Photo of the Week 2015-03-30

I've been working on processing a number of images for a Fine Art series for well over a year. Yes, well over a year. Made on a trip to Italy in 2013, I have been using a different processing approach to transform the original captures into something unusual, at least for me.

The idea for the series came to me while reviewing images from the trip and reliving what I experienced while making them. Not just the memory of being back there but the sense I had while working to capture what I saw and felt at the time. Struck by the knowledge that these scenes and locations were far older than anywhere I had been before, if I closed my eyes I could almost feel the past. It was as if there were echoes of previous times merging with the present. For this series I attempted to create the visual equivalent..

"ECHOES" (a work in process)
  Echoes are reflections, arriving some time after the direct sound
  Echoes are reflections of prior events
  Echoes grow fainter with time, some blur, others twist, turn and move
  Echoes can be indistinguishable from the original

These are a few of the images that I'm happy enough with to share. The series still remains very much a work in process. My approach to processing may continue to be refined over time as I select more images to transform.

Ultimately, I'd love to see these up in an Italian restaurant or banquet hall. I'll have to work on that.

I'm always interested in feedback from those who follow my blog or those who just stumble on this post. Feel free to use the comment section or send me a personal message.

"I am not interested in shooting new things - I am interested to see things new." - Ernst Haas

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-03-23

by the heat of the forge ...

Why an image from 2008 as "Photo of the Week"?

The back story:
I've managed to accumulate a sizable collection of images since witching to digital a number of years ago. My software of choice for storing the collection is Adobe Lightroom (currently version 5.7).

When I started using Lightroom, there were potential issues with larger catalogues so I decided to basically break mine down by year and create a separate catalogue for each year. As I continue to grow my image library it has become a bit cumbersome to switch between Lightroom catalogues when searching for images. So after reading and hearing several items relating to a single catalogue for all images I decided to take on the task of merging everything. 

Now, I currently have about 2.5 TB of total data for my combined images catalogues. I've been using 3TB Seagate drives for storage and backup (3 of them, 1-main, 1-BU#1, 1-BU#2) and a recent report from an online backup service indicates that their experience shows the Seagate 3TB drive has a high failure rate. Given this I also decided to switch over to 4TB Western Digital Red drives for the increased capacity and reliability (one at a time mind you since they're $200+ ea).

The first step in the process was to make sure I was current with my backups ... check. Then I formatted the 4TB drive and labelled it "Master Catalogue" with a main folder for all photos in sub-folders by year. Anyone using Lightroom for their image management should perform file movements and catalogue merges from within Lightroom to retain file location, key-wording, ratings, virtual copy information etc. I checked a couple of resources online (best one here) about how best to do this and it was a good thing because I learned a few new things along the way.

The process of creating one merged catalogue took Most of Friday night and Saturday (while chillin' at the cottage :-) and along the way I randomly scanned through some of the files to remind myself of what I had captured over the years. At one point I came across the image above. It's always been one of my favourites and one of the first prints that I sold. It was made at the Flesherton Fall Fair in 2008 where they had a Farrier Competition. I positioned myself with a burning forge between myself and one of the participants to shoot through the heat wave effect and captured him hammering his shoe on the anvil. No digital trickery here, just using the true scene to create something different.

... now I just need to start creating the backups.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-03-16

... time for another walk in the woods, this time the local woods in Preservation Park, Guelph near home.

late winter beech

Saturday came and I found myself in Guelph instead of Tobermory. My regular photo buddies had both decided to pass on a photo outing for one reason or another and I decided at the last minute to switch up a scheduled visit with my mother for a misty morning outing in Preservation Park.

I love this place on mornings, particularly when there is a mist or fog moving through the bare trees in late winter / early spring. Saturday was just such a day so I geared up for the conditions, taking my waterproof 3in1 jacket, ice cleats, waterproof gloves and hat along with my photo equipment in a small backpack.

I didn't wander far, but I did wander quite a while. Sometimes alone, sometimes stopping to chat with others enjoying a walk their dogs. I made images with 3 different cameras. I used an ultra-wide angle 14mm on the 5DIII, a 70-300 tele-zoom on the 7DII, but it was the little EOS M with the 18-55 kit lens that I captured the above image with, one of my favourites form the outing.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-03-09

 ... or rather "Photo Project of the Week"

Lynn saw the use of an old french door or multi-pane window re-purposed as a photo frame and suggested that we do something along the same lines for the cottage. We've decided to populate the frame with images that capture special cottage times, "firsts", times with family, times with friends and memorable moments.

I took a selection of images made since we took possession in August 2013, printed 5x7's and brought them up to fill the frame and hang it over the weekend. It turned out even better than we had anticipated. Hung on the hall wall (short as it is), just outside a room that sees regular use, it stops me and makes me smile every time I see it. There's always at least one image that catches my eye and stirs great memories. We plan to add new images as time goes on, likely removing the more scenic ones to be replaced with times with friends and family.

We call it "The Cottage Window". It lets us look out onto the good times we've already had up there and reminds us how precious these times are.

"The Cottage Window"

 Current images Top to Bottom, Left to Right (links provided to images previously posted):
1. me B&W version
2. the Family 
3  Milky Way over Hay Bay
4. Lynn and Murph at the shore
5. Big Tub Light in winter
6. Lynn's foot at Halfway Log Dump
7. Singing Sands drifts
8. Winter Retreat (the Cottage)
9. Waves at Little Cove
10. Jordan and I beginning the hike Halfway Log Dump to Indian Head Cove
11. 1st night shoreside campfire
12. winter shore
13. Lynn and Jordan canoeing
14. Murph and Gus
15. last light 2014

DJE

Photo of the Week 2015-03-02

There is something about the forest, winter, summer, any season. There is just something calming, soothing, rejuvenating about being in touch with the forest.

The Japanese have a phrase, shinrin-yoku, that roughly translates to forest bathing.
According to the Wiki article, "It has now become a recognized relaxation and/or stress management activity in Japan."

When we spend time at our cottage on the Bruce Peninsula, Lynn has often said to me "you're different up here". It's more than just getting away from "the city", more than just leaving work behind, more than a change of scenery. I truly feel a change in body and mind, a calm, clear wellness. My "photo buddies" feel it when we go out for our weekend treks in the forest closer to home too. We've commented on the feeling, the need to get away and how it makes us feel more "alive".

For those interested in reading more, there is a longer article here: Your Brain on Nature: Forest Bathing and Reduced Stress.

through winter woods

"It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit." —Robert Louis Stevenson 

DJE