New blog

Just a reminder to check out my new photography blog:

Rural Kansas Photography.

090521ndw - 52

The Independence, Kan., Public Library held an "End of School" bash Thursday, May 21, 2009.

Thursday was the last day of school here and the public library held a pizza party complete with a local rock band for the kids.

090519ndw - 10

Rolls of barbed wire sit in the mottled light of a tree near Independence, Kan.

Gimmicks

I am so sick of photographic gimmicks.

And it seems that the only way to get ahead in this business right now is to make use of them.

Contest winners in recent years are often gimmicky. Clients want the certain special looks which an artist creates then everyone copies.

Photography has always been an art where the subject was center-stage. But the general public has apparently bored of looking at good photographs of interesting people, places and things. Now folks want to see computer modified versions of reality that bear little resemblance to the actual subjects. Photographs where someone's aptitude with a computer becomes the central factor. Case in point.

I make no bones about it, I am not a fan of Photoshop. Never before in the history of this art has there existed a tool which so easily allows someone to transform crappy photographs into stunning works of art ... or whatever they are.

But I take solace in the fact that there have always been photographic gimmicks of one kind or another, and that the photographs that stand the test of time do not employ them. Yousuf Karsh's portraits are a prime example.

Peonies - 09

Peonies in bloom near Independence, Kan.

See more flower pictures here.

The direction of my photography

I often agonize about which direction I want to take with my photography.

Just this past week in fact. I found a series of books at my library that were published by the National Geographic Society, one of which is titled "Back Roads America: A Portfolio of her People."

It's pictures and words of just regular folks doing regular things. Living life. Not even "fancy" pictures, just plain good photography. And I say to myself, "that's what I want to do with my photography!"

But the other day, I realized that that is what I'm doing with my photography. Photographing the Mitchell's at their farm. The folks at Magnolia making candles. The folks forming the new farmer's market downtown.

Regular folks doing regular things.

Market's open

A member of the new farmer's market rings a bell opening the market for business on its first morning Saturday, May 9, 2009, in downtown Independence, Kan.

This morning was the first day of business for a newly-formed farmer's market in downtown Independence, Kan. The new market will be open Saturday mornings from May till October.

Iris - 10

An iris blooms near Independence, Kan. View On White

I love good black and white. I'm just very often drawn to the color of a scene. But I got to playing with this photo and liked the way it looked black and white.

First Presbyterian - 16

First Presbyterian Church in Independence, Kan. View On Black

It seems that I wasn't being quite fair to iPhoto the other day.

I took a crappy shot and couldn't make it what I wanted with iPhoto, but I could make it "better" with Photoshop.

The other part of Mr. Weese's article talks about exposing the photograph properly to begin with, then using the image editor on the computer to fine tune the image into what you want it. With film you exposed for the shadows and developed for the highlights. With digital it's the other way around, expose for the highlights and "develop" for the shadows.

And while I've known that basic fact of digital photography, I've never really used it. As a newspaper photographer I strove to get my photos the way I wanted them as much as possible in camera. I did not like sitting in front of the computers, futzing around with the picture.

Now that I'm taking my photography in a more artistic direction I find it behooves me to invest the time in developing my photos in order to make better images.

The Monkey Island photo is a great example of how I used to take pictures. I exposed for the castle/habitat structure, which made the sky go almost completely white. iPhoto couldn't fix it, Photoshop kind of could.

But the image of the church above I exposed "correctly." I spot metered from the sky setting it to just beneath the point where it would wash out. And then I used software to bring out the tones in the building.

The surprising part to me was that iPhoto did an excellent job with this image. I couldn't do any better with Photoshop. So it appears that iPhoto is a perfectly capable program if you hand it a well-exposed image.

Trees and walk

First Presbyterian Church in Independence, Kan. View On Black

The point of photography

I often find myself getting depressed about my photography. You know, "Why am I doing this?" and that sort of thing.

Part of that reason is linked to the fact that some part of me down deep still wants to make a living with photography. I have a hard time justifying the expense of something like this "just for fun."

Another reason that I've stumbled upon the last couple weeks is because I rarely make prints for myself anymore. Looking at images on a screen is nice, but it is not the same thing as seeing a print. And I believe -- old-fashioned though it may be -- that the print is the ultimate "point" of a photograph. 

So I'm going to make a concerted effort to make myself prints more often. I'm not going to spend a terrible lot of money on these personal prints.  In fact, Walgreens sent out an e-coupon the other day for a free 8x10. So I took them up on their offer and made a print for myself of the Santa Fe No. 1050 picture which is now hanging over my sofa.

First Presbyterian - 19

First Presbyterian Church in Independence, Kan. View On Black

Cows and clouds

A heard of cows graze in a pasture as clouds float overhead near Independence, Kan. View On Black

Roaring River

The Verdigris River roars over a low-water dam near Independence, Kan. View On Black

Did I mention that we've had lots of rain? And this was taken after the river went down a good 20 feet.

Monkey Island

A swan swims in the moat around Monkey Island at Ralph Mitchell Zoo in Independence, Kan. Miss Able, the first monkey to fly in outer space, was born at this zoo.
View On Black

I didn't like this shot when I first took it. Primarily because the sky was pretty well blown out.

But then I read Carl Weese's excellent article, "Do Not Fear the Sun", over at The Online Photographer blog.

The main thrust of his article doesn't really apply to this situation since it was a mostly cloudy day. But what really struck me was his description of the use of the various tools in the Adobe Camera Raw program.

Previously, I had a general idea of what many of those controls did, but his article really (ahem, forgive the pun) shed some light on the subject.

Luckily I still had less than a day left on my trial version of Photoshop Elements so I popped this photo into it and fiddled around with the settings some. And I definitely like the results.

I had been using iPhoto since I got my dSLR. It's a very simple easy to use program and the results are generally very good. But I can't get anything close to this image with iPhoto, the range of tones was simply too great and the controls of iPhoto too limited.

So thank you Mr. Weese for the wonderful article.

Mr. Weese writes occasionally for The Online Photographer, and he also runs the Working Pictures and WPII blogs. I've long been a fan of his work, even though it often frustrates me. His photographs are very subtle, often leaving me scratching my head. But I simply cannot stop looking at them. Check out his blogs.

In the garden

Green bell pepper plants grow in a garden near Independence, Kan.

It's been so wet recently that there hasn't been much opportunity to get into the garden to work.

But my Beloved and I are really counting on some fresh produce to help with the food budget this year so I've been getting in and working the ground despite the wet.

Hoeing in mud is not one of my favorite things.

Here's another picture.

Independence Public Library Interior

The Independence Public Library foyer.

Film vs Digital

I've been really going back and forth with myself over this issue the last while. Film or digital? Which is best? But I've settled the issue in my mind ... at least for the time being. And yes, I know this subject has been beaten to death (and then some) on the net, I'm going to add my thoughts to the matter anyway.

I've decided that for me, digital is best.

The primary reason being that I enjoy having the control over the photos that digital allows me to have. I like being able to set my exposure, contrast, and color in the computer.

The only way that I could have that kind of control over my film photographs would be to install a darkroom in the house or to work with a professional custom printer. I have no desire to get back in to a darkroom, and I certainly do not have the funds to hire a pro printer.

Sure I can have my film scanned and have the same digital control. But why spend the extra time and money to do that when I could just start out with a digital file to begin with?

And the second reason that digital is better for me, it costs less.

Many photographers that I respect have been talking lately about how film is less costly than digital. But I'm just not sure how they figure that can be. Yes, you can drop thousands of dollars on "pro" level gear every year, and you'll probably be spending more than it costs to shoot film.

But I don't buy gear like that, and I'll bet not many people do. My latest digital SLR -- the wonderful Pentax K100D Super -- I bought in like new condition (with only about 50 shots on the frame counter) from KEH.com (the best place to get used photo gear on the net) for only $275.

But let's say just for the sake of example that I bought a brand-new digiSLR. My current choice would be a Pentax K200D. Which is right about $500. If my $500 dSLR lasts one year, that works out to a cost of about $40 a month.

That's not a terrible lot of money for photography. A decent roll of film will set you back $5, and getting it developed and scanned at a good place will cost you another $10 at least. And I'm not even counting shipping. So you couldn't shoot even three rolls of film for the same amount of money.

But that's a conservative estimate. I intend to try and get at least three years out of my camera before I have to buy a new one. That may be a long shot, but if I make it that puts the cost of my $500 camera at less than $10 a month.

Let's look at it from the other angle though. I've shot more than 1,100 photographs in the past 30 days (wow, I had no idea I'd shot that much). If I'd been shooting film at $15 a roll of film, that would've cost me about $675. Which means that my $300 dSLR has paid for itself twice in film costs during the past 30 days. Which is really incredible.

Yes, there is the whole artistic thing argument. And yes, I believe that digital looks different than film. And yes, I actually prefer the way that film looks. But I look at some of my favorite photographs that I have hanging on the wall and they were all shot with digital. And when I'm looking at them I'm not thinking "boy that film (or digital file) looks good." I'm just enjoying the photograph, and that's what photography is (supposed to be) all about.

Frog

A frog hangs from a window.

It has been raining a LOT here lately.

Even the fellow above was trying to get away from the water-logged ground for a while. He was hanging from a window at the library.

Nap Time

Monkeys play on Monkey Island at Ralph Mitchell Zoo in Independence, Kan. Miss Able the first monkey to fly in space was born at this zoo.

Santa Fe No. 1050

Santa Fe steam locomotive No. 1050 sits on display at Riverside Park in Independence, Kan.

I lived in this area as a young child and I remember coming here often to play on this locomotive. I was really thrilled when we moved back here in 2005 to find it still open for folks to climb on. Most everywhere else I've been have their locomotives behind fences.

Wildlife Encounters

Earth Day

Candle makers

First Presbyterian

The stark contrast between colors and the dark blue sky really caught my eye today. View On Black

Fence and field

A small field is seen framed by trees and a fence near Independence, Kan.

View On Black

Epiphany

Epiphany Episcopal Church in Independence, Kan.

View large on black.

Clover

A patch of clover blankets the ground.

View On Black

Fire escape

Star Mill

The Star Mill buildings sit vacant in Independence, Kan.

See the slideshow.

Downtown

The setting sun reflects off the face of buildings along Main Street in downtown Independence, Kan.

Dandelion

Hannah

Hannah poses for a portrait at the Ralph Mitchell Zoo in Independence, Kan.

Chickens

Chickens look for a treat.

Metal

Sunset

Electra

We bought a car today. It's a 1982 Buick Electra. And it only has about 120,000 miles on it. Compared to the rest of the cars we've owned, that's like brand new!

Telephone

Who ya gonna call?

Shovel-back bird

I spotted the extremely rare Shovel-back bird on our evening walk today. Do you dig it?

Storm light

A line of severe thunderstorms passed through our area tonight. And I had a feeling that they would pass over and the sun would pop back out creating one of my favorite photographic conditions. Where the foreground objects are lit by the setting sun, and the dark blue storm clouds form the backdrop. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. And I had the camera ready and waiting!

Here's a couple shots.

Beloved

My Beloved poses for a portrait at Ralph Mitchell Zoo.

Sunset

The sun sets in a blaze of color in Independence, Kan.

I shot the sun rise this morning, so when this evening's sunset turned into a spectacular show of color it only seemed right to shoot it as well.

Rocking chair and dulcimer

A mountain dulcimer sits on an antique wooden rocking chair next to a window.

Sunrise

A young cow eats as the sun rises near Independence, Kan, Wednesday, April 8, 2009. Area ranchers have been burning their pastures and the smoke from the grass fires has created a hazy atmosphere.

License

An automobile license plate from Kansas 1978.

Found this in the garage after we bought our house. From the year I was born.

Chopping block

An axe is embedded in a chopping block awaiting its next job.

Noodles

A rolling pin is used to roll out dough while making home made egg noodles.

Hannah's First Birthday

Hannah's first birthday party at the Ralph Mitchell Zoo in Independence, Kansas.

Building H

A deserted commercial building in Independence, Kan.

Redbuds

A redbud tree blooms near Independence, Kan.

Yup, more redbuds. I was struck by the contrast between the color of the buds and the sky this time.

Redbuds

A redbud tree in bloom is illuminated by the setting sun in Independence, Kan.

I photographed them under snow and ice a couple days ago, seemed only right to get some shots of them when the sun came out this evening.

Blooms

Blooms in my front yard.

Auto

An auto shop in downtown Independence, Kansas.

See more from this set here.

Face

Redbud

A redbud tree in bloom is covered with snow and ice during a freak late-March snow storm in Independence, Kan.

Beloved