As Summer Rolls Away

Haunted World

Oh.... Can you feel it in the air? The untimely of demise of summer? Could it be? Could fall be quickly approaching with all of its glorious colors and cooler weather?

While I am not ready for the sun to disappear behind the gray veil of nature's soft box, I am ready to embrace colors other than green and blue.

A couple of weeks ago I spent the morning with a local painter, James McDonald and his upcoming artistic daughter. I observed their techniques and styles as well as their approach to capturing a scene. It is refreshing to see how another not only interprets a scene, but also how they translate that interpretation to the canvas.

Swinging in the Past

 As my daughter swung on a swing at the park, I watched her and how her body interacted with the light. I have hundreds of photos of my kids in swings, so I wanted to look for something else.

What I found was her shadow on the ground. The curvature of her feet in relation to the relative symmetry of her hands, arms and torso. I found it intriguing.

I am often drawn to the shadows and usually love what I find there.

 The next two photos are fun additions to my world of abstracts.

In the right photograph I have captured the greens and yellows of the tree tops.

The bottom image is the vertical shift while focusing on the lush landscape. A slow shift of the lens allows some detail to remain throughout the shift.

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.

A day out...

I spent the morning and early afternoon out and about with Nathan Smith of SmithFineArt. This activity is really the best therapy for a creative lull. A short drive to a location I have driven by dozens of times in the last few years, but never stopped has opened my eyes again to the value of simply stopping once in a while and taking in the sights, even if nothing is apparently there because a little look below the surface can expose a treasure-trove of beautiful sights.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Thanks again Nathan for a fun and creative afternoon. 

An old photographer is never dead, he's just over exposed

Going through a temporary creative lull, so nothing to witty to write about at this time. Just going to share a little bit of my recent work I did as a result having cabin fever.

See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

 

My Photography Influences - Who Inspires and Motivate Me

About a year ago I took a course called the Artist's Way. The course was modified for photographers and the participants were all photographers. The course opened many joyful and painful doors me and helped achieve a goal I had as well as helped establish some great creative growth habits which I still employ to this day. In the end it, while it helped me grow and overcome some of my own personal road blocks, but it didn't appear to have a lot of influence on my work. if I had to do it over again would I? Yes I would. I would take it for the first again in heart beat. Would I recommend it to someone else? Yes I would, with the advice, "If you are wanting to overcome your creative bad habits, this course is for you."

Even before I took the course there were several guys I worked with regularly and continue to do so today. These guys always were and remain my greatest creative influences. We all shoot different things for the most part. While my primary focus is fine art photography, two of them primarily shoot sports and portraits. The other two are focused more on portraits and weddings and into a fine art realm. I thought that I would share a little about each of these characters I call artists, collaborators and least of all, friends.
I can't start this list off without first touching base on the person who really encouraged me to pursue photography. The person who really sparked my photography lifestyle was a good friend named Shawn Soderstrom.

Sadly Shawn and I don't see each other nearly as often as I would like to as our paths in life took two different directions. I greatly admire and respect him for the person he is and look forward to the day our paths can cross more frequently. He was one of the biggest encouraging influences I had when I first started experimenting with my camera. He even loaned me his spare DSLR for six months, until I bought my own. 

I cannot say how much his influence is represented in much of my work, even today. Thank you Shawn for the friendship. I miss you my friend and hope to start shooting with you more frequently... soon.

I will start with Chris Sabato, simply because I have only one photo of him. He isn't in front of the camera nearly as often as he is behind it.

Chris is an accomplished sports photographer who also plays a little in the portrait arena. He is energetic, geeky (in a good way), and always fun to have on the scene. Chris has a habit of standing over another photographer's shoulder using a 300mm or 400mm lens, shooting the scene. We have termed this "Sabatomized", as in, "Looks like Nathan is being Sabatomized." I haven't been able to collaborate with Chris for a few months, but he is always active. Check out his work on his website. The influence Chris brings is his eye for detail and seeing things that many others do not. Chris is a wonderful storyteller with his photography, hence one of his photos winning the People's Choice Award in 2010 at the Salon of Photography showing. 

Next up is Michael Conkey.

Michael is, if nothing else, a character. But is still so much more. Michael's passion is sports photography, and also does some portrait work as well. If you ever have a question about beer, Michael can likely answer it. I would say that he is a beer enthusiast, but that would be like calling Rusty Wallace a driving enthusiast  Recently he started letting his beard grow out, hence the shots above, and we have been having some fun with it, the beard that is. Michael really influences me in his willingness to do just about anything for the sake of fun and creating artful images.

Chris David, what can be said about him that hasn't already been said? He is an amazing family man, dedicated father and husband. Oh and he has something like 25 kids, actually I think it's really 8, but I can never keep count because they never stop moving.

As a result of his family oriented nature his passion is for photographing families with a little leaning into sports as he shoots Roller Derby for the local league which his wife is a roller in. Chris's influence on me is his meticulous nature when he is creating. From making sure the scene is dead on to making his lighting is right where he wants it, Chris nails the details and that inspires me.

Chris is also very personable, something I lacked just a few years ago. He is a behavioral expect of some sort, but has taught me so much on how to interact with people that I have just met. He is also quite comfortable in his own skin, and that rubs off quickly on others. Check out his work on his site, linked above.

Nathan Smith is a portrait photographer, with a strong lean into fine art.

Nathan is a creative genius that brings a ton of energy to everything he does. Nathan has some fantastic creative bursts that he shares with everyone and loves to see others succeed. He is also geek, but Mac geek, although we don't hold that against him. Nathan has influenced me in many ways, primarily in his get out and shoot it attitude. He also shares his creative exuberance and deep technical knowledge so freely with just about anyone who asks. The way his creative mind works enthralls me and keeps me thinking on my toes both on and off the set. Check out is work on his site, linked above.

Last but not least, is my wife, no photo included. She is the creative ground to my artistic side. She gives me simple but honest feedback on my work. She keeps me honest in my own work and encourages me to pursue my dreams. She is my life and love and I can't say anything more than that. No photos, because if she ever did look at this site, she would kill me, the only thing she hates more than her photo taken is to have shared.

I want to close this by saying thank you to all of them for everything they do, day in and day out. And while some of us may go months without working together or even seeing each other, when we do get together, it feels like no time has passed at all. Thank you guys. I value your friendships and your passions. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to get to know each of you.