The Shots: Lotus Blossoms

My trip to China was a whirlwind - 9 cities in 10 days. I saw a lot of traffic, airports, train stations and hotel ballrooms.

Artsy Beijing traffic

Actual Beijing traffic.

We did get a rest day in Jinan - conveniently scheduled, given that we arrived to our hotel at 3am - that included a trip to the Jinan springs and Daimen Lake.

It was at the lake that I fell in love with lotus blossoms.

The color, the size, the contrast between the flower and the leaves - it was such a joy to play with various angles, and I even tried the soft focus setting on the Olympus.

Our last city was Shanghai; I was lucky to have an afternoon with myself. I wandered over to People's Park, where I found another lotus pond. 

And now the important question: how do I grow these here in central North Carolina??

The Principles: To Edit or Not to Edit?

Recently, I was chatting with a friend about my work when the P Word came up:

"Photoshop"

My nose crinkled instinctively. Taking note of the puzzled look on his face, I explained my reaction:

"I don't edit my photos. That's a non-negotiable thing for me."

I feel that editing, airbrushing, colorizing, enhancing, and all those other '-ings' steal away from the integrity of the image.  To me, editing my work would feel like a betrayal of my subject, like saying that something could be just good enough to be my inspiration, but not good enough to be my final piece. 

We bantered back and forth, using pieces from the collections as discussion points.

Exhibit A:

Vietnam Roses

Roses Redux

Months ago, I tinkered with this image as an experiment in editing (pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone all the while). Blurring out the names brought the roses further into focus, but I struggled with how this literal blurring of names played against the intention of the memorial from whence they came. Could I be reading too much meaning into this otherwise simple act of altering the image? Surely. But what are we doing we when create but making meaning? I appreciate the idea of removing the names so that the roses stand out against the reflection of the cobblestones. However, for me, that takes away the heart from the greater image that comes from the fact that they are roses left at that memorial. Otherwise, it could be any other slab of black marble.

Can you create gorgeously amazing pieces with the use of Corel and Photoshop?  Absolutely.  Do those images exist in nature?  Absolutely not.

And that's what comes down to for me.  I want to capture those moments, those scenes, those places *as they are* - not as they could be with the help of advances in modern software. I want to preserve those scenes at that time, at that place, in that moment.

And so, there you have it. What you see is what I saw. I work to put the precision, framing, and composition into capturing each of my shots in real time.

In the end, he labeled me a purist and perhaps that's true. But that's surely a P Word I can get on board with.

The Sites: Millennium Park & The Bean

Chicago is a city of breathtaking architecture.  It tells the story of America's growth and prominence through its very skyline.  Monumental towers and facades dot the landscape.  It's a magical place and, personally, my favorite city in the US. 

Chicago Skyline from Lincoln Park

Nestled within all those soaring spires is something relatively new that's become as much a symbol of the city as the Hancock building or the tower-formerly-known-as-Sears.  


Adjacent to Grant Park, with its Buckingham Fountain gracing the credits of Married with Children (anyone? anyone?), Millennium Park is a swath of land reborn to host swarms of tourists, concerts, and general urban gathering.  It sits on the north side of the Art Institute of Chicago and offers a stunning panorama of some of the most iconic buildings in the city.


But everybody comes for The Bean.

Its formal name may be Cloud Gate, but let's be honest: nobody calls it that.  Mention "The Bean" and everyone knows exactly what you're talking about. Its steel plates are immaculately polished to create a seamless surface that reflects everything around it, especially the people swarming its perimeter.  Light dances off its silvery canvas and you cannot take the same picture twice, as the details are always shifting between the people, the light, and the angle of the buildings around it.


It's easy to spend a lot of time here.  I did & it still wasn't enough.

The Shots: Giraffe Eyelash

Paired with my affection for aquariums is a zeal for zoos.


On my recent trip to Chicago, I found myself free of scheduled obligations on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  I was meeting a friend for dinner that evening up in her neighborhood near Lincoln Park, so it seemed logical to spend the day at the Lincoln Park Zoo.


On all my previous trips to Chicago, I'd never made it to the zoo.  Now, having been, I can't imagine not going every time I'm there.


The African Journey occupies most of the northern end of the park, with both exterior and interior habitats (for some reason, the polar bears are up here as well, while the lions are more towards the center by the entrances, an arrangement that only now just strikes me as odd).  In the interior habitat, somewhere between the spoonbills and the meerkats, there is an observation area for the giraffes.


Creatures of ridiculous beauty, giraffes are incredibly fun to photograph: between the interesting angles of their bodies and the expressiveness of their faces, they have so many details to capture.


On this particular day, one of the giraffes was making a meal for herself out of the moss growing along a rocky outcrop adjacent to the observation window.  I attempted to capture an action shot of sorts, trying to catch her tongue as it crept through the nooks and crannies in search of a snack, but nothing quite came out as I'd hoped.


As she bent to drink from an elevated fountain immediately outside the glass barrier, I received something even better:

The Series: Duke

Each year for Thanksgiving, I travel to South Carolina to meet family & friends for a weekend of food, cards, and some much needed down time.  Our hosts have a beautiful Chow Chow named Duke, who reigns over the yard like a queen.  With the equally beautiful weather, I spent some time outside with Duke & my camera:

The Shot: Mississippi River Sunrise

It's not just about sunsets.


Sunrise is actually my favorite time of day.  The promise of a new beginning, the unlimited possibility to start anew, light returning to a dark world -- these are the metaphors of the sunrise that resonate with me.


A recent trip to New Orleans found me meandering along the banks of the Mississippi one morning, just as the city was starting to awaken.  At this point in its path, the river is wide, like it is back in Iowa, but the geography feels off.  Here, the river is to the east, not the south; it flows from right to left, rather than left to right.  It is at once the same and different, just like every other river I've traveled along, but this one is different.


If ever one could possess a river, the Mississippi would be mine.


Standing there on the levee, it is impossible not to think about the destruction that swamped this city barely six years ago.  It is impossible not to appreciate the power of the water as it flows majestically to the Gulf, slowing at this point in its travels as the grade of the land lessens and it prepares to drop its sediments into its ever-shifting delta. 


But standing there at sunrise, watching the light dance across the water, it is impossible not to be in awe:

The Trips: Fall 2011

You may have noticed I haven't posted in a few weeks.


I've been on the road, criss-crossing the state and the country for the past two months, but am now settling back into my home base in North Carolina for an extended period.  


From Atlanta to New Orleans to the Sandhills to Chicago, I've put in a lot of long days at work, but still managed to eek out some time to explore.


Here a preview of what's coming:

The Shot: Live Oak & Mardi Gras Beads

I recently returned from a week in New Orleans.  Among the iconic images from the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and the Mississippi River, I found one sight that, for me, captured the spirit of the city better than anything I'd seen before:

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

The Shots: Sunset Arch, Abbey Road at the Arch, and Leaves & Steel

In addition to Gateway Stroll, I snagged some other great shots while in St. Louis last year.  While writing my previous STL entry, I discovered that the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was holding a photo contest.  I sent off my entries and hoped for the best.

I was recently notified that three of my photos were selected as Honorable Mention recipients, one in each category.  I am beyond thrilled to be included with so many other great photographers.

Here are the selected entries:

Architecture: Sunset Arch

Landscape: Abbey Road at the Arch

Nature: Leaves & Steel

The Shot: Mantis Dance

It's about the little things.

While tending to my basil a few weeks ago, I came across a tiny praying mantis -- just a baby, but already in full attack mode, hunting for insects.  How it got all the way up to my deck, I haven't a clue.  I grabbed the camera and began to snap, adjusting my own distance to allow my macro setting to work best.

Incidentally, always wear a wrist strap or neck strap or some other means of attaching your camera to your body.  A multi-story drop is not ideal for your equipment.

As it turns out, basil is not only tasty, it's beautiful to photograph.  And it apparently provides a good starter home for one of my favorite insects.

Trying to move the pot to get a better angle only startled it -- even in a controlled environment, you can't control everything. 

It stuck around for a couple of weeks, growing a bit.  I haven't see it for awhile now; at first, I thought it was just hiding in the ever bushier leaves, but by now, I'm pretty sure it's gone off in search of better hunting grounds. 

The Projects: Daily photo blog

I enjoy a challenge. I'm also inspired by others.

To that end, I'm pulling some bits and pieces of ideas together from a variety of places and starting an on-going project. In addition to the weekly in-depth posts here, I am trying to keep a daily wordless photo journal over here.


This isn't meant to be my journal per se, but moreso a journal of interesting shots I come across during the day. The pictures will likely be completely unrelated (though there may be themes that crop up, as I tend to be drawn to things like windows, reflections, and bees & butterflies), but they'll harken back to the ideas of finding the beauty in the everyday, seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary, and rethinking the mundane.  Of course, there will also be opportunities to embrace a sense of humor, too.

 

The link will stay live in the rightside column here, plus you'll be able to get back here from there by scrolling to the bottom.  Come along, browse, and enjoy!

The Concepts: Reflections

Korean War Memorial, Washington DC

Many of my favorite pieces involve a reflection of some kind: windows, water, even the smooth granite walls of the Korean War and Vietnam Veterans Memorials.  Like a less vain variation on the myth of Narcissus, the reflections seem to force us to stop and take an introspective moment for ourselves. 

On the technical side of things, reflections can be tricky: you have to be careful to catch the light at just the right angle to minimize glare and maximize the impact of your image.  If ever there was a time to turn off your flash, this is it: using a flash will overexpose your subject and add back all that glare you sought to avoid when you positioned yourself for the shot in the first place. 

Edenton Sound, NC

 Moving on to the compositional side of things, you can let your creativity loose with this concept.  A reflection is an inherent dichotomy of what we see versus what we think we see.  On water, the reflected image is often distorted by the waves and currents of the surface, creating tension and movement in your work.  

Facade of Solow Building, NYC

In windows, you have a reversal - usually a mirror image - that puts an unfamiliar twist on something otherwise urbane and pedestrian.   It takes a somewhat interesting building and turns it into a very interesting city scape.  It salvages an otherwise dismally overcast day by concentrating that light into one space, capturing the glints and shadows of the sun and the clouds for you.

It's part of training your eye to find the shot in your surroundings; it's about not just looking at, but looking up and off to the side and maybe even through.  

"Reflections" - atrium of Museo de Reina Sofia, Madrid

The Shot: Vietnam Roses

Memorial wreaths.  Bouquets.  A single flower tucked into an empty bottle of someone's favorite beer.  An open card, its message laid bare for all to read.  A folded note tucked into the joints of the stone below, its contents known only to the writer.

In a strange parallel to Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, these are The Things We Leave for Them.

All along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC are the memories of those whose names are inscribed on the towering granite panels.  This place is many things: somber, reflective, heartbreaking - but mostly, it is overwhelming.

I sat at my table for a long time trying to write this paragraph that would attempt to capture the range of emotions that this place evokes.  I tried and I tried...but I couldn't do it.  Nothing was adequate.

So I shall leave it at just this image.  Just a simple pair of flowers, small in comparison to the wall it leans against, minuscule in comparison to the sense of loss that one has when staring at all of those names and all of those lives lost forever.