Am I a Photographer?

I've asked myself this fairly often.  Especially in the last few weeks.

No, I'm probably not.  Not in the traditional sense anyway.

I have not gone to photography school.  I've had no formal training.  No tutelage under an experienced photographer.

What I am is someone that enjoys taking pictures of things he cares about.  And right now that thing is a dog named Rain.

 

  

P. S.  This probably won't be seen by many people, but if, by chance, you have a dog that you'd like pictures of, feel free to let me know.

Rain, snow, and Utah Lake

My first time seeing the snow was in 2002, when I first came to Utah (it's hard to believe I've been here for so long).  I loved it.  A few years later, not so much.  It was nice to look at, but not much else.  Now I like the snow again.  Along with other things...thanks to Rain.

Dogs are pretty good at reminding you to appreciate the small things in life.

Today we went down to Utah Lake to try and catch the sunset.  The light was quite beautiful, but unfortunately we got there a little late due to a construction detour.  Perhaps I'll try again tomorrow.

Rain's First Home

I haven't done a whole lot of landscape shooting these past two weekends.  Things have been a bit busy and the weather hasn't been ideal for my type of shooting.  I did however go to Rain's first home and shoot a lot of dog pictures with her mom and dad.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of that.

Also I had the awesome opportunity to meet up with a dear friend and one of my most influential and favorite photographers--the ridiculously talented Tim Coulson.  I'll explain why more in a later post, but for now just enjoy his site and images.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

And here are the dog pictures from the last two weeks.

 

 

Can't Shoot Them All

The location I chose this weekend ended up not yielding any sort of result that I was satisfied with.  It was a dull cloudless sky with a lot of haze that made landscape shots a bit hard to do.  But it happens.  Can't control the weather.  So what did I do?  Take pictures of Rain of course.

This was taken last week.  I originally did not want to post this, but I just really loved those clouds.  And I had nothing else to post this weekend.  This was a two shot panorama.

2012...I Hate to Say Goodbye

 I started the last day of 2012 never intending to write down any sort of end-of-year reflection.  However, as 2013 inched closer, I felt more inclined to at least document a little something.

This past year I have had ample time to reflect on the position I am in.  Financially, I'm in a place that scares me a little, but it has been slowly improving as of late.  Emotionally I feel that I've grown stronger and more resilient.  My outlook on life has been brighter.  I like to think that I smile a little more, dream a little bigger, laugh a little louder.  I believe that Rain and photography had a large part to do with that.

To be honest, I am not entirely sure if it is the actual act of photography that I am so enamored with.  I suppose it is a combination of several things, the smallest of which may actually be photography itself.

I absolutely enjoy taking shots of things I find beautiful.  Most of the time they are sunsets and mountains and clouds.  Occasionally they will be emotions.  Rain has been my subject countless times as well.

Seeing those moments captured by what seems to be my vision, my eye, creates a feeling of satisfaction that is quite addictive.  But that really isn't all there is.

No, photography has become more than trying to capture a beautiful image for me.  It has become an outlet and an inlet.  An outlet to forget the day to day mundaneness and lose myself in the small and large overlooked wonders of the world around me.  An inlet to discover and rely on the child inside me and foster the creativity that I believe I once had.

It's taken me 28 years to learn how to trust in that child.  Actually I take that back.  28 years to START learning how to trust in that child.

Photography has also become a much valued time that I spend with Rain.  She irritates me sometimes.  Wandering off to find some deer poop to munch on.  Crying when I tie her up so that she doesn't wander off to find some deer poop to munch on.  Rushing off whenever other people or dogs come close.  Half the time is spent taking pictures, the other half is making sure Rain isn't off doing something mischievous.

But I think she enjoys coming along.  She makes it so much more fun.  She's funny too.  Munching on deer poop.  Lol.  And when I catch her, she's like a deer in headlights.  Could I get better shots if she weren't there?  Probably.  But it's hard to say that I would be out there if she weren't.  I like to think that my photography has been improving because of her, not despite her.

I just read over what I wrote, and I guess I didn't really document much of anything.  Just rambled on a little about how I felt about my dog and taking pictures.  But that really was my 2012.

Rain.  Photography.  And how they have changed my life.

It was a good year.

See you in 2013.

A Short Vid of Rain

The pictures I post of Rain usually show her sitting calmly contemplating dog life.  Here is a short vid I took today when we went out to shoot that shows how she is 90% of the time.

She is still quite the puppy.

So far 12 people have entered the drawing for the two free prints.  I'm hoping to get at least 20 before the deadline so if you haven't commented here, and would like to be entered please do so by January 10th.

And here is a 4 shot pano of Utah Lake taken two weeks ago.  I just got around to putting it together and then I decided to split it into a triptych.

Merry Christmas!

Not to sound like a Grinch, but the magical feeling of Christmas seems to have diminished year after year.  Is anyone else feeling this?  Perhaps I am just getting older.  Or maybe because it has been a while since I spent Christmas back home.

Rain and photography has helped to fill that void though, and for that I am thankful.  And Christmas will never really lose its magic.  Not as long as there is a copy of Home Alone to be found.

A few things:
1) I have started a facebook page.  Here is the link.
2) I have decided that I will focus more on landscape type photos.  I still have much interest in portraiture, and will continue to try and develop that skill (and post about it as the opportunities arise), but I think landscape photos fit Rain and I better.
3) I gave away my first camera to the two boys of the family that I got Rain from.  Rain got me into photography.  Now I'm giving photography to them.  Full circle.  Or so I like to think.


Here are some shots from Christmas weekend:

Lindon Harbor.

Utah Lake.  This was a really cool sight.  I'm guessing the lake froze over several times and each time the current would push a layer of ice against the rocks.

Also Utah Lake.  I went back the following day to see if there would be a cool sunset.  There was.  By this time though, the ice had started to melt.

  
I have started to use a two capture process more in my pictures now.  With the dynamic range of my camera, it is hard to adequately capture details in the sky and the ground because the contrast is usually pretty large in sunset shots.  I've also started to add a signature in my pics as well.  I forgot to for the middle one, and am too lazy to do it right now.

And here are a few shots of Rain:

I was able to get this shot because she was intently following a plane as it slowly made its way across the sky.  Otherwise she would have been whining, or exploring, or trying to make her way back to me.

That camera there belonged to my dad.  It could be older than I am.  No idea how to use it.  Neither does Rain.

Rain and I on a Christmas morning hike starting at 6:30 AM.  No, it's not a tradition.  Nor will it likely become one.

Stay Just A Little Longer

I work the evening shift Monday through Friday, so almost all my photography is done on the weekends.  I try to make it a point to go shooting every Sunday whether I feel like it or not.  Fortunately, most times I feel like it.

This Sunday I did not.

I often rent a wide angle lens because the majority of what I do is landscape photos and that wide angle lends a sense of drama to landscape shots.  The 35mm and 50mm that I own are too narrow for my taste, especially on the crop sensor of the D7000.  The local camera store near my house has a 12-24mm that I will try to rent each Saturday after 1:00 pm because then I can get it half off.  I stopped by on Saturday at 2:30.  The rental book showed that someone had already rented the lens...for half off.  Someone had beat me by less than two hours.  I tried not to be bummed out about it, convincing myself that it was going to be a lousy weekend to shoot landscapes anyway because the clouds for the most part had been the flat, boring kind that just make you want to sleep in on cold winter mornings.

But Sunday came, and I convinced myself to go shooting again.  Actually, it was probably more Rain that did the convincing.  The weekends are when I get to spend the bulk of my time with her outside.  So I thought that since I'm going to be outside anyway, I might as well bring my camera along.  After tiring Rain out a little at the park, we headed down to the nearby lake to see if there was anything interesting to shoot.  I didn't have my hopes up because the clouds still were the same clouds from Saturday.  We walked around the park for a bit, Rain sniffing every rock she came across, and me looking around for promising shots (and scolding Rain for always pulling on the leash).  After trying several shots, I settled on staying for the sunset and doing long exposure shots of the water and the mountain range.

About 10 shots in, I was ready to call it quits.  I had already spent well over an hour at the lake.  The clouds weren't budging, it was getting colder, and Rain kept on whining because I had tied her leash to a nearby post.  But as I put away my tri-pod, I looked across the mountain range at the slight orange glow that was just fighting to get through the clouds.  It took me moment, but I decided that I should wait a couple more minutes to see if anything would happen.

Rain hates being tied up.

And I'm sure glad I did.  The sunset was absolutely beautiful.  The clouds started to open up a little, and the clouds closest to me started to light up a bright yellowish orange color while the clouds behind them caught a bluish purple hue.  The edges of the mountains glowed a bright orange, but what was most amazing was the water.  The lake had turned into a rippling, golden-orange, beautiful mess that really looked like something out of a dream.

It lasted maybe 8 minutes at the most.  Just a fleeting moment, but it was a sunset that I'll remember for a while.

I'm glad I decided to stick it out just a little bit longer.  It made all the difference.

This was a two exposure shot.  The sky was around 1/10 of a second while the water was captured using a ND filter and setting the shutter speed at 20-25 seconds.  I had to boost the colors in post because the RAW files always come out dull.  Even then, I think the colors of the actual sunset were even more vibrant than this image.

 

What The Film

Took my first shot at pinhole photography this past weekend.  I took about 20 exposures before getting to the end of a 24 exposure roll.  Out of those, only 4 were able to be developed.  A few things I learned:

1) Never open the camera to check if the film is in place before you've finished the roll.

2) Never turn the Advance knob in the opposite direction.  If you do, don't open the camera to check if the film is in place before you've finished the roll.

3) Always bring extra rolls...just in case you open the camera to check if the film is in place before you've finished the roll.

It will take some time to get used to shooting pictures like this.  The biggest difference is not having the luxury of immediate feedback via digital playback.  I found myself greatly missing my DSLR...especially when the sunset started to explode in colors after I had finished my only roll.  The photographer 50 yards down shore was recording it all with his massive lens, while I basically had a cereal box attached to a tripod.

At least the Holga was a bit easier to use.  All the square format images were taken using the Holga.

The obligatory shot of Rain.

There it is.  The cereal box.

One of the four pinhole shots that came out.  I think the exposure was probably around 15 seconds.  I didn't do a good job of documenting...too busy trying to keep Rain from running into the water.