Free Wallpaper Wednesday - Morning Sunrise

Download 16x9

This week's free Wallpaper is a landscape with Mt Hood, a Hot Air Balloon and a Windmill. There are two versions offered, one is a standard 4x3 for monitors (800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024) and the other is for 16x9 widescreen monitors (1600x900).

Download Standard 4x3

Free Wallpaper Wednesday - Classic Microphone

Download Standard 4x3

This week's free Wallpaper is a beautiful microphone. There are two versions offered, one is a standard 4x3 for monitors (800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024) and the other is for 16x9 widescreen monitors (1600x900).

Download 16x9

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.

The Impact of Giving

Play Me, I'm Yours

A lot has been happening lately, most of which has been good and I want to write about some of it. 


First, there is a really cool event happening around Salem. The event is sponsored by the Salem Chamber Orchestra and is called Play Me, I'm Yours. The event is ongoing through July 23rd. You can learn more about it here:
http://streetpianos.com/salem2012/


They have placed 11 pianos around town at various parks and street corners. One piano is even on the Union Street Walking Bridge. These pianos are left out for anyone to walk up and begin playing. I played my first today at the Minto-Brown dog park. My youngest daughter learned something new about me today; I used to know how to play piano. I played Open Arms, The Rose, some Chopsticks, a little of Für Elise and rounded things up with an untitled piece I wrote back in High School. My daughter looked at me like I was some sort of alien that replaced her dad, apparently she didn't know I knew how to play at one time. 

A better pianist than I

I played for about ten minutes and then moved over for someone more adept at tickling the ivories than I. My ivory ticklers have rusted over after twenty years of not playing.


The concept behind the Play Me campaign is stunningly simply yet so elegant in its delivery, very much a field a dreams without all the baseball references; if you build it, they will come. 


Every piano I have seen, which is only a small fraction of the pianos available, have had someone sitting at them, playing. Sometimes the person is playing alone, sometimes the person is playing to a gathering crowd. But the message for me is clear; Inspire others to share their talents and that inspiration will carry onward.

Strangers Sharing Beautiful Music

My daughter and I copped-a-squat as another lady took over the role of entertainer. We listened as she played Für Elise in its entirety from memory, yup no sheet music. It was magical and error free, unlike my previous rendition.


She moved on to a rather haunting tune I did not know, but loved, from a composer unknown to me. It was moving, melodic and mesmerizing.  After she finished the two songs, she got up and moved on with her dog, who wasn't too patient with her while she played, to do what they came to do; play in the park with other dogs. Their stop at the piano was spontaneous, much like ours, but it was moving. Sharing music with complete strangers for nothing more than the shear joy of playing music is what it was about. Thank you unknown lady and your 12 year old chocolate colored dog. You brought some joy and inspiration to this man, and his eleven year old daughter.

Looks out of place, but sounds right at home

My daughter and I walked the dog walking loop.


We talked about how things were with her and how she was going coping with the concept that her older sister wouldn't be in the same school as her. 


Her answers were exactly what I expected, short and to the point, but I allowed her the time to communicate her joy, her angst and even her middle ground stance on her feelings about things. I counselled her on how to cope and how to see negative things in a more positive light, coaching that was likely more aimed at myself than her. I encouraged her to pursue the things she was excited about. And then the walk was over. 


We stopped back at the piano and enjoyed another round of tunes before heading back home.

A Beautiful Summer Day at Minto-Brown Park

 As I listened to the musical styling of complete strangers I was able to reflect on a recent decision made for my photography club to withdraw from the State Fair. My organization has been a part of the State Fair's photography exhibit for the last two years and was slated to be a part of it this year, until management at the fair made a series of what I believe are bad decisions and subsequent fumbles. I have been personally/professionally involved with the Fair's Photo Exhibit as well; as a judge of the Student/Youth division, a staff member, a presenter and an exhibitor as well. 


So many changes are happening at the fair in the name of budget cuts; unfair things that will end up hurting an aspect of what makes a State Fair a State Fair and not just another carnival rolling into town. It all comes down to your local senate and house representatives making cuts everywhere and even threatening to cut the fair's budget completely which means closing the fair. It doesn't help that that the State Parks department doesn't even like owning the fair; something tossed in their laps by the same Senators and House Reps a few years back.


One of the ways giving can impact you is when the opportunity is removed. When all you want to do is give, but there is nobody willing to receive it; that is difficult for me. I don't have a huge ego, but when I say I want to help and the response is lackadaisical, I move on to find an organization that will snatch me up and put me to work. I like to give for the simple act of giving. I don't need recognition or pats on the back. I do it because at my core I want to make the world a better place. I can do that by giving. But if my offer to help is not received and put into action I am left feeling disappointed.


The decision for our organization to withdraw from the fair was not made lightly and without deep discussion of the facts and possible alternatives. After explaining the situation to the group's leadership and debating the weight of the situation, a unanimous vote was had that it was in the best interest of our organization to withdraw and apply our energies elsewhere. So now we are left with a hole that needs filled and the group's leadership has stepped up to offer some amazing ideas. So we will see what we can do to fill that hole for our group, for the community. Much like the Play Me, I'm Yours event, we are looking to open the door of opportunity for others to share their beautiful talents with the community if for nothing else, to make a complete stranger's day a little brighter.

Luck - The Good and the Bad

Sunset on the Water

Seneca, a first-century Roman philosopher, once said luck is when preparation meets opportunity. That is a great explanation of good luck. Bad luck on the other hand is the cause of one of two things; the lack of opportunity or the lack of preparation. 


I take ownership of my own luck, at least as much as I can. If I am not prepared it is my own fault. That's right, my fault.


If I know there is something that I want to photograph, I make sure sure to do what I can to make myself available to do it. 


Sometimes luck means I have to abandon something else that I want to do, like stay at home and have a quiet evening with my wife. But each and every time, luck requires me to say yes to opportunity when it comes knocking. 


And opportunity knocked on my door yesterday. And I said yes.

Faded Brillance

My friend, and fellow photographer, Liz Smith, called me up yesterday and asked me if I heard about the possible Aurora Borealis happening. I said, "No". 


She asked if I would be interested in going out and shooting it. I said definitely. It has been a goal of mine to just see an Aurora Borealis since I was a kid and learned about them. One of the biggest challenges has been my luck.


See I have spent my entire living at or below the 45th parallel, that is halfway between the North Pole and the Equator, in Oregon. As luck would have it, the Aurora Borealis don't dip down to the 45th parallel very often. 


Another bit of luck is the fact that I live in the state of Oregon. If you are not from around here, there tends to be considerably more overcast days than not here in Oregon. That is not a complaint, but simply an observation supporting my story of luck. I don't complain about the weather like so many others I know. I love cloudy skies during the day because cloudless skies are boring for a photographer.

Starry Sunset

To be an aspiring astrophotographer living in a perpetually overcast state like Oregon usually can be, is sort of bad luck. Being an aspiring astrophotographer looking to photograph the Aurora Borealis and living beneath the 45th parallel is a double tap to the bad side of luck. 


So when opportunity presents itself, even if it is only a thirty percent chance, I jump on it. Thirty percent was the chance that the  Aurora Borealis would be visible at the 45th parallel.


The skies were clear; opportunity. The sun had sent a sizable, M-Class, coronal mass ejection (CME) right at us; opportunity. I made myself available; prepared. I tracked the coming solar storm online; prepared. But alas the Aurora dream would remain such, a dream. 

The Aurora Borealis never made an appearance at the 45th parallel because the CME was not strong enough; no opportunity.


But I didn't let that take away from the beautiful evening and great company of my wife and Liz. 


We even had a surprise encounter with another photographer friend, Nathan Smith and his wife and son, Heather and Noah.


All of us made the best of the Aurora Borealis show, sans the Aurora Borealis, and had a great time and captured some amazing images of sky, both during and after sunset.

In the end the Aurora Borealis never made the opportunity available. But I made some beautiful photographs and shared a beautiful evening with some wonderful friends and my wife. It was a lucky day after all.


Are you prepared? If not; Why not?

Vacation for the Heart and Mind

Inland

Abstraction of Light

This is my 700th blog post. That is a lot of posting. I started my vacation inland taking in the natural beauty the Earth provides with a little help from the Light of Sun.

My goal with this vacation trip was to shoot everything with natural light and my new Vivitar 70-200mm lens. I accomplished those objectives for the most part, using my Tamron 17-50mm lens for only a few landscapes.

The image to the left is an abstraction of light illuminating the leaves of a tree through the forest canopy. This was done intentionally, using the natural light bouncing off the tree leaves and a naturally darker area that fell in the shadow and I moved my camera to create the movement.

Contrast of Light and Dark

Again, using the natural light falling through the forest canopy to allow the light to fall on the subject and leave the background in shadow I was able to capture and isolate the subject.

This is a technique I have been working to master for a couple of years now. Like all things in photography, this technique requires some compromise of others choices, such as composition as the shadowed area might not always be in line with how you may want to compose the image and depth of field with adjustments to the aperture. Another compromise is exposure, in which the subject might not be as brightly lit as you would like due to the low light; see the middle image below as an example.

Delicate Fern

Lightly Lit Leaves

Bloom in Contrast

Ocean Side

Patterns

Heading to the beach, I found natural patterns as well as man-made structures.

The patterns that can be found in the sand are as varied as the fingerprints on the people in the world. All you have to do is look around with an open mind.

 Observing the patterns is as simple as looking at the bigger picture and ignoring the smaller details from the onset. Once I have captured the patterns I then move in and look at the details.

Sand Patterns

The above photograph and the photograph to the right we both shot within ten feet of each other.

Again, just by looking, I was able to find both of these photos. It takes a shift, an intentional shift, in the way I see to be able to see the patterns. It can be difficult. It is a lot like trying to the forest for the trees or trying to see the sailboat in the middle of a poster of patterns of static (popular in the early 90s).

Once the shift happens I start seeing the patterns everywhere. I see the patterns in wood, sand, gravel, asphalt and even in crowds of people. After practicing for years, I can now switch from one mode to another and back again.

It just takes time to develop the ability to switch it over if it doesn't come to you naturally.

Fossil Love

Sandcastles in Triplicate

Metamorphosis

Aquatic Adventures

The sand of time lead to the sea

I have a huge fascination for waves. I will let those images speak for themselves.

Patterns in the Waves

Green Crush

Afternoon Light

Back to Back

 The best way to photograph waves for me is to shoot in the light of the afternoon sun, but that is because I am on the left coast. If I were to be standing at the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, I would shoot early morning, an hour after sunup. This is what helps makes the waves glow.

Aloft

Subjects in the sky are always of interest for me. But I typically don't shoot things that are directly overhead because the underside of a bird isn't as interesting to me as it flying at me.

Goodnight Moon

Burning Sky

Sun Sets on Another Day

And Finally, I love it when subjects in the sky make their way to the ground.

That's all for now. Do yourself a favor, take a few days and find your artist. It is an amazing journey.

4th of July Preview

Close Enough to Taste 

Last night was our night to celebrate our independence with our kids. We invited our good friend Liz and her niece Kiersten over for some homemade pizza and fireworks.

Blinding Flashes

There are so many ways to shoot fireworks. This year I chose to allow the fireworks to do all of the movement.

I placed my camera on the tripod and triggered it with a remote.

Fun and interesting images resulted.

Enjoy the rest of the evening's images below.

Angry Chicken

Star Bursts

Bombs Bursting in Air

Rocket's not-so Red Glare

1/4 Second Exposure

Ground Flowers

Light Painting

Smoke Signals

A Free Texture for the 4th of July

Free CMS Texture

Here it is; a free, full-res texture. Most people seem to like their textures to be monochromatic. I prefer to use color when I want more than just Grit and Grime for textures, which is almost always.

This texture was photographed using a Vivtar 70-200mm Macro lens at f/3.5 and completely out of focus, obviously. Click on the image to the left to download the full resolution image then right click and save it to your personal textures folder.

Here is a sample of using color textures to pop and image. To the right is the original image of my friend and fellow photographer Nathan Smith of SmithFineArt.com.

This was photographed on an overcast, dreary January morning and ample blue-gray light falling on and around the subject. In addition to the natural light, a flash fired off to the left, just out of frame.

The natural surroundings are already very industrial and textured so why would I need to add more?

I didn't need to. But I wanted some color in the back and foregrounds. Nothing too heavy or present, but something subtle but noticeable.

Hence my use of an abstract texture I photographed in my back yard, shooting fall leaves that had fallen on the ground. The colors here are green, yellow and a slight magenta and purple. Green of course was the strongest color of the three.

I hope you enjoy the free texture and keep checking back, as I will add more content weekly.

Old is new again; old is revitalized

Color Abstraction

I am always amazed where a journey can lead me. Even a painful journey through thorns and thistles can lead to a beautiful meadow of wondrous delight.
 
I have officially left Posterous. And while I won't shut it down for technical reasons, I won't post new content there any longer.

I moved my site to Posterous almost two years ago, for two reasons; as a part of my brand re-imaging and because of the native social media plugins for marketing. It was commonly believed, by me at least, that a professional photographer couldn't market him or herself using a free blogging tool with such limited capacity. So I made the switch to a free blogging tool with more capacity in some aspect and more limited in others.

Well, I am not marketing myself any longer, at least not for the wedding/portrait/product photography business plan I was planning two years ago. In the course of the last two years I learned several profound things, well at least profound to me. First; I am an artist. I am not just a photographer. I am a painter. I am a poet. I am a writer. I am a photographer. I am an artist. Second; I can't market myself to save a fledgling career. There was a lot of self sabotage in the marketing arena, a huge chip on my shoulder that prevented me from excelling and a Titanic quantity of baggage from my past left buried that surfaced. There was some obstacles I was unable to overcome by myself, such as how to get past the local market's desire to get everything they can for free, or next at least next to nothing as well.

Oregon Summer

So after much postulating, I posed myself this question; Why are you staying with Posterous? I didn't have an answer. Rather than beat Posterous about the head and shoulders let me explain my move back to Google's blog engine in a positive manner. I have more creative control over the content, layout and general look and feel of the site using the Google blogging engine. Notice the varying alignment of the images in this posting? I wasn't able to figure out how to do that using Posterous without editing the HTML of each post and wanted to focus more on content than writing HTML code to make it work. Google makes layout so simple. A click here, a click there and boom; done.  

To be honest, I have missed Google since leaving, which is why I never shut this down. I am a control freak when it comes to displaying my work and Google lets my freak fly like no other.

Another change that has happened recently is that my 300mm macro lens bit the dust. I was sad as hell about that. But, never fear. Mike out at Focal Point in Dallas, Oregon hooked a brother up. I got this old, heavy, 100% metal Vivitar lens that is 100% manual (focus and aperture), but I could not be happier with the lens or the service Mike always gives. Thank Mike for being simply the best!

The lens is a 70-200mm macro. And just to prove it's image quality, the three images in this post were made with this lens tonight. Photographed at 6:20 PM in the waning, overcast light of a dreary day (hence the raindrops over everything).

So there you have it; old is new again. My blogging site of choice is Goggle and it is good to be back home. Old is revitalized. My new-to-me 1980s Vivitar lens is finding new life after being stored in a bin for who knows how long.

It is good to be home again, making art like I did in the old days; circa 2010.