Saquish fence

Saquish fence

Continuing with my new fascination with dune fencing. The shutter in my camera broke after this first exposure. I'll have to move to square imagery until it is repaired.

Fences in the dunes

Dune fencing is fascinating because it is constantly changing, especially in places where it is doing its job; trying to hold back the sea from eroding the sand. This set of fencing has already been replaced since I shot it in May of this year. As of now it is new and straight, in May of 2009 it will have another interesting twist created by winter storms which I will return to photograph. I saw this set of fencing one overcast afternoon and went back a week later when we had clear skies to provide the high contrast light I needed to bring out the texture in the sand and fencing. I waited until just before sunset so the low light would enhance the ripples in the sand.

More from Maine

More of my "subdued light" photographs from the edge of Moosehead Lake in Maine last summer. I plan on working on these on and off during the winter before I launch an additional website showing just black and white and sepia toned images.

Another....

Autumn Dunes #2

Latest image

Autumn Dunes

Now that the marsh and dune grasses have lost their greens, reds, and oranges, I find shooting in black and white to be quite gratifying (sepia adds some drama). I think I'll pursue this theme until we get some heavy snow which will knock the grass down so that it won't flow with the wind.

Photo by Laurie and Ben Sleeper

I found some point and shoot pictures while cleaning out my files last month. This picture is of me in the dunes in February of 1999 while I was setting up to shoot the image titled "Rexhame #1" which is below. It was as cold as it looks. I climbed up onto the crest of the dunes and saw there was great potential for a shot but no light. I waited over two hours for the sun to break and then shot about eight exposures, the last few with the lone figure (Laurie) standing in the middle distance to provide scale. About six hours earlier that day I shot "The Road to Trounts Island" which is also on my website. It was a full day as I left the house before dawn looking for snow shots. I had to go home and shovel the driveway for two hours afterwards. No rest for the weary!


Rexhame #1

On location in Maine

Setting up a shot Photo: John Allessi


Some of the shooting I did in Maine in July was an example of the the extremes I occasionally go to to create what I want. I expect to be up there again next summer looking for the same type subject matter. The only way to get to the locations is by water and there isn't enough water to run a power boat so I ended up using my fathers 18' canoe. It actually is a very stable platform for carrying equipment (not to shoot from) and handles very well with a solo paddler under a full load of around 300 lbs- that is both photo gear and my body weight combined.

The gear

Underway to the location

Perfect morning, 2 miles to go

Maine Woods

                                   Moosehead Lake #4

      I spent another week with the family at Moosehead Lake in Maine in July and managed to shoot quite a few  images (quite a few for me is 5 or 6 pictures in a weeks time). This year I changed tactics a bit and decided to shoot completely in indirect light or on overcast days and let the natural saturation of the film carry the image. I also shot a fair amount of black and white film. I scoured a two mile coastal section of the lake everyday while we were there, scouting for images of deadwood and driftwood, which is my latest interest. It's nice to break away from the sweeping panoramas once in a while and concentrate on details in the landscape. 

Adrift

Humarock Seaweed

I've always enjoyed photographing objects on the beach. Sometimes after a storm I find patterns in the sand which act as a nice backdrop for stones or sea creatures or seaweed. I took the kids down to Humarock Beach for a swim last weekend and spotted this seaweed while talking with a friend. I shot this with an iPhone......I'm not going digital however!

First B&W roll

Fishing at Thompson's Pond


This photograph is from the first roll of black and white film I ever shot. I believe it was around 1977 so I was almost thirteen. I didn't know where to get it developed back then and it sat in my old bedroom in my parents house where it was forgotten until sometime around 1996. I developed it and the film had not degraded at all (never throw out an undeveloped roll of film)! Most of the other images were of neighborhood kids riding around on bikes or playing street hockey. It was a nice time capsule to discover.

Summer images

"South River View from Humarock"


"Ferry Hill"



Finally, I have some images to show from the turbulent weather we had back in the beginning of August. I find that just after a heavy thunderstorm passes through, if the sun breaks out, we have a chance to see some decent cloud formations. Also, when the air is heavy with moisture, it filters the light in unpredictable ways, as in these images from the South River area in Marshfield, just near my house.
For a landscape photographer, getting out when the weather is bad and hoping for a break just before sunset can be very rewarding. Most of the time I end up with nothing but a chance to watch clouds race by. I shot these two images facing in opposite directions within 15 minutes of each other, just turning the camera on the tripod head. When you are witnessing scenes such as these in real time, you see the continuity of the light and sky, but when you shoot two tiny pieces out of a 360 degree view it is amazing to see the difference in the light in opposite directions. It is difficult for me to change direction and shoot disparate images virtually simultaneously. I spent about 45 minutes waiting and watching the light for the image with the sailboats. Turning and spending 5 minutes in the middle of that to shoot the "Ferry Hill" image was distracting. I actually need to concentrate extremely hard to get what I want on film. I made about 20 exposures on the sailboat image over the course of that time and the second to last was the one I used. The Ferry Hill image was 4 exposures-one roll of film with my panoramic camera.

These two photographs will be part of the "arts On!" celebration at the North River Arts Society in Marshfield Hills. (www.northriverarts.org). There is an opening on Friday Sept. 5th from 7-11 at G.A.R. Hall, 157 Old Main Street, Marshfield Hills from 7-10. Come by for a Mojito!

My profile in Cape Cod Life magazine

Now that we have passed August 1st, summer is on the wane, and I approach the time of year when I make about 90% of my images. I find that the late summer storms we have "clean up" the atmosphere a bit and add some drama to the sky. Later, dry fall days will provide brilliant light to the landscape, and the reduced humidity will allow for better definition of the clouds. Also, the marsh grasses will begin to change color, evolving daily, providing a new palette every evening for us.
This past weekend I shot a bunch of film after some violent storms had passed through. I will post those as soon as possible, however because I am a film based photographer, it takes a few days or weeks to get my images to the point where I can post them. Once I have them up, I hope to explain how I made them, leaving out most of the technical (boring) details that I can. In the future, I will wait until I have the images in hand before I write about them.
Also with August 1st, we have the Cape Cod Life special Arts Edition on the newsstand. I have a profile on page 90 (page 88 has fellow Marshfield artist Ted Polomis with his brilliant oil paintings). An image of the cover is below, (it won't be available long as my mother is buying them all up).


The writer of my profile, Jennifer Sperry, was great to work with, and was able to wade through my rambling explanations of my work and produce a perfectly accurate piece. Thanks Jen!