Even More on It Just Takes One

The investigation of the Shulman Grove Visitor Center fire is complete but the results have not yet been released.  Here’s a recent post.  http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/site/content/view/1304/48/

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.  The celebration in the Schulman Grove will continue as planned on September 20.  Also, the Methuselah Trail that was closed for a while after the fire has been reopened.  The Methuselah Trail winds its way through the oldest trees in the forest including the Methuselah tree whose age is determined to be 4,700 years old.  However, the tree is not identified.  Here’s the post from the Inyo National Forest regarding the celebration.  http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/recreation/bristlecone/index.shtml

Other postings announcing the celebration include:

http://www.inyoregister.com/content/view/117328/27/

http://yubanet.com/california/Celebration-of-50th-Anniversary-of-Ancient-Bristlecone-Pine-Forest-September-20th_printer.php

Following the John Christiana angle of the story, Christiana pleaded not guilty to felony charges of auto theft, grand theft and receiving stolen property.  Sheriff’s investigators have enough hard evidence to link him to the rash of vandalisms that occurred in recent weeks in the Big Pine Creek and Bishop Creek areas.  The Inyo Register reports the following…

http://www.inyoregister.com/content/view/116920/27/

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The Politics of the Nature Photographer

Two weeks of political conventions have left me feeling a bit nauseous.  But, as a nature photographer, some things political have become clearer.

Instead of drilling for more domestic oil, why can’t our country embark on the environmental equivalent to the Manhattan project or the Apollo mission to develop alternative energy sources?  Instead of weaning ourselves from foreign oil why don’t we wean ourselves from oil in general at least to the maximum extent possible (haven’t seen a solar powered 747 yet).  If we can put a man on the moon in ten years is there any reason our great country can’t lead the world to alternative energy?  If we don’t, we’ll be giving up leadership to some other country.  Wouldn’t it be hilarious if that country was China.

One last thought – can you imaging the nature photographer overlooking a grand vista at sunset in Utah and exclaiming, “Oh man, this is amazing!  Won’t this make a stunning strip mine?”  One thing about the natural beauty we so enjoy is that it takes constant vigilance to preserve it.  One lapsed moment to greed and it’s gone forever.

Thoughts from a self-confessed tree hugger.

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Ink Jet Papers – Red River

One thing I haven’t done at all really is play around with different ink jet papers.  My thinking is simple – there is so much to master in all the tools I use – Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. – and so many techniques to learn that adding one more variable is something I just wasn’t interested in doing.

I made the decision right at the start to go with matte papers.  The paper I chose was Epson Enhanced Matte, now renamed to Premium Presentation Paper – Matte.  The decision was based on my desire to produce photographs that look more like paintings.  A glossy or even luster surface shouts “photograph!”  But people don’t expect to see photographs on matte surfaces.  At shows, people frequently ask if my works are paintings.

So Epson Enhanced Matte paper has worked out very well for me and I still stand by my original decision.  It’s my paper of choice.  But I had no idea what I was getting into.

Continue reading “Ink Jet Papers – Red River”

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The Photographer as Artist – Creative Vocabulary

The Photographer as Artist – Creative Vocabulary

In this third article we continue our exploration of photography from the perspective of other artistic disciplines.  The first article was The Photographer as Artist – Introduction.  We introduced the idea that art stands on the Tripod of Artistry, three principles that are common to all arts.  The first leg of the tripod, the expressive capabilities of the medium, were explored in The Photographer as Artist – Expressive Spectrum.  In this article we will look at the second leg – the Creative Vocabulary.

Creative Vocabulary

We all know that to be an effective writer it helps to have a large vocabulary.  It just stands to reason that the larger the writer’s vocabulary, the more effectively he or she can communicate.  Poets probably have the greatest mastery of the language as that is the most condensed form of communication.  This reaches its absolute zenith in haiku, that wonderful form of Japanese poetry that paints the most beautiful images in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables.  Probably the most famous is this exquisite poem from the haiku master, Basho (1644 – 1694).

Continue reading “The Photographer as Artist – Creative Vocabulary”

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Inspiring Quotes – Ansel Adams

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.

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Inspiring Quotes – Jim Brandenburg

Like Thoreau, who had gone to the woods because he “wished to live deliberately, to front only essential facts of life” and to “transact some private business with the fewest obstacles,” I embraced this endeavor, with some trepidation, to see if I could find what had drawn me so long ago to my art, and to see if I had become as perceptive of nature as I hoped.  “To anticipate, not the sunrise and the dawn merely, but, if possible, Nature herself,” wrote Thoreau.

Nature cannot be twisted to our whims, not even for the purpose of capturing her beauty on film.  She must be approached on a level at once aware of both her charms and her harshness.  Hers is not a world solely of “calendar” scenes,,, but one also of mystery and hardness, built of the timeless recycling of energy as creatures and plants die and are reborn.  Thoreau’s “sunrise” is the calendar photograph that comprises what for some is their sole understanding of nature.  My hope was that I would be able to cajole from her something deeper.

{Written as the introduction to Jim’s wonderful book “Chased by the Light” in which he undertakes to expose one frame of file a day for 90 consecutive days from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice in the north woods of Minnesota.  To see the photograph referenced by ‘Thoreau’s “Sunrise”‘ go to Day 10 – Boundary Waters Loons.}

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Canon 1Ds Mark III Sensor Clean #2

I got dust on the sensor of my Canon 1Ds Mark III and couldn’t get it off.  The vibration on startup and shutdown didn’t dislodge it.  I tried cleaning it witn a sensor brush and that didn’t work.  So I took it into the local Canon Express Service Center to have them do it.  I was expecting to pay about 50 bucks for it but was delighted to find out they did it for free.  That put a smile on my face.  Another satisfied Canon customer.

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Inspiring Quotes – David Hurn #3

…all photographers of stature whom I admire seem to share this fundamental characteristic:  a deep and long-lasting respect and love for the subject matter.

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The Photographer as Artist – Expressive Spectrum

We’re exploring art from the perspective of other artistic disciplines to shed light on what it means to be a photographer and an artist.  (You can read The Photographer as Artist – Introduction.)  We’re doing this because photographers often seem to be expected to meet a “reality standard” that has not been imposed on other artists since the classic period of Greece two thousand years ago – “Did you use a filter?” “Are these colors real?” “Did you manipulate this photograph?”

There are three areas to explore – what I call the Tripod of Artistry – the three legs upon which all arts and artists stand.  This article looks at the first of the three – Expressive Spectrum.

Continue reading “The Photographer as Artist – Expressive Spectrum”

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Inspiring Quotes – David Hurn #2

… photography is only a tool, a vehicle, for expressing or transmitting a passion in something else.

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