I was digging through the archives and ran across some images from a trip to Coupeville, WA. to attend a Craig Tanner Workshop taught through the Coupeville Arts Center. This is the iconic pier and wharf-house, at low tide!
There is something about these iconic forms that seem to draw me in, wherever I go. I remember staying at a house in town (starving artist rates) that overlooked the water and I believe Mt. Baker on the eastern horizon,
it had a great wrap around porch and a terrific retired couple that had worked and lived in Seattle. I really enjoyed the trip and would like to return to the Pacific Northwest.
I hope everyone is watching Ken Burns epic "National Parks" on PBS - completely awesome, I just wish I had a HDTV. This is a shot from a few years ago at the Smokey Mountain National Park.
Another abstract photograph while panning down using the Lensbaby composer. I believe this was another grove of small paper bark birch trees; not spaghetti drying at the local pasta shop. I should start putting a collection of these together, sorry thinking out loud. Enjoy.
This image is taken near Emporia, Kansas on my way to the Prairie National Preserve in Chase County. The post production work was inspired by a tutorial from Mark Johnson (
http://www.msjphotography.com/index.php/2009/08/photoshop-workbench-192-achieving-the-grunge-look)
I have learned nearly all my Photoshop skills which are few but enough to get by from Mark; thank you Mark. Funny thing about this shot, the major interstate highway ends up being about 50 yards behind this tree but the fog was enough to obscure it.
Death Valley National Park 2008.
Badwater is the lowest place in the US approx. 282 feet below sea level, the formations are salt deposits that are reacting to evaporation. My friend Alec and I took a trip last fall, it was the first time for both of us at this incredible National Park. We shot a couple video tutorials (http://blog.acjohnsonphoto.com/during-the-shoot-episode-4-split-nd-filters-part-1) and photographed all the usual spots, plus got lost at Mesquite dunes at night. The rangers repeatedly told us to be careful, and we only wander aimlessly for about 30 minutes before we regained our bearings.
Continuing an architecture theme; the Contemporary Arts Center - Cincinnati, Ohio. I believe this was architect Zaha Hadid's first US project. Somewhat of a difficult building to photograph although, special thanks to my wing-man that evening. I think we ended up at Cadillac Ranch, no not a strip club - some Texas themed bar with a mechanical bull. (great for the tourist or convention crowd) Great people watching, when you get drunk people riding spinning objects after they have signed a release to do it. Have a great Labor Day weekend!
The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN. Architect - Jean Nouvel. The image above is under the 178' cantilevered bridge that almost extents to the edge of the Mississippi River. If you are ever in the area it is well worth a visit even if you do not have time for a show.
It has been a busy week or so, I returned from my trip to the North Shore (a few more images to come) and boom Summer is over! Last Friday we made our trip to the local Converse store to outfit my daughter and son with their new chucks for school this week. Hannah went with the classic black low-top and Luke went with the brown high-tops. Above is an image featuring Luke's high-tops from the spring and summer; shot downstairs, in what is referred to in the household as the spider hole ie: makeshift basement studio.
Day 2 - morning shoot. At the cruel hour of 4:15am, the phone alarm rings and we roll out of bed. 15 minutes later, the group of photographers trudge out the front door towards our destination in Silver Bay. After a couple hours of shooting we all are ready for a coffee or two. We make our way to the local diner, the Northwoods Cafe. As you have already formed an image in your mind, the cafe is exactly what you think. <insert mental picture here> After our all American breakfast we are all recharged for the rest of the morning.
The above image is a photograph of a small grove of paper bark birch this morning shot with the Lensbaby Composer with a second shutter speed and in hand camera movement.
The workshop (as mentioned in an earlier post) started this morning at the Grand Superior Lodge, near Two Harbors at 8:00am. I slipped out before we got started to catch the sunrise,
and it was tremendous. The weather patterns can be tricky around Lake Superior but I was lucky to have some clouds and great color this morning. We'll be shooting in the area for the next 3 days, and have a great bunch of photographers. I again used the HDR software - Photomatix along with Photoshop to edit the image.
I discovered a small conservation area in central Missouri called the "Paintbrush Prairie."
There was a great concentration of wildflowers for such a small area in MO. - as the state is not know for it abundance of wildflowers) I had scouted this area earlier in the month on another visit and pre-visualized some images. I will post more images of the area in the future. I geared up for the trip with a fresh can of bug repellent, due to the fact of the deer population in MO. and the infestation of ticks associated with them. I am happy to report no bugs on this trip; not sure if it was due to the repellent or just luck.
I experimented with some HDR imaging software (Photomatix - HDRsoft) for the first time and was happy with the results,
considering the image was shot in mid afternoon.
In about a week, I will be assisting on a workshop for a good friend and great photographer that lives in St. Paul. The workshop will be on North Shore of Lake Superior based near Two Harbors Minnesota. You can check out the link for the workshop here, http://blog.acjohnsonphoto.com/workshops-2009/digital-landscape-201. This will be my fourth trip to the Shore, and the image above was taken on my first visit, mid-day, near Silver Bay. The North Shore offers a great deal of diversity and the lake is like an ocean. And seriously, I can count the number of mosquito bites on one hand for all three trips.
I wanted to get things started with a portrait just recently completed. One of my most favorite subjects in the world, my daughter, in combination with a great lens (Lensbabies' Composer - f4.0), beautiful indirect light and an easy editing process. This image was shot in a 2-3 minute time-span with about 15 other photos. I was sitting in the family room one late afternoon and everything just feel into place, grabbed my camera stepped outside and it was done. Every minute counts!
