McF Studios

A Means to Wander

2012-01-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

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

2011-12-14T12:45:00.001-07:00

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

2011-12-06T09:24:00.001-07:00

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.

I was combing through my photo archive and found this one way back in February '07. Photographed at the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver, CO during the height of feeding time. It resonated with me, and if I'm honest, I didn't understand why until I started writing this blog post. I'm going back to work, if you plan to stick around, feel free to grab a snack.

Somekind of Yucca

2011-12-02T07:46:00.001-07:00

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

2011-11-30T07:52:00.001-07:00

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...
yes, we can walk nine miles in 4 hours, follow a trail that gets washed out monthly, know what hypothermia looks like and of course we have headlamps; we scored a coveted hiking permit for "The Subway". Unfortunately, we didn't have any technical gear and were relegated to plodding up canyon 4.5 miles (one-way) and then back down. Whatever... No crowds! No Asphalt!

Great morning in the canyon, the hike was cold and pretty with fall colours. The water was low and we were able to stay mostly dry-ish. I'm not much for hauling a ton of photo gear on a nine mile hike to an over photographed location, so I was stuck with the awful Nikon P7000. Whose focusing mechanism functions like a little boy with six empty candy-bar wrappers - IF the #&%! lens covers will open!
Anyway, we got to see the Subway (pictured above), and now we're on the list to do it next year from the top down. On the way out I got a few shots that will trickle through the blog as I lament the loss of summer over the next few months.

If you're thinking that I'm hyper-sensitative to the crowds and the gear... You're right! No shame here, I have trouble with crowds of people. I find them confining, stifling, often to the point of feeling suffocated! But, hey, no problem! Just give me a few hours of walking in relative solitude to a beautiful location of natural wonder and I may find that as I relax my toleran....

SMILE FOR THE CAMERAS!!!!

Middle Gyre

2011-11-28T08:39:00.001-07:00

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

2011-11-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-11-16T07:18:00.001-07:00

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.

Presence

2011-11-11T20:41:00.001-07:00

Hello my loyal and very patient readers. Figured I'd check in and post something pretty for the weekend. I hope these crepuscular rays find you enjoying the tail end of autumn. I think it's time to start feeding the blog regular updates again. As always, no promises, but I have piles of beautiful photographs to share and I'm frothing at the bit to show them off.
Today's post is something of an anomaly... I printed it before sharing. Yep, you're reading that correctly! Prints are soon to be available. Lot's of work to do in the studio, so you go enjoy the weekend and I'll see you again shortly.

The Milky Way at Molas Pass

2011-09-18T16:58:00.000-06:00

I don't usually rely on my camera's LCD for much. It is very convenient to verify some basic information but other wise it's not good for much. Here's why:

After a long drive to get to camp, we were focused on setting up the ten and having a suitable place to get some rest for the next few days. Photography wasn't really on the menu for the evening, but no clouds and lots of stars are never guaranteed, so the camera went up and did some work while we worked on camp. I set the intervalometer so I could walk away and have the camera continue clicking and maybe I'd end up with a nice star trail photograph in the end. About an hour later I came back to stop the timer and pack up the camera.
Checking the screen to satisfy my curiosity, I saw the large dead tree in the foreground and it completely ruined the treeline silouhette. Before getting the axe, I showed the LCD to the group who all agreed that the dead tree needed to be cut down to get clean shot the following night.
I'm sure glad we didn't try to do it right then and there! Another lesson, the following night we were under thick clouds with no hope for stars.
I'm still out on the road, but the blog should start to fill in soon. Thanks for checking up on me periodically.

Ant Ranch

2011-09-07T14:26:00.002-06:00

On a recent hike in the Colorado high country, we came across this active ant ranch. The little insects are aphids munching on the plant, the ants are herding and protecting them. While out on a routine patrol of the herd, this ant is receiving it's paycheck. Aphid poop, essentially sugar water sometimes referred to as "honeydew", is the currency on this ranch. You can see that the ant is using an antenna to comb the drop from the backside of the aphid. Nature is a fantastic place!

Morning at Medicine Bow Curve

2011-08-16T11:27:00.000-06:00

About a month ago we began a journey by getting a very early start out of Fort Collins with the intent of catching the sunrise and wildflowers at the high point along Trail Ridge road in Rocky Mountain National Park. A large cloud back on the Eastern horizon made for a drab beginning of the day. However, as we began the drive down the other side of the mountain, a little pink started showing in the clouds overhead. Luckily, I still had the camera attached to the tripod and we were right near a large pullout.

In this photograph, you can see the Never Summer Mountains (which is my favourite name for a mountain range) in the background and the headwaters of the Cache La Poudre River, which are hidden in the middle ground valley framed by the pine forest. I worked to find a composition that showed the gleaming ribbon of the stream, but most of what I found lacked the stronger compositional lines of this framing.

I know it's been a long time since I've posted, and the next update may be just as far away. I'm making some changes in the way I handle my photographs and blog posts. The delayed posts is the bad news, but the good news is that I have begun to produce my own prints. This means that images like the one in today's blog post are available as prints in limited or open run editions.

Hope you all are having a fantastic summer!

Sprague Grasses

2011-07-22T02:00:00.001-06:00

After spending an hour and a half working the view of Hallett posted several times recently. I finally closed the tripod and went for a walk. I love the colour of the sun through these grasses, and at the time I was annoyed by the little waves. However after seeing this, I think nature was just being helpful and I should be more patient.

Bloom Cluster

2011-07-19T02:00:00.000-06:00

I think it's choke cherry. Feel free to correct me in the comments.

Hallett from Sprague

2011-07-15T20:41:00.001-06:00

The morning show. It's never the same, this time the snow was on fire! Going to be a bit slow around here over the coming weeks. I'll be able to trickle some stuff through, but certainly not a regular clip. There's a lot of wilderness that's only accessible a few months out of the year, so I gotta go now. Don't worry, I'll have a bunch of stuff to share after my return. In the meantime, do forget to get out of whatever building you're in periodically. It's a beautiful day, right now, where ever you are. Cheers!

The Tyndall Massiff

2011-07-13T02:00:00.001-06:00

Let's name some mountains (L to R): Taylor Peak, Otis Peak, Hallett Peak, Flattop Mountain as seen from Sprague Lake. You can also see Tyndall Glacier between Hallett and Flattop. It's called a "glacier because that's where it was, but the snow in this photo is only lingering and by late summer it is usually gone. The brown trees are the result of beetle kill. One day while I was hiking I came to the realization that soon our fantastic pine forests may not smell like pine forests. To be in places like this or look at these photos, I am often left confused by very mixed feelings.

Ferns Around the Millstone

2011-07-12T02:00:00.000-06:00

When I saw these millstones all around the property in Brandywine, PA, I shot hundreds of compositions in less than an hour. Eventually, I started thinking about the history of the stones. They are made from granite, used to grind stuff, and they wear out. What happens to all the granite that used to be part of the stone? Obviously, it went into whatever was being ground. Hmm... not so tasty, but ferns... baby ferns can be delicious.

Pearl Play - Full Quality

2011-07-11T07:48:00.000-06:00

The full quality slideshow is posted and ready for view. I told you last week that I'd leave a link in the original post, but las week was so... annoying, I wanted to sever all connections with it. Click on this link, give it a couple of seconds to load, and most of all enjoy.

Elk Fawn

2011-07-08T02:00:00.001-06:00

It has been a banner week here. I'm fried, it's Friday.

Look! A baby elk!

Pearl Play

2011-07-07T08:35:00.003-06:00

Went out with a friend last week to shoot something different. Today is the deadline we set for sharing the photos. In keeping with the "different" theme, I made a slideshow to share with my readers. There isn't a soundtrack, so you can even watch it at work!

Seems like Blogger thinks all the work I put into making a nice mp4 video at 720p with good colour and sharp images was a waste of time and converted it to Flash. Flash videos suck, see above. I'm not responsible for that mess. When I get access to my server again, I'll post a link to the full quality version.

All I got is "Grrrrrrrrr......"

2011-07-06T02:00:00.000-06:00

Problems with the computer have sacked my productivity. The blog will be late today, at best.
Sorry folks, you may just have to check back tomorrow.

Hallett from Sprague lake

2011-07-05T02:00:00.011-06:00

I photographed this last year at the end of a freak spring blizzard and wanted an accompanying photograph from the early summer. So, I got up at three am and pointed the Jeep west. This is an easy place to see the sunrise. It's a pleasant hike that's all but paved and about a twenty minutes drive from the nearest motel and convenience store. This particular morning I wasn't alone, a local photography guide was out earning his keep. Whatever, it is low hanging photographic fruit in a national park, after all and very pretty at that.
One person from the group mentioned to me that "it's a shame the colour didn't happen this morning." I was stunned and didn't have an answer. (well, OK, I had an answer, but I've learned not to let anything out of my big mouth until I've put coffee in.) Maybe I just see colour differently.
In the foreground of the photograph above, you will see that the trees and grasses are somehow brighter than the ones immediately behind them. That's the lake reflecting the light of the sky. This one is from early in the morning, the earth shadow has just receded from the pink bath preceding the sun. It happens everyday, but never the same way twice.

Sweet Pea of Summer

2011-07-01T02:00:00.002-06:00

A perfect summer day in the Laramie River Valley. Just took about three hours and $40 of gas to find. But this is the view I wanted and didn't know where it was, so you just gotta keep going until it's found, right? Earlier in the day, I spotted several clusters of wild irises, an absolute favorite of mine and I have yet to get a single good photograph of one.

Irises are they're kind of rare along the Front Range of Northern Colorado, which is supposed to be a semi-arid desert. Our late season snows didn't melt in the usual timing so there is a lot of water saturating the mountains about a month later than usual. Many large open areas have become veritable wetlands in the late season melt off.

The irises are happy to have the pools of water. So are the mosquitos. At the end of the last season, mosquito eggs were laid in the depressions that normally collect water. They need the freezing temps during their winter dormancy in order to hatch. When the thaw comes their life begins in the ensuing pools. Snowpool mosquitos are vicious, they've waited a long time and they emerge in droves! Clouds of hungry, unapologetic, and ecologically vital blood suckers. I'm not exaggerating.

When I saw the first patch of irises, I hurried out of the Jeep and squatted on the wet ground with the camera and no sooner turned it on only to be inundated. The length of my forearm is eleven inches, it was, at the time covered in Deet (a chemical I hate to use). There were twenty mosquitos on that one forearm. Photography was no longer a priority.

Driving west I ended up in the Laramie River Valley. A nice view of the Medicine Bow Mountains and Rawah Wilderness was waiting for me, thankfully sans Mosquitos. Instead of wild irises, there was an abundance of wild pea. I'll take it, looks great with the snow covered peaks.

Usually I don't "arrange" my compositions, but in this case the foreground was a bit sparse. I spruced it up a bit with the two rocks you see. It took a short while to find the right ones and get them to help the balance. If this photography thing doesn't work out, maybe I'll try landscaping next. I could have a large truck full of rocks ready to show up in front of your house and add a couple next to the petunias. Piece of cake!

I hope you all find a lot of frivolous fun this weekend. See you on Tuesday!

Ephemeroptera

2011-06-30T02:00:00.000-06:00

In the early summer clouds of mayflies swirl above shiny bright surfaces driven by one impulse. Sex before death! They have a short life span after adulthood, hence the name "Mayfly"... they might not be around in June! Talk about the need to make haste, gather your rosebuds and all that stuff.
Ephemeroptera, a beautiful name for their order. Sigmulla minuta as it rests, interrupted from the Mayfly Prom. Alighted on my best friends fingertip, it poses defensively for the camera. Cerci and fore-legs spread as long as possible that I may be confused for an instant and decided this is too big for my mouth. I'll look away, little fly, time for your escape, maybe you'll impress the others at the dance. I'm not hungry anyway.

The Upper Canyon

2011-06-29T02:00:00.002-06:00

In the upper canyon of the Cache la Poudre River is a narrow rock cut and subsequent rapids where the river yields 68 feet of elevation to 300 yards of distance. Not really a destination to itself, you need to know it's there in order to find it, but it is worth the effort and brief pause in the struggle of driving the entire canyon road.

On this afternoon, I had been nearly exsanguint while hiking in the near-by mountains and stopped here to have a break and listen to the river churn along the stone. Cautious and clamorous on the loose embankment, I sat below the road intent and content to stare at the water, eventually lulled into a trance by the sound and the motion. After a time, I began feeling better, blame the air, blame the ions, it's true nonetheless.

At the end of a hot day battling droves of snow-pool mosquitos for little pay-off and sore feet, I found respite in a place where nature's sounds are hemmed to their highest. Drawn toward the water unwelcoming, yet soothing in it's way. Gushing down canyon it drowns the logging truck noise and camper traffic. Drifting into the granite my thoughts pause at the certainty of sight.

Tormented until now by my incurious counselors, the immobile & the impermanent, I grapple to my feet, wobbling away, homeward. The moment lost in the hour, the lesson lost to lecture. An aging man climbs a hill. Wildness exists in temperance of itself.

Verdiqueduct

2011-06-28T08:39:00.000-06:00

I'm a sucker for mysterious toxic looking green glowing light in tunnels. It's pretty easy to know what's causing this particular patch, but my imagination reels with all the other possible stories! Kinda wanna get my shoes wet and explore a few scenarios.

The Secret Behind the Wall

2011-06-27T06:35:00.000-06:00

This is another one of those places that requires a bit of curiosity to find. For the most part it's right out in plain sight, but you have to duck under the canopy which is only about three feet off the ground. So while I was shooting this my head was in the branches of these trees. That's a lot different than the clouds I usually walk around in.

The Sycamore at the Gilpin House

2011-06-24T02:00:00.000-06:00

See that tree? That tree is older than the house. There's a dedication plaque suggesting this sycamore was living when our constitution was signed, 224 years ago. The person at the visitors center said it is 312 years old, which means it was a seedling in the year 1699. Such defiance! It has it's own lightning rod, too. The house is it's own affair. It was a tavern and a hostile and there was a history book stolen when the British sacked the Brandywine frontline.
As a naturalist (of my own order, naturally), I tend not to go for all that historical stuff. It's interesting, sure, it fills the space between nature's secrets. Of whatever happened here so long ago, only the words remain. The battlefields and battalions have been overrun by buttercups and wild strawberries. The great sycamore has come through unmoved. Is that not a great lesson, too?
The Brandywine Battlefield Park, which used to be a State Park, is an unassuming place. I like that you have the option of a guided tour or that you may roam freely. You don't get that option in many historic places. Here you can, and I will suggest, that you park your car and walk over the hills. Staying open to the stories whispered while you sweep at the grasses. Whatever your destination, you will have traipsed part of the path leading to our nation's independence. As singular as the sycamore, you may stand aware and perhaps find your shoes stained not by blood, by buttercup pollen.

Sometimes I am a middle aged man presented with the reality of time and sometimes I am a five year old child lost in the bewilderment of a wonderful moment.

Swirling Uncertanty

2011-06-23T02:00:00.000-06:00

The Pawnee Buttes. Over the coming years, this open landscape and vital ecosystem will be destroyed.

Deciduous Shelter

2011-06-22T02:00:00.000-06:00

Layers and layers and layers and layers and layers and layers of places to have a picnic and a nap!

Peeking Back

2011-06-21T06:48:00.000-06:00

Seems like there should be a song playing in the background. Perhaps on a calliope, or one of those small keyboard whistles we used to call "hooters" several generations ago. I don't know what those instruments are called, but they are like a mini-calliope. Seeing moments like this, it seems only fitting that the carnival is in town.

Botanical Layers

2011-06-20T08:53:00.000-06:00

Let's start the week off nice and light. This verdant tangle was photographed in a friend's backyard. I have a difficult time sitting and talking with people if I have a camera handy. So, I was very glad when he needed to go inside to check on something as I could start clicking away!

Geoleometry

2011-06-17T11:59:00.002-06:00

I have a love-hate relationship with Arches, NP. In 2007, I made the photo on the right. It was hotter that Georgia asphalt all over the plateau and we were chasing shade on the way out of camp. Not sure what spurred us into the park, but when I was standing under this formation, in it's shade, a connection was made and a story started to emerge. The most difficult aspect of photographing in this park are the tourists. There are throngs of people and you'll just have to deal with them if you want a particular photo. In 2007, I got lucky, the story was above us so all I had to do was point skyward and wait. Big blue air, massive red stone, a sun that will eat you. But the crucial element of this story and the area is a sense of wonder. For me that wonder is connected with whimsy and the two are like seven year old boys. One of my favourite photographs.
Five years later, almost to the day. I have been making this spring trip to the greater Moab area for more than a decade. Not for photography or art making purposes, those have their own schedule which I cannot dictate, but at the end of winter, I am hunting the sun and the stone, the wonder and whimsy. Something struck me about the photograph I made in 2007, and on this trip I had the urge to try a reshoot. So, no shit, there I was, again... this time, however, I was shivering in the shade. The same tourists moving stiffly around me, making the same gestures they made five years ago. Many of them pointing their own cameras skyward, clicking in mimicry and moving on. It's not a judgment, please don't think that of me, the fact that I will sit for as long as it takes to get a photo provides me with a lot of time to watch and think. I can't sit and watch ten people do the same thing without wondering about the behavioural instinct. They'd stop, look at me, look up, snap a picture, look at the LCD, and shoot me a quizzical look, then go back toward the parking lot. And I continued to sit and shiver and wait for the kids in the window to leave and maybe that large cloud would break up a little more. After forty minutes, this happened:

Just enough similarity in the clouds to mimic the gestures of the stone, enough sun to reflect from the ground into the shadowed arch and give colour play with the sky. A whimsical expression of the wonder that has connected me, and hopefully, you to the natural world.
This year's trip met with much colder temps and interesting weather patterns, that have been the persistent trend for the last few years. Seems like the seasons are offsetting by a month. This and the upswing in popularity may cause us to consider offsetting our annual trip, as well.
Fourteen years is a long time to get to know a place. Watching the effects of time and ignorance destroy once pristine tracts of land has given me some understanding of the rationale behind regulations places like Arches have enacted. But regulations are only as defined as the boundaries of the park and have created a casual "protect this, destroy that" attitude outside the boundary. In the real wonderland, where the raw desert sits open and welcoming to the eco-tourists & photographers, the well-outfitted yet ill-prepared travelers who have begun creeping into the landscape like storm clouds. Stoically sweeping skyward my greatest teacher remains silent in the face of my questions. "How should we act? Are you sheltering us, or saving yourself? Am I hear to learn or to play?"

-Have a pleasant weekend.

Wallflower

2011-06-16T08:11:00.001-06:00

Is this a study of colour and texture or a lesson from nature concerning the value of finding one's own place? Of course, it could be both, but not at the same time.

Granary Camp

2011-06-15T02:00:00.001-06:00

Let's see a show of hands... Who among you wants to be sitting in front of this view from a remote camp on the Colorado Plateau?

I've got good news... You are!

It's such good news, that I feel like sharing it twice. Remember? This is what it looked like yesterday evening.

Colour Shift at the National Memorial Arch

2011-06-14T02:00:00.000-06:00

Still culling works out of the Valley Forge trip. It was an amazing day! We only spent about five hours there, but I walked away with a huge library of images. Of course, when you're out shooting with someone who isn't another photographer, you should at least choose someone with patients.

This is the National Memorial Arch at Valley Forge Park. It was erected to commemorate the founding of the park. The park itself is dedicated to the commemoration of the efforts and suffering of anyone who has had to fight to stay alive in Philadelphia. Well, OK, the park does mention a very specific group of people who used this area as a camping spot and had a miserable time. Camping is now prohibited and most folks seem to have a pleasant enough visit. Anyway, this arch occupies a prominent spot at the top of a hill. There isn't much of a view, as I might define it, so getting a clean background and composing a solid story is problematic. Luckily, there isn't any shortage of historic material covering the events that took place here, so I could go about making pretty pictures.

Great Green Wetland Preserve

2011-06-13T02:00:00.002-06:00

It is very difficult for me to stay on a path. The easier the path is to walk on the sooner I'm likely to veer in another direction. This is probably some very telling detail into my personality, but it's also a plainly stated truth. By contrast, the more difficult the path, the more likely I am to watch my footing and not look around at everything else. The "undeveloped trail" I was ambling along here was better than most forest roads in my current state of residence. When I spotted this submerged area, it was a flash of yellow/green light way off the trail and through a bunch of weeds. It was also deep in the cover, where there wasn't a breath of wind to disturb the surface of the water. The sun was going in & out of cloud cover, so, I just had to wait and swat mosquitos until it came back out and gave this great highlight again. If you're wondering about the title, there were little flags around this area denoting "wetland preserve" status. It's already inside a National Park, so I guess now it's double protected.

What Happens Above Moab

2011-06-10T09:27:00.000-06:00

Oops... had the post ready to go, but the publish time was incorrect! Stupid AM/PM setting...

After thirty six hours of incredibly strong wind, everything calmed down and cleared out for our last night at camp. I happily set up to shoot some stars and drain a battery. In this photograph you're looking due East toward the LaSal Mountains from our camp high above the Moab Fault. In the foreground is the city of Moab, UT glowing white on the left and the thin yellow glow on the right is from the potash mining operation. The heavy concentration of star trails from the middle to the top is an arm of the Milky Way. There was still a lot of dust hanging in the air (see the red sky in yesterday's post) and the light pollution was just enough to give the sky a slight orange colour cast. During my test shots, I kept adjusting the white balance until the city lights went white (Tungsten A6) and that's why the sky appears green instead of blue. Before the colour correction, the horizon was an indiscernible scribble along the base of the photo, but afterward you can now clearly see the snow line on the distant peaks and a little separation in the foreground hills.
That's enough geeking out for a Friday. Here's hoping you can find a neat spot this weekend to stare through the troposphere. Cheers!

Ominous Decoder

2011-06-09T02:00:00.004-06:00

A tremendous wind started during the night and by dawn everyone had scattered from camp auspiciously seeking refuge. Without any hope my party loaded the Jeep and descended the rim toward the fault, committed to check any turn, as every promise is often better than the truth. As is the case with truth, so it is with the wind; pervasive, invasive & tenacious.

Here is a place easy to find, along a path long stolen from the wild. Travelled by a removed and indolent population buzzing along seemingly content to remain unaware. Some will linger here to mark a box on a list, some to claim connection, others, like myself, are knowingly lost. Back into the storm we drove, past the tenement camps and diorama shelters of a people who believe they understand nature because they have stood near a marquee exclaiming it's power and beauty. My own people, whose language, I have struggled to learn that we may speak as friends.

I suppose there is a story to be read on this rock. If you are imaginative and slightly literate in a visual way the rock is no more than a billboard. Mostly, that is, except for this detail. Here I feel as though I am a stranger, invasive, this was not meant for me and the spirits on the wind have turned the sky red that I may not feel welcome.
My own language tells of a truth that glows in the stone, screams with the wind. The spirits of the land demand that we learn to understand now in the face of an uncertain future.

Another sort of Twinpod

2011-06-08T02:00:00.007-06:00

These twinpods were everywhere at one of our recent camps on the Colorado Plateau. We arrived at the end of the seasonal bloom so most of the plants only had the seedpods. This one, however, has both flowers and pods! It was growing very close to the access road I was using and I nearly parked right on top of it. Sometimes you just get lucky. Normally, I try to give the full common name and the Latin name, but I have to use a guide to identify this sort of stuff and it wasn't very helpful. Botany wasn't an elective at my art school, either, so I'm kind of stuck. Chime in with a comment if you have any ideas.

The Banks of the Poudre

2011-06-07T02:00:00.002-06:00

This lovely photograph was taken a couple of weeks ago on an early morning and early spring stroll at Sterling Natural Area in Fort Collins. The Poudre River forms the Western Boundary of the Natural Area, more or less, and to get this shot I stood ankle deep in the gloppy river sediment. On top of the embankment in the right of the photo I found the remains of a mature fox, obviously eaten, several days later there were reports of a mountain lion in the area. Better the fox than the school kids, I guess. Well, none of that is depicted here, you get to enjoy the calm reflective beauty of a river as it flows into spring.

Storming Through Valley Forge

2011-06-06T02:00:00.020-06:00

Out for a walk in Valley Forge NP with my mom, we didn't get twenty steps from the car before this squall opened on us. You can see from the lighting on the grass throughout the photo how the rain came in heavy waves. The areas of lighter grass are also areas of lighter rain activity! How cool is that? Thankfully, my mom carries a huge umbrella and was able to shelter us both while I made this photo. If she had a standard or compact umbrella she would have gotten totally soaked. I'm willing to bet everyone is tired of the rain photos on this blog, but hang in there everybody, the sun will probably come out tomorrow.
It's the first Monday of the month and that means it's also wallpaper day! The above photograph can be downloaded here, sized 2530x1600 so it'll fit anything you want it to, enjoy. I'm willing to bet everyone is tired of the rain photos on this blog, but hang in there everybody, the sun will probably come out tomorrow.

The Pig & The Millstone

2011-05-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

The blog will be quiet for the next few days, so I wanted to give you all something meaty to chew on while I'm away. Typically I shy away from verbalizing these kind of arguments, but you're a quiet and contemplative audience, so I think you can handle it. If you, too, are traveling someplace this long holiday weekend, I hope it's someplace nice and you have a safe and pleasant time.

The Pig & The Millstone... Abundance and Work... what can we take from this? A large fattened pig sculpture placed near a worn granite millstone.

The path leads to the millstone (work), a cul-de-sac of toil. Progress (hapiness) is obviously not the purpose of the path, the option is the circle or the way back (regression). All the while observed by a lucid fattened sow (abundance).

I am torn, in my own interpretation of the nature of abundance. Does she look on in mockery or promise? Is it possible that her presence is more permanent than her meaning?

For our own answers, we must first ask, "Why the hell am I on this path, anyway?"

Droplets in Green

2011-05-25T07:18:00.003-06:00

Droplets in Green, a photo by McF Studios on Flickr.

Seems like it's been raining for a weeks. Probably because it has been raining for weeks. After months of winter tan, we're seeing the glowing green of spring. In some places it seems to be glowing, and a walk through a green light bath is very theraputic for me.

City Whitetail

2011-05-24T07:31:00.001-06:00

City Whitetail, a photo by McF Studios on Flickr.

PALETTE CLEANSER!!!!!!! (Wait… "Palette" refers to the slab I mix my paints on, and "Palate" refers to the roof of my mouth and sense of taste. Hmm...? I'm sticking with the painter's tool.)

Just a Whitetail in a National Park. One more inhabitant of the city. But this spot is a bit more hidden and you'll have to get wet and muddy to find it. Just my kind of place!

The Philly Frenetic

2011-05-23T08:39:00.001-06:00

When I was a kid, I made a list of places I should live. Places one could make great works of art full of nobility, meaning, and permanence. It only occurs to me now, years after my departure, that the city of my childhood was never on that list. That place was only ever a launch pad, the beginning. Those who know me, regard my comments about Philly as a certain disdain. Not so, I'd argue, my career is a path, Philly is where it began.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The center of Broad Street at the intersection of Walnut. Three blocks from the college I attended, one block from my old apartment, fifteen years in the past, congested and wet. There was a romance to the city at one time. It's horn-song and vocal polyphony swooning the young pie-eyed artist with the lure and con of history as culture. A temporary condition, horrible, but necessary and I would soon feel compelled to leave the confining city streets in favour of more verdant destinations. Photos of which are forthcoming... THANKFULLY!

Alpine Lake Reflection

2011-05-20T02:00:00.025-06:00

What a strange week. Makes me want to sit here a second and consider where I am. Lakeside, on a morning that might bring an end to the rain. Big banks of clouds were still looming all around. I set up for a much bigger reflection in anticipation of alpenglow on the background. However, the clouds that snuck past in the night were still making their presence known.

{Drat!}

When that sunbeam hit the wall in the middle ground, I floated my camera about an inch above the lake to make this composition. One of my favourite things about this is its asymmetry. I think it tells a more true story with something missing. Maybe I'm having a Dorian Gray moment.

Hope you all get out someplace pleasant this weekend.

Evening Ducks in Motion

2011-05-19T02:00:00.001-06:00

Mine are the wild ones,

Unaware of what they are,

Ignorant of shame and fear.

Moving ahead always lost

from the path, our footfalls

deliberate and wary.

Harrumbph

2011-05-18T02:00:00.003-06:00

Everyone I've met, no matter how jaded, has a talisman of some fancy. This is one of mine.

In 1996, while sweating away in a foundry, I made this figure to embellish my chasing station. It was welded to my bench & stared while I worked. One day my boss came around and said "you'll never get anywhere doing your best work on someone else's ideas." When that job came to an end, I took this statuette with me. It's sitting on the edge of a bookshelf today, staring at me still.

Flashing the Bell

2011-05-17T02:00:00.014-06:00

Every idea should be acted upon and considered later. Following this logic I got up very early and went out into the cold morning in a down coat, gloves and hat. Had the full kit of camera stuff, including three flashes. Got right to playing and ended up making two hundred exposures before the sun made it to this spot. I really wanted that specularity in this composition, so much I wan't paying any attention to how warm it was getting. But that's what stopped me! I was sweating in the now very warm morning, and the red faced joggers were looking at ME like I was the silly one.

So anyway, those little yellow flowers dotted throughout this photograph are more Physsaria belli. Kind of hard to see (they're really tiny) but I was more interested in artfully recording the habitat. There's a closeup here.

The Big Cement Pier at OB

2011-05-16T02:00:00.060-06:00

When I get bored, I go for a walk. When I'm a city, I get bored quickly so I see a lot of a places, sometimes more than once. Most of the time popular places like this fill up with people, so I'll wander off and see what the restaurants are like. Earlier in the day I watched a a huge flock of cormorants attack a bait ball in the rain. Eventually the rain stopped and the crowds came back. If you ever find yourself on this pier looking for an easy exit go straight to the pizzeria/brewery. If you have several draughts of "Junk in the Trunkel Dunkel" you'll need to walk around bit afterward, so head back to the pier, it should be nearing sunset, which is when tourists get hungry. This photo was made about twenty minutes afterward. I rested the camera on the railing which was painted and sticky with fish guts, gull poop, and salt air. I washed my hands, but no the camera.

Polarizing Play

2011-05-13T10:35:00.002-06:00

Polarizing Play, a photo by McF Studios on Flickr.

I began this photograph in the fall of 2009 and have tried various ways of producing it, but couldn't get it right without a lot of heavy manipulation. When I made the source exposures I was having fun with my polarizer (hence the title), but later couldn't bring it all together in the studio with that sense of platonic realism I strive toward. While I was working on the recent panoramic HDRs something occured to me to try on this. I think it came out very nice, showing the various levels at which the objects exist while celebrating their luminance. Not bad for a couple of rocks stuck in the mud.

A Stump to Fish By

2011-05-12T07:32:00.000-06:00

A Stump to Fish By, a photo by McF Studios on Flickr.

Exploring a local park, I found this scene. The little stump seems to mimic the shape of what I imagine is placed there most often. The rebar and cement blocks are typical of our cities "natural areas", very telltale of the reclaimation efforts.

Safer in the Water

2011-05-11T13:17:00.002-06:00

Safer in the Water, a photo by McF Studios on Flickr.

That's San Diego, CA from the pacific ocean. I loved being out in the monotone blue, and that's as close as I ever want to be to a city.

Fog in the Park

2011-05-10T09:20:00.002-06:00

Fog in the Park, a photo by McF Studios on Flickr.

I understand the irony of complaining about an "endless winter" then posting shots of winter during these fantastic spring days. Couldn't be helped, though, this one was next.
On a foggy winter morning, I made my way through commuting undergrads to City Park in Fort Collins, CO. After shooting the compositions I had planned, I crunched around the frozen snow for a while. The great golden light and contrasting blue shadows were very intriguiging. Something mysterious may have been happening just over there...

West from Trinidad

2011-05-09T10:44:00.003-06:00

West from Trinidad, originally uploaded by McF Studios.

If you've spent time in the high desert you've no doubt seen rain fall from clouds without touching the ground. It was happening all day in evey direction! By the time evening rolled through, however, the clouds, with their strange behaviour, all but disappeared. Oh well, if I could make or predict the weather, I wouldn't have to earn a living anymore.

A Golden Hour at Sterling

2011-05-05T09:50:00.000-06:00

This was the first morning in a long time that was warm and windless. Just those two factors had me brimming with hope for the future. This lovely tree seemed to be just waking into the spring as well.

Leucocrinum montanum

2011-05-04T10:16:00.001-06:00

Sorry the blog's late today. I spent the last two days cooped up in the studio dealing with an over-stuffed and disorganized image library. After briefly contemplating deleting the whole thing and starting over, I settled on going out and making more images this morning. Please accept this bouquet of Sand Lilies, beautiful native wildflowers, as an offer of my gratitude that any of you come around here at all.

Physsaria bellii

2011-05-03T04:00:00.001-06:00

Bell's twinpod (Physsaria bellii) is endemic to certain limestone and shale ridges in Larimer, Boulder and Jefferson counties in Colorado, USA. It's just begun to bloom, the characteristic seed pods will be along soon enough.

Blue Hour Composition

2011-05-02T10:21:00.001-06:00

Let's start the week off with a calm moment.

This photograph was made during the blue hour before dawn in a hard blowing wind. In the presence of all that turbulence the surface of the water was chaotic and this pattern of rocks was lost in the texture. But a good long patient exposure of five seconds was enough to clarify the moment. Maybe this is a lesson that can be applied somewhere else.

For the first time on this blog, I'm making an image available as a free wallpaper. Maybe I will do this on a regularly scheduled basis. The above photograph can be downloaded here, sized 2530x1600 so it'll fit anything you want it to, enjoy.

Crayolapaho

2011-04-29T09:15:00.001-06:00

I shot this with a dead battery. Lithium batteries are temperamental. Next time you have a battery die in the cold, put it in your jacket or under your hat, and leave it there as long as you can. If it's charge is not completely exhausted, you may be able to salvage enough juice to shoot a few more.
After all the toneless gray I've endured the last few days, I wasn't ready to drive home so I ambled around in the fading light. Fifteen minutes later, I pulled the battery from it's sauna and was able to make three more images. YAY!
Then I went home and had some soup for supper. Happy Friday to all!

Armageddon at Arapaho Bend

2011-04-28T09:37:00.000-06:00

After four days of solid grey skies, a small tear in the cloud blanket ran along the Northern Front Range, just enough to shift my inertia. Hastily, I grabbed the camera, already mounted to the tripod, and sprinted down to Arapaho Bend Natural Area. When I parked the whole area was awash in sunshine. Being a hedonist, I just stood there enjoying the warmth. The tear was soon sewn shut, again, of course, but a little sun poked through itching to play and neither of us could resist those clouds! I took a few seconds to level everything out and strated shooting for another large pano. By the third set my bettery was dead, first time that's ever happened, to me. Guess I should have grabbed the camera bag too!

The Bridge at Riverbend Ponds Natural Area

2011-04-22T09:19:00.000-06:00

This image is viewable at close to it's native resolution for those of you with a veritable surplus of time for art viewing. Click here for the redirect, the viewer has it's own controls for navigation. Enjoy!

I like the idea of large panoramic photographs, though they seem a bit impractical. This photo is roughly 80 megapixels and 500MB, on paper it would measure to 78 inches long at 18 inches high. I captured 240 exposures, of which I used 168, then compiled and tonemapped those down to 24 (7-stop brackets) to create this 180 degree view. That may seem like overkill but I used art school math and Kentucky windage to hedge my bets. Processing all those photos and stitching them all together was quite the experience as well. If you experienced the lights dimming or sudden black-outs in your neighborhood, it's probably my fault. Anyway, I think it turned out very pretty and strange. This wooziness I'm feeling is most likely the result of number cruntching with an artist's brain. Time to get some fresh air, perhaps I'll go for a walk. Maybe you'd like to do the same?

Standing On The

2011-04-21T09:45:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you have to ignore the facts. Maybe you are standing on a poorly made floating deck on a manmade lake that smells of dead carp next to a colourless suburban cul-de-sac under skies that won't rain across from trees that won't bloom enduring a winter that just won't end. Or maybe you are beginning a voyage on a rickety little raft you made from the debris of mankind pushed out into the green water of nowhere as the clouds compile their disdain.

Madame, I'm Death

2011-04-19T09:33:00.000-06:00

An example of the pitch tubes that have become the all-to-grim calling card of Dendroctonus ponderosae. Much of North America is affected by this infestation, and great swaths of forest are filled with dead trees. But the forests were dying anyway, and the beetles are just as opportunistic as any greedy human industry or corporation. At least, this is as natural an act as could have happened. When I cautiously walk in the ravaged forest, I am grateful to have known it's company, to have shared it's life and death. I hope to share it's rebirth and know it anew.

Wind, Stars & Sandthrax

2011-04-15T09:46:00.001-06:00

On the last night of an eight day camp in central Utah, I got the camera out to celebrate the only cloud free and windless night of the trip. I'm pretty tough on my gear, but 70 knot guts of sand are a bit outside my tolerance. Photography was (at most) a tertiary purpose for the trip, so the wind wasn't a huge problem, just an inconvience. As a precaution, I used the little hook on the bottom of my tripod to set a guy rope on a sand stake as an anchor and then stood very anxiously by with a large trash bag in case the wind storms that plagued us returned. My nerves could only handle the hour and a half it took to collect these images.
Greater background illumination via half moon in the west, full tree illumination was arranged by a gigantic campfire. The shapes of the cottonwoods silhouetted against the sky piqued my initial interest, but in the end the warm orange light against the blue sky was too much to resist.

Away

2011-03-31T04:00:00.001-06:00

When I was in art school, I had a several instructors that were not affraid of breaking or cutting your work apart. This was a valuable lesson to me. Often those professors would hand the severed piece back to the student with the quote "this part is very good, do more like this and less like that". What I took from this, was if the idea you are chasing doesn't manifest, you may have to abandon it in favour of something better. In this case, I was chasing that huge moon, but clouds and serious wind weren't going to let me catch that idea. This combined with my frenetic response to shooting with other people around gave the night a very charged ambiance. After a couple of test shots, this idea popped in my head. {single exposure, ISO200, f/8, 30sec - if you can barely see the red-orange in the lower frame your screen is too dark, if you cannot see thin line of the spinning windmill it may be too bright, about midway seems just right on my screen}

Along the Salt Lick

2011-03-30T09:17:00.000-06:00

The persistent, prevalent overcast skies are punctuating my productivity! Hiking in Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, Colorado.

Foot Bridge to the Moon

2011-03-23T04:00:00.002-06:00

Scouting for the Perigee, I saw the little bugger rising at what I thought was about 45 minutes early! Grrr... Glad I was in a good spot to take advantage.

Middle Ground Past

2011-03-22T08:43:00.000-06:00

Before emabarking on an epic journey for objects of foreground interest, our intrepid, though spastic, correspondant noted something curious along the Eastern border of Norther Larimer County. Further investigation may one day yeild the Anasazigiptian connection. Until then, we are all condemed to wonder what the hell I'm talking about.

Prairie Perigee

2011-03-21T10:06:00.002-06:00

Doing the best I could, where I was, with what was there. The tremendous amount of light and pollution gives this perigee moonrise the appearance of a dark and gloomy sunrise. Not exactly the image I was chasing, but an interesting result nonetheless.
{shot note: the little red lights at the base of this windmill are from a scourge of prairie herpes infecting unprotected tracts of land around the globe}

An Hour in the Eye

2011-03-14T11:39:00.000-06:00

Typical of late winter in Northern Colorado, we started this day off with sunny warm skies and by the time we finished our three hour loop hike the sun gave way to the wind that brought the rain that became snow. I love being outside!
It's difficult to know exactly why I choose certain compositions. Maybe one interesting detail, maybe the larger view. The prominent elliptical lines here are certainly important. It wasn't until later, after much staring, that I could see the eye. What eye? The Eye of Horus... Ancient Egyptian sky god, baby! How cool is that?
Obtuse heiroglyphic halucinations and peculiar weather patterns not withstanding, when I see a view like this, my eye scans for the farthest little bush and my legs begin to twitch toward the horizon.

Goofing with the Gander

2011-02-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

It looks like these two are pretending to be Osprey. I do that, sometimes. You might see me circling the tripod in a widening gyre, arms extended, happily floating on imaginary thermals.
Do Osprey do that, circles and such?
Whatever. Someday's I'd pretend I was a city pidgeon just to not be earth bound. Next time, maybe, I'm going to pretend to be a goose pretending to be an Osprey. Ought to be good for a midday laugh... Wonder where I'll go?

The Sardine Fleet

2011-02-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Spooky clouds roll through the docks, as a lone photographer skitters among the crabs.

Box Canyon Pool

2011-02-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here be the last photograph from my recent trip to Ouray, CO. Box Canyon Falls is a local tourist attraction, but it's free during winter, which fits my budget. One cloudy afternoon, I was chasing an abstract composition along the lower box canyon trellises. Deliberately moving slowly because ahead of me was a group of folks playing with cameras, too. While I waited for them to do whatever they were taking so long to do, I noticed all of the colour in this grotto at the bottom of the falls. Normally I use a tripod to manage my pace while working, this day I was gifted with the forced patience that comes from understanding that mountains (and tourists) move in a geologic and glacial timeframe. This canyon sees very little direct sunlight in the winter, but that frozen fill flash is just enough to bring some detail out of the shadows. I'm also a sucker for that wonderful turquoise against grey.

The Irony of Winter Sun

2011-02-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

Blue Mesa Reservoir is Colorado's largest body of water and the largest Kokanee Salmon fishery in the United States. I've always been curious how places get their names. To my mind there ought to be a "Blue Mesa" close by, maybe there is and I just haven't found it. Maybe it's from the abundance of blue light in the area, certainly a striking feature. I almost drove through this area without stopping because of the huge exposure range. Then I started to think of it as a challenge.
Standing on the hillside in a full wind attarcted to the quality of blue in the water, I started shooting for the ice and wave patterns, but kept looking up to the hill in the background. So, I shivered left and right until finding this large textured ice in the foreground thinking it might balance the larger scene. The square format is an anomaly around here, to be sure. But this composition had to be shot telephoto to maintain the compression, which meant two exposures to maintain the foreground. There's something added by that compositing scheme which allows the photo to be considered in several parts as well as the whole. My eye yo-yos up & down when I look at this, much like when I was standing there.

Gem of the Rockies

2011-02-03T04:00:00.003-07:00

Ouray Colorado under a mostly clear night sky. Took about a half an hour to figure out how to make this shot happen. I have seen a lot of photos from this overlook, but none that really captures that special feeling of winter in a mountain town. I know there are a lot of hotels here, but it still seems like someone has left a light on for me while I was away. How many light sources can you count?

Featured!

2011-02-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Today's featured image on the NewWest.net website is from my recent ice colour studies! Check it out, here.

Confluence

2011-01-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

Several ideas are coming together, but art making can have a timeline similar to geologic events. It's a long, slow, grinding, pressured force, until the catastrophic moment of fractured release. I know that doesn't really tell you much, but if you look at the image, you'll know as much as I do.

Tree Lights

2011-01-24T04:35:00.002-07:00

Trees near the Fort Collins Public Lirbary. I don't often shoot at super high ISOs, but I was in a playful mood and curious. In order to hand hold this, I had to push up to ISO6400, f1.4 and that gave me 1/60th of a second. Doubt it's going to be a go to setting, but in the right composition may yeild interesting results.

Color Study Tryptic: Shift, Pebbles, Veins

2011-01-21T09:08:00.001-07:00

Taking advantage of the frozen conditions, I broke a "non-Photographic" rule and ventured out on the ice to make photographs of the awesome colour and texture happening in the the extended civil-twilight as the sun rose behind high thin clouds.

Even though I was a little dissapointed with the lackluster sunrise. This progression of colour across the ice was fantastic and gave my creativity a boost for the day.

Happy Friday!

Edge of the Bend

2011-01-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

The sun rose into high thin clouds providing very diffuse light. I took this as an opportuniy to play with shape and colour.

Ponderance Place

2011-01-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

These little benches dot the shoreline of Arapaho Bend Natural Area. They are so small that, only one person can sit on them at any one time. For me, it's always a choice of using it for my camera bag, or as a subject.

Horsetooth Rock

2011-01-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

A lenticular cloud floats above the iconic Horsetooth Rock in Fort Collins, CO. In my mind it's a graphic shape more than a geologic feature. I've been up and down and all over the dang thing several times, but something has always prevented a connection being made. Not sure what it will take, but I need to change my way of thinking. The cloud was interesting, though, so I made a few snapshots.

As the Pine Cones

2011-01-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

What a strange title, eh? It reveals how I think. A little idea swims in a tangle of others until it's ready to burst onto its own stage. Photographed while hiking near Seaman Reservoir in Northern CO, I kept falling over the double entandras.

Northland

2011-01-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

Spotted somewhere up north on the drive home. I'm lucky to have the kind of friends who no longer seem to mind, if I'm driving, the ride home might take a little longer than normal. Have to break them in right, I guess, and take the keys when you get out.

A Song About A Tree

2011-01-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

This one involved a lot of playing. Of course, I really liked the warm tree against the blue background and when I pointed the little camera at it the sunstar was brilliant. Not too shabby, and a good way to bid you all a happy weekend!

Whose Seuss?

2011-01-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

The quirkiest, quirliest, quackiest, quandry of a flower I've ever seen. Shot as a record so I could identify it and plant oodles of them.

Two Trees, Redeux

2011-01-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

After a long Autumn hike at Bobcat Ridge NA, I couldn't resist shooting my favourite trees. You all know I'm a sucker for big blue sky and awesome yellow grasses.

Diagonal Blue Sketch

2011-01-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

I headed out to this place somewhat hastily. Pretty sure I owuldn't find much in the late afternoon worthy of dragging a lot of camera gear. Wrong again. The mid-winter late afternoon sun was playing like a five year old. I tussled with the tree on the left of the frame for twenty minutes. Walking all over the hillside trying to make this composition with my PoS P&S, finally I gave up and figured I'd crop it out later. In the end, I liked the anchor it gives to this side of the photo allowing my eye to concentrate on the juxtaposition of yellow and blue.
This is the kind of winter day I love, kind of cold, but warm enough in the sun.

Gateway

2011-01-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

A good walk can solve several problems. I find it takes a little more than a mile before compositions start to make sense. Big open spaces usually dominate my photography, but moments like these are starting to draw my attention. Making images like these is more like painting than photography, a comparison I hope is not lost in the translation.

Zipper!

2011-01-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

I was giggling manically when I saw this image present itself. It's peculiar, and not the sort of thing I publish, but if it makes me giggle, you might get something out of it, too.
Happy Saturday!

Prismatic Approach

2011-01-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delayed post, it's been a hectic mourning. I managed to get out just in time for the colour to begin crawling across the land.

Photographing the dawn at Fossil Creek Reservoir Regional open Space, it can be a struggle to walk away from the infamous tree, but watching the colour develope, I decided to move toward the ice.

Come Hither, Come Hide

2011-01-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

A beautiful female Argiope trifasciata posing with her quarry. The Banded Garden Spider is quite common late summer and early fall, they make symetrical orb webs. This one has hung a meal, she maybe gravid, and has another queued for immediate snacking.
{Shot handheld with tethered flash in the other hand. I got so close on one attempt I knocked her off. Luckily she reclaimed her perch while I was at the grocery. ISO200, f/22 1/15}

Paladin's Grope on New West.Net

2011-01-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

My photograph entitled "Paladin's Grope" is featured on the NewWest.Net website. I recommend making a cup of tea before heading over to check it out, the articles they publish are engrossing.

Out in the Cold

2011-01-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

What I wouldn't have given for a slight break in the clouds, or a cup of cocoa!

Fail to Fall Apart

2011-01-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

The abstracted image has long been a favourite of mine. In fact, the surprise of creating an abstract photo is what led me to photography from painting. I don't post many of my experiments (art making shares something with sausage making) and this one is pretty close to the "what the hell is that?" line.
The encroaching ice was great a dramatic element, so I started shooting. Looking through the lens, I saw the converging textural elements and that became the challenge, along with staying dry and warm. I feel one out of three is a good start.
{ISO200, f/22, 1/8sec}

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

It's the last day of the year, I hope you are enjoying it.
Cheers!

Aeris per Annum

2010-12-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

Fell in love with this tree last year when it was foggy. Took a look outside this mourning and heard her call.

Gaggle Storm

2010-12-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

A snowy morning at City Park Lake. I get the strangest looks from the joggers on mornings like this... go figure.