by Mark ~ July 22nd, 2010
Planting seeds
Sunrise is about 2 hours away when my alarm wakes me up. Gather the gear, hoping not to leave some critical piece behind, and head out to whatever location is calling to me today. Maybe its planned, maybe just a whim to see what there is to see. Weather seems good, good light in the forecast, and the elements of nature as my muse. What will it be today? Macro? Wildlife? Landscapes? Artistic? Hard to say in advance sometimes. I am hoping the place will tell me.
The fact is, it is rare that I don’t utter the words in the title of this post upon arriving anywhere, somewhere. It doesn’t matter the place or time of year. It’s as if I am trying to poke my subconscious to bring forth something original. I mean, heck, nature photography should be wide open with so much subject matter it should make your head explode. But my inner judge kicks in – I have seen that before, been there, done that or I am just not “feelin’ it.” Excuses come to mind – too green, too ordinary, too harsh, too ho-hum, too boring. What am I not seeing? Nature certainly can be very subtle in the way she speaks to you.
This is often a hurdle for me when I am out photographing – an internal pressure that I fight. Throw in other elements like distractions, moods, headaches, tiredness, weather, bugs and the hurdle just seems to grow significantly taller. It’s a struggle between the part that just wants to enjoy being there and the other part that feels the need to create something to show that enjoyment and appreciation.
Too often I tell myself just to relax, it’s just a walk in the woods. If something is there worth photographing, you will find it, or it just wasn’t meant to be. Are fate and inspiration so intertwined? Well, certainly being there is the start.
Tagged: nature photography
Filed under: artistry, creativity, inspiration, nature photography, wonder :: 11 Comments
by Mark ~ July 20th, 2010
Fall leaves after rain on riverside slate
Despite being mid-Summer here, I am already yearning for the cooler temperatures and variety of color of fall. I am not a big fan of the heat. It saps my motivation more than I would like on a great many things – photograph – keep up with my blog, keep up with other blogs. :-)
I have always been one to try to look at any particular scene for its very basic graphical elements. Leaves certainly make for good candidates due to their very recognizable shape. This particular image I had sitting in my files for awhile, originally because it had some distortion in it from the wide angle lens I used to create it. The distortion bothered me, so I put it aside to fix it later. Well, my fellow photographers know how long the interval can turn into from putting something aside and then actually working on it.
As it typically happens, I am sorting through my files looking for something else – for a print order on another image or stock submission – and end up finding images I had forgotten about. I originally uploaded this to my gallery as a horizontal, but the more I think about it, I think it looks better as a vertical. So another one gets rescued from purgatory.
Thank you for visiting.
Tagged: fall color, fall leaf photos, leaf pictures
Filed under: art, nature photography :: 4 Comments
by Mark ~ July 8th, 2010
Sand ripples
With temperatures this week soaring towards the upper 90’s (37 Deg C or so), and humidity levels well over 50% – I have been yearning for a cool down in Lake Superior. It is difficult to breathe with air this hot and thick.
Unfortunately it wouldn’t yield any immediate relief as Lake Superior is at least a 6 hour drive from where I live. There is definitely a unique character to Superior. The water can be unbelievably clear. Clarity always seems to imply healthy and fresh water. Sandy bay such as the one here offer rhythmic patterns. It can be flat calm to a raging sea that has swallowed many ships in its time. As a diver, I have often appreciated the water clarity and good visibility, even though it gives a glimpse at shipwrecks when times were not so peaceful on this Great Lake.
Ah well, at least I can edit a few images with a fan breeze blowing and at least try to imagine wading the shoreline. Cool water against your legs, soft sand under your feet, and the gentle movement of water as a massage. A feeling of connection with the lake. Sounds pretty good right now.
Fortunately some rain is coming, and a cool down. I have also created a new gallery of Great Lakes pictures during my indoor escape from the heat, stop by and check it out.
Calm reflection on Lake Superior
Tagged: Great Lakes pictures, Lake Superior pictures
Filed under: Michigan, landscape, nature photography :: 11 Comments
by Mark ~ July 6th, 2010
Textured Coneflowers
In reviewing this image in post, I thought the composition might lend itself well with a texture blend. By itself I suppose it was fine, but I felt the need to do something a little different instead of a plain, out of focus background. This is the result. I experimented with 3 or 4 different ones until finally settling on this one that just “felt right.” I have always wanted to create a collection of these, just haven’t put the time into it yet.
I also thought it might make for a good candidate in some health care artwork that I have been selling over the past few years. Flowers always seem to do well as they are “universally pleasing.”
Subject matter can be quite particular for hospitals. Birds – a no-no. Some people are just freaked out by them. Thank you Hitchcock! Same goes for any predatory animals, bugs. It even goes as far as avoiding things like using waterfalls in renal treatment areas. The selection process is quite similar to how photo editors may not choose the best image photographically, but the one that better suits their specific needs.
Continue reading »
Tagged: health care fine art, purple coneflowers
Filed under: Michigan, abstracts, art, artistry, nature, nature photography, wildflowers :: 13 Comments
by Mark ~ July 3rd, 2010
I think Aaron Johnson hit the nail on the head with this one! I am waiting for the day I can use that sunlight line. 
Photographers can truly be an odd bunch.
Tagged: What the duck
Filed under: Fun, nature photography :: 9 Comments
by Mark ~ June 27th, 2010
I present you a stick
And what a great stick it is. Heron courtship and nest-building is one of my favorite activities to watch. It is very ritualistic as the male flies off to collect materials for the nest and bring it back to the female for approval and placement. In their behaviors as he returns, you can almost imagine the male speaking “honey, how about this one?”
Each peek into the social interactions of wildlife gives us one more clue at how we are not so different in many aspects. One more clue to the magnitude of how little we really understand.
I gave this image a monochromatic tonality for simplification. The herons and the sticks become quite isolated from any color distractions. The story is completely about those two elements alone.
Tagged: bird photography, bird pictures, courtship, Great Blue heron, nature photography, nesting
Filed under: birds, nature photography, wildlife :: 17 Comments
by Mark ~ June 24th, 2010
Indian Paintbrush
Just an image for this post, not much else. This is a rendering of an image I made not long ago where I wanted to add further simplicity to a very cluttered scene. The end result – Indian Paintbrush looking rather … painterly.
Tagged: Indian Paintbrush, Michigan Upper Peninsula, spring wildflowers
Filed under: Michigan, abstracts, art, artistry, creativity, nature photography, wildflowers :: 14 Comments
by Mark ~ June 9th, 2010
Taraxacum... just a weed
“What would the world be, once bereft,
of wet and wildness? Let them be left.
O let them be left; wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.”
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844-1889
I have always found certain words of human language and how they are used peculiar. I have often wondered… “Do dolphins, whales, or bonobo’s use such terms?” One in particular … “weed.” I remember when I visited Germany there were these beautiful flowers along most of the roadsides – I never did get to identify them. I wouldn’t hesitate photographing a field of them if I had the chance. But when I asked a colleague what they were, the reply was “Oh they are just weeds, they grow everywhere.” I am sure foreign visitors to a chemical free US suburban neighborhood might ask the same of the yellow flowers scattered everywhere.
We seem to have a term for anything that is in a place that annoys us or that we don’t have a need for – weed, pest, rodent, wasteland. They are used as if they are scientific classifications, yet they have no such notoriety. Yet it is amazing how willingly such terms are commonly adopted references to specific species across languages, countries, continents. I can’t help but wonder – what if we just left things be as Mr. Hopkins so eloquently wrote.
Of course in many cases we cannot, the natural order of things often doesn’t anticipate the wild card of mankind and “progress.” We frequently need to fix what we have broken, but often don’t do such a good job of that either. This photograph captured my desire to just let things be and appreciate something for what it is.
Tagged: dandelion, parachute ball, weeds
Filed under: Michigan, abstracts, art, creativity, macro, nature photography, wildflowers, wonder :: 21 Comments
