It is about the Light!

     What makes for an interesting picture?  Shape, form, composition, subject, contrast...  It is all of these things, yet even more important at times is the quality of the light.  The light defines how the image is perceived.  The following two pictures have the same composition of the same subject, yet they are two completely different images.

Rock Pile and Trees;  Hayman Fire scar,  2018 - week 15

Sunny Rock Pile and Trees;  Hayman Fire scar,  2018 - week 15

     Yes it may come down to personal preferences,  yet I do prefer to work in the sunlight for landscapes, and spend the extra time working on the contrast levels.  It is no wonder why landscape photographers always seem to be waiting for the light...

A Series in Sixes

     Sometimes I can get caught up in a project that I am working on to the point that I can loose track of what I am trying to communicate.  So the exercise proposed by Brooks Jensen the editor of Lenswork is refreshing.  He proposes a short story style project where you have only six images to tell your story.  No more and no less, exactly six images...

     So here is my first possible submission along these lines.  Yes I may trade an image or two out, as I have until June before they are due.  The refinement of vision and thus story is the challenge. And yes, there is a hard deadline to be meet.

A Foreshadowing,  2018 - week 14

Writ of Execution,  2018 - week 14

#497, 498, 500 and 499,  2018 - week 14

The Path in Passing,  2018 - week 14

Doomed,  2018 - week 14

No Future Here,  2018 - week 14

     The titles tell the story...

     These images are all from one morning photography session with my 8x10.  The location is Chatfield State Park here in Colorado.  It is amazing how things can sometimes come together!

Getting it Right

     The first attempt for this week was a dud...  I was going to get out and try again.  Still had some wind to deal with, but I am fairly stubborn. 

Burnt Tree, Hayman Burn scar (angle 1), 2018 - week 13

     Waiting for calm, and the clouds moving through I photographed three different angles of this wonderful tree standing as a monument to what existed before the fire.  It has been 15 years, and nothing seems to be growing back.

Burnt Tree, Hayman Burn scar (angle 2), 2018 - week 13

Burnt Tree, Hayman Burn scar (angle 3), 2018 - week 13

     There is still a lot of beauty there despite mankind's stupid acts.  I will continue to explore this region as nature's monuments are truly delightful.

One of those days...

     There are those days that no matter what you hope for or have in the works, they don't go as planned.  Around here in Colorado, it is usually the weather that causes so many things to "go south" so to speak.  My friend Lloyd and I were going to spend the afternoon on the plains east of Colorado Springs exploring and photographing what ever we found.  At least that was the plan...

     And for the most part, the only person I can blame is myself.  Guess who forgot to put his tripod in the car?  I did not discover this until I was getting ready to set the camera up, over a hundred miles from home.  That was the killer, as there is no way to get a decent image while hand holding my 8x10.

     It took a while for me to get over it, but I did.  No photography for me that day.

     Still it worked out to be a great day exploring some very beautiful country.  Focused more on exploring, and seeing, as well as the great company.   Nothing was wasted, and Lloyd and I will return to get those images one of these days...  Also learned that they build those big wind generators out there for a reason!  There is always some wind.  So maybe the tripod didn't matter after all.

     My totally accidental image from the day, taken while putting my phone away. I actually like it, except for the foot in the picture.  Mine of course...

Around the House 2: Flowers

     I have been very blessed in that I have lots of things around the house to photograph.  I also have a large selection of plants including several orchids.  These orchids bloom almost year round thanks to my wife's ability to care for them.  They sit in our front room and taunt me with a beauty that I have found challenging, to say the least, to actually create a good picture of them. Flowers can be incredibly challenging, especially orchids and iris.

Orchids, back lit by sunshine, 2018 - week 12

A Jumble of Possibilities

Hayman Fire scar, 2018 - week 11

     There are times when things just won't go as smooth as you would like...  This weeks photo trip out to the Hayman Fire region was one of those days.  It doesn't matter why things didn't work out, sometimes they just don't.  Still not a total failure, I found a new place to photograph that has a lot of dynamic possibilities.

     I will return, and get the images that got away from me.  Consider it scouting...

Around the House

Greetings,  2018 - week 10

     There are times when I can't get out to where I would rather be photographing...  No great adventure of seeing something new.  The reason does not matter.  And yet the creative process must/should continue.  Life will go on...

     It has always been extremely hard for me to get something restarted after having stopped or skipped doing it for a couple of weeks.  There have been times when weeks have become months, with depression soon to follow.  Not a direction I would recommend for anyone!

Balance Study, 2018 - week 10

     A way to avoid this is to go ahead and visually explore where ever you currently find yourself. (This time, for me, it means stuck at home...)  Then play with what you see.  No it may not be a great work of art!  In fact you may never show it to anyone.  But for me it is still creating!

Neat Old Rusty Things (NORTS)  #1, 2018 - week 10

     Thus I continue to live my creative life.

Between the Seasons, 2

Cottonwoods, Reflecting,  2018 - week 09

     When you go out to photograph, you often go with expectations...   Sometimes these expectations are based in reality, and sometimes based in a glimmer of hope however unfounded.
This can make for a very frustrating day of packing a 18 kilo pack around searching for some reason to stop and put your camera together to capture an image.  And when you think you have a possible shot...   the clouds move in, or the wind sets the camera vibrating.  Flustered again you watch the clouds move as you search for a new spot, hopefully out of the wind.

     I often rely on this fickle luck of mine to somehow get me through days like this.  Doesn't always work, or does it.  One unexposed negative to go, and I look directly behind me...   is there a better possibility, somewhere?  Why yes, it does pay to look behind you from time to time.  That is where I found this weeks image.

Grand Landscape

    

Goose Creek, Hayman Burn scar,  2018 - week 08

     I have found that capturing the "Grand Landscape" has been one of my greatest challenges.  In the 25 or so years that I have been doing large format photography, I have created a lot of disappointing images. Some have been close to being successful, and to date only a handful have actually succeeded.

     Part of my problem is that I'm always comparing my images with the ones I see in books by the "Masters".  What you never see in those books is how many times they photographed the same subject, till they got an image that met their approval.  You will never see the failures.  The books have always made it look too easy...  Yet it is a genre of photography that I will attempt every now and then.  Maybe just for the challenge, or to see if I have finally figured it out...

     And then again there are places that just beg you to try!

         

       Sheeprock, Hayman Burn scar,  2018 - week 08

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     But the rewards have been wonderful when I do get it right!  Besides which it means I'm out with my camera and no other concerns.

Trees, or Forest...

The Forest Path,  2018 - week 07

      Each week has its bit of exploration, learning, and when I'm lucky an epiphany that leads me to greater understanding of my art.  Or its' challenges.
     I have always found cottonwoods to be wonderful trees yet so full of individual character. 
Each tree is so different, and yet, still a cottonwood.  The challenge that has arisen with this, is 
that when I am photographing cottonwoods, I have found that I'm usually creating a portrait. 

     A portrait of an old friend.

Cottonwoods,  2018 - week07

     That won't work this time around.  I need to show the forest...  the whole community!  So I cannot focus on any one tree with its wonderful personality.  I need to capture the chaos of nature, while showing the beauty of the cottonwood forest.
      And then come up with art...

Cottonwoods,  2018 - week 07

Between the Seasons

The Three States of Water,  2018-week 06

     Sometimes in our explorations of the world around us we will find unusual seeming scenes that in reality are quite normal. It can be something as simple as the ice on the river melting away. Yet, what do we see as artist... This is actually when things can get fun as well as interesting. And maybe we let our imaginations run away with us.

North Fork, South Platte River,  2018-week 06

     Yet the question often becomes, are we really getting our message or the playfulness across? That is something that every viewer will decide for themselves. Sometimes they will see something that the artist totally missed!

     And I will continue to enjoy the creative process, as I create...

Cottonwoods, A Fond Farewell

First Glance, 2018-week 05

     I often have found myself interested in working in projects or series.  You can often tell a more interesting visual story.  This way one image doesn't have to capture it all.  You can also show different facets of the same story and how things change.

     In 2006 I did my first book orientated project for a handmade book titled "Cottonwoods in Winter".  It was completed by using a 4x5 field camera (Wista) over the course of January and February of that year. I first published and hand sewed the book that March.
     The location was a 2 mile long by 3/4 mile wide cottonwood forest along the South Platte River in Chatfield State Park, Colorado.  There are no roads, just trail access, so I used my mountain bike pulling a trailer to haul my camera, tripod and film from my house on each visit. It did not snow much that winter which really helped me with access to remote areas.
     I really grew to love that trail and those cottonwoods. Parts of this forested area seemed untouched by man over the years.  Some of the trees are so large it would take 3 people to touch around their girth. With a few of them being close to 300 years old.

     A dozen years have gone by since I worked on that project.  The wind has knocked down a couple trees.  The river has flooded once or twice, but basically it is the same magical forest that I visit through out each year.

Looking north, 2018-week 05

     That brings us to my new project...  Once again I will photograph this area.  Trying to capture more of its feel as a forest, instead of the individual trees.  I am guessing I have at the most two years before it's mostly destroyed. The Corps of Engineers has given the Denver Water Board the go ahead to raise the level of Chatfield Reservoir by 10 feet (3 meters).  Most of this old growth forest will be affected as it grows along the river feeding into the reservoir.  All of the trees in these images have been staked and numbered, the final accounting before the roar of chainsaws and earth movers.

     Denver wants its money, and needs its water as it continues to grow.  Forgotten and erased from our memories will be some of the Colorado lifestyle and its untouched wild lands. 

Looking south, 2018-week 05

     Nothing else to do now, but record it so it won't be totally forgotten!

Deja Vu

     I am in week 04 of my journey of rediscovering my photography.  I am finding that it has become very inspirational.  The more that I am out doing my weekly assignments, the more I am actually seeing.  By this I mean my mind is searching for and finding compositions.  My awareness of light and textures is really high, and I am enjoying what I am seeing more and more.  In this way I am thinking photographically almost all the time.

     It is a lot like seeing the world in a state of heightened awareness, or in some ways, like seeing through the eyes of a child... once again.  This is one of the many joys of being a photographer and exploring the world around you!

Three Shells,  2018-week 04

     I am also revisiting some older images that I have done, and finding that I know see them differently.  I am indeed a different person than I once was.  And more importantly, I am accepting of this fact.

     Like this weeks images of shells, which I have tried so many times before.  Again it is done differently, and of course I have different results.

Two Shells,  2018-week 04

     No, I have not created the perfect image of shells.  And they are a long ways from the images by Edward Weston that inspired me to try them in the first place.

     But... I will keep on trying! (and exploring my vision)

Is it worth it?

     Sometimes that question, "Is it worth it?" comes up in relation to what I go through to create my images.  There doesn't have to be somebody else asking the question.  It is most often this voice from somewhere inside my head asking this, and other questions.

     Self questioning as well as the self doubting are just another facet of producing Art from the artist point of view.  It has become another challenge that needs to be dealt with every time I go to get a camera out.  And it doesn't matter which camera, my 35mm, the 4x5 or the 8x10.  That same voice will start with the Questions...

          Is it worth my time?

          Will it make a good image?

          Is there enough light for a good exposure?

          Do I have enough time to set the camera up and make the image?

          Will anybody understand what I'm trying to say?

          Again,  ...Is it worth it ???

Cottonwoods,  2018-week 03

     When I made this image,  I wasn't all that sure.  If I was to contrast it against what I went through on last weeks outing,  it wouldn't be fair to the image...
     A three quarter mile hike with everything I needed to create the image on my back.  All 40lbs of it, for what?  Not to mention the cold wind, and a late afternoon sun peaking through the clouds...

     What am I doing to myself?  For what...  (I am definitely not a spring chicken any more.)

     The only answer I have ever come up with is YES!  My art is worth all this and more!  If the image isn't quite good enough (and who am I to judge?),  maybe the next one will be!

Weekly Offerings

South Platte River,  2018-week 01

      Most photographers are generally lazy.  By this, what I mean is we don't practice our Art/Craft everyday, or even every other day like musicians.  Doing scales?  nothing sounds more boring than doing musical scales...    Except maybe an hour on the bicycle trainer, going nowhere.  Then, when we do go out and do our photography after a couple of weeks of Not Doing, we still expect to create a masterpiece!  Most of the time it doesn't work out the way we expected...

     I have found (mostly the hard way) that your mind needs to be totally into your Art.  There are so many technical aspects to large format photography, that without the constant practice, you will make mistakes and I do make mistakes.  And then you still have all the artistic considerations that go into creating the image.

     Photography is a verb, that means a lot of doing...   over and over, and over again.  Until the technical aspects become second nature.  Then and only then will you be free to concentrate on the artistic concerns of creating an image.  So each of my weeks this next year will have its challenges, and its failures.  And I will learn from each and everyone of them!


     These two images from last Saturday are a good start, despite their short comings... They are still Doing!

 

South Platte River, Rocks, ice and water,  2018-week 01

Back in the Saddle...

Today (18.01.06), I exposed 8 sheets,  a very good day!

     When a bicycle rider falls off his or her bicycle, they will usually get right back up and continue their ride. Unless of course they, or the bike have become broken. 

     An Artist, when they fall of their path of creating art, it is a totally different matter. The  
recovery is not all that quick. Just the fall causes you to really question your art and your ability 
to create. Getting back into the flow seems nearly impossible...

     That is where I find myself this first week of 2018. Trying to get back in the saddle!  I had a
serious bout with cancer the summer of 2014 that literally blew me off my path as a Fine Art
photographer.  I was in the midst of a series of shows with a strong salon group when my fortune seemed to change.  Months of radiation and chemotherapy followed by a difficult surgery left me
hoping for some miracle to return me to the wonder I felt when creating my art.

     I am now clear of the cancer. And even though I have been doing some intermittent 
photography over the past three years, I have not felt committed nor produced an actual body of  work for show. This blog will be about my getting back into the saddle with my creativity. One of
my goals is to expose at least one sheet of film every week over the next year. As well as develop,
scan and proof it, I will also publish it in my blog the following week. I will also include some of the thoughts, as well as the challenges I find as I get back into the rhythm of my creative life.

     Please join me, and feel free to leave comments and encouragements.