Landscape, Object & Still-Life Gallery

Landscapes can be some of the most interesting photographs, and also the most difficult. I've spent hours in one location just waiting for the light to be right for a composition. I prefer using low-speed film for landscapes, and I often use a tripod so that I can take timed exposures using a small aperture for more depth-of-field where all distances are in focus. This waterfall was shot using very low-speed film, 50 ASA, and a timed exposure from a tripod mount, to get a sense of power and speed from the waterfall. This particular waterfall is formed by the Great Falls River in Maryland, forming the border between Maryland and Virginia. This river lies along a geographic fault line, and the walls of the river often tower above the river on one side or the other, or across the river itself as at the location where I shot this composition. Above is a photograph of the northern California coast at Big Sur, between San Francisco and Monterrey. Using a polarizing filter, I knocked out the reflective glare on the water, seeing directly underneath the waves in the shadows to the kelp and brilliant bluish-green tones of the water. Keeping a balance of reflective water and what shows up underwater when the light is polarized is key; too much polarization tends to make a photograph look flat. Indoor still lives are much easier than outside shots. I use spotlights and panels to direct the distribution of light across my subjects, giving me control that I don't have when I'm outdoors. Even the light coming in a nearby window can be controlled by a sheet, towel, or a friend standing at a certain distance from the subject.   The loom in the photo above is inside an historical recreated farmhouse along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. I was interested in the geometric shapes that the loom's mechanical structure created, and the colors inside the farmhouse. I used low-speed film again here and a small aperture, and a very long exposure from a tripod mount, almost a full minute, to get everything inside in focus. With the help of a polarizing filter, I also managed to get a great deal of contrast and very saturated colors without losing any detail from the light coming directly through the window. Mechanical objects such as this antique firepump to the right are also interesting subjects. This is the boiler assembly of a 1900 firefighting vehicle. The wheel would be turned to put more pressure through the rubberized hose attached to the other side of the pump, with an oil-lit fire below the pump itself. This recreation was shot at a show in Towson, Maryland that celebrated restored firefighting vehicles. I was most interested in the shiny metallic boiler and the exposed assembly of smaller pipes, hoses, dials, knobs and other things underneath the boiler. As in the Architecture page, objects inside a period house are really interesting. My family's cabin in Grand Haven, Michigan, contains many treasures you wouldn't find in a more modern house. Carved floorboards, detailed stair bannisters, cupboards with carved or painted scrollwork, and windowsills aren't common at all on new houses anymore. I'm very intersted in photographing these kind of things to keep a record of them for my family, as well as more personal reasons so that I might be able to recreate them in my own house someday. For example, this bookshelf here to the left interested me because of the bindings on the books as well as the construction of the cast itself. Using a long exposure and a polarizing filter, I kept all the objects in focus at all distances. With the light from a lamp, I put an almost candlelight, yellow glow on the bookshelf that contrasted nicely with the blue light from outside that was shining on the floorboards. The doorknockers are just about the most intersting part of the cabin. Each of the bronze knocks are in the shape of some kind of animal, bird or bug. They have the look almost of fairy-tale characters because of their simple shapes used to define the subject, and they way they almost tell a short story. This character to the right was shot using a timed exposure, and both natural light from a window to the right, and a spotlight to the left to get a specific combination of light. In this case, it gives the bat an almost alive quality from the blue light of the sky through the window, like its flying through the night sky, and contrasts well against the reddish-brown of the door's wood. The dragonfly below on the left is on another door that is painted blue, had direct sunlight on its surface, and didn't need a spotlight because it showed up so well with its brighter bronze color against the surface of the door. I used a spotlight anyway, just to give a definite shadow behind it and to make the dragonfly almost glow. The spider needed a more subtle light on it to keep that creepy quality that I felt it needed; I wanted the light to just show the fly in its front legs without being too obvious, and to make the shadow behind the spider to look almost like more legs. When I'm travelling, I bring along my camera even if its only to take pictures of places with myself in them to prove that I've been there. But then there are times when I see something so bizarre, I just have to take a shot or two just so that I can remember later how weird it was. I've seen cars, motorcycles, vans, painted and airbrushed with scenes, people, logos, but this was something else. This strange vehicle below was shot around the near area in Seattle. I just had to take a picture of this thing, covered in circular vehicle reflecting panels with the word "YOBONIC" written across its side.