Cedar Key, Fl.

We were in Cedar Key, Fl. last week, a place we enjoy going to eat some fresh seafood.  The winter months there are usually foggy and the heavy fog can be around the entire day.  We stayed in a small motel right near the bay that had a great view of the water.  One morning I was sitting there with a cup of coffee waiting for the fog to lift so I could go photographing.  As the fog moved around I noticed a sail boat on the bay with all of it's sails up.  I quickly grabbed my camera and went down towards the water.  Much to my surprise when I got to the location to photograph, the sails were down on the boat.  I was a bit discouraged because the scene had changed and wasn't what I saw from the motel moments before.  I went ahead and made a few exposures and still enjoyed the changing atmosphere of this foggy morning.  In my years of photography I am always amazed with how quickly a scene can change.  Many wonderful images never got made because of the fast changing light, but they live in my memory.  The craft of photography is like many other disciplines in life.  It takes consistent practice to maintain a creative eye and to handle the equipment with little thought.

Pemaquid Point, Me.

We recently spent some time in the state of Maine.  We chose late fall for our trip knowing that the tourist season would be over and we could have all the wonderful lobster dinners to ourselves. The irregular coastline of Maine with it's many back bays sometimes looks more a land of lakes than a ocean shoreline.  One place that I like to photograph is at Pemaquid Point.  This is the location of the Pemaquid lighthouse that sits on the rugged rock shoreline.  I am fascinated with the shapes and contours of the rocky coast in this area.  I made this image long after sunset with very little available light left for photography.  I often prefer this soft light to bring out the details that would normally be lost in the bright sunshine.  The reflective light from the open sky makes the white boulder glow against the darker surrounding rock.  

Time in New England

It has been a while since my last post.  I have found that life situations can arise and has a way of taking us in directions we hadn't planned on.  My photography has seen some success in the past few months. Some of my work is being published in a couple of fine magazines this month.  I have won a couple of photography contests that had very substantial cash and equipment awards.  All these things are rewarding, but being out making new images is the most satisfying for me.  It is nice to have your work recognized and appreciated but the process of creating is the thing that touches my inter being.  The times that I am distracted and unfocused are the most difficult for me.  I feel that precious time is wasted on meaningless and mundane task that yield little returns.  This is probably faulty thinking on my part because if you are applying yourself to something it is still a step forward.  I recently made a two week trip to Maine.  The weather was perfect for vacationers but terrible for photography.  The sky was cloudless the entire time I was there, and being around the ocean with a blank sky can pose a challenge.  I found myself shifting my expectations from scenic ocean views to architectural and abstract compositions.  This image of a church roof reminds me of a photographer I use to study when I was starting out with photography.  His name was Fred Picker and he lived in the Northeast and made many fine black and white images of New England clapboard buildings and churches.  His style and informative writings had an influence to my early work and it was rewarding to revisit some of the things that helped shape my early years with photography. 

Award Winner

I recently received word that this image was awarded 2nd place in the Photographer's Forum Magazine Spring Photography Contest. It was a great honor to be chosen from over 9,100 submissions from 48 countries.  I usually don't submit my work to contests or magazines but this year I submitted my work to three different venues and I was fortunate enough to have my work accept by all three for publication.  Years ago when I started in photography I would ask myself "what" I wanted to photograph, but never really "why" I wanted to photograph.  At that time I jumped around with my efforts and focused my attention in many areas of photography, from professional sports, portraits, and commercial.  I found that meeting the demands of other people took the joy away that I initially had with photography.  Once I asked myself "why" I wanted to photograph the world changed for me.  It was no longer based on other people expectations but more to how I felt about a subject and discovering the pull inside of me that attracted me to a certain objects.  I had a new sense of mystery and intrigue with things in nature.  I found myself traveling to remote places and enduring long days waiting for the proper light and many times walking away empty handed.  But non of that mattered because I wasn't bound by what other people expected of me.  I knew my purpose, and that was to answer the yearning I felt inside of me.  Ansel Adams said it best, "I am interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just extracted from without".
Winning awards and having your word recognized is important because it is an opportunity to inspire other people as well as complete the cycle of the creative expression that started with the release of the shutter.

Choosing the right light

I made this image last week while on a short camping trip near where I live.  When I am out solely for the purpose of photography I will often times scout out potential locations to photograph in.  I camped in a location that was surrounded by swamps and high water from recent heavy rains.  After many months of drought in Florida, the rains were a welcome relief.  The swamps take on a fresh look and provide a wonderful opportunity to photograph.  I made this image after sunset in a steady drizzle of rain. These are the times I like to photograph the most.  The light is soft without the harsh shadows caused by the sun and the rain gives a silvery appearance to the vegetation.  It usually takes a lot of preparations and energy to access these locations.  I have to plan on what I am going to wear to protect against mosquitoes and the limited equipment I will take on my hike into the swamp.  I made this image with my Sony A7R11 with a Zeiss 18mm lens.  The exposure was 4 sec. @ f11

Fisheating Creek

I was out photographing in the swamps this week at Fisheating Creek.  We have have a steady week of rain and the swamps are full of water.  I prefer to photograph in soft light to reduce the harsh shadows in these contrasty locations.  I made this image after 8 p.m. while it was the raining.  The mosquitoes were vicious and attacked every bit a exposed skin.  I covered up as much as possible but still fought them the entire time I was photographing.  The swamp is a magical place at this time of day.  It is quiet and eerie place to wonder around alone.  I cherish the time when I am out in nature exploring new a area and seeing the beauty of an unspoiled landscape.

Suwannee River

We were on the Suwannee River this past week to do some kayaking and photography.  The water levels are extremely low in Florida due to a severe drought.  We started our trip at the Georgia border and followed the Suwannee River down through Florida until it reached the Gulf of Mexico.  We stopped and put in our kayaks at various locations to explore some of the river as we traveled.  The river looks very different than it normally would with proper water levels.  The wildlife we saw seem to reflect the stressed conditions of their environment.  We camped for a few days at Manatee springs. The spring water there is crystal clear blue and very cool. This young gator laid stretched out on a log in the 96* heat of the day.  He didn't seem to care about me and my kayak as I drifted by.  Soon the rainy season will be here and the water levels will rise and life in the swamps and rivers will return to normal.