photoLog 2008
photoLog 2007
| Date: Sunday, April 6, 2008 Topic: A Different Look Photo: Badlands and Duffy's Peak (click for larger version) --Pentax K10D, 35mm  It's strange how an area can change its looks in
a short period of time. A couple of mornings ago I was out
looking for strays in the 4WD was quite taken with this view of the
badlands and Duffy's Peak. Normally, the area is almost
completely barren, but last spring we received above average rainfall
and some of the badlands area actually ceased to look like
badlands. In fact, it grew more grass than I thought it was
capable of growing. However, an extremely dry fall and winter has
left the grass a bright yellow which makes an interesting color
contrast with the red ground.Duffy's Peak is the mound in the distance and probably has a name only because it was used as a landmark when this part of the country was surveyed. Although it can't be seen in the image, the Salt Fork of the Brazos River is just this side of it and is currently in its normal dry state. To call Duffy's Peak a "peak" is somewhat of an exaggeration, but it does look considerably higher when viewed from the river bed below. |
| Date: Wednesday, March 5,
2008 Topic: Photographing Skies Photo: Post House and Weeds (click for larger version) --Pentax K10D, 35mm, polarizing filter 
I'm a sucker for dramatic skies. That's one of the great things about living in the southwest. We had a cold front blow in from the north this morning and, at least for a while, we had really beautiful skies. This is the same house that I had in the photoLog in October, 2007 photographed from a different angle and, of course, in black and white. I still prefer film for black and white images--probably because I'm not good enough at doing digital black and white conversions. However, digital certainly offers some advantages in doing dramatic skies. I most likely would have used a red or dark yellow filter for the photograph on the right if I had been shooting film producing a negative that was difficult (for me) to print. Since I was shooting at a right angle to the sun this morning, I simply used a polarizing filter to help separate the sky and clouds. The downside of using a polarizing filter for black and white is that you sometimes lose some of the specular highlights that can give a monochrome image sparkle. |
| Date: Saturday, March 1, 2008 Topic: Photographing Ghost Towns Photo: Coffee Pot (click for larger version) --Pentax K10D, 50mm  From my house, the ghost town of Canyon Valley
(population 0) is only three miles or so by horseback and about eight
miles by road. It's an authentic ghost town, but not a really old
one. It seems that each time I visit there is less and less to
see or photograph. I dropped by yesterday for probably the last
time and made a few images that were mostly just record shots. I
did run across the coffee pot shown at the left.One thing I've learned is that sometimes things change more rapidly then you expect. Don't put off photographing ghost towns if they interest you. If the light is not exactly right just try to do the best you can because you just can't count on them being there when you return. Over the past two or three years I have revisited places I photographed earlier only to find that they had been vandalized or bull-dozed. In other instances access had been restricted because structures had become dangerous or a land owner just got tired of putting up with the public. As a land owner myself, I certainly understand. |
| Date: Saturday, February
23,
2008 Topic: Cute Rodents Photo: Prairie Dogs (click for larger version) --Pentax K10D, 80-200mm  Until I was in Lubbock, Texas last week I
never realized the extent to which prairie dogs had taken over some of
the town's open areas. Actually, the prairie dog towns are pretty
easy to spot since the area they inhabit tends to be devoid of any kind
of vegetation. Now it looks as though they are spilling over into
the adjacent areas and neighborhoods where they are certain to be
unwelcome guests. I saw one run down a sidewalk and go down a
hole in someone's front yard about a block from the vacant lots where
the town is located. I understand that prairie dogs are
susceptible to bubonic plague that is carried by fleas. I don't
know, however, if this poses any kind of real health risk for humans. It's going to be interesting to see how this over-population problem is solved. It they were some other kind of rodents such as mice or gophers, I think the problem would be a little different. Prairie dogs are larger and cuter and there are bound to be howls of protest at some proposed solutions. I also suspect the only politically correct method is relocation. Like I said, it's bound to be interesting. |
| Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 Topic: West Texas Stucco Photo: Sudan Hotel, Sudan, Texas (click for larger version) --Pentax 67, 50mm  Although I had passed though Sudan, Texas dozens
of times, I had never noticed the old Sudan Hotel until we were there
on a photography day trip in May 2003. It was hard to tell how
long the building has been vacant, but I guessed that it probably been
at least a couple of years and most likely longer since I had seen much
activity. Unfortunately, it was a Saturday afternoon
and there wasn't anyone handy to ask. However, I knew immediately
that it was a building I wanted to photograph. The first print of this was a toned silver gelatin darkroom print that was part of an exhibit at the Garden and Art Center in Lubbock. I’m just now getting around to creating a digital file. I’ve printed the image on Espon’s Velvet Fine Art paper and I think the ink jet image is slightly better than the darkroom print. This building is of some historical significance to the small town of Sudan. I don’t know, however, if any effort will be made to maintain it. Whether or not to spend money on buildings like this one is a common dilemma. |
| Date: Monday, January 28,
2008 Topic: Cabin Fever Photo: Campfire (click for larger version) --Pentax Super Program , 50mm, Kodachrome 64  The
weather here has not been very suitable for doing any kind of outdoor
photography. It has either been too cold or too
windy. If fact, today the high winds and dry conditions have
combined to provide us with a real dust storm. It's not the kind
of weather I even want to expose my equipment to. To make matters
worse, I'm stuck with a large pile of paperwork that I need to get
done. In other words, I'm trapped in the office without any
excuses. When I had done enough work this morning to convince myself that I deserved a short break, I decided to thumb through some loose slide pages that I found in the bottom of a drawer. The image on the right caught my eye. This spot is only about a mile from my house and we camped, fished and photographed here for years but it's been a long time. The image is a little corney, but it brought back lots of memories and at least a temporary respite from cabin fever. |
| Date: Thursday, January 24, 2008 Topic: Photographic Freedom Photo: Aeromotor (click for larger version) --Pentax K10D, 16-45mm  There was a time when I absolutely refused to
photograph subjects that I considered to be a cliché.
This included things like wildflowers, old buildings and, in this
part of the country, windmills. In retrospect, I think I was
probably more concerned with what other people might think than with
making an image that I liked. Deciding that you are going to
photograph for yourself (and really meaning it) provides a great sense
of freedom. In fact, I'm may be more creative than when I
was concerned about pleasing someone else. I still photograph
enough weird stuff to consider myself to be at least a little
arty. |
| Date: Friday, January 11,
2008 Topic: Raw Nature Photo: Dead Cactus (click for larger version) --Pentax K10D, 50mm  Landscape and nature photography sometimes
gets a little boring and repetitive. (See Bryce Canyon photograph
below!) I've always liked it when a photographer shows me
something I haven't noticed before or perhaps the same thing in a
different way. I think Eliot Porter did a
fantastic job of this and often wonder how many of today's digital
photographers have even heard of him. There are most likely books
of his images in any medium size library. Also, his amazing and
labor-intensive dye transfer prints can be seen in Santa Fe and at the
Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. If you like nature
photography then you'll find his work to be eye opening and
inspiring. Over the years I have photographed a lot of fauna that was wilting, dead or dying. Many of these were photographed in B&W to be handtinted later by my wife or myself. The dead cactus on the right was near my house and the orange leaf is most likely from a Red Bud tree in my front yard. I almost removed it because it looks a little contrived but then I decided not to since I was making the image for myself and liked the additional splash of color. |
| Date: Monday, January 7, 2008 Topic: Bryce Revisited Photo: Bryce Canyon (click for larger version) --Mamiya 645, 80mm, Fuji Velvia  I was rearranging a filing cabinet today and
came across a notebook of medium format transparencies, mostly 645,
made
in the 1990s. I don't think the image on the left was ever
printed. It's just a straight shot of Bryce Canyon but it
remined me of its vastness and how much I enjoyed being there. The
composition is pretty good, but, on the other hand, making a good
photograph of
Bryce Canyon is no great feat. If you can't go to Bryce and make
a good image you should consider letting someone else use the camera
for a while. |
photoLog 2007
