The Timeless Traveler

Frozen Roses

I was wandering through galleries on Canyon Road (Santa Fe) – on a very cold day. My friend suggested we visit a very creative gallery – known for its staging.

The gallery was closed, but sure enough, the courtyard was staged with eclectic and beautiful “decor”.

These were live roses – placed out in a bird bath the day before. The owner probably did not anticipate the change to freezing conditions on her day off, or she would have taken the birdbath inside.

I am am so glad she didn’t because I was able to shoot a lovely collection of “frozen roses”.

And did I mention the light was perfect?

Shoot the Moon . . .

I haven’t had as much time for photography as I would have liked lately – new shots or exploring the archives for images to share.

But, I did mange to shoot the last full moon.

It amazes me that you can get a shot with this much detail without a telescope, but on a very clear night, you can.

You need a tripod, of course, and the longest telephoto lens you have. Set the camera on the highest possible resolution because the image is not going to fill the frame. You will have to crop and enlarge, so the more image information the camera collects, the better.

Another tip: If you live where you can see the horizon, you will notice that the full moon appears much larger when it is just rising – i.e. it is low in the sky. That is the best time to take your shot.

Calla Lily Pot

There is a very good reason why artists and photographers gravitate to Santa Fe. They all say it is because of the golden light, so I thought I would show you what they mean.

This photo was taken in my front courtyard at 6:15 in the evening – about a half hour before sunset at this time of the year.

I reflected fill light to the right side of the pot with a metallic reflector so the right side  would not be lost in shadow, but the color in this photo has not been altered at all – straight from the camera.

So you see what they mean about the golden light – and also why everybody here is so crazy about terra cotta. It looks really spectacular in this light!

Broken Window

This is my favorite of the photos I shot yesterday in the little village of El Rito, New Mexico.

Maybe one of the most interesting things about New Mexico is how much beauty remains in ruin. You can find the most amazing color and texture in compositions that are being created solely by the forces of nature – as structures slowly return to the earth from which they came.

I love the shape and the mystery of the break in this window, the patterns created by dirt and old glass and the texture in the crumbling adobe brick – eager to become just red earth once again.

There is poetry here, but the words don’t seem to be available at the moment.

Oh well, a picture is worth a thousand words, they say.

Cosmos – Light and Shadow

At first glance, you would not know how tricky this shot actually is.

In the first place, you never want to photograph flowers in the direct sun. Harsh sunlight always burns out white flowers and causes red, yellow, and orange to bleed (look like they are not in focus and lose detail because of glare). Since those are the colors of most flowers, it’s a pretty good rule to wait for softer, diffused light.

But I lucked out here, There was just enough of a wispy cloud cover to filter and soften the sunlight, but leave enough strength to make a shadow, Shadow can be a killer in a photo – creating all sorts of shapes and designs that obscure the subject and busy-up the image.

But here the shadows are subtle enough to create another round of petals in this flower. It almost looks like cut paper, doesn’t it? Another rare and lucky light moment. You have to be ready for those, and pounce when they happen!

Tulip

My Advanced Photography students are studying flowers this week, so I have been going through my own stash for examples.

This shot was taken last Spring in my Garden Room.

It seems that, because they are so beautiful, flowers should be the easiest thing to photograph, but we can be fooled by that. There are lots of hurdles to overcome and red, orange, and yellow flowers offer the biggest challenge to the photographer. They want to hide their detail behind glare and often look like they are blurred or bleeding in a photograph because of that.

But, as with most things. you can learn to solve the problems, and then red, orange, or yellow flowers make the most amazing subjects.

This is the first time I have ever  used the word “creamy” to describe an image, but that’s how I feel about this Tulip. It looks luscious and creamy to me.

Rowry

July, 1992

I brought a new kitten home. Found her on a road trip to Portland, OR – a funny story you will hear about in the Fur Family blog a little later.

She had the most beautiful aqua blue eyes and a strange name – more about that later too.

I had just bought new Southwestern throw pillows and arranged them on the bed. The kitty was helping as kittens always do and I thought I better grab the camera. When she emerged to sit for this portrait, I was blessed indeed!

An Apple Day

Good photography, like any other form of art, requires that you be able to see.

Most of us can see, but I guess this is more like “notice”.

Training in photography is about learning the quality of light, how it behaves, and how it effects the way we see anything. The second part of that is being vigilant enough to notice when a wonderful light event is happening.

Many people think they can’t be photographers because they do not have the where-with-all to travel to exotic locations, but great photos ops are around you all the time no matter where you are.

This is one of my favorite photos and it was even published in a national photography magazine.

It was entirely un-staged and happened next to my kitchen sink. The kitchen has lots of windows and a large skylight. All of those light sources conspired, while I was making a favorite snack, to present the perfect lighting for this apple.

All I had to do was notice. Oh yeah . . . and get the camera in a big hurry. Snacks can wait. Great photos cannot.

Watching and Waiting

If I am to call myself a serious photographer, then I must shoot all the time – even when I am in one of my “too busy” places. So I do and I am.

I have *so* many Hummingbirds in the garden this year. All the Hummingbird Mint (Agastache) is in bloom and there are four feeders full of home cooked brew, so I guess the word is out that my courtyard is the place to be.

There are two approaches to photographing Hummingbirds, and the first one doesn’t work. Chasing them around the garden hoping they will decide to sit for a portrait with you chasing them around the garden does NOT produce satisfactory results.

The approach that does work takes time, and we just never think we have enough of that. But, if we added up all that fruitless chasing time, we would be surprised to find we would have had enough for Method #2 – Watching and Waiting.

Get yourself a little seat and go sit in the middle of the most Hummingbird activity. Watch and wait. As much as they seem “flighty” and unpredictable, these are actually creatures who follow a routine. They visit flowers and feeders in a certain rotation (to each his own), and will stop and rest at the same spot between rounds.

All you have to do is figure where that is, make sure your camera is all set up for the light at the scene, and wait (patiently).

The next time your intended Hummingbird sits down for a rest, you have at least 30 seconds to capture him (her) in all his glory. And if you don’t get what you want, wait for the next round.

I would have liked a little sharper focus on this shot, but I was sitting on the ground under a lilac bush so my tripod could not be set up and I had to use my knees as a camera rest. Not as good as a tripod, but better than nothing.

Canyon Iris

Today, I announced my first ever Advanced Photography Workshop, and it is subtitled: Romancing the Light. While searching for an image that could visually express that idea, I came across this Iris.

I often joke with students that a monkey could take a pretty picture of a flower because a flower is already so beautiful.

But there is a lot of difference between a pretty photo of a flower and a photo that does justice to the delicate structure of these miraculous blooms.

It’s all about the light and the story of this photo is a perfect example of how you have to dance with the light in order to make a photo like this.

I was wandering Canyon Road with two friends last month. Canyon Road in Santa Fe is this wonderful tree shaded “lane” lined with galleries housed in fine old adobe dwellings. Professional landscapers fill the tiny yards and window boxes with flowers, and over all, it’s a place you don’t want to miss if you love art and/or photography.

Our weather that day was partly cloudy with thin white clouds (not storm clouds), and it was late in the afternoon when we spotted this Iris, which we all agreed was the prettiest we had ever seen.

It was blooming in front of an adobe wall which reflected the slanting afternoon sun, creating an inner glow in the Iris. But when the sun was out from behind a cloud, the light was too bright and detail was lost. When the sun was behind a cloud, the internal glow was gone. Between those two extremes, I knew there was treasure.

So, I had to send the girls ahead and spend some time with that Iris. I watched it change through a couple of cloud passages and found the moment when the light was filtered just enough to create the soft glow – when the sun was just about to emerge from the edge of a cloud. I adjusted my aperture to blur the stucco texture away, and waited and watched the sky. The next time the sun was about to emerge, I got 10-20 shots off in a big hurry, and this was the best of the lot.

So, that’s what I mean by “dancing with the light”. You have to be willing to follow its lead, but be ready to take your own steps when it’s your turn!

Yes, my friends sometimes get impatient with all of this, but I buy them a glass of wine, and all is well.