As we mosey into 2012...

...I feel the need to be just a tad reflective and wonder what the new year will bring, photography-wise.

I have always said that I will never shoot a wedding, and I still maintain that promise. However, I just might expand a bit into senior portraits and the such. Not real big or real serious, but some. With the right people it can be fun. (I think)

The other plan is to get organized. This should be interesting. Organization is not exactly my strong suit. I don't necessarily do resolutions, but in a round-about way it is.

The significance of today's photo? Oh, none. I just like it.

Winter, Where Art Thou?

We have had less than an inch of snow this year. Nothing in about a month. It's just insane. These are what California winter days are like. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I'm just waiting for the hammer to fall.

So, what to shoot? Everything outside looks dull and dingy. Maybe I should go buy some flowers and shoot some indoor stuff like this photo from a few years ago. Then there's that photo processing I talked about last time. Nah.

I do want to get out and get some more snow scenes... when we get snow. But, for now, I'll just have to wait. I just hope the late winter doesn't make for a late spring into May. That would not be good.

What to do in the winter?

Piggy-backing on my last blog post, about staying focused, what should I be doing during the winter? Well, the first and obvious answer, is to go out and shoot winter scenes. Scenes like the one included with this post.

The second answer is to sit down in front of the computer and finish processing all those photos from previous shoots that are sitting on my hard drive collecting "cyber dust".

That second is a toughie. And kind of hard to explain. I don't necessarily dislike photo processing. I do get excited when it is done. But... there's always a 'but'... it is kind of tedious.

Ok, very tedious.

The corn field and barn shown here is near Palo, Iowa, and was taken last winter (I think). Too bad the barn isn't bright red. That would be a nice contrast on colors, but it's aged look is interesting in its own right.

Stay Focused (pun intended)

A friend of mine has a website called "Life Is Too Busy". I wish I had thought of that name first. It is so appropriate. A week ago I realized I had not posted anything since September. Seriously, where does the time go?

We all need reminding from time to time. If at all possible, some time needs to be taken for a "time out". Time needs to be taken for the pleasures in life. Time needs to be taken so that the knots in the back of your neck can go away for a bit. Do something fun and/or relaxing.

As should be fairly obvious, what is relaxing for me is getting out and taking landscape photos. I'll say it, I need to STAY FOCUSED and devote at least a little time each week to doing something photographic, even if it is working on past photos that haven't been processed yet.

Today's photo is of Council Lake in the upper peninsula in Michigan. Seemed appropriate for this time of year.

Lessons I Have Learned, Pt 2: Don't Wait

When you see a shot... take it!

One, you never know when you'll get a chance to go back. Especially if you are traveling in an area you don't frequent. This one is pretty obvious.

Two, things change. If you shoot flowers, they change from day to day. A storm may come in overnight and ruin everything. Or, in the case of this photo... it may just disappear altogether. Neither this barn nor this windmill exists anymore. This shot was taken about four years ago, and deteriorated quickly afterward, and was eventually torn down about two years ago. The windmill was torn down earlier this year.

I'm glad I stopped to get this shot. I know I have certainly missed many, hence the "lesson".

Go Back and Make It Better

Here's the scene I was talking about in recent posts. The original shots had unfortunate focus issues. I may still be able to use them, as they may still print well.

I still wanted to go back and shoot the area again. That turned out to be a very productive morning. The colors were different from before. The original shots were more green, these show the corn tassels beginning to turn color as harvest is coming up.

I also made a panorama version of this shot that crops out most of the sky. Not sure which one I like better. I think I like both, but for slightly different reasons.

Lessons I Have Learned, Pt 1: Turn Around

That's right. I said "turn around". Why? Because sometimes that's where the good shots are.

I have several examples where I went out to shoot something specific and also found a great shot simply by turning around and looking the other direction. The shot you see here is my latest example.

Now, in this case, the shot I went for was good as well, and you will see it soon enough, but there have been times when my intended shot was utter garbage, and the day was saved by just... turning around.

I decided to post the black and white version, though the color version is interesting in its own right... in a hazy sort of way.

Slam on the brakes!!!

Flying down the highway at, er, ummm... 55 mph... and the sudden urge to hit the brakes catches me as I spy this barn off to my left. Actually, I spied an old wagon and a tire swing hanging from a tree right in front of the barn, but those shots will come later.

This were almost an afterthought, yet I kind of like it more, I think. A classic and somewhat cliché shot, yet interesting nonetheless. I think what sets it off for me are the contrasting colors.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I didn't actually slam on the brakes (though the thought did occur to me). I drove ahead to an intersection and did a u-turn. Safety first, ya know.

I am such a square!

Another shot from last week. Heading home and this white building caught my eye, so I had to do a quick stop (after a quick check to make sure nobody was behind me). This scene had several different appealing aspects, and this was just one of them.

This particular shot lended itself to the square format very nicely. We often forget about the square photo format, and that's a shame. It's an "old school" format, and it certainly doesn't work for everything, but it is very underrated. When it does work, it really helps 'finish' the composition of a photo.

I cannot say that I had a square format in mind when I shot this image. It became obvious to me when I was doing my post-processing. I'm looking at some unnecessary distracting foreground and a whole bunch of unwanted sky, and the light bulb went off. Cropped to square, and loved it!

Back in the Saddle Again

For all my lack of photographic productivity so far this year, the last week has been the exact opposite. There's a new excitement in the air. I don't know if it was the Tamron hands-on lens event that my photo club hosted last week, or something else, but I have "the bug" again... and it feels gooooood.

This shot was taken while Missy and I were scouting sites last Saturday. It was something of a hazy and cloudy day, but the sun broke through in the late afternoon and cast a nice golden glow on the countryside and we happened to be in the right place at the right time.

I should also mention that timing is everything. If you see a good shot, stop and take it. It may not be there when you come back. I drove by this same site this morning and all the hayrolls were gone. If I had made a mental note to come back another time I would have probably missed out completely.

Test Driving HDR

Missy and I were on our way home from Davenport when I spied this sunset cloud formation behind this farm. It was too good to pass up, so as I slammed on the brakes and made a quick turn down a gravel road and locked an unsuspecting Missy in her seat belt as she's lunging forward and sideways with the unexpected momentum of my deft maneuvering, I knew time was critical.

To my eyes the scene was gorgeous, but I knew to the camera the contrast between shadows and highlights would be too much, so I decided to bracket and finally try my hand at HDR. What do you think?

The George Lepp Seminar

Yesterday, my photo club hosted a photography seminar by world-renown photographer George Lepp... and what a treat it was! The information and the inspiration were both phenomenal. George, and his wife Kathy, were both absolutely delightful. It was an all-day event, and subjects ranged from landscapes to macros to panoramas to stop-action to almost everything in between.

Of course, with any good photo presentation like this, the bank account will probably end up a bit lighter after I invest in a few more toy... er, ummm... tools. I can say that I was inspired to expand my focus. No pun intended... well, maybe a small pun. :-p

Today's featured photo is one I took a couple years ago at a photo workshop in Michigan. Wouldn't it be great to wake up to that every morning?

...and it felt goooooood...

...to finally shoot something again.

Ok, it's a flower. Ok, it's in my front yard. Ok, it's not like I ventured forth into the wild recesses of Iowa to track down the lonely tulip that has not been seen since the Bohemian Beatnik Renaissance in old Holland in 1966. But, oh, it felt so good to actually shoot something for the first time this year.

I even used my new macro lens, which had been sitting on my shelf unused for almost three months now.

I like this shot because the background is slightly blurred yet still recognizable without being distracting. The focus... literally and figuratively, is on the tallest tulip, as it should be.

Hope Springs Eternal... or something like that.

It's spring. Or, is it? It is where I'm from in California, but here in Iowa we're not quite sure yet. This has been one of the hardest (and few) things I have had to adjust to after moving here... the "late" springs.

We had a very mild winter this year. For whatever reason, snow missed us more often than not. Other areas to the north and south got pummeled, but we squeaked by. So, on a huge leap of faith, I'm going to prep the snow blower today and put it away for the summer. Cross your fingers that this doesn't jinx me and we get a blizzard in two weeks.

What else does this mean? Getting out and shooting more. Hopefully. The engineering business is up and running, I still have my college courses, but I will indeed make time for some shooting. My main goals for this year are more farm scenery and panoramas.

Life

Isn't it interesting how life can change so suddenly and drastically?

Two months ago... about the same time as my last blog post... I had plans to really focus (no pun intended) on my photography. You know, updating the website, scanning old slides, marketing, and so on. Well... that didn't happen.

Right after my last post I started back to school for the first time in almost two decades. The plan is to slowly but surely get my engineering degree. About two weeks after that I decided to start my own business for civil engineering design and drafting services. The two have taken virtually all my time and the photography has taken a back seat.

Now, don't get me wrong... the photography will come back in full force. It'll just have to wait until these other issues get settled and into routines of their own. If there is any saving grace it is that this is the worst time of year to take new photos as everything is pretty bad looking. So, until next time... cheers!

Looking Forward to Spring

Obviously, this photo wasn't taken recently. The leaves on the trees and the lack of snow are dead give-aways.

For all my previous rambling about what can be accomplished in winter, I really would like Spring to just hurry up and get here. If for no other reason, it's just easiuer and more comfortable to move around and enjoy oneself when bitter cold isn't an issue.

This shot is of the old... and still currently used... courthouse in Mitchell County up by the Minnesota border. It's sort of amazing than an old and dated building such as this still functions in a modern society.

While doing some research of Iowa courthouses a couple years ago, you could tell when each one across the state was constructed simply by the architectural style. In my modest opinion, almost no courthouse constructed after 1910 is worth looking at. This one dates from 1858, and is relatively simple in design, but the "grand era" of courthouse construction seemed to be between 1880 and 1910.

The New Year...

To paraphrase The Grateful Dead, "What a long strange winter it's been.". We've really only had one real good snowfall, and it has been so warm that almost everything has since melted for several days now with no significant snowfall expected for at least several days. Strange, indeed.

Not that I'm complaining, of course.

This entry's photo was taken a couple years ago at this time of year at sunrise at a nearby pond. The silhouette combined with the sunrise's reflection on the pond itself makes for a striking photo.

Now that the holidays are over we'll see what we can do to get more shots like this. And... maybe it'll snow a couple more times so we can expand our winter photo collection as well. It may be warmer than usual, but it certainly isn;t spring-like, either.

Have a good new year. :-)