Month: September 2016

Once again…

it’s (almost always) about the water.

dsc_0109-2Some photographers take reality… and impose the domination of their own thought and spirit. Others come before reality more tenderly and a photograph to them is an instrument of love and revelation.

Ansel Adams

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I hear “I wish I had my camera with me!”

It’s been proven to me time and time again that you don’t go to where the images are; they come to you. When that happens your job is to see that there is a moment there and to then know how to capture it!

I was out shooting the almost full moon still high in the sky in the early morning hours around sunrise when this scene drew me in. It reminded me of some of the double exposures that I create in camera but this time it was all there in a single image.

Click…

If you’re passionate about photography two things will help you to improve: take your camera with you every day and then use it every day. In the next few weeks leading up to a new year I will be encouraging you to make a commitment to yourself and take a photo a day for a year. I promise you, it will change how you see the world.

Expressing energy…

can be as simple as losing focus.

dsc_9903-2The modern artist… is working and expressing an inner world – in other words – expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces.

Jackson Pollock

Much is made of “tack sharp” imagery in photography and how to achieve the sharpest of detail.

Yet, in the world of photoshop and beyond, there are a myriad of filters to plop over your image to change it into something else.

I’m still holding firm that the image should be created with intention in the camera itself. I think that it is the only way to truly develop a body of work that you are connected to.

I was recently asked to participate in an upcoming exhibit that will be showcasing photographers with distinctive styles. That to me was a huge compliment.

The image above is one that I painted with my camera. In other words, I used soft focus and the motion of the water to create an image that for me highlights the kokanee spawning.

It’s life and death drama with the males staking out the best “beds” for the females to lay their eggs. They defend these beds against other males and towards the end of the spawning it’s rather like two old boxers duking it out in the ring, clutching each other and too tired or injured to do more than go through the motions.

The next time you pick up your camera spend a little time thinking about what you want to say with your images. Play with your focus, your depth of field, change a lens!

I paint with my camera, what do you do?

A final swim…

and a flash of color.

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Wherever there is light, one can photograph.

Alfred Stieglitz

Photographing the kokanee spawning has become somewhat of a fall ritual, and one that began a little earlier this year than last year. An early winter perhaps?

As beautiful as it is to see a creek run “red” with these spawning landlocked salmon, I still feel a little sad knowing that it is their last run. At this moment these beautiful, once silvery fish, turn a brilliant red with green heads and fight their way upstream. The males grow humps and extended lower jaws and jockey for position in the best “egg-laying” spots.  A returning visit in a couple of weeks will find scattered pink eggs alongside dead and decaying fish.

The kokanee reaches maturity at 3-5 years and dies after spawning.

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The glass of the lens between myself and the dying fish somehow makes it easier to watch.

The cycle of life…

The religion of solitude…

good, bad, or just a matter of perspective?

DSC_7897-2The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.

Aldous Huxley

I often feel the need to justify my position of solitude over mob merriment so finding this quote brought a smile to my face. There is a part of me that feels utterly selfish when I choose not to participate in things that will take me away from my quest for discovery in our natural world.

Why is it that being enrolled in university seeking a degree or perhaps writing a thesis are excusable reasons for solitude but devoting a large portion of time to self guided study somehow makes you a recluse?

Surprisingly this summer has been one that I have enjoyed a great deal. Usually after the snow melts I find myself just passing time until it returns so that I can get back to photographing ice, crystal formations, and winterscapes but not this summer!

This summer as I immersed myself in the study of clouds I discovered that with the cirro-form clouds I could continue to photograph crystals and platelets from a great distance as they put on a show high up in the troposphere. As I shared gleefully with a friend,  now I can shoot ice crystals all year round!

My summer highlight was photographing 2 rare arcs in an image, https://sherylrgarrisonphotography.com/2016/08/19/an-atmospheric-optic-adventure/  that was later published by Deborah Byrd as “Today’s Image” by earthsky.org. In the process I had some fabulous conversations with people who have studied this type of phenomena for years and ones who just share my passion for water in all of its frozen forms.

On this late afternoon I made time to join an adventurous group of women whom I admire for many different reasons and it was time well spent. I appreciate that they still ask when I frequently don’t show.

True solitude is being alone without regrets and is very different from being lonely.

It’s important to know the difference…