Here are two abstracts taken today at a junkyard.
Stocker Road
Below is an image taken yesterday of Stocker Road near the Silver Creek Preserve. It was midge madness on Silver Creek yesterday from Picabo all the way through the Nature Conservancy. Unfortunately Silver Creek--with the exception of a tiny section in the desert--is closed.
Ordinary Landscape Diptych
Here are two images taken of the same fire ring from almost the same spot using two different--albeit close--focal lengths. The color image portion of the diptych taken in the summer inspired me to start a project I call, Ordinary Landscapes. The location is Summit Creek, Idaho. The tracks going through the winter image are of coyotes.
A Field Near Picabo
Here's an image of a tilled field near Picabo, Idaho taken a couple of days ago. I converted the image from RAW to black and white in Photoshop CS6. I am including in this post a low-resolution image of the RAW file straight from the camera. Without making many changes/edits in Photoshop, you can see the latitude in shooting RAW--getting details out of the very bright/overexposed areas--and the enormous difference between the blah RAW image and the edited black and white image.
I also used the tilt function of the Nikon 24 pc-e lens to get the look of unlimited depth of field. I used--it's becoming a kinda fun term to use--the Scheimpflug Principle. The link takes you to The Luminous Landscape page for a good explanation...
Here's the low-resolution file of the RAW image straight from the camera:
Two Seasons Diptych
Two images and two seasons. Early summer and late winter. The same oxbow split in half. Two focal lengths. Silver Creek's East Oxbow:
South Fork of The Boise River
I shot over to the South Fork of The Boise yesterday and it dawned on me I hadn't fished it for at least two years. It's always a pleasure fishing a river/stream I don't know every single bend, pocket, riffle, etc. Didn't see many fish on the surface. In fact only saw fish rising in one spot. There were a good number of midges though and the nymphing was decent. The image below is of Keith getting in a little streamer time before the sun hit the water.
Silver Creek Panorama
Here's a pano taken yesterday at Silver Creek. The clouds that came in ended up providing about 3 new inches of snow. The pano below is comprised of 7 images and the resolution is 33.7 megapixels. It was shot with the Nikon D3s & Nikon 50mm ƒ1.8 lens. Click on the image to see it larger.
I love shooting from this particular spot on Silver Creek. The image above was shot with the Nikon 50mm ƒ1.8 lens and not a tilt/shift lens. I just upgraded from Adobe's CS5 to CS6 and one of the major new additions is a set of 3 blur filters including tilt/shift. While I do own and use Nikon's 24mm pc-e (tilt/shift) lens, this new set of filters is a lot of fun to play with.
Silver Creek, Idaho
If we didn't have calendars it would be hard to tell it's February here. The snowpack at lower elevations has dwindled. I fished Silver Creek today and it felt like a raw early April afternoon. Cumulus clouds pushed easterly and the wind scoured the thawing ground. Red-Winged Blackbirds by the dozens scurried about nervously in flocks near the willows. There were midges though despite the wind and a fish here and there thought it a good idea to steel one from the surface. I threw streamers and it was quite good. The 28th of February is the final day of the season on Silver Creek below the HGWY 20 Bridge.
Conifers, Fire Ring & Snow
Silver Creek Preserve Mid-Summer
Here are two images from last July that made it past my initial look. If you recall, it was smoky here last summer and on this particular night the smoke had mainly gone west and there was just a hint hanging in the atmosphere making the sky and clouds more palpable than normal and dust hung in the air like helium inflated dandelion seeds and there wasn't a lick of wind and a few fishermen made their way through the tall grass to a bend on the creek.
Richfield Canal
The Richfield Canal is a major diversion that begins at a large headgate about 4 miles below Magic Reservoir in Idaho. During the agricultural season it swells with water and for the rest of the year it is essentially dry. When the water is flowing there are also fish that get through the headgates. Due to the large volume of water the Richfield Canal calls for during the growing season, the Big Wood River below the diversion is often dewatered.
Ordinary Landscape
A personal project of mine has been working on what I have titled Ordinary Landscapes. So, just what is the criteria for an "Ordinary Landscape"? It's simple: It is taking something mundane or common or better yet, ordinary, and transforming that lack of distinctiveness into something simply extraordinary. As it is, many of my Ordinary Landscape images to date have been landscapes often with a subtle touch of the human element in and around where I live in Idaho, but really they can be of anything. Here are two recent Ordinary Landscapes:
Galena Summit
Here are a few images I shot last night from Galena Summit. There was fortunately a bit of an inversion as the temp on top was 15˚ and it was -1˚ on the bottom. With the exception of the star trails image, I shot at 12,800 iso at ƒ2.8 for 30 seconds.
Silver Creek Preserve Pano
Here's a pano I shot last spring but never got to it. Silver Creek Preserve and Thunderstorm. It's a 3 image pano taken with the Nikon 24 pc-e lens.
Silver Creek, Idaho Landscape
I drove down to Silver Creek yesterday to take a look at a bunch of things including the water clarity and ice factor on Silver Creek near Picabo. The wind blew out of the east with high clouds. Temps were right around 32˚ and the dirt roads were still frozen enough so as not to become a muddy mess. The water clarity is good with some siltation. Ice is limited to the banks. The more off color it gets the better the streamer fishing seems to be. Too windy to notice any midges. Silver Creek downstream of HWY 20 stays open through February.
iPhone Photography
Iraq War Photographer Ben Lowy recently said something to the extent of, "when technology made for the masses is used our society says you can't make art with it." He is speaking of the critique some photographers get when using a camera phone. He was interviewed by Mark Seliger on Mark's show, Capture.
A Nordic ski track I often ski swings by this hill. I don't often bring my 35mm camera when I ski but I do bring my phone. Captured with the iPhone 5 and edited using NIK's Silver Effex Pro and Adobe's CS5.
Catch Magazine Cover Image
The new issue of CATCH magazine went live this morning and an image of mine is on the cover. The shot was taken in early November on Silver Creek.
If you have not seen CATCH, here is the link: CATCH MAGAZINE
Big Wood River Ice
Big Wood River Ice Abstracts:
Ordinary Landscapes
So I now have a title for a really broad project I am working on. It's, Ordinary Landscapes. My goal, with whatever camera I have at the moment, is to take an image of a pretty ordinary landscape, and to have the viewer loose him or herself in it. Could be color, could be black and white. Doesn't matter.
Both of the images above were taken with the iPhone 5 and edited in Adobe Photoshop CS5.
Below is an image of a print in the sand. My son Charlie asked me to take a picture of his footprint on a recent trip.
Here is a link to a Vimeo video which was a 2012 TED Talk and is called INSIDE OUT Project. First, here is the link to the video: http://vimeo.com/42287790# It is a fascinating talk on pasting large portraits in public places around the globe. A very large Palestinian portrait is pasted alongside an Israeli portrait on the wall of an Israeli base. Who is who? Just watch it...
Should you become more intrigued, click on INSIDE OUT Project