A Means to Wander

You've probably noticed that I'm prone to ignoring this blog for as long as I see fit.  That doesn't bother me, hopefully, it does not bother you as well.
In the beginning of the year, I had a head cold that was the worst I've experienced in three years.  That sacked my creative productivity for nearly three weeks.  Since then, I've been very busy in the studio doing a lot of printing and matting and framing.
It isn't easy to print, yesterday I only worked up one image.  Yikes, lots of time goes by and at the end there's only one image!  That's OK, because it's a very good image that can be handled, felt and experienced with more than just the eyes.
Guess that's why ignoring the blog doesn't bother me.  I know that I'm working and doing stuff and in the end what you get to see will be better because of it.  As an artist (not a salesman, politician, or charlatan) I rely on your trust and patience to allow me to create at my own pace.  I rely on this, but have I earned it?  There's probably some work left to do on that.
I'll make some tea and get started.  I think better when I walk and I know of a nice little path close-by.  Have a pleasant day, talk to you again soon-ish.

Morning in the Valley

I spent a week trying to post this panorama from Death Valley in a way that would allow you to enjoy all the rocky detail.  Well, as you can see it's just postage stamp size.  Seems sadly dainty considering the print would be 12x36 inches.
Ho-hum...
The best option I found uses Flash technology, and that's not an option as far as I'm concerned.  If any of you have some ideas about better ways to present panos on the web, shoot me a comment.
Otherwise, enjoy!
Click thorough and enjoy the largest size I can post to this blog.  Or click the thumbnail to go to the original size.

Turtle Eats Your Lunch

Today's photograph is more of a personal reaction to the amount of work piling up in the studio.  There is a lot of stuff on my plate and I'm chewing through it, but at a pace that can only be measured in geologic terms.  Click through for a better understanding.

Somekind of Yucca

In honour of the strangeness and randomness of luck, I'm posting the following image!

Have a pleasant and interesting weekend.

Skittering in the Subway, ZIon NP

Let's go back to Zion...  We're going back to Zion... We're going back to Zion...

I didn't take a lot of photos in the park.  Honestly, I was completely burned out from working too much and, well, I wanted a vacation.

Off to the backcountry office to see what could be had.   After not too little convincing; that...

Middle Gyre

Lining up shots of the spinning night sky is difficult.  You might be thinking... really? don't you just find someplace dark and point the camera up?  Yes, of course, that's how it starts.  Once I get that far, I'll start taking 30 second test shots until I find a position I can use.  You have to watch out for trees and bushes and giant rocks creeping into the frame.  If I'm anywhere near a road, I'll wait for a car to pass and take a few shots to see what the headlights cause.  Then you have to check the spill from the campfire, and headlamps of those who wander from the fire.  All of this in 30 second chunks.  That's a long time to stand in the dark and wait.
Once I find a spot that's good for the 30's, I'll pop off a 4 minute exposure so I can see how the trails will line up.  If it's good, I set the timer and sit down by the fire until the battery dies or I run out of wood.
Trails like the one in this post, exhibiting the parabolic effect at opposite corners are usually too chaotic for most people.  I understand that, you are looking at a 160 degree view of the sky after all.  That's a lot to take in!
But I really like shooting them, so I thought using a static star image as a block for the viewer to stand on might help calm things down.  To my eye it's works, but is also problematic.  Maybe it looks too much like a million comets on a collision course.  Meh, any start is a good start.
For those of you who're keeping track, this is one 30 second exposure and about twenty 4 minute exposures.  You're looking west from one of my favorite campsites near Canyonlands NP.  An arm of the Milky Way is responsible for the large cluster of trails right of center.  The curvature of the Earth is evident in the parabolic gesture.  Storms and wind raised dust levels in the lower atmosphere and gave that orange gradient to the lower frame.  Finally, further evidence that mankind might be out of alignment with the universe is present as light trails of airplanes travel almost perpendicular to the beautiful continuity.

Thanks

I figured if anyone was reading at this blog on Thanksgiving, they might be in need of a visual escape.  Feel free to sit in a corner and stare at this image for as long as it takes.  Maybe you'll eventually de-stress and swim away in you're own oceanic pool.  Whatever you're up to today, thanks for taking a minute to peek into my little fish bowl.
Cheers!

A Glimpse of Zion

A quick snap-shot taken during a walk in Zion National Park.  If you've not been there, I certainly recommend going.  If you're not into crowds, however, you'll need to brace yourself a bit.  Getting past the pavement is difficult.  I'm not kidding.  We actually stopped a ranger and asked if there are any unpaved trails in the main shuttle area.  Her answer was a bit disconcerting.
How do you find wilderness and connect with nature if you are unable to leave civilization?  How do you make a decent unique photograph of an area overrun with tourists and photographers?  The answer to both questions is often multi-layered, as layered as the desert itself.
After a few days of digging around and trying to push out of the bottleneck, we became completely lost in the possibilities of this place.  We will be going back to Zion, but not because of anything we did while we were there.  Because of the things we might do, because of the stories we made up about what's around the next bend.  That's the closest I've come to describing what "hope" feels like.  Any place that allows this kind of mental transformation in a curmudgeon like myself, is worth putting on the short list of places to return.