One could go nuts in the world of apps. For my old friends and family members apps are these things you get for your smart phones--maybe computers(that is still over my head) I got the iphone for one reason only--hipstamatic app which gives thiese funky old school--sometimes toy camera looking photos. The other night when I was suposed to sleeping I went onto my iphone to look up apps to see if there are any cool little ones out there that might be better. I didn't really find better, but I find this sketch app which takes a photo you make and turns it into a sketchbook looking image. I dismissed it at first but then thought---weddings! This might be cool for a wedding image for either backgrounds or possibly even real images in an album. Its a free app so I figure I'll give it a try. I probably won't do much with it--but you never know! SayerMotter test images by Richard Sayer

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm an old guy and really look at what is out there int he world. What is helpful to me being an old guy is that 'retro' seems to be in. So I try to look at different styles of visuals and right now in history it seems the visual trend is there really isn't a visual trend. Everything seems to be mishmashing together with many new twists on old styles---making the style their own seems to be big. So today I had this idea for a team photo that just sort of exploded through many stylistic ideas and I arrived at this for the eighth grade volleyball team's sports mate. Its kinda crazy busy, but it seems to fit in with kids and their busy lifestyle--at least I'm hoping it does that and I'm hoping the kids(and their parents) like it. SayerMotter photographs and design by Richard Sayer

Computers can only do so much before you have to help them out. Photographs take up a lot of space and I...well, I take a lot of photographs. Staying ahead of downloading and saving is a time consuming thing, not to mention a little nerve racking--did I check that disc or that external hard drive to make sure the images saved--and will that work later. I end up making several copies of things. Recently I did some teams and they ended up sitting on my camera for over a week because they just had no place to go on my computer. I was finally able to get enough space to get them saved and get started. I began to develop the Saegertown varsity memory sports mate tonight and this ended up taking me a couple hours too. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and when I got ahold of something--it seemed to take me a while to figure out how I could make it work--and make it work over and over again with each member of the team. I may look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes to see if I want to improve on it any more--I always want to have layers and layers---so a little more might be needed tomorrow. But for tonight--this is what I have. SayerMotter Photography and design by Richard Sayer.

Ever heard of writer's block. Its a debilitating thing that attacks, probably, every writer at some point or another. Well the same thing happens to artists and photographers. We hit walls. Sometime we even think--well maybe thats it--maybe I've taken my last good photo. I'd say I go through this at least once a week, briefly and I have longer moments a few times a year. I can't explain it, but sometimes you just don't find your photograph. It is interesting. I keep a few different picture of the day sites going. One for my newspaper work, this one with Harmony and I post daily images taken with my cell phone to facebook and twitter etc... Some days I'm feeling pretty good about all three areas of my photography...somedays I'm only happy with one and some days I'm not to thrilled with any of them. But what I am finding is that at least I'm making and working through the ideas and even though I really could use a break and maybe spend time doing nothing but working in my gardens...I think it is this discipline that helps me overcome this 'photographer's block'. The other day I realized I had really taken a picture that i like with my cell phone and decided to spend some time looking around to make something before going to bed. I will go back through my old photos and drawing and paintings and re-document them to see if I can get something new out of it. The results might end up being a history of me piece--perhaps for next years faculty show. This is exciting to work towards something even though it can be daunting at times. I think a piece made entirely using my phone and just gathering my thoughts and things i see daily might end up having some sort of documentary power. A piece that a friend of mine did a few years ago--before she was a friend actually has always stuck with me. Sue Buck did a sabbatical piece in photography because she had just gotten a new camera and was happy as can be making photographs. I'm not sure I'll be able to fill up the wall space that she did, but I really like the idea. Right now I'm making 5x5 prints to see if this idea will look like it might work. If not it at least helps keep me from photographers block and gives me a personal project to keep the mind moving forward instead of stagnating. Photographs by Richard Sayer.

This is not a drive by shooting picture like Rich's previous posts.  It was a nice afternoon and I was relaxing a bit in my car.  I caught a reflection in my side mirror and decided to use it.  I recently purchased an iphone case for my phone and it has a picture of my best boy on it.  He has been my best boyfriend since I was 14 years-old and we are still going strong after all these years. Some may think that this is just a picture of my iphone case reflected in a car mirror. But, to me it's Mr. John Lennon and that is so much more!
iphone photo by: Harmony Motter 

When I first got into photography nearly 30 years ago the photographers that really got my attention were 'street photographer.' Street photographers grabbed pictures of life as it was going on. The greats like Cartier-Bresson and Andre Kertescz really grabbed me. I can still pick up books of their work and spend a great deal of time looking through. More recently --in the last 20-15 years I got interested in more modern street photographers who shot more wide and less concerned with composing---in other words they were were more pure documentarians because it was entirely about the subject captured and not even about the craft of photography. I'm not sure, as I was once did, if I feel this is negligent of the photographer--or better for the true documentation???? I am however sure that the acceptance of this work has opened up doors in the way I see possible photographs. Over a year ago I began collecting images that I was calling 'Drive-by Shooting' Sort of a tongue in cheek title for the pictures I took blindly out the window of my car as I drove around. The rules I set up for these were simple ones. I couldn't look through the camera(that would be dangerous and I'd end up 'crafting' the photo..) And i wanted these to just be....no cropping or extraneous photoshop editing. The image either works as it is--or it doesn't. Since I got the camera phone I've been trying it out and have had some successes. I won't post them all here today, but I thought I post a few. What I like about this idea is that they are raw and simple views of life that exists as we pass by it--there is no story other than the ones we imagine for the subject captured. Yet if we examine these we might begin to get a glimpse of our surroundings and its people. Enough of these might explain some part of our time that isn't normally taken note of as we proceed with our lives and our day. Photographs by Richard Sayer

I recently did the MASH baseball team photos and felt like I wanted to do a retro sorta feel. Originally I was thinking slick lighting and colored gels and possibly smoke machine, but opted for not doing this because it was a really nice day--a little chilly, but nice and it seemed we should take advantage of that when we can. I had just gotten the iphone with the hipstamatic app so I made everyones photo with the phone and then with my Nikon D90. The team photo was problematic because lighting wasn't so good and I was struggling thinking on my feet---so we got em lined up and made a picture and then I went to the side, made minor adjustments to people and then shot again. At this point I didn't have the retro idea completely in mind--other than the film and app I chose on the iphone leaned me towards that. As I started layering the pictures together it hit me to unify the image with the grey browns and it seemed to come together. I admit I was a bit chicken and I sent a draft version off to the booster president to get her reaction. She showed it around to the moms at this one tournament and reported back that they all loved it!!! YES! And since I delivered the pictures I've heard a lot of good things. I just received a box of Saegertown softball prints today and hopefully can sort them out tomorrow and deliver them by the end of the week. Their concept was similar in some ways. I'll post one of those soon. The draft I sent out seemed to get mostly positive reviews as well. SayerMotter Photography Sports Memory Mate photos and design by Richard Sayer.

My computer is full of pictures--so full of pictures it couldn't take anymore. Last week I photographed the Volleyball teams at Saegertown and I try when I do this to post some pictures right away. In fact some folks have gotten so used to this I've received a few facebook messages and emails asking if I've worked on the pictures yet. This is actually very cool because it means they are excited to see the pictures. I was finally able to empty off some old pictures to create room and today finally got to download my pictures off the camera. So to my new friends on facebook--here is the first fun photo from last weeks shoot--the Saegertown Junior High Girls combined 7th and 8th grade team photo---' the thinkers!' SayerMotter photograph by Richard Sayer

So wallets have those rounded corners right? Well those rounded corners wreak havoc with us photographers who have trained ourselves to compose our photographs rather than taking pictures. We crop in camera and make the picture the way we like to see it. But the rounded corners! In order for most printers to ensure they don't have weird white spaces showing up on the edges of their pictures--they crop in a little. You even see they with standard prints like 4x6's and 5x7's. They trim a little off the edges even when you crop them yourself to the specific size you want. This is a big frustration for those of us who want our pictures to look the way we make them on screen. So today when I was making this picture into a wallet sized print I noted that the printer would probably cut off most of the glove. So to compensate I add onto the picture usually by duplicating it several times and matching up the edges--then when I preview the wallet before ordering I just make sure the edges are where I want them. But the something cool happened...I noticed I was getting this kind funky thing happening and the dynamics of the leaping catch made for interesting shapes when duplicated and put together. I never look a gift horse in the mouth so I wanted to keep this picture and post it here--I'll even make Courtney a print of it just for fun. SayerMotter Photograph thingy by Richard Sayer

Write this down--4/21/12 --the day Richard Sayer had nothing to say! Photographs from today by Richard Sayer.