Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

As part of my blog post series Lunar Impact, Get Ready for it!, my last post Thanksgiving on an Exponential Order discussed what we all share and can be thankful for as a world community. Another aspect of global community was expanded on in In The Shadow of the Moon as Buzz Aldrin shared in his interview; upon return to Earth after being part of the first mission landing on the moon, he and Neil Armstrong returned to a heroes welcome and embarked on a 45 country tour around the globe. During that tour every country shared in the joy of the accomplishment of man landing on the moon. At that moment in time it was not the feat of the United States, but the feat of mankind.

Through out history of the world I’m not sure such a moment has ever occurred. The thought of mankind coming together with a singular view of accomplishment must have been a special moment to experience. In today’s day and age that thought seems even more distant… or does it?

While I’m sure few events or activities compare to the scale of unification the landing on the moon created among all of mankind, in my eyes nature & landscape photography among other photographic genres seems to be capable of bridging the divide between country and culture in a similar fashion.

As I listened to Buzz Aldrin share this time of unity among all of man I instantly became aware of how the photographic community regardless of citizenship, ideology or politics comes together to appreciate photography and the beauty of what is photographed. Whether it is the beauty of a childs smile or an amazing landscape, photography has the ability to transport people to different places and times.

With all respect to the space program it is amazing to think that photography can transform photographers into explorers and photography viewers into a singular audience of mankind, all while transporting them to another time and place through a simple image.

Technorati Tags: photography, astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, In The Shadow of the Moon, world-wide, community

As part of my blog post series Lunar Impact, Get Ready for it!, my last post Isolation and Discovery focused on temporal perspective, but ended alluding to a common philosophy shared between many of the Apollo astronauts and I.  The shared philosophy and thought was put best by Apollo 15 astronaut Col. David Scott of the USAF:

“The Earth is an oasis.”

Or as stated by Apollo 12 astronaut Capt. Alan Bean of the USN:

“We are living in the Garden of Eden”

The dramatic views of earth as seen by these astronauts from the face of the moon and while flying in space was with out a doubt awe inspiring. Even though I’ve never ventured into space I’ve felt this way for a long time and its one of the many reasons I’m so passionate about nature, landscape and environmental photography. To this day I am still amazed people errantly view our world as being so large it is beyond our ability to negatively impact or view our world (land, sea, animals, etc.) as being here to primarily serve the needs of man.

One look at Earth hanging in space, as these astronauts had the privilege of witnessing, it all quickly becomes clear. I only wish more people understood this. When you think about it, it makes you thankful for what we have. Fitting for Thanksgiving day… what we have to be thankful for is far greater than the founding of a country, but the creation of a world filled with profound beauty at every turn.

With that thought I wish you all, not just those in the United States, a Happy Thanksgiving.

Keep our common bond in mind as tomorrow I’ll talk to another facet of it. Stay tuned…

Technorati Tags: Happy Thanksgiving, Apollo, astronaut, Alan Bean, David Scott, moon, lunar, landing

As part of my blog post series Lunar Impact, Get Ready for it!, my last post Perspective on the Moon, Perspective on Earth focused exclusively on visual perspective. One other aspect of perspective that comes to light in relation to the Apollo astronauts landing on the moon… temporal perspective. By stepping foot on the moon Neil Armstrong did something no other creature, let alone human, has done in modern time… be the first living thing to enter an environment left completely untouched for billions of years.

Think about that. Stepping foot into an absolutely pristine environment.

View more White Sands National Monument photos

Perhaps it is the landscape photographer in me, but the prospect of finding and stepping foot into an environment never before seen or accessed makes my heart race. Landscape photographers on some level fancy themselves as explorers and discoverers. It is for this reason I really take a deep fascination with the achievements of Neil Armstrong and the other Apollo astronauts. As I venture out to photograph landscapes, I time my visits to capture first light, untouched terrain, new formations and views of open expanses never before seen. If I can get to a location before anyone else to photograph sunrise with no sign of human existence (Ex. fooprints in the sand at White Sands New Mexico) I consider that a successful trip.

The prospect of setting foot in a location untouched by anyone or anything for billions of years would be the absolute ultimate. Its not much of a secret, in the back of my mind every time I venture out I hope that I might access or capture something new and previously unseen. As time goes on that is an increasingly rare event. As more and more people populate our planet, fewer and fewer locations have been left in a pristine state. Some might argue that there are few to no places on land that have gone untouched by man. The deep sea and subterranean world is what comes to mind as the areas of truly pristine space when it comes to human exposure.   The last news item I read that dealt with a discovery of monumental proportion was the giant crystal cave in Mexico, enormous crystals formed in an underwater cave.

Another aspect to temporal perspective that I find interesting is recognizing how long it has taken for a particular formation to take form. Natural forces work slowly but steadily in creating the land formations we take for granted every day.  It can be mind blowing to think about all the factors creating what we see and the circumstances that have brought us to the special moment where & when we make our photographs. In this regard I’m equally in awe of nature as I pursue my photography here on earth or learn about what the Apollo astronauts accomplished and saw on the moon.  I once thought such adventure and discovery was only possible through enormously grand projects like exploration of the moon, but fortunately for me early in life I discovered otherwise.

This leads me to my next thought…
With all the effort to reach the moon I felt humbled to learn that I possessed a common philosophy, with out ever having to leave this planet, that astronauts came to learn on their long and arduous journey to the lunar surface. Stay tuned for that and more in tomorrows post…

Technorati Tags: perspective, time, discovery, exploration, photography, astronaut, moon, landing, Apollo

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More Icer Air Photography

Continuing my thoughts from Lunar Impact, Get Ready for it!, one of the most fascinating things that I learned while watching IMAX: Magnificent Desolation was that astronauts had no sense of visual perspective on the moon.

Think about this for a second and then think about this in context to photography.

An astronaut on the moon could stand on the edge of a ridge and by visual assessment have no idea if it opened to a 20 foot gulch or 1 mile canyon. The stark lighting and contrast created by direct sunlight without an atmosphere to disperse light and the absense of recognizable forms left evaluating the most basic terrain characteristics difficult if not impossible.

Most of us realize in an instant that there is no plant life, structures, etc. on the moon, but few of us realize what importance the things around us provide our brains in assessing our surroundings. Perspective is learned as our brains wire themselves as infants and as we mature as children. Taking a leap to how we interact with our environment as adults and as photographers, perspective while we take it for granted, is a critical component to how we formulate our photographs.  Inclusion of a recognizable item provides not only a sense of setting, but scale. Positioning of people, animals and objects can also create optical illusions.

In PhotoNetCast #17 I referenced a blog post Pictures Taken At Just The Right Angle. My reference to this post was mostly focused on the entertainment value of the images with in it, but also to give people creative ideas. If you dissect why many of these images are entertaining it is because of our interpretation of scale, distance, and function/meaning of an object. Extract all of these elements from a scene and you’re left with what the astronauts faced… an uninterpretable scene. As a photographer I find that mind boggling because it is such a departure from the day to day experience we face in the world we live. Even in the most desolate of locations that I’ve visited there has always been something to provide a sense of scale and perspective.

I think of perspective constantly in my photography, but hearing what the Apollo astronauts faced in relation to a complete lack of perspective it has made me rethink and dissect what perspective means and adds to photography.

Visual perspective and lack of, while a mind bender, is but one type of perspective. Tomorrow I’ll touch on yet another type of perspective and bend your mind in a completely different direction. Stay tuned…

Technorati Tags: perspective, photography, astronaut, moon, landing, Apollo, Magnificent Desolation

The stars have aligned and I have several articles and photographs featured in 3 different magazines including Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo Pro and Popular Photography.

As you have time I invite you to check out the following articles:

Rediscovering Classic Icons – Outdoor Photographer (December 2008)

“Midnight Reflections” Photo Show Case – Outdoor Photographer (December 2008)

Image Optimization for the Web, Part I – Digital Photo Pro (November 2008)

How to Photograph the Holidays – Popular Photography (December 2008)
Featuring “New York Christmas Madness”

Technorati Tags: magazine, article, Popular Photography, Digital Photo Pro, Outdoor Photography

No this isn’t news of an asteroid or comet on an imminent path to hit the moon. A couple weeks back I watched two great programs on man’s exploration of the moon and since my mind has been a whirlwind of thought on a variety of subjects. As you’d imagine most centering around photography.

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The programs viewed were IMAX: Magnificent Desolation and In The Shadow of the Moon. I received these movies via NetFlix and they sat idle on my home theater cabinet for over a month. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but in the vein of what Orson Wells used to say “We will sell no wine before its time“. The same can be said of my ability to watch movies. I held off watching these shows until I had the time to really absorb the content of each and I’m really happy I chose to wait.

So what to expect? You’ll have to wait and see. I’ll have some posts coming out over the next week that you’ll have to check in for.

I will leave you with this thought…

Of all 12 men that walked on the moon, 9 are still alive including the first man to walk on the moon Neil Armstrong. Think about this for a second in all the worlds history only 12 men have walked on the face of another celestial body. It amazes me that this feat has not been recognized or honored in a more significant way. To me this is worthy of at least a national if not world holiday on July 21st (the day Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon). A day or remembrance not just to the feat, but the sacrifice and loss of life made by others to make this possible. If you’re unfamiliar with what went into making this happen I highly… highly recommend watching In The Shadow of the Moon.

And to the physical act itself of walking on a desolate surface… what relevance does that have to a photographer? More on this tomorrow.

Recommended Viewing:
- Neil Armstrong 60 Minutes Interview (13 min 44 sec)

- In The Shadow of the Moon trailer

Technorati Tags: astronaut, walking, moon, exploration, Apollo, lunar, Neil Armstrong, Magnificent Desolation, The Shadow of the Moon, walk on the moon

Participants Gallery From Past Trips

My next Sea Otter Photo Tour is just under 30 days away and there are only a few spots left. We had a blast last time and with the chance of seeing pups this time around those in attendance are likely to have an even more memorable time. Photographed way in the back of the photo on the left is Eliya Selhub who had such a great time he’s making it out a 2nd time and had this to say about our time photographing Sea Otters in Monterey:

“Fantastic day of shooting. Jim and Rebecca provided a lot of helpful tips along the way, and I came away with some of the best wildlife photos I’ve ever taken.”

If you’re interested in learning more and attending sign up on my Photo Tours page. If you’re just curious to see the photos from those that made the last Sea Otter Photo Tour check the participants gallery.

By the way if you’re suffering from lens envy with the photo above and its intimidating you from attending… a moderate telephoto lens is more than enough and larger telephoto lenses can easily be rented for the weekend from a camera store for less than you’d imagine. Don’t let lens envy get in the way of having a great time with us.

Click to Enlarge

Technorati Tags: sea otter, Monterey, California, photo tour, photo, photography, nature, wildlife, stock photo, Enhydra lutris

The results are in for the “Buying Prints from Your Favorite Photographers” blog project. Turn out was decent albeit smaller than I would have hoped. Considering that during the span of this project September 17th to November 8th our economy has been in a meltdown and the attention of many has been consumed by the recent U.S. Presidential election… it could have been worse. For those that opted out of taking part in this project keep it in the back of your mind and when you purchase a print, book, etc. write about it and point me to it on your web site. This project is an endless one… much like the journey of photography itself.

For those that took part I’m happy to learn that the project has been an eye opener. Here are the results:

Dave Wilson – WebArtz Photography
Purchased the work of Jim Beckett and Pete Holland at a local art fair held at his church. Dave puts it succinctly, “The personal aspect of the transactions was definitely more appealing to me than, for example, buying prints directly from a web site. In addition to the physical prints themselves, I also have the stories behind them and more of an insight into the artist’s intent when making the pictures.”

Antonio Marques – Words: Irrational
Antonio who is struggling at the moment financially as he wraps up his graduate program purchased a Sebastião Salgado book “Africa. As Antonio puts it, “His photography style that translates into high-contrast black and white photos, highly enriched by grain texture, or his mastery in dodging and burning that so much enhance his work, is something that you can’t admire on a computer screen, and it’s one of the reasons I wanted to bring his work to Jim’s project.”

Brian Villarin – All Narfed Up
Who made a print exchange with Brian Auer and used the swap as excuse enough to meet on a photowalk.

Brian Auer – Epic Edits Weblog
Purchased work from Chase Jarvis, Bryan Villarin and Cody Redmon. It’s great to see that the experience struck a nerve with Brian enough to declare, “… I’d like to start a collection of prints from photographers I associate with.”

Jay Goodrich – JayGoodrich.com
Purchased a photo from his friend and photographic inspiration Art Wolfe.

Jim M. Goldstein – JMG-Galleries
Buying work from 2-3 photographers was the goal of this project, but 5 photographers including Lane Hartwell, Dan Mitchell, Guy Tal, Mario Zanaria and Chase Jarvis caught his eye. “Enjoyment of their photography is only half the story. The process of finding and sharing their work has proven to be as satisfying if not more.”