Photography is not all about depicting the world in a perfectly recorded state.  Dreamscapes, motion blur, ICM, blending, double-exposures and Photoshop techniques all help portray our inner visions through technology.   The beauty of these techniques and methods is that they are not science, but rather art, so that unexpected (sometimes better than expected) results occur.  

In this case, the sun was setting in Mount Vernon, IA and we were just getting home from having dinner at a local restaurant.  The clouds were lit up and glowing, the light was mesmerizing, and I knew that without a camera, this beauty would be lost forever.  Grabbing my camera and tripod from inside, and knowing that a higher vantage point was needed, I quickly grabbed the extension ladder from the garage and was on the roof in less than 2 minutes.

Since the sun was already below the horizon, I quickly setup the tripod and began to capture the beauty of the scene.  After reviewing some of the shots, it felt that something was missing.

The Dream I decided to create something different, and started to experiment with holding the camera by hand to introduce a little movement.  Out of the 3 or 4 photos taken in that mode, this one had the best blend of horizon details, cloud color and that little extra something called "what the heck was that and how did that happen?"

Many of you won't like this photo due to its lack of sharpness or interesting detail.  But to me it's a dream that was created in a split second and carries with it memories and evidence that the world can be real and a dream all at once!

The camera movement created an alternative landscape, or dreamscape, that has elements of reality (the water tower and part of King Chapel on the horizon), but also elements of fantasy and surrealism (the multiple stair-stepped horizon and cloud motion with a foggy feel to it). 

The colors were real and very little was done to this photo.  It's basically out of the camera with a little contrast enhancement.  The beauty of this type of photo is that it depicts a combination of real and unreal, and for some of us, that's what we look for in every photo!

I hope you enjoy the wide variety of photography out there and can appreciate all the methods used to bring art and beauty to the world.  Dream on!

So much of our world has been modified by the human race.  We see man-made objects in some of the remotest parts of the world, clearly encroaching on the natural landscape.  That's a reality that won't go away, so it would seem natural to incorporate those structures and objects into our nature photography when and where it's appropriate.

Step One: What do you want to portray?  This is a hard question, but one that needs answered.  Is the man-made object something that enhances rather than degrades nature?  Does it blend with its surroundings or blatantly stand out?  In the case of these rocks on North Beach in Port Townsend, Washington, the rocks were obviously placed there by people, but it also seemed possible that a natural force assembled these into this cool structure.  Of course that didn't happen, but it's fun to let the mind wander at times like that!  

I've been near other structures or objects that were real eye-sores, but don't count those out too quickly.  Sometimes a very strong statement can be made by capturing the contrast between natural beauty and the scars man-made objects have left.  I've often encountered garbage, old tires, bed mattresses and the like while wondering through the woods, and always stop to think if there's an opportunity to showcase that in a positive way.  All too often the answer is no, mainly because it's ugly, revolting, shocking, but also because I'm ashamed at how we treat the Earth.  

Secret Life of Rocks Step Two: How should it be captured?  With many objects, it's easy to see a relationship with nature.  We see examples everywhere...a fence leading to a spectacular patch of trees, or a once-majestic barn that still has fascinating architecture which blends with the overgrown bushes or weeds nearby.  But other objects are more difficult to define.  One way of looking at it would be to pretend the object was purely natural and frame it as such.  I tried to do that in this photo.  The rocks could have easily been a small bush, tree, or drift wood that was waiting for someone to admire it.  But in this case, the formation of the rocks made it easy to follow to the top of the frame and out to the wonderful sunset beyond the horizon.

Step Three: Process and enjoy!  If you've given your composition some thought, you'll probably have a "nature" photo, but with a little man-made influence thrown in for good measure.  After all, everything we know of came from the natural world to begin with, so why not include it in your next shot?

There are many wonderful things that catch the eye in Iowa.  In this case it was a barn not far from Mount Vernon.  One afternoon in late summer when the sun was setting, I stumbled upon this once-majestic structure and decided to attempt to capture it in a way that was as unique as the architecture itself.  The soy beans were starting to turn color, the sun had just set beyond the horizon, and the scene was ripe for capturing some magic.

Smyth Road Barn After taking a few test shots, I realized the only way all the details, colors and subtle parts of this barn were going to be visible was through HDR (High Dynamic Range) techniques.  This entailed making three photos, one underexposed, one overexposed and one just right, then blending all three using post-processing tools such as Photomatix and Adobe Photoshop.

As hard as I tried to bring out the true beauty of this barn with a single shot, it just wasn't going to happen.  Camera sensors are great at picking up a lot of detail and color, but in landscape shots, many important details can get lost in either highlighted areas or shadow areas that are beyond the sensor's range for a particular exposure setting.  If done properly, HDR brings out the best of all three (or more) exposures so the photographer can experiment with various levels of tone, detail and color saturation.

The finished result has a hint of "this is an HDR" photo, but overall I tried to tone it down to bring the realism out as much as possible.  And the icing on the cake was when the big bird on the top of the barn started to flap its wings, I was able to capture a moment in time that gives the entire scene a timeless feel.

This photo was also selected by Chicago artist Sonata who was commissioned to create a ceramic mural for the Linn County Community Services building in Cedar Rapids, IA.  She used my photo as a small part of the mural which stands over 20 feet high.  She's done some awesome work in other public places as well. 

Unfortunately, many of the older barns are slowly disappearing.  They are an inherent part of the Iowa landscape, so I will continue to find and record their beauty whenever I can.

In the photography world, Depth of Field (DoF) is a term used to describe how much of a photo is in focus.  From an artistic point of view, focusing the viewer's eyes on an important subject or an area of the photo is key to successfully getting your message across.  When DoF works, it's an amazing thing.  

Sun Sparkles Our minds seem to fill in a lot of things, and even if the background is out of focus, blurry or shaded, we can still infer what's back there based on colors, foreground subject or other clues within the photo.  It's a pretty cool process if you think about it.  What is really amazing is that we don't actually see that way in real life!  We see everything all at once, with no fuzzy backgrounds or blurry shapes.  So why is DoF so vitally important to a photo?  Because it's only 2D.  In the 3D world, we judge and see that objects are closer or further, even if they are both in focus, we know they are not on the same distance plane, thus have an easier time focusing on one or the other.

With a 2D photo, if the DoF was all the same for a subject, the eye gets caught in the details, seeing too many things that look like they are on the same plane, without distance or perspective.  This is confusing to us, so we tend to look away from photos that are "too busy".  Landscape photos are exceptions of course, since we want everything to be in focus when looking out into the distance. 

For this photo, a large aperture on the lens was used so that only the flower was in focus.  The sun was setting and as I positioned around the flower looking for the best angle, the sparkles and soft reflections changed shape and intensity.  I think the reason this photo works is because the eye immediately recognizes sunlight and foliage in the background, thus the context is determined, and viewing the flower is a natural extension of that context.  There were one or two shots that didn't have that nice background, and believe me, they were ugly!  We really crave a defined focus area it seems in photos, especially close-ups of flowers or other objects. 

It's fun to play with DoF because just a slight change in focus can totally change the mood of a photo!

Superstition Mountain #1 I was fortunate enough to spend time in Phoenix recently with my brother John, who is an excellent musician and explorer in his own right, and was able to capture this photo on our last day in the area.  We decided to explore the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix to see what they had to offer.  John had been to the area before and knew roughly what to expect.  We searched for a gully with flowing water that John remembered seeing on his last trip to the area, and finally found it, but it was dry, so off we went wandering across the beautiful landscape of cholla, saguaro and barrel cactus.  The Sonoran desert is a very interesting place.  It has so many varieties of living things that it's amazing to think it all survives on less than 10 inches of rain a year. 

Sometimes having no agenda, plan or goal is what exploring is all about.  After a great day of hiking and looking at interesting plants, rock formations and the occasional lizard, we decided to start looking for a place that most represented the area as the sun was beginning to set.  The light in the west can be amazing, especially as it reflects off mountains, rocks, and subtle desert plants.  This photo was captured just before the sun hit the horizon, and for about 5 minutes it was pure magic.  Using a blending technique to capture the best of two differently exposed photos seemed to render the beauty most accurately. 

I'm glad we didn't have a plan that day.  It was just a day to explore, view, wonder, accept what nature brings, and be humbled by the awesome beauty of it all.  Cheers to all the explorers out there, searching and finding their own way regardless of where or what they do...because it's the spirit of exploration that is so powerful within us and should be embraced whenever it can.

Mount Vernon Sunset For some reason I've been attracted to sunsets for a long time (mainly because I've honestly not seen that many sunrises!), but either way, the sun does something to my senses.  Yes, the sun sheds its golden light on all things we know of, and casts some magnificent shadows, but there's something more to it I think. 

Sunsets seem to help me explore the mystical transition time, the time when things start to change...between the hustle-bustle of daylight and the more laid-back evening hours, where all sorts of things can happen.  A sunset has that certain aura that helps one transition between the two.  But it also holds secrets that are very difficult to capture and share.  There are so many variables when shooting a sunset.  The challenge for me is to bring out the color of the sky as accurately as possible.  Have you ever had your breath taken away or stared in awe at a sunset?  It's that moment of beauty and wonderment that is so elusive to capture.

Typically, one or two stops below normal exposure seems to really bring out the rich, deep colors of a sunset.  Unfortunately, underexposing that much tends to make everything but the sky a silhouette, which is fine in some cases, but terrible in others.  The photo here did exactly that.  King Chapel in the distance is dark and outlined while the sky has all the dreamy colors one would expect from a sunset - pretty much everything in the spectrum to some extent.  In this case it works, but if there's something interesting in the foreground, what then?

That's a difficult situation.  I handle it by blending two photos together...one with a properly exposed sky and one with a properly exposed foreground.  In the film days that was not possible, so what did the masters do?  I don't know.  That will take some research.  But in the digital world, blending two or more photos together, taking the best of each, seems to be the easiest for me. 

Sunsets are truly a gift.  Depending on where you are, who you're with, what you're doing or what your state of mind is, a sunset can  totally mesmerize, inspire, infuse, or energize you, or, turn you introspective, contemplative, appreciative or otherwise tap into your inner being.  The challenge is capturing that moment for all to see!

It's difficult to find a clear definition of abstract photography.  Many agree that photos falling into that category convey a non-literal representation of the subject matter, expressing forms, colors, shapes or shadows that represent something.  I like to think of abstract photography as anything that could be interpreted in multiple ways.  That may sound too broad, but consider the ice structure below, taken on the banks of the Cedar River near Palisades State Park in Eastern Iowa.

The thin layers of ice were formed by gentle waves from the river and froze in interesting patterns over time.  At first glance, this photo could be interpreted as a painting, a rock formation, or any number of things.  But as you key into the patterns and color, it becomes clear it's ice.  Some viewers will see shapes or objects embedded in the patterns, while others will see nothing but the photo itself.Cedar River Ice

So is this an abstract photo?  Yes and no.  Taken from a single shot, it's an exact duplicate of what really existed, but the way it's cropped may lead the viewer to other avenues since there's no context.

What I like about these photos is the different way people are wired visually, thus the interpretive aspect of viewing comes into play.  To me, the photo has a little bit of science fiction in it...in the upper right where the ice looks more marbled and crystallized, it reminds me of a head with some kind of clear space helmet on, with the the body laying across the frame with the left arm along the bottom.  Am I crazy?  Perhaps, but I'll bet others see something different. 

An argument could be made that every photo has the potential for multiple interpretations, and indeed, most good photos have that characteristic, so one could argue that everything is abstract.  But in the end, most would probably agree that there's a line somewhere in our brain that screams "abstract" vs. "awesome landscape" or "beautiful flower".

The other cool thing about abstracts is that there are a bunch of different kinds...impressionistic, literal images out of context, extreme colors, shapes or forms, and just about anything else that has a pattern or shape to it.  Nature has produced the most amazing shapes and patterns we've ever seen, and if you add the cosmos in the mix, abstracts are quite breathtaking and essentially everywhere.

The next time you see an interesting pattern, shape or set of colors, explore it and try to capture the essence of the scene.  You may find that capturing our world in a different way can be inspiring and fun!

Reflections There are basic rules (guidelines) of photography that are time tested and true...rule of thirds, leading lines, symmetry and patterns, cropping, perspective, background, etc.  Many of those guidelines were developed by painters and artists who had an uncanny knack for telling a story through visual means.  Our minds seem to work flawlessly within those boundaries.

For example, when viewing a landscape, the eye wants to naturally "lock" onto something in the foreground for reference, gradually moving out and up toward the horizon, and resting someplace far away since that's exactly how the world is perceived in real life.  Most successful photographs have at least two or more of those guidelines, ultimately rendering something that we can understand, relate to or enjoy.

But what happens when the guidelines are not followed, are too obscure or hidden?  We make instant judgment calls on photos that don't have that natural-human-eye-flow to it.  Those photos may be hard to look at since they may have out of balance objects, illogical focal points or distractions, chaotic subjects or confusing points of interest.  I've taken my fair share of those photos for sure!  But every once in a while, breaking the rules can be liberating, fun and may produce some interesting, unique results.

There are many things about this photo that people may not like...too much to look at...no space to rest the eyes...subject right in the middle of the frame, confusing subject matter...etc.  Yes, that's all true, but it's also true that there's symmetry with the trees and water, patterns of nature are evident, consistent color exists and the perspective is interesting.  Plus it could be a great photo split up into multiple sections spread across a wall!

It seems that even if a photo doesn't have all the elements of a classic composition, if it's created with heart, emotion, passion or interest, it will work for the viewer and shine through.  As is true with anything in life, diversity and flexibility are valuable aspects in our lives, and bending the rules to make a statement or explore the world is exactly what we're meant to do!