Returning to One’s Roots by Using a Point and Shoot

Over the Sea of Grass
Over the Sea of Grass

When I was a young lad I had a 35mm Kodak camera that I had won at a contest in Montana.  About once a year my family and I would go on a trip, usually to a national park and I would be sure to pack the camera.  I would take several rolls of film and I would ultimately end up exposing most of it in the first couple of days and then I would have to ration the rest for the remainder.  During the time I was scurrying up on rocks and running up to lake shores to snap a quick photo, I had no idea that one day that would turn into something greater.  My only goal in those days was to capture the beauty around me so that I could be reminded of it later.

As time has progressed, so has my equipment.  During college I used a completely manual Pentax K-1000 to capture almost solely black and white images.  I did quite a bit of dark room work in those days, rolling and exposing my own film, and creating prints until the dead of night with only a singular red light for illumination.  I learned of different lenses, apertures, and shutter speeds.  I first used a tripod and a medium format camera.  Needless to say, the quick point and shooting slowly morphed into more deliberate, careful shooting, I had become a “serious” photographer.   Besides, now I had a grade depending on it.

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A Post Show Thank You

Under the Skies of Fall
Under the Skies of Fall

Over the weekend, I was setup at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge’s “Art of the Wild” show near Missouri Valley, Iowa. I want to thank everyone who stopped by and saw all the artists’ great work. It was so nice to visit with everyone and I had some great conversations. I look forward to attending again next year.

Additionally, I did get a couple of opportunities to grab a couple of new images. This particular image was taken in the parking lot with a leaf that I found on the ground. The sky was so beautiful I had to capture it in the background. The contrasting colors work well with this centrist composition.

Technical Details:
Canon G10, 6.1mm, f/3.5
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Iowa Side

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Under the Skies of Fall - An Autumn Leaf Against a Blue Fall Sky

Fall’s Final Curtain Call

Fall\'s Final Curtain Call

This is an image of the same tree from Autumnal Brillance, close to sunset with the sun low in the sky. The leaves were completely gone in a matter of days after this photograph was captured.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/16, 1/60 sec.
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, Iowa Side

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Fall’s Final Curtain Call - A maple tree bursts forth into glorious autumn colors.

Frosty Fall Leaf

Frosty Fall Leaf

This past weekend I spent at my brother-in-law’s cabin in centralish Nebraska again. This is the same place that I made the photographs for my tractor series last month. Most of the leaves had fallen, but there was a nice cool morning that allowed me to get some frosty shots. Today’s image is a frosty fallen cottonwood leaf.

Techinical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM + Extension Tube, f/14, 1 sec.
Near Cedar Rapids, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: Frosty Fall Leaf

The Last Moments

The Last Moments

Today is the second installment of my tribute to the short Nebraska fall. Grabbing my macro and extension tube, I captured these beads of water on the fallen red maple leaves.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM + Extension Tube, f/10, 1/60 sec.
Schramm State Recreation Area, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: The Last Moments - Drops on a Fallen Maple Leaf

The Imperfect Image

I have always imagined capturing an image of a leaf under the ice.  In my imagination the leaf was preserved in pristine condition with a nice thin layer of ice covering it to add texture and depth.  Last winter at the OPPD Arboretum I went on a particularly cold day to capture some ice pattern abstracts and leaves trapped in the frozen pond.  I found a fallen fellow that was close to what I wanted, but when I returned to my computer I immediately dismissed the image as not “perfect” enough. 

7 months have gone by and I have reviewed the image again and this time I made a realization:  It is the imperfections which help give this image character and make it more “real”.  99% of the leaves I have seen trapped under the ice are somehow “misshapen”, but this is nature at work - decomposing and renewing for the following year.  In this image the bubbles and the notch out of the side of the leaf give it added interest that would not have been there otherwise.  Sometimes imperfection in our work shows a different glimpse of the beauty of nature.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 50 CM lens, f/10, 1/125 sec.
OPPD Arboretum, Omaha, Nebraska

This image can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=FrozenInTime&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/midwest.xml&x=27

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