A VERY SPECIAL PLACE

Taylor's Peak, Humboldt County, 2012

I often saw this view from one of the facilities where I worked. Almost every time I went to the site, I was treated to a frequently changing view of the mountain. Sometimes it was wrapped in fog or brushed with clouds. Occasionally it was blanketed with snow, but always it emitted an aura of the sacred.

One time about fifteen years ago, I think the breeze whispered the true name of the mountain. That was about the time when protesters were attempting to stop the logging of the remaning old growth Douglas Firs on its and the surrounding hills slopes. This is near the headwaters of the north fork of the Mattole.

ALTERNATIVE REALITIES

Industrial Switching in a Make Believe World

I do not think that I shared this photo yet. It reminds me of the many safe places that I created in my youth. I created safe places so that I could escape into a place of my fantasies, and leave reality behind. I was often accused of being a day-dreamer, and I know now that I was indeed.

I was not given the tools that would have helped me make my way among my peers in school. I was not encouraged in sports, and did not know how to hold my own with other kids. I did figure out how to escape by imersing myself in books and in play.

This photograph is my creation. The scenery is not. This layout is part of a model train layout that others built. I was invited to create some compelling images of the layout, and this is one example.

This takes me back to when I was a boy of ten and as an adult in my twenties. I dreamed of railroading as a ten-year old and I became one when I was eighteen. 

LET THE SUNSHINE IN

Cool Meets Warm or Night Greets Dawn at Fernbridge, 2012

I suppose that this image may be interperted in any manner of ways. My immediate thought is that no matter what we say, think, or do, the light follows the dark in an endless cycle of life and balance.

RAA'S NEW YEAR'S EXHIBIT

Earth Meets Sky at Bear River Ridge, 2012

I was told that this image of mine received an honorable mention at the new exhibit. The RAA gallery is located at 603 F Street, Eureka. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday from noon until five. I hope you get a chance to see the exhibit. Arts Alive is Saturday, February 2nd.

OKLAHOMA FILM SCANS

Yukon's Best Flour, Yukon, Oklahoma 1995 from a 4 by 5 scanned negative.

I am a fan of Photographer David Plowden. My first exposure to his work was from his book A Time of Trains which is still one of my favorites. David photographs the industrial aspects of our country. I am not trying to emulate his work here, but certainly give him a nod of the hat.

A LITTLE SUNSHINE IN OUR LIVES

A Sunny Sunset in the Dead of Winter, 2013

I mostly go early in the morning to photograph in town. Yesterday evening, I decided to see if the lighting would help with some subjects that I have been working on for awhile. I usually exclude autos, but last night I had no choice. Nothing to write home about, but...

PERHAPS I AM GOING TOO FAR WITH THIS

Still Finding My Way With the Ghost Train, 1995/2013

One of the really fun things about the work that I do is that I am seeing my old photographs in a new light. Perhaps I am actually seeing them in ways that I could not understand back when I took them. I think I am taking some of my past vision and applying my compiled knowledge of an additional twenty years of maturity.

What ever it is, I am having a great time not only making these modifications, but in linking my past with my present. In some ways I am going back in time to when I took this image, and I am passing some knowledge to myself in a weird sort of time warp. If nothing else, I am not stuck in a single process or work flow.

TAKING NEGATIVITY A BIT FURTHER

Playing With the Ghost Train, 2013

I really had fun with this image last night. I love the "printing plate" look that this has. I did take a look at how it appeared as a positive, but it was too washed out in the lower left foreground from sun glare.

I felt compelled to print it, and I did. I think I like it.

SEEING THE POSITIVE OF THE NEGATIVE

A Negative View of a Retired Railcar, c. 1995

I took this photo with my four by five sometime around 1995 at the Western Railway Museum near Fairfield. I always enjoyed looking at my negatives, and this is the view that I had while I was making prints in my enlarger. I became adapt at making judgements as to how the image would look as a positive after the processing.

If you look closely you can see the black dot of the setting sun in the left edge of the photo.

WORKING WITH PEOPLE

Five Ladies Waiting Black and White, Arcata, 2012

I have several variations of this image, and I am trying to figure out which one has the most impact. On top of that, I want to know how each variation creates or fuels its unique impact. So for today, I will compare the color image with the black and white.

Waiting for the Solar Eclipse in Color, Arcata, 2012

Products of the Scanner

Safety First, Ely, Nevada, c. 1995

I am still scanning my collection of four-by-five negatives. This is one of them from a trip I made over highway 50 in 1995. 

MORE PRETENDING TO BE A STREET PHOTOGRAPHER

Star Struck, 2012

I like all the elements of this composition. That the subjects are  looking in other directions adds some tension. This photograph just begged to be black and white.