Jerusalem Dories

Jerusalem Dories

This image is a good example of why a photographer needs to avoid the pitfalls of tunnel vision from too much pre-planning. Because I still shoot film, I extensively pre-plan exactly what I want to achieve before I set out to shoot (film is less forgiving than digital and it's expensive). Most of my locations are pre-chosen via scouting and I visit these places when I know the tide and sunset (or sunrise) will be aligned along with when the weather is right. I had set out to shoot a beach scene this particular evening and after accomplishing that, decided to head off and get some dinner.

I knew I wouldn't have an opportunity to shoot again because the sun was just about down so I completely packed my gear up and drove off from the first location. Instead of heading straight to the restaurant I took the long route just for purposes of sight seeing when I came upon this scene about a mile down the road. This is where the tunnel vision mentality comes into play. I had it set in my mind that not only would I not have enough light to shoot again but I also hadn't considered shooting anything that didn't show the sky (above the horizon that is). Finally, even when I saw this scene unfolding, I didn't think I would be able to balance the brightness of the reflections of the sky with the ambient light-but that wouldn't be revealed until I got the film back from the lab. I hesitated to shoot, partly because I deemed it a lost cause technically, but also because I didn't foresee how it would look in the end and thus wasn't prepared to consider creating something so different from what I had set out to accomplish.

I literally parked the car in the middle of the road with the hazard lights on (it's a very slow neighborhood there), pulled my backpack out, mounted the camera on the tripod and shot four frames after making a judgement call on the focus and exposure. The dim light died halfway through the 4th exposure.

Path to the National Seashore, Griffins Island, Wellfleet

When I started shooting on the Cape in the spring, this is one of the first locations I found. I returned here at the end of every trip (dozens-but who's counting) and could never get the proper light. I'm glad I stuck with it. I was lucky once again to have a decent surf so the salt air rising from the beach diffused the light enough to cut the contrast back.

New work from Cape Cod

Chatham Dory

I think this is the final image I shot last fall. The sky that day was bright and cloudless and I couldn't find any subject matter at all (hard light is normally not my ally). In the car for two hours and not shooting any film is a real let down, but then driving around Chatham trying to find something to shoot, I turned off of the main road to see if I could find a way to the water. Just before sunset I fell upon this fisherman's work boat perched in the sand at Ryder Cove. It seemed as though its owner had lined it up with the sun for me and then walked away. I had about 20 minutes of light so I was able to casually shoot without being pressed for time like I am when the sky is in the scene. I thought the seaweed stuck in the bow looked like a beard.

Final Light, Truro

I have been shooting in Wellfleet and Truro ( and a bit in Chatham and Orleans) almost every weekend and some weekday evenings since August. It took me quite a while to re-set my "vision" to shoot on Cape Cod because it has a scale of landscape that is much different from what I am accustomed to. I am also thrown off by my own lack of sense of compass direction there. I try and get down to the outer Cape at around noon and once I make the bend in the hook and start heading north towards P-Town and get to either the bay side of the Cape or the ocean side, I have to stop and think where the compass points are so I can calculate the sun's trajectory. I get turned around easily. But now I think I finally have a sense of scale and that will show up in later images that reveal broad landscapes as opposed to the detail image I have posted here.

Maine Burr Reed #2

My second in a new series of black and white. I have another two or three images I am working on. I find that b&w is much more exacting to produce. I have been working on this project since August and it is only comprised of four images. My last post from August shows how I set up to make this image.

Maine Burr Reed

Image captured from the precarious ladder perch seen in my last post. I did a series of these. This is my favorite so far.

More Maine location work

photo by Debbie Granger

Shooting pond florae in Maine. A new friend took a picture of me lost in concentration on the edge of disaster. Debbie is from California and is traveling the USA in a third wheel rig. You can go to her blog and see where she has been traveling. It's quite interesting: http://www.MyTripJournal.com/ForeverHome