Brooks Jensen published a very provocative article in the current issue of Lenswork.  He delves into a topic that I’ve thought about ever since I first picked up a digital camera.  It relates to the question of whether or not it is OK to manipulate photographs.  I’ve always contended that it is not only OK but, at least for the kind of photography I do, it is required.  The photographs I create reflect my interpretation of the natural world around us.  Therefore, their subjects and contents are going to reflect something of me.

Jensen goes several steps farther by identifying three major types of photography – Documentary, Personal Narrative and Imaginative.  Jensen describes Documentary photography as telling “someone else’s story.”  What a great way of describing it.  Clearly, then, in documentary photography, the photographer strives to be as true to the subject as possible and minimize or eliminate his or her own coloration or bias.  The goal is total objectivity.

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Nighttime photography is a lot of fun, gaining greater popularity and attracting more and more photographers.  I’ve been exploring the various techniques and want to share with you the one I like the most.  Now, I don’t pretend to be a master at nighttime photography.  I’ll leave that up to the legends like Wally Pacholka.  But we can still have a lot of fun and come away with some very nice images.

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Every year in March we get together for some photography, fun and fellowship in Joshua Tree National Park.  It is an informal gathering of photography enthusiasts of all skill levels.  We camp in one of Joshua Tree’s campsites.  We rise early for the glorious desert sunrises and stay up late, talking around the campfire.  And every Saturday night we eat far more than we should because of all the delicious food at the pot luck.

Joshua Tree National Park is Southern California’s premier national park.  It boasts three major desert environments – the high desert environment of the Mojave Desert, the low desert of the Colorado Desert and the transition zone between the two.  Its magnificent and magical Joshua Trees that give the park it’s name, the rock outcrops of the Wonderland of Rocks (world class climbing), the grand vistas of the Pinto Basin, the treacherous beauty of Cholla Garden, the spindly ocotillo, the peaceful and cool oases and much more make this a photographer’s paradise.

In 2012 we are scheduled for March 16-18.  We will be camping in the Cottonwood Campground at the southern entrance to the park where we have a group campsite reserved.  It is open to photographers of all skill levels who love the outdoors and the thrill of landscape photography.  And the cost is your contribution to the Saturday night pot luck.

We gather Friday night, set up and enjoy a friendly campfire.  Saturday is filled with photography, hiking and an informal class. We are also treated to the work of a guest photographer.  Saturday night is the big pot luck dinner when we all have a chance to relax and share stories from our day.  We do another sunrise shoot on Sunday morning before packing up and heading home.

If this sounds like fun, check out our website for more information.  Here’s the link.

http://ralphnordstromphotography.com/workshops/2012/1203_jt_gathering.html

The group site is tent camping only and we are restricted on space.  Regular camping is first come, first served.  Meaning: you need to register for the gathering.  Registration consists of two forms – Registration and Assumption of Risk.  Also, if you want to camp in an RV or all the spaces in the group site are taken you will need to camp in one of the regular campsites.  This is generally no problem and you can still participate in all the activities.

People are already signing up for this popular event so get your registration in now to secure your spot.  The forms can be downloaded from my website.  Here’s the link.  You can fax or mail the form to me.  Instructions are on the website and the form.

http://ralphnordstromphotography.com/workshops/2012/sign_up_now_jt_gathering.html

So come on out and join us in beautiful Joshua Tree National Park.  The Joshua Tree Gathering is an event not to be missed!  And if you know someone who might also be interested share this post with them. 

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.  No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”  Robert Frost

In my workshops I talk about feeling a place before you photograph it.  In fact we do an exercise.  When we arrive at the location I ask the participants to leave their cameras in the car for at least fifteen minutes and just quietly wander around the area until it speaks to them.  Only then can they get their cameras and try to capture what they are feeling.

This is a wonderful way of slowing down and getting in touch with the essence of a place.

But I must confess it doesn’t always work that way for me.

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One of the things that we landscape photographers pay a lot of attention to is light.  In fact, it is my belief that the study of landscape photography is a never ending study of light.  And that’s a good thing because there’s so much to learn.

Now, I must confess – my analytical mind needs to break things down to help my creative mind better recognize and capitalize on great light.  So get ready ‘cause here come a series of blog posts on light.

What Color Is a Cloud?

The first thing I want to look at is Color.  Now, we’re all pretty familiar with red, green and blue, even cyan, magenta and yellow.  I don’t want to talk about color in that way.  We could discuss the color wheel and that would be informative but, well, not all that exciting.  I’d like to kick this off by asking a simple question…

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There are a couple of things that make a great vacation photograph.  Certainly photographing loved ones in exciting and exotic places is one of the most important.  But there is something else that is very powerful and not that hard – Composition.

There are many facets to composition, far more than can be covered in a brief blog posting.  But come along and I’ll share 10 simple compositional techniques with you that will enhance not only your photography on your vacation but throughout the year.

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It all started with kneeling in the mud.

I was with David Muench, Jerry Dodrill and twelve other eager photographers on a Mountain Light Gallery workshop in May.  We lined up along the bank of the pond just outside Bishop, California and aimed our cameras at magnificent Mt Tom, the dominant peak in the Eastern Sierra crest in this area.

I’d like to take you through the process of making a photograph from the images I captured that morning.

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A little over a week ago my new Dell Inspiron 580 arrived at my doorstep.  My wife and daughter finally convinced me to buy a new one.  I think they were getting tired of me storming around the house all grumpy and such when the old on acted up.  Disclaimer:  Computers act up after years of use not because they wear out but because of all the junk you load on them as time goes by that literally clogs the operating system.  So, with a little persuasion from my girls I gave Dell a call.

If your one of those that gets into these things, here’s what I ended up with:

• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
• Processor: Intel Core i% CPU 760 @ 2.80 GHz (it’s a 64 bit quad)
• Memory: 8 GB
• Internal storage: 1 TB
• Display adapter: ATI Radeon HD 5450 (supports dual monitors – VGA, DVI and HDMI) with 1 GB memory)

So that’s the starting point.  And from here on it gets more interesting – not exactly the Chinese curse interesting but kinda-sorta.  I got a good deal on the Dell but it as it turns out I wasn’t even close to being done spending money.

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I’ve been printing, matting and framing for the past several days ,getting ready for the first shows of 2011.  I have a lot of new photographs so this is both a busy and an exciting time.

It occurred to me that I went through a lot of trial and error  when I first started this process of preparing photographs to display and sell, and that it just might be helpful to some if I shared the system I finally worked out.

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