photos

Other Photographers

bosque del apache, new mexicoI’ve developed a thing for photographers. If that strikes you as narcissistic, wait until I cover self-portraits and reflections. One reason I photograph photographers is I don’t want to take the pictures other people are taking – that’s my very narrow competitive streak and also why I don’t join photography groups or outings. Another reason is I’m shy and uncomfortable photographing people, except surreptitiously. Actually, as I look these over, I realize most are not surreptitious but straight on portraits of a knowing subject. In that case, perhaps it is the difference between a duel and shooting someone who is unarmed.

A couple of these are photos of famous, professional photographers: Jeremy Stein and Bob LeBlanc, with his son, Robert. (The senior LeBlanc died earlier this year.) One more and I’ll have to declare this a subset of my category. (Oh, but I also have a photo of Susan Weeks, a fabulous watercolorist who uses photos. I’m going to slip that one into the collection.)

photographers
(20 photos)
photos

Life Glows

 chocolate flower

This photo was an epiphany for me. Suddenly, I realized that flowers (and leaves) are translucent, not opaque. Further, I discovered the backside of flowers. In particular, this is a chocolate flower (also called green eyes). Those red veins are not visible on the face of the flower, only behind.

It doesn’t take much experience to discover that the best light of the day comes early and late. Light moves all day long. I watch for that intense light pushing through living things, setting them aglow. I feel honored to witness, let alone capture, a spotlight moment, such as these.

sunflower seedling

hollyhocks

cosmos

mimosa

sacred datura

aspen sunset, Wyoming

I recommend viewing this slideshow fullscreen. (Click the slideshow to go to the Picasa photos, then click the Fullscreen button.)

Life Glows
photos

The Catalyst

To Merri Rudd, brilliant on both sides of the lens. [my Dedication from Digital Cameras & Photography for Dummies].

Merri changes my perspective. (That should always be present tense.) She will crawl on her belly for a photo, whether to get to mountain gorillas or through the wildflowers. For years, Merri shared with me her Nikon camera and fabulous Nikkormat macro zoom lens. On every roll of 36, I’d shoot 30+ and she’d shoot a few. The best on the roll was usually hers.

Mer half-jokes about us switching roles with the advent of digital photography. She has seen more of the 40K+ photos I’ve shot since 2000 than anyone else has. She’s a great editor and ruthless about deleting bad photos.

See all blog entries tagged ‘Merri‘.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams