by tmoffett | Jul 8, 2010 | Landscape, Photographic Philosophy, Uncategorized
Solitude
I love shooting photographs of the local areas. I feel that I get to know them, yet never tire of them. It seems that I see something different every time I return to a familiar place, or maybe I just see the same things differently. The light is always changing, so the same things can look totally different from day to day. I challenge you to go back to a favorite location many times over the course of a year and see how many different images you can create.
Lake Lowell is my “fallback” location. If I am wondering where to go, I go to the lake. I originally planned to do a 15 print portfolio from the lake, however by the time I had 15, I felt like I was just starting, so I kept going back. This is an image just shot this week. I was at one of my favorite evening locations, but this time in the morning. There was a completely different look in the morning than at sunset. Just prior to sunrise there was a coolness to the light. Everything was blue except for the western horizon which had a touch of red. Not a cloud in the sky and the breeze was blowing creating some motion in the trees and the grasses. It was cool for this time of year, and the bluish color enhanced the coolness in the air. The lone tree, surrounded by water in the cool, crisp morning air creates a cold, lonely feeling, but reaching out, not far away is the warmth of the rising sun.
To me, photography is all about feelings. If an image causes you to feel something it is a success.
by tmoffett | Jul 2, 2010 | Color, Landscape, Photographic Philosophy
Fire In The Sky
Sunsets seem to capture everybody’s attention, and this one did for me. I will usually make sure that there is an interesting foreground, or even a silhouetted subject, but sometimes the clouds themselves can be the subject. Alfred Stieglitz did it in his series that he called Equivalents, so it must be alright! This is definitely no Stieglitz, but it does have its own merit. The color in the sky was incredible, and that alone became the subject here.
On the subject of Stieglitz, I too have a series of cloud images. I love Stieglitz’s work. Other photographers who I like and who have influenced me in my photographic journey are:
1. Paul Caponigro. He is my all time favorite. His images have feeling. I could look at them all day, every day and not tire of them.
2. John Sexton. Another master of black and white. He really knows and understands light. You can learn a lot from just studying his images.
3. Edward Weston. His series of peppers shows that you can find beauty in the ordinary.
4. Ruth Bernhard. I met her while in school. Interesting philosophy of photography. She taught me to stay at home and photograph there. You don’t have to go to exotic places to create meaningful images.
5. John Paul Caponigro. Very different style than his father, but very good. His thoughtful, philosophical approach to image making is incredible. He once reviewed my portfolio and I learned more in that half hour about meaningful photographs than I had in the previous year.
6. Joel Meyerowitz. His use of color is unrivaled. His conscious use of light and color are inspiring.
7. Yousuf Karsh. My favorite portrait photographer ever. His simple style and elaborate use of light made portraits that were simple in style yet very complex in meaning. He taught me how important it is to get to know your subject before photographing them.
8. Ansel Adams. Ansel has to be on the list. The zone system came from him. Zone system taught me about light and how to find quality light in nature.
9. Craig Law. Master Carbon Printer, and his silver prints were nothing to be ashamed of either. I endured many a critique under his tutelage at Utah State University. In my four years at USU he became a great friend as well as mentor.
10. R.T. Clark. Another Professor at Utah State. He taught me the importance of near perfection. I did more “reshoots” for him than any other instructor. I don’t regret it. I learned more by breaking down an image and rephotographing than I ever could have learned in a critique.
by tmoffett | Jun 25, 2010 | Color, Composition, Landscape, Photographic Philosophy
Into the Unknown
Wednesday evening about an hour before sunset I went out to the lake. I am working on a personal project where I am documenting, fine art fashion, Lake Lowell. I am a big believer in photographing your local area. Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel and photograph other locations as well, however I feel that we can create more intimate and meaningful images of areas that we frequent often. Lake Lowell has become my personal, local photographic project.
When I first started this project, it was a challenge. Many of the local don’t regard Lake Lowell as a very attractive place, so I needed to get beyond that and show my vision of what we have in our own backyard. I now get very different reactions when the locals view these images. In fact, just last night, my son looked at an image that I shot Wednesday and asked, “Is that in Oregon?” He was surprised when I told him I had just shot the image out at the lake the night before.
This image, “Into the Unknown,” is an image just created the other night while out at the lake. I had shot this staircase before, but was not happy with what I had done. An advantage to being local is that I can go back until I get what I want. The light was much better this time and the brush was also better. Just enough green in the midst of the drying weeds to create interest. Offsetting the stairs a bit helped as well. Good use of the rule of thirds. Last time I shot it symmetrically, and I didn’t like it at all. It was too predictable and boring. This is much more interesting.
by tmoffett | Jun 24, 2010 | Color, Composition, Landscape, Photographic Philosophy
Payette Lake
Simplicity. It is what I strive for in my photographs. It is how I see. It is also a concept that is very hard to teach young photographers. This is possibly due to the fact that the world today is very complex. We are surrounded by busyness. If we get caught up in it all we don’t take time to slow down and really think, meditate, smell the roses if you will. The internet has bred a generation of shallow thinkers. Those who know much about so very little, and it affects our way of thinking, which in turn affects our vision.
I like to find the simple things in the world. It helps me relax. It heals my soul.
We are surrounded by simple things, we just need to look for them through the complexities of our everyday life. This image of Payette Lake is one such example. I was with my son at his 5th grade campout. We were on the dock with about 20 11 year old kids. there were, just off the dock, 5 canoes filled with more kids, trying to figure out how to maneuver them without hitting another boat. It was chaos. However, as I looked to the south, there was this view. The lake receding and blending into the tree-lined shore, and the trees into the deep blue sky. Soft wispy clouds floated by. I blocked the sounds of chaos from my inner ears and focused on the scene that was unfolding in the viewfinder of my camera. For a moment I was in a world of my own, and now, whenever I view this photograph, I am taken back to that world.
Simplicity in imagery is powerful.
by tmoffett | Jun 15, 2010 | Color, Composition, Family, Landscape, Photographic Philosophy
Wailua Falls, Kauai
The weather in Kauai is incredible! I was there in January with Christeena. We woke up one morning to rain and cool temperatures, so we drove 10 miles and were in sunshine and 80 degrees. The day we went to Wailua Falls was one of those rainy/sunny days. It was sunny when we left the hotel, then began raining as we drove up to the falls, stopped for a few minutes then the rain came down fairly hard, then the sun broke through for a while… any way, you get the picture. We decided to go down to the bottom of the falls, which was an adventure. It is very steep and due to the wet weather, quite slippery. I thank whoever is responsible for the ropes, which made the hike fairly safe.
Once at the bottom, the fun began. Shooting between cloudbursts and trying to get balanced light between the sky above and the falls and the river at the bottom was a challenge. “Hurry up and wait” is my motto. I will often set up and then wait for the light. Once everything falls into place, then I shoot.
The spray was heavy at the bottom of the waterfall, so I had to keep cleaning the lens. I set up on some rocks in the middle of the river in order to get the blue reflection of the sky in the water, as well as to capture some ripples to add some interesting movement to the photograph. After slipping on the rocks and nearly going in the river a couple of times, I was able to capture this image that I am quite pleased with.
by tmoffett | Jun 14, 2010 | Black and White, Landscape, Photographic Philosophy
Yachats Waves
While traveling down the coast we were nearly always in the midst of stormy weather. The wind was blowing and the waves pounding. It may not have been the perfect weather for vacationing, but as a working vacation for a photographer it was nearly ideal. Even in the storm, there is beauty to be found, we just have to look for it. This same concept applies to life as well.
In Yachats Waves, you can’t see the storm, only the beauty that it brings. These rocks are 10-12 feet above the ocean. The waves are pounding into the rock and washing over the tops, and then the water returns to the sea below. What looks like a stream is really the aftermath of that violent collision of an ocean wave with the rocky shoreline. Making this image was not easy. We climbed out onto the rocky shelf, dodging the water as it washed ashore. Christeena actually was holding an umbrella to protect our gear from the spray of sea water as the waves hit the rocks in front and beside us. We did take risks. We did get wet. We did get the shot. We must pay the price in order to reap the reward.
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