4 Dec 2010. <http://photography24seven.com/interview-with-tony-sweet/>
Briot, Alain "Tony Sweet Interview." Beautiful-Landscape.com. May 2008. Web 4 Dec 2010. <http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/Thoughts82-Tony%20Sweet%20interview.html>
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
Assignment 4 Virtual Essay
