Clouds and HDR...

Well, my current inspiration for image exploration is using HDR on clouds. I think I'll be photographing clouds as much as possible in the coming months to explore the forms they take on and the play of light and shadow in the surfaces and recesses.

HDR provides an abstract interpretation of clouds. It exaggerates the tonal qualities and, if you allow it to, increases the color. Without additional comment here are two recent efforts-

Long-delayed update!

So, what's a guy really supposed to do with virtual "networking"? I've got a Facebook account, this blog, that blog, LinkedIn, and a real website that forces me to tinker with Dreamweaver. I'm curious how much time the average small business person, maybe one-man shop, spends "networking" each week. Or month.

In the long run, I suppose it simply takes the place of time spent previously at a service club, Men's or Women's club, golf tournament and business lunch hob-nobbing. Or the sporting club where you struck deals on imported olive oil. Oh, never mind, that's the Wise Guys.

There are two new trends in my photography- HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Commercial Photography. For business focus I am now placing 75% of my effort into developing a presence in the Commercial Photography niche. The other 25% will be Artistic Photography and the Decor market- photo wall art.

Here are two links to slideshows on our main website. These represent our first "major" photo shoots-

Luther Park at Sandpoint (Idaho)

St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Sandpoint, ID)

And this is one of my first efforts at HDR photography which, in short, combines three or more exposures of the same image seamlessly into one. The photographer has great artistic leeway on how real or surreal the final image will look-

Link to Henderson Photography-

Picture- Grain Elevators in Fairfield, Washington.

A couple weeks ago I took the side-route to my inspection jobsite, through Fairfield, WA. This is a typical, small agricultural town in Eastern Washington. Luckily there was some fog so I tried to make use of it on the edge of town.

For those of you visiting this site after receiving my business card-

My most recent business card lists this Blog because our regular website is being updated. It can be viewed now. More slideshows and pages will be added during the year. The link to Henderson Photography is on the right hand side of the page as well as the dark link above the post area.

The winter that wasn't...

Here in the Inland Northwest, as we like to call Eastern Washington and parts of North Idaho, the landscape has been dreary and disappointing, for the most part! I was hoping to take endless pictures of rural landscape with snow &/or fog this winter. Not workin' out that way.

Well, you have to go with what you've got. Since landscape and still life haven't provided opportunities, I'll do the best I can with a construction site! Clouds are a favorite subject so here's another one. One lesson to take from this one is "perspective"- the guys on the crew are focused on the building, some detail that needs to be corrected. Sure, we have to do our work well but look at the sky above. While the mundane is tended to, perhaps God's creation around us will provide some inspiration or a sense of the larger picture-

A step back in time...

Teresa pointed out that my blog isn't very colorful so far! Well, that's true. Left to my own devices I can linger in a monochrome world for a while. I'm not into true black & white photography. I like monochrome- either full sepia or some hint of color.

In the meantime, here's something more colorful- a shot of Deception Pass from several years ago when I was shooting film. In the early 2000's while the transition from film to digital was still accelerating I was shooting on a Canon Elan 7 35mm. I had all my good rolls scanned to digital and started learning Photoshop. This picture is one of my early efforts. Occasionally I'm tempted to go back and re-edit using my current workflow. Usually I just don't have time for it!

So- to add some color, here's a splash-

Eagles in Coeur d'Alene

Teresa and I went to Higgens Point near Coeur d'Alene Idaho on New Year's Day to view the bald eagles. They stop there for a couple weeks to fuel up on salmon during their migration to parts south.

A silhouette often captures the mood better than full color with details. Out of a couple dozen shots this is one of my favorites so far-

Fog also a favorite subject...

Yesterday on my drive to Spokane from Plummer, Idaho (project site for my day-job as public works inspector) I ran into a nice stretch of fog!

Now, maybe some people don't think of fog as "nice" while driving, but I enjoy driving through fog with a few hundred yards of visibility. Not the slow-down-I-can't-see-anything dense fog, but the misty fog that allows trees and barns to appear gradually as you approach.

I have been "watching" this one tree for 6 months, waiting for a good opportunity to capture it and the space around it. This is the "original" version, I have some more comments then I will show an alternate version-



I have been in a mood to find and develop some images, especially those exploring empty space around the apparent subject. (I've seen it referred to as "negative" space but I am not an art student and I've seen definitions that do not fit the reason I want empty space in my composition.) This is a theme I have explored on and off over the past 4 or 5 years.

For me the object in the picture is only half the story, or the anchor for the space. Empty space to me represents the passage of time, the embodiment of curiosity, roads not traveled, any number of things.

Here is the second version of the same shot. At some point I would love to hear feedback from some visitors to the blog- which one do you prefer? At the same time I realize "art" is personal and different people enjoy different images. There are some image I do not connect with. Images that create a sense of proportion or significance for an object, I can relate to-