To walk in the Wilderness

How many times in our lives have we truly walked alone in the wilderness of nature. Our lives are surrounded by movement and noise, and the pace has quickened in just a few years with the constant need to be connected. Technology is great and I am as addicted to it as most people are, but it comes with a sacrifice to our well being.  How different the world is at this moment than in any other time before. We have access to a world of information through the web, but because of our tie to it, we rarely ever break free and get to experience the things we have learned about. Sadly in the modern world people now live most of their lives 12" from their nose. I have been with family and friends that can't stop the urge to text and reply while at dinner in a nice restaurant or at a public event. They are preocupied and distracted from what is being said or going on around them.  We were at the beach on a gorgeous day and saw a middle aged couple sitting in their beach chairs. Both had cell phones to their face with their thumbs firing away at the keys.  They never looked at the beautiful ocean or said a word to each other the entire time we stayed there. I thought how sad it is to live a day in a beautiful surrounding and probably never remember it. To the younger generation this will be the norm and accepted lifestyle they grew up with. They will be connected through technology and devices but separated from direct contact with others and the quiet nature that surrounds them. When I get the chance to walk in the wildness and witness the created beauty around me, I always come away refreshed and focused. It is a healty thing to take time out and separate ourselves from the constant drum beat of technology and the noise in our lives.

Passing Storm

We were out riding along the ocean on Rt. A1A on the East coast of Florida a couple of days ago and ran into a quick moving cold front that produced a strong thunderstorm. It was late in the day and the sun was about an hour from setting. We found a place to park where we could watch the ocean and waited to see if a rainbow would appear once the storm moved out to sea. Sure enough as the low angle sun broke through the western sky, it made a full rainbow out over the ocean. I grabbed my camera and headed out in the tail end of the downpour to get a picture. After making a few photographs, I walked along the beach enjoying the dramatic sky and was hoping to find something other than an empty ocean to photograph. I looked back behind me and saw this surfer out on the water looking for some waves from the pasting storm.

Anasazi Cliff Dwelling

In the Colorado Plateau region of the American southwest are numerous remains of an ancient pueblo people called the Anasazi. These sites are usually located high up on overhanging cliffs that can be difficult to climb, if not impossible. This particular dwelling was located near the four corners area in a remote canyon. I would camp out and hike to many of these locations back in the mid 80's and 90's. My camera of choice in those days was a 4x5 Linhof Master Technika. The use of a large format camera meant carrying a large number of film holders and a heavy backpack full of gear plus a substantial tripod. My days started before sunrise and went well past sunset in order to hike, explore, and photograph in these remote areas. My enthusiasm to be in such locations would have me scrambling up mountains and balancing myself on boulders to find the right location to make a photograph. I can remember when making this photograph, I was on a very narrow ledge with just enough room to setup my tripod. I wanted to be at a low angle looking up at the dwelling to show the majestic rock wall above the structure.  These locations have stood for a thousand years and if you are fortunate to be able to visit such sites it is important to respect them and not to disrupt them in any way. Only take pictures and leave everything else the way time has left it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Pueblo_Peoples

Oaks of Righteousness

I have always had a fascination with trees. Mature trees have a majestic quality and a presence of nobility. They stand silently watching over us throughout the years. They can see generations of people come and go in their life time. These particular trees are called live oaks. They are commonly found in the southeast of the U.S. I made this photograph about twenty years ago on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia. It is a historical place dating back to the early European settlers. The only way to get to the island is to take a ferry boat from the mainland. The island is now mostly owned by the state except for a few remaining families who are direct descendants of the original slaves that worked the island plantation. The only way to stay on the island is to rent a room from one of these remaining families who live in the community of Hog Hammock. We were able to spend a week on the island with a family in their modest home, enjoying their hospitably and southern cooking.

                            " They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."
                                                                                                                                                                      Is. 61:3


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapelo_Island

Making vs Taking Pictures

I rarely setup or stage a photograph but recently I found it fun to experiment. There is a unique  opportunity with photography to create images that don't exist in our real time world just by controlling the light and the amount of time during an exposure. These images were made on the beach in the moonlight. I exposed the scene for about a two minute exposure to get some detail in the sky to show the clouds. I used a couple of small LED flashlights tied to a cord to swing to around for 30 seconds to create the abstract light objects in the scene. I consider this making pictures rather than taking pictures.

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