The calendar will not be out until later this year. This calendar should be available at local bookstores (e.g. Barnes & Noble, etc.). I'm not sure what month my photo will appear on in the calendar.
Many, many thanks to the folks at Texas Highways for again publishing my work and allowing me the privilege of sharing work from my Visions of Big Bend photo project!
Two weekends ago, on a sunny Sunday at home, I challenged myself to such a project: shoot in the backyard with just one lens.
Like the trees mini-project, I was pleasantly surprised by the effects of this exercise. The photos aren't really the greatest, but I wanted to share them just to illustrate what I did.
A good photo-buddy of mine once said that he'd be hard-pressed to produce compelling images from the backyard, and I agreed with him. But I have to say that once I got into the spirit of this exercise, I began to see photos everywhere.
Using one focal length was an additional challenge. However, it made me realize that I could use that one lens to it's full potential and that was a valuable learning experience. This particular lens (Canon 24mm f/1.4 Mark 2) has a very large maximum aperture and a small minimum focusing distance (it's not real macro, but it can focus very close to things) as compared to the lenses I'm used to using.
This is the final selection from my work. Overall, I'm pleased with my photos, but I'm mostly happy about the experience I gained. I've never before confined my work to such a specific criteria, and frankly, I've been apprehensive to do so. My shooting time is limited and valuable to me. But I have to say I found the experience to be worthwhile.
Please check out the final gallery here and also read the previous two entries (see below) in my blog as well as this older entry from last year for more insight on this mini-project.
Canon 5D + 24-70mm f/2.8L + polarizer
4 seconds, f/8, 24mm, ISO 200
Last month I wrote about shooting the trees on the ranch as my main subject (www.texbrick.com/photo/blog/?p=109). That work was done in November. In December and early January, I made two more trips to the ranch and again focused on the trees.
The ranch isn't a grand landscape kinda place. It's cluttered with thick vegetation and the low, rolling hills don't often open up to wide vistas.
Something I've been struggling with in the last year or two is resisting my wanting to shoot big (i.e. the grand landscape or BIG scenic), or rather, to stop putting such importance on shooting such scenes.
I guess when we start this love affair with photography, we get excited about the nifty gear. Then we get excited about "capturing" trophy scenes, typically great American icons like the Grand Canyon, the Tetons, etc. We "chase the light" and become what Mark Hobson likes to call "light stalkers". All we seem to be after are postcard-worthy snaps to hang on the walls like trophies to impress visitors.
Admittedly, I won't pass up a grand landscape or a scene with vivid, mind-blowing light and color without at least a snap. Stuff like that captures my interest and I just cannot help it. But when I look for meaning in photography, I get a sense that something more profound must be present in a photo.
So I started shooting trees :-) Well, it was really an exercise: pick one subject and stick with it for a while. A short project is a better term for this work.
What I was after was to learn and experience practicing meaningful photography when the usual attention grabbing grand scenes were just not available. I.e. more like shooting in your backyard when you don't have the time or money to take a trip.
So are my trees more meaningful than the Grand Canyon? I'm not sure. They're certainly an intimate look at life on the ranch, although the "life" is fairly ordinary and common.
As the short project wore on (I made four trips to the ranch between mid-November and early January), my interest gained. I enjoyed it. The thing that really stood out to me was that I started to see much more photographic opportunity than I had before. I started to notice all sorts of potential scenes as I wandered around the ranch, and I revisited many of them when I had time to photograph.
I did, however, encounter vivid, colorful conditions :-) I wasn't stalking the light, but I did make use of it :-)
Canon 5D + 24-70mm f/2.8L + polarizer
1/8 sec., f/11, 25mm, ISO 100
More about this scene in Part 2...
Canon 5D w/ 17-40mm f/4L
15 sec., f/8, 17mm, ISO 100 & 200 (two shot composite)
That's my wife, our older son (Henry), and myself sitting on the steps. I light-painted our faces with my LED flashlight during the exposure, however they're blurred because of the long shutter speed. This looks more like a trio of ghosts than a Christmas portrait :-)
The final photo is a blend of two exposures. The brighter exposure (ISO 200) better captured the warm light on the trees above the gazebo, and the darker exposure (ISO 100) captured the gazebo and colored lights. I blended the two shots in Photoshop using layer masks.
I'm not sure why I varied the ISO. Typically, I'd vary the shutter speed to make multiple exposures. But this worked just as well since ISO 100 and 200 are both very clean with the 5D.
Having us in the scene was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Tanya and Henry wandered up on the steps just as I was finishing the first exposure. I just set the timer and then grabbed them for a shot. It was only for fun.
I know I'm a little late in posting this, but I'm still working on a back-log of photos I took in December. There's more to come...
I've been seriously, deeply into photography for over six years now. I often wonder what each new year will bring, photographically, and I sit back, reminisce, and be thankful for the year that has passed. I'm often amazed at the things I have seen, for they are not predictable and the resulting photos can be quite unexpected (in a good way).
Here are 12 of my photos from 2008:
Death Valley, February
Lone Star Trail, Texas, April
High Island, Texas, April
High Lonesome Ranch, Texas, May
Big Bend, September
Bastrop State Park, Texas, September
High Lonesome Ranch, Texas, November
Actually, I could have filled up this bunch of 12 with photos only from Death Valley and Big Bend. I enjoyed those places the most. But I also got to experience many other places (some new) and made fond memories. The workshop in Death Valley was the highlight (well, except for becoming a father for the second time - that trumps everything :-) ) as I met 18 people for the first time, befriended them, and had an intense photography and nature experience.
I feel like I've learned a lot and advanced my work in 2008. I certainly enjoyed every minute of it. I know these photos are far better than the ones I was making 5 - 6 years ago, but the amount of enjoyment I get from photography is still constantly pleasing. I think that's the big realization I've just come to - it doesn't matter what I'm shooting or the quality of the resulting photos, I'm still enjoying it and still having just as much fun as I was several years ago.
So what will 2009 bring? Who knows?... I have to get out and shoot, go places, take chances, and enjoy it. With a little luck, I'll be reviewing 12 new images and fond new memories in January 2010 :-)
The calendar is offered through Cafepress. I've already receieved a few and I'm impressed. The print quality is decent for a calendar. Looks pretty nice on the wall.
Aside from my photos, the calendar is definitely very high quality. The other photos are very, very good, and the calendar as a whole offers a spectacular view of the park. I'm proud that my work appears in the calendar and also alongside some fine photography from others.
Visit Big Bend Chat here.
IP Magazine is offered as a print-on-demand publication. It's roughly twice as expensive as specialty photography magazines you see in bookstores (e.g. Aperture, Lenswork). However, being offered as print-on-demand insures that no waste occurs. It's a neat concept.
In fact, Lenswork Publishing has recently pulled their magazine from bookstores and it’s only available via subscription, effectively print-on-demand (although it’s only issued bi-monthly). The reason is that typical magazines offered in stores often go to waste when they are not purchased. They end up getting thrown out (or hopefully put into a recycle bin).
Anyway, hope you enjoy my article! I'm very pleased to have photos from my Big Bend project featured in a publication.
