Let me start with a proper introduction.

Hello, my name is Bradley Krisher. I am not the greatest at self-promoting talks. I am a man of many talents, so I've been told. I'll leave it at that. Here I would like to speak of one thing that for years I've worked on to get closer to understanding fully. It truly all started with one negative statement. Let's get to it.

...........................or skip the reading and get a new wall piece HERE

"I fucking really hate boring ass landscape photos."

Can you believe that was my first statement about what I love doing?

Standing on the 100 bridge in Flagler with my old friend Matt. I remember saying to him after snapping a landscape-style photo, "I fucking really hate boring ass landscape photos." Also, to add, "hate" is a strong word and should rarely be used, in my opinion. Man o' man did the universe have something special in mind for me. Later that night, I loaded the images I had taken from that day and saw the one, just the one shot that I took on that bridge, and something about it had me questioning why I disliked the idea of landscape shots. The truth is, I knew nothing much when it came down to getting a decent shot. My knowledge of light was restricted to strobes and really any artificial lighting.

Natural light to me was just something I experienced, never understood. Especially in the world of cameras. So I started my new obsession with understanding natural light. Day after day after day. Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years later in my current situation. I can say honestly and very confidently, I have a way better understanding than most. However, I'm not here to boast. To this day, I still consider myself a student in the world of photography. The art of light. It is and has forever been evolving and always will.

First landscape photo off the Flagler Beach 100 bridge

"You have a God-given talent"

NO!!! I have hours upon hours of dedicated time from my life in understanding how to do things just a little better each time. That, when practiced, leads us to being better at something than someone who doesn't. Never perfection, because perfection is stagnant. I just so happen to practice working with light to capture the shadows. My life's work is bottled up in a short statement.

All I ever wanted was to understand things better with natural light. I had no idea that one challenge I gave myself would have such a huge ripple effect in my life. The people I would meet, the places it would take me, the ego it would cause me to develop, only to have to later destroy it, because that look in the mirror was disgusting. I never imagined the love I would develop in seeking the knowledge of light would lead me to meeting, finding, my best friend and now wife. All things we can touch on later as this blog posting develops.

Over the years, I have trained my eyes to see things in a compositional setting. I have seen how light can make a face look 5 years younger or 10 years older. I've witnessed and watched as flowers slowly turn from facing west to east to greet the sun. How very few individuals could care less about the rising of the greatest light source we have the privilege to witness while hunched over starring at their lit screen witnessing someone else's day. No judgement. Just observation. What I found with this art form, and something no one can ever take from me, is that there is so much more beauty in this life than we truly give credit to. And so we move forward.

“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”

-Alan Watts

When I apply everything I've learned, in a philosophical manner, I've learned patience, love, and the ability to see other people's light and how to share it with them. While our minds are always on the hunt for something that could be a danger, I feel that when you tap into and bypass that, our hearts sync with our eyes, allowing us to see the beauty as it is. Not perfect, not how we wish, just as it is. Those moments come to us more often than we realize. I found that when I would anxiously strive to get a shot, I came home empty-handed, yet when I set up and allowed it to come to me. So many golden nuggets. Ok, maybe not always golden, you get the point. If not, the point being, things come to us in life always, if we just open our eyes.

I thought this was about Art in the digital age?

It is. Just needed to introduce my mind as well. It's a wild place sometimes, and I don't recommend trying to stay too long. I know so many photographers who dream about the old days. Film, dark rooms, the chemicals. Sure, I miss it; however, I've seen so many benefits to the modern way of doing things. What would take weeks to do back then, we can now do with a few clicks of a button. With the world of AI taking off, now we can do it even faster.

I honestly see no issue with it. Either hang with the times or get buried in the past. It's pretty simple.

I have had so many people in my days tell me they would never buy my work because it is manipulated. They did that in darkrooms; I do it digitally. Recently, I found myself in a debacle. Lots of people are questioning my work as an AI creation. This actually bothered me so much that I started losing interest in creating. I became a little sour towards this new digital era. Quickly, though, I've reminded myself of the process that I love. Watching the light and capturing the moments that come to me. AI can't and won't take that from me. I just had to remind someone close to me that it's never about the external validation when it comes to passion; it should always be about what it does for your soul and the happiness it brings out from within. I can't complain about AI, because I do utilize it quite often in my creations. The brushes and forms of the adjustments. Removal of unwanted things, such as sensor dust spots, a person who walks into my shot. It's AI these days assisting.

I told you my mind was a wild place.

The digital world has only ever given me one challenge. SO I ASSUMED.

The truth is, I never truly listened to my heart or the people who spoke so often to me.

Recently, I've let go of the idea of "making a living" from my art. It truly takes all the beauty out of what it is I love to do, and adds this wild pressure to my life that is not needed. Through my years, I've priced it in every way, shape, and form to eat and pay bills. With that, so many people who wanted to hang my art were not able to afford it. Which always left me chasing the next dollar.

When I think about it now, that's never what I truly wanted. I've always loved seeing a piece of myself hanging on someone's wall. In a non-Ed Gein kinda way, of course. This year, I have decided to set greed and the desire to make a living from my art to the side. I would rather create and give anyone the option to have something if they so desire.

Probably bad for business, however, I don't mind. Cuts all the headaches out and gets me back to what I miss doing. Creating. I'm ready to start building a new gallery. The old one will slowly be replaced with this year's captures and thoughts. Priced to sell, not float my self-made salary.

From one negative came so many positives in my life. Don't get hung up on the bad stuff; just keep moving forward, be patient, and understand that what you seek, you will find. That moment will arrive.