Urban Country Basketball

I don't know what provoked me to make this image. I think I aimed two different ways, used two different Iso's, two different Apt's and two distances of focus. The angles were the trick, you'd never know what I hid with the road through exposure and focus. This only took a few tries. It's funny, this image I almost deleted but kept it for some reason. After looking at the "money shot" I decided it was to busy (there was a third element), and this was the one the entire universe would see. I've given one image, one choice. I figure, to not like the image, you can't like basketball, electricity, or travel. I guess that would make you Canadian.

Sun Flower Field

I tried a few things here (as usual). The straight shot of the side of the side to back lit Sun Flowers with shallow dof, and the "Free Lens" technique in black and white. Both images from roughly the same spot. I didn't want to get my feet wet by running through the grass, luckily this angle was probably the best and I was forced by laziness to make it work. I keep thinking, what if it had been easy to get around to the front? Would I have shot the usual "look, a sun flower field image", or whooped it up a little.

Flower Farm

I tried to make this several times and only seemed to work out when I added a sliver of treeline you see at the top of the photo. I guess it helps with scale and perspective, people like that. No light for photography so I had to work with tones, composition, color, lens perspective, dof, etc. Lots of ways to make a pic. This is so typical of the "almost nothing in focus" images I've been making. Eventually maybe I'll posting images where nothing is in focus, not even fog. It's possible, I think, maybe. I'll make millions.

Old Truck

Although I've made images of this truck before, that never keeps me from doing it again. The day, time, weather, all have to be different, not to mention my attitude on the day. From two different spots on the road, I came up with two different shots. Normally the thing to do is show one, then you'll like it. By showing two, you now have one to not like.

Late Autumn

Just a week or two earlier and this view wouldn't be possible. The corn would have been in the way. I remember trying to make an image of this place before and this angle never seemed right although it interested me. I guess removing the corn made it. Now I see more layers rather than the tall corn waiting to be chopped. This field was pretty clean of corn. I hope a little was left for the deer in late winter.

Pasture and Cloud

I like this because it is so simple to look at. I had to wait for the cloud to hurry up and get into position before the image was complete. This image says cows to me even though there are non, but they've definitely been here. It turned out a bit like a painting.

Red Barn Board

I wish this barn could stay like it is forever but it won't. I made images of the whole thing and they look pretty good but what I decided to go with today was the skin of it. The barn had many different types of siding, and this one had that melted vinyl siding look. This barn was old but the color was still vibrant. I thought throwing the power lines out of focus was appropriate since no power was being used. It reminds me of the skin of old heavily used hands.

Grazing Cattle

There's no star here and that's ok. The scene without the fence or the cows would have satisfied me but they sure add to it. One thing I've learned is shoot what you see, whether it's perfect to what you think or not. Work with it, add to it, and move on.

Granny Tree

I thought this tree was worn. I knew I had to make an image but not to make it pretty. The key was to keep it ragged. I used my foggy window, the car, a mildew lens, and the sky, all of this yucked it up just enough. It has the classic Holga look and in a way, makes me think of a little old granny.

Ragged Tree

Who knows how much longer this tree will be making leaves. I think it took quite a beating in this past winter with the ice and snow. I liked how ragged and haggard it was but still tried to put on a good fall show. I think it did, and as usual, having the fog didn't hurt. I like the word ragged too.

Gray Barn

If it weren't for the bank of weeds and grass, this would be a black and white image. The barn is aged gray in reality but this with the fog make me think of a distant BIG BARN. I could have crawled up the bank and lost the bank but I thought this would be the only thing to add foreground and depth. It's not just an image of a barn, but a barn in it's environment.

Bog Colors

There just wasn't that one tree full of color you think of. It had to be somewhere else. I go through phases of color. Sometimes I want it or just need it. Lately I've worried about loosing it. Back to dreary winter. The image has an obvious show of color and black and white. It's a nice contrast on this overcast day. Fall colors and respect for the dead.

Sinking Tree

This tree was acting somewhat like my latest horses but still I figured to do something with it. I thought I'd try the double shot pick. I've been doing more of these lately for some reason. All I can think of is the tree is sinking and not just behind the hill. The illusion from the lower ground. I'm happy with this one.

Autumn Sycamore 2

This image gives away the separation between the Sycamore and background. A little respect for the tree trunks I guess. I like this image as well. The soft carpet of golden rod and these things carrying the load. There are no deer here, but plenty of ticks I'm sure. Does that take the beauty out of it?

Autumn Sycamore 3

I like making images with trees and images of trees. Sometimes I've had hard times culling images due to an in camera crop. A little to the left the shot is about the tree, a little to the right and it's about the meadow. The opportunity I thought was to pick these things apart. Usually I do this with the sky as the background but that wasn't happening (to far to run). Good light right now and it would ruin everything. I like how the Sycamore does all the work, it looks like it has good light buy nature. I used a long (mildew) lens trying to bring the background closer. The Sycamore look like veins of a forest. If I could paint with a brush, this is what I'd paint.

Autumn Sycamore 1

I have several images of this family of Sycamore. I'm glad there were no leaves on the trees, how else would we see this. I think of the lady that said the color is gone. A photographer can't think this way, at least I can't. There has to be something, and I want to be the one to find it. I don't think I could recognize a sycamore leaf, I've never paid attention, only to the limbs. It makes sense that I should like this.

Autumn Undergrowth

I'd been stopping, turning around, back and forth on a dirt road when I finally stopped and told a walking couple I'd leave them alone and be moving north. They said that unfortunately all the color was gone and I'd missed it by a week. I shot this less than a 5 minutes later. Luckily, I wasn't looking for color.

Broken Horse

This was turning out to be the usual horse shoot. I'd decided to go with the horse insn't co-operating theme and couldn't line up a decent one of those. There were three horses and they were doing their best to ignore me and screw up the pix. They knew I was there. I was thinking of another pic called Horses Ass, as all three lined up a good distance apart and headed away but they made that look bad. I found another position, kept shooting, hoping, but getting nothing. Finally this one decided she had to check me out, turned and moved quickly to me. Luck was turning. I got a few decent images of her coming and she nosed my lens before I pulled my camera away. I scratched her head and talked her up, wishing I had a carrot. She waited while I changed lenses, I then shot this. She has no idea how psyched I was!

Water and Tree

This was one wet day. It almost looks like the water is coming out of the ground and headed out into the field but it was actually running to me and into a culvert. I thought shooting through my fogged up window helped with the feeling I had, wet and cold. It was slushy, wet, winter, and one of those days one should stay home. The tree was right at home. It's probably been through many of these days.

Train Cars

This would be a dull image of nothing if it weren't for the train coming through. I like trains and their cars and I found it's their movement that intrigues me. I can fool the viewer by changing shutter speeds, and even wait for color to help separate the the cars. You can mess up for quite awhile if the trains long enough and they usually are. This train was going about 5.