Is It Hot Enough For You?
February 13th, 2019
Nevaeh Lleh and I visited some other spots out in the desert in addition to Joshua Tree. It was very hot all the time we were in the desert. Hot as in highs around 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures like that limited what we were able to do. We did nearly all our shooting in the early morning, then headed to air conditioning to survive the afternoons. The photo above was taken at an art place near Joshua Tree. We couldn’t resist when we saw that broken-up figure.
After Joshua Tree we headed on down south to the Salton Sea. If you don’t know the story of this weird result of failed engineering you should check it out. I’d wanted to work with a model there for years, but the timing had never worked out. Nevaeh Lleh knows her way around there and was an excellent guide. The time is past for really doing much work among all the devastation, but we found a few places to make some photos.
After the Salton Sea we headed on down to Salvation Mountain, Slab City and East Jesus. We did this next photo in one of the sculptures in East Jesus.
We ended our time in the desert with a visit to the Anza-Borrego Desert. I’d heard a lot of great things about this wilderness, but I quickly learned that the summer is no time to go there. Did I mention that it was hot? Even the Rangers had abandoned their posts. Because of that we really couldn’t find much information or help finding good locations. We wandered around a bit and did a few photos, but mostly we just tried to stay in the air conditioning. I might have to make a return visit here at a better time of year.
We found this one trail where Nevaeh Lleh couldn’t resist a little clowning around. You may need to click on the photo to be able to read the trail marker…We never did find where she was supposed to wash…
More From Joshua Tree
February 7th, 2019
As promised, here are some more photos of the amazing Nevaeh Lleh from our shoot at Joshua Tree.
We did some other things after our visit to Joshua Tree. You’ll get to see what in my next post.
Nevaeh Lleh at Joshua Tree
January 31st, 2019
I’ve been saddened to hear about the damage done to Joshua Tree National Park during the government shutdown. It is a beautiful place and deserves our respect and protection.
So I thought I’d share some photos from my last visit to this amazing place. I was fortunate to have one of my favorite models with me for this trip, Nevaeh Lleh.
By the way, if you plan to visit Joshua Tree I highly recommend the famous Joshua Tree Inn as a place to stay. It’s beautiful and so much more than just a motel.
Much more from Joshua Tree and other places in the vicinity with Nevaeh Lleh to come in future posts. Stay tuned.
Wet
January 18th, 2019
I’ve learned that these two of my photos will be included in the exhibit “Wet” at the Darkroom Gallery in Vermont. The juror for this show was Elizabeth Opalenik.
It looks to be an excellent show. All you Vermonters should go check it out. It opens February 7 and will be up until March 17.
Blue In West Virginia
January 7th, 2019
Some more photos from my shoot in some of my favorite places in the beautiful state of West Virginia, this time with another of my favorite models, BlueRiverDream.
We hiked around to a few waterfalls that are beautiful and require some serious hiking and climbing to get to.
I think the results were well worth the effort.
The only thing I love more than hiking in the woods is hiking in the woods with talented, beautiful models and making some art.
Thanks to BlueRiverDream for helping make this all possible.
West Virginia with Ayn
January 3rd, 2019
When I was in West Virginia with Ayn and BlueRiverDream we did a lot more than just fool around with instant cameras. There was hiking and posing on rocks and waterfalls. It was a fun trip and resulted in quite a few very nice photos.
Here are some of my favorites of Ayn.
More to come from this shoot…
Late Much Lamented Fuji 3000
December 31st, 2018
On the day that Fuji announced they were discontinuing their wonderful 3000 speed black and white instant film I went on line and ordered as many packs of it as I could find. I loved the Polaroid 3000 film and then when it was discontinued, there was Fuji 3000. Now peel-apart instant film is a material of the past and will never be again. I’ve been told that Fuji sold the machinery in their factory and it was hauled away for scrap. Yes, I know about the Impossible Project. My experience with their film is that it’s impossible to get anything resembling decent results with it. And I don’t think even they are still making peel-apart film anyway.
I still have a few packs of Fuji 3000, but they will soon be all gone. I’ll be looking for good subjects for them this year. I have a Mamiya press camera with a back for the pack film, so I can get good, sharp photos with it. I need to use it up before it gets too old and out dated. Just looking for the right subjects.
I shot these with a couple of my very favorite models on a shoot we did in West Virginia. Ayn and BlueRiverDream both understand what special film this is, so it was great to work with them using it.
This wonderful film will be gone soon. There is nothing like it for the rich tonality it provides. These crappy scans can’t begin to show how beautiful and unique this film is. But it is rapidly disappearing from the world and will be much missed, at least by me.
Some Birds in the Bush
December 17th, 2018
I’ve been off in Florida for a while visiting family. While I was there I didn’t do much photography, but I did take a few photos of birds on one walk in a park in Largo.
These birds were pretty cooperative. I shot these with my Canon G7X Mark II…the little pocket camera that I carry all the time.
I like to use square format now and then and these seemed like photos that belonged in a square. The vignetting is my doing too…just seemed to fit the subject matter. The camera doesn’t vignette like that on its own.
These were all quick edits from the jpegs, not even the RAW files. Processed in ACDSee on my little mini-laptop that I use for travel.
Underground Lynn Outdoors
December 9th, 2018
Here are a few photos I did at one of my favorite local waterfalls with Underground Lynn.
She’s a fine model and very good to work with.
I’m debating, along with a lot of other folks, I think, about what to do for social media now that things are getting severely restricted on Facebook, Tumblr and other places. I’ve never been on Tumblr, so I’m not affected to the degree that some of my friends are. And I’d really like to be involved in a site where there can be a real community of photographers and models who share my interests.
I’m on MeWe and Ello, though I haven’t done anything on Ello for a long time, and have only been doing minimal stuff on MeWe for a while. There just haven’t been enough people there to give either place the traction they need. Maybe that will change now.
So, if you are on one or both of those sites, let me know so we can get connected. Maybe it is finally time for a real alternative to Facebook to take off. It seems to me that MeWe has the most to offer, being very much like Facebook, but without the ads and without the nasty selling of your information. If you haven’t seen MeWe, I’d suggest you check it out.
2019 Calendars
November 30th, 2018
I’ve made two calendars for 2019. If you’d like to order one, just click on the images here or in the column to the right. The “Brigman/White” calendar above features work from my current project honoring the pioneering photography of Anne Brigman and Clarence White, Sr. from a century ago.
I’ve also done my regular Figure in Nature calendar that contains some of my more recent work in that genre.
This is the link to my online store where you can preview both calendars.
