Lindsey's Molten Water

Molten Water

On a recent photo assignment, students were asked to interpret the word "ice."  Most took it literally, and shot pictures of ice-which is fine, few took it step further and used the word in more of an abstract way.  Some had unexpected results, like Lindsey's above.  The "ice" in the image really isn't that noticeable, but rather what caught my eye was the molten look of the water along the edge-reminded me of melted mercury.  Just that tiny lip of the edge of the water along the rough texture of the ice was so cool (excuse the pun).  Black and white was really the way to present this image and the great variety of textures, lines and shapes here make it a wonderful image.  It's my pick for a favorite of the ice assignment.

Morning in the Swamp

Sandhills Alight

My favorite time of day is the morning, and one of my favorite places to be witnessing the day wake up is in a marsh or swamp.  Marshes are the lifeblood of the land here-filtering and holding water, and providing a unique place for so much of our native wildlife.  In a way, so much of the outdoor world starts it's day here.

Nearby is a small marsh area with some open water, the perfect place for waterfowl to roost overnight and a hangout for cranes and other birds and animals.  After setting a camo tent up the previous week to photograph some eagles, I decided to just move it down the road and find a concealed place to try my luck here.  Sneaking through the swamp grass in the pre-dawn and brightening sky, already the calls of cranes and nervous cackle of geese could be heard.  Managing to slip into the tent, the tripod was set and camera functions checked.  The small zippered window provided a great view of the water and hopefully wouldn't spook the birds.  Several pairs of geese noisily staked out their claims in different corners of the pond, while a drake wood duck made a quick landing in front of me.

My plan was to be all "professional-photographery" here, ready at an instant to click off award winning images.  It was not the case in the end.  Not wanting to have too much noise, I left the ISO fairly low, which in turn gave me too slow a shutter and blurry photographs of some of my feathered subjects.   Two cranes suddenly launched out from some cattails and quickly I just panned and fired away.  Everything was motion blurred, but the image above grew on me.  It looks like a slapped on Photoshop painterly filter, but in reality it was almost stock with some noise reduction.

Blackbird in Flight

The Red Winged Blackbirds really love this place and it was so loud with the mating calls and warble songs of the males flitting back and forth taking their places in the willows.  When the waterfowl action slowed (the geese had left for nearby fields) the camera found it's way their direction-they can be stunning as well for a common bird.

Hoodies Checking In

As Jim Brandenburg once said, a photographer needs to be ready in an instant, and on more than one occasion, I missed a picture.  This pair of Hooded Merganzers made a dive bomb entry into the marsh over my shoulder and I did manage a few frames as they flew past.  In this shot, I just liked the sun being filtered through the primaries on the wings...just wish I'd had a more interesting background-it needs a secondary subject to liven things up.

Sooo, back to the Black Birds.  It's not terribly exciting, but I did like the tack sharpness of the focus here, which is surprising considering the lens really had to hunt around to lock onto anything in this photograph.  A simple picture, but it holds my interest for a little while.  No worries that it'll end up in National Geographic!

As quickly as the day wakes with a start in the marsh, it also ends....most of the interesting wildlife has moved on to daytime duties and quickly it became much too warm for a mid March day-but that seems to be the theme this year.  I'll return and keep working on that winning (in my mind) photograph here in the swamp, a place with the sights, smells and sounds blend for a perfect start of a day.

Polar Plunge-Target Rich Environment

I love feeling alive, I love walking out in the cold in my bare feet and feeling the ice on my toes.- Tori Amos

Jeff-The Perennial Plunger

 "Target Rich Environment?"  What better location to be hanging around with a camera and long lens than a place where crazy people take off perfectly good warm clothes on a cold day and proceed to jump into freezing water for fun?  As a photographer, the one thing I love is catching expression-the expression on a face that lasts for a split second, that tells a story, that is unrehearsed. At the Polar Plunge, surely I'd be lucky enough to catch those moments of anticipation, anxiety, fear, breathlessness, exhilaration, shock and joy....(that the plunge is over).
I'd been here before, and love all of those emotions and expressions I'd have a chance to photograph.  It was great light today-sunny, not too cold and maybe a little larger crowd on hand than before.  I like to use a big zoom to flatten space out and narrow the depth of field and set the camera to a high frame rate.  Aperture is wide open and shutter speed through the roof-(Boring technical stuff).  At any rate, when I started editing photos afterwards, I was reminded of a shoot I did 30 plus years ago at my high school of a cross country steeple chase-runners had to jump into a pool of muddy water out on the course and that location offered the same frozen water in space and expressions as this day did.
It's been a while since I've have a more photography related post here, and it feels good to be shooting for the plain old joy of making some good pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

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Jeff

Jeff lead off this post and this is my follow-up portrait.  Jeff is a Special Olympic athlete in Neillsville and the best pledge raiser in the city-he singlehandedly generates more money for the program than any other plunger and is a crowd favorite-never for a loss of showmanship or style.

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Daina

Daina is also a Special Olympic athlete-in fact, one of the very few snowboarders in the state and a gold medal winner.  She is a huge polar plunge fan and has maybe the best expression of anticipation before deciding to take the leap into the icy water.

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Ricky

Cold?  Although plungers are only in the water for a brief moment, it is a shock and there always is but one thought-get out!  No one, I've noticed over the years, lingers in the water too long!  Ricky is a Special Olympic athlete as well and has been to several World Games as a cross country skier.

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Tim

The expression in Tim's eyes really attracted me to this photograph...I think they are saying "okay, this was all fun and all, but get me the heck outa here!"   Tim is the commander in chief on the polar plunge day of the Special Olympics group, which, by the way, raised over $3000 for the athletes!

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Centered Plunger

Maybe these folks plunging into icy water are a little off centered?  Not really, and this shot I really liked-the hair, the water and that da*m post, which was most troublesome all day while shooting.  This time it worked out and divided the image in half.  Not always sure why I like a picture, but this one works for me.

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Color, Hands and Face

Hands are so expressive, so I wanted to include them in this image....and they are surely topped off by her face as she sprints to the warming tent.

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The Girl Chef

I don't know what organization she represented, but she made me crack up when she walked up to the pool, dipped her fingers in the water and checked to see what the temperature was....tooo funny!  I love the split second here just as that same hand and now her feet are breaking the surface.

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Wall of Water

Sometimes two plungers will go in at a time...maybe safety in numbers?  Shared punishment?  In any case, timing is everything and sometimes they don't synchronise  things quite right.  Here, one plunger is already underwater, leaving a wall of water for the second to jump into.  I love the water droplets leaving their rings on the wall.

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Student and Tutor Taking the Plunge

Pretty standard plunge picture, if there is such a thing, but I wanted this here because it has two of my students in it.  Alyssa is a photography student and Shyanne is my K5 tutor, both just great ...and a few of my past students watching in the background, and....waiting their turn to hit the water.

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The Curvy Hair

A split second later, and Shyanne is about to submerge-the frozen splash and curvy hair, about to be dunked, was enough to make this a favorite.

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Alan in Team USA

Alan is a good friend and his children are just the best in my classes.  It is always refreshing to meet up with him-I know I'm gonna smile and laugh whenever we run into to each other.  He's new to plunging and put the question out there of what to wear.  I had some ski suits from sponsored teams and from Special Olympics-they are bright and flashy, so I offered them up for his plunge apparel.  They were a hit and he suggested they did help fight the cold, but I wonder about that after seeing this rather "refreshing" expression when he literally jumped out of the water!

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The Last Second

Blatant Rule of Thirds picture here...and maybe too blatant-another composition maybe would have been better, but that dang post was in the way again, and it was cropped out.  I  liked the rest of the image and her expression as the last thing dry was about to go under and be cold and soaked.

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Carol-"oh my gosh...OH my Gosh!"

The plunge helps local organizations raise money for their causes and groups-from Special Olympics as mentioned to breast cancer awareness.  Close friend Carol was plunging for a mission trip to Guatemala and for her Spanish class trip to....( it escapes me which Central American country).  Anyway, a little ribbing before the plunge was in order,  as she was a bit nervous about the whole thing.  In the end, she had style points going in and great expression coming out.  Well done.

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Jenn

The "helping hand" was always present as jumpers clawed their way out of the water and always present, it seemed, in my photographs.  Oh well....it tells part of the story I guess.  Jenn is like a God-child to me in some ways...I've watched her grow up into a wonderful young woman-so it distresses me to see her in such pain.  Not really.  ;) It may look like pain on her face, but the before and after images would show more shock and awe of the experience of hitting the water-the ski suit doing little to keep the freezing water at bay.  Her face was one of the best from the plunge day and I was so fortunate to photograph it and all the others who braved the waters for a great cause.

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Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky

Last night was a rare night-it's not everyday we're treated to a sky like this.  The sunrises the past few days have been pretty spectacular as well, but this sunset, was truly amazing.  As I rode the fat-bike through the woods trails, I could see the colors building and hoped I'd get out in time to catch the full view of it.  I did and quickly fired off a few frames.

Molly, Mukluk and Fire Sky

Molly is enjoying these fat-bike rides a lot-I can't really get going that fast on the rough XC ski trails and she can escape from time to time to smell smells only labs love.  I think she rather enjoyed the sunset too.

Everything Glows

Firesky over Jeannes Farm

New years Day-Best of 2011

I'll give full credit to this post to friend Laura Schmitt, who recently did a best of piece on her wedding photographs from this past year...which got me thinking about going back and looking at my own work from 2011.  It's an interesting exercise in a way-going back and taking a close look at what happened in my life thru images.  I won't get too carried away with those deep philosophical thoughts (I just like photographs!) but still, it's a reminder of what caught my eye before pressing the shutter.  I started picking one image from each month....that lasted until February, then abandoned that and just went with photos I liked and tried to keep it to one per event.  Some months were better than others as they say.  (BTW, who are "they" they always talk about?)  So here they are, in no particular order, my favorites (and not always the best photographs) from the past twelve months.

Colored Snow Drifts

We were blessed with a lot of snow in early 2011 (actually, late 2010) and I find myself shooting winter scenes as a favorite....and I do love snow.  Taken on a late afternoon, on the Miatke farm field, where I hike at all times of the year.  Rain had formed a crust, then high winds blew new snow across this tundra-looking plain to form these colorful forms.

Grousin Around

One early morning last winter I looked out the window and a neighborhood grouse lit in the crabapple tree out back.  He (she?) gladly took the opportunity to fill up on the remaining fruit clinging on the twigs during this cold morning.  I'll never tire of living out in the country when one never knows what might wander through, stop for a bite or just say hi.

Tenley at Levis Mound

The kids have moved away now, so unlike earlier days, they don't appear in my of my photographs, but last March a fun get together at Levis Mound with skis and snowshoes brought Tenley back to town.  A portrait?  Maybe...I love the smile, the location and the richness of the colors and knew this would be a favorite of mine of the year.

Sharp-Shinned with Prey

When I first posted this image, I wrongly identified it as a Merlin, another small hawk, but realized later it actually was a Sharp-Shinned hawk.  Backyard feeders offer plenty of prey for these sift skilled flyers and small song birds are a favorite target.  The hawk picked off a chickadee near the window and lit in a large oak tree, where quickly the smaller bird was dispatched.  It's natures way and I had mixed feelings but grateful to be a witness to the skill and survival of the raptor.

Michael at the Polar Plunge

The Neillsville Rotary Polar Plunge raises money for Special Olympics and other organizations in town, and I figured would offer some great opportunities for images.  It didn't disappoint.  Michael is a Special Olympic athlete and also took part in the plunge and by his expression, wasn't going to swim around in the ice water too long.

Madison Rally

To say this has been a polarizing year in Wisconsin would be an understatement-no matter what side of the political fence one is on.  The unprecedented cuts to workers rights and education brought out a storm of protesters from every part of the state-including myself.  I made the trip to Madison as a participant and also, from time to time that day, as a photographer.  I think this image illustrates people of every walk of life, rallying for the rights they feel strongly about.

Fog Day Off

It wasn't a conscious plan to have this peaceful photograph follow the chaos of Madison last spring, but I guess it works.  There were two days last winter/spring that because of the strange weather we've had, were about the thickest fog I'd ever seen.  School was called off and for good reason-the fog never lifted this day and visibility was truly measured in feet.  Unusual atmospheres are always fun to experience and photograph.

Trombone at Tufts

Am I a "professional" photographer?  I have been hired and even paid for photographs, but don't depend on that income for anything than spending it on more photography equipment!  I was asked to do a shoot of a band rehearsing and performing for a comeback tour of sorts.  The Willie Wisely Trio gathered this past summer at Tufts Mansion for several days of rehearsal, some group shots and the a performance.  I always love shooting musicians and bands-so many great photographs telling stories of their talent and skill and what they bring to us, the listeners.  It's always an honor to be asked to photograph these artists performing their craft.

Forest Ferns

Simplicity.  A curve, a line, a form-I'm attracted to those elements a lot when I'm out shooting and find myself at times, looking for the small quiet subjects.  I shoot a lot of ferns-sometimes just to get them out of my system.  In the spring, everything is too green, so usually these photos end up black and white, where for me, it's easier to see those elements of art stand out and come to the forefront.  This one?  I just love natures perfect curve-no artist could draw that as well.

Bog Lake Photographer

Each summer I try to get a photography class or workshop in to advance my skills, to see differently and to force myself to shoot everyday-a lot.  It's always a rejuvenator for my photography.  This past July I spent time in Northern Wisconsin and the U.P. shooting nature, waterfalls and sometimes other photographers.  This was an early morning on a bog lake outside of Eagle River Wisconsin and my favorite from this photo session.

Young Greek Girl in Rhodes

Coaching at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Greece was a great opportunity to be a part of something I love doing in my life.  The head coaching position on the track seemed to fit me well, and I loved every minute.  Well, almost.  I bought a new camera for the games, expecting to make a lot of pictures, but coaching is a full time job and I was a participant, not an observer here... I found myself not shooting much at all.  Our host town was on the Isle of Rhodes and one day we had the chance to visit an ancient walled city there and as thousands of athletes paraded the cobble stone streets, Greek residents cheered and waved along the way.  I saw this young Greek girl waving from a window high above the street and loved the joy expressed in her face, and in a split second grabbed a shot before getting paraded forward down the narrow crowded street.  It would be an image I'll always remember.

Jermaine on the Ferry

Another World games photograph made the cut here and I guess the color really drew me to it.  It was a long ferry ride from Rhodes to Athens-some parts great, some during those 18 hours, not so great.  Meeting Jermaine, who was a powerlifter, was a highlight-a giant spark of life, who could not only lift small cars, but also perform  cartwheels into the splits to fire up his teammates and the rest of Team USA.

Jamie-High Key

These photographs are loosely chronological as I'm posting them, but I had to go back to late spring to a shoot I did for a family friend down the road.  Jamie has a great personality and it was fun to make some senior portraits of her out on the farm.  There were a lot that I liked and she is easy to photograph, but I kept coming back to this high key image as one of my favorites.

Sam Moku-Skipping

This is actually from the Team USA training camp in April held in San Diego.  We trained at San Diego State on their excellent track-a perfect place for our track and field athletes.  We got to know the athletes and other coaches and Sam became one of my favorites.  He is from Hawaii and not only is he an excellent coach but a fun loving human being and one I'm proud to call friend.

The Sun Bites a Building

One of my favorite artists, Georgia O'Keeffe, once described a painting she did of New York skyscrapers as buildings shooting up to the sky with the sun taking a bite out of the building.  This image reminded me of that-taken in downtown Minneapolis this past fall while attending a wedding of a good friend.  Every once and a while, it's good to get the country boy to the big city....just for a while.

Nate & Ena

Unlike Laura, I don't see myself taking up wedding photography on any great level-that's a lot like work and there is pressure to get the shot and make no mistakes.  I'll admit, weddings I've shot for friends have been fun and there are always a few images I really like.  This was a favorite of mine taken at an unexpected moment high above Lake Wazee where the ceremony was held and captures their fun playful side and love for each other.

First day-Ava and Juju

I've had a habit of marching around school on the first morning, camera in hand,as students file into their classrooms and settle into their desks.   As a teacher, it's fun to see their excitement (for the most part) of starting a new year, with new classmates and teachers.  Ava and Judah are so very different and so very likable and I love having them walk into my classroom.  On this first day I wonder what they are each thinking...

Molly and Colored Blur

A strange image but I just love it.  Taken on a fall hike out in the county forest along logging roads and ATV trails.  It's sometimes hard to get fall color photographs just right, or something one hasn't seen before, and for whatever reason, this was my favorite from that day...light, motion, color, Labrador retriever?

Mr.Art and Abby

Photographers usually don't like to have their picture taken or photographs of themselves-at least, that's the case for me.  That said, I do like this one-I'm at my job, in my room and with one of my favorite students.  Abby is the sister of one of my past high school students, who is also an excellent photographer, and one who made countless pictures of Abby as well.  As a teacher, there is nothing better than students who love to come to your room smiling, happy to see you and ready to try the next great thing in art and give it their all.

Whew.....bring on 2012.........

     

Light, Shadow, and Texture.

Hand by Alleah

There are  few simple truths to photography- photography  literarily means "writing with light," so without it or with poor light, the images will be poor as well.  That light produces shadow, which in many cases becomes the secondary point of interest in a photograph.  That same light also accentuates texture, another element of art that is so crucial in photography.

In this image by high school photographer Alleah, all three of those photographic elements are demonstrated to a successful degree.  The subject matter, whether one decides is the hand, the light, the shadow....is up to the viewer.  The interpretation of the image is also up to each individual-loneliness? Darkness? A touch, a loss?  We all approach a photograph from our own past, our own experiences, which is why photography can be so powerful.

When I first saw this image, I looked at it from a technical perspective-perfect light, shadow, texture and composition.  It was only later when re-visiting it that I started to look deeper into it-what does it mean to me?  What did it mean to the photographer?  The test for me is can I go back to a picture over and over and still like it...a lot.  I do.

Hundreds and hundreds of photographs are made in this class......it's refreshing to come across a few that really stand out-and touch our visual being.

Nice Suprises

Haley's Water

With a Fall semester class and a Spring on that follows, we get a chance to photograph completely different subjects at times.  Each semester I like to get the students down to the Listeman Arboretum just on the edge of town.  It's just a 3 or 4 minute ride and contains enough variety to give the students ample opportunities to make pictures.  The fall of course presents bright colors and in the spring the new growth carpets the forest floor.  When we make this outing, I try to instill in the students they need to try and "see" things differently-sometimes that's accomplished by changing the camera's (and our) perspective-moving in, getting down, shooting from above, backing off....whatever it takes.  Also, don't hesitate to press the shutter-out of hundreds of images, maybe there are really only a few that will make the cut.

One that really did was the photograph above-Haley had spend a good deal of time along the Black River, which runs along the arboretum.  Fall color reflected in the water so the obligatory wide landscape shots were taken (by maybe all of us) and some of the rapids that flow through here.  Haley took those, but I think one of the best pictures was this close up of the water-with color above and below the surface.    The variety of color, of shape and a near perfect composition set this image apart from so many others on this day.  I know for me-it just presents a feeling of what fall is-pretty hard to describe in words, but sometimes photographs do a much better job.  Sometimes editing hundreds of photographs and viewing more, one comes across a nice surprise-this surely is one of the best.