Ten for 2022

February 3, 2023

January has slipped into February, and it’s time to share a selection of my photographs from the previous year. Some photographers post their previous “year’s best” at the beginning of the new year, but it takes me longer to figure out which images make the cut. This year, as in recent years, the process began in November with the selection of a dozen images for my photography guild’s end-of-year slide show. These are selected rather quickly, and both the process and selections served only as a starting point for my final choices.

2022 was a transitional year in a couple of ways. We emerged from two years of pandemic-induced isolation to begin traveling in groups for photography again. In the spring I participated in a long-postponed workshop in Joshua Tree National Park that focused on infrared (IR) photography, and in the fall we returned to Iceland for a third time on a photographic journey with old friends. In between these trips we made a personal transition — buying a new home in Washington, selling a home in Nevada, followed by packing, moving, unpacking, and settling in to our new place.

Here, then, are ten images from my photographic year, presented in chronological order. As in the past couple of years, most of them are black and white and a significant number reflect my continuing engagement with IR photography.

Night Vision

One of the emphases of the workshop in Joshua Tree National Park was pre-dawn IR photography, taking advantages of moonlight to “light-paint” the landscape. This photograph, taken before sunrise as the sky was brightening and the stars had faded, illustrates the unique mood and tonality of images illuminated by infrared light. This is my single favorite image of the year.

2. Alien Planet

This photograph is also from Joshua Tree but was taken a bit earlier in the morning with the stars still visible. Here the moonlight provides high-contrast illumination of the rocks, creating an otherworldly scene.

3. Mt. Shuksan Reflection

The northwest coast, our new home, offers unlimited photographic opportunities, which we have only begun to explore. The view of Mt. Shuksan across Picture Lake is without a doubt one of the most-photographed landscape locations in Washington. This image is from a late summer scouting trip up the Mt. Baker Highway, not far from our new home. The weather was rather dull -- a perfect excuse for B&W!

4. Leaves of Grass

Aquatic grasses lying on the surface of Picture Lake in the North Cascades created an engaging abstract pattern. I first photographed these in color, but I soon realized that IR provided the high contrast that I was looking for.

5. Kvernufoss

This and the remaining images in this collection are from our fall trip to Iceland. The south of Iceland has innumerable waterfalls that spill glacial meltwater from the cliffs of the southern highlands onto the narrow coastal plain. Kvernufoss was a new location for me on this trip — a magical ravine of black basalt and bright green grasses leading to a ribbon of falling water.

6. Rest in Peace

We had visited the historic turf-roofed church at Hof, with its churchyard of raised graves, on a previous trip but I was not satisfied with the photographs I came away with then. This time, I had a better idea of what to expect and I was armed with my IR-converted camera. I photographed this church from every imaginable angle, but I like this one, framed by the large trees growing in the middle of the graveyard, the best.

7. Heaven’s Gate

We also paid a return visit to the abandoned farm at Núpsstaður, a location not open to the public but accessible to us through the contacts of our Icelandic tour leader. Our previous visit in 2016 was very brief, and I spent my time photographing the various turf-roofed outbuildings. This time I paid more attention to the small, well-maintained chapel located on the farm grounds. I loved the way the chapel was framed by this gate and the strong contrast produced in IR.

8. Last Chance to Pray

The farm at Núpsstaður is the easternmost settlement along the south coast of Iceland before the broad black sand “desert” of Skeiðarársandur, formed by the outflow of three glacial rivers. Prior to the construction of the Ring Road crossing Skeiðarársandur was a hazardous proposition, and the chapel was built as a place for travelers to pray for safe crossings. This view shows the isolation of this location and gives a glimpse of the black sand expanse where Skeiðarársandur meets the sea.

9. Otherworldly

The interior highlands of Iceland are stark, forbidding, and unpopulated — expanses of black volcanic rock, sparse low growing vegetation, and swift rivers formed by glacial runoff. I think this moody photograph captures the essence of the highland landscape.

10. Monolith

A massive basalt column dominates the view of the south coast of Iceland from the cliffs at Dyrholaey. I made several photographs at this location, battling wind gusts and the arriving rainstorm. I finally settled on this one both for the balance of the composition and the splash of sunlight on the distant hills.

Twelve (plus one) for 2021

January 24, 2022

At the beginning of each year I look back on my previous year’s work and select a small number of images that serve as milestones along my photographic journey. In 2021 I continued to emphasize black and white processing of both color and infrared (IR) images. Here is a collection of twelve images from the past year, presented in chronological order. I’ve also included a thirteenth bonus image for those who manage to read all the way to the end of this post.

1. Frosted

The rising sun provides momentary back-lightning for thick frost on a stand of evergreens. One freezing cold morning in February we drove up to Hope Valley (Sierra Nevada), CA. We noticed this stand of trees and immediately turned around to photograph it before the sun melted the coating of frost.

2. In the Land of the Giants

A May camping trip on the northern California coast provided an opportunity to photograph the majestic stands of coastal redwoods in the Redwoods National and State Parks. On this morning we were blessed with rays of sunlight breaking through a thick fog. I photographed this scene with both my color and IR-converted cameras, and I decided I liked this IR version best.

3. Rhododendron

We planned our visit to the redwoods to coincide with the likely bloom period for the rhododendrons that grow profusely in the understory of these forests. Unfortunately, drought conditions in California greatly reduced the rhododendron bloom. With the help of other photographers we were able to find at least one plant in full bloom.

4. The Way Through the Woods

One of the challenges of photographing in a forest or woodland is the need to simplify the inherent visual chaos. Here, I was able to find an isolated fern set between a redwood tree and a path as a focal point. The bright fern foliage, as seen in IR, makes a strong contrast to the surrounding forest.

5. In the Flow

We spent a few days in June photographing waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. This image of Latourell Falls is my favorite from that trip. I was sitting on a rock with my feet and tripod legs in the water to get a low camera position -- I was definitely "in the flow" both literally and metaphorically.

6. Impact

I love waterfalls, and I love photographing them. However, it is surprisingly difficult to find artistic compositions of many waterfalls. This photograph of Wahclella Falls in the Columbia River Gorge focuses on the impact of the falling water on the plunge pool below. The delicate texture of the outflow in the plunge pool is not visible to the human eye but becomes evident in a long exposure image.

7. Morning Fog

In September I spent several days prowling Whidbey Island in Washington with my IR camera while Carol taught a fiber arts workshop at the Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville. Thick fog on this particular morning added depth and mystery to this avenue of trees on a back road.

8. Resilience

This lone cypress tree on Whidbey Island stands firm against the prevailing westerly wind. I have photographed it before, but on this particular afternoon the light and the clouds made for a special image. This is my single favorite photograph of the entire year.

9. Introvert

I saw this solitary tree when I was in the Alabama Hills, on the east side of California’s SierraNevada mountains, more than a year ago, but I only got around to photographing it during a return trip in October. I am intrigued by the fact that its personal space has not been invaded by other trees. Perhaps it is, like me, an introvert.

10. Postcard from Yosemite

I spent a couple of days in early November photographing in Yosemite. There was still plenty of fall color, and the waterfalls and Merced River were full (very unusual for this time of year) due to an "atmospheric river" storm the previous week. The weather was beautiful -- too beautiful for dramatic photography! -- giving me no option other than making mostly "postcard pictures." Just being in that place, which I grew up visiting as a child, was magic.

11. El Capitan Dawn

Everyone from Ansel Adams onward has photographed Yosemite from Tunnel View. There I was, at the overlook amid the tripod forest before sunrise with no hope of interesting clouds, trying to make a photograph that was a bit out of the ordinary. I chose to focus on the face of El Capitan as it picked up the first light coming over the south rim of the valley.

12. Morning Walk

Cold, clear autumn nights make for mists above the Merced River in the meadows of Yosemite Valley. At this hour of the morning I had this view of lower Yosemite Falls all to myself.

13. Silence (bonus image)

This is not really a 2021 image. I took this photograph in 2014 and it sat, neglected, since then until a few months ago. At the time I was drawn strongly to the simplicity of the composition and the isolating, moody effect of the fog but my processing efforts then didn't do it justice. When I encountered the image again in a scroll through my catalog I immediately said "This is a black and white image!" Moral of the story: no digital image is ever truly finished.

2020: Ten Photographs

February 15, 2021

In 2020, photography took a back seat to staying home and staying healthy in the midst of a global pandemic. Despite the disruptions and disappointments, I was able to find ten images to share as mileposts along my photographic journey through this strange year.

During 2020 I spent time at home working on black and white photography, both refining my vision for black and white images and developing the digital darkroom skills to realize that vision. Eight of the ten images in this collection reflect that work.

1. Wrinkles in Time

I love photographing reflections, taking advantage of the natural abstraction that they create to see things in new ways. This photograph, taken in June during a brief Covid jailbreak (socially-distanced, self-contained camping) in Lassen National Park never quite made the cut in color, but conversion to black and white finally allowed the abstract patterns of reflected trees and rippling water to break through. Sometimes I shoot intentionally with black and white in mind but other times, like this, I need to allow color to frustrate me in order to take the image where it needs to go.

2. Forager

Restrictions on travel kept us close to home most of the year. This photograph of a foraging bee was taken in a field of mixed wildflowers, part of the landscaping in a neighborhood near us. Instead of a macro lens, I used a 70-300mm telephoto lens with a close-up “filter” (an additional optical element mounted on the front of the lens). This is my favorite of the many shots from that morning.

3. All That Remains

in September we drove up to Hope Valley in the Sierra Nevada mountains, looking for some high elevation fall color. We were too early for much color, but this weathered stump caught my eye. It was a natural subject for a high contrast black and white photograph.

4. Red Creek Cabin

Who says you have to photograph fall color in color? We returned to Hope Valley a few weeks later, and there was plenty of color on view. However this photograph, taken with my infrared (IR)-converted camera, is my favorite from that day. Infrared light created unusual and unexpected contrasts in the foliage and highlighted the structure of the thin, high clouds that we often see in the mountains.

5. Zabriskie Dawn

In November we escaped once again for a week of camping and photography in Death Valley National Park and the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, CA. On this morning we arrived at Death Valley’s Zabriskie Point well before sunrise, so I decided to try some IR shots in the dawn light. I could tell from the monochrome conversions on the back of the camera that these might be interesting, and I wasn’t disappointed.

6. Footprints in the Sand

“You can’t always get what you want.” (Mick Jagger)

While we were in Death Valley we made the pilgrimage to Mesquite Dunes, the best-known and most accessible dune field in the park. My brain was full of visions of photographing pristine dunescapes in dramatic sunrise light. Arriving in the dark, we slogged about 2 miles away from the road through soft sand. We had the magnificent dunes all to ourselves, but unfortunately we couldn't escape the footprints of previous visitors. “Pristine” was not going to happen.

This photograph, taken just at sunrise, is my sole keeper from that morning. I cleaned up the foreground a bit but otherwise left intact the traces of previous dune-walkers. It's not the photograph I envisioned, but I like it all the same.

7. Sierra Storm

On the way home from Death Valley we stopped for a few days in Lone Pine, CA to photograph the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains from the Alabama Hills. A snowstorm rolled across the Sierra crest while we were there, providing dramatic conditions for photography. This photograph shows Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the Lower 48, peeking through the storm clouds.

8. Möbius Was Here

The Möbius Arch is a well-known feature among the otherworldly rock formations in the Alabama Hills. The most common photographic compositions use the arch as a frame for the distant Sierra Nevada mountains or as a light-painted foreground in a night sky image. On this gray day, neither of these options was available. Instead, I decided to photograph it as if it were a piece of abstract modern sculpture.

9. Storm Light

Same storm, different mountain. Light breaking through the storm clouds over the Sierra crest created this majestic and mysterious view of Lone Pine Peak. This is not only my favorite photograph from the entire Death Valley/Alabama Hills trip but also my favorite photograph of 2020.

10. A Good Day to Stay Inside

It doesn't rain much here in the High Desert, but occasionally we get a good one. This abstract view of a tree across our backyard, taken through a rain-streaked window during one of those rare downpours, demanded to be photographed. It was indeed a good day to stay inside.

Treasures from my Digital Dumpster

September 14, 2020

If you have a digital camera, you probably have a “digital dumpster” on your computer: file folders stuffed with images that didn’t quite make the cut for some reason and have never been shown, shared or printed. When I upload a set of images, I tend to cherry-pick my favorites for processing; the rest fall, quickly forgotten, into the digital dumpster.

Early on in the pandemic lockdown, photographer Ian Plant challenged his blog readers to dive into their digital dumpsters and search for images that merit a second look or a new processing approach. From time to time over the past months I’ve taken Plant’s challenge to heart, looking back over a decade of digital images and finding a few neglected ones that seem to deserve renewed attention. Here are three different approaches to this exercise that have worked for me.

New Processing Software:

Developers of image editing software continue to refine their products and introduce new capabilities. One current trend is the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to automate the selective adjustment of specific image elements. Topaz Labs has been at the forefront of the AI trend, and their AI products can, in some cases, turn clunkers into keepers.

The photograph at the top of this post is an example of the power of one the Topaz AI modules, Topaz Sharpen AI. I took this shot 10 years ago. I loved the sunset colors and the glow of the setting sun through the sail, but I did not achieve sharp focus and the resulting image was just too blurry, so I set it aside. Recently I decided to let Sharpen AI work its magic on this photo. The screenshot below shows a split-screen before/after comparison — I was amazed at the result. Ten years later, I have the photograph that I envisioned when I pressed the shutter.

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New Processing Techniques:

Professional photographers whose business includes teaching in-person workshops have been forced during the pandemic to create new ways to reach their clients. In April I participated in one of these creative responses: Out of Chicago Live, an online photography conference conducted completely via Zoom that featured presentations and tutorials by more than 60 renowned photographers. The highlight of the conference for me was my discovery of photographer Jack Curran, who works exclusively in black and white and makes images with strong visual and emotional impact. His presentations during the conference and online tutorials on the use of the selective editing tools in Lightroom to develop black and white images were a revelation to me. They stimulated me to try his approach to editing monochrome images, and it gave new life to several photos that I had previously abandoned.

This photograph of Skogafoss in Iceland exemplifies my exploration of Curran’s approach and techniques. The original image, taken after sunset, was very flat. However, by using the natural highlights in the image to accentuate the contrast between the water and the surrounding cliffs, I was able to achieve a result that conveys for me the mystical power of this gigantic wall of water. The screenshot below, comparing the original image and the final version, illustrates how these processing techniques can completely remake a photograph.

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A Fresh Approach:

Sometimes, all you need is a fresh approach to an old image. This photograph of the Courthouse Towers in Arches National Park was made during our 2017 southern Utah photo tour. I had originally processed it in Lightroom after the trip as both color and black and white versions, but I wasn’t happy with either result. I recently started all over again by making a new black and white conversion using Silver Efex Pro 2, which has been my plug-in of choice for monochrome conversion and development for almost a decade. The new version of this photograph, created in Silver Efex Pro 2, finally gets close to my original vision.

As the tools in Adobe’s Lightroom have become more and more powerful I have tended to use it for most of my image development and have neglected other processing workflows. This fresh look at the Courthouse Towers photograph reminded me that there are useful tools other than Lightroom in my digital toolbox.

Ten Years, Ten Photographs

August 4, 2020

Ten years ago I bought my first DSLR and began my journey toward making photographs rather than just taking pictures. Looking back on this body of work a decade and thousands of shutter clicks later, I challenged myself to identify one image from each of the past ten years that serves as a milepost along my photographic journey.

2010: Avalanche Creek

By 2010 I was frustrated with the limitations of my digital point-and-shoot camera. At the top of my frustration list was the inability to stretch time by photographing at long exposures. (You can do this now with a variety of apps on the iPhone, but in 2010 the first reasonably capable iPhone camera was more than a year in the future.) In the summer of 2010 we were in Glacier National Park, where I had the first chance to test my new camera (plus the other requisite tools: tripod, remote release, and neutral density filters). This photograph was my first successful long exposure image, and it confirmed for me the wisdom of investing in photographic tools commensurate with a nascent artistic vision.

2011: The General Store

A research conference in Reno (long before we ever dreamed of moving there) gave me a free day and a brief opportunity to explore the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We left the hotel in Reno in the dark intending to photograph sunrise at the tufa formations of Mono Lake, but we underestimated the travel time and arrived when the sun was well up. On the return trip we took a side road to Bodie, a mining town in the austere high desert east of the Sierras. Bodie was abandoned almost 80 years ago when the mine closed and is now kept in a state of “arrested decay” as a California state park. It was a cold day with bright, unforgiving light, challenging for photography.

This image of the interior of the general store, shot through the dirty front window, is significant to me for several reasons. First, the harsh light created a wide dynamic range that could only be addressed by shooting a bracketed series of exposures (from a tripod precariously perched to press the lens against the window) for subsequent assembly using HDR techniques. Second, the final image represented the high point for me at that time of digital postprocessing: not only the initial HDR assembly, but also perspective corrections to deal with the distortion caused by a wide angle lens and subsequent local adjustments in color and brightness. Finally, this visit to Bodie, exemplified by this photograph, stimulated my fascination with abandoned buildings and objects as photographic subjects that continues today.

2012: Eye Contact

Another research conference, this time in Rome, gave us the opportunity to explore Venice for a few days, only to discover that our visit coincided with the last week of Carnivale (no wonder the hotels were so expensive!). The streets swarmed with tourists, and people in extravagant costumes were centers of attention. I was fortunate to encounter this lady in red, who was waiting in front of an ancient wooden door while her companion was photographed by the canal. I gestured to my camera, she struck a pose, and I fired off one or two shots. Despite her richly colored and detailed costume, for me the impact of this image lies in her eyes behind the mask — a steady, almost challenging gaze.

This image exemplifies the importance of serendipity in my photography. I had no idea what I might find to photograph that morning, but my camera was ready at hand and I was able to take advantage of this unique moment. This is the first photograph that I printed and exhibited in public. It was also recognized as one of the “Ten Best of 2014” at nikonians.org.

2013: The View from Brooklyn

I was crossing the street in Brooklyn on a bright, cold winter afternoon when I glanced to my right and saw this arresting composition — a sunlit tower of the Manhattan Bridge framed in the deep shadows of the buildings, with the Empire State Building framed in the arch of the tower. Fortunately I had my camera over my shoulder (serendipity again!), so I waited for traffic to clear, dashed out into the middle of the street, and managed to squeeze off a single shot. I discovered only later that this particular composition has been photographed many times.

This photograph marks the beginning of my fascination with black and white digital photography. When I began working with this image I saw the potential for a high-contrast monochrome treatment. I had played with monochrome processing previously, but the result I obtained with this photograph catalyzed my ongoing exploration of “monochrome vision.”

2014: Skogafoss Glow

Iceland was a bucket list location for me almost from the moment I dove into digital photography. Our first visit, in midsummer 2014, exceeded my wildest expectations despite some truly miserable weather for part of the trip. Skogafoss, shown here, is one of Iceland’s many well-known attractions. Located on the Ring Road not far from Reykjavik, it is a regular stop on the “Golden Circle” bus tours. As a result, the parking lot is usually jammed with tour buses and cars, and the stream up to the falls is usually full of crowds of tourists cavorting and taking selfies. Our group chose to photograph here well after sunset, and we were rewarded with a nearly empty parking lot and the chance to experience the power and magic of this place in relative solitude.

This photograph is noteworthy in part for length of time it sat, unprocessed, in my photo catalog. Taken in 2014, the version shown here was completed a six years later when I finally figured out what I wanted to do with it. I am indebted to the work of Jack Curran, a photographer who works exclusively in black and white, for showing me how realize my vision for this shot. This photograph illustrates that in the world of digital photography no image is ever really finished. I find that the growth and development of my vision and technical skill allow me to go back and discover new things in old images such as this.

2015: Skyline Reflection

When I am out with my camera it is always a challenge for me to see not only the obvious but also what else is there. This photograph, taken along the Greenway in Boston, is an example of one time when I was able to see beyond the obvious. This particular afternoon I became captivated with the abstract reflection of the Boston skyline in in the curved glass walls of the Intercontinental Hotel. After a number of tries I found a pleasing composition, although the final image involved a fair amount of pixel pushing to get the true vertical and horizontal lines straight.

This is one of my first photographs that is intentionally abstract. A large format print of this one hangs in our living room, and I never tire of looking at it.

2016: Aurora!

2016 found us in Iceland once again, this time in the fall — hoping to time our visit to see the northern lights. Both aurora activity and the Icelandic weather can be fickle, and many photographers have spent a week in Iceland during “aurora season” without seeing clear skies, let alone auroras. On this trip we were extremely fortunate, with four consecutive nights of clear skies strong aurora activity. This photograph was taken during the most intense of the aurora displays. We spent several hours surrounded by pulsating aurora activity. Of all of my photographs from that night this is my favorite, showing the spectacular and dynamic lights over the stark glacial landscape.

Digital night photography sees things that the eye can’t see due to the high sensitivity of digital sensors and the ability to time-average exposures over many seconds. The live experience of these auroras was amazing, but the colors and patterns revealed by the camera were something else again.

2017: Blue Hour at Notre-Dame

“If you see it, shoot it.” (Tony Sweet)

I have visited Paris many times, and I have always wanted to photograph Notre-Dame at night. Finally in the fall of 2017 I had the opportunity, and the necessary equipment, to wander along the Left Bank seeking engaging compositions. This is my favorite from that evening.

It always seemed to me that this great cathedral would be in the heart of Paris, unchanged, forever. However, six months after this photograph was taken it was ravaged by fire. More than two years later, who knows whether it will be restored to its former glory?

If you see it, shoot it. Don’t assume it will be there when you come back.

2018: Edge of the Forest

We typically think of long exposure as a way to portray the movement of subjects — we put the camera on a tripod, open the shutter for seconds or even minutes, and record the movement of clouds, stars or flowing water. However, holding the shutter open while moving the camera produces different results and leads to new kinds of abstractions.

This photograph is without a doubt my most successful effort in the use of intentional camera movement to create an abstract image. This stand of pine trees, with the sunlit dry grasses in the foreground, seemed to be a perfect subject for creating an abstract by moving the camera vertically during a long exposure.

2019: Afterglow

In landscape photography, magic happens when location and light come together. I experienced this last year during our time at White Pocket, a small area of multicolored sandstone formations in the Paria Wilderness of northern Arizona. We arrived in mid-afternoon when the light was blindingly harsh and the brain rock (as in the foreground here) was bright white. When the sun set, everything changed — the light became soft, and the brain rock picked up the pastel colors in the sunset sky.

Sometimes, as an amateur photographer it’s important to spend the time and money to visit unique locations with experienced photographers as guides. This was one of those times.

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I started working on this blog post more than two months ago thinking it would be pretty straightforward, but I was wrong. Choosing only one image from each of the past ten years proved to be surprisingly difficult. The ten images here are not necessarily my favorites from each year, nor are they necessarily the most successful in terms of public response and recognition, but each marks in its own way my journey as a photographer. Thanks for looking!

2019: Ten Photographs

January 2, 2020

2019 was a good year for photography, with two intense tour/workshop experiences (the Palouse in June, northern Arizona in September) plus less photographically intensive trips to locations in Puget Sound and the Oregon and California coasts. The following ten images, presented in chronological order, are my personal favorites from the year. They are not necessarily the best photographs (whatever that means) or the most popular, but they are landmarks for me along my continuing photographic journey.

1. Sea Smoke

I spent a couple of days in April exploring the California coast near Santa Cruz while Carol attended a conference in San Jose. I was led to Bonny Doon Beach, north of Santa Cruz, by a photography guide to northern California. The author of the guide identified the north end -- this end -- of Bonny Doon Beach as the most photogenic but also cautioned that it is a "clothing optional" area. On this particular foggy morning I was the only one there, so I didn't need to worry about whether or not I was dressed -- or undressed -- properly for the occasion. This 46-second exposure, made with a 10-stop neutral density filter, created the dreamy mood that I was looking for.

2. Undulation

We spent a week at the end of June on a photography workshop tour in the Palouse region of eastern Washington. The views across the rolling fields of wheat and canola, seen from the top of Steptoe Butte, invite the exploration and extraction of more intimate elements of the landscape using long telephoto lenses. In June, the dominant colors of the Palouse landscape are the bright monochromatic green of the wheat fields and the intense yellow of flowering canola, interspersed with the rich brown of manicured fields waiting to be planted. This photograph was selected by the editorial staff at nikonians.org as the Editor’s Choice for July 28, 2019.

3. Folded

Despite the brilliant palette of the Palouse in June, I found myself turning to black and white processing as a way to emphasize the texture of the landscape. Here, abstract patterns are created by the low late afternoon light skimming across the wheat fields. I knew when I shot this that it would wind up being a high-contrast B&W image.

4. Cloud Shadows

2019 marked my first serious exploration of infrared (IR) photography. About three years ago I bought Singh-Ray’s iRay 690nm filter, which permits the capture of IR images on a conventional camera by filtering out all visible light at wavelengths shorter than 690 nm. I hadn’t used this filter much until the Palouse trip. However, I was surrounded there by other photographers shooting in IR using dedicated IR-converted cameras so I decided to join the party, and I was rewarded with several images that are among my favorites from the trip. In this photograph, IR light produces an ethereal mood, with strong contrasts between the sections of the fields in light and shadow.

5. Out to Pasture

The Palouse region is full of a lot of abandoned stuff: farmhouses, barns, grain elevators, working trucks -- and cars. This old Dodge outlived its usefulness and was left to the elements along side a farm road. I intentionally bleached the long grasses and added a white vignette to create a high-key effect and a strong contrast between the car and its surroundings.

6. Sunrise at Wotan’s Throne

This and the remaining images in this blog post are from our September photography tour in northern Arizona. Here, the rising sun highlights the promontory known as "Wotan's Throne" as viewed from the Cape Royal overlook at the Grand Canyon's north rim. I found photography at the Grand Canyon to be challenging due to the overwhelming magnitude of the landscape, and my most successful images were, like this one, the result of focusing on smaller details.

7. Survivor

After my success with IR photography in the Palouse using the 690nm filter I had our spare Nikon D7100 body converted for full-time IR photography at 720 nm, and I put it to good use in Arizona. This tree, along the trail to the Bright Angel overlook at the Grand Canyon’s north rim, was a perfect subject for IR. I was drawn to its stark asymmetry, with dead branches on one side and lush foliage on the other. It's pretty clear which side the weather comes from.

8. Convergence

Our second stop on the Arizona trip took us to Page, a base for exploring several sites in northern Arizona and southern Utah. In this IR image, the lines in the clouds and the sagebrush seem to converge on this promontory overlooking the Paria River Valley.

9. Afterglow

The high point for me of our Arizona trip was the chance to spend an afternoon and evening at White Pocket, a small area of multicolored sandstone formations lying at the end of a 2-hour drive over gravel and sand roads in a high clearance 4WD vehicle. The colors and shapes at White Pocket, amazing in any conditions, were accentuated by the warm twilight immediately after sunset. This photograph was recently selected as one of two winners (out of ~130 entries) in the monthly themed landscape photography context (the theme was "on the rocks") at nikonians.org.

10. Canyon Sunrise

On our final morning in Arizona we left Flagstaff at oh-dark-thirty to make it to the south rim of the Grand Canyon for sunrise. As we approached the canyon the low fog was so thick that we could hardly see ahead of us, and I was sure we'd be completely shut out. Instead, the sun broke through above the canyon and we were rewarded with some unique images. Here the rising sun, the fog-filled Grand Canyon, and a convenient leafless tree provided an image that evokes for me the feeling of watching the fog roll over the canyon rim.

On the Loose in the Palouse

November 21, 2019

When you think “iconic landscape,” vast expanses of rolling farmland are probably not the first images that come to mind. However, the Palouse region of eastern Washington — a fertile plateau carpeted with rolling fields of wheat and canola — has become a mecca for landscape photographers.

I had the chance to see and photograph the Palouse for myself during a workshop in June of this year led by photographers Rad Drew and John Barclay. The experience exceeded my expectations, offering a wide variety of photographic opportunities.

For me and many other photographers, the agricultural landscape of the Palouse is best viewed from above. Accordingly, we made the pilgrimage up the narrow road to the top of Steptoe Butte, an island rising above the Palouse hills to an elevation of 3600 feet. The views are panoramic in all directions, and the photographic challenge is to use telephoto lenses to isolate compositions from the grand landscape. Just after sunrise and before sunset the warm light skims across the rolling landscape, highlighting its texture. The farms and grain elevators, seen in the distance, provide a sense of the vast scale of the landscape.

In June, the dominant colors of the Palouse landscape are the bright monochromatic green of the wheat fields, the intense yellow of flowering canola, and the blue sky. Despite this brilliant palette, I found myself turning to black and white processing as a way to emphasize the texture of the landscape.

The Palouse region is also full of a lot of abandoned stuff: small town businesses, isolated farmhouses, barns, grain elevators, and vehicles. I found these to be attractive subjects, speaking to me of the passing of time and the changes in agriculture and agricultural communities over the decades.

More of my images from the Palouse can be found in this gallery.

CD Cover Art!

March 5, 2019

I am honored to have two of my photographs used as cover art for recently-released CDs. Both of these opportunities came about through my volunteer work as the still photographer for the serialized-for-TV opera "Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch’s Accuser." You can read more about my involvement in this project and see the resulting photographs in my blog posts here and here.

The combined audio CD/video DVD boxed set of Vireo was released on February 28. Its cover features one of my photographs, taken during the filming of Episode 8 on Alcatraz after the park had closed to the public:

The second CD cover also came about indirectly through my work on Vireo. Members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus played major roles in Vireo. When the Chorus went looking for a colorful, eye-catching abstract image (instead of the usual picture of rows of girls singing) for their 2018 CD, Final Answer, they turned to the galleries on my website. They chose my image “Paintball” for the cover:

This photograph is part of a series taken at the “Graffiti Underground,” an abandoned coal pier on the Delaware River in Philadelphia. Other photographs from that location can be found in this gallery.

Abstractions

February 15, 2019

It is always a challenge for me to look beyond the scene in front of my camera to see what else is there. However, when I take the time to go deeper and search for the what else, I have the chance to make photographs that are unique and have greater impact.

Abstraction — removing something from its frame of reference — is one way that I attempt to go beyond the obvious. Here are three examples of that approach.

Reflections

Reflections that warp reality are ready-made abstractions. In this photograph, the curved and polished glass walls of Boston’s Intercontinental Hotel turn the reflected skyline into a colorful, abstract cityscape. I have a large print of this photograph in my living room, and I never tire of looking at it.

Details

This photograph is an example of a literal abstraction — a small detail excised from a larger scene. Skogafoss is one of the most famous and most-photographed waterfalls in Iceland, so it is difficult to make a photograph of the entire waterfall in its context that is not a cliché. Here, I used a telephoto lens to isolate just part of the face of the waterfall. No longer recognizable as Skogafoss, this image nevertheless portrays the power of the falling water that is for me the essence of the Skogafoss experience.

Intentional Camera Movement

I am fascinated by the different ways that long exposure photography alters our perception of time. We typically think of long exposure as a way to portray the movement of subjects — we put the camera on a tripod, open the shutter for seconds or even minutes, and record the movement of clouds, stars or flowing water. However, holding the shutter open while moving the camera produces different results and leads to new kinds of abstractions. Here, I photographed marsh grass at Paine’s Creek on Cape Cod using a ~1 sec exposure while moving the camera in a horizontal “swipe.” The resulting image is painterly in its lack of sharp detail, yet it evokes for me a sense of the place.

I have collected some of my favorite photographic abstractions in this new gallery. I hope you enjoy them!

Eight for 2018

January 20, 2019

In 2018 I learned that planning and completing a cross-country move did not leave a lot of time for photography. Nevertheless I identified these eight photographs as favorites from my photographic year.

1. Niagara at Night

The CanAm Photo Expo was held in Niagara Falls, Ontario in April. A friend was fortunate to be assigned a hotel room overlooking the falls, so several of us crammed our tripods in her window one evening to shoot the illuminated falls. I was struck by the otherworldly ice sculptures at the base of the falls.

2. Boathouses at Sunset

I participated in an informal photo shoot one evening in May at the city pier in Canandaigua, NY. The clouds initially looked promising for a spectacular sunset, but it never materialized. However, the warm light of the setting sun was perfect on this row of boathouses.

3. Words and Music

Just before we left New York I served for the last time as the photographer for the Geneva Music Festival, an annual chamber music festival held in Geneva and surrounding communities in the Finger Lakes. A highlight of the 2018 season for me was “Collaboration: Music and Poetry,” a joint effort of the Cavani Quartet and poet Mwatabu Okantah. Here, Okantah reads his poetry, interwoven with the music of Dvorak’s “American” string quartet.

4. Edge of the Forest

This photograph was taken on a multi-generational family walk (not a dedicated photo shoot!) at Tahoe Meadows, an alpine meadow (~8500' elevation) just on the Lake Tahoe side of the summit on the Mount Rose Highway between Reno and Incline Village. This stand of pine trees, with the sunlit dry grasses in the foreground, seemed to be a perfect subject for creating an abstract image using intentional movement of the camera during a long exposure. This image was selected as an Editor’s Choice by the editorial staff at Nikonians.org.

5. Broken Dreams

Our brief camping trip to the eastern Sierras in October yielded the remaining four favorite images for 2018. This abandoned cabin, along the side of US 395 near Lee Vining, spoke to me of risks and hardships encountered by those who settled the high desert east of the mountains. This image was also selected as an Editor’s Choice by the editorial staff at Nikonians.org.

6. Young Buck

The mule deer hanging around the campground and resort at Convict Lake didn't pay much attention to humans. We encountered this young guy and his female companion (sibling? girlfriend?) munching the foliage along Convict Creek just across from the campground.

7. McGee Canyon

Fall color in the eastern Sierra is all about the aspens -- quite different from what we were familiar with in the Finger Lakes. We hiked partway up McGee Canyon and were treated to this glorious display of color.

8. Head in the Clouds

Mt. Laurel dominates the view to the west across Convict Lake from the campground. Here, the intricate details and colors of the face are highlighted by the low morning light coming through the broken cloud cover. Of many images taken over three days, this is my favorite — a quick shot grabbed while hitching up the trailer. Always have your camera ready!

Falling for the Eastern Sierras

November 4, 2018

Colorful aspens carpet McGee Creek Canyon

A lot has happened so far in 2018, but very little of it had to do with photography. At the end of last year we decided to relocate from Geneva, NY to Reno, NV. The intervening months have been dominated by moving activities — buying and selling houses, packing, moving, unpacking, and settling in to our new home. (The “settling in” part is a work in progress…)

Finally last month we had the chance to begin exploring our new surroundings, camping for four nights at Convict Lake, a few hours south of Reno on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. From there we explored several of the canyons that lead up toward the towering peaks of the Sierra range.

The Brave Little Toaster, our home base at Convict Lake.

There were two real highlights of this trip for me. The first was the ready access to high alpine scenery. The hike through Little Lakes Valley along Rock Creek, beginning at an elevation of 10,250 feet (!), led to pristine alpine meadows and lakes framed by mountain peaks. I want to return next summer when the wildflowers are in bloom!

Carol gets the shot (above Heart lake, Little Lakes Valley)

The second highlight for me was the fall color display of the aspen trees that grow along creeks and other natural drainages We had hoped that our trip would coincide with the fall color, and we were not disappointed. The images at the top of this post and below give a sense of the color show in McGee Creek Canyon.

We grew up in Northern California and have spent considerable time on the western slope of the Sierras, but the eastern side is completely new to us. This trip barely scratched the surface, and we will be going back.

You can find a new gallery with more eastern Sierra photos here.

A Look Back at 2017

February 14, 2018

Here is a somewhat belated personal reflection on my photography in 2017 viewed through 12 photographs. As in previous years, these are simply some favorite images from the year presented in chronological order.

1. Vireo again: The Abandoned Train Station

The abandoned 16th Street Station in Oakland, CA became a surreal circus venue.

In January I once again had the opportunity to serve as the still photographer for the filming of episodes of the serialized opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser. (My blog post about this adventure tells the full story.) Most of the action was filmed in the abandoned 16th Street Station in Oakland, CA, which was converted into surreal circus venue for the climactic eleventh episode of the opera. This image captures both the station itself and the large assembly actors, singers, orchestra, and participating audience that filled the room.

2. Vireo: Deborah Voigt, the "Queen of Sweden"

The "Queen of Sweden" (Deborah Voigt) among the snowflakes (San Francisco Girls Chorus).

Near the end of Episode 11 the Queen of Sweden (Metropolitan Opera star Deborah Voigt) makes a dramatic entrance. This photo catches her interaction with young members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus as she moves to center stage.

3. Vireo: Escape in a Red Valiant

Caroline (Emma MacKenzie) and Vireo (Rowen Sabala) in the red Valiant.

Much of Episode 10 takes place during an escape through the snow to Sweden in a red 1962 Plymouth Valiant sedan. For the shoot the car was located inside a white-wall studio, and of course the video crew had all the best camera angles and sight lines. I was struggling to get decent images while shooting through the car windows until I remembered my circular polarizing filter, which allowed me to get unique shots with minimal glare. This image has been widely used in publicity for and articles about the opera.

4. New Zealand: Mt. Sefton

Mt. Sefton, Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park, New Zealand

We spent the month of February on a magical trip across the South and North Islands of New Zealand. Carol and I traveled with our son Dru, daughter-in-law Shannon, and our close friend Karen. Karen has visited New Zealand many times over the past 20+ years; she and served as our tour guide, introducing us to "real Kiwis" and places that many tourists do not see.

It was much more of a family trip than a photography trip, but it still yielded a wealth of photographic opportunities. This photograph is from one of my favorite locations, Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park on the South Island. We had this view of Mt. Sefton (just around the corner from Mt. Cook) from our apartment window. I have a number of photographs taken here, including some colorful sunsets, but this image captures for me the beauty and grandeur of that landscape. Plus, the clouds were amazing!

5. New Zealand: Te Mata View

We encountered adverse weather only once, while visiting in Napier after our arrival on the North Island. Nevertheless we made the steep drive up Te Mata Peak and were rewarded with this view, made more dramatic by the breaking storm clouds and the touches of sunlight on the sculpted hills. In many ways, this landscape reminded me of my native northern California.

6. New Zealand: Mud Cauldron

A mud cauldron at the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal area, New Zealand

Much of New Zealand is one big volcano. Wai-O-Tapu, an extensive geothermal area with geysers, colorful thermal pools, and mud pots, reminded me of Yellowstone National Park. I was mesmerized by this bubbling and burping mud pool -- in the end I decided that it made the most sense as an ethereal black and white image.

7. New Zealand: Pohutukawa Sunrise

Sunrise through a pohutukawa tree at Simpson's Beach, New Zealand.

The pohutukawa, or "New Zealand Christmas Tree," is an icon of New Zealand. In February we were mostly too late to see the beautiful red flowers, but the gnarled and weatherbeaten shapes of the trees give them a distinctive majesty. This photograph, one of the last ones I took in New Zealand, captures for me the essence of New Zealand coastal scenery.

8. Valley of the Gods

Valley of the Gods, Bears Ears National Monument, UT

We spent a week in early May among a group of Nikon shooters photographing in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Bears Ears National Monument. Many of my favorites from that trip, including this one, wound up processed as black and white images. For this photograph the black and white approach enhances the austerity and majesty of the landscape and highlights the wonderful cloud formation.

9. Double Arch

This is another black and white favorite from the Utah trip. I had to wait a long time for the horde of selfie-takers to vacate the base of arch! I was initally not very happy with the color version of this image, taken in very harsh light with a featureless blue sky. However I recently gave it another chance in black and white. The result is completely different and much more satisfying, to the point that it climbed right up into the "Best of 2017" list.

10. Letchworth Sunrise

One of my goals for 2017 was to get out more often to shoot local subjects. This photograph is the result of one such effort, a short camping trip in September at Letchworth State Park, the "Grand Canyon of the Genesee River" south of Rochester, NY. I photographed the sunrise at this location on two consecutive mornings. The first morning proved to be more of a scouting trip, allowing me to find the desired location in relation to the rising sun. In this image, taken the second morning, everything came together with the rising sun above the river of low fog in the valley.

11. The Cloister

We spent a bit more than a week in late September visiting friends who had rented an apartment in Paris for two months. For part of that time we traveled with them to Provence, touring the back roads by rental car. This photograph of the cloister at the Abbaye de Senanque is my clear favorite from the entire trip. I envisioned the final black and white image as I pressed the shutter button.

12. Zen Reflection

Autumn reflection, Taughannock Falls State Park, NY.

The final image in this annual retrospective is from one of my favorite local spots, Taughannock Falls State Park near Ithaca, NY. On this late fall day I was hoping to find reflections of sun-lit fall foliage in the quiet, shady water of the creek. It was not a great year for fall color in our region, so there was not much to work with. However, when I saw the juxtaposition of these rocks and the reflected color I knew I had found my subject. Thirty seconds after I took this photograph the wind came up and the reflection disappeared.

Monochrome Vision

December 21, 2017

"Color is about color. Black and white is about everything else."

This quote is attributed to Ansel Adams, but I have yet to find the actual source. Whether or not Adams actually said (or wrote) it, it rings true to me.

The origins of fine art photography are monochrome (think Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and many others) simply because black and white film was the available medium. Today's world of photography is awash in color -- "ultimate" sunsets and sunrises at iconic and not-so-iconic locations, autumn foliage, brightly-colored birds, brilliant flowers. Our visual system is tuned to the world around us, and the color information in images helps us decode what we see and map the image onto our experience. But what happens when color is absent? A 2013 study of the neurobiology of color perception used brain scans to assess how experimental subjects responded to monochrome images of familiar colored objects. In a surprising result, brain regions that activate in response to viewing a specific color (e.g., yellow) also activated when viewing a monochrome image of a familiar object of the same color (e.g., a banana). Thus, viewing monochrome images engages the color sense of the viewer as she seeks to decode the image and fill in the "missing" information.

Removing color from an image is therefore a powerful tool to engage the viewer. Here are a few examples in which conversion to monochrome has helped me look beyond color to produce images that are in my view stronger and more compelling.

Too much color

The image at the top of this post is a perfect example of too much color. This rose was exuberantly red, to the point that all I could see in the original image was a blast of color. Of course, the subtle tonal shadings and textures of the petals were also present, but they were subservient to the color. This monochrome version takes the tonal shadings and textures and makes them the subject of the image. For me, the monochrome image invites exploration at a completely different level than the original color version.

Too little color

We were on a photography tour in Iceland at midsummer in 2014 during what the locals claimed was perhaps the worst midsummer weather ever. I wound up photographing beautiful locations in truly miserable conditions. At the Hraunfossar waterfall complex the rain and low monotonous gray clouds created a very limited color palette. With these conditions to work with, I chose to process a photograph from this location in black and white, emphasizing the shapes of the rocks and the flowing water and evoking the starkness of the volcanic landscape.

Shifting the viewer's perspective

Facebook, Flickr and Instagram bombard us with photographs of beautiful and well-known locations. As a result, opportunities to engage viewers with a fresh perspective on these subjects are limited. One solution to this problem -- which is employed by many dedicated nature and landscape photographers -- is to simply avoid these iconic locations and find compelling subjects in more obscure places. However, it is also possible to use monochrome processing make something other than "just another photograph" of a well-known location.

One example, again from Iceland, is Kirkjufell, the "Witch's Hat". This distinctive mountain, with its adjacent triple waterfall, has become a magnet for photographers who visit Iceland. The web is filled with images of Kirkjufell in all sorts of spectacular light -- sunrises, sunsets, dramatic cloudscapes, brilliant auroras. However we were there in the fall of 2016 in so-so mid-day light, making it challenging to take a photograph that was anything more than a simple visual record of my visit..

My decision to process an image from that day in black and white took this iconic spot into more unconventional territory and allowed me to give it a moody feel that was not achievable in the original color image.

Architecture

I like to use monochrome processing for photographs of architectural subjects. Monochrome emphasizes the strong lines and forms of buildings and lends itself to high contrast renderings that would seem garish in color. This image of the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum in New York illustrates this approach.

Monochrome gallery

I have collected some of my favorite monochrome images in this new gallery. I hope you enjoy them!

Photographing Vireo again

May 31, 2017

Oakland's abandoned 16th Street Station, the venue for the climactic 11th episode of Vireo. — Oakland's abandoned 16th Street Station, the venue for the climactic 11th episode of *Vireo*.

In January I had a second opportunity to photograph the filming of Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser, a serialized opera produced for television by KCET in Los Angeles. As of today all 12 episodes are available for streaming at the KCET website and will be broadcast by KCET in early June.

The completion of this project has caused me to reflect back on the whirlwind week in January when I served as the still photographer for the filming of the final episodes of Vireo. It was a week filled with musical superstars (the Kronos Quartet), a Metropolitan Opera star (Deborah Voigt), and a cast of, well, hundreds anyway, including members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Chorus School, musicians from the Magik*Magik Orchestra, members of the vocal ensemble Lorelei, and an audience/orchestra of musicians from the Amateur Music Network. Locations included the Ft. Mason Center and a video studio in San Francisco, Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County, and -- most notably -- the abandoned 16th Street railroad station in Oakland (lead image), transformed for this event into a colorful and surreal circus venue.

The week began at the end of the opera with the filming of the 12th and final episode, featuring Rowen Sabala (Vireo) and the Kronos Quartet. Originally the entire episode was envisioned to occur in a redwood grove, but the fickle and wet January weather precluded any outdoor performance by the Kronos Quartet. Instead, filming took place at the Fort Mason Center in a large empty room lit by windows on three sides.

Final instructions from Composer Lisa Bielawa and Director Charles Otte for Rowen Sabala and the Kronos Quartet.

Musical interplay between Rowen Sabala and David Harrington, founder of the Kronos Quartet.

Later in the week, this episode was re-shot on location among the redwoods in Marin County, with Rowen performing her aria a cappella. I will be interested to see how the production team integrates these two performances in the final version of Episode 12!

In the middle of the week action shifted the 16th Street Station for the final segment of Episode 10 and all of Episode 11. At the end of Episode 10 Vireo is treated with morphine in a segment featuring members of the Lorelei Ensemble dressed as nurses. Subsequently she is wheeled on a gurney to the center of the "circus ring," where Episode 11 begins.

Rowen Sabala (Vireo) and Emily Marvosh of the Lorelei Ensemble.

It is impossible to describe in a few words the chaos and drama of Episode 11, Vireo's drug-induced dream in which familiar characters are transformed in strange and sometimes fantastic ways as the story reaches its climax. The following photographs provide glimpses of the action.

Vireo (Rowen Sabala), awakened from her drug-induced sleep, sings the Dragon Aria to the "afflicted girls" (San Francisco Girls Chorus). — Vireo (Rowen Sabala), awakened from her drug-induced sleep, sings the Dragon Aria to the "afflicted girls" (San Francisco Girls Chorus).

The Doctor (Gregory Purnhagen, right) and his Assistant (Ryan Glover) are transformed into clowns on tricycles.

Caroline, Vireo's "mysterious twin" (Emma MacKenzie) appears in devilish garb, accompanied by her strange doll/totem. — Caroline, Vireo's "mysterious twin" (Emma MacKenzie) appears in devilish garb, accompanied by her strange doll/totem.

Episode 11 reaches a climax as Caroline (Emma MacKenzie) and Vireo (Rowen Sabala) name each other as witches.

The Queen of Sweden (Deborah Voigt) makes a dramatic entrance.

Amateur musicians in the audience provide musical punctuation for the Queen's pronouncements.

The view from the Queen's throne gives a sense of Episode 11's epic scale.

Finally, at the end of the week, the action moved a white-walled studio in San Francisco to film scenes from Episode 10 involving the principal members of the cast and a 1962 Plymouth Valiant. Nearly all of the action took place inside the car, a challenge for both the cameraman (who obviously got all the best shots and sight lines) and me. It was nearly impossible to get useful images through the windows of the car until I realized that I could use a circular polarizing filter to minimize reflections!

Being even a small part of the Vireo project was both exhilarating and immensely satisfying. It posed a variety of photographic challenges that stretched me beyond my comfort zone and demanded the most of my equipment. However, unlike my first gig as a photographer for Vireo, this time I was known to the cast and the production team and, in turn, I had some idea of what to expect. In the end I was able to deliver a portfolio of images that were selected for both their quality as photographs and their narrative value to document the production.

2016 in Review: Twelve Images

January 10, 2017

“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” (Ansel Adams)

January... time to look back, take stock, and look ahead. Taking this advice from "St. Ansel" to heart, I have selected a set of twelve photographs (out of almost 5000 shutter clicks) from 2016. These are not necessarily the "best" (whatever that means) or most popular on social media. Instead, they represent waypoints that were significant to me on my photographic journey. Here they are, in chronological order.

1. Thread Cones

In March I made a return visit to the historic abandoned silk mill in Lonaconing, MD. When I saw this rack of metal thread cones I immediately saw in my mind the image I wanted, and I ran through the rain back to my car for my 85mm f/1.8 lens. This is one of my two or three favorite images of the year.

2. Oil Cans

This image from the Lonaconing mill was also made with the 85mm f/1.8 lens. I was drawn to the subtle patina on both oil cans and the sense of depth afforded by the out-of-focus machinery in the background.

These two Lonaconing images, plus six others from this visit and and my first visit to the mill in 2013, comprised a portfolio that was selected by a jury for inclusion in the "Portfolio Showcase 2016" exhibit at the Image City Photography Gallery in Rochester, NY in August 2016. More Lonaconing images can be found in this gallery.

3. Aria

June found me in San Francisco, serving as the photographer for the production of an episode of "Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser," a serialized opera being produced for television. This episode was filmed on Alcatraz after the park closed for the night. My assignment was to photograph the entire production -- from the boat ride to Alcatraz, to behind-the-scenes shots of performers, musicians, and production crew, to shots of the performances in progress.

This image, one of my favorites from that event, was shot through the dirty glass window of the open door of the main cell block. I was able to frame both Greg Purnhagen (in the role of Doctor/Priest) and the steadycam operator recording his performance.

4. Caroline

I was able to get this image of Emma MacKenzie (Vireo's "mysterious twin Caroline") between takes. The dramatic side lighting of the video lights caught her pensive expression as she awaited her entrance (in a straightjacket, seated on a hospital gurney and holding an odd skeletal totem) at the beginning of the scene.

5. Vision of Liberty

In July I had the rare opportunity to spend a brutally hot day with a group of hard-hatted photographers on a tour of the unrestored Immigrant Hospital on Ellis Island. The hospital was immigration "purgatory" where immigrants with health problems awaited a decision by the medical staff -- only those deemed to be healthy were allowed to immigrate, whereas the sick ones were returned to their port of origin. I found it interesting that the Statue of Liberty was so clearly visible from many of the hospital rooms, an ever-present reminder of a hoped-for future that was not yet attainable.

6. Aurora!

All of the remaining pictures in this selection are from our return visit to Iceland in late September and early October. Unlike our 2014 trip, we had many days of excellent weather, beautiful fall colors, and the Northern Lights. More extensive collections of images from the Iceland trip can be found in this gallery and in this album on my Flickr page

This year's trip was billed as "Aurora Madness" and it definitely delivered. This image, taken during the night of the most intense aurora display, captures for me the essence of being all alone overlooking glaciers and mountains with the aurora dancing overhead.

7. Blue Lagoon

No visit to Iceland is complete without a visit to the Jökulsárlon glacier lagoon and the adjacent black sand beach. Here the "blue hour" light, just before sunrise, accentuated the natural blue color of the icebergs.

8. Chill

Iceberg fragments carried out of the lagoon at Jökulsárlon are washed up on the adjacent beach made of black volcanic sand. At sunrise these diamond-like ice fragments sparkle and glow as if lit from within. Here, a long exposure softened the breaking waves to accentuate the sharp detail of the iceberg.

9. Kirkjufellsfoss

Kirkjufellsfoss is one of the most iconic (and over-photographed) locations in Iceland. During our 2014 Iceland trip we were here on a gray, rainy and windy day and I came away with no useful photographs. This year the weather was more benign and I was finally able to get this image. The moody look was achieved by conversion to black-and-white with a red filter to darken the sky and add drama.

10. Arnarstapi Arch

The sea arch at Arnarstapi is on the southwestern coast of Iceland. This photograph is the result of one of those rare occasions where I achieved exactly what I intended. I found a high camera position to achieve visual separation between the arch and the rocks in the distance, and I used a 3-minute exposure with a strong neutral density filter to soften the movement of the breaking waves and accentuate the movement of the clouds. I knew from the outset that this would ultimately be a monochrome image.

11. Abandoned Farm

The modernization of the Icelandic economy over the past several decades has resulted in the abandonment of many rural farms. This shot was not originally among my collection of most significant photographs, but I kept returning to it in my image review. It speaks strongly to me of the changes that have occurred in rural Iceland.

12. Oxararfoss

This photograph is the result of another second chance following a disappointing experience on the 2014 trip. Here, the Oxarar River plunges over a cliff and flows down the rift between continental plates in Thingvellir National Park. On the last trip I found this panoramic composition only with my iPhone; this time I was determined to revisit it with my camera. On this day, the fading fall color of the low bushes along the river and the dark clouds added a sense of drama, as if winter were just around the corner.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

In pulling together this set of images I was surprised to see that they represent only a handful of my photographic adventures. There were many other images from other locations that did not make the final cut. I am also surprised that none of the final twelve images were taken locally. One of my resolutions for 2017 is to get out and about more in the Finger Lakes, camera in hand, to take advantage of the scenes and subjects that are close by.

Photographing Opera on Alcatraz (!)

October 27, 2016

Director Charlie Otte and Director of Photography Greg Cotten record shots of Vireo (Rowen Sabala) approaching Alcatraz.

The words opera and Alcatraz seldom occur in the same thought or sentence, let alone the title for a blog post. However, earlier this year I had the chance to serve as the official still photographer for the production of an episode of a serialized made-for-television opera that was staged in the cell block on Alcatraz one evening after all the tourists had gone home.

The opera in question is Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser, written by composer Lisa Bielawa with libretto by Erik Ehn. Conceived more than two decades ago as a "conventional" opera, Vireo was never completed or performed in that format. However, the opera was recently re-imagined as a television serial consisting of twelve 10- to 12-minute episodes and is now in production by KCET-LA under the direction of Charles Otte. The full opera will be released by KCET in the spring of 2017, but the first two episodes, plus interviews and other background information, can be seen now on the KCET website.

I became involved with this project through a bit of covert nepotism: you see, Lisa Bielawa is my niece, so I have followed the development of the new Vireo project from its inception, albeit at a distance. When I learned that one episode would be shot on Alcatraz at a time when I would be in the Bay Area I hoped that I might tag along to see and photograph the event, but when I learned about the strict limitations on the number of persons to be allowed on Alcatraz after hours by the National Park Service I gave up on that idea.

Fortunately for me, the Vireo team was having difficulty identifying a photographer to document the Alcatraz episode. Lisa said "I know a photographer who is available and would donate his services" and pointed the Vireo folks here to my website. Apparently what they saw convinced them that I could do the job. As a result, I found myself identified as the "photographer" on the tightly-regulated list of 49 people who boarded the boat to Alcatraz -- actors in costume, wardrobe and make-up assistants, musicians, and the large entourage of people and equipment needed to set up an on-site video production studio in the Alcatraz cell block. They all thought I was just "some photographer Lisa knows." Only she and I thought it was a little strange!

The cast and crew of Vireo at the dock on Alcatraz, ready to begin work. — The cast and crew of *Vireo* at the dock on Alcatraz, ready to begin work.

My assignment was to photograph the entire production -- from the boat ride to Alcatraz to behind-the-scenes shots of performers, musicians, and production crew, to shots of the performances in progress. The Vireo production team would use these photographs for their social media campaign and other publications. I had never done anything like this before -- it was both daunting and exhilarating, an experience I will never forget.

The first scene was shot in the main cell block with Greg Purnhagen (in the role of Doctor/Priest) accompanied by six vocalists and a hurdy-gurdy.

Composer Lisa Bielawa provides last-minute instructions to members of Cappella SF.

Greg Purnhagen (Doctor/Priest) in action.

The remainder of the action moved upstairs to the hospital cells. After sunset the photographic conditions became increasingly challenging because I could rely only on the banks of LED lights used for video recording. I'm fortunate to have have a camera that can "see in the dark." (Digression for photography nerds: all of the remaining photos in this post were taken at ISO 12,800.)

Vireo (Rowen Sabala, left) and her "mysterious twin Caroline" (Emma MacKenzie).

Emma MacKenzie (Caroline) between takes, awaiting her entrance.

One hospital cell was converted to a video production studio. Here, the only lights were the Director's video monitor and the status lights of electronic equipment. I thought that this photograph was impossible under these conditions but I took it anyway.

Director Charles Otte giving instructions during a take.

A string quartet and a handbell choir provided accompaniment for the hospital cell scenes.

Members of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble in the Alcatraz hospital.

Handbells in a hospital cell under the direction of composer Lisa Bielawa.

The tight production schedule was complicated by the need to shoot each scene twice -- in 19th century and 21st century dress -- to facilitate cutting between these takes when putting together the final video.

Rowen Sabala (Vireo) in 21st century costume awaits an entrance.

After six hours of intense work the cast, musicians, and production crew left the Alcatraz dock at midnight, just beating the National Park Service-imposed deadline for our departure.

Rowen Sabala and Lisa Bielawa on the boat ride home -- tired, but happy!

From a photographic perspective, it was a success -- the Vireo team liked the images that I provided them and used them in several stories about the event (such as this one). Better yet, it looks like I will have the opportunity to photograph the last two episodes of Vireo in January. This time, I will have some idea about what I'm getting into!

The Other Side of Ellis Island

August 27, 2016

Last month I had the rare opportunity to join a small group of hard-hatted photographers spending the day shooting in the unrestored Immigrant Hospital on Ellis Island.

The hospital opened in 1902, serving as a detention facility for immigrants who were ill and therefore considered unfit to enter the United States. After the hospital was closed in 1930 the buildings served as offices for the FBI, a detention facility for WWII prisoners of war, and finally a Coast Guard station. The Coast Guard declared the buildings to be "excess government property" and they were abandoned in 1954. However, recent fundraising efforts have allowed some of the buildings to be stabilized against further damage and decay, and parts of the hospital were opened to the public for hard hat tours in 2014.

Our day-long photographic tour, which involved access to parts of Ellis Island hospital complex that are still not open to the public, was arranged by photographers Tony Sweet and Mark Menditto in cooperation with Save Ellis Island and the National Park Service to raise funds for additional restoration work.

Here are some of the first batch of images from that day.

The Statue of Liberty, visible from a hospital room

The hospital employed advanced methods in public health medicine, such as giant autoclaves used to sterilize mattresses.

For more than 3500 immigrants the journey to a new life ended on Ellis Island. The hospital's autopsy theater was a teaching facility that drew medical students and observers from hospitals across the United States.

Cadaver refrigerator in the autopsy theater

Return to Lonaconing

May 21, 2016

Metal spools.  Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 400, f/2.2 — Metal spools. Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 400, f/2.2

A few weeks ago I had a chance to return to Lonaconing MD to photograph the abandoned silk mill there. The three years since my last visit have not been kind to the place. There are more leaks, more decay -- it is clearly several steps closer to ruin. Who knows if it will remain standing (and safe to enter) long enough for me to shoot there again?

This time I paid less attention to the bigger picture and focused on little things. For me, these details to evoke a sense of the past occupants and their work as much as -- perhaps more than -- the rows of silent machines.

Forgotten shoes.  Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 400, f/16 — **Forgotten shoes.** Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 400, f/16

Job tags.  Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 @ 110 mm; ISO 400, f/5 — **Job tags**. Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 @ 110 mm; ISO 400, f/5

Several of the images here were taken using my (relatively) new Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 lens. Previously I had used this lens almost exclusively for candid people pics (grandkid shots). At Lonaconing, I enjoyed how this lens allowed me to play with shallow depth of field as a way to direct the viewer's eye and to isolate a subject. The more I shoot with this lens the more I like it!

Silk spool.  Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 320, f/2/2 — **Silk spool**. Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 320, f/2/2

Oil cans.  Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 400, f/2 — **Oil cans**. Nikon D750, Nikkor 85mm f/1.8, ISO 400, f/2

My existing Lonaconing gallery has been updated with these new images. Selections from that gallery will become part of an eight-image Lonaconing portfolio that I am assembling as an entry into a juried portfolio exhibition at Image City Photography Gallery in Rochester, NY. I have no idea whether a Lonaconing portfolio (I have four candidates at the moment) will be strong enough to be accepted. However, the process of selecting only eight images (specified by exhibition rules) that can both stand on their own as photographs and tell a story when viewed together has stretched my brain in new directions. We'll see how this turns out.

Spindle detail.  Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 @ 70 mm, ISO 100, f/4. — **Spindle detail.** Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 @ 70 mm, ISO 100, f/4.

Fire bucket.  Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 @ 98mm, ISO 400, f/11 — **Fire bucket**. Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 @ 98mm, ISO 400, f/11

A Look Back to Lonaconing

March 6, 2016

The abandoned silk mill in Lonaconing, MD is an eerie place.

The Klotz Silk Throwing Mill was built in 1905 to spin and dye silk thread, taking advantage of a local source of cheap labor -- the wives and children of coal miners in the nearby mines in western Maryland. In 1957 the Klotz company closed the doors in a labor dispute, and the mill has been abandoned since, left to the elements. The current owner permits groups of photographers to visit the building, for a fee, to step back into the world of 1957.

We were fortunate to have the chance to photograph the mill in the spring of 2013, and I will be returning soon to photograph it again and see what has changed during the intervening three years. In preparation for that visit, I have collected images from my 2013 visit in a new gallery.

There are more pictures from our 2013 visit on Carol's blog here and here, as well as a cool video that gives a sense of being there on a rainy day.

2015 in Review: Ten Images

January 31, 2016

My turn (a little late) for the photographer's conventional look back at 2015. These ten images are not necessarily my "best" (whatever that means) or "most popular," just the ten that resonate the most with me.

1. The (Un)Red Rose

This image was taken on a cold January night during an indoor macro shoot. I was experimenting with off-camera flash to illuminate the rose from different angles. I particularly liked this shot, but it was just too red! Conversion to B&W shifts attention to light, shadows and texture rather than in-your-face color.

2. Eagle Cliff Falls

Torrential spring rains created heavy flow in all of the waterfalls in the Finger Lakes. This was my first visit to Eagle Cliff Falls in Havana Glen (not far from the much more famous Watkins Glen). Despite the rain and the sediment in the water I came away with this rare shot of the falls in full roar.

3. Seneca Sunset

This was taken at Seneca Yacht Club on a warm summer evening. I was experimenting with using a new reverse graduated ND filter to balance exposures in shots where the sun is just above the horizon. I think it worked!

4. Boston Skyline Abstract

I was on the Boston Greenway in August shooting a large outdoor fiber art installation, but my eye was grabbed by the abstract reflection of the Boston skyline in the glass wall of the Intercontinental Hotel.

5. Fist Bump

This is another shot from Boston. We encountered this street drummer while walking through Quincy Market. I was happy just to listen until a little boy approached and wanted to join in the fun. The drummer gave him one of his sticks and then matched his beat to what the boy was doing. I scrambled to dig my camera out of my bag, but by the time I was ready to shoot the boy was done, except for the congratulatory "fist bump" from the drummer. Again, I chose a grainy B&W treatment to remove the distractions of color and focus attention on the drummer's face.

6. Warp Speed at the Beach

This image and the next two were taken during a workshop on Cape Cod led by Tony Sweet. Here, a two-minute exposure (using a 10-stop ND filter) at Race Point Beach captures the streaming movement of the clouds against a static foreground.

7. Come Back Next Year

These vacation cottages line the beach along Cape Cod Bay in Truro, MA. When we visited they were quiet, boarded up for the winter. The high contrast of the early afternoon light made this an obvious choice for a B&W treatment.

8. Colors of Dawn

On the way to catch the sunrise from the Fort Hill overlook at Cape Cod National Seashore, I said "Try to remember to try some swipes." This image, the result of a 6-sec horizontal swipe (hand-held), turned the pre-sunrise landscape into an abstract with layers of color.

9. The Grain Wharf

Before dawn at the historic wharf in Coupeville WA -- one of my very favorite images for 2015.

10. Sol Duc Falls

This image is my favorite from an October visit to Olympic National Park. I actually photographed this location twice, two days apart. This shot is from the second day, which followed a day of steady rain. Here I was finally able to break away from conventional compositions from this location. I isolated the top of the falls, allowing me to use the lines of the flowing water to lead the eye back to the rich fall colors.

Night Vision