 
Launching
Well, here goes nothing. I know I've posted an image from this morning before, but I thought I'd toss up the horizontal version as well, just to make Steve mad. You see, we arrived at Convict Lake and did some scouting along the shore, finally picking our respective places. I set up and felt pretty happy with my FG rocks, while Steve was busy dropping his 6 stop filter into the drink. He's such a gentleman, that after shooting for awhile he offered to let me come over and use his comp. I declined his generous offer, feeling pretty good about where I was. I still don't think he likes me very much after discovering that he was shooting pebbles while I had BOULDERS.
I thought this was the most appropriate image to display for my next announcement. I'm dipping my toe in the landscape photography business. (Get it? There is a metaphor here... toe in the water; toe in the business. No? Hmmmm. I must have eaten paint chips as a kid) I'm almost embarrassed to do so when I look around and see the titans of talent here in the Northwest. I never expect to be able to compete with those guys/gals, but at least this gives me a little more of a reason to go out and shoot.
Phase 1 was to build and launch a website. Now go easy on me.... I'm NOT a computer whiz by any stretch. I know nothing about HTML, HZTM, HPOO or however you say it. I also gave myself a web budget of $0. This left me to learn as I go, and I built this site myself. If you have suggestions, please feel free to pass them along. If you have a Windows machine, and things get squirrely, I'd love to know what happened so I can try to correct it.
Last, and CERTAINLY not least, I would like to give a HUGE thanks to Ron Miller (http://www.flickr.com/photos/plastictubing/). Ron contacted me and offered to design my logo for me. This was exactly the push I needed to get me started on my site, and without him, I simply wouldn't have done it. He's a true gentleman, and a kind-hearted fellow. He asked for nothing in return, and was extremely gracious when I insisted that I at least mount up a print for him to say thanks.
Anyway, here it is. If you take the time to look through it, I thank you.
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Uploaded on Jan 4, 2010
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City on the River
Looked like a skyline to me. I lied to you. I apologize. I was able to sneak one more image into Flickr before the end of 2009. Sorry Adrian! This is as abstracty as I get so far! I'm working on it. :)
I trust that all my Contacts and Flickr Buddies are having a great holiday season. I'm going to be flying the all-nighter to Newark on New Years Eve. I'm pretty sure that is glamor defined.
Probably the last of my Steve Turner Cookie Tour images. It was a HECK of a lucrative trip for me, both in terms of cookies consumed and images that I am fond of. Hoping for a great year of shooting in 2010! Cheers! Happy New Year!!
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Uploaded on Dec 30, 2009
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Merry New Year
My schedule for the next few weeks is as follows: 4 on, 1 off, 6 on, 1 off, 6 on. That might not sound too bad, but that includes 3 all-nighters and a boat load of jet lag. Too be honest, I'm not sure how its legal but..... The point of that story, is that I'm 95% sure this will be my last image post until sometime in January, so I have a few thoughts to write down. As always, if my writing bores you, feel free to skip along.
I'm not going to include any amusing antics by Kevin (who fell walking up here, doing a half gainer to save his camera. Impressive, actually) or Steve (whose tripod-setting-up activities prompted some poor Japanese guy to say "I'm feeling the pressure", pack up his 4x5 gear and walk away. Oh.... actually that was me. I still feel badly about that one. I did ask before I set my tripod up about 4 feet away and he said no problem. I guess my "enthusiasm" for being there wasn't quite as infectious as I thought.) P.S. TOTALLY different guy than the one in my last post... This fellow was very kind, interesting, and gentle. I wish I could have talked to him longer, but he CLEARLY wasn't impressed by me)
This leads me to a reflection. I was just reading a post by my friend Alvin (OhYo) who said that he was bothered by being so focused on photography in Glacier that he forgot to enjoy the natural beauty. I ran into the opposite problem here in The Subway. I was so smitten with actually being there that I totally forgot to do anything photographically. Looking at my images now, I see so many things I should have capitalized on. Hopefully I will go back someday and do something more than just "be there".
As 2009 wraps up, I look back at my first year of shooting pictures with so much happiness in my heart, a large part of which is due to my Flickr buddies. I'm always overwhelmed at the quality of the people that I've met here on Flickr, both in person and via keyboard. I've made some incredible new friendships, and learned a lot; both about photography and myself. I've been re-introduced to the beauty of being outdoors and being able to translate breathtaking vistas onto a medium that I can share, often having to put forth considerable effort to do so.
It's been a great year, my friends, and I really hope that all my Flickr contacts have a tremendous holiday season. You just enjoy your warm holiday cheer with kith and kin; I'll be flying the all-nighter to Newark.
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Uploaded on Dec 18, 2009
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Punchbowl Falls
I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to fight in a National Park....
If you've seen Adrian Klein's gorgeous image of these incredible terraced falls then you've read about "the incident". I've never come this close to punching a photographer as I did here. We arrived at this location to find several shooters already working this scene. After patiently waiting 20 minutes for everyone to get whatever shots they needed, the last guy packed up his 4x5 camera and stepped to the side to warm up his hands and give us an opportunity to shoot. We had a nice enough chat, though his English wasn't terribly good.
I walked up to the scene with Steve, Kevin and Adrian trying to find a comp that I found pleasing. I got squared away, set up my camera, focused, and fired off my first frame. I took a look on the LCD, didn't like what I saw, and moved a little bit, making sure not to get in anyone's way. Focus, fire, and...... that's when I noticed that our "friend' was moving his 4x5 camera back into the scene on the middle terrace above us. I got 2 frames before he decided that the 4 of us weren't important enough to wait for. I literally had to bite my tongue, because I knew if I opened my mouth I would absolutely go OFF. I simply had never seen an example of rudeness on that level. It was down to "I'm going to go punch this dude in the jugular, or I'm going to have to come up with a different strategy".
My diabolical plan was perfect. I would wait for him to lug his 4x5 camera up into the Subway, let him set up and start to expose (expensive film, by the way), and then I would set up my tripod RIGHT in front of his camera and shoot away. It was perfect. Except he never came to the Subway. Sigh.
Anyway, I literally only got one frame of this incredible place that I kept, which is a shame, because the possibilities here were endless. I'm working on my anger issues. :)
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Uploaded on Dec 15, 2009
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Where's Steve?
Let's play a game, shall we? See if you can find Steve in this image. He's tough to spot because he is bending down looking in his bag. Now why wouldn't he be shooting this most incredible sunset I've ever witnessed? Well, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Steve is essentially colorblind. Now how he gets such incredible freaking shots with this small handicap, I'll never know. My admiration, however, doesn't quite overcome my desire to amuse myself at his expense. I find it great fun to point out a totally dull, colorless sky and say "Oh MAN... that is just RIPPING with pink!!!!", and then watch him scramble like made to pull our his gear and shoot away frantically at the grey overcast. On the other hand, on a night like this one Steve will proclaim "WOW! Look at those clouds! I bet the sky is going off!!". To which I'll reply, "Yeah, the clouds are pretty cool, but there is just no color. I can't believe it! I thought it was going to be a perfect sunset". Then I'll just blaze through images with my camera while Steve packs up his gear.
Ok.... that's not QUITE true, but I do have my moments of devious behavior. Don't feel too sorry for him though, I get paid back plenty in our little group.
I was working my Bristlecone tree while this sky started literally exploding, but I just couldn't get the scene to work. It was too much, too busy, too distracting with this tree jutting up into the sunset. I finally just gave up and scrambled down to find another comp that wouldn't overwhelm the obvious star of the show, Steve. I mean, that sky.
I'm a totally lame Flickr friend, I know. I'm trying to get back in the saddle, but i'm finding it incredibly hard to find time to enjoy all your images. Hopefully I can dig in and get to them over the next few days, although I'm going to try to get out and shoot this week because I got my camera back!! Canon said there was "Major water damage". Oops.
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Uploaded on Dec 9, 2009
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149 comments
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