One More From This Morning

Sunrise on the Marsh

Foggy Sunrise at the Arcata Marsh

A Very Simple Composition

I took this photograph this morning. This was taken about ten minutes before sunrise. When I left the house  this morning I was expecting clear skies - duh! The good news is that it only took me about a minute to adjust to the conditions, and soon I embraced the subdued qualities of light. I am trying to decide if I should print this one.

Joe's Ford Pickup

Joe's Ford Pick-Up At The Arcata Marsh This Past January

I keep coming back to this image. I worked on it numerous times, and have never felt that I got the feeling that I was looking for. I think at last that I have what I visualized when I saw this truck. It turns out that the truck's owner was on the other side of the pond watching me with his super telephoto lens as I photograph his truck. So this is for you Joe!

Thanksgiving With the Grandkids

Kevin Bethune

John Bethune

I think these are a couple of pretty good portraits. Of course these guys make it look easy.

The Value of Fine Art in One's Life

A  Study in Black and White, by Daniel Bethune

Yesterday, I took down the little show that Dan and I had at the RAA Gallery. The painting above is now hanging in my living room. This painting shows so much better on our wall than it did in the gallery. I am sure that the lighting I have here helps in the viewing of the work.

When I think of art, I usually think of my own photography. I mostly consider the individual pieces as they relate within a body of work. My vision is often one that incorporates the overall look or the theme of a body of work. What I see now, is that a single work of art - this painting - stands very well on it own. I do not intend to take away from the artistic value of my photography, but there is nothing more visually stunning to me as a nice painting like this one.

Spirit Tree Series Revisited

Spirit Tree Series Number Ten, November 2011

Spirit Tree Series Number Five, 2009.

I recently had an opportunity to revisit this image in Lightroom. I was considering making another print. The problem I faced was that when I first worked and printed this image it was with Photoshop Elements. I have not used that program for almost three years. I imported it into Lightroom, and could not resist working on it further. What I found was that my skills in the digital darkroom had greatly improved. Fortunately, I shot all of this series in raw, and was able to start all over again. I am very pleased in the new interpretation of this image. This tree now reveals the essence and the glow that attracted my eye over the years that I traveled through Prairie Creek State Park.

Older Photos Revisited

Prairie Creek, The Prairie

This one is from 2009. Back then I printed it full-frame. I like this crop, and I think it more closely resembles my original intention.

Thinking In Color

The Same Image in Both Color and in Black and White

THINKING IN COLOR, BLACK AND WHITE AND IN INK JET COLOR

One common thought on photography is that the photographer should previsualize the final print while taking the photograph. Back in the days when I shot mostly black and white film I eventually got to the point where I did "see" the final print as I was looking through the viewfinder or on the ground glass. I grew in my photography to the point where the individual acts of photography (photographing, developing, and printing) were all part of a greater whole wherein I saw the ultimate product prior to its actual emergence as a finished print.

It was sort of like "remembering" what the print looks like prior to snapping the shutter. There came a moment or a flash of insight, where I knew that I was in the flow - that the image I was seeing was what I came to create. I knew too, whether the image called for color or black and white. I often worked in that state up until the day that I dismantled the darkroom, and took a break from my art.

When I started to photograph again in earnest about six years ago, it was in digital, and mostly in color. It took me awhile to learn the medium, and the differences between it and color slide and black and white film. The first couple of years I mostly worked in color. Then over the course of the last year, I again started working in black and white. 

I started making black and white conversions, but I seldom took the image while thinking black and white. Sometime in the past few months, I slipped back into previsualizing the final print. I started to notice that I was looking at form and tone as much as I was at color and hue. 

Nowadays, while I photograph I develop a sense of what the final print should look like - black and white, inkjet color, glossy or matte. It was just recently that I understood that the color imagery that I sought to produce for years is now part of my repertoire. I sometimes previsualize matte paper prints with their subdued saturation and with soft hues.

The bottom line to all of this is that I feel directly and strongly connected to the entire process of creating my art. I am at a place in my development where I create images. I do sometimes "luck" into a nice composition, but mostly I am present with the subject matter throughout the entire process. 

At times while I am photographing, and occasionally while I am printing, I feel as connected as I have at any time when I sat and meditated, or at any other time when I attempted to come to an understanding as to what life is all about. This is my Bliss.

A Foggy Morning In Eureka

Carter House Inns 

When I decided to go photographing this morning it was clear at home. I drove down the hill and into thick fog. I decided to go for it anyhow. I took more images of the Carter House, and decided to take some of this place. I also took some shots of the Carson Mansion and the Pink Lady. In thirty years of living here I don't recall photographing these. I may post more later after I make some firewood.

Help Me Decide: Color or Black and White?

Five Handles, Color

Five Handles, Black and White

I would appreciate some feedback. I do realize that not everyone is into industrial imagery, but I think this is not a bad study in early twentieth century technology.

The Evolution of The Carter House Photograph

The Carter House Revised in Photoshop and in Lightroom

I was commissioned to photograph the house. This has been a nice learning experience for me. I seldom take specific photographs at the direction of others, but that is what I did here. The main challenge with this photograph was to get even lighting on the building without having washed out gray sky. I figured out how to add the blue sky using layers in Photoshop.

I realize that a project like this could go on forever. I could go back time-after-time and take photographs in various lighting conditions. I could also incorporate HDR techniques to balance the subject with the sky. HDR could also be used to balance the contrast of front/side early morning light. By doing so the effects of the shadows could be lessened.

Overall, I think this image is successful. It will be fun to do a few follow-up sessions in the morning light with this building and others. I think I need to photograph the Carson Mansion. I never have taken photographs of it, and now I think it will be fun.

The Carter House

The Carter House, photographed today.