New Images from Bosque

Finally. It took way, way longer than it should have. But I’ve finally culled more than 5,000 images from Bosque del Apache down to a handful of selects.  Fortunately (given how long it took) I’m pleased with the final product.  These are by far my strongest Bosque images.  Indeed, I created a couple of images that rank among the best in my portfolio.

As a sort of celebration of having finished, I created the video that headlines this post. I’ve been looking for a new, non-boring way to highlight my work. Looks like Animoto may be just the ticket.   It’s easy. It looks great.  Slideshows are usually so boring, but this keeps things interesting.  There are only two real downsides: (1) Animoto gives no control over the way it assembles the final product.  You click, wait, and hope.  Mostly, this works fine.  However, the software occasionally insists on cropping some images to a 4×3 aspect ratio.  I couldn’t find any work around, no matter how many times I clicked the “remix video” button.  (2) even though I’m using a paid version of Animoto, it insists on branding of embedded video.

Please watch the video (it’s short) and let me know what you think in the comments.

Below is a gallery of the images from the slideshow, in their full, un-Animoto’ed glory. Click on a thumbnail for a larger version and for links to purchase a print or greeting card, or license an image. (If you’re reading this through an RSS reader, the gallery will look much better if you click through to my website.)

What Would Ansel Do?

Ansel Adams is (rightly) regarded as one the of the pillars of “realistic” American landscape photography.  And though Adams is almost too popular to be hip, I will confess that I stand in awe of his work.  There is one point about Adams that many don’t realize, however.  He is great, in a large measure, because he was a darkroom expert: he was great at manipulating photos to express his artistic vision.

This point came to mind when I came across these four videos on Jim Goldstein’s blog.  These are four-part series of videos from the 1983 BBC Program “Master Photographers.”   I recommend watching all four, though to my mind the second video is the most interesting.

Ponder these quotes the next time you think that digital manipulation is killing photography:

“None of my images are realistic in terms of values…  it’s intentional manipulation” (at :50).

“The negative is the composer’s score, all the information is there. The print is the performance, so you interpret the score at various aesthetic emotional levels, but never far enough away dividing the original concept.” (at 4:00)

Notably, Adams was excited about the potential for the potential to reinterpret images using the computer:

“The thing that excites me is that in not too many years we’re going to have a entirely new medium of expression with the electronic image. I’ve seen what can happen to a print reproduced by the  laser scanner and how that is enhanced and that is just the beginning.    … and I know the potential is there and I know its going to be wonderful.  Well in that sense the negatives for these photographs as an example will take the place of a fresh kabal they are….personal or some early composer will then be reinterpreted through a fresh medium and I think that is marvelous.” (at 7:00).

Thanks to Jim Goldstein for point out these great videos and transcribing the quotes reproduced above.

Vancouver Time-lapse Video

Marvelous time-lapse video of Vancouver.   The cinematographer has a great sense of composition. And the fog!

Remarkable Leopard Seal Video

This is a remarkable video of National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen’s encounter with a leopard seal in Antarctica. Needless to say, Nicklen was a tad more bold with the seal than I would have been! Nickeln’s photography isn’t bad either. I think I’m going to purchase a copy of his book, Polar Obsession.

Hilarious Nikon D3x Video

I clearly need to get out more, but this YouTube video is the funniest thing I’ve seen in quite a while: