Workshop Update for 2014

Due to several factors in my personal and work life, I'm moving the 2014 Big Bend workshop to October. The revised details are:

Dates: Oct. 21 - 25, 2014
Tuition: $550
Students: 10
Location: based in the Big Bend area of remote west Texas

I will also alter the structure of the workshop slightly from previous years. The changes will be:

- Our time in the classroom will be cut down. We will meet an hour a day, or two hours every other day, or however it works out at the time. But we will not spend the majority of the mid-day hours in the classroom as in prior workshops.

- I will shoot in the field along side you. However, I will make myself available to you at all times. If you need me, I will help you.

I'm making changes based on feedback on previous workshops. We do a significant amount of driving and moving around because the Big Bend area is a huge place. Trying to cram in a lot of classroom time is difficult, and the end result is folks being a lot more tired than necessary. Plus workshop participants need more time to get supplies, eat, and rest. Just getting food in the area can take a long time. (it's all on "desert time"... very similar to "island time", if you're familiar with that concept :-)

Our shooting locations are also large in area and we are usually the only people there. Workshop participants tend to spread out quite a bit, and having me float around to each person during a shoot is not easy. I will position myself as best possible (middle of the group) and be available, but if no one needs me (which happens 50% of the time) then I will shoot for myself.

These changes are based on past workshops and also a recent private guided shoot that I gave in Big Bend. The guided shoot was like a workshop, but we only had about 2 hours of classroom time (total) and I shot for myself in the field. The end result was quite good. Folks enjoyed it very much and came away with amazing photos.

So, I'm going to transition my workshops to be somewhere in between a classic workshop (as I've conducted in the past) and a guided shoot (where you simply have a leader take you around to various places to shoot).

I will send announcements out to those who have expressed interest. If you want to be placed on my announcement list, please contact me.

Once I finalize the details with the motel, then I will take on students and require a deposit of $200. Please stay tuned for that announcement.

This workshop will focus on night photography of the stars and land-based objects as well as classic daylight landscape photography. We will shoot within and just outside of Big Bend National Park.

The schedule for this workshop is around a new moon. The skies will be very dark and moonless after sunset allowing us to see and photograph the Milky Way.

Electronics Hell

Does it ever seem that when one thing goes wrong in your life, it is quickly accompanied by several others? I feel like I'm in electronics hell right now. So many things have gone wrong in the past week or so.

Let's start with my 2-month old Android smartphone, a HTC One. It suddenly started to flake out. Apps started crashing. It wouldn't stay connected to the Internet. Being connected to the data service or WiFi made no difference. I searched all over the 'net for solutions. I tried everything I could think of. Nothing would work. My last resort was a factory reset, and I've just done it. What a pain in the ass! But now it works!

There's a circuit in my house that's not properly grounded. This is a 120VAC system. There's a bit of stray current (1 - 3VAC) coming through the ground. I spent the better part of last weekend trying to troubleshoot it. No luck. I have absolutely no idea what's wrong. The only sure way of finding out is to rip into the walls to track all of the wiring. So, no solution at this point.

Last night several of our smoke alarms decided to start chirping. I installed 10 new wirelessly-linked alarms about 15 months ago. I guess the QA on the batteries is consistent. They are all failing about the same time! (this isn't necessarily a big problem - just an annoyance to compound my already annoyed state over stuff that operates on electricity)

My 8-9 year old stereo receiver crapped out. Something on the main board is shorting out. I cleaned it, inspected it, and I think one of the caps has gone out. There's a bit of white residue around it. Ppppfffftttt....

One of the transformers inside a 12V halogen light fixture in our kitchen went out. Replacement value: about $45.

My battle with extending the WiFi in my house is still on going. I gave up on a WiFi extender after DAYS of trying to get one to work. My latest effort was to add a whole new WiFi router. Nope. Not working. I either need to give up, or spend more hours (or days) trying to fiddle with it. (I'm very much a DIY kinda guy, but in this case, I'm actually considering hiring someone to come make this work)

And finally, 'cause this is a photography blog, my trusty Sony RX100 is goofing up. The large dial around the lens barrel started to malfunction. Strangely enough, I'm not even upset about this. I've carried the little camera with me nearly constantly over the last 13 months. I've dropped it numerous times, knocked it around quite a bit, and subjected it to all sorts of environments. I'm actually amazed that it still functions (well, except for that dial). I really don't mind. To me, it's just the cost of using the camera in the manner that I do.

Book Cover

A photo of mine is appearing on the cover of a new book about people from the Big Bend area. The book is a compilation of short bios done over the years by Carlton Leatherwood.

Anna Oakly at Mercury Graphics in Terlingua, TX designed the cover and used (with permission) a photo of Blair Pittman that I'd taken some years ago.

You can find this book on Amazon or at Front Street Books in Alpine, TX. And yes, my website address is incorrect on the credits page inside the book. However, it is stated correctly on the back cover.

Stuff

Photography has definitely taken a back seat lately. But I've also focused on other things that are creative.... well, at least somewhat.

I like to make stuff. It's usually not fancy, and it's almost always a home repair project or a quick DIY job.

I recently got a cheap cross slide vise for use on my drill press.



The vise needed a lot of fixing up despite being new. It was cheaply made, but with the right lube, cleaning, and adjusting, it actually works pretty well. I even added roller bearings on the crank stops so they would turn smoothly and easily.



Cooking is something else I enjoy, but I don't do it very often. I don't do fancy or gourmet necessarily. I just spend a lot of time chopping, cutting, and preparing. And it's usually stuff packed with flavor, spice, and stuff that's generally bad for you in large quantities. This was for Thanksgiving sides - stuffed mushrooms and bacon wrapped stuffed jalepenos.



Beer is still a great source of enjoyment. And I'm still trying new brews when I can.

A recent new one was Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. It's unlike anything I've had before. It's expensive but a nice treat. At 18% alcohol it's not a beer to drink in large quantities. It's sweet and smooth and does not have a crisp hoppy taste. It's just mellow liquid gold that smoothes out any hops that went into it.



And finally, the biggest time consuming activity in the past several weeks has been a total change in lifestyle. I turned 39 last month, and I've vowed to not reach 40 in the current shape that I'm in.



I've been exercising A LOT both biking and running. I've gotten on Weight Watchers, and I'm learning to eat right.

I've set two goals for a 365 day period:
1) Do Weight Watchers every day
2) Travel 1800 miles on foot or bike (combined)

I really don't have any goals for my weight. I know I will lose weight, but I'm more concerned about eating right and getting healthy.

So it's a big change. I can still eat and drink what I want, but I have to learn to do it in moderation. It's occupying a lot more of my non-work time than I thought. However, it is important and I must make time to exercise.

Light Pollution

Light pollution is my enemy. For the type of night photography that I like, it's critical that the skies are dark.



One photographer has made a project photographing nearly the opposite: the world's brightest cities.
http://gizmodo.com/the-45-brightest-cities-in-the-world-photographed-by-o-1464752320

It is interesting yet depressing. The article states that most people haven't seen the Milky Way in their lifetimes.

I live in Houston, so I know what it's like to have very bad light pollution. You can almost read a book by ambient light at night in my backyard :-(

Organizing

Doing anything efficiently in life requires good organization. In photography you need to organize your images as well as gear.

And, the organization that's put into place must be maintained and revised as changes are made.

So, I've spent the better part of a weekend now putting new shelves and drawers in my closet. Part of that system is for camera gear. And it's damn nice to have easy access to it now. Everything has a home in a drawer or on a shelf.



This has nothing to do with my closet project. It's just a Manhattan lit by a citronella candle as I attempted to relax in the backyard for a little while. We obviously still have tons of mosquitos.

But I highlight this because I often have to force myself to slow down, stop being so busy, and take a break to rest and, of course, think about photography. And it's worth it.

A Week of Photos

Daily Grind

Caught in the day to day monotony. Sleep, eat, work, repeat.



This is exactly the situation to avoid. Before you know it, time has flown by, and you find yourself out of touch with your creativity.

The sunset last night (first pic) and the sunrise this morning (second shot) were two events that pulled me away and made me, at least temporarily, observant of something beautiful.

Storage and Backup

Ever have a hard drive fail? Ever worry about your photo files?I don't think I've ever been comfortable with my storage system. But then what would give me absolute reassurance that a storage system was 100% reliable?

My system has evolved over the years. I've used combinations of hard drives, CDs and DVDs, and archival CDs and DVDs. One thing is certain, for any given system to work in a feasible and friendly way, it has to easily accommodate an exponentially increasing amount of data. And because of this I have long since given up on optical media.

The big thing these days is cloud storage. But I don't trust that any more than I do having a hard drive stored in a remote location.

So for now, I'm content with having my work on multiple hard drives stored in two different locations. It's a good thing that hard drive technology has advanced steadily through the years along with my ever increasing stash of image files :-)

P.s. Yes I've had drives fail. The pic above is one example. It fell victim of my curiosity and tools.

Head Down, Fast Forward

I see that time has, once again, snuck past me. It's been almost a week since I posted here, and that kinda violates my new plan for staying engaged with photography.



As we all say, "I was really busy".

I had jury duty on Monday, got selected, and spent 3 days commuting to downtown Houston for the trial. In the evenings, I had to catch up on work and work emails and such.

There will be times like this. I can accept that. The hard part is resuming the "normal" life after the busy-ness has stopped. Being busy for a while derails me and my routine.

I did manage a few thoughtful photos and put them on my Instagram page. The one above is floor tile from the federal courthouse. Only tile that depressing would be (and should be) found in a government facility :-)

Now, back to being "normal"...

More Practice

Busy weekend. Lots of chores. Too many things to do.

Sound familiar?



I saw an amazing scene in the backyard, and I took a 15 break with my camera today.

That's all I needed. I let my creativity loose and found a satisfying outlet. And I enjoyed it.

I just have to remember to keep doing that. Stop and smell the... photos :-)

Editing Day

Today is editing day. I have some free time, finally, and I'm plowing thru Big Bend photos.



Editing, or "post work", is a chore, but I actually enjoy it. Having your face glued to a computer monitor all day is a requirement. But at least the view is scenic :-)

Look for new photos in the coming weeks!

Mindset

Your state of mind, while photographing (or as I like to describe it: engaging in a serious photographic process), is important. I've talked about this before many times. I've described my process and how I photograph in previous posts here.

This has been in my thoughts lately as I often think back about my recent trip to Big Bend. In the few weeks prior to leaving Houston, I was engergized and excited. I had ideas flowing through my head. I felt inspired.

But I feel that it all ended on my first day out there. One major component of that was getting sick. I remember driving south on Hwy 118 to Study Butte/Terlingua and feeling a horrible amount of sinus drainage turn on in the back of my throat.

I've always had bad sinus and allergy issues. When I get sinus drainage, it's usually the first sign that bad times are coming. Congestion, headaches, fever, and fatigue all show up and make my life just miserable enough to keep functioning but operating on a minimal basis. And it always lasts for a couple of weeks.

So I had that going on in Big Bend. When it came time to shoot, my head was filled with thoughts of whether or not to break it off and go see a doctor, what meds could I take to help the situation, and wanting more sleep. Being creative and letting the inspiration come through and engaging in a serious photographic process just seemed to not happen.

The other issue, as I mentioned in the last post, was that I was detached from my usual photographic mindset due to lack of practice. I stayed terribly busy through most of this year on various projects (non-photographic) and had my head in other places for so long that picking up a camera seemed almost foreign.

Then there were the mishaps. Two flat tires, lost camera batteries, and a very close rattlesnake encounter that put a huge dent in my ability to walk about the desert while feeling somewhat safe.

I have a hard time dealing with stress-inducing events. It's difficult for me to engage in an activity with total focus if other parts of my life are out of sort. To use a phrase by Robert Jackson , if my mind is full of barking dogs, I have a very tough time getting them to quiet down or at least tuning them out for a short period of time.

So what does all this mean at the end of the day when it comes down to my photography?

After looking through all my photos from my recent trip to Big Bend, I'm not all that impressed or satisfied. Sure, I enjoyed my time out there. I'm happy with some of my work.

But I do not feel that I've progressed in my art nor have I explored or employed my full creative ability. In fact, when I sit down and really think about it, I've let my photography go stale over the last couple of years.

I feel that when I go out and shoot (despite enjoying it) I'm just reacting to scenes somewhat passively and following through old, comfortable territory. I.e. I'm shooting the same type and level of work that I've been doing for the last several years. The scenes may change a bit, but my thoughts and processes of engaging those scenes photographically are pretty much the same.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. You could argue that if I enjoyed it, then mission accomplished.

But I have, or I feel that I have, a creative energy... maybe energy isn't quite the right word... my head sometimes seems full of ideas and inspiration that needs to be properly harnessed. I need an output that channels what's in my head and lets it flow into form by means of visual communication (photos).

I don't feel that I'm being too hard on myself. But I do feel that I'm somewhat cheating myself if I don't allow the creativity to come through.

On a practical note, I have been doing several things in the past month that I think will help.

1. Blog more. That's what you're currently reading :-) I initially envisioned a post-a-day, but I'm actually happy with activity every 2 or 3 days. And I have no goals for the content other than it shall be something related to photography. Photos, ideas, locations, gear, news, etc.

2. Practice. This is a very easy concept. All it takes is time. Just get out and shoot!

3. Slow down and smell the photos. I rarely look at photography (from others) these days. I need to start doing that again. For example, I let my subscription to Lenswork lapse last year. I always enjoyed that magazine. I'm thinking about re-subscribing.

4. Personal changes. I'll not go into that here. But I do know of something that I can change in my lifestyle that will make a huge impact on my mindset and creativity. And I'm working on it. Maybe someday I'll work up the courage to describe the details here.

So if you're asking yourself why am I writing about all this and going to all this trouble, then the answer is that I want to be happy. I want to enjoy my photography and be satisfied with the results. And I want to effectively express my creativity.

Whether or not anyone likes my photos is no longer important to me. Perhaps that's a subject for a whole other post :-)