From the Great Plains

     These next 4 images are from the exploration on to the Great Plains of Colorado that I and two other photographers did last Sunday.  We had great weather, though sort of empty skys.  I was hoping for some clouds to accent the sky.  Oh well, it was still a wonderful day !

     These 4 images are from our first stop that day in the town of Nun, Colorado.  It is the first time I have tried to photograph grain elevators.  I started distant and then moved closer.  I have found this a good way to approach most subjects.  You become more aware of what you are photographing as you move.  That deepened awareness allows you to see more possibilities within your subject as you move in towards it.

     All four images are using a 150mm lens.

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     Three of the four images I am very pleased with, and will take to final matted images.  The first one, sort of the initial introduction is the weakest of the four images.  Then again, you need to find a starting place....

     Just don't stop there,  Continue exploring !

After Dark

     I have had a great time learning how to do night photography last weekend.   It really
is a whole different world than what I am used to working in.   Here are 6 uncropped images
that I exposed with my 4x5 field camera.

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     It is a very good experience to step outside of what you are used to doing  ( outside of your safe zone so to speak ).   I still have about 2 weeks to create the final cropped images for the workshop review.   I will not be cropping them all that much.    

         

     A bit of adventure is always good as well.

Catching Up (part 2)

     Well here are the other 3 images I took to final this last week.   I have received some wonderful feedback on the first three.

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     I am taking a workshop called "Denver after Dark" taught by Christopher James of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center,  tonight and tomorrow night.  It should be a lot of fun as well as challenging.  I should have new images up in a week from this workshop.

     You should never stop learning,  especially something new...

Catching Up

     It has been a long summer, of too much happening...   So I didn't do all that great of a job keeping up on my blog.   I am back to it, trying to get all I photographed caught up to the final matted images. In the past 3 days I have created 6 final prints.   Tonight I will post three of them as they have a common theme.

     Flowing water,  at different exposure times...

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     These images have been a lot of fun to work on.  Let me know what you think, as each of the different exposure times effect the way the image looks and feels.

     No hard rules, just play.

Start to Finish

          I have learned that you needed to take your images from a start point to a completion point.  The completion point is at least matted, if not framed and up on the wall or a shelf for evaluation.  This evaluation can take days, months or longer depending on the individual...  If the image last a month, you may have a good image.  If it can last 6 months without you wanting to change it or remove it, you have a good image.  Subcounsiously you will become aware of any problems with the image during this viewing process.  Even if you can't figure out what is bothering you about the image, you will know that it bothers you.  That is the main reason to take images all the way to a completion point.

          I bring this up for another reason.  Two weeks ago I completed 4 new images, of which 2 may need some more work.  The other 2 are done, and at this time I am very happy with them.  Once these images were matted and on display here in the office I became really excited to get out and expose some more images...  So I have learned another lesson as to why you should always take your images to a completion point.  It energizes you to get out there and do more!!!  Sort of a positive reinforcement cycle that can help itself along.

          That was last Saturday, Sunday I had a great day and exposed 5 new images.  Yesterday, I got caught up on my film developing.  So today I have 6 new images to take a look at....

          Enjoy, it's all a work in progress.

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Welcome to May

          A lot has happened since my last entree, and it is a bit tougher keeping up with a blog than I  
thought.  Live and learn.  I am just finishing the teaching of my first class ( Film and Darkroom 1 )        with Working With Artists.  The second go around with this class starts May 16th, and I intend to   improve it all the way around.  I have also been asked to put together a Lighting Concepts class that  
will start June 9th, as well as a class on The Fine Print.  So this is keeping me a bit busy.

          I also helped to host theWorldwide Pinhole Photography Day on the 23rd of April here in    
Denver.  That turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone involved.  My image from that day is included  with this posting.  The exposure time was 1 hr and 45 mins.  It is of the face of the Grandfather Clock at the Zang Mansion.  I will need to try again as I didn't get what I had hoped for in the image.  Still it is a cool image.  The pinhole camera I used was a small box of matches I created to be able to expose 135mm film, one frame at a time.

          I have enjoyed the teaching and leading the workshops.  I do hope to continue this as I am
learning a lot myself while teaching.  Besides it is good to be back in the darkroom !

Images from March

          During the last week of March, I was able to get out on photo trips twice.  Once with my wife
Tanya, and once with fellow photographer, Jeff Graves.  Both trips had their moments of success,
as well as some surprises.  These three images come from mine and Jeff's trip to explore along the
South Platte River in Eastern Colorado.  After finding some early morning success, we became  
frustrated by the access problems we were having, so we headed north across the plains.

          We found the plains to be full of surprises and wonderful imagery.  These three images are all
from that northern exploration.    ( These are uncropped 4x5 images and not finals though the finals will most likely be close to full frame. )

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This may turn out to be the start of a new project for me over the next couple of years.  

As I was readying the images for posting this morning a possible title for the project came to me...  

The Artifacts of Dreams