Told ya' so!

See? Even I can come through sometimes. I told you that I'd have the photos from my Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trip done and posted by the end of the week, and lo and behold here they are. Snowflakes must be fluttering through hell.

Of course, there's a small catch. Not all of the photos below are from the Boundary Waters. The Arrowhead Region of Minnesota has so much to see that I naturally ended up taking some photos outside the BWCAW. Two of those -- the bottom two -- are displayed below. They are images of the famous Split Rock Lighthouse. The other three photos are from the BWCAW.

As always, larger versions of each image complete with detailed information can be found right here in my Fine Art Galleries. Or, you can just click on the link right below each picture.

Click here for larger version.

Click here for larger version.

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I'm back. And with all my limbs!

Whew! I got back from the Boundary Waters a couple days ago and have a new found appreciation for things like refrigerators and roofs. The first two days were harsh: high winds, low temps and heavy rains make things, shall we say, a trifle difficult when camping and traveling by canoe deep in the back country. Throw in my less-than-perfect canoeing acumen and a malfunctioning cook-stove and you have a recipe for... issues.

Fortunately, the weather turned around quite nicely at the end, and I was able to get some very nice photos -- I'm really happy with the way they turned out! I'm currently editing them and should have them posted by the end of the week. (Yeah, I know you're heard that before, but this time I mean it!)

For now, I want to take a quick moment to show you a couple of shots that I took the week prior to my Boundary Waters trip. I was camping on Gull Lake in northern Minnesota and captured these two images while spinning around the lake on a friend's boat. The second one needs a bit of clarification. The shoes were left there by a friend, who walked out along a long, shallow underwater point. If you follow the water into the shot, you will see him standing in the background. (He's even easier to see in the large version.) As always, larger views of both shots are available here in my Fine Art Galleries.

Thanks for looking. I'll have the Boundary Waters photos up soon.

A miracle?

This swan must've been hobnobbing with Jesus lately. Either that or he just likes to show off. Whatever the case, his little manuver sure impressed me. I shot this about a month ago and call it Waterwalking Swan. As usual, the larger version can be found right here in my Animals Gallery.

Incidentally, I could use a little waterwalking magic myself. Tomorrow, I leave for a photography, camping and canoeing excursion into the wild and woolly Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I'm very excited and anticipate getting some great shots, and will be sure to post them here as soon as they're all edited and processed.

Just pray I don't become bear food. That wouldn't be fair to the bear. ^_^

Move over, Picasso.

Abstract art has always been a touchy thing for me. When it's done right, it's great. When it's done wrong, it often leaves me scratching my head and thinking, "huh?" (Of course, I've been stumped by a cell phone menu, too, so there's that.)

So, what constitutes abstract art done "right" exactly? Well, for me simply it comes down to a couple things: aesthetics and recognizability. Aesthetics is pretty straightforward -- it just needs to be pleasing to the eye. It doesn't necessarily have to be beautiful, just harmonious -- all the elements have to work together and compliment one another to create a strong overall image.

It's recognizability that's the trickier of the two. I strongly believe that the viewer has to be able to ultimately ascertain what the piece of art is about. Otherwise, you end up with a "huh?" from the viewer and much of the "oomph" of the art is lost.

This recognition can come in different ways. Sometimes, it's a matter of staring at a piece for a bit until you have that "a-ha!" moment when you realize that it's an extreme close-up photo of a leaf. Other times, such as in Duchamp's Nude Descending A Staircase (a favorite of mine), the title of the piece will help clue you into what you are looking at.

Now that I've shown you what I think makes good abstract art, let me show you some of my attempts at it. I've had several abstract photos in my Fine Art Galleries for some time now, such as Waves, Red Army, and Juicy Gemstones. But now I've got a new one to show you.

This was shot a few weeks ago. Unlike most of my blog posts, this photo can NOT also be found in my Fine Art Galleries -- it's only viewable right here in this post. I call it Crescent Moonwing. Give it a look, can you tell me what it is? First one of you to get it correct will receive $1 million!*

*$1 Million subject to availability.

Oh me, oh my -- a butterfly!

Now that summer's in full swing, it's high time to eye butterflies flying by through the sky -- it's just the thing! My, my, how I like to opine on fine, fine butterfl-- ok... I'll shut up now. Suffice it to say, I like photographing butterflies!

As always, larger versions can be seen here, in my Butterflies Gallery.

Aaaww!

As a photographer, there is one thing I strive for above all else: emotion. The strongest and most impactful photographs are the ones that evoke an emotional response from the viewer. It doesn't really matter what the emotion is -- whether a photo makes you feel happy, sad, angry, scared, repulsed or some other feeling is not the point. The fact that you felt something, and hopefully something strong, is what matters.

That's the number one goal I have with each and every photo I take: I try to elicit an emotion. Many times, I don't succeed and an image turns out to be plain and lacks the magic I'm looking for. But sometimes, when everything goes right, my efforts are rewarded with an image that has that special touch. Recently, I was able to capture one such image. (See? Even I can do something right sometimes!) I've shown it to several people, and right away they all basically said the same thing: "Aaaww! That's so cute!" That's exactly what I felt when I first took the photo, and it is precisely the emotion I was going for. Success!

For me, this image symbolizes warmth and love. Notice how the mighty king of the jungle is scrunching up his face in anticipation of a cuddle from his lioness? Aaaww! Even tough guys can have soft spots in their hearts. Love conquers all, baby.

As always, the larger version can be seen here in my Fine Art Galleries.

Do Over!

That old saying isn't true -- turns out you can teach old dogs new tricks. Recently, I, learned a useful new technique from the great Russell Brown. Armed with this new knowledge, I was able to go back and reprocess a handful of my old images, and really make them shine the way I knew they could. Below is one of those.

This was shot last July in the mountains of Colorado. It's a sunrise over Fairy Trumpets. Previously, the sky was too dull and bright, and try as I might, I wasn't able to make it pop like I wanted. Not anymore. Now, it looks as I always intended it to. Thanks, Russell!

As always, the larger version of this photo can be found right here in my Fine Art Galleries.