The strangest places...

If you keep your eyes open to your surroundings you will find photo opportunities in the strangest of places. I was driving home when I passed the Veterans War Memorial. The weather was wet and rainy. With the overcast conditions and the ground so wet, the colors of the flowers were extremely saturated and bright. I would never have thought to take pictures in a cemetery. But in this case I had to explore some of the images, while being respectful of the grounds. Sometimes it's just about color.

Black and white in color...

With this image I wanted to stay somewhat abstract while still communicating the idea of the subject. What I particularly like is the slight anomaly in the upper right corner. The two zebras were very cooperative on this day. They stood right next to the fence and let myself and another photographer shoot for nearly 30 minutes. As I have written before, the zoo is a great place to practice ideas and techniques in a relatively controlled environment.

You just never know...

Sometimes all of the thought and planning in the world won't lead to successful images. However, I find that if I just remain present in the moment and aware of all things going on around me, images will work themselves out of the scene. In fact, I am discovering that this is what really attracts me to photography. When I am out shooting I tend to become very focused on the immediate moment. I was standing under this street lamp during a workshop with Michael Long and I heard an aircraft overhead. As always, I tend to glance up in the air when I hear aircraft. I realized that if I could be ready in about two seconds I might be able to grab this shot as the aircraft passed over the globe. And here it is.

Do what works...

Now this is my idea of an environmental portrait. While some might think that photographing captive animals is a cop-out, as long as you are not representing the image as otherwise, no harm no foul. I love to shoot at the zoo. The opportunities to practice technique, work on composition, and experiment with different design ideas are endless. The crowned cranes are a particular favorite of mine. The pair always seems curious and intrigued by what is taking place around them, sort of like me!

The perfect time for photography...

I was sitting under the shade of a tree. The Sun was straight up in the sky. The light and shadows were harsh and contrasty. This is a time of day when I would normally put my camera away. But I was feeling creative and wanted to do some shooting. Then I remembered a quote from Michael Gilbert, "The best light for shooting is the light you are in" (not sure if he is the original). So I realized that in harsh and contrasty light you should be looking for a subject that looks good when harsh and contrasty. Duh! I simply glanced above me at this tree, exposed for the highlights, and captured a workable image. The important thing is that this got my vision in motion for that afternoon. I continued shooting for another couple of hours and just had a great time. The lesson I learned that day is that anytime is the right time to be shooting. While the right light and the moment are critical for a given image to work, the trick is to find the right image for the light and moment you are experiencing.

Here is another image from that afternoon:

If you would like to see...

...some of Michael Long's work you can visit his website here: http://www.michaellongart.com/

Another exercise in creativity...

I learned this approcach to improving one's vision from Michael Long. Just as an athlete or musician "warms up" before a performance, it is important for the photographer to do the same. A great way to supercharge your vision and get the creativity flowing is to cover up your viewfinder, turn off the LCD display if shooting digital, and go take pictures for an hour without holding the camera to your eye. The idea is to not worry about the results! Who cares what the depth of field is or whether the exposure is correct? Let your eyes, not your viewfinder, connect you with the environment. You can certainly guess at a starting exposure and focus, but don't obsess over it. You may find this very difficult at first. Some people just can't do it. If this is you, then this exercise is critical. For the above image I simply set the aperature to f/22 and the mode to aperature priority. I let the camera pick the shutter speed and focus. I was crossing the street behind this girl and simply raised the camera to the level of my belly and squeezed the shutter. I think I took around five frames, and actually got this one that I think works. Thanks Michael Long!

Ask and you shall receive...

Here is the color version that Dreamstreet asked for!

In the beginning...

Macro photography is a great way to explore image possibilities. Sometimes when I suffer from "photographer's block" I will put on my macro lens and begin exploring. This forces me to look at possibilities I don't see during ordinary existence. Here is an image of a pond lily that I have converted to B&W using Adobe Lightroom. I photographed this using a Canon D60 with a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.