Richard Schulz

Photography in the mornings are the best for me. This started when I was going to work a few years ago. With my trusty Canon 1300D and 50mm f/1.8 I’d head out on to the streets. It was fun. I didn’t shoot for likes or admiration. I did it because it was fun. The idea of exploring and experimenting.

Thinking back I didn’t even worry if people saw me walking around with a camera. One interesting moment I had was a guy asking me if I worked for a newspaper : )

These days I don’t go out with my camera as much as I want to. I still shoot with my Kodak but I don’t feel the same rush I used to. I think I’d have to find some new hunting grounds if you will.

Go out to a spot I haven’t been in a while and take photos there. Get the blood rushing again.

I miss those days. In between now and then a lot of things changed. If you don’t write enough you forget what it feels like. Just the same with photography. If you don’t go out and do it enough and over & over you forget what it feels like.

The technical skills don’t perish as quickly but if you sit too long in a comfort zone you start to think stupid things like “why am I even doing this?” or “no one is even going to see these, why bother?“.

When this happens you need to get out there ASAP. Even if your excursion only results in one or two photos. As long as you go out and do it. Get back in the proverbial saddle.

Thanks for reading : )

Each morning the sun rises a bit later. I can see this in the darkness of the bathroom as I’m brushing my teeth. Last year, at the height of summer, at 5:45 the sun was out for a good 20 minutes or so.

With the arrival of Autumn in the southern hemisphere I decided to take a photo a day -_- or as many photos on a day as I can so I can comprise it into something worth while. Thus far I have managed plenty of bird photos, which I like, and photos of sunrises and sunsets.

The image above was taken on the 6th of March as I arrived home from work. Sunsets are one of the more beautiful things in here in South Africa. Thinking about it for a second – one of the more beautiful things on earth.

Edited with Snapseed I took this on my mobile phone camera. The signal tower in the center of the photo makes for a great subject. To the right there is a dead tree, I think it’s dead because it never has any leaves on it. That is another subject I want to focus on in the coming weeks.

The photo above is one of my favorites. I don’t like birds in general but birds in flight against a clear sky is a form of minimalism I really enjoy seeing, and taking photos of. I enjoy this image because the movement of the birds are frozen. As I walked home they flew around me chirping. They circle around and go fairly high until you can barely make them out.

I was thinking about connecting with other artists again. Interviews, photo collaborations. That type of thing. I bring this up because I recently connected my father with a former work colleague. They hadn’t seen each other in roughly 30 years.

Thinking about this I come back to people. I work retail and I often wonder how many people go through life the way they do. Miserable and unfriendly. I’m not going to say I’m the most chipper person you’ll find but a greeting tends to break down a few barriers and stereotypes.

Till next time : )

I have been noticing the changes towards winter. The Sun rising a little bit later each morning. The chilly morning air.

Another thing is the birds. Especially the Swallows.

On this particular morning there were roughly 50 birds, give or take. I walked to them and they sat perched on the telephone lines. They sit and talk to each other with their chirpy noises.

As I walk by I can hear it go quiet. And then they fly around. Milling around in the air without a care. It is almost as if I can feel their excitement for the change in the seasons.

I’m looking forward to Winter this year. Especially the mornings. I’ve found over the last five years these are the best time for me to take photos. I was born in August and I’ve always enjoyed the colder seasons more. The blues of the sky seem a lot brighter.

I’ve set myself a simple goal – photos on each day of the fall season. Afterwards put them together and share them. Perhaps in the format of a zine.

Thanks for reading : )

I enjoy taking photos, letting them marinate on the hard drive and a few months later looking at them. This is not something I did when I started taking photos.

I’d snap, upload, edit within such a short space. I never gave the photos a change to evolve. I didn’t give myself a chance to think about why I or what story am I telling.

I am trying to change this.

Enjoy the images : )

It’s Sunday afternoon.

I had a coffee earlier this morning at a place I used to boycott. The main reason I used to support them because they had one thing going for them. It wasn’t their excellent coffee. It wasn’t their outstanding service.

It was the fact that on any given morning, with a few exceptions, I would arrive there and they’d be open.

For a few years I’d go there every single day. Monday to Saturday because I would have coffee before work, or go the gym and then have coffee. On Sundays because I didn’t have to go to work and spent the morning doing photography before having coffee.

Why did I boycott them after years of support you ask?

Simple economics. Overnight their coffee price jumped from R15 to R27.90. At the time of this absurd increase I contacted them to find out what justified it?

Their answer: inflation.

Not a bad answer because everything is going up. At the time South Africa was going through severe loadshedding. This meant lots of time spent running generators and buying fuel to keep your business open.

But almost 100% increase? This while all other coffee serving establishments only put up their prices with perhaps R1 or R2 per cup.

Long story short I was sitting there this morning and thinking about how crazy the world is today. Presidents wanting to be kings. Politicians playing russian roulette with their people’s lives. Loadshedding back in South Africa. It’s sad for people in power to fulfill their own wants and needs over those of their electorate. I’m not up to speed on all the politics of the day but I know an asshole or two when I see them.

With all the negative stuff out of the way, I hope you have a great Sunday : )

PS. I am in the process of setting up my online store where I will be selling some of my photos. If you’re reading this from sunny (with no electricity) South Africa then you are welcome to contact me via my social channels and I can help you to get the print you want set up on a canvas.

The LED light from my phone carves the morning darkness and leaves shadows on my desk. The pen I use to write being mirrored by its shadow counterpart on paper.

Kettle spinning up in the background. It’s excitement will be heard in a few seconds as it starts to whistle at me. High pitched and commanding. A little steam engine on the way to nowhere. After a few minutes the metallic juggernaut is quiet and a warm cup of coffee is my reward.

Another day ahead. Empty and pointless conversations. Back and forth with witty comebacks and discussions on all the troubles which plague us. Makes me realize how ungrateful humans are. The curse of retail. You learn so much about people that you learn too much about them.

Outside the sun hasn’t shown up yet. A sip of coffee. I definitely drink too much of it. But I need it. It’s my vice.

Slow down. listening to Donnie Vincent. he’s saying I should slow down. Perhaps he is right. No, he is right. I am burning myself at both ends. The rat race swallows up everything like a tsunami and spits out survivors.

Writing in the mornings, I love it. I feel it waking me up, invigorating me.

For now, it’s time to brush my teeth. It’s almost time to join the rat race again.”