Photography

Time Travel

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Shooting landscape photography forces you to get outside and find the beauty around you. Sometimes this means discovering places right in front of your eyes that you just never noticed were beautiful before. Other times this means exploring new places and getting out on a hike or nature walk. For today’s newsletter, I wanted to share a few of my favorite landscape photos from sun up to sundown.

Sosua Sunrise in the Dominican Republic 19.77113761340401, -70.51491387823924

Rare is the opportunity to visit the places I want to go but when I do, the area is scouted and explored beforehand only then does the camera and tripod come out. 

The view of Mount Hood from Trillium Lake, Oregon 45.1608.2, -121.44165

How do I make these rare, beautiful images? There is an app called Photo Pils that assists photographers in knowing when and where the sun/moon are at any point and time. By using a that tripod to steady the camera, and then attach a neutral-density filter to the camera lens to block UV rays and glare. In post-processing the images, I’ll fire up the software and reduce the highlights, then boost the contrast accordingly. 

Smoky Mountains overlook on the Appalachian Trail on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee 35.56392555626713, -83.49724727382223

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“A picture means I know where I was every minute. That’s why I take pictures. It’s a visual diary.” – Andy Warhol

Nassau Harbor Lighthouse, The Bahamas 25.086286857364403, -77.35177315151846

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selcouthist- One who encounters the strange and unfamiliar with a boundless sense of wonder and awe.

Sunset on the Bolivar Peninsula, Texas 29.37149301401335, -94.72877909763226
Sunset on the Hidden Valley Nature Trail in Joshua Tree National Park, California 34.01412933993538, -116.16767922131318
The Milky Way Galaxy over Boca Chica beach near the Texas/Mexico border 25.993379848508418, -97.15022227498714

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“This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.” – Doctor Who

Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart, but that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change
you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.

Document > Create

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In the early years of my photography hobby, I would venture out and search for the most creative shots I could find. Using various tips and techniques that I had read about, I would try creative angles one day. Then the next outing would creatively use monochrome shots or some other techniques after that, and so on.

I would then send the 36-exposure roll off to the developing lab and eagerly await the prints while expecting something mesmerizing and unique to return. It very rarely returned unique or mesmerizing. The average return on film investment was about 2 images out of a 36-exposure stock. Expensive! Yet somehow, someway, I was hooked enough to go out there and try again.

When I acquired my first digital camera in 2001, I would venture out and search for the most creative shots I could find. Using various tips and techniques that I had read about, I would try creative angles one day. Then the next outing would creatively use monochrome shots or some other techniques after that, and so on. I would then race home, plug in the SD card and boot up the photo software in anticipation, while expecting something mesmerizing and unique to return. It very rarely returned unique or mesmerizing. The average return was about 20 out of 100 images taken. Thank goodness digital photography is cheap! Yet somehow, someway, I was hooked enough to go out there and try again.

Over the past twenty-three years, my attitude has changed- hmm…about twenty-three times. These days I am less concerned about creativity than I am documenting travels, events, and my life around me.

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Nowadays, I am shooting less portrait photography, which honestly, is the only time I want to be creative. I miss both creativity and people!

So, if I focus more on documentation and less creativity, the attitude, and equipment has changed to match. I no longer own a mixture of mirrorless and DSLR cameras with about five lenses for each one just in case. I don’t have to worry if I forgot to pack the telephoto lens, just because I might use it. Now I can be content with bringing one camera and one all-purpose lens if I choose to.

Recently, technology has been a big factor in these decisions as well. Photo equipment with amazing advances inside, the minimal size and weight of these things to assist in you lightening your kit and allowing me to relax and enjoy.

Did I just spot a tender moment on the street? Snap. Ahh, a new mural to document—Snap. This is out of place and would be interesting to capture— Snap.

Now I am getting into documenting everything in photos. I’ve found I can simply relax and walk away from a photowalk knowing there are some keepers on that SD card, instead of forcing myself to shoot something that may not be there only to walk away frustrated.

Another bonus- I’ve come to realize that all of this has been documenting and creating not only a visual daily journal, but also a complete body of work to be proud of.

Breaking In The Ricoh

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I took the new Ricoh GR out for a walk yesterday to see how it performs under harsh lighting conditions. The images are just as sharp and vibrant as expected. But ugh, the scenery and subject matter is still the same so not really chuffed about them. 

I crave something new and interesting to capture. I’m done documenting Tulsa. 

Standard color mode and high contrast B&W mode

Lunar New Year Photos

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Chinese dance troupe inside the Houston Galleria

Asia Town/International District/Houston/Texas

Red envelopes filled with small money bills are gifts to signify wealth & prosperity for the new year

Traditional Chinese dancers

street festival sights, sounds and smells

While writing this I was listening to:

Behind The Wall

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If you know me at all, you know that I have always been a fan of public art, especially mural or wall art. From early on we’ve been painting in caves, on the ceilings of chapels and now on city streets. Big cities like Houston have art initiatives and institutions that support local artists to come out and create these murals to beautify city streets and create outdoor museums for everyone.

I won’t name the institution here but I do appreciate their work for the community and also discovery of these works with an interactive app that provides a map of installations and allows you to scan the art and it will provide backstory and artistic bios. Love to see it. I wish I could do more with my images of murals. Inspiring.

You can see these images and more on the photography website.

365/2024

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.I need a photo project and have always wanted to do a one photo of the day every day for a year. Well, with the new year coming up soon, it’ll be a great chance to launch this project.

The camera I will be using is the aforementioned Hipstamatic model 10 with a variety of lenses, film and flash gels to keep it interesting. 

I hope to do this project mindfully but on the off day when that isn’t possible there is always “snappy hour”, a prompt from the camera to shoot one hour before sunset to capture the best light of the day. Every day an image is snapped, the camera will stamp the photographic passport to keep me going. 

I’ll post some worthy images on the photography website and all of them will be on the Flickr gallery page.

Hipstamatic Model 10

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One of the very first apps I installed as a new iPhone user back in 2014 was the Hipstamatic camera touting that “digital has never looked so analog” and I have been a fan ever since. Recently Hipstamatic has updated their camera to include several new features to enhance the experience such as:

  • Multiple exposure
  • Hard flash buttons
  • Manual mode
  • New analog viewfinder and camera menu system
  • Delayed developing mode to simulate the wait time that one would experience when developing a roll of film.

I rarely use multiple exposure but plan on changing this in the upcoming new year. The new delay development mode will allow me to focus on shooting and enjoy the results later.

With an exhaustive supply of lenses, film stock and flash gels the developing of images is limitless in its creativity.

Throw in fun challenges like “Snappy Hour” to shoot one hour before sunset in the golden light and adding stamps to the daily passport and the experience just gets better and better.

Want to see some of the results? Check out my Hipstamatic section on the photography website.

Flickr Or Extinguish?

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I am on the fence about renewing the Flickr backup and photo community. I could go monthly at a higher rate or take advantage of their two year plan for a cheaper monthly option. Am I using it effectively? Not for the past 6 months but I do hope to make use of it again. Hmm…

Silverfox.photography

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Silverfox.photography is now live. Yes, it is time for another rebrand. I think I am done with “Photo Mojo” and “Mojochrome.” It makes sense to make both this website and the photo website compatible with each other.

Remember the small photo labs with drive-thru huts that promised 1 hour photo developing? Fox Photo was one of the largest and always printed their red fox logo on each print. I’ve always loved that little red fox logo and decided to make it my own since they are no longer in business.

Kodak H35 Film

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I received that magic email that my prints and scans are available this morning. Because this was a new camera, there were a few images that were too dark (low light never helps either.) Over all though, I am pleased with how very analog the film scans and prints look. The grain, the dust spots and even the occasional light leak are what makes them real as opposed to digital corrections. Check out more in the “FILM” section of the website.