Kentucky Sky - Kentucky Morning Series

I've lived in a lot of different places and one thing that I have discovered is they all have their own unique photographic potential.  Of all the places I have lived, Kentucky offers some of the most diverse photographic opportunities that I have seen.  Of all of those, the Kentucky Sky and Kentucky Morning's are the most amazing...and the two often compliment each other.  As a result I've started a new series that I would like to introduce to you.  Simply enough it is called Kentucky Sky - Kentucky Morning and they are a series of some of the most spectacular sky and morning shots I've been able to capture from this amazing land called Kentucky.  I am offering them as individual prints ($99.00 plus shipping) mounted on foam core.

Check them out...I think you will like them.

p.s.  I'm also working on a series of Oklahoma's Tallgrass Prairie images...but they will come later.

My Photography Bucket List

Sometimes I'll thumb through various photography magazines and see all sorts of interesting things I wish I could either purchase or places I wish I could visit.  Unfortunately, being able to do those things will probably not happen...not in the next four years anyway with college tuition to pay for.

Even so, I tend to file away those thoughts and wishes in my photography 'to do' bucket for another day hoping that when the time is right, I will be able to remove a few of them and actually turn them into a reality.  What I'm afraid will happen is that the bucket will actually get so full, I'll get tired of carrying it around and end up dumping the entire contents in the rubbish bin never to be retrieved or thought of again.  Before that happens, here is a short list of the most wanted from that list that I still hope to turn into a reality someday.

1.  To photograph all four seasons on Oklahoma's Tallgrass Prairie.  My desire here is not to just photograph it, but to document it in such a way as to create a video presentation that tells the saga of the Tallgrass Prairie in such a way as to stir the imaginations of those who see it.  I want to backpack from one end to the other during all kinds of weather conditions and experience it at those most important moments of light...and there are some amazing moments of light on the prairie.  This also includes flying over the prairie in a light airplane at dawn and/or dusk to capture that first and last prairie-light of the day from the unique elevated perspective.

2.  To purchase a high quality HD video camera.  I'm not talking about one of those palm size cameras found at department stores...I'm talking about the next level or two above that...something like a Sony HVR-A1 or V1 series of video cameras.  My intent here is to take my photography to another level and step into the realm of cinematography and capture places like the Tallgrass Prairie using the combination of still images and video.

3.  To upgrade to a new SLR...open to all possibilities on this one...but with my Sony background I'm looking at one of the A900 series of cameras...24 megapixels...full frame sensor.  My venerable A100 has served me well...way beyond what a camera like that should have been able to accomplish...but it is rapidly reaching its limits of capabilities with what I am wanting to accomplish.

4.  I could sure use a high quality wide angle lens...something in the 14mm range...again open to all possibilities on this.  The one I have is barely adequate...yet does a pretty good job...It is just time to upgrade to a better level.

5.  Number five is a long shot...but I keep dreaming about doing this someday.  To pack my camera gear, canoeing and camping gear (along with some hiking and fishing gear) and spend  summer into early fall exploring and photographing the American West.  Nuff said...it pretty well explains itself.

So there you have it, my short bucket list of things I'd like to do before I get too old to do them...I've still got a few years left before that happens...but, time is an easily lost commodity.

Keith

Photographing Changing Light

Here in Kentucky, the back roads tend to loop around in a seemingly chaotic chorus of twists and turns.  On numerous occasions, I've found my self well maybe not lost...just turned around and confused as to where I really was at the moment.  Drive around long enough and those looping roads will probably reconnect to a more familiar main road someplace.

On one such recent adventure that happened again...only this time it turned out to be a good thing.  The last few weeks a lot of foggy mornings had tempted me to an early rise and to head out to find a great photographic moment.  What I wanted was a high vantage point...but someplace I had not tried before...or at least recently.

Last Saturday morning I headed over toward Shanty Hollow Lake...a favorite canoeing place of mine...hoping to take advantage of the higher vantage points along the old highway 185.  Well, to get there I must navigate a series of lesser roads...roads I've traveled several times and know pretty well.  But, on this morning the fog was a bit thicker than usual and when I came upon a fork in the road where I normally take the left fork...I completely missed it and went right instead.

I drove about a half mile before I realized my mistake...by then I just decided to keep on going and see what I could find.  A few miles later I drove past a nice looking large pond that appeared rather ghostly out of the fog.  I turned around and parked on the back side of it down another side road and gathered my camera gear.

The sun was a good 30 minutes yet from rising, but with the subdued light and misty conditions the photographic value of the moment was very high.  I spent the next 45 minutes shooting as the light seemed to change every couple or so.  It went from gray to blue to lavender to golden and back to gray.  The only filter used was a graduated neutral density filter to blend the sky with the water reflections.

Before I pulled out that morning shoot turned out to be one of the best of the summer and a prime example of how light can rapidly change...and all because of a wrong turn.

Here's a link to see more of the mornings shoot:
http://www.sunnysixteen.org/gallery3/index.php/Keith_Bridgman/Kentucky-Summer---2