These images are from a couple months ago from a visit to a pond in the woods behind my home. The water was particularly calm this day, a light cool temperature. I became not only enamored with the wider scene in front of me, but the smaller details as well. So I spent a little time exploring what this pond had to offer. It just felt “comfortable.”
It isn’t hard to imagine where some of the impressionist painters got their inspirations from. Although I doubt any of them sat in these woods, the peace and tranquility of such a scene is rather global in nature. I thought this group of images told the story of this view more than a single frame.
The scene is much different now. Much fuller with leaves as summer approaches. It isn’t so peaceful either. One would have to combat raging hordes of mosquitoes and poison ivy that are rampant here this time of year. :-) But I can at least recall one morning of peace through the photographs.
Getting a new computer can be a great source of fun, as well as a lot of work in migrating all of your software and data over Adding a new computer with a new type of operating system.. you would think it compounds the work But actually it has been much easier than I expected A lot of people worry about software expenses in such a move from PC to Mac They can add up depending on the applications you use most My most heavily used applications are from Adobe; Photoshop, Lightroom, and Dreamweaver, and are probably the most costly to buy outright.
As I mentioned before, Lightroom already has cross-platform licensing, so it was a no brainer, and no cost to switch it My other apps, I have been holding off on upgrading them because I was anticipating this switch Dreamweaver also has cross-platform licensing, so it only cost me the standard upgrade fee to get Dreamweaver CS3 for Mac (less my NAPP discount of course!) Photoshop is a bit more complicated.
Adobe requires you to sign a “Letter of Software Destruction” (sounds ominous doesn’t it!) to transfer your PC license to a Mac license, and then only the normal upgrade fee applies if you are upgrading from an older version I was moving from PC CS2 to Mac CS3 in this case They do a lot of digging into your Photoshop history to determine your last full version that was registered (not upgrades) Other than some time spent on the phone (and you do have to call to get a ‘case number’), it was rather painless It is a good idea to first start with the 30 day free trial on Mac first to make sure all of your actions, presents, and plugins migrate over OK Even though I am only a week into my trial, I probably have to start planning my Photoshop for Windows CD destruction party now.
I. am already spoiled on the speed I am experiencing in Photoshop CS3 on the MacPro My PC was quite old I know, a new PC would probably perform fast just as well But just to highlight the difference, there is a popular Photoshop benchmark test that is referred to quite a bit here Give it a try if you want to see how your own computer fares Be sure to follow their preparation instructions.
Old PC: Dell 8300 Pentium 4 3 GHz, 4GB Ram, ATA hard drives, Windows XP Pro SP2, CS2 : Speed test results 3 min 45 seconds
New Mac: MacPro 2.8 GHz Harpertown, 6 GB Ram, SATA2 hard drives, Mac OSX 10.5.2, CS3 : Speed test results: 25 seconds :o
That’s quite a big difference of course, and I am noticing it in how much quicker I can process an image to a fully processed 16×24 size print.
I am still quite a newbie in learning the Mac way, lots of apps still to explore like iPhoto, GarageBand, all the other cool stuff available online All in all, software migration has been quite painless, and quite easy Smooth as silky water, and now flowing quite fast! 
I spent some time today scanning some underwater images of mine from my long ago trip to Dominica. Scanning film, dust spotting, and color correcting is such a time consuming process, I have a significant portion of my image library that has never seen the net. I wanted to apply some of the great adjustment tools in Lightroom to some of my film images. In addition, my underwater gallery has been somewhat stagnant for awhile, so I thought I would try to breathe some new life into it.
The side effect of working on these images has really increased my hunger to want to go diving again. I can’t express in words the feeling of being weightless and surrounded by a massive school of fish, or the amazing animal life that can be found in every square inch of coral reef. It is simply sensory overload, yet at the same time, the ultimate feeling of peacefulness in such a foreign environment.
I pretty much took this past year off from diving in Michigan. I have dove on many wrecks here, and have been treasure hunting in our local river – but for some reason, the urge to dive locally just wasn’t there. The photography in freshwater has never ignited the passion 
in me as the abundant colors and life to be found in salt water. The reef simply has critters galore, like this bearded fireworm image here. Perhaps I am turning into a warm water wimp (as Michigan divers so affectionately like to call them). 
(But I still would like to dive Antarctica someday!) Freshwater life is also much more sparse, which equals a lot of time spent coming home empty handed. I do think that freshwater underwater photography is really an area that deserves to be documented more, so perhaps that aspect alone deserves some more effort. So maybe the new year will bring back some of my cold water nerve again.
It is definitely time to start thinking about our next underwater destination, and the more I pull some of these images from my archives, the more eager I get. If any divers reading this have some good recommendations, please chime in, preferably some place with guaranteed big animals!
Read MoreI just got back from a very quick photo trip for a couple days to the Cleveland area, about a 3.5 hr drive from where I live. I went primarily to photograph wood ducks in a spot known for their approachability, but also ended up being able to explore some other areas of Ohio I am not familiar with. Ever since visiting Hocking Hills a couple of years ago, the impression of Ohio has changed in my mind considerably. Basically most of my exposure to the state was along the I-75 corridor, mostly flat farmland, and where I go for bird migrations – also flat. But venture into central southern and eastern Ohio, and you discover a vast array of gorges and small canyons that are all part of the Lake Erie watershed, with some decent elevations and waterfalls.
I know waterfalls are often viewed as overdone and perhaps a bit trite as subject matter, but I still like to shoot them. I enjoy them not only for the typical dramatic element to a landscape, but because they create opportunities for a lot of other ‘intimate landscapes’ within and around them. They can be challenging to come up with something original. However, you can do a lot with flowing water – shoot it slow, shoot it fast – shoot it polarized or not – with fall colors or vibrant green spring foliage. I like the image here because it make me think of a water versus rock concept in approaches to photographing certain subjects. The rock shown here isn’t budging, stubborn as can be. The water accepts that the rock is not moving, and simply goes around it.
You can be a rock in your approach to certain subjects, rarely moving from your comfort zone – only turning or moving if someone forces you. You can avoid subjects like waterfalls completely – because they have been ‘done to death.’ On the other hand, perhaps as a rock you have found your place and there is no reason to move. Or you can be water, and move and flow in whatever environment you find yourself in, try to make the best of a situation. Sometimes you are predictable, other times not so much. Having a rock attitude or a water attitude can greatly influence how we perceive the world around us and in our viewfinders. It greatly affects our ability to react to adverse situations.
I have my rock days, and my water days. I probably have rock attitudes and water attitudes towards specific subjects also. As long as we recognize these factors of our perception, we may be able to move past creative hurdles and boundaries.
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The folks over at Wetpixel have just introduced their print publication called Wetpixel Quarterly. Given the talent of underwater photographers over at Wetpixel, I have no doubt this will be a fantastic publication. There are not too many underwater photography print magazines out there that match up with the quality of Ocean Realm that disappeared many years ago. ‘Fathoms‘ has certainly filled in the void left, and it looks like they will have to make some room for another. I was going to subscribe immediately, but their ordering system didn’t pop up as a ‘secure’ site in my browser, so I am hoping they will fix that soon.
I really miss underwater photography. We used to take at least one, maybe even two dive trips per year. It is something that really takes a lot of practice, even a trip a year was not enough to hone one’s skills. But there is nothing quite as peaceful as floating weightless, and having 10,000 fish swirl around you and having a camera to record it all. It is quite exhilarating actually.
I will admit that underwater photography in Michigan just doesn’t thrill me as much as being in saltwater. Certainly we have a lot of wrecks, and a lot of local shooters have made some pretty nice images from them. I have also shot wrecks in the past, but they never ignited the passion in me over all the life you encounter on a salt water dive.
My underwater photo gear is also in desperate need for an upgrade to digital. Yes, it is still based on that ancient medium called what is it again?.. oh yeah – film! And digital holds so many advantages, of course, to shooting underwater, probably more so than on land. But this upgrade won’t be cheap either – underwater housings and strobes are significant investments that I have been weighing against how often they will be used. I suppose that is what has kept me from upgrading to date.
So I am looking forward to receiving my first issue of Wetpixel Quarterly as soon as they get their ordering system secure. They have an absolutely killer shot on the cover of their premier issue. It may energize me to get back in the water as soon as I can and perhaps open my wallet.
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