WHOA!!! MASSIVE UPDATE!!!!!!!!

I got both drumsticks! That's right... BOTH!!!!!
WHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Nine shot handheld HDR of the Thanksgiving table in San Jose CA.  Having a great time with the family. Missed a great sunset photo-op today, but plan to make up for it tomorrow in Sausalito.

Hope there were great family times had by all.

Fall Back

Today's photo is from a nearby Natural Area.  Couldn't get the crop I wanted on the trees, so I flipped the camera vertical and shot a 5 frame pano allowing me to keep the resolution after the 4x5 ratio crop.  I was shooting on a little foot bridge and worried about the any little movements and vibrations showing up.  Came together pretty well (eat it Hasselblad!).  Otherwise, not much in post, sharpening, cloning a telephone pole and streetlamp.  Not a breath of wind all evening.  Got kinda lucky, good night for reflections, just wish there were some high drama clouds.

I have a few others in the works and will try to keep them coming daily.  However I'm going to for a family visit over the holiday and might not pay much attention to the blog.  In other words, maybe semi-daily for the next few days.

Happy Thanks Giving everyone.

photo details:  Nikon D3, 50mm, 1/3sec @ f/16, ISO 100

New Gallery and Cheap Stuff

I made a little gallery of 50 of my favourite photos and put them all up as 8x10 prints.  These are the ones that I think sum up my ideas about photography, not my portfolio, per se, but good stuff - lots of colour, lots of big spaces! Just my thing. Because I think they belong every where, they've been priced nice and cheap. Five bucks each! They are only available as 8x10 prints on matte paper. The image area of most is 6x9, but a few are 7x9.  This is the size I have everything printed to have around the studio.  It's great, because, well, they are cheap, but also because they are versatile.  Almost everyone has an old 8x10 frame they can reuse, you can use a magnet on the refrigerator door, tape on a locker or mirror.  Maybe buy them all and cover up the wallpaper in the dining room.  At this price, you're getting a great bargain, only $0.0625 per square inch. Click here to check them out.  Take two... they're small.

Big Pond

I'm fully converted to the use of HDR in Landscape photography.  That reflection is much better rendered than what I was getting trying to shoot at -2EV w/ 2stop ND.  Look at that It's awesome, almost better than the sky!  But, dang that sky!  Layers of clouds, and you see them as you would if you were standing there... some parts go dark and some parts stray away in little wisps.  Along the bottom is the warm grass glowing in the last of the sun, just perfect for a napping family of ducks - or crocodiles.

I'm glad there isn't any concern about crocs in Northern Colorado.

     Photo details:  Nikon D3 @14mm, 9 shot HDR at f/16

The Hayraker

At the risk of loosing any hope of credibility, I'm going to suggest that during the GWAR show, I had what can only be referred to as a "Moment of Clarity".  Anyone familiar with the antics of the band and their gruesome fun stage show, might be a little concerned that I'm reaching for justification of a my current mid-life crisis.  but hear me out.  These guys have been at this for 25 years.  That's a long time to do anything.  I'm not a musician, so I'll spare you that part of the critique.  These guys have made something, it's obvious they love doing it, and as that it's a pleasure to watch... and a bit messy.  All the great things that go into the making of a great performance are there.  After 25 years, you'd expect that, right?

So I did some math, which is very difficult for an art school grad.  I got my first camera in 1988-ish, twenty one-ish years ago.  Photography for most of my "I'm going to be an artist" life, was a copout.  Anyone can buy a camera and some film and take pictures.  Even me.  So I worked at other art forms.  Sculpture was my discipline of choice and metal my favourite medium.  But there was also paint.  the world of colour is a pantheon sized playground.  Then there was a long time that I didn't have the space to paint the way I wanted to, nor dod I have the money to furnish a sculpture studio.  I couldn't afford to develop film, either.

Let's skip ahead a bit.  A few years ago I got a digital camera as a gift (thanks mom, love you) this let me rethink photography.  Which is what I did for a few years, taking lots of snapshots and thinking they should hang in every gallery and sell for millions.  Whatever...

Fast forward, again.  Photography is now my principle means of creation, begging a little forgiveness for my opinions as a youngster.  After 21 years, I'm beginning to see a constant theme in my photographs.  It's hard for me to pin down to a few words, but the conversation in my head is mostly about space and colour.  Even in pictures I shot 14 years ago on Kodachrome, this idea is visible.  And it was all subconscious, I was just taking pictures of scenes that I liked.  I do the same thing now.  Though, with all of that energy of running around snapping pictures behind me I can see some, let it register and stew around and come together as a mental image.  Then I'll walk back to the place the image was born and have a conversation to achieve the objective photograph.  I think my success rate is rising.  I'm beginning to understand the conversation my subconscious is having with my conscious.

Today's photo came about in that manner.  Taken at a local "Natural Area", I had returned to on this evening for the fourth time to make this specific shot.  I'm not fully satisfied with this composition.  The handles on the hay raker and the repeated shape in the dead tree behind kept teasing me.  In this shot I decided to merge the two visually.  It may not be a success, but it's what the conversation was leading to on that day.  Maybe in another 4-ish years, I'll have figured out how to steer the conversation, instead of being led by it.

     Photo details:  Nikon D3, 50mm, 7 frame HDR @f/16

GIVE WEDNESDAY A REST!

It's the middle of the week and I suggest we all revolt from the work-a-day week and claim some time for ourselves...  You can probably guess where I'm heading.  That's right GWAR is at the Gothic theater tonight.  Time to shake the shackles and waste some cash and time.  MIght not be your cup o'tea, but whatever you chose be safe and have a bucket of fun!  New pics tomorrow, promise.

Updates, Updates, and I'm done.

I'm calling it a week.  Nothing profound, perverse, or spectacular going on today.  Some more HDR is in progress and should be up for Monday.  Managed some tweaks to mcfstudios.com, the main portal to this blog and my work hosted at Zenfolio.  There's more in the master plan for mcfstudios.com, but it's a slow process.  I'm currently fighting the need to be out making pictures and the need to be in the studio making pictures into prints and more importantly products.  Integrating the different sites to give a cohesive and unified experience is high on the priorities.  Soon enough, I suppose when winter hits in full I might have a little more desk time to work on that list.  Would be nice to offload the studio stuff to an assistant, but this is all pretty low budget stuff.  Not going to be any offloading any time soon.  Except that it's 5 o'clock on a fantastic Friday afternoon.  I'm going to grab a beer and move to the deck to watch the sunset.  No cameras allowed.  Have a great weekend!

Burn Path

I had every intention to write a full post yesterday.  But I'm still new at this and sometimes it slips my mind.  So I tried blogging from the iPod Touch but for whatever reason, I could only type in the title field.  Let me tell you that after the very long walk (13 miles in three and a half hours) and then driving to the opposite side of town for an evening shoot in a different Open Space, I wasn't in the mood to solve technical issues.

Today wasn't much better.  My knees hurt and I was in a funk.  I've kind of done this to myself.  The knees aren't a big deal, it's part of the game.  It's how far that I am behind where I want to be that's kind of bugging me.  I graduated art college in '94 and immediately started floundering my career and ignoring my talent.  You don't think of those things while it's happening, but they sneak up on you in traffic while driving to meet friends for lunch.

A decade ago my imagination was so active that I physically couldn't hold still.   Now I force myself up a mountain and all over hell & a'gone and then down one more trail trying to shake my muse from it's slumber.  It's not too difficult because my muse lives in the woods and we're childhood friends - kind of an easy play date.  Eh, that's what I have to building on.

Mostly that's enough.  Until I'm sitting in traffic with a knee that's gonna explode if I have to hit the clutch one more time in the next mile.

From the notebook:  burnt forest is a metaphor for those lost years.  all future growth will involve a lot of time and determination.  new sprouts aren't guarantees, either.  nature is not concerned about you.

(should have written a haiku, but I guess I should have done a lot of things and I'm gonna forgive this one)

Photo Info:  Canon G9, 1/125sec @ f/8, taken at the exact moment I got there without any consideration for the meaning or the exposure.

That's yesterday, though, and so is today (almost).  Not all doom howling around here either, the walk jarred something else awake.  A very unexpected energy.  Lot's of ideas are currently stalking the next ridge.  Just gotta get there...

Day Off - thirteen mile hike instead.

Teaser

I'm slowly catching up to the current photos.  Still about a week behind.  This one comes from the morning after our two day snow storm.  I was not feeling well (or motivated) when I crawled out of bed.  While I was making coffee a little sun beam started poking through the mini-blinds and into the back of my head.  If you're housebound for a two day storm with no sunshine, what are you supposed to do if it all of a sudden comes through the window?  Forget about how you feel, grab the camera and get to work.  Didn't last long after twenty minutes of plodding around in the foot deep snow, the clouds took over again.  Oh well at least the coffee was ready when I got back to the apartment.

Photo details:  Nikon D3, 24-120mm VR @ 40mm, 1/125@f/16, ISO 400

The Giving Tree

The tree above is a sort of hero for the photographers in the area.  It is easy to find, easy to access and better looking that most of us locals.  I've avoided shooting it for a long time for reasons too silly to list.  Last week my girlfriend and I drove by and I saw it off in the periphery without paying much attention, but it got in my head - big, lovely, alone in the field.  Of course, in my mind the surrounding city sprawl isn't a problem.  I see this tree existing in it's own world for no reason.  It's a tree, it doesn't need reason, or a photograph, or a "regional open space", to continue being a tree.  The tree in my mind is starting at me blankly, as if to say, "Well, whatcha gonna do now tough guy?"

Photo details:  Sunset.  Nine image HDR ranging from 1/20 sec to 8 seconds at f/16.

I chose HDR because the tree deserves the respect of the detail in it's trunk and leaves.  There are two choices to accomplish this, HDR or elaborate artificial lighting scheme.  You can see a few other images of this tree, including one other HDR, from a recent sunrise shoot using the flickr gallery on the right of this page.

My first title for this image was "Stand Against A Sky".  It's a blatant attempt to connect my ideas to this tree.  While writing this entry, I began to question my relationship to the natural world.  The title "The Giving Tree" is also a book which contains a simple demonstration of what it means to love.  Maybe I began this image feeling like Balboa, but after much time in the moment I began to understand the conversation.  I set out to capture the natural world's beauty in a photograph and return humbled by how much more I have received.

Black Ridge Canyons, WSA

After all that I went to the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Study Area to meet some friends hike around and have some fun. You can view a gallery from that weekend here.  Enjoy and have a good weekend.

Photo details:  Canon G9 & Joby Gorillapod

Moving On

This photo was the surprise of the trip.  All morning I cursed at the clouds which were obscuring my subject while I sat on a cliff that was bathed in full warm sun.  I wandered around making photos of bushes and glowing leaves and grasses, but what I wanted was dark as could be.  Until this little hole opened and suddenly this scene started happening.  It was a Rembrandt sun beam that was just magic.  Time to make some coffee and have a snack.

...and with that it was time to move on.  How did I know?  I didn't really know.  I had something close to the shot I came for and several others that I made while I was here, so that's it.  Pack up and go home.  Remember to put the notes on a calendar so you'll remember to come back at the appropriate time... Drive safely... Uh, what's the problem?

The problem is how could I be sure I got the shot I wanted without connecting to the thing I came to photograph.

From the notebook:

     Have to stop and eat more often.  Making bad decisions.  -SLOW DOWN!

Rushing down from the 6_3 camp and hunting for a spot put me in a situation to skip breakfast, sometimes not a problem, but this day I had to be energetic, hiking, climbing, scouting, and I was on a time limit.  The sun is coming!  I got lucky to find a spot that made a nice photo, and lucky to have had the forethought to bracket the hell out of it for an HDR (see this post).  But the rest of the photos from that morning are merely passable examples of properly exposed poor decisions.  But why would that stop me from leaving.  It didn't, but it should have.  Because even though I had the photograph, I didn't have anything else.  I didn't have a story to tell.  That was the lesson for the trip.   It is no longer enough to come back with that great photo, but there needs to be more to share.

Well, I didn't learn it sitting on the cliff that morning.  Not even on the drive home.  May not have learned it at all, and I probably won't know until my next portfolio trip.

Photo details:  Nikon D3, 24-120mm VR at 120mm, 1/80-f/16, -2EV

Pointy Swirly

Pointy Swirly
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

The Unaweep Seep is incredibly beautiful.  Next time I'll get there about an hour before sunrise to try a certain composition.  The light doesn't hit the canyon floor until way past useless.  I'm talking 72,000 stop split ND that gonna have to be at least 17 inches tall.  Not much else to do but look for subjects in the shade.  What... you gonna make a 52 image HDR?  Go ahead, I'll wait.
This simple yucca was tucked up off the road where it's poised to prick your shins as you finish clambering up the embankment.  In retribution, I shot it... with the Nikon.
As I said this thing is in full shade, so there's a mighty colour cast.  Easy enough to clean that up in Lightroom, then a bunch of sharpening to bring out the texture.  None of which you see unless you click through to the Flickr page.
     From the notebook:
Sure is bright here.  And there are a lot of plants.  BLM sign very adamant about staying on the pavement.  Whatever.  Not gonna happen... EVER.


Photo details:  Nikon D3, 14-24mm @ 23mm, ISO800, 1/50 f/11

Border Crossing

Border Crossing
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

I love these things.  This one is on a dirt road heading toward Moab.  Seems a bit silly to me, but I'm sure it's very important to have them at all the crossings.  There's one twenty miles north, too.  It's less dramatic.  I wonder how it gets decided which state is listed first.

Palisade Dawn

Palisade Dawn
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

It's a fact that one can drive faster down a canyon road if one can't see what's over the edge.  The most unfortunate thing about this road is it's the only way to get back to those aspens.  But it's a year away and I might forget how bad the road is... probably not.
After the bouncing, i was scrambling to find a perch.  Spent most of the day before looking for evening shots with the full intent to shoot from the east rim in the morning.  Now that wasn't happening.  I remembered stopping at a place in the bottom of the canyon I camped above because the view of the Palisade was great. At the time it was noon-ish and something like f/78,000 on the face and f/-9 where I was standing.  Glad I stopped though, because it gave me my morning perch.  But I couldn't remember exactly how far up canyon it was.  Only that it was belos teh first switchback.  Honestly, it's not difficult to find in the daylight, but there aren't any landmarks in the dark.  Which means I drove the road twice in each direction.  As the sky started to brighten I could make out the face I wanted to shoot, so I parked and started grabbing gear.  My usual rig is the modular stuff made by thinkTANK.  It's good and does me well enough.  But I was standing at the bottom of a thirty foot slickrock wall.  So, now I'm going hands and teeth up a wall in the near dark with a camera store slung around me like Pancho-Somebody that outlaw guy all the while deflecting the swinging camera away from the rock with my elbows. Needless to say... when I go to the top I was a little winded.  Tripods, get a good one and strap it to you. (Oh yeah, I also had a tripod on me.  Everything is slung bandolier style - I'll get a picture of that someday and put it up here.)  So, I told you all that to intro this photo.  when I first started reading about this formation, this is what I saw in my head.  I had a topo map and a compass and an idea of what it should look like.  Enjoy.
     From the notebook:
Very good spot.  Leaving Gateway w/o coffee to check out the seep area, probably missed the good light.  Must return to that other canyon and get the hoodoos next summer when the sun returns.
Photo Details:  Nikon D3, 14-24mm @ 16mm, 5 stop HDR, f/16, caffeine free.

Night Comes On

Night Comes On
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

From where I'm camped I can see across the valley to the east rim of this same canyon. Similar open view, looks like some wide spots that will give me a direct view of the SE face of the Palisade.
After breaking camp and cleaning up, I head into the lowland for more hiking and scouting. Then back up the other side before the evening light starts happening. Also easier to find a camp in the daylight. I headed up road 6-3, which is 6 miles of washboards and tight turns. Then another annoying 15 miles on the top I still hadn't found the spot I saw last night the sun is heading out of view quick and I'm not sure I can navigate the tangle of roads I followed in here. So, the backup plan was find a camp and bed down early and start driving back down at 5am. At least I wouldn't have to worry about on-coming vehicles at that hour.

Sunset was very colourful in a cloudless sky. Found these trees near camp and made the most of them. The rest of the area was socked in with lots of trees, but I found a view east with lots of aspens in a great formation just below the ridge. You can be sure I'm coming back next year a few weeks earlier.
Photo Details: Nikon D3, 70-200mm at 82mm, 1/15@f16, -1EV
From the notebook:
Sucks up here, will make the best of it and head down early. Maybe that spot I found this afternoon, Palisade should be prominent on the horizon.


Tomorrow: The Palisade

Squid Jam Eye

Squid Jam Eye
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

Fort Collins, CO, is a ridiculously bucolic town. Well, it's a city, really, but I grew up in Philly and it's tough to call this place a "city". Whatever... let's move on. There's this very progressive notion that all publicly funded acts of construction should carry a 1% tax to also fund an arty endeavour that will be placed in the same area. It's called "Art in Public Places". Usually results in crap that can be ignored and the only benefit is to the artist and their banks. But the waste of a program has spawned one great thing, so I'm glad this program exists. The Squid Jam and Jelly Preserve. The little swallow nests in the same area are a perfect compliment. Sit under the highway and watch the birds and the squids and contemplate the fossil beds. Or just keep on riding your bike, I didn't want to be disturbed anyway.
Photo info: pooly executed HDR, a camera, lens, one tripod, two bad words, and a cloudy sky.

Cold Burn

Cold Burn
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

Way before dawn. Seems like an appropriate first image. This is from a recent portfolio trip to the Palisade WSA, on the western slope of Colorado. Chasing a notion that fall colour is peaking out there (it was past the peak), I packed and ran out of town for the week.
This area was mentioned in a book called "Colorado's Canyon Country", which suggested the photogenicty (don't bother looking it up it's not a real word, but "artistic license and such"). This was the view from camp on the first morning. After finding the Palisade, I got the map and compass out to find roads leading to the canyon rim. Found this spot down an old mining road with what appeared to be an old "Property For Sale" sign. These former pinon trees were once victim to a wildfire, but most of the ground cover had re-grown and you'll get to see some of that in future posts. No idea what plane that is, doesn't matter much I guess, since I don't have any immediate extraterrestrial photo plans.
I mentioned it's before dawn. For some reason I got up at 4am, even though I know the light wouldn't start until 6:30am. But there I was in a down bag staring at the stars and waiting. No complaints. I eventually started reading, since I was planning on shooting close to the Jeep.

     From my notebook:
blonde girl in jeep pulls / astride expressionless checks / me out I giggle

Leaving Fort Collins in a fog.
I consider the week ahead staring
bleary into the grey mourning.

ttfn-r.