Natural Affinities

Celebrating two extraordinary American artists, Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams who met in Taos, New Mexico in 1929 forming a lifelong friendship. Both loved the Southwest and produced work that highlights the exceptional and unique beauty of the area. Adams was strongly influenced by the art of O'Keeffe and also the photography of Alfred Stieglitz, O'Keeffe's husband and the country's first advocate of modern art.




Their work; O'Keeffe's Paintings, and Adam's, Photography forever alter our perception of this area and the natural world.


Click here to view a full screen slide show.
Click here to view the Project on Flickr.

Homeward Bound

This is a shot from Red Rocks near Santa Fe, New Mexico taken on the last day of my recent "Natural Eye" workshop with Eddie Soloway. It took some effort on my part to break out of my comfort zone but doesn't any learning or change! Here are a few of the things I learned (click on the image for more commentary and images);

1. Simplify - Less is often More



2. Embracing Abstraction



3. Experiment



4. Work on Projects



5. Photo Play - Varing Techniques



6. Use DOF to focus attention



7. Seek the Essence of a Place



8. Work the Frame

The Moment of Clarity

It is conference weekend and my thoughts are of the light and understanding I receive listening to inspired leaders. I am reminded of an image posted a few years ago entitled "Seeking Light" Yesterday while taking some early morning shots prior to listening to conference I had a similar experience. I was standing in the middle of the road photographing the brown fields and a small canal when all of a sudden there was a change. I looked up a bit surprised and realized that the sun was shinning through a small clearing in the east. In a short time the magical light was gone.



Isn't that true in life? Flashes of inspiration, understanding, and light burst upon us, expectantly like a rainbow and then almost as quickly, fade. If we are not aware or if we are distracted by the jumble that is normal living we may miss the moment all together. Hence, the importance of slowing down, looking, feeling, and quietly waiting for that moment of clarity.

Going Deep

A couple of Milky Way shots from my early morning jaunt in Arches National Park. Nothing like a star shot to put one in his place. I am in awe and truly humbled when I consider the hundred billion or so stars in just our galaxy and that there are billions and billions of additional galaxies out there! But then I have similar feelings of humility, wonder, and awe when I view a beautiful sunset, amazing geography, or even a flower. We truly live in a wonderful world, a wonderful universe! The first image was shot at 6400 ISO, f2.8, for 30 sec. The second uses similar technique except that it was shot at 12800 ISO. Processing consisted only of increasing the contrast of the sky (which also darkens the sky and intensifies the color) and increasing the brightness of the foreground just a bit.

Coming Home

On the last shoot of the Natural Eye workshop we went to Red Rocks, a chance to consolidate and use many of the things we learned, a chance for me to "come home" to the landscape shooting I am used to but with new found awareness, gentleness, and sensitivity so well expressed by Eddie Soloway's teaching.