Cloud Formation

Remember the days as a kid spent laying on your back watching the clouds blow by? Those were the days! Not a worry in the world. Just kick back and enjoy the summer. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days. And then I think again. I like where I am and where I am headed, so I guess I wouldn’t change a thing. Life is good.

Photography is my outlet. I say what I feel through my images. I have learned to manipulate the camera to capture feelings along with the image, or should I say embed in the image. To some viewers, it may just be a picture, but to others it exudes feeling and meaning. This happens because I shoot from the heart. I don’t think when I photograph, I feel. I have tried to make technique a part of my nature so I do not have to think about it when I photograph. It comes naturally. I focus now on interpretation of a scene. I find that if I think too much, then I end up with boring images that have no meaning, to me or anyone else.

Learning technique takes time. It takes practice. I remember taking a Zone System class in college. Everyone seemed to hate it because it was too technical. It did not allow for the art to come through. It was difficult and grueling. We photographed towels and analyzed the density of the film and prints. It was boring. I stuck to it and learned. It was all about technique. Looking back, I don’t think that I learned more in any other class or workshop that I have taken since. That class is where technique became second nature for me. It allowed the art within me to be released. As a landscape photographer that is critical if I want my images to have meaning.

I guess what I am saying is this:
Learn the technique.
Pay the price (time and practice).
Enjoy the result.

Rising Mist, Stanley Lake

The cool summer mornings at Stanley Lake are quite refreshing. There is nothing better for cleansing the mind and getting a fresh start. It seems that when I get out like this I can put the stresses of life behind me and just enjoy the beauty that this world has to offer. When returning home I am then ready to tackle the challenges thrown my way.

When out in the wilderness, I like to arise long before sunrise to get ready for the day. I will then photograph the sunrise, return to camp to cook breakfast for the family and then spend the day hiking and fishing, making sure to be back about an hour before sunset to photograph again. It makes for a perfect day! I only wish every day could be as good. This particular morning I didn’t even have to leave camp to make this image. The sun had just come over the horizon as this fisherman headed out from the dock. Beautiful morning light and a little mist rising from the water. I couldn’t have asked for much more. Because I stayed around camp, the kids got an earlier than usual breakfast. Everyone were happy campers that morning!

Bread Loaf Rock, City of Rocks

We have some great opportunities for landscape photography in Idaho. City of Rocks is just one of many locations with unique landscape characteristics that make for an exciting morning of photography. This area is filled with rock climbers, as the face of the rocks make for some challenging climbing routes. I prefer photographing without much human element, so fortunately for me, most of the climbers were still eating breakfast while I was out in the field making images.

This image of Bread Loaves was taken just as I was finishing up for the day, and the rock climbers were just starting to find their routes up the face of the rocks. Early mornings, just as the sun rises is a great time for photography, but about an hour past sunrise the light becomes harsh and the scenes have less appeal to me. The soft, moody light diminishes quickly as the sun rises in the sky, and although we can still look and see the beauty, capturing it in camera becomes a greater challenge. The sky, here, was totally clear and cloud free, which made for a simple background for the monolith protruding from the ground. Clouds, I think would have been a distraction.

Shoshone Falls

I like using different formats for my photographs. I know some photographers believe that one should always shoot “full frame,” but not me. Why should I let a camera manufacturer dictate the aspect ratio that my photographs should be? I feel that the photographer should be in control of the entire process, including final cropping. When a particular image would be best as a square, then make it square, if rectangle is best, then do that, and sometimes a panoramic format work best. I have shot with a 4×5 view camera quite a bit, but I really don’t like that format full frame. I often will crop the top and bottom 3/4 inch off to make it closer to 3×5. I find that a much more appealing format. I have been photographing that way off and on now for 25 years and I still like it.

One thing that I do believe in is to determine the crop before making the exposure. Previsualization is key. A great photographer will know at the time of exposure what he/she wants the finished piece to look like and knows how to get it. This applies not only to the cropping, but to the final look and feel of the image as well.

Digital photography has changed how I capture images, but it has not changed my vision much. I have had to learn new techniques, but only to the extent of enhancing my vision. The concept of previsualization is a hard one for many of my student to catch on to. With digital cameras offering instant feedback, the new philosophy is to shoot a thousand images and when then when editing, we are sure to find a good one. This thought process destroys the ability to make truly thoughtful art. It is not about creating meaningful images anymore, just pretty pictures. This way of thinking and creating is definitely not for me.

Horizon, Seaside, Oregon

Here is a sneak peek into a new portfolio that I am currently working on. Entitled Horizons, the images are all seascapes made in an abstract sort of way. The power, beauty and motion of the sea are somewhat overshadowed by the horizon line, the only truly sharp area of the photographs.

This series started as a fun diversion from my more traditional landscape photography work. As I photographed more and more, I developed a love for the feeling portrayed in these images. Now, every chance I get to be at the ocean I am there, camera in hand. I have always loved capturing motion with still images, but that love has developed into a real passion while working on this portfolio. There is something very captivating about the ocean. Watching the movement and power of the waves is mesmerizing. I could sit and watch this motion for hours and never tire of it.

The effects of motion in this series is all captured in camera. none of the effects are made in post production. Slight tonal adjustments are the only things accomplished after capture. I am a firm believer in using the camera to make photographs, not Photoshop. To accomplish this task successfully, one must master the technical aspects of the camera, an art that is becoming lost in today’s world.

Rock and Water

I love the ocean, and one of my favorite places to visit the ocean is along the Oregon coast. The opportunities for incredible photographs are endless. It makes no difference what the weather is like, imaging opportunities are abundant. The variety of coastline scenery is unreal. You can walk from the sandy beach to tidepools to rocky outcroppings to a rain forest in just a matter of minutes. I don’t think I could ever get bored.

One evening while watching the sun set in the western sky, I began watching the waves wash in over the rocks near the beach. The water would come in and wash over the rocks and then flow back out to the sea. It was quite mesmerizing. As I sat and watched, I turned my lens away from the sunset and began photographing the water. Capturing the motion of the water made the rocks appear soft and pliable. The water became almost a mist, a cloud upon which the heavy rocks floated. Instead of the feeling of hard, heavy, black stones, a light and airy feeling prevailed. I liked that. It emulated my feelings at the time. I was in one of the most beautiful places on the planet, sharing time with my wonderful wife and creating photographs. What could be better?

Not much.

Sunset, Melba, Idaho

A sunset is not just about the sunset. While the color is what pulls us in, there must also be something to hold our attention. I am always searching for that “something.” It can be in the foreground, it could be the horizon line, maybe an interesting silhouette or maybe some birds. Just about anything of interest works.

In this image, there are a couple of things that are going for it. It starts with the faint vertical lines of plowed rows in the field, met by a band of mist rising from the moist soil. The horizon line, not just a straight, flat line, but one with character, rising and falling as you move across it, then met abruptly by a single bush to stop your eye for a brief moment. Without the bush, I think the image is kind of weak, but with it, well, it makes all the difference.

Another lesson on being ready for anything was taught me the evening this was made. Christeena and I were parked along Southside Blvd. waiting for the Melba fireworks display when this scene came to view just across the street. I had to walk just a bit to find the right perspective to shoot from, but I was ready. Instead of just focusing on where the fireworks would be coming from, I kept an open mind to anything that might present itself. I did miss the first few fireworks while working this scene, but I don’t regret that at all. I have learned that if I am ready, many possibilities will present themselves. All I must do is recognize them and be ready to interpret and capture them.

Clouds #16

In landscape photography, clouds can be a very big asset. Clouds affect the background area of the image, they affect light quality, and sometimes they can be the entire subject of the image. I love chasing storms in search of the perfect clouds. I have learned to create images with or without them, but my preference is always to have them.

One particular summer afternoon I didn’t even have to go in search of them, they came to me! I notice from inside the house that the light was changing, and so I went outside to check it out and as I looked up I saw some of the most incredible cloud formations I had ever seen. The clouds became my subject that afternoon. I put on my 200mm lens and began photographing smaller sections of the cloud formations instead of using the usual wide angle lens to capture the whole sky. Everything in the viewfinder became abstract. Some images, like the one above appeared to be inverted as well as having the appearance of having been shot from above. I had a great time exploring nature in my front yard that afternoon. It is a wonderful experience to create images while right at home.

The Rock

There are photographs everywhere just waiting to be created. Many times we are too focused on the big picture that we fail to see the details, when the details can be just as interesting, or sometimes even more interesting than what we see. We must train ourselves to slow down and become observant of our surroundings.

One afternoon I went on a hike with a couple of my boys to Bridal Veil Falls. I had made this hike on several occasions previously and had walked over/through this particular stream and never thought anything of it. However, on this hike, I stopped to check out some wild berry bushes and while looking I happen to look down in the stream and noticed the interesting color of rocks beneath the surface of the crystal clear water. This one stone seemed to stand out from the rest, so I photographed it. It is a reminder to me that I must make a conscious effort to really explore my surroundings. Life is much more enjoyable this way, and I often find new subjects to photograph as a bonus!

Yankee Fork

On one of our trips to Stanley, Idaho, we went up to the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge. On the way back down we stopped here to do some fishing in the rain. The fishing was really slow, so I began looking for photography opportunities. When the clouds broke just a bit, this view opened up. The low lying clouds hovering over the mountains is what first caught my attention. I had been struggling all day to find something to photograph, as the destruction of the landscape caused by the dredging operation was everywhere in view. From this view, most of the destruction is hid from view, and the tailings on the right side are beginning to be covered in new growth, somewhat concealing them. It amazes me what damage was done during this mining operation and the years it has taken for recovery to start happening. I hope man has learned to preserve the beauty that exists in the world around us.