IceWolf's Ramblings » Foto Friday

Foto Friday

Alex — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 05:13:09 +0000

I almost missed this one even though I was thinking about it last night. That is what I get for thinking about it and not actually acting on it! Stuff like that happens to me all the time!

This week’s photo is from a new set of experiments in IR photography. I talked about how digital IR photo worked in a previous Foto Friday post. Well, being back at camp for the summer means that I have access to an IR camera for the summer again, so I will be doing more experimenting!

The Home Acres Farm on Rt. 113 in Stow, ME (or close to Stow)

This image was captured a little before sunset during “golden hour” before going out moosing. I inverted the red and blue channels to make the sky blue and get the cool IR effect in the trees. The clouds came out pretty cool as well. Shooting in IR is very interesting and I feel like it really opens up a completely different world of creative imaging. It is so interesting to be able to visualize that which we can’t see!

I have a bunch more IR photos already and I plan to get them up on my website, IceWolf Photography, this weekend. They are fun to look it in a bigger scale than this one. I just need to sit down and do the upload. I will let you know when that happens.

For now, enjoy this one, and as always, comments, questions, and critiques are always welcome!

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Foto Friday

Alex — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:57:46 +0000

I am sure that many of you thought that I would post some photo from camp for Foto Friday, but I don’t think that is going to happen. At least not this week. I have one image that I might consider, but I haven’t had the chance to actually work on it yet. Also, we are not really supposed to post any photos with campers on the public internets, so odds are you won’t see anything like that from me. I like my job, I want to keep it (even though every kid will go home and post all their photos on facebook).

So, for this week I thought that I would go back to the Moab Workshop. I finally got some images from the final day of the workshop posted on my site so I thought that I would share them. Besides, you really can’t go wrong with most of the images from that trip! It is such beautiful country out there, I highly recommend that you put the Utah desert on your list of places to visit if you have never been there, especially if you are a photographer!

The potash evaporation ponds below Dead horse Point State Park in Moab, UT

This image was taken right around sunrise, looking out from Dead Horse Point State Park. It is an HDR image and I just love the way the canyon textures came out. I apologize for the watermark that runs through the image, but in this day and age where it is so easy to snag images off the nets I feel like it is a must-have (and yes I know there is a spelling error in it). I don’t really know much of anything about the potash production or what it is used for, but the evaporation ponds are really pretty in the morning light.

An interesting point of note about Dead Horse Point State Park is that it is featured in the movie “Mission: Impossible II” in the opening scene where Tom Cruise is rock climbing. I had never realized this until it happened to be on TV a couple weeks ago and I recognized some of the formations. Just a little fun fact that most people probably don’t really care about!

In other photo related news, I hope to do some more experimenting in IR photography this summer. We now have two IR cameras at camp, the photographer’s and one of the other staff member’s. I am sure that both would let me borrow their cameras. So, hopefully I will have some other fun images to share in that department! With that said, as usual comments, questions and critique are always welcome!

Photo Friday

Alex — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:00:57 +0000

I can’t believe that it is Friday again. In reality I think that I have pretty much lost track of time since I came out to the east coast for the summer and especially since I came to camp. I have been at camp for almost a week, it is crazy. I can’t wait for the kids to arrive, and that isn’t until next week! I did however, remember that I should post a photo today, though I don’t remember what it was that made me even think that it was Friday!

A little girl looks out at the water in La Rochelle, France

I captured this image in La Rochelle, France while I was working on the Ms. Prinsendam. As I mentioned in my last post, people watching can be very fun and interesting. This girl was with another young girl who I assumed was her sister, but there were no parents in sight. I could pass up getting a few shots of her looking out from the ramparts (not sure if that is really the right term) at the ocean.

This images was touched up in Photoshop. I added a watercolor filter effect to it to enhance the texture. I would probably approach the image differently today than I did four years ago when I shot it. It is an image that I come back to often, so maybe I will revisit it and see if I can make it any better than it is. I have used in cards before and people have told me that, out of all the cards that I made, this was one of the favorites. I probably need to make some more!

As always, comments, questions, and critique are always welcome!

It has begun & Foto Friday

Alex — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:54:23 +0000

My summer that is. Yesterday I officially said my goodbye’s at the theatre (just for the summer that is), packed up my junk and this morning I made my trek over to the east coast. Pretty normal travel day all things considered, 6AM wake-up, have Sunreon pound on my door at 6:20, load up my junk into her car and head over to The Red Moose for a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito. I can’t remember if I ever mentioned this little coffee shop before, they haven’t been around that long (I believe since December) but they have great coffee and great food. They are also practically right across the street from my house which could be a dangerous thing.

The traveling today was pretty painless. I still think that it is a pain in the ass to get from the door of the airport to the door of the plane, but when you fly early enough in the day getting through security is pretty efficient. In general, flying on Southwest is pretty efficient. They seem to really be able to get you from one place to the next without much hoopla. They also have pretty good fares. I do love sitting in the terminal and on the plane during boarding listening to the agents and flight attendants try to explain to people about the open seating. There are some people who really just don’t get it. It isn’t that hard to understand is it?

As we loaded up the first plane (SLC to MDW) I ended up sitting next to a very interesting gentleman who works for the VA hospital right across the street from the theatre. We shall call him D for the sake of privacy. It turned out that he was also flying from SLC to MHT, though his reasons for the trip were not quite as upbeat as mine. He was a very nice man and we had a great conversation for most of the flight. In fact, by the time that we stopped chatting I only was able to make it about halfway through the new “Alice in Wonderland” movie. In the end I suppose that isn’t terrible because now I can watch it on a screen larger than my iPhone. I never did see it in theaters, and I was totally OK with that.

We arrived at MDW a couple minutes early which is a good thing because the layover was only 35 minutes. I probably should and cold have grabbed some food, but since people were already lining up to board, I figured that I would hit the head and then get in line. I ended up sitting with the D again and another interesting person who I believe was around my age. This flight, which was only around 1:30-sin in length, the tree of us chatted the entire time. I don’t think that I have ever had that much interaction with the people that I have been sitting with (who are not friends or family) on an airplane before. In the end, D and I exchanged cards, and will probably connect again when I get back to Utah. He has kids who he would love to see get involved in the arts, and he knows some people at one of the youth theatre organizations that he wanted to put me in touch with.

With an on-time arrival in Manchester I met my parents and I finally got to meet the new puppies. They are sooo cute! They are crazy hyper, like all huskies, but they are a lot of fun. However they did manage to pinch my old Red Sox cap from my bag and chew it up. It is a little sad, but I am sure that I will get over it (and get a new cap). So, since it is Friday, I think that I will leave you with one of my father’s photos of the puppies. The white one is Ava, and the black/silver one is Zoe.

Zoe and Ava on the back porch

I suppose that I should also mention that for the rest of the summer (until mid August) I will be on the east coast, primarily in Maine and New Hampshire working at Indian and Forest Acres camps. My blogging may be a little more erratic over the summer, but I will keep you all up to date!

Foto Friday

Alex — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:00:16 +0000

Well, I have posted a lot of photos recently due to the photo workshop that I was on last week. I can’t believe that it was already a week ago. Time is kinda flying now. I need to get things ready and packed to go to the east coast next week and I have things to ship as well. However, all that considered, there is always time for another photo post!

My photo for this week comes from the workshop. I have actually got almost all of my picks for photos from the workshop posted over on IceWolf Photography. The photo I chose though, is another HDR image of Balanced Rock in Arches National Park. I have been getting some really interesting and beautiful results from some of the HDR images that I have created. I love how the colors really pop and the textures in the clouds are pretty cool as well.

It is certainly a beautiful desert that we have here in Utah. I don’t think that I would ever get tired of shooting it. As always, comments and criticism are welcome!

Foto Friday

Alex — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:00:45 +0000

I think that every week I probably say something akin to: “I can’t believe that it is Friday again!” The thing is, it is always true. It is also always true that getting to Friday every week is an adventure. Sometimes it is working on a show, sometimes it is finishing up the season. Sometimes it is even getting in a car accident (yeah, that one sucked). Somehow we get here though. This past week I have done more drinking and partying in one week than I often do in a month. I suppose we had a lot to celebrate at the end of the season.

Inevitably though, the fact that it is now Friday make sit time for my weekly photographic feature. I have been using my own photos since I started this, and I like promoting my work, but if you have a photo that you would be interested in seeing featured, send it along and tell me about it. Maybe, at some point I would consider having some small contests for featured photos. We shall see.

For this week, I ended up going back a few years in my archives to when I was in college. This image is from my junior year I believe.

Ithacan Oars

I captured this image using my father’s Nikon D100. At the time I had not bought my first digital SLR yet. In fact I didn’t get my first DSLR until I graduated and was heading off on the cruise ship.

My cousin was on the Ithaca crew team and so one of the times that my family was out to visit we spent some time at the waterfront watching one of his competitions. I suppose it is a meet. I don’t know the crew lingo. I just thought the sun on the water and all the oars laid out made a very interesting shot. I also love digging back through my archives to find something to share.

As always, please feel free to post any questions, comments or critiques that you might have!

Foto Friday

Alex — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:00:10 +0000

At the request of some of my followers, this weeks photo is from the archival photo call for 42nd Street. It is rather apropos as lately I have mentioned working on the show in a number of blog posts. Also, we are going into the closing weekend today, so if you count tonight’s show there are only three performances left.

Beth Glover as Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street

This is one of my favorite images from the shoot and from the show. The scene is the “Shadow Waltz” where Dorothy (an older actress who was hired to be the “star” of Pretty Lady) “auditions” for the part. The lyrics of the song talk about shadows on the wall so she plays with shadow puppets as well as later going on to a big shadow-play dance number.

I also think that this image has some fun artistic merit as well. I try to get some more “artsy” shots when I can, as opposed to just standing in the center of the house and shooting the scenes. This was not the easiest subject to get close to on account of the angles of the lights for the shadows. I had to work pretty hard to not get my own shadow in the shots (no one wants to see my shadow anyway).

So, now I am counting down the days to get ready for my photo excursion in Moab and hopefully will bring you a few fresh images! For now though, as always, comments, questions and critiques are welcome!

Foto Fri… Thursday!

Alex — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:00:52 +0000

On account of the fact that tomorrow is the kickoff day for the Bloggerstock blog-swap I thought that I would bump up my Foto Friday to Thursday. It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but the concept is the same.

Today’s photo comes from the archives. In fact, it is old enough that it was originally shot on film. Crazy right? Not really. I still have my film camera, it mostly collects dust, but every now and then I think that it would be fun to take it out again. When you shoot film there is always the mystery and waiting to see if the photos turned out the way you wanted (or turned out at all). There is also the factor of having a limited number of images you can shoot at once (24 or 36 frames). I think makes you think a little more when you compose your shots.

A white Lupine up on Sugar Hill, NH

This photo was taken in 2005 in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. Every year they have the Lupine Festival when the fields are covered in lupines. Generally you see purple lupines, so it is fun to find the white ones in the middle of a field of purple. It is really beautiful to see the lupines in bloom, it just makes Sugar Hill and Franconia that much more wonderful.

I do think there is something about film that gives a different feel to photos even when they are scanned. As I went looking for a photo for this week, this one caught my eye. I hope that you enjoy it as well. As always, comments and critiques are welcome!

Foto Friday #12

Alex — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:00:25 +0000

I really can’t believe that it is once again Friday. I mean, where did this week go? I suppose I know where the week went, I spent it sitting around a dark theatre in rehearsal. While that was going on, it was mostly a nice week outside… So, in honor of it being a nice week outside, I thought that a nice outdoor photo would be in order.

Just off SR224 on the way up to Park City you pass the McPolin Farm. It happens that this is one of the most photographed locations in Utah. On the grounds of the farm they have lots of old farm equipment. Old Farm equipment can make a fun subject to shoot, and on a nice day it is even better. I have no idea what this thing is, but this is one of my favorite images that I took up there one day last spring.

McPolin Farm, Park City, UT

I like playing with the depth of field, it can make for some interesting looks.

I should also mention that I received my new camera lens yesterday. I have not had a chance to test it out yet, but I certainly will post some photos when I do. I picked up the Sigma 15mm f/2.8 full frame fisheye. I thought that it would be fun to have for my photo workshop next month. I also have always like the super-wide angle look so I think that it will be fun to play with. Certainly a great addition to my kit.

As always, comments, questions and critiques are welcome! Have a great weekend.

Foto Friday #11

Alex — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:00:14 +0000

One of the photographers whose blog I follow always has great advice. One of the tidbits that he has mentioned for people who want to be professional photographers is to find some niche in the market. So, what I do, which seemed to be a natural fit, is shoot for theatre. I do production stills for the theatre company that I work for as well as a couple other local theatre companies and the theatre department at the U of U. It is a lot of fun and it can provide a way to make some fairly artistic images while capturing the art that we make on stage every day.

This week I thought that it would be fun to share one of my recent images from the archival photo call from the U of U theatre department’s production of Molière’s The Would-be Gentleman. The show is extremely funny and it seems like the cast had a lot of fun working on it. It was hard to pick one image to share with you, but I think that the one I picked is pretty good. If you want to see more of them or the cast list you can find the entire gallery at this link.

Lucile's "fairytale entrance"

There are many rather funny and what now seem cliché moments in the show, however this is the kind of literature that defined the ideas we think of as cliché. The moment in this photo is Lucile’s “fairytale entrance” where she comes in to meet her lover accompanied by perfume and birds and flower petals. Of course you couldn’t complete the scene without the servant sweeping up the mess.

So enjoy the photo, and as always, please feel free to leave comments, questions, and criticism.