-
Random Photos
Category Archives: Photography
Ruby Sunset
Sunset from Ruby Beach
We spent a few days last week shooting in Washington’s Temperate Rainforests and as you can see, spent time on the beach. We had been planning this trip for a couple months, hadn’t been to the Washington coast in many years and I wanted to get out of the mountains and spend some time in a place that knows what rain is. Since we spent time in my old home, the Smoky Mountains, earlier this year – we opted for the west coast.
We only had a few days and couldn’t come close to spending time everywhere on my shoot list – rather it was a quick whirlwind trip to reacquaint myself with the area and ultimately so we can make notes and plan an extended trip next spring. It really was a whirlwind tour though – we visited Neah Bay, Cape Flattery (most NW point in the 48 states), Ruby and Rialto Beaches (my two favs), Hoh and Quinault Rainforest and stayed on the beach at Kalaloch Lodge. We almost spent a night at the Quinault Lodge in the rainforest, but I’m glad we didn’t, they were hosting a photography workshop – that would have been annoying. The trip was 99% work and I was so amazingly tired after getting back – but it was nice to be in the land of humidity and more importantly, fresh clam chowder. We’ve got our notes and an extended trip to Washington Coast will absolutely be on the calendar next year.
I will be posting a few photos from the trip here on my photoblog, and in the near future there will be section from this trip on my print gallery.
Also posted in PhotoBlog
Comments Off
Missed Opportunities
I hate it when a print order comes through for a photo I almost didn’t take. No, don’t get me wrong, I love my customers and appreciate every sale. But imagine for a minute. You’re backpacking, 10 miles into a 14 mile day… you see something kinda cool, but don’t take the time to stop, pull out the camera and take the shot. Some stuff you see and you have to take the shot, but in this case, it’s borderline. You’re in ‘go’ mode and just want to get to camp, get the pack off and eat something warm. For the next 300 yards you wish you had stopped, but soon it’s out of mind.
Imagine you’re driving on a dirt road hours from anywhere trying to get to a location for sunset and see something kinda cool. You don’t stop. For the next half mile you play a round robin in your head on whether or not you should have stopped. Sometimes you turn around and get it, sometimes you keep moving.
I live in Idaho – I’m outdoors or traveling in really cool places literally all the time, there’s no way I can shoot every shot I see. This happens to me almost daily. There are so many images in my head that I thought “cool” and kept walking, driving, biking… Thankfully I also have a bunch where I did stop, turn around and get it. What really messes with my head is when, like this week, a print order comes through for a photo I almost didn’t take. I’m happy to sell it, but then my mind flashes back to all the photos that I could have taken in the last few weeks, months or even years. I think about those photos and the walls they could have been displayed on, and yes, a part of me thinks about the sales… sigh.
This one? I wasn’t even driving for it, had to debate whether it was worth asking the driver to turn around. I do love it though and know that it’ll look great on your wall, but I almost didn’t take it. almost.
Also posted in Random Thoughts
Comments Off
Project: Thus Untitled…
I have a new project that I’m about to start. I’m not going to title it yet – as with many of my photo projects, the scope is evolving as I start scheduling and putting plans on paper.
Over the next couple months I need to assemble quite a cast for a photo project in Boise, about Boise. The project focuses on artists, it makes an attempt to showcase them and their work in an interesting perspective. I won’t go into all the details until I have a few of the shots completed and have a better vision of where this road leads, but I’m sure it’s going to be great. We’ll starting shooting the second week of October with people I’ve already contacted and scheduled- I’m starting with the easier locations and saving really tough ones for late in the project, once me and the project has some momentum. If you’re at least mildly interested in being a part of this project, send me an email, I’ll give you more of the details about the theme and the locations.
Here is list of a few of the folks I’m still looking to work with for this project.
- Musicians
I already have a several signed up, but could use a few more, so regardless of the instrument(s) you play – send me a note. Especially looking for violinist, bassist and a small band. Near the end of the project I’ll be looking for a pianist but that will be the culminating piece of the project — And, quite a challenge – not sure I can pull off the location I want – need to work the phones and cash in a few favors
- Painter
Have a couple on the maybe list – wouldn’t mind talking with one or two more. - Potter/sculptor
One of the more difficult shots. - Dancer
Really looking for a ballet or otherwise classically trained dancer. But if you’re a modern/contemporary dancer, feel free to contact me. - B-Boy
Need a master of handstands - Shakespearean Actor
This will be one of the later shots in the project. - Mime(s)
Should have this one covered already. - Martial Arts
May have this one covered already – but feel free to contact me - Any creative/artistic person/small group
I’m open to ideas. If you or your group is of the creative/artistic type and do something that isn’t in this list, let me know, I may already have enough interest in that area that I didn’t list it or I may have totally missed it. Speak up, we’ll see if you fit with the scope of the project.
As you can see, this isn’t a small project. I’ll post more details here in the future but in the mean time — if you fit in one of these categories, please contact me. If you know someone who does, pass this along.
Lookout!
Basin Butte Lookout
Have I mentioned how much I love shooting the night sky? Well, I do. One of the projects I’m working on right now involves shooting a lot at night and in some very remote locations, like this lookout. I had just about decided not to post this shot, to save it for possible inclusion in the project, but consider it a teaser shot.
Oh, and I’m supposed to give my dad photo assistant credit as he was with me for this shot and says he never gets any of the credit. So I credit thee, dad, with:
1) Location Safety Advisor – for holding the flashlight and telling me how close I was to stepping off the cliff. (pretty close)
2) Logistics – You were nice enough to drive.
3) Security – While we didn’t have any bears, mountain lions or ticked off mountain goats breach the location perimeter, I’m sure you would have handled it. Plus having a second person helps prevent big foot sightings.
4) Lighting Grip – You held a flash for me.
4) Entertainment – Lets face it, after watching the camera blink for the first 20 minutes of shooting, it gets kinda boring…
Also posted in PhotoBlog
Comments Off
Looking back…
Elk Cow and Calf in the Idaho Wilderness
The year is almost over. It’s not though. I love Christmas and usually do a fair amount of shooting in december, but around thanksgiving I start thinking about next year…. Becasue this year is almost over. Though it’s not over yet. Almost. Not quite. Will be shortly.
I’ve been looking at random photos in my “2009″ folder, as I look back through the year I’m happy to say I was able to do a lot of things I wanted to do, go places, shoot things. I’m happy to say that overall, my photos have gotten better. But it seems my todo list left for next year is longer rather than shorter. Next year, I believe, if I take off the months of February, April, May, July, August, September and October… I may be able to shoot everything on my list, but something tells me that isn’t going to happen. Prioritization is in order. There are things, projects, that I want to try, new places I want to go, techniques that need tried and honed. It’s rather exciting really…
We’ve got a trip to Salmon at Christmas to see the family. Salmon is one of the most beautiful places in the world, so the camera is always handy, it’ll be a great no pressure photo trip and with that, 2009 will be over, done.
I’ve yet to plan anything major for 2010. Aside from a workshop myself and two friends, Johnny and David are organizing on January 16th, but beyond that it’s a blank page.
Speaking of blank pages, I am going to re-examine my website… I’m asking it to do so much, that I end up not doing enough with it. I hope to roll out some structure changes around the first of the year that will make it easier for me to share my work as well as my tech and personal content without doing three separate websites. I’m constantly getting email and face to face comments (or even by proxy) about the photos I choose to post here and I realize I need to post more. So many of my photos I want to post just sit on my hard drive waiting for a blog post I can associate with them. I cant guarantee anything, but I’m gonna try my best to post the photos and let them speak for themselves without thinking I’ve got to comment everything. Though, google sure prefers I write about them 
Follow Me
