Summer Skies

I love the smell of a summer rain shower.  On those occasions when the Kentucky skies darken and the rumble of thunder growls in the distance, I will often make my way to the front porch and sit in the rocking chair and wait for the spell of stormy weather to arrive.  When it does, the muggy air and hot nature of a summer day will suddenly be transformed by wind and rain blessed by cooler air and a fragrance like no other.

Seems like this season we've so far been blessed with a number of those moments and I am grateful to be able to enjoy one of natures great programs.  Another program I enjoy is to capture the first light of a summer morning. The haze in the sky at that time will often turn the rising sun into a subtle pink or pale orange.  Add an old barn or some farm equipment and throw in some tall weeds for atmosphere and with a bit of luck and timing, some of the best photo moments will often appear.

Recently I had one such experience.  I've been in somewhat of a dry spell photographically speaking and was anticipating a good morning.  I set the alarm for 30 minutes before sunrise and headed out the door to a location just a few miles down the road where an old windmill still pulls water from the ground.  There was some fog drifting in the lower areas and around the structure and the morning light created a rustic atmosphere. After firing off a few shots I headed back down the road to another location. where an old barn sat higher on a shallow hill and the summer sunrise always lines up across from it.  When I got there the sun was not yet above the horizon, so I fired off a few quick shots of the farm equipment sitting out in the field.  A few minutes later the sun began to burn through the low morning haze and I realized if I changed my position slightly I could catch the sun behind the equipment.

I'm always amazed at just how fast the sun moves once it breaks free of the horizon, and I almost missed the best shots of the day as it hovered in front of the barn.  The morning haze generated a nice warm glow in the sky and I felt good at having taken the moment to be there when the moment occurred.

Mechanically Good or Artistically Expressive

Your average photographer is often caught between understanding the high tech gadgetry built into their high dollar digital cameras and desiring to emulate the fine art photography they see being published today.  The good thing is the more they explore this, the more open they become to applying artistic concepts and techniques to their photography.

Photography is less about what the camera can mechanically do by itself, and more about understanding how you the photographer can use the camera as an artistic tool.  Compared to just a few years ago, the technology available today is indeed staggering and is constantly improving.  But, this fact alone cannot make those awe inspiring shots.  It still takes the photographer's skill and eye.

Great photographers are not unlike great musicians in that where great musicians go well beyond the simple mechanical reproduction of the notes and impart emotion and feeling into their music, great photographers go well beyond simply playing the photographic notes and are able to impart emotion and feeling into their images...so much so, that when someone sees their work, they are able to project themselves into the moment and understand why that moment was so important to the photographer.

Modern digital cameras are powerful tools that allow you to generate a great deal of flexibility, creativity, and artistic expression into your vision of the world.  'Your vision'...those are the operative words.  Understanding the difference between how the camera sees light verse how we perceive light visually will transform your whole perspective about photography as a visual art.  Being able to do so requires a blending of technical savvy with artistic expression on your part...not necessarily simply depending on the technical ability of the camera to mechanically play the photographic notes.

Graduating from the realm of mechanical photographs, toward pursuing photography based on the dynamics of light requires a blending of the technical with the aesthetic...mechanical with the emotional...to break away from simply always playing the photographic notes the way the camera tells you to...verses playing those notes based on your own vision and interpretation of the light's music.

Mechanically Good...

or...Artistically Expressive.

  Which one would you prefer?

The Story Photo - Fallen Heroes

Tucked into one corner of a local cemetery in Bowling Green is a memorial dedicated to fallen veterans.  It covers maybe an acre or two and is surrounded by trees which bloom in the spring and blaze with color in the fall. Spread across these special grounds are row after row of small white headstones each marking the final resting place of a Kentucky veteran.  The oldest marker dates back to the Spanish American War, others range from World War I through Vietnam...a few from more recent times.  I've always felt there was a story here...one single story that speaks of a greater collective sacrifice shared by all of the men interred within these grounds.  Capturing this story photograph turned out to be more difficult than I imagined.

At first glance one might think it would be easy...just point and shoot...and you've got the picture story.  In fact I'm not so sure there is a definitive process one can use to consistently capture a story like this with a camera.  It takes the right kind of shot...the perfect light that expresses, character...emotion...drama...sacrifice...gratitude...all traits not easily captured digitally in a single image.

During my walks through this quiet place, I always sense a feeling of solitude...one that speaks softly...one that asks, "What visual image can one find to say thank you to these men..."  Simply photographing what I saw fell well shy of what I felt.  Photo opportunities were all around...colors and light that reflected the serenity of this memorial...but, capturing the emotion of the moment seemed to always elude me.  By chance, on one hazy bright morning, when the first light of day filtered through the trees, the one story I wanted to capture appeared among the shadows.  It lasted but a brief moment as I walked along the path that curved around the compound.

The hazy sky cleared briefly, and one beam of light suddenly illuminated a single headstone where a small American flag leaned.  Across the top of the headstone lay some foliage and the base was stained with a reddish brown with streaks of dirt stretching upward from the ground toward the name carved into the stone. The flag cast a shadow across the lower outside corner, beyond and across the background other scattered markers lay darkened in the subdued light of the shadows.

Something wonderful happened at that moment...this was the shot...no time to think it through...it just looked right.  With tripod level with the name on the headstone, I knelt a few yards away, obliquely to one side...framed the imaged...and released the shutter.  A few seconds later the light faded once again into the morning haze.

Later, after loading the days work into my computer, I began to sort through the images and came to this one shot.  From first glance this single photograph stood out as it captured the emotion of the moment more deeply than all the others.

The flag that leaned against the headstone, along with its shadow that caressed the stained surface, appeared as though it were gently embracing a fallen hero.  The reddish brown stain across the bottom appeared as old battle wounds that had long ago left their mark...and the splashes of dirt that stretched upward from the ground reminds one of stained tears from battle weary eyes.  Surrounding this scene in the shadows stood other markers as reminders of the cost of our freedom and the debt that we can never fully repay.

Here at last was that one special photographic moment that told the full story of this serene place...the greater collective story...captured in a way that honored these fallen heroes...their sacrifice and service to their country...to us all...not forgotten.

Keith

To Those Who Served

“That's what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end”...Lise Hands

There comes a time when we as a country must set aside our political differences and reflect on what it cost for us to first obtain, then retain the freedoms we have.  No amount of words will ever suffice in such an endeavor.  Emotions are often rendered incomplete when translated into written form.  The following photo essay is an attempt to capture first the feeling of gratitude I have regarding those individuals who served, fought, and died to protect all of us, and second to send a message to all veterans...all heroes who placed themselves in harms way so we could live in safety...

Teaching a Photography Workshop

Photo courtesy Ronnie Ryne

One of the more challenging things I've ever been asked to do is to teach a Photography Workshop.  The first time I was asked to do that my initial reaction was..'sure I can do  that...' then I got to thinking about what I actually needed to do to pull it off and I rapidly began to understand just how involved something like that was.

I went over and over all kinds of scenarios...should it be a beginners class...generic...advanced, well as advanced as I could make it anyway...lecture material...hands-on...and so on.  It was hard to focus in on one agenda.  I eventually settled for Generic that would include some basics and tips and techniques.

Photo courtesy Ronnie Ryne

That ended up being the easy part.  Now I had to come up with a viable program that would fit inside a 2 hour window.  Good grief!  Photography concepts are full of material that would probably require a single subject to take a full 2 hours if I thought about long enough, but it had to all make sense for people with a wide range of skill levels.

What I ended up doing was to create a program that was based on many of the same problems I had difficulty with over the years.  As I began to ponder about those difficulties, one recurring idea kept infiltrating my thoughts.  What was the one thing that gave me the most trouble?  As I thought about it, I began to understand that it was not the technical/mechanics of the camera, for those things are rather objective in nature and for the most part, can be learned with a bit of practice and simply reading your owners manual.  No, what gave me the most trouble over the years was learning how to see photographically.

Being able to see photographically requires a different thought process than simply understanding the mechanics of the camera, or to take simple snapshots.  It requires an understanding that light is the key to creating those amazing photographs.  It goes way beyond simply relying on the camera to make all the decisions for you...it requires a blending of how we visually perceive light vs how the camera sees light...the two are not necessarily the same.  Once I began to grasp that concept and apply it to what I was doing photographically, for the first time my photographs began to evolve away from the realm of the ordinary toward the realm of extraordinary...I said it was evolving toward it...I haven't reach it yet.  In fact, the more I evolve toward it, the more I realize that it is becoming one of those journey's that never has an end point.

So with that in mind, I formulated a program that would get the participants to thinking about what they are doing...to possibly change their perspective about photography and remove the intimidation factor related to the mechanics of the camera, and focus their mindset more toward understanding how to see light...how to see photographically.

Although I had previously presented similar material at our local photography club meetings, the first real presentation occurred back in March of 2010 that was sponsored by the county library.  They signed up almost 50 people of which about half showed up.  The program went very well for the first hour until the digital projector lost it's red color and all the sample images thereafter were displayed with a strong greenish hue.  Not exactly the best way to talk about and demonstrate how to see light...but overall it worked out pretty well.

Photo courtesy Ronnie Ryne

Since then I've refined the presentation and have broken it into two sections each about 90 minutes long.  This makes for a much more relaxed presentation as I now don't have to hurry through the material to squeeze it all in in under 2 hours.  The next presentation is coming up next June...it should be a good one as I now know more about how to present it, and have smoothed over some of the rough edges, plus I'll have more time to work through the material.

Getting Away - Watching Blue Birds - A Day at the Pond - A Day Fishing

I had a rather disappointing and discouraging week at work last week.  Everything is fine really, nothing bad happened, but sometimes circumstances and events pile up to where I have to say to myself...'I've had enough'...so I tacked on a couple days of vacation to the weekend for some rest and recovery.

On Thursday Kris and I spent a good part of the day first sitting in the swing under the shade tree in the backyard listening to and watching all the song birds. By mid morning we headed out to the pond a few hundred yards behind our house.

We carried a couple of folding chairs, my camera, and found a shade to sit in.  For the most part we just sat there and talked...took a few photos...talked some more, and enjoyed the the morning and later the cooling effects of an afternoon breeze.

I had fun watching her get excited about taking some photo's...looking for interesting things to zoom in close to like the Lady Bug crawling on  Buttercups, one of the days favorites, and finding parts of the pond that would tell the story of that day.  Too often we hurry about looking for stuff and never see really it in our rush to find it, when by simply sitting and slowing down, the good things tend to come to us instead. That's what happened that day...ordinary things suddenly became interesting subjects to observe and photograph.

We shared the camera...I took a few...but she did most of the picture taking and did a pretty good job of it.  The day at the pond was split into two sessions...the morning, and then again that afternoon for a couple of hours.  Between the two we grabbed a bite to eat and stopped over at Romanza Johnson Park and enjoyed the flowing waters of Trammel Creek.  It was a good relaxing day.

On Friday, I loaded up the canoe, fishing gear, and packed a lunch, then headed over to Shanty Hollow Lake about a 30 minute drive north of Bowling Green.  It's a great little lake perfect for canoe fishing, but alas, the fishing turned out rather slow.  You know, I really didn't care...I just enjoyed getting out.


I spent most of the day there soaking up some sun, and exercising my canoeing and casting muscles.  I didn't even take the camera as I just wanted to unwind and not worry about anything interfering with that endeavor.

Although I enjoy photography and it has become a larger part of my life in recent years, I often feel like I've lost a part of my identity as the traditional activities like fishing and canoeing and even spending a day at a pond have succumb to the trials of making a living far more than I ever envisioned.  I realize circumstances change, our lives evolve as we get older, and often we allow complacency to fill the gaps that develop.  I suppose taking a couple of days to spend a day at a place like the pond, or to revisit those older passions, become more important the older you get.  I'm certainly grateful for having had the opportunity to do so.

Keith

Kentucky Morning

A photographer longs for moments like the one that came to life above the Kentucky landscape on that day.  Too much time had filtered away since I last witnessed a morning like this one.  I suppose I needed to witness that exhibition of light as much as I've needed anything in recent years.  Hunting, fishing, canoeing...all historically important  elements in my life were fundamentally nonexistent that year, save for a few random outings.  Although I managed from time to time to break away from my doldrums with camera in hand, nothing of consequence resulted.  It had been a rather dry spell activity wise...what I needed was that one special day, that one defining moment where time, place, and light converged to create an extraordinary exhibit of radiance.

On a mid October dawn, the rustic natural beauty that is Kentucky displayed herself in front of my lens, and for a brief magnificent moment, I was granted the opportunity to witness part of creations most wonderful choreography.

A month before the hot dry remnant of the end of summer still permeated the region.  While driving the back roads of Barren County not far from my home, I turned down a narrow crumbling old road that eventually narrowed to a dead end at the top of a shallow rise.  I stopped for a while and meandered along the road simply enjoying being out and taking in the scenery, breathing the country air.  Falling away from the road to the south lay a quaint little farm with a cornfield growing in the bottoms separated from the rest of the land by a split of trees and a series of rolling pastures.  Cattle bellowed and song birds flittered here and there.  Beyond the cornfield stood a wooded strip backed by a sharply rising ridge.  Between the line of woods and the ridge ran Barren River.

Something spoke to me that day, bidding a return visit when the conditions were right...perhaps in another month as the fall colors started to appear.

That month passed...fall was stirring and the colors of the season were just beginning to adorn the hills.  I rose well before daylight one crisp Saturday morning and arrived at the top of the rise a few minutes before sunup.  The sky was already aglow and the sounds of country living were adding their music to the morning symphony.  A light fog drifted across the valley and hovered lightly above the now partially harvested cornfield.  The morning progressed rapidly toward daylight and I struggled to keep up...shooting photos in rapid succession needing to be in three places at once.  I rushed further up the rise and noticed how the first beams of the morning sun were just beginning to touch the tops of that spit of trees that separated the two fields.

Time passes quickly at first light, and I knew something special was about to happen, so I quickly setup my tripod and camera...checked the exposure...framed the shot...and waited for that defining moment I knew was sure to come.

As the sun climbed higher and peaked over the ridge to the east, a beam of light broke through and cast a radiance that burst into a flame of color as it was captured by the front edge of the trees.  The fog that drifted below began to lightly glow...I almost missed the moment as it lasted but a few seconds...but when I released the shutter, I knew that one of natures most cherished gifts...a brilliant new dawn...a new Kentucky Morning...was mine.

Photographers Block

Writers suffer through a phenomenon called 'writers block' where the words just don't come...nothing seems to be stimulating those creative juices.  Well...I've discovered that as a photographer...I suffer from 'photographers block' from time to time.  Nothing seems to be working on some days...every image is either a cliche' or worse.  What to do?

When this occurs two things tend to happen...I get discouraged and then I take a break from the routine.  Neither one of these two things serve a very good purpose although taking a break can actually prove beneficial in the short term.  Even so, there are a few things you can do to help get on track.

Change your Routine.  If you normally concentrate on landscapes, switch over to another aspect of photography..try people, sports, or local venues.  The idea is to do something different to jump start those creative juices.

Slow Down.  Take a hike without your camera...simply enjoy getting out for the sake of getting out.  Sometimes when you always lug the camera around, you tend to forget to enjoy simply being out. Refresh your thoughts and clear the mind.

Review your old photographs.  Go back as far as you can and thumb through some of the early days of your photographic attempts.  By doing so you just might realize just how much you've improved over the years.  Plus those old photos just might rekindle ideas.

Go someplace you've never been before.  Spend the entire day there. Many times just seeing something new will get you excited again.

Join a photography club.  I've never been very clubby over the years but a few years ago I joined a local photography club and have thoroughly enjoyed the interaction.  It's a great way to learn about other techniques and the fellowship it affords can often make the difference between becoming stale and staying fresh.

Keep on shooting anyway.  Most of the time the block is temporary and by simply working through it you will find your old creative self again.

Photographers block, like writers block can be discouraging...but always remember that in time you will get back to visualizing and photographing those wonderful moments.  Trying something different often helps...sort of like...well..me writing this article...because I just could not think of anything else to write about this time...there you see...I feel better already.

Keith

Not Such a Bad Thing...

    Back in the days when I was a lot poorer than I am today, going on a camping or fishing trip was a true adventure.  Not so much because of the great outdoors, but more so because the vehicle’s I drove had questionable ability to get there and back.  I never knew what would happen on any given trip…and I pretty well saw it all…from bad fuel and water pumps, to bad ignition points and oil clogged spark plugs, to broken timing belts and burned out starters.

    One time my canoeing and fishing partners were anticipating a wonderful weekend floating the Mountain Fork River in southeastern Oklahoma some years ago now…a long time ago some years ago.  At the time I drove an old beat up white Ford Pinto station wagon with simulated wood paneling on the sides.  Don’t laugh…it actually was a pretty good fishing rig as it had plenty of room for fishing gear and with a little jury rigging it would haul a canoe on short trips just fine…short being the operative word here.  On this trip I attempted the near impossible for that old rig as we were to drive a considerably greater distance than our local fishing holes allowed for and I was hauling two canoes, camping, canoeing, and fishing gear for two people up and down those steep backcountry hills found in that part of the country.

    That old rig did just fine running down the highway from Tulsa sputtering only slightly on some of the steeper grades, but when we hit the mountains surrounding Talihina, pronounced Tal la hay Knee in Oklahomese, I thought we’d have to get out and push a couple times to make it over the top.  Even so, we finally made it to the rendezvous point and connected up with the other two from our party. That was the highlight of the trip as the rest of the trip turned out to be pretty much a bust after the first day.  That first evening the skies opened up and Mother Nature cut loose with a fury that seemed directed specifically toward us.  We’ve often wondered about going into the drought busting business because it seemed like every time we went out something like that happened.  It may not have rained for three months, but if we planned a fishing trip, rest assured it was probably going to rain.  


    Man did it ever rain…and rain…and storm…by the next day floating or fishing was pretty much out of the question, so we ended up driving around for while looking for other potential fishing opportunities.  Before long we decided to call it quits and head on home, but first we had to get back to the other vehicles and load up.  Seemed all of the creeks were flooding and most of the back roads were flooded as a result which slowed our progress.  Eventually we reached a place where we could drive no further.  We were still a mile or two from the campsite, so my fishing partner and I decided to hike on in by wading thru the high water then over the hill and down to where his truck and my Pinto was located.  Lightning was still splitting the sky and we were rather exposed during our hike in but managed to make it without getting electicated.  We grabbed and piled all the gear into his truck and my little old Pinto Station Wagon, which was crammed full and loaded to the gills everywhere except the gas tank.  I figured I’d just top it off on the way home.

    Unfortunately, we could not drive out the same way we came in because all the little creeks had continued to flood to where even a 4x4 would have had trouble getting through.  We caravanned around those ancient hills and crumbling dirt roads for what seemed like hours and my gas tank gauge  inched ever closer to the empty line.  Eventually, the gas gauge indicator parked on the big E and would not budge, and we still we’re not out of trouble.  I don’t know how that old fishing rig made it because we must have driven another 30 miles around those old roads after that, but somehow we ended up in some little no count town in Arkansas that had only one gas station.  I didn’t hesitate to fill her up.  That gas tank normally held 10 gallons.  Can’t remember the exact amount, but I believe I pumped somewhere around 10.2 gallons of gas into that tank.

    Oddly enough, that old station wagon ended up getting ruined in a giant flood in Tulsa a few years later.  We lived in an apartment just off the notorious for flooding Mingo Creek, and Tulsa received one of those 100 year rains where 12+ inches of rain dropped in one evening.  I awoke the next morning and looked out the balcony window of our apartment to see only the tops of cars in the parking lot.  My little Pinto took the brunt of the surge as it was the first car in the row and caught all the washed down debris plus the high water.

    In time I was able to replace the Pinto with a slightly newer and venerable Chevy Luv pickup truck and a new series of grand adventures began.  I drove that old truck everywhere and some places I should not have, and it proved itself up to the task…most of the time.  I drove that thing until it had around 150,000 miles on it and it pretty well just would not run any more.  So I parked it in the gravel parking lot in front of our little apartment in Harrison, Arkansas for a few months while I decided what to do with it.  After some research and not having anything else better to do, I decided I would rebuild the engine…new piston rings, get the valves ground…new bearings…full tune up…plus a few other assorted fixes.  It took me a couple weeks of working nights and weekends, but eventually got it all put back together, and I was more surprised than anyone that it actually started.  Other than a wiring issue that ruined a fishing trip shortly thereafter…I drove that old thing for another 100,000 plus miles before finally retiring it.  

   Before its retirement, that old Luv took me on numerous grand adventures…fishing and hunting and camping…caused me numerous aggravations when it broke down…had it towed several times and cursed it more times than I care to admit to.

    Even so, because of those two old Rigs I experienced things I would never have seen had I not dared to drive them.  I saw amazing sunrises while sitting in my canoe on the placid waters of a small lake.  I witnessed amazing sunsets while floating Arkansas’s Buffalo River.  I felt the sun and wind on my face and absorbed the aroma of nature’s best offerings.  I thrilled at the sight as a flight of mallards set their wings and drop into a spread of decoys and I’ve witnessed thousands of geese explode into the sky and fill the air with their honking calls.  I’ve been startled by the sudden jerk of a big ‘ole bass as it attacked my lure from the edge of submerged grass and I’ve heard the lonesome yelp of the coyote as I warmed my hands in front of the campfire.  I’ve hiked amongst the peaks of the Colorado Rockies, and waded through the cold waters of an Ozark stream.  I’ve sat in deer camp listening to and retelling old stories with friends from years gone by.  I’ve watched the fog lift from the valley at first light and gazed across an amazing meteor streaked night sky free from the haze of city lights.  I grew experienced from having to deal with difficulties and learned that grease stained hands and fingernails will eventually come clean with a bit scrubbing, and become a reward from the satisfaction gained by making the repairs myself.  Yeah, those old rigs caused me a lot of aggravation, but they also gave me so much more in return that far outweighed the frustration of dealing with them.

    Back in 1998 I purchased my first real dream rig…an almost new Jeep Wrangler Sahara.  I still drive it today...It still runs great…but only because I’ve often had greasy hands to keep it running.  Some thirteen years later…it’s just now beginning to take on that old rig look…but you know…that’s not such a bad thing.

Dragons and Fly's and Critters...Oh My....

A few hundred yards behind my house is a pond that I frequent from time to time.  It's a great place to get away for a while and because it's so close, it sure is convenient.  Sometimes I'll take my camera and tripod along with my dog and sometimes the neighbors dogs, and make the trek over that way.  I always enjoy getting out and letting the dogs run.

Photographing the pond itself can be a bit tricky because the light can be difficult to deal with, but one thing I do enjoy is photographing the critters that live in and around the pond.  Dragonflies are one of the more common critters, but it is all but impossible to chase after them trying to get a good shot.  What I've learned is to simply sit down in a shade and watch them for a while.  After a while, you'll notice that they tend to fly around in patterns and will often frequent the same twig or blade of grass often stopping for several seconds.  That is when the opportunity presents itself.

A macro lens is all but useless as you will never get close enough to one to be able to take its portrait.  What I do is set my long zoom lens to full extension...set the camera and lens on a tripod, and connect a remote cable release.  Then after I identify what twig or spot the dragonflies tend to rest on, I will pre-focus the camera on that  spot and sit and wait.  Before too long, one will usually alight and I fire away.

You can shoot this way all day long on most any kind of day.  But there is a little more to it that simply pointing the camera and taking a picture.  I always try to find an angle that will isolate the dragonfly against a solid background.  Depending on the time of day, I will also try to find an angle that allows for the light to back light the dragonfly as they can often be quite full of translucent colors.

It's a lot of fun to do and with a bit of patience you can catch some really interesting shots using the technique I just described.  Try it some time.

Keith

Creating Slide Show Presentations

Many years ago when I was in the U.S. Coast Guard stationed at Winchester Bay,Oregon, my Commanding Officer informed me that I was to represent our unit at one of the monthly civic organizations club meeting.  I whined about having to do so, but to no avail as I was locked into attending.  It seemed this local civic club asked if someone from our unit could talk to them about what we did.  Well, I had taken a lot of slides and had a slide projector so I figured I would just take that and narrate the slide show.  Seemed like a perfectly good idea.

That evening I got all dressed up in my dress blues and headed on down to the club meeting location, stepped inside and was greeted by a very pleasant, but also very blind individual.  No one said anything to me about who the people were I was going to speak to...turned out it was an organization support group for the local blind population.  Needless to say I was very embarrassed by the whole situation as I was carrying under arm the slide projector and slide tray.

The person who greeted me was very understanding and insisted that I go ahead and show the images so I could narrate about what the images portrayed.  Actually it worked out pretty well as the slides provided material for me to speak about...but I had to be a bit more descriptive in my narration.

I've never liked the phrase Slide Show as it generates images of Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty taking hours to flip through their summer vacation pictures.  But, with the technology that is available today, slide shows are no longer the drudgery they once were.  Fantastic presentations can be generated set to music with interesting transitions between images...movement...effects....voice over dubbing...DVD...just about all the techniques that once was only available to professional film makers is now available to anyone with a laptop or home computer.

Over the last several years I've generated a good number of presentations constantly striving to improve and innovate with each new production.  I've even coined a production logo...Beyond the Campfire Productions...that gives the presentations a more professional appearance.

There are a good number of slide show software packages available today, some are better that others, and their costs vary from freeware to several hundred dollars.  One of the better moderately priced software packages is called ProShow Gold.  I know several people who use the product and it does a very nice job and is easy to use.  The package I use is called Magix Xtreme PhotoStory.  I purchased it several years ago for under $20.00 and have used it extensively since then.  It does a very nice job...so nice in fact I have not yet needed to upgrade as the version I use does everything I need it to do.  Most of the software packages use many of the same features varying only in degree and navigation through various screens.

Having said all of this, I have noticed a few things about slide show presentation that I think should be addressed.  Simplicity is best.  Less is more.  Great music makes the show.  Spend time refining the program.

Simplicity is best.  Simply because the slide show software allows for flashy frame to frame transitions, it doesn't mean you should use all of them.  Simple smooth transitions work best most of the time.  I almost exclusively use two transition types...Crossfade and Fade thru Black.  Crossfade is where the two frames blend into each other as one fades out, the other fades in.  Fade thru Black is where the first frame fades out completely to black and then the next frame gradually fades in from black.  Both are very effective, easy to use and provide a near seamless transition between images.

Less is More.  You can perform all kinds of movement within a slide...zoom in and out...travel left to right...among others.  The idea here is to use a little discretion and not over do it.  A very gentle movement left or right or in and out will provide a very effective eye catching feature to your photographs.  Not all photos need to have movement...some do better without any...others are suited very nicely for zooming in or out.

Great music makes the show - Spend time refining the program.  Most of the software packages allow for simple drag and drop features to add images and insert music.  The transition times...length of time each images is allowed on screen can also be controlled. Some people simply drop the images and insert the music...select a time interval and let it go.  That works, but with a little effort you can time your slides to the music transitions...when the music gets louder or softer...or cuts off or slows down or speeds up.  It takes more time to complete the program, but once it is ready the presentation will have the look and feel of a professionally crafted program.

If you haven't tried creating a digital slide show...think about it...I think you will enjoy the creative juices it generates. Click on the Sample links below to watch one.

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Slide Show Sample

Keith

Windows of Nature - A Pathway to Creativity

I find it useful at times to compare photography to playing a piano.  This may sound somewhat strange, but when you think about it, it actually makes sense.  You see there are a lot of people who can play a piano...they've learned how to read the notes and to mechanically reproduce them on the piano...they are technically competent.  The music sounds okay but lacks something.  Then there are those artists who are able to move beyond simply playing the notes, they have such an understanding of music they are able to impart a sense of emotion and feeling into their playing.  You know it when you hear it...it sounds different...with more depth and power.  Photography is the same way.  With the technology available today almost anyone can take a technically competent photograph where all the basic elements are present, but the image lacks in emotion and impact...they are able to play the notes, but lack understanding of how to generate that emotional response in a photograph.  The difference between the two is passion and vision.

Outdoor photography is 10 percent technical and 90 percent being able to see photographically.  It involves looking beyond the obvious and filtering through all the clutter to focus in on what is truly important.  It's understanding how to use composition to define your subject and combining it with color, shape, and form to generate an image with impact.  It is a concept that rarely reaches an end point, but one that is continually refined.  It is a blending of technique with artistic vision.  Together, combined with passion, the windows of nature become a pathway to creativity.

Jack Dykinga, a world class photographer, made a statement some years ago that changed the way I approach photography.  It transformed how I think and how I look for photographic solutions.  What he said was;

 "Camera's and Lenses are simply tools to place our unique vision on film...Concentrate on equipment and you'll take technically good photographs...Concentrate on seeing the light's magic colors and your images will stir the soul"..

Light's magic colors...nature is filled with it...our eyes observe it...our hearts feel it...our souls yearn for it.  Are you simply a note player...or do you have a vision for your photography that will carry you toward creating images that stir the soul?

Keith

Shooting Close to Home

The other day I pumped almost $30.00 worth of gas into my Jeep...for a half tank.  Every time my fuel bill arrives I choke and cough when I see the total...I could buy a new digital camera...just about every month...for what I'm forking over to the gas companies.  I remember and still long for the good old days when you could fill up you car for around $5.00 and have three uniformed attendants come out to check your oil, clean your windshield, and pump the gas.  When I first went off to college back in the dark ages my weekly spending money amounted to the huge sum of $10.00...from which I had to buy gas to get there and back...and use whatever was left for snacks and goodies or maybe even a movie.  But alas those days are long gone, and the cost of fuel now days sure puts a crimp in my ability to get out and about.  I must now plan carefully and the first thing I consider before making any kind of a photo trip is how much gas will it take and how much is it going to cost?  As a result I spend a lot more time photographing closer to home.

A few years ago I began a long term and continuing project called the Alvaton Collection...which consists of a series of photographs featuring the area around my home in Alvaton, Kentucky.  Most of the images in that collection were taken within a 15 to 20 minute drive from my home.

Shooting closer to home I've discovered has certain advantages. Travel costs are an obvious one but they also include things like getting to know the area more closely.  Doing so allows for quick travel to those special places.  Often I've left at daybreak and shot a series of images, then returned home before the rest of the family even knew I was gone.  One of the best reasons for shooting close to home is being able to return to a location over and over to take advantage of the changing light and seasons.

Over the years I've identified a number of locations that offer great photo potential all through the seasons.  They include places like old barns, fence rows, rustic farm country, abandoned homes, creeks and rivers, country roads, farming activity, small town charms, stately old trees, and beautiful rolling country.  All available within 20 minutes in any direction.  I can also step outside my back door, hike a short distance and be surrounded by cornfields, woods, wildflowers, and great skies.  Even so, I still look for that old country road that I've never driven down before...it's amazing what new discoveries are found by doing such things.  Oddly enough, the country roads around here twist and turn and converge back upon themselves and seem to have no rhyme or reason to where and why they were laid out that way.  I've never been completely lost...but I have been a might turned around a time or two.

I suppose it is human nature to want to get away from home thinking that the photographic opportunity is always better someplace else.  My take on it...it's not necessarily better, just different.  What's funny is on those rare occasions I can still get away and travel some distance and time, seems I end up showing the people I meet many of the photo's I took from home.

Back in 2008, on a lark I sent some proof sheets from the Alvaton Collection, plus a few others, to a number of magazine publishing companies...I promptly forgot about them.  Six months later I received an e-mail invitation to submit around 200 images from south central Kentucky for publishing consideration in the popular magazine 'Country'.  For several months I snapped away and finally compiled enough material to send to them...they were well received by the editor and he asked for a 1500 word essay to describe why this area is such a great place to live.  What materialized from all of this was a 10 page, 20 image spread inside their God's Country featured section published in the April/May issue 2009.

I suppose the moral of the story is this:  Take a closer look at what is nearest to home...explore its intricacies and become intimately familiar with the photographic potential in your home area...who knows, there just might be a treasure trove of opportunity just waiting for you to find.

Keith

Imagine The Extraordinary

If someone were to ask me what is the one thing they could do to improve their ability to see photographically I would tell them, "Take an Art Class".  In the world of art you begin to look at the world differently and learn about color, shape, form, perspective, subject, and how all those things work together to create an effective composition.  Artists by nature tend to have a creative intuition about them...that would also include photographers.  There are a number of reasons for that I would suppose, but there are two distinct characteristics that artists have that separates them from others:  They look at the world from a unique perspective, and they use their ability to 'Imagine The Extraordinary'.

Imagine the Extraordinary...just think about what that means.  Well...I suppose it would mean different things to different people based on their personal experiences and insights, but, to me, to Imagine the Extraordinary means to observe beyond the obvious...and to recognize the photographic potential of a moment of light.  It involves not only understanding the technical aspects of the photographic process, but understanding the effects light has on a subject.  It is being able to combine the two, to create a photograph that stirs the imagination.  How to accomplish this involves certain complexities and is open to individual interpretation.  It is a concept that rarely has an end point, but one that is continually improved upon and refined.

I try strive to make this concept the cornerstone of my photographic endeavors...and oddly enough, one in which I rarely feel successful.  I've heard it said that an artist begins with a blank canvas and adds the elements required to create his vision.  A photographer on the other hand, begins with a full canvas, and must remove those elements that interfere with the vision he has for that moment of light.  To accomplish this, a strong understanding of composition is necessary along with a good sixth sense of what to look for.

The most effective compositions are the ones with a built in simplicity...not necessarily a lack of complexity...but where all the elements work toward telling and showing the story you want to convey.  It moves well beyond simply capturing what you see...to being able to see what you want to capture.  The two are rarely the same.  The former infers a mechanical process where the technical quality may indeed be good, but lacks for aesthetic quality.  The latter stretches the photographic potential into a realm where the subject becomes less important, and light takes on greater importance to where it defines the image.

Take some time to visualize those Wow photographs, or even better those Whoa photographs you've seen.  What makes them so incredible?  Think about that for a moment.  Why is it some images powerfully stir our imaginations...when the vast majority of photographs appear...well...ordinary?  If you truly begin to explore that idea, you will find that incredible photographs are created with the emphasis placed less on location (or equipment) and more on the photographer's ability to capture his vision.

Capturing vision becomes more instinctive the more you practice.  Never settle for the ordinary...always seek out the extraordinary.  Look for ways to capture the ordinary in extraordinary ways.  Think of the camera like it is a sculptor's tool...even the finest and sharpest chisel has limited usefulness until it is placed into the hands of a skilled artist.  It is the skill of the sculptor that counts, not the tools he uses.  The artist must understand the tool's ability to carry out his desires.

Most of all...always look for the extraordinary.

Keith

Photographing the Spring Bloom

One area I've struggled with over the years is to effectively photograph the annual Spring Bloom.  Seems I can manage other seasons more effectively...maybe it's because the Spring bloom only lasts a couple weeks and I just don't have time to get out enough.  Even so...there are a few things I've learned on how to enhance the potential to capture this wonderful transitional time of year.

One of the mistakes I believe many aspiring photographers make is when they attempt to capture the entire blooming tree without taking into account the environment in which it resides.  Spring blooms like anything else in photography lends itself well to the concept of Simplicity.  Our visual senses can often be overwhelmed by the magnificence of the beauty of let's say a large dogwood in bloom.  Our tendency is to want to capture the entire tree...when in reality what we need to do is focus in on the details of why that tree caught our attention.  Most of the time I rarely try to capture an entire blooming tree...what happens when we do that is we get caught with the old...can't see the forest for the trees...cliche.  The tree of itself may indeed be wonderful...but it's difficult to see why. One exception to that rule is when there is an opportunity to capture a series of trees where line, angle, form, and color all come into play.

One thing I try to keep in mind when I'm out photographing the Spring bloom is to always have something from the environment included in the image...or in other words to include something that gives the photograph a sense of place.  Because of that I will often neglect an otherwise gorgeous blooming tree simply because there is not anything near it or around it that I can include as an effective part of the background...or to place the tree in a location.  Almost anything will work, but there are a few things that work really well.

Let me give you an example.  One of the best backgrounds you can have with blooming dogwoods is an old fence row...split rail is best...but any kind of wooden or rustic looking fence row will add a tremendous amount of depth and personality to the image.  Old barns are also wonderful backdrops to include in your photographs.  Here in Kentucky we have an abundance of both...so I am lucky in that regard in that I do not have to look far and wide to find something that I like.

Having said that...it is good to keep in mind that the background is just that...something to add flavor to the overall composition...not to overwhelm it...that is unless that old barn really has a lot of character and then it becomes the main subject with the blooms becoming that added flash of color.  When I photograph the spring blooms I want the emphasis to be on the blooms...with the background adding a subtle sense of place and belonging to the blooms.

Another thing to keep in mind is the time of day.  The best time to capture the Spring Bloom is early on an overcast day.  Early, because the air is fresh and the blooms often will have some dew or moisture on them giving a more appealing appearance...overcast because that soft diffused light is best for capturing blooms and foliage of all types.  On bright sunny days you tend to have very harsh light with bright contrasts making the exposure difficult to get right.  When you encounter bright light...there are ways to use it to your advantage...I call it...Turn around and look the other way.

Blooms by nature are translucent and with a little back lighting and isolating the blooms against a dark background...you can get some wonderful images.  The key here is to isolate...use the light to your advantage...

Depending on the shot I am trying to capture, my choice of aperture is really critical.  In some instances I want to have as much of the scene in focus at the same time as I can...on other occasions I want to isolate a portion...so depth of field becomes a consideration.  For the first situation, I use a small aperture...something like f/16.  This will effectively keep the entire scene within the same focal plane.  On the second issue, I use a small to medium aperture...something like f/5.6 or lower if the exposure and lighting will allow for.  Also...the focal length of my lens is important as well...by zooming out to say something beyond 300 mm, I can more easily isolate and narrow the depth of field at the same time.

The Spring Bloom can be an exciting time for photographers...just being out and about during the transition from the cold winter to the warmer and sometimes stormy weather will often stimulate your creative senses.
Enjoy the moment...it does not last very long.

Keith

A Softer more Mysterious Side

 Before

After

Most of the time we photographers are obsessive about sharpness.  We like those images to be razor sharp...clear and bright...distinct and amazing.  Well...sometimes sharp isn't necessarily the best approach.  There is a post processing technique you can use that is very simple to do that will often turn an ordinary looking image into something extraordinary and can add an element of mystery to your photograph...It's called:  High Pass Softening.  Here are the steps I use in Photoshop Elements 6 to accomplish this.  The process may differ slightly depending on which version of Photoshop you may be using, but they should be pretty close to the same as this.

First of all open your photo in Elements.  Then create a Duplicate Background layer by clicking on the Layers drop down at the top and selecting Duplicate.

Next click on the Filter drop down and move your cursor down to Other then over and select High Pass.  When the High Pass window opens move the Slider to the right until the number reaches somewhere between 40 and 60.  Just how much you use depends on how much softening you want...experiment and see what works best for that particular image.  Then click OK.

Now on the right side of the page click the drop down list in the Layers Pallet...it will probably have Normal in the window...and then click on Overlay.

After clicking Overlay...press and hold the CNTL key and press I...for Inverse.  Your image should turn an indistinct blur.

From the Tools window on the left side of the screen select the Eraser tool and from the Brush drop down select a brush type that shows a soft edge.  Set the Opacity to about 60%...but you can use more or less if you want to...and set the brush tool size to something between 80 and 100 pixels...again you can use more or less.

Using the Eraser brush you can now paint over any portion of the image you want to sharpen or to return a portion of the softened image to a normal state...

Wah Lah!

Another Before

Another After

You now have an image that has been softened...but now has a mysterious look to it.