Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

She's One With the Sea

Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm F/3.5 Macro, f/32, 1/125, iso 100

A fun image I made a few years ago. "In camera effects" in this case, it isn't Photoshop or some other software that does it. Just moving the camera around with a slow shutter.

Mystery Monday

Leica M9, 50mm F/2, f/4.8, 1/750, iso 100

What IS this? How does one take a shot like this? Cool abstract don't you think?

Click on the continue link and I'll spill the secret.

Veins of Canada

Leica M9, 90mm F/2.8, f/6.7, 1/750, iso 200

Flying home from Cuba, I had a Toronto to Vancouver leg. You see a lot of Canada on that trip. Mostly thousands of square miles of nothing! This scene fascinated me though. As if the land had veins. Which actually, I suppose these rivers are.

Abstract Stream

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm F/1.4, f/22, 1/5th, iso 250

I have been doing some abstracts recently and really enjoying them. All the bold colors are really working for me. What about you?

Of Heroes and Patterns

Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm F/3.5 Macro, f/4.5, 1/200, iso 100

In the Palouse last weekend I got to meet one of my photo heroes. I'm not going to name him because he was just there on his own taking pictures, not leading a workshop or anything.

On my first night there we were both shooting at Steptoe Butte (here is a previous post from Steptoe if you aren't familiar). I asked him if he was finding anything interesting and he said "Well, not bad, but I'm not so much into these big landscapes these days. Everyone that comes here shoots this, right?" I had to agree, and this is what keeps me away from the well shot places like Yosemite and Antelope Canyon to name two.

He then whipped out his iPhone and showed me a few images from earlier that day. "These days I'm into finding things that are different, patterns or scenes that are different, yet striking." Bingo, I thought, that's exactly how I feel.  He showed me four images that really wowed me. He is seeing the same view as any person, but picking out unique and interesting compositions. That's really what I want my photography to be about.

On Sunday morning I went out to do some shooting of this type. I went really well, and I have to say I was definitely "feeling it." I was letting the compositions come to me, and I believe I got some pretty great ones. I was on a high walking back to the hotel when I crossed a bridge and saw this scene to my left. "Shapes and shadows" I thought. Looking through the viewfinder I gave it some tilt I felt belonged there, and fired a few shots.

In Lightroom, I liked what I had, but wanted to just emphasize the shapes, shadows and colors. I brought down the low tones, which richened them, then "de-clarified" with the clarity slider. I like this abstract feel. Looks pretty nice for a big concrete drainage ditch?

Back at the hotel I was having breakfast and some people asked to see the images I took out on Endicott Road. It was fun having my hero look them over and tell me the ones he liked. I was able to tell him that the columns he wrote back when I first started getting serious about photography back in 2001-02 were a big help and inspiration for me. Thanks again!

Abstract

Panasonic GH2, 14-140mm, f/5.6, .6 sec, iso 320

It's been a while since I have put up an abstract. Looks like fireworks, right? It's not. I'll give you a hint, it was taken in San Francisco. Can anyone figure out what it is?

Maple Abstract

Canon 5D Mark II, 135 F/2.0, f/32, .3 sec, iso 100

I almost called today's post "Maple Extract" as that is nearly what it is. The subject is a maple tree, a Japanese Maple, to be exact. My favorite tree, yet I can rarely make a good image from one. This was shot last year at my favorite nursery, and once again I wasn't doing anything worthwhile.

These "shimmy shots" are well known in photography. Generally you either pan left to right, or up and down, on a decent scene, often trees. In this case I went low ISO and high aperture, to get the longest shutter I could, still not that long. Then I just held it down and went round and round. This was my favorite of that set.

There is just something about abstracts...

When Dreams Collide With Reality

Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm F/3.5 Macro, f/7.1, 1/80, iso 500

Here is another attempt at a) interesting abstract, b) titling worthy of my bud Thomas Hawk! As I have mentioned before, for me, Tom is the uber-master of titling images.

How did I do?

Aerial Award

So I entered my first photography exhibition recently and am happy to say that the image above was one of six selected for a "merit award." The format for the exhibition was interesting. We were allowed to submit several files for consideration.  The Juror then selects as many as he liked from the submissions, and then you provide them as framed prints.

The judging would be based on the framed prints. The Juror is Lewis Kemper (www.lewiskemper.com). I was not familiar with his work, and am once again how many accomplished photographers live in our area. He is one of Canon's Explorers of Light. Check this web page and you'll see he is in some amazing company.

This image first appeared on the blog back in June of 2009, and I called it my best abstract. Here's that post if you want to read the back story of how I made it.

I'm also happy to report that none other than Tim Fleming, the newest member of the Sonoma based photography group I belong to, took first place! See this post here on the blog in case you missed it a couple of weeks ago. Tim's entry was another of his beautiful scanner art images.

I had to miss the opening event for the show, due to returning from Mexico. Am told over 300 people showed up! The show runs through February 12 and I highly recommend it. There are some great images. Here's a link to the show info.

Congratulations Tim, and I'll (try to) get you next time!

Bronze Abstract

Panasonic GH2, 100-300mm, F/7.1, 1/640, iso 160

When the 100-300mm arrived, I took it out for a stroll at lunch time. We have this very beautiful fountain nearby, which is really a piece of art. I have shot it before and turned the image into an abstract. Today's post is another version. You know me, I love abstracts.

For post processing, I gave it this bronzy color, then used de-Clarity. Easy. There is a lot going on in this abstract, I like it. You?