A Dragon's Tale

Dragon male:

While not an egoist, he is unmistakably an egotist in every sense of the term.

It is impossible for him to resign himself to taking a backseat or being second to anyone in any field, for he has an excessively high opinion of his own talents.

I try not to copy or emulate other people's techniques when taking pictures.

As much as I might admire the works of others, I assiduously try to never ever seem as if I am following the style of others.

I dont study photo books, the techniques of the masters.. nunna dat.

Thas just how I do.

My own thing.

But I will admit to this:

Noah Grey is a bad man. The work he does, with the technical and creative skill he brings to bear on what he works on.. its exactly how I want to do.

Well, the same but different.

He.. is an original.

His images have the creative simplicity and creative mastery that Im just now becoming aware of that Im capable of.

“I want to capture a certain feeling, a sort of emotional response to the moment,” he explains later. “When I see something I want to capture some sense of the way I feel about it. The trace it leaves on me.”

I feel the same, but different.

Apart from Big Jimmy of Belgium and a few others, I will quickly turn away from browsing through Other People's Pictures. Not because Im envious, but because I will quickly bring my critical nature to bear to analyze and break apart the images.

And then I'll be influenced.

Noah's images tho -- with the mastery of his camera and the darkroom of photoshop fascinate me because ... it's exactly where I want to be.

But different. :-)
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Unlike the Tiger, who tends to exert himself in an anarchic way, the Dragon proceeds with method, adhering strictly to the order of priorities he has established and pursuing his goals untiringly to the bitter end.

The danger of dissipation and futility does not really threaten him, as it does his Tiger counterpart.

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From Greyexpectations

When he moved to California two years later, Noah found himself confronting nature on a grander scale.

“When I saw the ocean for the first time, I felt like I’d come home,” he says. “I felt that being here in California, being a part of the world, was something that I was meant to do all my life.”

I resisted coming out here.

But I came for the blue.

The same, but different. :)