Self Assignment...

Iris - Lebanon, NH

Every once in awhile I like to challenge myself.

Today's "self-assignment" was to find and photograph at least two visually interesting subjects within 50 feet of my home.

Further more... the goal was both shoot and post-process the photos within 30 minutes start to finish. 

The genesis of this challenge came from a conversation I was having with a friend the other day.  I had been trying to explain to him what it was like to work as a news photographer in the mid-19080's when you had to shoot an assignment, process your film, edit negatives, make prints and write captions under a deadline.

While the technology of producing and distributing photos over a network has changed wildly in the past 30 years... some things have not.  You still need an eye for composition and content.  You still need (some) technical skills and you need to be able to function effectively under a deadline.

This image was shot with a Samsung mobile device and processed using PhotoShopExpress.  While I'm not a huge fan of shooting with mobiles the results can be good properly handled... and since it was also raining during this challenge to myself... I didn't really want to expose my DSLR's to the wet weather.

"Sea Grass" - Bunche Beach, FL

"Sea Grass" - Bunche Beach, FL

This image was shot early one evening as I was walking the beach in search of sunset photos... which weren't happening.

Turing my camera and attention inland and away from the ocean, I shortly came upon this composition.

What makes this photograph appealing to me is the sense of warmth, peacefulness and tranquility it conveys... which were the exact feelings I had while walking the beach that evening.

Over a year later I can still feel the gentle breezes off the water swirling around me and the warmth of the setting sun on my back.

A combination of compositional elements come together to make this image work.  Shooting somewhat tight on the grasses gives the photo an abstract and texture while the alternating strips of shadow and sun creates an almost 3 dimensional sense of depth.

Shot handheld with a Nikon D90 camera and Nikkor zoom lens... although I forget which one :-)

"Floating Leaf" - Centre County, PA

Floating Leaf - Centre County, PA

This is another one of my favorites from my "Black & White Period".  At the time I was heavily involved in trying to teach myself the "Zone System" (a system of determining exposure and film development) practiced and perfected by Ansel Adams. 

On late-fall a walk through the woods looking for subjects that would lend themselves well to experimenting with these techniques... I saw this leaf floating on the surface of a slow moving stream. 

I was attracted to the various textures and the range of tones... from a few near white grains of sand here and there to the deep blacks along the corners... all forming a frame for the remains of this decaying leaf.

Shot with a Nikon F2 with 55/3.5 Micro-Nikkor on Tri-x film.

"Mirror Image in Sand" - Starfish, St. Augustine, FL

Another image from early in my career as a photographer and a perfect example of what I've always said... "Some of your best photos will always be the result of complete accidents, dumb luck... or both".

Mirror Image in Sand - St. Augustine, FL.

This was shot made during a family vacation to St. Augustine, Florida.  I was about 18 at the time and our family had been staying at the Kon Tiki campground outside St. Augustine.

We'd been collecting shells and other treasures from the sea at the beach one day and set them all aside on the picnic table to dry out.

The next morning as we were packing up for the return trip home to Pennsylvania... I picked up this starfish and was delightfully surprised to see this image magically materialize right before my eyes.

I immediately grabbed my camera (which I think was a Yashica TL Electro-X the time) from the car and started shooting away.  It had a relatively decent quality Soligor zoom lens on it with a macro capability that I didn't use much due to the challenge of holding it steady enough to get good results.  But In this case I got lucky and was able to hand hold it well enough to capture this image on Kodak Plus-X film.  

As an aside I think this also might have been the first time I really had to make a photo under the pressure of a "deadline".  As I recall the family car with pop-up camper attached was pulling out of the campsite as I was shooting :-)

"Abandoned Farmhouse" - Pine Grove Mills, PA

Abandoned Farmhouse - Pine Grove Mills, PA 

I've always been really fond of this photograph... shot early on in my career as a photographer.

I used to drive past this abandoned farmhouse quite frequently on my way to work and was always attracted to it because of the (apparently) freshly painted white posts which stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the house.

Since I was "studying" the zone system at the time (a method of determining exposure and processing developed and perfected by Ansel Adams) this scene made for the perfect challenge to my rudimentary skills with camera, film and darkroom technique.  My goal was to capture the "glow" of the posts, the details in the shadows of each window pane and bring to life on paper what I saw in my mind.

Looking at this image 35 years later I feel like I succeeded :-)

Photographed with a Graflex 4x5 camera using Kodak Tri-x film processed in D-76 and printed on Agfa Brovira glossy surface paper.

"Sunset Stroll" - Bunche Beach, Fort Myers, FL

Sunset Stroll - Bunche Beach, Fort Myers, FL

This shot was made a couple of years ago during a casual evening of shooting at the beach.  It’s an example of what can happen with a little luck.

I had made about a dozen shots of this fairly dramatic sunset… trying to catch different patterns in ripples of water to play off the composition and shape of the clouds above.  All were good, but not great shots.  Something was missing but I wasn’t quite sure what.

However as soon as this young girl came into the left of my frame and continued walking down the beach… I knew that the missing element was the “human” element.  She added a sense of scale, motion and tranquility to the photo.

I shot 3 frames of her walking away from me down the beach… with this being the best.  The playful position of her arms, foot just catching the splash of a passing ripple and her reflection in the water make this photograph complete.

Shot with a Nikon D90 and 18-105 Nikkor lens.  

Moss & Pine Needles on Forest Floor

Moss & Pine Needles on Forest Floor - Cardigan Mountain, 

This photo is one of a series I did a couple years ago exploring the colors, patterns and textures of the forest floor.

Shoot while hiking on Mt. Cardigan in Orange, NH it features elements of all the above.

My style of photography tends to focus on use of long lenses (a result of my years shooting sports) or looking for the patterns, colors and textures that occur in Nature and "zooming-in" on them to produce a different and visually interesting composition.

Shot using a Nikon Coolpix 8700 camera using close-up mode and a very slight amount of user controlled fill flash.

One of the biggest challenges in making this photo was all the black flies that were trying to eat me alive while I stood still long enough to grab the photo.

Door Knob, Enfield NH.

Old Door Knob - Enfield, NH

A few years ago while traveling I was attracted to the texture of the wood and the layers of dust on this (apparently) unused door.  It seemed like the perfect place to spend a few minutes exploring with my camera.

I spent about 10 minutes shooting various details of the door knob and wooden panels and ultimately decided I liked this composition the best.

Initially I thought this shot would stand on it's own without any post-processing but it just wasn't happening. The lighting was to flat and the range of color throughout the original image was to limited.  I tried a black & white conversion but that still didn't make the image "pop" and catch your eye the way I wanted it to...so it sat unseen in my files for the next 5 years.

Enter the age of "apps"... which didn't even exist when this photo was first shot.  Yesterday using PhotoshopExpress I experimented with increasing the color saturation throughout the image and pumped up the contrast a bit resulting in the final image above.

Although I don't feel apps should be used as a crutch in the making of good photos... they can be a useful tool.  What's possible in photography is changing almost daily and it would be foolish to ignore that.  Applying new technologies to older photos can breathe new life into images that didn't quite "make it" before on their own. 

Shot with Nikon D90 and 105 Micro-Nikkor lens.  Post processed in PhotoshopExpress mobile.

Android Simplicity

Paper Lanterns - PowerHouse Mall, Lebanon NH

Sometimes it's actually pretty incredible to me what you can do with a cell phone camera and a free photo app these days.

As someone who started their photography career using manual everything cameras, film and needing a darkroom plus 2 hours of time to see the results of a shoot... it's pretty amazing.

This photo was shot on the fly with an Android device and post-processed in Adobe PhotoshopExpress.

All in about 5 minutes :-)

While not gallery quality... what the average person with little to few technical skills can produce today both scares and impresses me.  

First Bike...

Heading out

Wow. This faded Kodachrome slide brings back memories.  Taking off for a spin on my first bike... complete with fenders, rack and headlight.

Used it to ride to school and deliver newspapers on the weekend.  How times have changed.

It Pays to Be "Nutty"...

Well I guess this is unfortunate news for the rest of us "normal" folks :-)