J.T. Ratcliff's photostream  

"Chance is always powerful. - Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish." ~ Ovid
(Always have a camera on your person)

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~ Aristotle
(shoot, critically analyze, edit and delete ruthlessly, then shoot some more)

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." ~ Theodore Roosevelt
(It's not the camera, it's you)

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." ~ Marcus Aurelius
(there are no rules, at least none that anyone doing anything of value are adhering to)

“Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.” ~ Tina Turner
(creating is an opportunity to step out of yourself and your situation, whatever it may be)

“No great thing is created suddenly.” ~ Epictetus
(abusing yourself and your work can get you only so far)

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.” ~ Charles Mingus
(what more can be said?)

“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” ~ Jack London
(get off your ass)

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves,
then listen close to me...
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.” ~Shel Silverstein
(no one has a monopoly on "truth", and no one who claims to can be trusted)

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” ~ Jonh Steinbeck
(experience trumps education every time, but you put them together, and all of a sudden your potential start getting met)

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things. " ~ Ray Bradbury
(conscious thought is not the only captain of your being, nor is it usually the best qualified. sometimes your feet know better your direction than your head, if only you would listen)

I shoot digital and film, and manage to not cast judgement on either. All you motherfuckers out there with positions and attitudes about this, that, and the other bore the shit out of us folks who just wanna learn, and get better, and to make something special. I'll share anything I've learned with anyone who cares to ask. I'm forever a student of my own mistakes.

These are the groups I run/neglect:
www.flickr.com/groups/1308348@N21/
www.flickr.com/groups/1554825@N20/
www.flickr.com/groups/1113748@N21/

Gear:
Nikon D40x (used)
Nikon D50
Nikon F4s (used)
Nikon FE
- Nikkor AF-S 18-55mm DX VR 3.5-5.6 G
- Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm DX VR 4-5.6 G (used)
- Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D
- Nikkor AF 35-70mm 3.3-4.5 (used)
- Nikkor 70-300mm 4-5.6 G
- Nikkor 28-80mm 3.5-5.6 D (used)
- Nikkor H 28mm f3.5 (used)
- Nikon SB-25 Speedlight (used)
- Nikon SB-23 Speedlight (used)
Pentax P3n (used)
Pentax MG (used)
-XR Rikenon 55mm f/2.2
-RMC Tokina 80-200mm f/4
Zenza Bronica SQ-A
- Zenzanon 80mm f/2.8 (used)
Sekonic L318b digital light meter (used)

iMac 21.5"
Aperture 2.0 (love!)
Nik software suite
Canon MP520 Printer


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