Rising Plume

We are camped on Lake Wiley in South Carolina for a few weeks as we help our son and family make their move to Italy. We have spent considerable time in the Carolinas the past couple of years and have enjoyed the friendly people we have met in this part of the country. We have come to appreciate southern hospitality.  A few days ago I make this photograph of this cloud plume rising up over the lake. I was intrigued by the way the plume raised up from the small island near the far shore. I must admit the mystery of this plume is a nuclear power plant on the other side of the lake. In making this image I chose to do a long exposure to create movement to the rising cloud of steam.  I used a -10 ND filter along with a polarizing filter to obtain a total  -13 stop light reduction. This enabled me to make a two minute exposure in mid day on a sunny afternoon. I never know when or how my next photograph is going to come about. I was busy doing something else at the time I saw this plume of steam being released from the generating plant, but instantly knew there was a potential photograph to be made. Sometimes I plan trips to photograph and come back disappointed with little results, while other times a magical scene will appear right before me. If you enjoy photography it is important not to become discouraged if new and exciting images do not happen as planned. The important thing is to be always aware of what is going on around you and to be prepared if something magical happens.

I never get "The Shot"

Photographers over the years have developed a bad habit of referring to their work as "Shots" or using phrases such as, "Going out to do some Shooting".  I am certain that most photographers are unaware of how this slang has taken over the way we describe our photography or the act of making a photograph. When you think about it, we get a "Shot" from a doctor and we "Go out Shooting" with a gun.  The newest way we describe photography is,"digital capture".  How this terminology came about to describe photography is unknown, but it wasn't always used. I am sure if you stood in front of Ansel Adams print, "Moonrise over Hernandez" you wouldn't describe it as a, "really great shot".  As photographers we do ourselves a disservice, and it is my belief, that we should avoid using slang to describe the work we create. It diminishes the act of the creative process and cheapens the overall value of photography in the art world. I prefer to speak of my work as, " Images" or "I am going out to make some new exposures", because in reality these are truer photography terms. Unfortunately the slang will always be with us and we will have to choose how we desire to describe our work. If we care about the creative process and the hard work to achieve the expressive print, then we will give more thought as to how we describe our photography. I am not a shooter, but a photographer.

The above image of the corn lily was made on TMAX film, with an exposure of five minutes. The finished print was scanned to create a digital image for posting on the web. There is a slight softness to the image that comes with the scanning process and lacks the quality of the actual print.

http://www.afterimagegallery.com/featureadams.htm

Crossing the Threshold

This is an image I struggled with weather I should post or not. Coming from the tradition of using film and working with a large format camera for most of my life, I have always considered myself a straight photographer. The years of discipline with making black and white prints in the darkroom formed a distinct style and look to my work. Now working with digital files I have much more freedom to create and take my images further, but yet I struggle with the thought of corrupting my style of photography. The use of digital manipulation can be easily over done and the look can take on a gaudy look. While I will always prefer the look of the straight black and white fine art print, I feel it is important to explore new avenues of creativity with my photography to see what new and interesting images are in my future. This image was taken in a small chapel on Buff Point overlooking Keuka Lake in upstate N.Y.  I made six different exposures and produced an HDR image to get full detail in the very dark interior of the chapel. I decided to convert some of the image to black and white to add a sense of mystery to the image.

Walking Limb

In 1988 we camped in Yosemite for the first time. I drove around the valley on the first day trying to get a feel for the area and search out some good photo sites. I came across this fallen limb late in the day and decided to return in the morning to make a photograph. I arrived early and had to wait quite awhile for the first signs of daylight.  As the sky started to lighten I began setting up my view camera and composing the scene. Being my first morning in the valley I wasn't sure exacting where the sun would rise as I stood patiently waiting for the light to increase.  Much to my surprise the sun broke out over top of the mountain and I realized I wasn't in the best position with a back lit situation. I quickly made the exposure and pulled out my film holder to flip it over to make a second exposure but by the time I got the film in position the sun had washed out the entire scene. This is my only exposure of this limb and it is a difficult negative to print. When viewing the proof sheet it would appear as if this negative is a complete loss for ever making a decent print.  I have learned a lot working with this negative over the years and apply some of the thought process and techniques in my digital work today. This particular image has been my top selling photograph over the years and one of my favorites for what it has taught me in the darkroom and beyond.

The Devil's Golf Course

In Death Valley there is a place called the Devil's Golf Course. It is made up of crystallized salt formations left behind by an evaporated lake nearly 2,000 years ago. The area in almost impossible to walk on, and the crystallized salt is very sharp. If you visit this area be certain to wear some good hiking boots if you attempt to walk on this surface. Carrying camera equipment can cause you to lose your balance on the ragged surface and a fall would certainly damage your equipment and scrap you up some. It is best viewed a short distance from the parking area. I chose to make this photograph before the sunrise so the intense sun wouldn't wash out the detail in the salt formations. When I arrived the salt looks like old dirty snow and the overall scene in the early morning light looked very flat without much contrast. I picked a low camera angle to give the feeling of depth and try to make the salt formations loom large in the foreground when compared to the distance mountains. This is not an easy location to make a successful photograph, but it is always fun to take on the challenge of a difficult subject matter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil's_Golf_Course

Rock Art

Throughout the Southwest there are numerous places that can be explored for Indian petroglyphs. These rock carvings were created by ancient people, and their true purpose and meaning can only be a speculation on our part. Rock Art is found world wide and we have discovered them in several countries in our travels. This group was near Painted Rock, Az. We were camped on BLM land for several days. During our stay in the area we explored the region in search of petroglyph sites and found many in remote locations that required the use of a 4 wheel vehicle to cross the sandy washes to access the sites. We are always very careful not to disrupt or impact the area when photographing around these ancient sites. They have weathered thousands of years of time and it is important to use care on your visit to these historical sites and only take photographs and leave everything the way you found it. I will make future posts of a few petroglyphs showing the many types that can be found, and let you determine  their possible meaning.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~ljhowell/Petroglyphs.htm

Panal at Sears Point

The hunters kill count

Ruins

When traveling out in the desert wilderness we come across many old ruins abandon to time. I am always intrigued by these old structures and enjoy scouting out the location. I am sure they were constructed by the early settlers that pioneered the West. This one was located in the eastern mountains of California. Quite often the light is harsh when we come upon some of these places and I have to deal with the lighting conditions as they exist. I was drawn to the dead tree centered in between the standing walls, but knew the intense sun was shining in my direction and making the overall scene harsh. I shaded the lens with my hat, and I used a HDR process where several images are taken at different exposures and compressed into one image. This process enables me to maintain detail in the deep shadow areas of the wall while still retaining detail in the brightly lit foreground.