Friday, August 31, 2012

Free Texture Friday - Dark Sand Pattern

This week's free texture is dark sand patterns.

You can download the full-res version below.

This photograph was captured at Beverly Beach State Park along the beautiful Oregon coast.







Download Full-Res Here

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

My time machine

My Second Cousin Claudia
 I went through a couple of old photo books and was inspired by what I found.

Photography is a type of time machine. Through photographs we can go back in time. We can revisit our past. We can relive the memories of our youth.

Sometimes we can go far enough back to see things that were before we were.

To the left is my second cousin Claudia.
Private Jesse Hope 

My grandpa served in the Korean War. He was tank driver. He told me very select stories about his time over there. Most of his stories about his time in Korea weren't about the war, but one story he shared with me was about the war.

He told me about how cold Korea got in the winter. The average temperature in Seoul in January was 20 degrees Fahrenheit. He went on to explain how many times he, and other tank drivers, would have to strap dead, frozen soldiers to his tank and carry them from the battle field to next checkpoint.

I was horrified by the story and as a result, have had a very concise view of the realities of war. After hearing that story, I found a new appreciation of the show M.A.S.H. Some of the more serious episodes, the ones that dealt with the pain and death during war time really hit me emotionally. I had forgotten that emotional response until I went to the theater and watched Saving Private Ryan. There is nothing glorious about war. There is nothing romantic about war. War is brutal. War is violent. War is horrifying. Do you see the hardened look in his eyes? He is 19 years old in this photo. 19 years old and hardened by the horrors of war. For better or worse, war changes a man.

Me at 2 years old
You don't see these on rooftops any more















My childhood was captured through annual photos and everyday shooting opportunities.

Top left, me when I was young kid, unaware of the life before me. Above before the days of satellite dishes, when cable television was only for the rich, TV was brought to you via rooftop antennae. My kids have no understanding of the purpose of these metal contraptions.

Fishing for cat fish outside of Bethal Missouri
Me and my great uncle Marvin
After my freshman year in high school I took a trip with my mom to Iowa and spent two weeks with my great uncle Marvin. Most of the trip was my mom picking Uncle Marvin's brain for family history, traveling to various cemeteries and old family houses. I had a blast though. I learned a lot about my heritage and saw some cool locations. Above left, was a taken at a private lake where we fished for cat fish. The long socks were not a fashion statement, I have always preferred short socks. No these socks were to protect me from Chiggers. It worked. My mom wasn't so lucky.

Above right is my Uncle Marvin and I standing in front of the house of my grandpa's childhood. This is the location that I found the 1930's Pepsi Cola bottle, which I still have. This bottle could have been drank by my grandpa, Uncle Marvin or their parents.

Trona Pinnacles, Mojave Desert, California
Photographs give us a window into the past, a visual wormhole, time and again, to view what has passed.

Keep capturing those memories.

Keep collecting those memories.

Scan those old photos.

Print your photos and put them in an album or make a book using Blurb.com.

Revisit them frequently.

Talk about them with family.

Pass them on to your kids.

You and your memories will live on through your photographs generations after you have passed and your kids, grand kids and great-grand kids will cherish your efforts.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Free Texture Friday - Birds of a Feather


This week's free texture is birds on white.

You can download the full-res version below.

This photograph was captured at a pioneer cemetery in the Willamette Valley countryside.

Download Full-Res Here

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Recovery

Natural Light Black and White
A year ago began a difficult time for me. I went through a rough emotional patch as I opened myself up to working through some emotional baggage.

To add to the emotional journey, my artistic path was a crumbled mess as my artistic career was ended before it had a chance to begin.

I was angry. Angry at my failure. Angry at who I became. Angry about where I was at the time.

I was sad. I was sad about where I my relationships were. Sad for myself.

I was depressed. Not like common everyday sad. Nope, I was in a deep dark hole that was spiraling out of control.

I shut down. I walked away from just about everything I once loved. I was a shell of the man I was the year before.

I made some bad choices that negatively affected many around me, causing those people to remove themselves from the situation; in many cases, rightfully so. I don't hold grudges against them and understand their self-preservation motives.

But what many of my friends didn't see was I was afraid. I saw myself falling away. I saw what I thought my dreams were falling into the abyss. I saw myself turning on myself; hating myself for my failure. One of the last poems I wrote, dated August 23rd of last year was this poem.

The artist lied
In the dreams that were dreamed
In the hopes that were hoped
In the words that were worded
False bravado of a weak spirit
The artist ran
When the rough got rougher
When the lows got lower
When the hard got harder
Real cowardice of a weak mind
The artist hid
From the scariest of scaries
From the challenge of challenges
From the liveliest of lives
Failure to see the reality of reality
The artist died
When the walls got too high
When the view got too grey
When the light got too dark
Selfish suicide of a creative mind
The artist transformed
Now a clone without a soul
Now a drone without a heart
Now a dancer without legs
Codependent in life he moves
That poem summed up my frame of mind at the time. I dealt with those feelings, those self images for several months. I was in a self-centered, self-propelling crash course to self-destruction.
A new path
Once fall moved in I began getting my shit together. I refocused on what was important to me. 

I worked on making my marriage strong again. 

I worked on making my relationship with my kids strong again. 

I worked on making myself capable of doing what was needed to provide for my family while continuing to create.

I refocused myself. I focused myself back on giving. Giving back to my community. Giving back to my friends.

I refocused myself. I focused myself back on teaching. Teaching others to create for themselves.

 I refocused myself. I focused on creating for the pure sake of creating. No monetary agendas. 

Creating is what is important to me; it always has been. Creating is the core of who I have always been. I had forgotten that. I had forsaken that. I had stopped creating altogether because I couldn't get paid for it. I had turned myself into a whore; a whore who couldn't make a living doing it.

Forsaking what is true about you is one of the most self-destructive things a person can do. When you aren't true to yourself, your confidence waivers, your presence becomes false and your soul dies. People see that; they feel it when they are around. 

Play Me, I'm Yours
It took a long time to find myself again. I am still on the road to finding myself; reinventing myself. It isn't an easy road, but being true to myself allows me to accomplish whatever it is I set my mind to.

I work during the day to support my family. I accept that it is a banal part of life. So I try to balance that with the things I love.

I create at home.

I never got around to dealing with the emotional baggage I carried, but maybe I am not supposed to. Maybe that baggage is what drives me to be who I am. Maybe that baggage helps keep me grounded. Maybe baggage isn't all bad all the time.

I have my friends to thank for getting through the rough patches of the last year. I have my wife to thank for getting me through the last year. She was very patient and understanding even when she didn't know what to do for me.


For the sake of creating
This blog went though a dark period a year ago. It is not something I am proud of, but it is something that will remain on the blog. It may be dark, but it is truth.

Today this blog is used to share the joy of creating. It is used to inspire others. I don't make money doing this. My intent is share and educate others. My intent is to give.

The image on the left was taken a few weeks ago during an outing with my photography club. One of our members hosted a late night shooting event for the Perseid Meteor Shower. 

I took this image with no monetary intent. I simply saw something beautiful and wanted to capture it for the pure sake of making a beautiful image of a beautiful subject. 

I hope there is one thing that I share with my readers above all other things. Whether you are a pro, amateur, hobbyist, or somewhere in between, create for yourself. Just make time to create for you. 

This is who I am at my core and it is starting to show again.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Free Texture Friday - Wood Grain


This week's free texture is old wood grain.

You can download the full-res version below.

This photograph was captured from Fogerty Creek State Park along the beautiful Oregon coast.







Download Full Res Image

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Shooting for the Stars

An hour before sunset
August is a great month for photographing stars and other celestial objects, especially here in Oregon.

This post is an introduction to photographing the stars and celestial events.

Equipment List:

  • Camera
  • Tripod
  • Wide angle lens (less than 30mm)
  • Remote shutter release
  • Flash light 

The first thing you need to do is find a location away from the lights of the cities. Even a small town, 350 people or less, can generate enough light pollution to wash away any chance of seeing and capturing decent star fields.

Ideally, your location will be hundreds of miles from the nearest town, but unless you live in the middle of the Mojave Desert, say Death Valley, this isn't likely. So find a location that is as remote as possible, ocean beaches away from large populations area  good choice.


The Beauty of Death
The next thing you need to do is to arrive early, a least an hour before sunset.

This is a great opportunity to capture some golden hour images of interesting subjects. But more importantly this allows you investigate the area during daylight hours to find your location to shoot from.

Look for spots that don't have too many objects in the field of view. Ponds, fields, distant hills, farm equipment and trees in the distance are great subjects to add to the impact of and give scale to vast expanse of the sky.

Don't expect much star action to show up until an hour after sunset. Two hours is better. Bring a book to read. Photograph other things. Find something to do to blow the two hours you will wait.

277 seconds, ISO 100 - Not Long Enough
The secret to photographing the stars is to take a minimalist approach. Place the horizon as low as possible in the frame, but keep the horizon in the frame to anchor the image. The stars by themselves are pretty boring, little white dots on a black or blackish screen can be as boring as connect-the-dots and no pencil.

Much like the Ying-Yang, one can appreciate the light only because of the dark. One can appreciate the beauty only because of the ugly. The horizon as an anchor allows to appreciate the infinite expanse of the universe by grounding it to the finite world we live on. As a point of note; too much horizon, having the horizon too close to the center of the frame narrows the view of the sky, eliminating the impact.

33 seconds at ISO 3200 - Exposing the Sky
When exposing the sky, there are two different methods I use; High ISO/Fast Shutter and Low ISO/Slow Shutter. In either case I use a remote shutter release.

My typical camera settings are as follows:

  • Camera Mode: Manual
  • Shutter: Bulb Mode
  • Aperture f/3.5 or lower if possible
  • ISO: Depends
If I am trying to capture the star field, or even the Milky Way, it is  important to have the shutter be fast. By fast I mean at about 20 seconds. Anything longer than 20 seconds will lead to blurring of the stars. Remember, the world keeps turning so the stars position in the sky are always shifting as you will see in the images below. The image to the right was shot at 33 seconds. The image above-left was 277 seconds.

To capture all of the stars possible in twenty seconds means having to jack my ISO up high. For this type of shot, above-right, I typically use ISO 3200. You can see the number of stars captured is greatly improved over the image shot at 277 seconds using ISO 100.

18 Minutes at ISO 100.
1127 seconds sounds like a long time. It is a very long time when you are waiting for a photograph to be taken. 18 minutes can last an eternity. Einstein was right; time is relative.

Because the ISO was set so low, only the brightest of stars make an appearance in the star trails. Look again at the image exposed for 33 seconds, above, at ISO 3200. Look at the shear number of stars. The image to the left is the exact same scene, but because the ISO is only 100 the number of stars present are limited to only the brightest.

I could shoot a long exposure at ISO 320, but the light at the horizon, city lights from a small town 30 miles away, would have exposed the entire scene white. That is the issue with light pollution. The more remote you can get, the more you can play with higher ISO scenes.

http://www.astro-observer.com/dark/lpmapusa.html This is a link to a map of light pollution is the United States. Unless you can get to one of the black areas on the map, you will have to deal with light pollution.

30 Minutes at ISO 100
The longer you expose the more chance you have of capturing other objects in the sky, such as airplanes and occasionally even a satellite, if it is bright enough.

In the case of the image on the right, the stars are uniformly making the same pattern in the sky. There is one particularly bright anomaly. Welcome to the Perseid Meteor Showers.

Capturing events like the Perseid Meteor Shower is one part being prepared and one part being lucky.

If a meteor is flashing in front of camera during exposure, you are lucky. If it is bright enough to to be captured you are lucky, unless your ISO is higher than 100.

Be patient. Experiment. Have fun.

I would like to thank my friend Janeen for hosting this interstellar kegger. She was a wonderful host to our ragtag band of photographers.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Free Texture Friday - Clouds

This week's free texture is a little cloud-porn.

You can download the full-res version below.

This photograph was captured from a commercial jet during the approach coming into Chicago's O'Hare airport using a Kodak Z-740.







 Download Full Res Image


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Use your photos to make a video


Making a video from your photos is easy and fun to do. It is also a great way to present your work in a fresh and exciting way. Here is the disclaimer; I don't know Mac, so you Mac folks should look for a tutorial on how to do this with iMovie or whatever app you may use in the Mac world.

In the world of PC we have Windows Live Movie Maker which is part of the Windows 7, free. Movie Maker is easy to use with a drag and drop interface and single click application of transition animations and custom timing for image transitions. When used in combination with Windows Live DVD Maker you can create wonderful imagery to display on your television as well.

There are several things to consider when making your movies;

Select music that helps communicate the message of your imagery. Marilyn Manson might not be the best choice for tribute to grandma on her 99th birthday and the Hee Haw theme song wouldn't likely be the best choice for nine year old's birthday.

Time the transitions from one image to another image to the rhythm of the music. Listen to the music as a series of phrases. When a new phrase begins, an image transition would fit there.

Use music appropriate to the target destination. If you are simply going to play the video in your home, you can use any song you like. But if you upload a video to youtube with copyrighted music, youtube will remove it and replace it with its own music. All music is copyrighted by the way. Many sites sell songs for use like this.

I will be putting together a low cost workshop soon for how to get the most out of this display option soon. Possibly in October.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Abstracting the world one frame at a time

The World Out Of Focus
I am a man of various artistic styles. Much like my music, I like various styles of art. My music playlist can go from Metallica to Sia to Johnny Cash to Dr. Dre to The Sex Pistols to The Doors to Bobby McFarin to Marilyn Manson to Eminem to Etta James. I just don't like modern country. My taste in art is just as varied, and oddly enough, I just don't like most modern art.

Light Blooms
One of my favorite forms of art to create with my camera is abstract by finding the patterns with movement and de-focusing.

It isn't an accident when I make this form of art. It is done through intentional motion and focus shifting.

This doesn't work with just any subject or lighting conditions.

It also doesn't work with just any motion of the camera.

This is a skill I have spent years developing through experimentation.

I know that a lot of people joke about a blurry image is simply fine art. But this is not what my pieces are about.

In this post I am going to share some secrets about what my subjects consist of and how I go about shooting them.

Earth and Fire
When looking for a subject it is important to look for a couple of traits; colors that contrast and compliment.

Yellows on darker green, red or blue work well while yellow on orange would simply not provide enough contrast between the colors. The colors should contrast enough that there is definitive clarity between the two colors.

Because yellow and orange are close in color values, the same side of the color wheel, they don't work. Instead, red and yellow or blue and yellow combinations are great examples because they are on opposite or near opposite sides of the wheel. Red and blue could work, but both tend to be darker tones so the contrast might be nullified if you are aren't careful. Flowers and multicolored lights, like Christmas are some of the easiest to work with.

Fanning the Flames
The next thing to look for is light contrast.

Bright sunlight can work well but only if the subject, the primary color, is lit by sunlight and the background is in shadow.

Flat light, like an overcast day, does not work. When abstracting, a flat light source equals a flat image with no contrast.

The image on the left is a shot of some bright yellow flowers in the sun while the background is in shadow and obviously a mix of more yellow flowers and green.

Motion
Next is motion.

Depending on the lens you are using, movement ranges may vary, but the movements themselves will remain similar.

Horizontal movements can create a panning effect, while vertical movements can create a sense of rising or falling.

Circular movements create different effects than linear line movements. Experiments with movement will expose more about what works and what doesn't work for a given scene.

A longer shutter speed can capture a more movement, but also captures more light increasing the risk of over exposure. This risk can be compensated with a smaller aperture or lower ISO.

Movements are impacted by focal length as well. A longer focal length, like 200mm, exaggerates movement more than 50mm naturally. Therefore a 200mm lens requires less movement to obtain the the same effect than a 50mm lens. In the same way, but backwards, a 10mm lens would require more movement to obtain the same effect than a 50mm would. Generally big movements create sweeping patterns while small movements create tight patterns.

This should give you the basic tools you need to start abstracting with purpose. As you practice, by using these tools you will learn more about what works and what doesn't. So get out there and start abstracting the world around you.