November 25, 2009

Photoshop darkroom day

In the past to make photos I had to spend the day in the darkroom with the door closed and no contact with the outside world. There were many good days spent this way over the past years but there were also many hot days, cold days and lets not forget those smelly days. Today I spend the day in my digital darkroom in the light and without the smell! One of the most interesting things about digital is that you can actually make pictures while going to get a cup of coffee. You just push print and away it goes. For those who did not spend a quarter of there life in the darkroom this may not seem like a big deal for those of us that have it seems like something from Star Trek. I was thinking the other day about the next generation of photographers that will not have darkroom experience to guide them and will be at a loss in some ways but in others they will be way ahead. For the most part I make digital prints the same way I made silver prints. I think that the next generation of photographers will not be bound by the techniques of the past and will be much more creative in their ideas and printing techniques in the future.

Here are a few of the images I made today. Hope you enjoy them!

three dancing

three dancing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tree by frozen lake

tree by frozen lake

Lake through the trees

Lake through the trees

Tree on frozen lake

Tree on frozen lake

November 17, 2009

First Sierra Snow Photo Day 2009

Snow falling, camera ready!

On the trail

It is always exciting to see the first Sierra snow of the season. There was only six inches but enough to cover the ground and create exciting new images to photograph. The area that these photos were taken is a favorite location of mine on the Pacific Crest Trail. An interesting bit of information about this area is that I am only able to access it at the beginning or end of the snow season as the snow can get to 10 or more feet deep in good snow years. Also as the winter season progresses deep snow covers the landscape in a sea of white and the surface features of the land are hidden from view.

Through the lens

Image preview is a marvelous thing!!

First snow on the Lake

Final images are converted to black and white in Photo Shop CS4.

November 1, 2009

"A walk in the Park" or "Taking photos of my local Landscape"



So where do we find the “Landscape”? Most of the time my favorite landscape is in the High Sierra Mountains of California. I love the look and feel of the mountains and spend as much time as possible there doing photography. But when I am not there I am always looking at my local landscape for new images. Have you ever gone somewhere different and thought the land and its sights were spectacular and then after being there for three or four days it became mundane and not nearly as spectacular as the day you first saw it? I often tell people photograph what you know and see every day. Everyone has special views in there own back yard and what is old to you is brand new to someone else. Share your local landscape with others. Everyplace has a special and unique look and your home town is no different. Post those photos on the web for other to see.
Now the question has to be what does this have to do with a walk in the park? Well yesterday my wife and I went for a walk in our local park and I took pictures along the way of water and trees changing color. Was it as spectacular as the High Sierra mountains? If you ask me the answer would be no. Were there pictures to take of my local landscape that I found interesting and the answer would be yes and lots of them. Share images of what you see everyday for the world to see. The Landscape is all around us and it is truly spectacular. Record it and share it.

First day at the blog


As they say “Welcome to my Blog”

My blog will discuss topics related to photography and especially black and white digital landscape photography which is what I photograph most of the time. I also plan on including my photo day adventures, equipment, software, printers, papers and other useful information I may have come upon. Should be fun!

As for my photo history I have been taking photos since I was 16 years old and have never put the camera down. Now, lots of years, lots of cameras and lots of images later the world of photography turned upside down with digital and not to be left the wrong way up I turned with it back in 2006.

My digital journey began to see how the whole digital process worked. I made hundreds of test images and moved from paper to paper from ink to ink looking for that perfect print that I knew so well from a lifetime of silver printing. You ask, did I find it? Well yes and no. I found that my digital prints did not look exactly like my silver prints. They looked different but not necessarily different bad. They have a new look and in many ways an exciting and far better look.

As for the image posted above…Redwood National Park, black and white 8×10 Tri-X film developed in pyro back in 1992. Classic large format film at its finest! That will probably be my first and only film image that will be included in this blog. Some of you may have heard the phrase “Those were the good old day” and in my mind and lots of other photographers they were classic of the history of the past hundred years of photography. But time has moved on and with it photography has changed not by a little but by a lot! So my thoughts now are:

“These are the good old days”