being a photographer

I am thinking tonight about how lucky we all are to have our sight.  Photographers use more than just their physical sight to “see” a photograph.  But tonight I am thinking about this because my father is having eye surgery Tuesday to correct a blown retina after cataract surgery.  A visual artist who may or may not get his full sight back.

It takes a lot of emotional courage to be an artist. Remembering this, I picked up a favorite book again tonight, Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland, and found this quote to share… “In the ideal – that is to say, real – artist, fears not only continue to exist, they exist side by side with the desires that complement them, perhaps drive them, certainly feed them.  Naive passion, which promotes work done in ignorance of obstacles, becomes – with courage – informed passion, which promotes work done in full acceptance of those obstacles.”

The photo above is of aspen trees on the shore of Grant Lake in the Eastern Sierras. Clicking the thumbnail will bring up a larger image for closer viewing.

reflections

Reflections… a good metaphor for the writing I’ve been working on lately and for thinking about how photography fits into life!  I’ve been organizing images from my trip west and realized just how many panorama and reflection images I have.  But this has to be one of my favorite of the reflections… the Merced River in Yosemite National Park.  Enjoy!

Image capture with Nikon D700 camera and 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VRII AF-S Nikkor Zoomm Lens

refining your vision

This afternoon I’ve been editing images to a batch limit of 20 of my best to prepare for printing a portfolio that will be reviewed at an upcoming photography workshop.  This is a difficult task, editing your own work.  But it’s something very valuable.  As I was looking through past images to see if anything caught my attention, I found a color version of this image with a little more reflected sky on the top edge.  And Bruce Barnbaum’s words came back to me… review your images over and over again if something tells you that you have something there.  You might not see it today… you might not see it tomorrow.  In this case, I didn’t see it until 2 years later.  But I finally saw what I intended to share.  Not because my digital darkroom skills are much better than 2 years ago, but because my vision, my way of seeing is becoming clearer to me.

So enjoy this abstract arrangement of rocks from the shores of Jenny Lake, WY… even if it took me 2 years to share it with you.

rain

Photographing during a light rain, or just after a light rain is one of my favorite conditions to capture in the garden.  The foliage of many perennials like this native bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) will be joyously singing towards the sky from the renewal rain; and their colors seem more saturated in the overcast light.

I’m finding my photography more and more following a water theme this spring, but not always obviously so.  I’ve just purchased a Think Tank Hydrophobia® 70-200 rain cover that is a dream to use.  It offers my gear and especially zoom lens great protection when I have more than a few hours of photography planned in adverse conditions.   I still carry an OP/Tech RAINSLEEVE™ in my kit for emergencies and that unexpected shower not found in the weather forecast  since it’s extremely light and portable.  I’ve even used it to keep my gear protected from blowing sand at the beach.  Both rain covers offer easy use with or without a tripod.  I decide which one to use based upon shooting conditions, weather severity and how quickly I need a cover.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how the Think Tank Hydrophobia works during a snowstorm next winter!

Assateague Island

I just thought I would post an image from my trip this past weekend to Assateague Island National Park.  The sound of the waves was amazing and Joe and I camped two nights on the beach… and in this flip flop weather of spring not many people braved the cool nights; we had 85F on Friday and 40F Saturday night with the winds to go with it.  But I was lucky to find a fisherman along the shore at sunset to capture this moment.

Winter is here

This past week I visited Harriman State Park in NY for some photography during some really chilly weather.  The week prior the east coast had a really great snowstorm and I was looking forward to some snow pictures in this area.  But most of the snow was gone and what remained what lots and lots of ice.  Ice on the seven lakes there, ice on plants and ice on outcrops. The plants seemed happy to have their protective coating of ice on this 19F day… glistening forms of spring hopeful.

During this time of year there are very few people in the park; I ran into four people hiking the entire day.  But during the warmer months it’s obvious this park is trampled by crowds from nearby New York City, day visitors and group campgrounds filled to capacity.   This day I found solace in the sounds of wind and cracking ice shifting on the lakes.  Stalactites of ice forming from a shelf ice balanced between two rocks on the edge of one of the lakes brought me back to childhood wonder and amazement… how?

Water, water everywhere

As I’m checking in the greenhouses this morning I found the new fog system ran continually all night… so the houses are super saturated and dripping wet onto the floors.  So in the spirit of abundant water, I’m posting another image from this October’s trip to Promised Land State Park and the Little Falls we found mid-day to have lunch by.