ARCHIVE 2: March 2009
DAVID'S
PERSONAL NEWS PAGE
and JOURNAL
Anza Borrego
-Culp Valley &
Font's Point Trip
Bob Holland
Dow Villa Motel
Lone Pine
03/31/09 - San Diego: Summer Workshops
We got the OK to offer some summer workshops in the photo facility even though officially the campus is shutting down over the weekends due to budget constraints. We want to offer several 1/2 and 1 day presentations both on techniques and for professional development. We are now chatting with potential instructors and gathering topics we might be able to offer. These will not be part of the SDCC curriculum and will not offer credits. We will work hard to keep costs to the minimum to pay overhead, instructors, and put some $$ into the Photo Foundation Account to help with future events. As topics and schedules become firm I will post information both here and on the SDCC News page.
How Much Photo Gear is Enough? Also following my reading some articles by a friend on the lack of need of carrying much photo gear into the field I decided to examine my own use of equipment. That resulted in my writing a short essay now available in PDF format to read or download.
03/28/09 - Culp Valley to Font's Point
Saturday morning I was all set to start grading which is, as many of you know, my most favorite activity in the world. A friend called and asked if I would be interested in going to shoot some wildflowers in the desert. They had a 4WD so we could get off the road. Now it was pure agony to tear myself away from the happily anticipated grading but to add to it all, another student had said the wildflowers were GREAT in Culp Valley, an area in Anza-Borrego SP. Oh man, what to do? What to do? So on the way we had lunch in Santa Ysabel and then went directly to Culp Valley.
But
although the flowers, such as they were, definitely were blooming, it was
no where near the riot of color and profusion I had assumed from the
student's report. We drove back into the valley a ways and it was the
same everywhere.
There were some nice clumps of blue and yellow but no magic carpet of flowery heaven as I have seen before. Mostly there was Cholla which was not yet blooming
We stopped and shot in a couple of places but it simply was not overwhelming. But where, I wondered, can we take this 4-wheeler easily that might offer a shot and also be a place I've not been to since stupidly trading my own 4WD for a 2WD rig. Ah but that is another story...
Anyway, here was a REAL 4WD available so, given the time of day, I decided to drive out to Font's Point: an overlook for the Borrego Badlands.
This view is all about light and angles and
that means it is all about timing. I hoped that by the time
we got there
the afternoon sun would start to pick out some of the rich texture of this
tortured landscape. It was not perfect but was not bad so we stopped
and took some shots. A convoy of folks arrived and managed to provide
some scale for the shot above.
Here amid this desolation, the Ocotillo plants were really outdoing themselves this year.
These beautiful red blooms and pretty little green leaves mask some really outlandish thorns.
Now
it turns out that the truth is we could have done the entire trip in
2WD but I was really desperate to pretend we were actually off road so used the 4WD
anyway a few times...
Heading back to San Diego after dinner at Carlee's in Borrego Springs, my favorite Oasis in town, the sun was just setting over the mountains overlooking the site of old Lake Henshaw, so we stopped for a last quick shot just as the light died.
Of course I was completely distraught at not getting to do the grading but there is always Sunday... I can hardly wait.
03/26/09 - San Diego: Glass Demo in Lighting Class
One
of my favorite subjects to demo in the lighting class is glassware.
Last night a student brought in a small cut crystal vase which I used to
create both "black line" and "white line" styles of lighting. The
little vase was an elegant piece with faceting that at first looked simple
but on closer examination had details within details.
I spent a good half an hour trying to remove what I took to be a reflection from somewhere in the studio since the color was very close to the color of the floor. No matter what I did I could not get rid of it -- I could not even find where it was coming from -- and finally decided that I would simply remove it in Photoshop when preparing to put on my pages for student reference. But when I enlarged it in Photoshop I realized it was not a reflection at all, it was a prism effect caused by the facets in the crystal. It was not brown/orange as it had appeared in the camera monitor but a gradient of red and yellow. On other facets was a blue/cyan gradient but that seemed to go along with the glass effect so I left it in.
You can see the full shots by clicking here then selecting the new "Glassware II" Demo from the list for the Photo 200 class. You can also see other demos shot for other classes
03/24/09 - San Diego: SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!
Ok, so it
is hard to tell in SoCal whether it is spring or some other season since something seems to always be blooming and
since I've been here I have yet to fill a shovel with snow to clear the
walks. That weather pattern certainly has its positive sides (unless one has sinus
issues) but from a visual standpoint it is quite nice. Plus, there are
growing things here that are simply mind boggling.
Anyway... Around my pool are a number of potted plants and trees. The plants have all been given to me by my friend Helen as she clears out stuff from her and Peter's house. And today when I walked out to check on things I noticed that suddenly there were blooms on many of them.
Now I have not a clue what ANY of this stuff is; (well the shot on the left is some sort of succulent which pretty much exhausts my expertise on the subject...) I just think it is wondrous to look at and fun to photograph. So I grabbed a camera and ventured forth, trying not to fall in the water, and blasted off these images. For those in places where the ground is still white or the temperature still low enough to lay down frost, I offer them as a sign that warmer days are on the way. Hang in there.
Even the
tree that constantly dumps leaves in the pool has a new spring green to it.
It has leaves all year long that start green, live out their time, turn first red then
brown and then wait for the breeze in precisely the right direction to carry
them to a watery grave in my pool. None appear on the yard around it,
only in the pool.
I confess that I don't understand how it does that. But this time of year the new leaves are not just green, they have a life and light coming from them that is different than at other seasons. The little berries too have a special fondness for the pool apron and make it just delightful to walk on. Fortunately they seem to peak this time of year then give me a slight break for the rest of the time.
Anyway, Happy Spring!
03/22/09 - San Diego: On Art and Artists
I rarely expropriate the work of someone else but while researching something completely unrelated I ended up on Paul Butzi's web site and then on his Blog. His entries for March 2009 contained one of the best written and clearly laid out mini-essays on what makes an artist and artist I've read in a very long time. I cannot say I agree with it all or even in total, but it is the kind of writing that ought to inspire solid discussions among both students and practitioners of any artistic discipline. It perfectly expresses the more modern counter-point to an older concept of an "artist" as a "master of the arts."
The discussion completely avoids the question of just what IS 'art' in the first place. But the bottom line for the author is clear: if you are "doing art" (whatever that is...) even if you are doing it badly, then you are an artist. I was so taken with his approach I excerpted and combined parts of two entries from his March 2009 Blog and put it on a page you can link to on my Writing page or by clicking here.
Enjoy, think it over, and then perhaps we can have a great class discussion on it someday.
03/20/09 - San Diego - BLACK LETTER DAY
A
friend who also was the screenwriter for the film we did, a great western
character actor, stunt man, raconteur, riding companion, and a man with a
good heart died this week. I just got the notice last night when I got
home from school. His name was Bob Holland or "Dutch" as his screen
credits read. (To the right is a shot I did of him back in 2008
or 2009.)
Bob’s death, as the deaths of other friends these days does, slapped me in the face with mortality. It makes me keenly and painfully aware of all manner of options that are now closed; opportunities that have slipped through my fingers; plans, dreams, and hopes now unattainable; and cares, loves, laughter now unsharable when someone slips through your hands and life like that. if there is a Hell I hope it is not an eternity of having to remember all of those things that might have been had we spoken up or made this turn or that down the path of our lives.
And it makes me think too of those still around that I have cared about and still do and what, if they or I died, would leave a lasting blot of remorse on me or my spirit were it left undone or unsaid. I’m at that age where I read the obits every day to see if my name is on them so these things take on some importance unthought-of just a few years ago. If that cosmic bus suddenly careened around the corner intent on making me its new hood ornament, as it carried my spirit to its reward or punishment what regrets for things undone would haunt me? Some already haunt me and the bus is not yet in sight.
Bob died of Asthma and Emphysema brought on by a lifetime of smoking. He required oxygen constantly and became a voluntary poster boy for the idiocy of smoking. He was my second friend in a fairly short time to have been killed by cigarettes. Jim Carnal, my inimitable mountain man barbarian friend, who we all thought was invulnerable, was felled by lung cancer. Two really good men killed by the same evil. It makes me crazed to see young people following in their footsteps. Both, I think, would want me to tell all who will listen that their fate is not worth whatever small pleasure the smoke gave them.
And for me the recurring lesson is to make sure and tell those that matter in my life that... they matter in my life. And to do it every chance I get so that when the day comes they get the note about me or I about them, I won't have to regret not telling them that I cared. My advice to any that might stumble on this is to immediately tell the people that you love or care about what they mean to you. And do it often. And then back that up with actions that let them know it is not just words.
03/19/09 - San Diego
LINKS FOR PHOTOBOOKS: I've just added a set of links to my link page for vendors who make custom and templated photobooks. This is becoming a very popular way to do portfolios as well as an inexpensive (relatively) mannor of creating your own monographs. You can jump to that link section by clicking here.
SUMMER WORKSHOPS: Also we are putting together ideas for summer workshops. There is information on the SDCC News page which you can open by clicking here. it asks for your input on what you might be interested in and that would be a great help to us. Also if you have ideas for 1,2,or 3 day workshops and seminars please let me know at the same email noted on that page.
03/17/09 - San Diego .. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I'm not Irish but I am Scot so since both are Celtic (NOT Caucasian, by the way) with a mother tongue of Gaelic, that is close enough to celebrate. So Happy St. Patrick's to all of your Irish folks and those who are just Irish for the day. Celebrate it while you can before we all have to just celebrate Mr. Patrick's Day.
03/10/09 - San Diego...Back from Lone Pine & the Alabama Hills
Well, I'm back from the field trip to Lone
Pine and Alabama Hills. This was a good one that was well attended.
As always, the folks at
The Dow Villa Motel
in Lone Pine were excellent hosts and provided a good deal for my students.
The weather was a little cloudy my first evening there (Thursday eve) but then it cleared up and stayed crystal clear for the rest of the weekend. It was SO clear in fact, that the snow-dusted Sierras, including Mt. Whitney and Mt. Lone Pine, actually seemed to be closer than normal and, to my eye, seemed to totally dominate the landscape in a way they have not done before, at least for me. Consequently most of my images from this trip are either directly of them or contain them in the shots.
Although the mid- morning photo to the left (the pinnacles of Mt. Whitney, 14,505 ft above sea level; shot with a Canon 400mm f4L) is a single frame image, I shot mostly mosaics (multi-row panoramas) and HDRI shots this time. Since my 1Ds MII is too heavy and too tall for my spherical panoramic head I did the mosaics with the 5D. I can hardly complain, the results ought to be detailed enough for most uses. I'll still have to reduce the files to print on my 24" printer so there is little more to ask for in terms of resolution. The shot below shows the dawn light on Mt. Lone Pine with Mt. Whitney on the left of the shot. This is similar to the shot used in the banner for my web site but was taken from a side road back in the rocks themselves.
This year the dawn light was not nearly as pink as it has been in years past but was still noticeable. The page of photos is now available and you can see them by clicking here.
03/04/09, 10:00 pm - San Diego... on the way to Lone Pine.
My l-o-o-o-o-o-n-g day (Wednesdays are my long days for being on campus from about 8am till 10pm) is over and early tomorrow morning I leave for the Landscape Class's field trip to Lone Pine and Alabama Hills. The weather is clearing there and just might be perfect with enough clouds to make for some visual drama. I always love this trip since it is, in some ways, like going to another planet. For all you photographers, if you haven't been there and ever get a chance to go....do so. Meantime you can see my current images from that area in my gallery section. Look at both Alabama Hills and the Bristlecone Pines: both are in that same vicinity.
When I get back and have had a chance to process the images I'll post them on this site.
03/03/09 - San Diego, 2nd Post: My "Fine Art" Gallery Page
Finally I found some of the images from my non-photo art work and have uploaded them to the Gallery Page. These include work from the "Lesser Gods" series done in etching, woodcut, photo-etching, photo with pen and ink, and even a bronze scupture. I've included some details of the work so you can see the hand made portions closely. Click here to go directly to that page.