Morrisonite hillsides
I have finally spent some time catching up on some of my rock abstracts. This time I have added some Morrisonite photos to my gallery. Morrisonite is a particular type of jasper found in Oregon’s Owyhee desert. The story has it that it was originally on the property of an old hermit, James Morison back in the late 1940s. Once the colorful jasper became public knowledge, his land was flooded by rockhounds, commercial interests, and trespassers until ultimately it took blasting and heavy equipment to get to the jasper that was left.
I read no one knew what happened to James Morison, he sort of just disappeared. I find it fascinating that my photographs of today are somehow connected to this old hermit in the hills of Oregon who lived over 60 years ago. The area where this jasper is found is reported to be quite rugged. I saw a rugged landscape in this image, and the blood red color symbolic of how man can rip at this planet’s natural treasures.
This image was captured wet, using a Nikon D700, 200 mm f4 macro lens, and cross-polarized Nikon R1C1 macro flashes to eliminate reflections and glare. Post processing in Adobe Lightroom 2 and Adobe Photoshop CS3. More pictures of Morrisonite and other abstract macro landscapes can be found in my gallery.
Read More
Filling Horizontal space
Stock photographers are always reminded to shoot both verticals and horizontals of their subjects because you never know which is going to fit an editors needs better. Are they looking for cover material better suited to a vertical, or a two-page spread better suited to a horizontal. It makes me think about how a simple matter of orientation can dictate a photograph’s usefulness for a specified purpose. A spectacular horizontal format image is basically useless to someone needing a vertical one.
I find that it can be a rare circumstance that a subject works equally as well in both formats. More often the geometry of the subject and other elements in the scene dictate which frame orientation works better for it. In this example I shot up at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, I find both ways to work equally as well. The version someone picks for a print or stock image may depend on if they have a horizontal wall space to fill, or a vertical one. Quite often, the orientation of the image may even take precedent in importance over the actual image itself. So it is a big plus to find a subject that can work both ways.
Verticals - a natural fit for covers
I haven’t always shot both formats – and even in cases today I don’t because it looks awkward in one versus the other. I know one thing is guaranteed though – if I only shoot a horizontal – I know for sure someday someone will ask me if I have a vertical of that same shot. So sometimes I have to overcome my artistic stubbornness to think about providing flexibility for potential uses.
Read More
Leaf characters
Similar to portrait photography, not all photographs need to be of glamorous supermodels. I think nature photographers can also be guilty of choosing only the prettiest, most perfect petaled flowers or choosing the bird with flawless colorful plumage. And similar to portrait photography, just as the grittiest, most wrinkled old man can make for an interesting portrait demonstrating character – a recent day in the field found me photographing gritty leaves from an area recently flooded by a river.
Caked with mud and starting the cycle of decay into dirt, I found character in these images that is quite the opposite of say the brilliant colors of fall – or the freshness of dew covered leaves in springtime. Nature doesn’t have to be pretty and glamorous to be alluring, nor does it need to be to make for intriguing photographs.
Mud caked leaves
An interesting observation I had to myself is that I found myself attracted to leaves that were further along in their state of decay as graphical elements. It was almost as if I was searching for the dirtiest, oldest person I could find that had stories to tell. Leaves that had holes in them or started to turn into their skeletal structures made for great focal points of my compositions. A mud covered leaf floor can look rather static, plain and homogeneous. I found it a great exercise in seeing to pick out the elements that made a image a bit more dynamic – and symbolic of the change that was happening.
I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes:
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” -Elliott Erwitt
As we leave winter behind and start to look forward to the energy of spring – it is easy to overlook the elements that decay and provide the nutrients for those spring blooms we become so overly enchanted with. I hope to draw a bit more attention to them with these images. A short series of decaying leaf pictures with this theme are now in my gallery.
Read MoreHappy First Day of Spring folks – at least for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere.
Red Trillium in bark
This is one of the wildflower prints that is hanging at Henry Ford West Bloomfield hospital. I originally had this as a horizontal in my gallery (rotated clockwise from here), but the designers asked for it in a vertical. It doesn’t happen for me very often that an image works equally as well in both orientations – but once I printed it as a vertical – it really grew on me that way.
This image is representative of my “symbiotic compositions” series I am accumulating as a theme. My original post about it is here. I particularly liked how the cut outs in the bark resembled petals or leaves – almost as if they were part of the flower itself.
Let’s hope the energy of spring continues to fill the air – this winter has been one to say good riddance to!
Read More
Mainstreet
This weekend marks the first public open house of a new hospital in the Detroit area, Henry Ford West Bloomfield. I must say this is no ordinary hospital. From the 1920′s themed town square at the main entrance, to interior health food stores, health-smart cooking lecture hall, exquisite Feng Shui inspired interior architecture and decor, to private patient rooms now renamed lodges, you immediately feel more comfortable than you would expect. Certainly that is the whole point, with additional amenities that are detailed to not only help the sick and their families feel more comfortable, but also aid the healthy and promotion of keeping them that way. This $360 million new construction is being closely watched by health care professionals around the country and I am very honored to have my work as part of it.
Newborns and Hepatica
Prints of my images, health care fine art if you will, from 12x18s to 24x36s, appear in many of the patient lodges, the maternity “suites”, and in various hallways and corridors throughout the building. I was kindly given the opportunity to go in and photograph the installs before the hospital opens on March 15, 2009. Photographing interiors is a bit new for me, a little different than being in the woods. But I tried to follow the same principles – look for interesting foregrounds! I had to be very quiet in the maternity area because I came across an early patient that seemed to be sleeping more soundly than any baby I have ever seen. 
In a place where people may have the best, and unfortunately some of the worst moments of their lives, I can certainly appreciate the attention to detail in helping create as soothing environment as possible. Looking to nature for relief and refuge is always a wise choice. I certainly find it there myself. The hospital has made deliberate investments in local artistry to help boost some of the ailing Michigan economy as well as give people visibility to the many artists in Michigan.
A room with a view
Curved walls, round flowing curves on floors and ceilings are plentiful. The patient lodges have an “up north” high end hotel feel to them – many of them overlooking a large indoor “park” filled with tropical plants and a “open-air” chapel surrounded by nature. Warm, inviting color palettes are throughout. Again, attention to detail is everywhere, right down to the leaf decorated hallway lamps, and stained glass above the patient room doors that illuminate with color. All of this isn’t intended to overshadow what I am sure is some pretty amazing medical technology which is in more detail at Henry Ford’s website and their blog.
A print in another lodge
The open house at Henry Ford West Bloomfield is Saturday, February 28 from 12-8 pm. I am not exactly sure how the public tours will be conducted or the access given, but certainly there will be tours of at least the patient lodges and the mainstreet area. I will be hanging around early in the day. If you have a chance to see this innovative addition to Michigan’s health care system – it is definitely worth the trip.
Colorful hallway
Mainstreet area of main entrance
http://t.co/1xjuh7fT - posted on 23 hours ago
Follow Me on…