My photographic journey with this flower has been an interesting one. Despite the long hours I spend in the woods and my quest for wildflowers to photograph, I'd never seen these beauties except in the photographs of others. A photographer acquaintance of mine even refused to disclose the location of the flowers a couple years... Continue Reading →
Cedar Swamp and Rhododendron Preserve
Late last year I visited a nearby Nature Conservancy property called The Cedar Swamp Preserve. Yeah, real romantic sounding place, right? Well it's got two great things going for it - Atlantic White Cedars and Great Laurel or Giant Rhododendron as it's sometimes called. This is a small preserve jammed between huge condo developments, some... Continue Reading →
Desert Blooms
May in California is wildflower season and the high desert of the eastern Sierras is no exception. I took tons of photos, but due to the harsh light, relentless wind and time constraints (who can wait forever for the wind to die down on every single shot?) most of them are for my reference and... Continue Reading →
Spring Beauties
Back to your regularly scheduled program. More nature stuff. I am a bit bummed at the moment because I came upon a very active great blue heron rookery the other day and my old 300mm lens isn't up to the task. Most of my old legacy glass is still very good when paired with a... Continue Reading →
A Photographic Cliche – Wildflowers
I can't help myself. I'm a nature and outdoors photographer. That means I shoot a lot of wildflowers. Yeah, it's a cliche, but sometimes they are just so lovely I can't pass them by. This year I'm trying to capture the quality of light as well as the flowers themselves and so far it's been... Continue Reading →
Mining Bee Macro
A follow up to the last post, I went out back to the carpet of whitlow grass again and found it buzzing with tiny mining bees (1.5 cm or 5/8 in). The sun being strong, but slightly diffused by clouds I went back in for the camera. So glad I did - Isn't she sweet?... Continue Reading →
Spring has Sprung
Remember that scene in The Jerk when Martin ran all over yelling "The new phonebook's here! The new phonebook's here" ? Well I felt like doing that about spring today. This is what tells me it's arrived - It's whitlow grass and there's a big patch of it in my backyard. They're the very first... Continue Reading →
Landscape Photography Light – Myths and Misunderstandings
How are a landscape photographer and a vampire alike? Neither goes outside at noon. Seriously, it makes you wonder doesn’t it? Blood-sucking fiend and Fun-sucking fiend, both taking the joy right out of life. I recently stopped following a landscape photographer’s blog because he just kept going on and on about only shooting at the... Continue Reading →
Black and White Photography 101
The other day someone asked what made a good black and white photograph. He went on to say that he only uses black and white processing when he’s trying to achieve an old photo look, but noticed when someone converted one of his color images to black and white it looked better because the distracting... Continue Reading →
OK, I shot
I can't help it. Discouraged and in my weird place I still had the urge to go out after a storm and take pictures of my front garden. The process itself made me happy and that hasn't changed. I basically just walked the driveway and the shoveled path and used the legacy OM... Continue Reading →
The Best of 2010
This is a new thing for me, choosing my best photos of the year. I’ve done it with books I’ve read and albums I’ve bought, but not things I made myself. It can be hard to subjectively judge your own work, but I think it's a worthy exercise for anyone who wants to get better... Continue Reading →
House of Sorrow
I can never resist an abandoned building. This house is in the next town over and on a road I hardly ever take, so when I did and saw it I knew I'd have to go back and shoot it. When I did I had an intense feeling of loss and sorrow. Judging by the... Continue Reading →
In Contemplation of the Microscape
This idea has been rolling around in my head for some time. Months maybe, certainly weeks. I like the idea of it even though my back does not. Have you heard the term before? I think I must have picked it up somewhere since I'm not the type to go around coining phrases. It has... Continue Reading →
Lily of the Valley – Part 10
Part 10 of the lifecycle of the Lily of the Valley study - berries go from luscious and ripe to fallen and decaying.
The Hike that Kicked My Ass
The strenuous, but beautiful hike to Mts. Jackson and Webster in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.
Dr. Evil’s Tomatoes
Evil salad ingredients in the backyard.
A few from Seattle
The long walk through Seattle.
Lily of the Valley – Part 7
Hey - these guys make fruit!
Big Sur in Bloom
Back to California we go. This time Big Sur. I've been through Big Sur before on the famous US1 highway that hugs the Pacific coastline. We even stayed at the impossibly posh Post Ranch Inn a few years ago and got to take one of the hotel Lexus convertibles out. Very cool. But it was... Continue Reading →
Spine Trials
Please don't let it be the agony of defeat.
California wine country
From Monterey to Soledad and Paso Robles, California wine country is more than just Napa.
Hiking Pinnacles in the Clouds
A hike in Pinnacles National Monument on a rare cloudy day - it rained!!
Lily of the Valley – Part 6
The latest set of photos in the Lily of the Valley life cycle study. The bloom is off the rose so to speak.
Lily of the Valley – Part 5
The lilies of the valley are in full bloom.
All I have to do is dream
Pushed into originality I decide to go with the flow.