Tag: Photography

March 24, 2024 / Journal

Time Travel

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.

March 19, 2024 / Photography

Document > Create

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.

March 19, 2024 / Photography

Breaking In The Ricoh

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

March 19, 2024 / Journal

Breaking In The Ricoh

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

March 19, 2024 / Journal

Document > Create

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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!

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.

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.

March 17, 2024 / Journal

The “La Flor Dominicana” Factory Tour

Hello and thanks for subscribing to the newsletter!

Because of recent news of events on the island of Hispaniola, I’ve recalled a lot of memories from a few years ago when I was invited to photograph, document and serve the ongoing Christian missionary works based in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. Towards the end of the trip, I had an opportunity to head north to the Caribbean coastal town of Sosua for some R&R, but in-between the two cities were mountain jungles and tobacco plantations.

Our gracious host and founder of the mission insisted we stopped for a cigar factory tour, and of course, this was accepted!

The La Flor factory tour follows the path of the tobacco leaves from the fields to the packaging of handmade cigars. The first thing I noticed, was the aromatic tobacco in enclosed spaces. Then I noticed, but was not allowed to photograph, the floor announcer. His job is to simply read the newspaper and magazine articles into the factory microphone to entertain the workers. Imagine a news barker with a derby cap, smoking La Flor’s finest with outstretched arms holding up the paper and talking through his cigar into the microphone.

I was then allowed to select from a stack of conditioned, classified, browned, aged leaves and then hand them off to the smiling worker. She then began the long process of turning a leaf into a freshly rolled cigar.

I followed my leaves around the various stages from station to station, watching and photographing workers as they blended, bunched, pressed, rolled, sealed and then allowed me to slide the La Flor Dominica ring around my fresh cigars. The entire process took about an hour to craft my box of the Caribbean’s finest.

Uninformed individuals would say that Cuban cigars are the best, I disagree. Cubans are only sought after because they are illegal in the USA, and I think they smell and taste like Castro’s dead feet. My clandestine incursion onto Cuban shores is a story for next time.

Oh, and because Haiti and the Dominican Republic are neighbors and both currently in the news, here is a young Haitian toddler playing in the road, on the Dominican side apparently abandoned, shortly before I snapped this photo. There are strong racial tensions between these two countries, and I found this to be the only fault I could find on the Dominican side of Hispaniola. I was blessed to see the missionaries find him shelter and food. Just look at that handsome face.

Until next week, – Chris

March 16, 2024 / Journal

Ricoh GR

I know, I know. I can hear you bringing this up to me when I said “new year, no new gear.” After weeks of waiting, I finally have a new camera in my hands. I said goodbye to my fantastic but bulky Nikon D90 DSLR and lenses and traded all of those for this compact but powerful single-lens camera. See? It is a used camera and an even trade so that really doesn’t break the “no new gear” rule I set for myself now does it?

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The idea here is to minimize my load and workflow and I think I am there, finally.

Yes, it is an older, used camera but still younger than the Nikon. Sure, there are newer models of the Ricoh GR but those are currently $1k and I just don’t think it is worth it, so here was the compromise. In my mind, this is currently the best bang-for-the-buck digital camera for street photography. I love the compact size, the superb image quality and high-ISO performance, as well as the ergonomics and handling. Looking forward to putting it through the paces soon.

The big things worth noting in the Ricoh GR:

16MP APS-C sensor (a DSLR-sized crop sensor in a compact camera)
28mm f/2.8 lens
Ability to change from 28mm to “35mm crop mode”
No anti-aliasing filter (sharp images)
Solid magnesium alloy body underneath

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is still going to be my always-carry camera of course, and I still have a gifted-to-me Canon DSLR system in reserve as well. The other cameras in the arsenal are all analog film.

I usually take photos of urban landscapes, and street portraits, so this compact, but brilliant Ricoh GR is going to be perfect.

March 13, 2024 / Journal

Photo Archive Site

This new website has been designated as a repository for a small set of images to be stored online instead of an expensive third-party photo hosting site (see ya, Flickr!). The actual photo archives are numbered to almost 50,000 images, so only a select few are chosen to be represented on this site. While you are there, take a look around inside the archives!

This is an extension to my main portfolio website that can be clicked here or in the nav bar up top.

I have not yet begun to upload images to this photo archive site and will do so throughout the next week. Okay, maybe one or two of my favorite subject:

March 12, 2024 / Journal

Tulsa At 6am

I decided to go for a walk and capture a view of downtown Tulsa this morning. I set the iPhone shutter to open for 3 seconds to capture light streaks and capture it in RAW. Then I decided to go without light streaks, for a straight scenic view:

24mm @ f/1.78 looking northwest from Peoria Ave and Hwy 51

March 12, 2024 / Journal

I’ve Lost The Way

I can’t tell you how many times in the past ten years that there was a desire to build and maintain a map as a photo gallery of places I have been and things I have seen in all of my travels. No, it’s more than one map. I have wanted to build my own map(s) displaying all the images of hidden and discovered geocaches across the country. A separate map showcasing all the neon signs I have documented from Miami to Portland and all points in between. Another map to display all the locations of documented wall art from New Orleans to Chicago, you know, up and down the length of the Mississippi River.

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“If you have no road map, you have to create your own.” – Jacqueline Woods

Thanks to careful documentation in the past, I tagged GPS coordinates on to images to look them up later. Then, with incoming new technology, GPS coordinates were built in to the EXIF data of every image, making it so much easier to locate. But what does one do with that information? Build a map to document your travels, of course.

Previously, I relied on Google’s “My Maps” which allows you to enter these in and attach photos to them, but I do not like Google. Unfortunately, they are one of the best, free sources (free as in they will hoover all of your data for their use, of course.) But I’ve always known there exists open-source mapping programs to help me build one myself. After all of this time, this may be a good opportunity to build and ship one out, allowing me to lovingly document these locations. You know, as a photo diary.

Just a few of my neon images attached inside Google My Maps

So, I downloaded Visual Studio Code, an IDE, installed Python inside and went to work creating a photo gallery that works with ArcGIS, a mapping software tool. Then created an account on GitHub to keep all of my code in the cloud and act as a virtual server, ready for me to pull requests down when needed. Well, I discovered that the costs to maintain these wouldn’t be a solution, especially ArcGIS (Geographic Information System.) Enter QGIS, an open-source tool that allows me to do this at zero cost.

Python code inside an integrated development environment

Then I went to work in Python, coding out the framework and processes to make these maps a reality…and then hit a brick wall. Do I really want to do this? I do, yes, but currently I can’t be arsed. It isn’t laziness, it is restlessness. What else could I be doing instead? But wait, I have the time to do this now because in the near future I may not.

So frustrating is this internal debate that I upload what little code I had to GitHub and then decide what to do with all of this…later. Maybe the reason is I just spent the last few weeks in code building this website and the Archive website and writing articles on here, and creating newsletters and podcasts and and and I just need a break. I’ve lost my way and my desire.

Speaking of breaks, I am going to relax and finish listening to this album that was playing in the background while typing this up:

Delta Kream by The Black Keys

March 12, 2024 / Journal

Finally. Pt 2

It’s only been two weeks since I ordered the Ricoh GR camera then I finally get this notification:

March 10, 2024 / Journal

Polaroid

When you see two packs of expensive Polaroid film discounted, you pick them up every time. 2 for $12 instead of $36? Yep.

March 8, 2024 / Journal

Gunboat Park Neon

A few more neon signs went up along Route 66 in Tulsa that I meant to capture before work travels and had forgotten. I was reminded by a recent drive-by and had to stop of course.

Click here to find more neon on the photography website.

February 28, 2024 / Journal

Time Machine

“My camera is a Time Machine. A camera can be able to stop the world, in that we stop the world and then investigate what is there, carefully.”

-Hiroshi Sugimoto

February 27, 2024 / Journal

Post-Process

I just said goodbye to the $112 Adobe Lightroom annual subscription, again. Now I need to dismantle my Portfolio. I’ll let the $75 annual Flickr subscription lapse to and see which of the 47k+ images they’ll cull down to 1,000 on a free account.

This leaves me with nowhere to post my photos since I really do not want to do that on my blog. Not that it matters because no one sees them anyway.

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UPDATE 2024/02/27: I have decided to go with an inexpensive, self-hosting option on my server using the Piwigo template. Right now it is basic and barebones, but I will build it out over time. For now, here it is naked: http://www.photodenbow.com

Why bother with any of it?

However, I will save money and time by not futzing with any of it, regardless of how much enjoyment and utility I received from those services.

Hmm…