SkipCohenUniversity
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us

the SCU Blog

Photography and Music - They Just Go Together!

5/5/2019

3 Comments

 
"A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence."
Leopold Stokowski
​It's Sunday morning, and I love going off track from the business, marketing, and technique of photography. As I sat down to write, I knew what I wanted to talk about but just didn't like the topic. I started scrolling through Facebook and wound up listening to the video above. As music can often do, it totally changed the path I was on and gave me a completely new mindset. There are so many different aspects to my reasons for sharing the short video above. 

First, it's about friendship. The piece being played was shared on Facebook by a good friend to so many of us, Tom Curley. Tom is responsible for the LUMIX Ambassador Team, and many of you have met Tom in the Panasonic booth at the various shows. The composer for this outstanding piece is Tom's son Matthew. Tom wrote on FB, "We are very proud of Matthew Curley who composed this piece. This is superb."  So, right off the bat, we've got the feel-good fun of a Dad's pride at a son's accomplishments.

Second, it's about the role music plays in our lives.  Sheila and I have five synced Alexas in the house, including one outside by the pool and music is playing all day every day. It sounds hokey when I write this, but music soothes the soul and no matter what kind of stress I'm dealing with, the right music will always help me mellow out. And in this house, everything is played from classic rock to jazz to country to Mozart...it depends on our mood.

Third, music is about creativity. It's a foundation in the arts, just like photography. Even the challenge in copyright issues over the years that both musicians and photographers have had to deal with brings the two industries closer together. All of you have music playing in your studios, while you work and specific kinds of music for various clients during a portrait session. And, there are photographers who we all admire, like Roberto Valenzuela who gets his discipline from his foundation as a classical guitarist.
Picture
My Dad sitting with part of his collection ten years ago. Image by Cantrell Portrait Design
Picture
And last on the list is the way music is in my genes!  My folks were great supporters of the Cleveland Symphony. They were involved in fund-raising for years in helping to build Blossom, the outdoor summer venue in Ohio for the orchestra. I met Jahja Ling, who today is Maestro for the San Diego symphony back in the days when he was an assistant conductor in Cleveland. And here's a fun fact, he's a diehard hobbyist as a photographer, and a Hasselblad shooter who Sheila and I have met several times.

But the role of music in my life doesn't stop there. My Dad played trumpet his entire life, and I played the French horn in high school. As a kid, my mother would drag us into antique shops on her hunt for odd size teacups and plates - so Dad and I needed something to do, and the common bond was to start a musical instrument collection.  

Dad and I would often find something we wanted; make the purchase and then get my grandmother to write to the manufacturer and see what she could dig up on the history of the instrument itself. It was a great family hobby, and most of his collection is in our home today.

One of my favorite pieces is a string-valve cornet, complete with it's original wood and velvet lined case pictured here. Wanting to include it today, gave me a chance to play with the new LUMIX G9 with the 14-140mm lens. The photograph is right out of the can with absolutely no manipulation, shooting IA mode with window light. Shot at f4.0 @ 1/50 at ISO3200.

And there you have it...a Sunday morning post that's gone in several different directions, but all thanks to Tom Curley sharing his pride in his son's music. It kicked off a great reminder of how music plays such an important role in our lives.

Wishing all of you a perfect day and one filled not only with great friends and family, but time to enjoy the kind of music that simply makes you feel good and pushes your creativity to new heights. Always go for those eleven-second therapeutic hugs with the people you appreciate most in your life.

And from my Dad's favorite conductor when I was a kid...

"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable."
Leonard Bernstein
Happy Sunday everybody!
3 Comments
Matt Curley link
5/5/2019 09:33:25 am

Thanks for the shout out! Great post, and a perfect Bernstein quote at the end.

Reply
Norma Grieve link
5/6/2019 04:10:11 pm

This reminds me that there is a variety of ‘music” in nature to enjoy too. Thank you for reminding us of what we can easily take for granted, at times.

Reply
Brennen Tope link
5/7/2019 10:30:19 pm

I love music. This inspires me to put "photographing a music concert" on my summer list of things to do.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

      Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Picture
    Click to view in Lightbox
    Picture

    Our Partners

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    "Why?"

    Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

    Categories

    All
    Beyond Technique
    Beyond Techniques
    Business
    Customer Service
    EDU10
    Excire
    F64 Lunch Bunch
    Faculty
    Fast Food Friday
    Guest Post
    Humor And Sarcasm
    In The News
    Lessons Learned
    Lighting
    Luminar
    Lumix
    Marketing
    Mark's Corner
    Mind Your Own Business
    Miscellaneous
    Motivational
    One Step At A Time
    Photodex
    PhotoShelter
    PhotoTexting
    Platypod
    Podcasts
    Profoto
    Sales
    Search
    Skylum
    Social Media
    Sunday Morning Reflections
    Tamron
    Tamron Recipes
    Technique
    Throwback Thursday
    Wedding Photography
    Westcott
    Why?

Categories​

Business
Marketing
Technique
Sales
Fast Food Fridays
​

Podcasts

Tamron Recipes 
Beyond Technique
Why?
Mind Your Own Business
Pro Photographer Journey

 Partners

Tamron
PhotoTexting

​Lumix

Marathon Press
​Platypod
©  2019 Skip Cohen University
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us