08-21-13 Harvest, 2013

The Arrow Education Foundation of Watertown, South Dakota, works hard to support public education in Watertown. They depend on donations from people like you (especially if you live in Watertown or have benefited from Watertown Public Schools.)

Each year they host a charity fundraiser called "Harvest." It is a casual, but gala, fall affair. Invitations were just send out and I'm pleased to say that a photo I donated to the cause is the background art for the invitations. This backlit sunflower was featured in this blog before (click).

Have you made your reservations for Harvest, 2013? Have you donated the Arrow Education Foundation? The world will be a better place if you do.

08-20-13 Prairie Relic

When Deb and I were driving back to Watertown on the day we did Lacey and Matt's engagement session, I remember driving by this tree and saying, "That's an amazing tree." And so, before I ended my session north of town a few days ago (that resulted in the two previous posts) I stopped by this tree and took several photos. I ended up liking this one, largely because of the way the stark monotone of the skeletal tree contrasts with the strong colors of the earth and sky.

Post Script

There is a bit of a back story to this photo. I took this photo on the morning of August 11. Three days later, I was packing my camera gear and discovered that my beloved Canon 24-105 4.0L lens was missing. I searched the house. Twice. No lens. I opened Aperture on my computer to find the last photo I had taken with the lens. It was of this tree. I concluded that I had left the lens exactly where I had taken it off - sitting on top of a fence post. (I used my 70-200 telephoto lens so I could try to blur the background.)

I drove north of town feeling pretty confident that I would find the lens. After all, this spot is fairly remote and I didn't think the country road would have had much traffic. I also imagined that the lens would blend in, looking like part of the post.

And from an eighth of a mile away, I could see the lens. But it didn't look like part of the fencing - it looked like a lens. Fortunately, it hadn't rained and there had been little dew over the three days that it sat on the post. And, aside from a fine layer of dust on the filter (no, I hadn't put on the lens cap), the lens was pretty much as I had left it. Lucky me!

08-19-13 Serenity

Those who follow this blog know that Lonesome Lake is one of my favorite places. Even if I didn't have a camera and tripod, I would enjoy this place, especially on a morning like the one this photo taken on. It was cool and windless, which on an August day is South Dakota, is somewhat rare. And there was a kind of silence here that it hard to describe. But I will say that I could hear and feel the silence. And when I look at this photo, I still do. I wish you had been there with me.

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/13.0 ISO500 200mm

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08-18-13 Morning Glory

The title of this post may suggest that it is another flower photo. But, instead, it is another sunrise photo. This photo is the result of serendipity, I suppose, in that I just happened to be in the right place at the right moment. But serendipity doesn't suggest that it was an accident. When I left home just before sunset on this morning, I drove north hoping to find something worthy to photograph. And this is the first photo I took. I'll post others in the next few days.

It occurs to me that my photographic process generally begins with a "hunt." In this case, I was slowly driving the back roads near Lonesome Lake looking for the perfect picture. Initially, I drove over the little bridge that this photo was taken from but I backed up thinking that the still water in the foreground would do a good job of reflecting the beautiful morning sky. I guess you would say that this photo is a good example of chance favoring the prepared mind. Sometimes we are lucky to get the photos we get but this "luck" depends on our ability to see and then on our technical ability to capture what we see.

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/10.0 ISO250 24mm

08-16-13 The Cathedral Spires (HDR)

I'll have to admit that I was trying to channel Ansel Adams when I made* this photo. Of course, Ansel used a view camera, filters and elaborate dark room magic to make his great black and white landscape photos. In the digital realm, all of those things are done using software.

I had taken my Black Hills Photo Adventure participants to the Needles Highway in the Black Hills and when we arrived at this vantage point, low clouds were skimming over the Spires, though you can't see it is this photo. It was the perfect moment to be at this place and I'm guessing that even Adams would have found it worthy of a photo or two.

Incidentally, what made Ansel Adams so good was that he didn't see the landscape that he photographed as geologic architecture. Instead, he worked hard to show the landscape as an environment. I try to do this in this photo, but I would say I fall a little short, though there is plenty of texture in this photo. And texture is a hallmark of Adam's work.

*Adams said, "You don't take a good photo. You make one."

08-14-13 The Stargazers Are Back!

Even though I've posted stargazer lilies here and some would say, "If you've seen one stargazer, you've seen them all," I feel obliged to post photos of these beautiful flowers again and again.

And, with this photo, I was trying to figure out a way to "make it new," in the words of the poet Ezra Pound. So how did I try to do this? For one, I was using flash. Yes, flash! Photography is all about good light and I am starting to use more fill light when nature doesn't quite get the job done. The secret to good use of artificial light is to use somewhat surreptitiously.

And the other thing I tried was to play with depth of field and a composition in a way that allows the viewer to see that this lily isn't alone but he/she is the one you are supposed to look at. In case you didn't know it, photographers use things like leading lines, bright and dark areas and depth of field to manipulate those who look at their photos. Yes, I am manipulating you. And I like it!

Is it a good photo? Technically, I think it's good and I do think it is pleasing to the eye. Is it unique in the realm of stargazer lily photographs? I doubt it. But here it is anyway. And in another year, I'll probably be out in Deb's garden with my camera, working to get something worth looking at again.

Canon 5DIII 1/100s f/2.8 ISO100 100mm

07-18-13 Prickly Pear

Anyone driving along the forest service road I used to get to this photo location would have wondered why a man was lying prone near an old, dead tree at 5:45 am this morning. But nobody else was likely to do that. In fact I could lie prone for the whole day and not be seen.

My mission this morning was to photograph rocks and trees in an area I hadn't photographed before. But in my quest for the perfect shot, I discovered a small colony of prickly pear cactus growing by a weathered tree. And so my mission changed.

Fortunately, I had my 100mm macro with me and I was able to get up close and personal with a plant you wouldn't think would thrive in the Black Hills National Forest. What I liked about the subjects in this photo were the rich, monotone textures of the weathered wood and the spiny, crisp edges and lines of the cactus. I also liked the vibrant green of the cactus juxtaposed against the dull, gray tree branch.

Canon 5DIII 1/6s f/18.0 ISO250 100mm

06-25-13 My Little Friend

To call this 3" long lizard a "friend"'is a bit of a stretch since I only saw him once and during our short photo session he acted like he wasn't there - I think he thought he blended in so well with his surroundings that I couldn't see him.

This little guy was one of the many residents at the Estate Linholm, the beautiful B&B Deb and I are staying at while visiting St. John.

We leave for home this afternoon and as much as I like the Islands, I can't wait to be back in South Dakota.

06-01-13 Ready To Bloom

For a person who thrives on warm weather and sunshine, June is an important month. The grass is pretty green by now, the days are incredibly long and there is the promise of summer.

The iris pictured here is, of course, a symbol of all of that. . .

05-31-13 Different Seasons

The last time I had pondered my favorite little stone bird, he/she was standing in fallen leaves. On this ocassion it is standing stoicly in fallen flower petals from the same tree.

We have had a cooler than normal spring here in South Dakota and I'm wondering if that is why our flowering crabapple trees were so loaded with blooms. When the flower petals fell, they literally piled up in drifts.

05-30-13 Both Sides Now

So have you ever pondered the backside of a pink tulip? You have now. The title, as my friends from the '70s may recognize, is borrowed from Joni Mitchell's song by the same title, though in her case, she's talking about clouds.

And, yes, those are real rain drops on the tulips, which are bent over both by the wind and by age.

05-25-13 The Urbane Duck

When the sky began to grow light this morning, I looked out my den window and noticed something that gave me my first laugh of the day - a mallard standing on top of the building across the ally from our house. I quickly ran to get my camera and took several shots of him silhouetted against the sky. I thought he would fly away any second but it turns out there was no rush - an hour later he was still there. Maybe he sleeps up there? A room with a view. . .

This duck moved into our neighborhood this spring and seems to be quite comfortable here. My wife and I (and perhaps even our clawless cat Mac) have adopted a "live and let live" policy. And so has the rest of the neighborhood

The most strking thing about this bird is how cool and calm he seems as he scans the eastern horizon, balanced on one leg. Thus, my post's title: not the "Urban Duck" but the "Urbane Duck." (And how can you not be reminded of aboriginal men who also balance on one leg?)