Alcatraz Analysis

I thought I would take this shot from Alcatraz and walk you through what I was thinking about as I composed the shot and why I processed it the way I did.

The shoot: In some respects this shot was away from the main Alcatraz “attractions” but it caught my eye because of the barbed wired on top of the fence. I felt at the time shooting through the fence would convey the sense of imprisonment. Next I had to decide how to frame the image. I carefully chose where the fence supports were placed. The vertical post was aligned along the building corner and at around 1/3 of the frame space. This seemed to be the least intrusive way to include it. The lower horizontal was placed along the lower edge of the building for the same reason. Keeping the shot a bit wide helped add to a feeling of distance and separation. The prisoners clearly felt that 1.25 mile distance from San Francisco. Keeping the shot wide also let me include the barbed wire which I felt was important to the overall context.

Post processing: This was an HDR image processed with HDR Efx Pro. I did three primary things during the processing. One, desaturated the image to make it more dreary. Two, allowed the white balance to shift a bit to the blue side – prison seems more like a cool place than a warm one. Three, went with harsh contrast which makes the image a bit more edgy.l Prison is a harsh place.

Iris Fusion

I am continuing to work on new floral fusion images; adding little differences from my original collection. I will be sharing some of those down the road. This image is just one small variant – flowers with water on them. This Iris was captured in my yard a couple weeks ago - early in the morning before the morning breezes kicked in. Other variations I am working on are white backgrounds with the image pushed to a hi-key look (somewhat over exposed and overall very bright – most pixels in the upper half of the histogram). More images will be done with only black background. Each of these variants will likely be group into small collections of their own.

Infrared Mystery House

I went on a little tour last Sunday with a few local camera club members. We were primarily scouting/reviewing areas for future shooting. Along the way, we did get to grab some images. Given it was bright midday light I decided I would use my IR camera. This particular scene struck me as a good use of IR. IR adds mystery to an already mysterious place. Who lived here? Why did they leave? When did they go? What was their life like? This was out in the middle of no where. The large sky and the house dwarfed by the large tree add to this feel of remoteness and insignificance.

Blog Image: Shot with a modified Infrared Nikon D70. Converted to B&W using Nik Software’s Silver Efx Pro during the post processing. The glow was added using Nik’s Glamour Glow filter found in Color Efx Pro.

Early Morning Light

There is nothing quite like a quiet morning watching the light as the sun comes up. The soft shades of blue and magenta are quite pleasant and calming. In this particular case I was on top of The Dalles Mountain watching the light as it hit Mt. Hood and Mt Adams. This was a location I learned about the night before by talking to a local photographer, John Davis. I ran into him on the Rowena Plateau – known for its spring wildflower display. While the wildflowers on the plateau were spent as I expected, I did get to see some nice pre-reticular clouds and learn about other good locations from John.

It is hard to get up early enough for sunrise this time of year (sunrise 5:15am in the NW), but if you do, the rewards can be worth it. I am not talking about capturing a great image, that may or may not be the case, but about experiencing the beauty and wonder of morning light.

Blog Images: Mt. Hood at sunrise. For me this image was all about capturing the subtle hues from that morning. No dramatic clouds, just simply beautiful soft light. I pushed the mountain low in the frame to force the viewer’s eyes up through the transition from blue to magenta to blue.

Red Poppy

I thought I would share this series of images I shot a while back. It provides just another example of what you can do with one subject. In this case it is a red poppy plant. As I have mention now and then I enjoy working in the garden. Sometimes before I place a new plant in the garden I will bring it inside to my make shift studio.

Don’t forget to explore all sides of your subject. Even if it isn’t the one you see – maybe I should say especially if it isn’t the normal side. The first image is one example.

This is a three multiple exposure shot against a black background. Shot using the multiple exposure mode in my Nikon.

A white poppy was most in front of the red poppy in this shot. It has been processed to be hi-key.

Another back view of the poppy but giving it more context. This is a bit of a before and after shot. Notice the diagonal composition. The background was switched to a light green.

More of a classical poppy close up. Ideally the poppy details would be more symmetric but that was not the case. I still like it though.

As you can see, a lot can be done with one subject in just a single session.

It’s E Day

It is finally here after nearly 9 months – my first formal exhibit. My wife and I spent many hours printing, matting and framing prints and are glad to have that part completed. Tonight is opening night and I am sure I will be excited and perhaps a bit nervous.

Last Saturday I did get a preview of the exhibit as you can see in the pictures here. It is very satisfying and fun to see your images all hung together and lit with those gallery spots. Those lights can make your images really pop – like the “Windblown Poppy” below.

And here is one thing you will rarely (close to never) see in my blog – a picture of me, but here I am with one group of prints.

If you are in the area, I would enjoy meeting you tonight. There will be music and food to enjoy along with artwork from several artists.

The exhibit will be open from June 7th-June29th.  Hours are 9AM to 9PM M-Thu, 9AM to 6PM Fri and 10AM to 4PM on Sat. The Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center is located at 527 E Main St., Hillsboro, OR 97123. For more information call (503) 615-3494 or visit www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/wcac.

Upcoming Exhibit and Unexpected Publicity

I just delivered my framed prints to the Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro Oregon for my upcoming exhibit. While I was there I was informed that one of my images had been featured on the cover of the Washington County  Summer Arts Guide. This was totally unexpected and I was pleased to see the extra publicity. The “Windblown Poppy” image is mine in case you haven’t seen it.

With the upcoming gallery exhibit my focus as of late has been on publicity. Last week I submitted a press release to multiple newspapers. My wife and I have begun leaving 4x6 exhibit announcement cards at different business we frequent. We also sent out  8x5 flyers to friends and acquaintances inviting them to the opening night.

This blog, Facebook and my website are of course other ways to publicize the exhibit. If you know people in the area please pass along an invite for me.

The exhibit will be open from June 7th-June29th.  Hours are 9AM to 9PM M-Thu, 9AM to 6PM Fri and 10AM to 4PM on Sat. The Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center is located at 527 E Main St., Hillsboro, OR 97123. For more information call (503) 615-3494 or visit www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/wcac.

Please join me opening night June 7th: 6-8pm. There will be live music, food and great art.