I haven't looked in here for a while. Glad you liked the tugboat, I'm flattered, it's the first photo I took when my Oly E500 was new. Now it's old technology. The camera, that is. One of my neighbours is a presbyterian priest, She had a large print made for her church as a metaphor. "Out of the Fog"
from a pure composition POV, i wish the tug were a bit lower in the photo, at the top of the bottom third of the photo rather than in the center. other that that, i think it's absolutely spectacular.
Couple more from that day. Lone fishing boat. (Facing the wrong way, always leave room for a subject to move into ) Sailing into oblivion. Followed the rule of thirds with the boat, I like the sailboat on centre.
i tampered with Ken's tugboat photo to set the boat at the top of the bottom 1/3rd of the picture. apologies to the original artist.
I was painting the deck prior to winter the other day and saw that the last of the "Peace" roses had just opened. Had to pause with the paint for the shot. This was sunset from the deck last week. When I built the house I angled it so at either equinox the sunset would shine in the bedroom.
I took this picture outside our motel room in Holbrook, AZ at about 7:30 in the morning in July of 2008.
Took a road trip down the Oregon coast, we needed a bit of a getaway. Spent the first night at Lincoln City, drove down onto the beach at sunset for these two. Click on the pics for "life size" Wild waves and Sea Horses.
More from the Oregon coast trip. Went to see if I could find any sunset shots at Harris Beach park in Brooking. It'd been a rainy. stormy day but it'd brightened up a bit. I enjoyed the lonely walk on what was normally a busy popular spot so tried to get some light and colour into the grey evening. Click on a photo for full size. No, it's not your eyes, there "could be' a tiny bit of camera shake in this. It was getting pretty dark. On the trail.
This is looking north at Cannon Beach, OR This is Cannon Beach, looking south. Same day. Different exposure.
the southward one doesn't do a thing for me. the northward one is just amazing. worthy of hanging in a gallery printed 60cm x 100cm. i could look at it for half an hour. i just think cropping it about halfway between the top edge and the flying gull would give it more dynamic proportions and bring the three registers into better harmony.
yes, it's great. the composition of that photo (which you didn't plan, only caught, which is part of the magic of photography) is elegant, vibrant, very complex without being busy... i can hear alain jaubert* dissecting it now! after a first overall perusal the first element that grabs your eye is the gull top left, which links to the gulls on the beach which are the fulcrum of the picture. these find echos in the series of ripples in the sand directly below them, and with the breakers in the distance on the left, groups which occupy the same amount and shape of space and with which operate two different oppositions: white - dark distinct - diffuse the pair of ripples in the water bottom right correspond to the two peaks behind the birds. the eye is automatically drawn back and forth between them. the bottom register is the smallest and the most dense. it contains the entire palette of colors used in the picture but has no real organization in itself. the central portion contains all the intricate and distinct elements but is overall the most austere and dépouillé. the top section is the largest, and contains all the majesty and mystery. the haze that shrouds it keeps it from overpowering the other two visually but it eventually captivates all our interest, which continues to recede into the distance to finish on the small peak almost perfectly dead center. all three three planes are overweighted to the right but the lone gull we started at balances the composition in its entirety. in proportions the middle register (after cropping) is 5/3 the bottom one, and the top one is larger than the middle in almost like ratio. and the width is also 5/3 the height... roughly - to make these calculations almost perfectly precise it would be necessary to take another cm off the top, but that would put the lone gull awkardly close to the edge. a painter with a perfectly free hand would move him down the necessary distance for it all to fit but that's not photography. * a french art historian and critic whose series palettes on french public television in the 90's was a landmark in cultural programming; it's still rerun here, and many episodes are available online, but i think only in french. it's available on DVD with audio in many different languages.
Took a day off Thursday and went up into the North Cascades looking for Bigfoot. My wife thinks she may have heard one..! Me I took a couple of photos until it got too wet. Good picnic in the car though.
I was working under the deck yesterday morning, turned around to see this. Sometime I forget why we chose to live here.
We took a walk along the river at sunset the other night. Saw an otter and a robin nest with eggs. Then I tried my hand at imitating Ansel Adams..................sorta... Mt Baker (10,777') from Davis slough. Looking north across English boom to La Conner and Mt Erie.
Right, on the west coast of Camano Island next to the State Park. Whidbey Island is between us and the peninsula. The Olympic Range keeps our rainfall to under 20 inches a year. Seattle to the south averages 36. They're the Olympics and Whidbey in the photo.
One of the best aspects of going skiing or snowboarding is the breathtaking beauty of the snow-covered mountain ranges.
Bucky came for diner the other night and brought the whole famdamily. Twins no less. Bucky has picked up a couple more tines this year and now has the start of a good hat rack. Meanwhile Mama tries to keep the twins in check as she eats. Little buggers were born to run and want to stretch their legs as they start to sneak off. And here they go....and fast. I had a dog bigger than these guys but they'd have left him in their dust. This guy kicking up his heels. Head butting is always part of the fun. Oh, Oh, Mama's pissed again...!!!