London, 1997

I'm not a big royal watcher. Won't be getting up to catch the wedding in London tomorrow. Robin encouraged me to share that last royal event I witnessed, the funeral for Princess Diana. Even got the cover of People Magazine with the profiles of the princes. Hope this isn't a downer.

Photo Safari 4.16.11

The class members for Saturday's Digital Photo Safari, held at the nearby Cedar Covered Bridge, were (l to r) Marnae, Patti, Rich, Pam and Nicole. Nicole came all the way from South Sioux City, Nebraska!
It was a blustery day, with very little sunshine, but the results were above average in every way.

Pam continued to grow in her understanding of light from the Digital Studio Safari class she took here two weeks ago. A fine sweet-spot of light for me to stand in just inside the bridge opening.

Pam also did some trouble-shooting, figuring out how to get the greenery around the bridge to jump out and even tried using her on-camera flash. The proper exposure here in ambient light was a winner. Pam will be getting paid to make pictures sooner than she thinks.

Patti has a very non-traditional eye. She found dozens of interesting designs in her overall take that we discussed during a review in class back at Madhaus Gallery. She made a wonderful study of this dry plant against the planks of the bridge.

And in the nearby standing waters in the area around the bridge she found this subtle distinction of color of the red leaf in the amber muddy puddle. Patti has an extremely individual eye, which is a rare thing to find. I enjoy looking at her photos.

Rich made a nice study of the "verticality" of the surrounding vegetation almost swallowing up the bridge from this angle. It is a startling photo and well done.

I also like how Rich likes to change angles, here going low in the nearby parking lot to make the bridge almost look like it is rising from earth to greet us. Rich has a great energy and was a positive participant who added valuable insights to discussions in the class.

Marnae is probably the least experienced photographer in the group, but her take was very solid. What she might have lacked in time with the camera in her hands did not impair her ability to make striking photos.

Marnae's natural tendency to composition that leads the eye in the top photo and then holds it dramatically in the one above, is outstanding. She could also apply that talent to sculpture, painting, print making or several other visual arts.

And then we come to Nicole. She is confident and put herself on the spot by choosing to shoot with a telephoto zoom lens on her camera for the entire class. Though risky the payoff was wonderful. The way the bridge goes into almost pure abstraction behind the branch is HUGE! A very fine image that stands on its own.

I also like the down home nature to this photo of Gordon and I making our way out of the south side of the bridge. The road just leads the eye back and forth. Well done.

If you are interested in our continuing education in digital photography or many other disciplines, go to the link below to see if you find a class that interests you:

http://www.madhausgallery.com/madhausgallery/Adult_Education.html

Hello Ansel

Yesterday I was driving back home from a trip to northwest Iowa, when I captured a moonrise over a line of trees in west central Iowa. It was nice in color... better in black & white. What do you think? I do my black & white in Adobe PhotoShop under calculations. I set the green and red channels at 80%. Not bad. Click on the image to see it bigger.

ANSWER to the question... What was that photo?

In the preceding entry I asked if anyone knew what they were looking at... Gupta Mahajenish, of Allahbad, India answered incorrectly that it was a puddle of water in the rain.
The correct answer is... drum roll... the photo is of the heavily hail damaged hood of a very blue pickup truck in Eldora, Iowa, later one evening in August of 2009.

What is this?

Let's have a few guesses? Anybody know what they're looking at here? It has been a very successful part of my fine art portfolio for two years.

The answer will be posted this evening.

PowerShots Ep 1

It's the fifth anniversary of the pilot episode of Power Shots, a television program I hosted on Mediacom in Des Moines. Here is the final segment of the episode, when a cat didn't want to be in the show.

The Studio Safari Bunch

Click on image to see it larger...

On Saturday, six students spent six hours in our Digital Studio Safari Class. It was truly one of the best groups we've ever hosted. I did this little class composite in their honor. Left column, top to bottom: cousins Nina and Terra Baccam, of Des Moines and Greg Punelli, also of Des Moines. Right column: Chrystal Bower, of Urbandale, Pam Bair of Ankeny and Tracy Elings, of Des Moines. They were energetic, smart and very engaged.

They spent the afternoon learning primarily about light, outdoor, indoor and in the studio. They learned to recognize what types of light, indirect, back and so on, appealed to them. This photo is by Pam, a beautiful example of stepping the model into indirect light and using the positive and negative fields of the background to provide balance. A real pro move.

The photo below is by Chrystal. A very nice example of seeing window light and using dynamic composition. She really captures a moment and makes a run-down middle aged guy look like he's interesting. Well done.

Nina uses Terra as her model also. Here she finds that perfect light that makes her cousin look like a fashion model — which is not a stretch. Look how sharp and well composed, how natural Nina is with a camera in her hand.

Terra turned the camera on Nina and made use of an aluminum foil reflector to be able to photograph her in a deep dark area of a nearby alley. She sparkles in an urban setting. A quality portrait.

Tracy made possibly the moodiest portrait of the class. In the ever-changing shadows of a pine tree near the Madison County Courthouse, she found a moment. It makes the instructor look like he's either contemplating a bank heist or world domination. By looking at her take I could see she has the "knack" for photography. With some luck and hard work she will succeed. You can see it in her eyes.

And finally, the funniest picture of the day goes to Greg. He really caught a great moment of me and Gordon on the walk just off the square. Photography is about rescuing moments from eternity. Greg seems to be at ease with the camera in his hands. He is truly a photographer and I look forward to seeing more of his work. Maybe he'll e-mail the blog and share with us in the future.