We don't really photograph
objects, we photograph light. Where there is no light, there will be no
image. Where there is exceptional light, there might be an exceptional
image. We search for perfect light, that place where earthly geometrics
and dimensionality merge. We're fortunate to be there for that fleeting
moment, and even more so if we capture its essence. I'm always searching for perfect
light and then finding subject matter with which to express it.
The following images are in no particular order. They are taken of many
different subjects and are likely to be changed and/or replaced from time to
time.
The alien landscape of Vedauwoo, Wyoming provides an ample meeting place which
optimizes conditions for light, color, and dimensionality to
coincide. More often than not, this occurs near the end of the day, when
transmitted light becomes continuously warmer while reflected light becomes ever
more cold. The opposite occurs at dawn, although to a somewhat lesser
degree. These are the "magic hours", that time during which the colors of
light mix together in endless combinations.
.
The
Snowy Range, located within the Medicine Bow National Forest in southeastern
Wyoming, is an isolated alpine mecca. Uncrowded and pristine, it has been designated as a protected
National
'Scenic Byway' by the Department of the
Interior. It is a special place with a lush alpine pallet of mirrored
lakes, chuckling brooks and specimen flora during its foreshortened summer. There
are, in addition, 5 near vertical granitic faces that offer high altitude
(11,000 to 12,500') climbing for the few that venture here. During the
winter, it is a bestial remnant of the ice ages, a frozen landscape nearly unfit for
any sentient human.
.
Photography underwater is a stand alone art form. Much unlike photography
on land,
the spectrum of color is absorbed within about 5 feet and everything turns
blue. You must provide the light, control the difference between the
strobe and ambient light, and then record it. In this shot, the differences are
matched, manually balanced and additional sources are provided, not an easy
task. However, the final result was worth it.
.
Essentially
three things happen when light goes below water - light rays are bent
(refracted), colors are quickly absorbed and light is scattered by
particulates. This leads to one of the cardinal rules of underwater
photography - relax and get settled, get close, and then get even closer.
This scorpion fish was cooperative enough to let me maneuver my lens close enough
to get this shot. Actually, I hovered above him for nearly 10 minutes,
getting progressively closer. When the strobe went off, he just didn't seem to care,
as if saying "hey, go ahead and do another" (which I didn't).
These creatures have extremely poisonous stingers on their lateral and dorsal fins,
so I wasn't taking any more chances. The protruberant growths covering its body are
algae colonies derived from the surrounding territory and work extremely well as
camouflage.
.
Not
my image, but I couldn't help it. Duppies are the apparitional netherworld
beings of Cayman Islands folklore. Usually
harmless, they have been sighted on all three islands for generations.
Real or imagined, a contest was held in the grade schools to see who could draw
the best Duppy. This one, drawn by Thomas Carter (then 7) of Boddentown,
Grand Cayman, took second place. It shows a devilish little character
complete with big teeth, a headdress, duclaws and a form of bulging
stomach. It is surprising that nearly all of the entries were found to
have rather large, imposing pink or red stomachs, despite the fact the children
were born and raised in disparate parts of the country (different islands) and
had varying experiential backgrounds.
.
As dusk settles over Cairo, evening prayers float out across the city
like a primal wail from mosques like the Mohammed Ali. Then the city slows
down and goes to sleep for another night, as it has for thousands of years.
.
An exquisite sunset over the most photogenic city in the world, Venice.
.
Now here's a dichotomy. A foreboding sky lowers over the carefree City of
Lights (Paris), guarded by a bestial form from another time. Shot from the
front upper gallery of Notre Dame.
