Dumping

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Most of the time when I go out to shoot I simply photograph what I discover on a given day, rather than setting out determined to find something specific. I make a conscious decision to remain open to what presents itself rather than to work hard at fulfilling a particular agenda.

When I photograph horses—especially when I am shooting for a client, it’s a very different story. First, I normally spend considerable time scouting the location, interviewing the horse owner, and getting acquainted with the horse. The day before the shoot, I plan and dream some of the shots I would like to see. When the dreaming is over and the action begins, my goal is to remain open to surprises that exceed my imagination, and occasionally I am gifted with moments that I never would have hoped for.

Of course, there is a general plan even for my everyday shoots. Perhaps I have an idea of the type of location I am looking for, or I may choose a lens depending on whether I am seeking landscape shots or macro studies. The lens decision may be influenced—at least to some degree—by the time of day, the quality of light, and/or the number of clouds in the sky. Most of time I simply grab my walk-around lens (the 24-105mm f4) and set out to do a lot of seeing and to take pictures. Yesterday’s photo was an exception to the rule.

Early in the day, The Husband mentioned that Buck had just dumped a load of rock dust for the pad behind the house and would be returning soon with another load. The pad that is being put in place will provide a foundation for the mare motel. As I have mentioned once before, I won’t try to justify why the structure is called a mare motel. After all, they don’t vaguely resemble a motel, and there are just as many geldings and stallions using them for shelter as there are mares.

At any rate, having previously watched Buck dump a couple of loads of rock, then road base, and part of the required rock dust, I started thinking that it would be fun to get a photo of the rock dust coming out of the dump truck. With that in mind, I stepped out my normal let’s-see-what-happens mode and began to plan the set-up.

Since I would be shooting in bright light, I would need my ND filter to give me the shutter speed that I needed. I had decided that I wanted to capture the sense of motion caused by the vibration in the back of the trunk, as well as the rock dust flowing toward the ground. The slow shutter speed I would have to use dictated use of my tripod, which I don’t use nearly as often as I should. It turned out that my ND filter was barely strong enough to balance the bright light and while I would have loved to have had one load to use as a test shoot that wasn’t in the plan. This delivery is meant to be the final load. Still, the shot turned out well enough to start me thinking about doing more planned shots. Besides, it was a great excuse to do something completely different and to see Buck’s work more clearly than before.

Endings

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I have tried to concentrate on writing about something else other than this. Just a few days ago, I had a long list of possible topics. But, life throws curve balls. On Sunday evening, we got one of those calls. They are usually rather blunt. There’s no gentle way to lead into some news. This occasion was no exception. The sound of the phone interrupted a quiet, peaceful evening and the news was delivered. “B____ was killed this afternoon.”

There you are cruising along in your little life bubble—content that tomorrow will be pretty much like today, and boom! All those questions are back again. First, you want to question the report. Surely, there is a mistake. Why this person? It couldn’t possibly have been his time. Why one of those truly good guys we never have enough of in our lives? B____ was cheerful, gentle, honest, reliable, generous, and just a joy to be around. He had only recently retired to finally take a deep breath, kick back, and enjoy his life after all those decades of working hard.

I suppose it is some comfort that apparently he avoided a long painful death, and he was doing what he loved to do for relaxation. He was out for a ride on a crisp fall day. B____ was riding a horse he took out periodically because no one else ever rode the gelding and B____ felt sorry for the animal cooped up in that stall all the time. The horse returned safely to the stable, but he came home alone.

There are a lot of heavy hearts and innumerable fond memories of B____'s kindness and good humor. His many friends will miss him. May his family find strength and comfort .

Light! Camera! Action!

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Not long ago, Beau Harbin posted this photo that he took at a local gracery store. He was waiting in the car with the children, while his wife shopped for the groceries. Like Beau, I often take photos of the strangest things, because I am waiting and I have a camera in my hand. Earlier this week—on the night we came back from LA, we stopped to pick up the mail at the Bear Valley Springs Post Office and Police Station.

There were lights in front of me. I was waiting. I had a camera in my hand. Why not see what I would get?

Ranting

I don't look at many You Tube videos, but this one that I found at Luminous Landscape today is hilarious.

Disclaimer: All you Nikon shooters, I would find this just as funny if it were aimed at Canon. While I have bought into the Canon system, I am well aware of the the many fine features of Nikon cameras. So, this is in good fun.

Come to think of it, this treatment could be given to innumerable manufacturers of all manner of goods.

video

Quiet Time in a Busy Week

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I had no intention of being away so long, but nothing about the week was planned.

The trip to LA developed a wrinkle—it ended up we only moved the vehicle to another shop for additional repairs. Sounds like a sad case, doesn't it? Since it's a 1978 International Scout, I suppose it makes sense that it needs repairs now and then. Still, that means one more trip down off the mountain and across the desert to collect it.

Next, Shutterfly had a special on photo books, and I couldn't pass up the discounted price. What's more, it was a good excuse to celebrate a year of getting to know Bear Valley Springs. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since we began looking around up here and considering this move. Now I will have two BVS anniversaries to observe. When the adventure first began plus the date the moving van deliverd our things. Even then, I didn't fully settle here psychologically until the house in LA sold.

I had hardly breathed a sigh of relief over finishing the book before a surprise phone call from one of my most favorite clients set me off on another project the day after completing the book. Following that flurry of activity, my trick digestive system did a few loop the loops that knocked me out of commission for a day.

I did squeeze in a shoot with the horses in their new home. No chasing them around that day for action shots—just some quiet settling in time and a few candid shots. You think Lancer believes he might find a carrot in that pocket?

Another Moving Week

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We are in moving mode again. Oh, no, not a major household move. Thank goodness for that. Today, the horses were moved from one temporary boarding place to another. In addition, we have to collect a vehicle, that has been in the shop down in Los Angeles. I'm grateful that there were no boxes to pack, and The Husband did all the work moving the horses. I just tagged along to watch and play the mother-hen role for the animals.

In spite of the fact that the light was harsh during today's equine relocation, I shot for a few minutes just for the exercise. Since, I have been shooting mostly landscapes recently, it felt good to be shooting action and getting those "muscles" back in shape. The bright overhead light meant that the horses have chunks of coal where their eyes should be. I rarely process horse photos if there is no light in the eye. It takes an otherwise outstanding shot to overcome that handicap, and the horses weren't doing anything exciting today—simply walking down the road from a pasture at one facility to another facility with a new-to-them pasture.

Still, I had a good time shooting in a different location, and along the way, I found a great spot for location shots. Futhermore, the horses' new temporary home is a great spot for catching some candids of them either one morning or evening.

Since the middle of October, I have been shooting more photographs per week than I was previously shooting in a month. As a direct result, I am feeling a distinct shift in my comfort and familiarity with the 40D, as well as a greater freedom to experiment. I may never get all the boxes unpacked, so perhaps we will never completely move in. Still, I am feeling more at home, and we are optimistic about staying here.

Upper Elevations

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Bear Valley Springs encompasses approximately 25,000 acres of land ranging in elevation from 4,118 feet to 6,934 feet. We are at that lower elevation, down on the valley floor in an area that was once one of the hay fields when the Fickert family ranched here.

I have spent most of this week exploring the ridges that surround us and seeing how the mountain folks live. The extreme elevation in our community is Bear Mountain and I won’t be hiking to that peak, but I have been on the roads along the ridges where the elevation is, 5,000 feet and above. All I know is that from some of those spots where I found a place to pull off the road, Bear Valley Road looks very tiny down there on the valley floor. And there aren’t many of those opportunities to park. In far too many places, the winding, twisting two lane roads have spots two feet wide, or less, before the 1000 feet (give or take) drop off. Even though there was very little traffic up there, I missed some tempting vantage points. I wasn't gutsy enough to stop on the road and risk surprising someone coming around a curve.

Thanks to my explorations, I have my bearings—you can’t imagine what an accomplishment that is for me. Unfortunately, in addition to being numerically illiterate, I am geographically challenged. Lucky for me, the roads in Bear Valley Springs are laid out in such a way that even I can’t get lost. And now, that I have a better sense of my area—and even have some favorite spots marked on my map, I may spend a little more time checking out the higher elevations. That is if I can keep my vertigo in check. After the first two days of driving around—pulling off at rural mailboxes and wider spots in roads to poke around out on the edge of the ridges, I snuggled under the covers a tired, but happy photographer only to have trouble sleeping. Just as I would begin to drift off, I would slip and go over the edge of a bluff. Not fun and not the least bit relaxing. On the other hand, maybe I will trade off between exploring the valley floor and poking around up there in the clouds.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I want to wish everyone a beautiful and peaceful day of giving thanks for all our many blessings. In my opinion, this is one of the most significant observances of the year. I am always so embarrassed and ashamed if I can’t find a long list of things to be grateful for at least at this time of year. Doug Stockdale has a lovely post today on finding contentment. While you are visiting his site, linger a while and you will find a treasure trove of hot tips on publishing, plus a link to his latest book at Blurb and some wonderful photography. Doug is generous with the details of his book-making journey and shares a wealth of information. Now, see, there's something else to be grateful for.

Enjoy tomorrow, but don't eat too much pie. We don't want you stuck with giving thanks for antacids

Ponderings

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My therapy yesterday included another session of combining camera movement with slow shutter speed. The more I explore this form of play, the more satisfying it is. While I have worked hard to more effectively control shutter speed for sharper images and to improve my compositions, now I am drawn more and more to these impressionistic images. I know it isn’t a surprising chain of events, but it is peculiar in a way and it amuses me.

During the part of the shoot when I took this photograph, I was enjoying the landscape with its layers, and wondering where time goes in such a hurry. The hours and days get away from me so quickly. Some days, I feel as though I were riding the rapids. While I try to hold on and stay upright, my raft continues to gather speed. The scenery along the bank is not much more than a blur. Meanwhile, I paddle like mad—just hoping that the waterfall isn’t around the next bend.

It’s all upside down. With age, time should slow down along with our bodies.

Theraphotography

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If you tried finding the title word in your dictionary or even with your trusty search engine, you didn’t find it, because the term comes from Amy Sakurai’s amazing mind. Amy was kind enough to share her brand-new word with me in her comment on my last post, and I have found that it suits my needs perfectly. Thanks, Amy.

Today, I devoted much of my day to theraphotography. I spend two or three hours out driving around and exploring some new sights. As usual, I have no original ideas—none. The day’s adventures were inspired by all the reading and exploring that has come before, but the four most immediate influences were: Amy’s addition to a photographer’s dictionary, Paul Butzi’s post on finding peace of mind with one’s camera, Paul Lester’s post re. Winter light, and Mark Graf’s post on tree hugging.


Lately, I have been sticking pretty close to home—with a brief foray or two down to Cub Lake which is all of a mile away. Today I definitely needed therapy, and, for me, that meant exploring with my camera. I can explore light without leaving our property, but the tree part definitely involves some travel. Although we have a beautiful view to the northeast, the thing we don’t have much of on our property is trees. I have been missing my ash tree—my twenty-year friend—and I definitely needed to go hug some trees. Anybody’s trees.

So, out I went. My intentions were simple: play with some old ideas, as well as some new ones ; chase some winter light; and lavish love on a few trees. As always, I can’t predict whether the photography part pleases anyone else but me. However, I am certain that the therap(y) part was totally successful.