4.28.2012
4.18.2012
Springtime
2.25.2012
Valley Christian goes down to Ripon Christian
Bummer for the Valley Christian team. They played a good hard season, but they lost in the playoffs last night to Ripon Christian. Check out the photo gallery.Valley Christian goes down to Ripon Christian
- Roseville Press-Tribune
2.04.2012
9.24.2011
The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone
Every national park in the U.S. has its own beauty. I went to Grand Teton National Park with very high photographic expectations and then into Yellowstone National Park. I was not disappointed, and I had no idea how visually stunning Yellowstone is.
The majestic mountains in the Grand Tetons put me awe, and there were various ways to photograph them. My favorite was with the water in front of them, such as from Jenny Lake. The water was so clean and clear in places and so blue in others. As one who likes to photograph "old things", I was at home shooting the barns and cabins on Mormon Row, and it worked out very well with the Tetons in the background.
Though I didn't see as much wildlife as I thought I'd see, what I did see was beautiful. I watched the horses feeding on the range for about an hour. It wasn't clear if they were wild or not, and there was some discussion amongst those of us in the pullout as we watched them. We never did come to a conclusion.
The buffalo were also plentiful, as they grazed in a prairie at the Tetons. In Yellowstone, they were all clustered up in a meadow with most hunkered down on the ground resting.
In Yellowstone, the Lower Yellowstone Falls were breathtaking, as the continuous flow of water spilled down the 308 foot wall into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Yellowstone, loaded with hot springs and geysers, is an explosion of color. The blues in the springs are a stunning light blue that you'd associate with tropical ocean colors and very transparent. The mud pots seemingly danced with heat coming up from under them and forcing them to bubble. The Mammoth Hot Springs offer "other worldly" landscapes. It can't be described - it has to be seen. And the geysers — incredible.
I wasn't able to get everything I wanted to get in Yellowstone, so I will be going back and spending more time just in that park. Of all the national parks in the system I've been to, Yellowstone is the one that has stunned me the most.
You can view some of the images I made in my landscape gallery, some are in my wildlife gallery, others in my water gallery, and still more can be viewed in my Mormon Row gallery.
The majestic mountains in the Grand Tetons put me awe, and there were various ways to photograph them. My favorite was with the water in front of them, such as from Jenny Lake. The water was so clean and clear in places and so blue in others. As one who likes to photograph "old things", I was at home shooting the barns and cabins on Mormon Row, and it worked out very well with the Tetons in the background.Though I didn't see as much wildlife as I thought I'd see, what I did see was beautiful. I watched the horses feeding on the range for about an hour. It wasn't clear if they were wild or not, and there was some discussion amongst those of us in the pullout as we watched them. We never did come to a conclusion.
The buffalo were also plentiful, as they grazed in a prairie at the Tetons. In Yellowstone, they were all clustered up in a meadow with most hunkered down on the ground resting.
Yellowstone, loaded with hot springs and geysers, is an explosion of color. The blues in the springs are a stunning light blue that you'd associate with tropical ocean colors and very transparent. The mud pots seemingly danced with heat coming up from under them and forcing them to bubble. The Mammoth Hot Springs offer "other worldly" landscapes. It can't be described - it has to be seen. And the geysers — incredible.
I wasn't able to get everything I wanted to get in Yellowstone, so I will be going back and spending more time just in that park. Of all the national parks in the system I've been to, Yellowstone is the one that has stunned me the most.
You can view some of the images I made in my landscape gallery, some are in my wildlife gallery, others in my water gallery, and still more can be viewed in my Mormon Row gallery.
1.04.2011
Looking back at 35 years of the digital camera
Wow. A look back at the history of digital photography. I remember reading sometime in the early 1980s about digital, but it took a little more than 20 years before I got my first digital camera. Thirty-five years. Wow. And the technology has only exploded in the past ten years.
3.27.2010
I found my thrill... on Daffodil Hill
For the photographer, it might be better to go on a weekday when you can capture the flowers with less people in the background.
Check out my images of Daffodil Hill here. Photographer or not, Daffodil is a gorgeous location to visit.
4.24.2009
The American Southwest Road Trip
I've spent the last two weeks going through the Southwest on my way to and from a family reunion in Mississippi.
Utah was my first stop, and it's landscape was different than anything I've seen before. As a landscape photographer, I rank it up there with California in beauty.
I started off driving Saturday afternoon and ended up in Cedar City, Utah around 11:30 p.m. or 12:00 a.m. and then drove Zion National Park just before the sun came up. I went in without plan, so I slept in a truck stop parking lot in Cedar City. I saw most of Zion from the road, and it's landscapes were interesting - certainly different than anything I've seen in California. Orange and red are what the Utah landscape is all about.
Arches National Park in Utah was incredible. The landscape takes a bit to get used to if you're not used seeing that kind of thing, but it's just awesome the way the landscape was formed - almost barren in some parts with rock croppings and arches and all kinds of weird formations. Bryce Canyon was also mind blowing with the spires that were seemingly endless in the panoramic views with their red, orange and pink hues.
After leaving Utah, I drove to Colorado to Mesa Verde National Park, which it took nearly a day to do. I've always wanted to see the cliff dwellings, and on the day I arrived, I got to see a glimpse of the park as I drove though it, but it was too late in the day to actually go and check the dwellings out, so I headed back to the KOA and planned on spending the entire next day there. Little did I know the weather was about about drastically change - snow was in the forecast, so that changed my plans.
I woke up and bugged out. I had intended to go visit White Sands National Monument on my way back to California, but instead I spent the day heading to southern New Mexico where I camped out at the KOA in Las Cruces and then headed to White Sands the next morning.
I've always wanted to photograph White Sands. The white dunes of the gypsum sand were awesome, and the wind-blown lines in the sand were were what I wanted to photograph, with the contrasting rich blue skies in the background. The lines in the dunes' profiles with light on one side and shadows on the other of the were just spectacular.
One thing about White Sands is that you need to take sunglasses. The glare of the sun off the white sand is blinding - it made my eyes water.
From there, I headed to Roswell, New Mexico. Who can go to New Mexico without going to Roswell? I didn't have a whole lot of time there, as my next campsite was several hundred miles away in Oklahoma. I photographed some of the buildings, such as the UFO museum, the Out of this World Cafe and such. Main Street seems to get into the whole UFO thing and have fun with it.
From Oklahoma, I traveled to North Little Rock Arkansas where I camped for the night at the KOA there, and then I was on to Southaven to see my mother and then down to Starkville, Mississippi to stay with my cousin.
I didn't really make any images in Mississippi. Time and the weather were not kind, but I'm planning to drive back next spring or early summer to spend more time there, as well as Tennessee and Kentucky to photograph. I'm really looking forward to it, and Mississippi is one of the greenest states I've ever seen. It's beautiful. I saw a lot of things there I wanted to photograph.
On my way back, I stopped at another KOA in Alma Arkansas. As I was leaving Arkansas, I stopped at Fort Smith National Cemetery and made some images there. Anytime I can get to stop at a National Cemetery, I will.
From there I moved toward the KOA in Oklahoma where I stayed the week before, but I made a stop in Oklahoma City. I thought about stopping the Memorial there, but then I decided not to - I didn't want my mind on that horrible bombing for the rest of my day or even my vacation. But I did stop at a Best Buy and picked up a GPS for my Element. My handheld GPS didn't have all the maps on it I needed, and I got lost once. It wasn't fun being lost at night in a state you don't know. That's a story I don't want to get into.
After waking up in Oklahoma, I had a touch of a sore throat, but I didn't think much of it, and I got cleaned up and Beelined it back to Colorado so I could go to Mesa Verde the next day. I got back to the KOA there, but by the time I got there, by sore throat had gotten worse, and I started to feel bad in general, but not too bad.
I woke the next morning about 2 a.m. and knew I didn't have the energy to go to Mesa Verde. I was feeling pretty bad, so I got cleaned up, and I left there about 3 a.m. I decided to head home.
I wanted to stop in at the Four Corners on my way home, but it came across the news the day before that the Four Corners marker was in the wrong spot by somewhere around two miles. I drove past it without stopping and headed toward Monument Valley in Utah. I figured I could make a few images on my out, and I did. It was magnificent at sunrise. I captured some great color, and then I headed down to Horseshoe Bend in Arizona, which was one my must stops for the trip.
I was feeling really bad by the time I got there, but I decided to hike out the bend anyway. The canyon cut was incredible, and I made some really great images, but I will have to go back with a wider angle lens next time - I will be going back. My widest wide is 16mm, but I need something wider for this. It was incredible!
From there, I spent the rest of the day driving home. It took me a little more than a week to recover from whatever it was I caught. I wanted to have this blog entry up last week, but I just didn't have the energy.
It was a very worthwhile trip, and I'm planning another road trip for later this summer. I'm hooked on road trips!
To see more of my images from the trip, you can find Arches National Park images here, Bryce Canyon National Park here, White Sands National Monument here, Fort Smith National Cemetery here, and the remainder are here, in landscapes.
Utah was my first stop, and it's landscape was different than anything I've seen before. As a landscape photographer, I rank it up there with California in beauty.
I started off driving Saturday afternoon and ended up in Cedar City, Utah around 11:30 p.m. or 12:00 a.m. and then drove Zion National Park just before the sun came up. I went in without plan, so I slept in a truck stop parking lot in Cedar City. I saw most of Zion from the road, and it's landscapes were interesting - certainly different than anything I've seen in California. Orange and red are what the Utah landscape is all about.
After leaving Utah, I drove to Colorado to Mesa Verde National Park, which it took nearly a day to do. I've always wanted to see the cliff dwellings, and on the day I arrived, I got to see a glimpse of the park as I drove though it, but it was too late in the day to actually go and check the dwellings out, so I headed back to the KOA and planned on spending the entire next day there. Little did I know the weather was about about drastically change - snow was in the forecast, so that changed my plans.
I woke up and bugged out. I had intended to go visit White Sands National Monument on my way back to California, but instead I spent the day heading to southern New Mexico where I camped out at the KOA in Las Cruces and then headed to White Sands the next morning.
One thing about White Sands is that you need to take sunglasses. The glare of the sun off the white sand is blinding - it made my eyes water.
From there, I headed to Roswell, New Mexico. Who can go to New Mexico without going to Roswell? I didn't have a whole lot of time there, as my next campsite was several hundred miles away in Oklahoma. I photographed some of the buildings, such as the UFO museum, the Out of this World Cafe and such. Main Street seems to get into the whole UFO thing and have fun with it.
From Oklahoma, I traveled to North Little Rock Arkansas where I camped for the night at the KOA there, and then I was on to Southaven to see my mother and then down to Starkville, Mississippi to stay with my cousin.
I didn't really make any images in Mississippi. Time and the weather were not kind, but I'm planning to drive back next spring or early summer to spend more time there, as well as Tennessee and Kentucky to photograph. I'm really looking forward to it, and Mississippi is one of the greenest states I've ever seen. It's beautiful. I saw a lot of things there I wanted to photograph.
From there I moved toward the KOA in Oklahoma where I stayed the week before, but I made a stop in Oklahoma City. I thought about stopping the Memorial there, but then I decided not to - I didn't want my mind on that horrible bombing for the rest of my day or even my vacation. But I did stop at a Best Buy and picked up a GPS for my Element. My handheld GPS didn't have all the maps on it I needed, and I got lost once. It wasn't fun being lost at night in a state you don't know. That's a story I don't want to get into.
After waking up in Oklahoma, I had a touch of a sore throat, but I didn't think much of it, and I got cleaned up and Beelined it back to Colorado so I could go to Mesa Verde the next day. I got back to the KOA there, but by the time I got there, by sore throat had gotten worse, and I started to feel bad in general, but not too bad.
I woke the next morning about 2 a.m. and knew I didn't have the energy to go to Mesa Verde. I was feeling pretty bad, so I got cleaned up, and I left there about 3 a.m. I decided to head home.
I wanted to stop in at the Four Corners on my way home, but it came across the news the day before that the Four Corners marker was in the wrong spot by somewhere around two miles. I drove past it without stopping and headed toward Monument Valley in Utah. I figured I could make a few images on my out, and I did. It was magnificent at sunrise. I captured some great color, and then I headed down to Horseshoe Bend in Arizona, which was one my must stops for the trip.
I was feeling really bad by the time I got there, but I decided to hike out the bend anyway. The canyon cut was incredible, and I made some really great images, but I will have to go back with a wider angle lens next time - I will be going back. My widest wide is 16mm, but I need something wider for this. It was incredible!
From there, I spent the rest of the day driving home. It took me a little more than a week to recover from whatever it was I caught. I wanted to have this blog entry up last week, but I just didn't have the energy.
It was a very worthwhile trip, and I'm planning another road trip for later this summer. I'm hooked on road trips!
To see more of my images from the trip, you can find Arches National Park images here, Bryce Canyon National Park here, White Sands National Monument here, Fort Smith National Cemetery here, and the remainder are here, in landscapes.
3.12.2009
Spring is almost here!
2.23.2009
Death Valley National Park
I've always wanted to photograph in Death Valley, and as a photographer, I wasn't disappointed with what I found. The entire park is a highlight, and it really becomes a question of how to photograph it with so many things to photograph, and no, I didn't hit them all, which means I will be going back. I'm also considering offering workshops in the park in future.
Zabriskie Point was incredible to see. You see it photographs and think it was be an awesome location to photograph, but photographs don't do it justice. The lines, textures and colors can be overwhelming, and you really don't know where to point the camera first. I was drawn to the lines, while others are drawn to the colors. I really don't believe a bad photograph can be made of at Zabriskie Point.
Being a desert, it's easy to see why some of the features have "devil" in the name. Devils Golf Course is an incredible sea of dried salt beds and crevices in the ground that come up to your ankles. It seems to go on for miles. I photographed the golf course from the ground level wanting to get close to the texture of the ground and really show why it's called Devils Golf Course.
Devils Cornfield is also inhospitable looking. Salt on the ground with arrow weed plants growing out of it. I also took the approach of shooting from near the ground to depict the "cornfield" to capture it more from a "being in it" perspective.
Artist's Palette on Artist's Drive is a smattering of colors everywhere you look. The palette looked like mounds of ice cream - pistachio green, hot fudge brown, French vanilla yellow and strawberry. It was hard to photograph because there were so many ways to photograph it, so I took it directly on and got close to show the natural colors the desert offers up.
The Natural Bridge and the canyon leading up to it looked like location where you'd expect to see a band of Jawas or Sandpeople come out at you. Natural Bridge is in a canyon, which Death Valley is loaded with. The challenge in photographing the natural bridge was finding the best angle to compose the shot from. There were so many that were good, and when I got home to process them, it was hard to choose.
I will head back to Death Valley, hopefully sooner rather than later, to photograph areas of the park that I wasn't able to get to this time. Death Valley is a huge park, and it's too much to take in in the three days I was there. Two of those days were spent mostly on the road. I can't wait to back.
Being a desert, it's easy to see why some of the features have "devil" in the name. Devils Golf Course is an incredible sea of dried salt beds and crevices in the ground that come up to your ankles. It seems to go on for miles. I photographed the golf course from the ground level wanting to get close to the texture of the ground and really show why it's called Devils Golf Course.
Devils Cornfield is also inhospitable looking. Salt on the ground with arrow weed plants growing out of it. I also took the approach of shooting from near the ground to depict the "cornfield" to capture it more from a "being in it" perspective.
Artist's Palette on Artist's Drive is a smattering of colors everywhere you look. The palette looked like mounds of ice cream - pistachio green, hot fudge brown, French vanilla yellow and strawberry. It was hard to photograph because there were so many ways to photograph it, so I took it directly on and got close to show the natural colors the desert offers up.
The Natural Bridge and the canyon leading up to it looked like location where you'd expect to see a band of Jawas or Sandpeople come out at you. Natural Bridge is in a canyon, which Death Valley is loaded with. The challenge in photographing the natural bridge was finding the best angle to compose the shot from. There were so many that were good, and when I got home to process them, it was hard to choose.
I will head back to Death Valley, hopefully sooner rather than later, to photograph areas of the park that I wasn't able to get to this time. Death Valley is a huge park, and it's too much to take in in the three days I was there. Two of those days were spent mostly on the road. I can't wait to back.
10.18.2008
Fall Foliage
I was afraid that I missed the good stuff, as I checked weather.com's fall foliage map, and it said the area was pretty much passed its peak. To my delight, that wasn't quite accurate. Yes, a lot of the trees were missing their leaves, but some hadn't started to turn yet, while others had turned and others were ready to drop their leaves. Anybody who knows me knows I'm really not all that full of myself, and I really don't have time for people who are, but I was pretty impressed with what I came back with today. It also might be because I came back with a lot of yellow, and it is my favorite color. I bet none of you knew that!
I was really taken back with how many shooters were out on the road doing that same thing I was, both amateur and professional. I was in good company.
While photographing leaves are one of my favorite natural features to photograph, there are ways to photograph them to make them stand out and "glow" using natural light. I couldn't use that technique today because it was overcast, and I also didn't want to wait for the sun to be in the right position if it did come out from behind the clouds - I could have been there all day, and I wanted to be home before dark. To make leaves glow, capture them with the light of the sun coming in from behind them instead of in front of them. They look so much better, and not too many people capture leaves this way, so yours will stand out.
I know my last post was related to what I do at the paper, and I don't really like to talk about "work" on this blog, but I was out on assignment last week, and I came across previously submerged tree stumps with their roots now exposed at Folsom Lake, and I captured one of them while I was out there and added it to my personal collection. If you're in the area, now is a great time to get out there for this kind of stuff, since the lake is so low.
9.21.2008
Goin' Back To Bodie, Bodie ... I Think So
Wow. Bodie and Yosemite in one day. And what a long day it was. Driving about four hours to get to Bodie was long enough, but I will be doing it at least one more time. More on that in a bit. And then two more hours in the car after that to get to where I wanted to shoot in Yosemite. Whew. But the day was worth it, and I got what I wanted in both locations.
At Bodie, I got the interiors of the some of the buildings and homes of the ghost town. It wasn’t easy at first – it took me a little while to figure out how to shoot inside the buildings with windows without getting all the reflections from the glass. I saw other people trying to avoid the nightmares of shooting through the windows, but they couldn’t quite figure it out. And that’s a secret that’s going to stay with me for a while, unless you want to go with me one of my Bodie workshops (I’m sure other pros have figured it out though).
What a fun day it was in Bodie. I got see areas of the town I didn’t see the last time I was there, and a highlight was the jail. I’m not sure why – probably because it didn’t resemble anything you see in a western movie jail. No bars – just locked doors. I was bummed the I couldn’t get a shot of the interior to bring back. There were bars on the outside windows, and I couldn’t compose a good shot of the inside with the bars in the way.
But, I did find one of the left-behind cars I was looking for last time I was there, and I made some great images of it. The car was one of my big reasons for wanting to go back. It took some searching, but I found it – and a couple of others too.
When I was making images of the inside of buildings, I couldn’t quite pull off the ones I wanted inside the school house, so I’ll be going back for that, and I also want to reshoot the outside of the firehouse. I didn’t like the way mine turned out after this trip. So at least one more trip is in order for me, and I hope to do it soon before the snow starts to fall up there. Bodie is 8,000 feet up in the eastern Sierras.
I was after one thing in Yosemite, and that was a picture of Half Dome from Glacier Point, and I got it. But I will tell you, pictures don't do the scenery justice. You have to go there. It is awe inspiring to look out across the valley at this monster rock. No photograph can do it justice – it doesn’t matter who the photographer is. It has to be experienced to fully understand it.
Driving to Glacier Point, I entered Yosemite on Highway 120 from Highway 395. I’ve never seen that side of the park, but I have seen many photographs of Tuolumne Meadows, and I was hoping to see some of that awe inspiring scenery from the road. I didn’t. It was unfortunate. From most of the photographs I’ve seen, the meadows looked green and plush. I guess it was the wrong time to the year – the grasses were yellow and appeared to be dried out. I kept on moving, but I would like to go back after next spring’s snowmelt. I look forward to it.
I’m not sure what my next big photo project is going to be, but I’m really liking the eastern Sierras. Maybe this winter I’ll get up there after a few snowfalls and get some of those awesome mountainscapes.
At Bodie, I got the interiors of the some of the buildings and homes of the ghost town. It wasn’t easy at first – it took me a little while to figure out how to shoot inside the buildings with windows without getting all the reflections from the glass. I saw other people trying to avoid the nightmares of shooting through the windows, but they couldn’t quite figure it out. And that’s a secret that’s going to stay with me for a while, unless you want to go with me one of my Bodie workshops (I’m sure other pros have figured it out though).
But, I did find one of the left-behind cars I was looking for last time I was there, and I made some great images of it. The car was one of my big reasons for wanting to go back. It took some searching, but I found it – and a couple of others too.
When I was making images of the inside of buildings, I couldn’t quite pull off the ones I wanted inside the school house, so I’ll be going back for that, and I also want to reshoot the outside of the firehouse. I didn’t like the way mine turned out after this trip. So at least one more trip is in order for me, and I hope to do it soon before the snow starts to fall up there. Bodie is 8,000 feet up in the eastern Sierras.
I was after one thing in Yosemite, and that was a picture of Half Dome from Glacier Point, and I got it. But I will tell you, pictures don't do the scenery justice. You have to go there. It is awe inspiring to look out across the valley at this monster rock. No photograph can do it justice – it doesn’t matter who the photographer is. It has to be experienced to fully understand it.
Driving to Glacier Point, I entered Yosemite on Highway 120 from Highway 395. I’ve never seen that side of the park, but I have seen many photographs of Tuolumne Meadows, and I was hoping to see some of that awe inspiring scenery from the road. I didn’t. It was unfortunate. From most of the photographs I’ve seen, the meadows looked green and plush. I guess it was the wrong time to the year – the grasses were yellow and appeared to be dried out. I kept on moving, but I would like to go back after next spring’s snowmelt. I look forward to it.
I’m not sure what my next big photo project is going to be, but I’m really liking the eastern Sierras. Maybe this winter I’ll get up there after a few snowfalls and get some of those awesome mountainscapes.
9.16.2008
Geotagging My Images
I’ve activated a pretty neat feature on my website, and now you see a lot of the locations where I’ve photographed thanks to google maps. I’ve geotagged a lot, but not all, of my images – hey I have keep some secrets. Anyway, I’m pretty stoked about the feature that smugmug offers, and I hope you check out where I've been.
8.31.2008
Bodie And More
After going to Bodie, I went down to Mono Lake since I was so close to photograph some of the tufa, but with time running short, I couldn't stay long. I'll have to go back and shoot it more when I can spend the majority of a day there. Both shooting Bodie and Mono Lake were life goals of mine, and I'm glad I got to go, and I look forward to going back, knowing now what to expect from both places and how to approach them better next time.
The images of Bodie can be seen here. While there aren't a lot of them up as of today, I will be posting more in the future. I really have a lot of images to process.
8.16.2008
New Things
I found this river location by a campsite on Highway 50 by chance, and I spent about an hour and a half there as the sun went down. I didn't venture out into the river, and walking on the rocks next to the river got a little dicey with the camera gear in tow, but it all worked out. I'm really happy with what I brought back from this shoot.
One of the new things for me that I started working on is also shooting people. I spent four days last month in the Monterey area shooting one person, and while it was supposed to be fun and just for a few hours a day, they turned into all day shoots consisting of nearly 1,000 images where only about 20 were usable for what was intended. It was work, but it was also an awesome experience.
I'm going to start photographing people in various areas: weddings, portraits, senior portraits and events. I'm not walking away from fine art photography, but I'm adding to what I do.
3.12.2008
Working On Projects
I haven’t posted in quite a while, but it’s not that I haven’t been shooting. I was down in Big Sur a couple of weeks ago, and I posted a couple of shots that can be seen starting here, but I’m more looking for particular images for my Inner Thoughts gallery.
Originally, Inner Thoughts was called Raw, but I moved away from that since they weren’t as hard hitting as I wanted them to be. Raw was designed to be a tap into the deep inner thinkings of the people in the images, and while there are a couple posted that reach that level, that majority don’t. I think I’ve finally found what I’m looking for to create Raw, and now I’m looking for the emotional expressions that will accompany the thoughts of the people depicted in the images.
I'm also looking into starting a project that may take me away from photojournalism, but I'm only in the beginning stages and will be meeting with a potential business partner later this month. While it may take me from photojournalism, it won't take me from photography. If things pan out, and I probably won't know until much later in the year if it's going work, it will allow me to spend more time photographing landscapes and seascapes and also to focus on shooting images for my Raw galleries.
Originally, Inner Thoughts was called Raw, but I moved away from that since they weren’t as hard hitting as I wanted them to be. Raw was designed to be a tap into the deep inner thinkings of the people in the images, and while there are a couple posted that reach that level, that majority don’t. I think I’ve finally found what I’m looking for to create Raw, and now I’m looking for the emotional expressions that will accompany the thoughts of the people depicted in the images.
I'm also looking into starting a project that may take me away from photojournalism, but I'm only in the beginning stages and will be meeting with a potential business partner later this month. While it may take me from photojournalism, it won't take me from photography. If things pan out, and I probably won't know until much later in the year if it's going work, it will allow me to spend more time photographing landscapes and seascapes and also to focus on shooting images for my Raw galleries.
11.15.2007
San Francisco At Night
There were a few other places I wanted to go to, but a few obstacles got in the way, and I had to move on. I’ll go back at some point. I started shooting around 8 p.m. and didn’t finish up until around 3:30 a.m.; I didn’t get home until 5:30 a.m. I seriously underestimated how long it would take. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed my change in photographic venues. I hope you do too.
If anybody knows of any places in the San Francisco area that would make for some really cool night shooting, please share them with me. I would love to hear about them.
9.17.2006
Point Reyes National Seashore
I know it’s been awhile since my last post, but I’ve been really busy. I’ve just added some new images to my gallery.
I spent Saturday at Point Reyes National Seashore and came across several really things to make images of, but some reason I was
fascinated with “The Dancing Stick” and three shells that were lined up on the shore. I wasn’t sure how they got there the way they did, but it didn’t look like a human did it. I made several images of “The Dancing Stick”, but I liked that’s in my gallery the best.
Point Reyes is a beautiful place to shoot because the land so diverse. One minute you’re on a sandy beach looking out at the crystal blue sea, and the next you’re hiking up a mountain, and then you’re walking through dunes and looking at driftwood wondering how it got so far inland.
All along the way you’re looking at the details of the windswept sand and the textures on the driftwood and the plants growing around it.
To see the images I made, check out my website in the new images gallery.
I spent Saturday at Point Reyes National Seashore and came across several really things to make images of, but some reason I was
fascinated with “The Dancing Stick” and three shells that were lined up on the shore. I wasn’t sure how they got there the way they did, but it didn’t look like a human did it. I made several images of “The Dancing Stick”, but I liked that’s in my gallery the best.Point Reyes is a beautiful place to shoot because the land so diverse. One minute you’re on a sandy beach looking out at the crystal blue sea, and the next you’re hiking up a mountain, and then you’re walking through dunes and looking at driftwood wondering how it got so far inland.
All along the way you’re looking at the details of the windswept sand and the textures on the driftwood and the plants growing around it.
To see the images I made, check out my website in the new images gallery.
6.18.2006
Capay Valley
Anyway, it was really hot, and not much was out in terms of wildlife. I did make a couple of images of dragonflies, a re-shoot of an old barn that I took over a year ago that is still one of my favorites, and I happened upon an egret before it saw me. Those images I’ve posted to the galleries.
I did happen across some really pretty deer and some wild turkeys, many of them babies, but I couldn’t get in close enough to make really tight images of them. I was using my 400mm telephoto lens, but I’ve come to the realization that I need Canon’s 600mm telephoto. It’s been added to the list, but there are a few things I need to get before it.
5.21.2006
Yosemite
Wow. Yosemite. I was awed by the magnificence of Yosemite Valley and the towering waterfalls. Who isn’t? I was stoked to be going to one of the most beautiful places on the planet at a time when the falls were gushing, but it turned into a real photographic challenge for me.
I like to shoot moving water with slow shutters, and a lot of my images came out over exposed, even the ones that were shot at .4 and .3 seconds. Software couldn’t even correct it, so I was disappointed with many of the images I made. But, I did come back with a few killers, and of the ones that made it into the gallery, I'm really happy with them.
With powerful falls at Yosemite, it isn’t always good to let a long exposure be the best way to capture a waterfall. When I shot McWay Fall at Big Sur earlier this year, a long exposure worked for that “stream” of a waterfall. At Yosemite, the falls thunder down with such power that splash, spray and burst, a fast shutter is needed to make the images of the drama – softening those falls just doesn’t work and takes away from their brilliance.
I think my favorite was not actually a waterfall, but of bustling Bridalveil Creek. I would have passed the shot by if my brother didn’t suggest it to me. I look at the image and see motion. Even though the water images are still, I look at the water lines in the creek over the rocks, and they scream smooth poetic motion.
Shooting the valley was difficult because the second day we were there it was extremely hazy, so landscapes were tried, but they ended up being out of the question as far as presenting any of them in the gallery. Unfortunately, this included shots of Half Dome. They just looked too over exposed, while the foreground was crisp, clear and beautifully saturated.
The image of Bridalveil Fall that is in sepia was too washed out in color and was actually part of a larger image that had the valley off the left, but even as early in morning as it was, it was way too hazy to make a good shot of the valley. That was too bad. I think the shot really works in sepia, but I really wanted to come back with vibrant color.
The best waterfall shot is of Yosemite Falls with all three upper, middle and lower in the frame. It was magnificent to see.
One of the issues of shooting the falls close up was all the mist created by them. You could be hundreds of feet away, and still get really wet, which for myself I could handle, but not my gear. That was too bad, especially at Vernal Fall, where I came back completely soaked from the mist the fall created. It was like rain.
I made about 140 images, but less than ten made it to the galleries. That was unfortunate. As mentioned, some of it was due to me leaving the exposures set too long on some waterfalls, but the majority was due to the crappy weather both days we were there.
The first day we were there, we hiked to Vernal Fall, but the real objective was Nevada Fall. We got caught high up in a thunderstorm and had to turn back. The water started rising around us with the rain coming down, and we found ourselves in areas prone to flash flooding. We made the wise decision to not hang around, as the storm worsened.
To see the images I made, check out my website in the new images gallery.
I like to shoot moving water with slow shutters, and a lot of my images came out over exposed, even the ones that were shot at .4 and .3 seconds. Software couldn’t even correct it, so I was disappointed with many of the images I made. But, I did come back with a few killers, and of the ones that made it into the gallery, I'm really happy with them.
With powerful falls at Yosemite, it isn’t always good to let a long exposure be the best way to capture a waterfall. When I shot McWay Fall at Big Sur earlier this year, a long exposure worked for that “stream” of a waterfall. At Yosemite, the falls thunder down with such power that splash, spray and burst, a fast shutter is needed to make the images of the drama – softening those falls just doesn’t work and takes away from their brilliance.
Shooting the valley was difficult because the second day we were there it was extremely hazy, so landscapes were tried, but they ended up being out of the question as far as presenting any of them in the gallery. Unfortunately, this included shots of Half Dome. They just looked too over exposed, while the foreground was crisp, clear and beautifully saturated.
The image of Bridalveil Fall that is in sepia was too washed out in color and was actually part of a larger image that had the valley off the left, but even as early in morning as it was, it was way too hazy to make a good shot of the valley. That was too bad. I think the shot really works in sepia, but I really wanted to come back with vibrant color.
The best waterfall shot is of Yosemite Falls with all three upper, middle and lower in the frame. It was magnificent to see.
One of the issues of shooting the falls close up was all the mist created by them. You could be hundreds of feet away, and still get really wet, which for myself I could handle, but not my gear. That was too bad, especially at Vernal Fall, where I came back completely soaked from the mist the fall created. It was like rain.
I made about 140 images, but less than ten made it to the galleries. That was unfortunate. As mentioned, some of it was due to me leaving the exposures set too long on some waterfalls, but the majority was due to the crappy weather both days we were there.
The first day we were there, we hiked to Vernal Fall, but the real objective was Nevada Fall. We got caught high up in a thunderstorm and had to turn back. The water started rising around us with the rain coming down, and we found ourselves in areas prone to flash flooding. We made the wise decision to not hang around, as the storm worsened.
To see the images I made, check out my website in the new images gallery.
5.02.2006
Eyes Wide Open
Getting to the Presidio and shooting the tombstones in San Francisco National Cemetery is something I’ve wanted to do for over a year. It was incredible, and of the dozens of images I made, I really liked the two that I’ve placed in my galleries.
Shooting the white tombstones was amazing on two levels. One was because of where I was and knowing that many of those people died in the service of their country, and the other was turning the white dotted hilly landscape into art.
One of the challenges in shooting the tombstones was figuring out how to shoot them on the hill and get a very large number of them in the frame. Shooting them diagonally was what worked for me in delivering the impact I wanted. That impact was the shear numbers of those who died either in combat or at one time had served their country. The images don’t need words; they speak for themselves. The same goes for the “Eyes Wide Open” image I took around a year ago in Sacramento when the boots of soldiers killed in Iraq were on display at the Capitol.
Also included in these new images is another shoot I took on early Sunday morning in the city of Elk Grove, and specifically in its Old Town District, which is loaded with character.
The mailboxes turned out to be my favorite image of the day, but Old Town offered up many more images that told their own story by just looking at them. I used sepia tones on many of the images because that’s how I see Old Town. It’s nostalgic. The barber pole is heavy in the symbolism too. You don’t see them a lot anymore, and they represent a time that seems to be fading away. And then there’s the doorway with the edge of the window in the image. It tells a story too. Just let your mind wander and let it talk to you.
To see the images I made in their full size, including the one shown above, check out my website.
Shooting the white tombstones was amazing on two levels. One was because of where I was and knowing that many of those people died in the service of their country, and the other was turning the white dotted hilly landscape into art.
One of the challenges in shooting the tombstones was figuring out how to shoot them on the hill and get a very large number of them in the frame. Shooting them diagonally was what worked for me in delivering the impact I wanted. That impact was the shear numbers of those who died either in combat or at one time had served their country. The images don’t need words; they speak for themselves. The same goes for the “Eyes Wide Open” image I took around a year ago in Sacramento when the boots of soldiers killed in Iraq were on display at the Capitol.Also included in these new images is another shoot I took on early Sunday morning in the city of Elk Grove, and specifically in its Old Town District, which is loaded with character.
The mailboxes turned out to be my favorite image of the day, but Old Town offered up many more images that told their own story by just looking at them. I used sepia tones on many of the images because that’s how I see Old Town. It’s nostalgic. The barber pole is heavy in the symbolism too. You don’t see them a lot anymore, and they represent a time that seems to be fading away. And then there’s the doorway with the edge of the window in the image. It tells a story too. Just let your mind wander and let it talk to you.
To see the images I made in their full size, including the one shown above, check out my website.
4.09.2006
Mount Tamalpais
Mount Tamalpais is both an angel and an unforgiving beast at the same time, but to capture the angelic images, the beast has to be trekked.
The waterfall shots were the most challenging to get, as they were along Cataract Creek, and it was great going in, but coming back up it was a steep 1,300 foot accent along the trail back to where we parked.
Besides the rugged climb, or comfortable descent, getting the waterfall shots were tricky. Off shoot trails from the main trail went downward toward the creek and were slick. Not easy with a pack full of equipment on our back. Falling down a couple of times on the offshoot trails and also having to duck under fallen trees to get to the objective seemed to be the order of things.
Composing the photographs wasn’t easy either. There were a lot of wonderful shots of the waterfalls that I had to pass on for one reason or another, but the largest result was that too many dead branches were in the way or other minor obstructions that would not have played well in the finished image.
For shooting the waterfalls, I found that my best results came exposures ranging from one to three seconds.
One of the beauties of Mt. Tam is that the terrain is so diverse. One minute you’re hiking among redwoods and the next oaks and then through meadows and on rolling hillsides. Shooting on Mt. Tam for me as a photographer is probably like Disneyland is to a kid.
While hiking a service road, we went from being out in the open and exposed straight into and old oak forest that was seemingly spooky. Old trees, dead trees and fallen branches were all around, but amongst that death was green moss and brownish-orange fungus growing out of dead trees.
On the ground were all sorts of colorful wildflowers, insects and banana slugs, though none wanted to p
ose. We descended on the trail several hundred feet that offered spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean as we looked down on Stenson Beach. Though it wasn’t a good day for sunset photography, I plan on returning to that spot this summer to capture some great sunset shots. The only physical difficulty is climb back up with all the gear.
As physically heart-pounding as Mt. Tam was, the end result was worth it, and encourage any photographer, no matter your skill level, to take it on. Just take lots of water.
To see the images I made in their full size, including those shown above, check out my website.
The waterfall shots were the most challenging to get, as they were along Cataract Creek, and it was great going in, but coming back up it was a steep 1,300 foot accent along the trail back to where we parked.Besides the rugged climb, or comfortable descent, getting the waterfall shots were tricky. Off shoot trails from the main trail went downward toward the creek and were slick. Not easy with a pack full of equipment on our back. Falling down a couple of times on the offshoot trails and also having to duck under fallen trees to get to the objective seemed to be the order of things.
Composing the photographs wasn’t easy either. There were a lot of wonderful shots of the waterfalls that I had to pass on for one reason or another, but the largest result was that too many dead branches were in the way or other minor obstructions that would not have played well in the finished image.
For shooting the waterfalls, I found that my best results came exposures ranging from one to three seconds.
One of the beauties of Mt. Tam is that the terrain is so diverse. One minute you’re hiking among redwoods and the next oaks and then through meadows and on rolling hillsides. Shooting on Mt. Tam for me as a photographer is probably like Disneyland is to a kid.While hiking a service road, we went from being out in the open and exposed straight into and old oak forest that was seemingly spooky. Old trees, dead trees and fallen branches were all around, but amongst that death was green moss and brownish-orange fungus growing out of dead trees.
On the ground were all sorts of colorful wildflowers, insects and banana slugs, though none wanted to p
ose. We descended on the trail several hundred feet that offered spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean as we looked down on Stenson Beach. Though it wasn’t a good day for sunset photography, I plan on returning to that spot this summer to capture some great sunset shots. The only physical difficulty is climb back up with all the gear.As physically heart-pounding as Mt. Tam was, the end result was worth it, and encourage any photographer, no matter your skill level, to take it on. Just take lots of water.
To see the images I made in their full size, including those shown above, check out my website.
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