About the “rules”

About the “rules”

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs”–Ansel Adams

When I became obsessed with photography, sometime in the spring of 2009, I wanted my photographs to be better. I wanted to learn how to make magic with my camera, but I didn’t know how. I spent many hours researching, reading, learning about photography. And in my zeal to learn how to make better images, I unknowingly adopted some of the “rules” that other photographers so adamantly preached. Looking back, I see how those rules helped, but I also see how they hindered. We all want to know the formula for making spectacular images, but in my experience, there is no formula. Knowing how the camera works is essential, knowing how the light works is essential, but strictly following rules only stifles creativity.

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Fierce Eagle

I remember the first time I wanted to attempt to shoot eagles at the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge. I was selling microstock photography at the time, so I posted in a forum on one of the microstock sites asking for advice. Most of the responses were discouraging. I was told I needed tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear. I was told the only way to get good, close photos of eagles was to spend hours hunkered down in a blind. I was told most of the good eagle photos you see are either shot in captivity, or with the aid of bait. I’m glad I didn’t listen. I’ve found that with patience, persistence, and a bit of luck, photographs of eagles can be done without all of those things. The photo above was shot from my car in the pouring rain.

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Heart Lake

Some of the rules I learned for landscape photography were, never center the subject, and always shoot during the “golden hour.” (An hour after sunrise, or and hour before sunset.) The image of Heart Lake was shot in mid-afternoon on a sunny day. There are also many landscape photographers who insist that graduated ND filters and circular polarizing filters are a necessity. While I keep a polarizing filter in my bag, I rarely use it. And the set of GND filters I bought is in a box of stuff I never use, having tried them two or three times and discovering that blending exposures in post processing works much better for me and gives me a lot more control over the result.

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The Pacific Ablaze

But I have to say, the most important lesson I’ve learned over these past five years is–persistence. If I don’t get the shot I want, I try again. If the “rule” doesn’t work for me, I break it. It took me nearly three years to get an image of the full moon rising over Lake Siskiyou with Mount Shasta. I went back to the same spot dozens of times, and failed to get the shot. But, I kept trying, and eventually I got it! And for me, the satisfaction of that is better than any award, or prize, or sale. So my advice is to listen to the rules, take them into consideration, but don’t get so caught up in them that you can’t break them. Because you will never know what you can do if you always follow the rules.

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Moonrise Over the Lake at Mount Shasta

 

 

 

 

 

Rekindling a sense of adventure

Rekindling a sense of adventure

Continuing with the subject of gratitude, this week’s post is about rediscovering a sense of adventure. There was a time when I was adventurous by nature. I think most of us are when we are young and unafraid of our own mortality. Then, as we get older, security becomes important and fear of losing it takes over, and slowly, the sense of adventure is lost. I know this isn’t true for everyone, but it has been for me.

While I’ll likely never be as brave (or reckless) as I was in my twenties (and that’s probably a good thing!), lately I’ve found myself taking risks that I never would have taken just a few short years ago. For example, on a trip through Arizona, I found myself staking out a spot very close to the edge of a 1000 ft. cliff in order to get a shot. This may not sound like a big adventure to some, but for me and my fear of heights, it was something of an accomplishment!

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Horseshoe Bend Sunset

I was there for over an hour, and my knees were wobbly the whole time! The wind was blowing fiercely, and there were times when I thought it might blow me right over the edge. Which reminds me, I’m also grateful for my tripod, since I could never get a steady shot in a situation like this without it!

Then there was the time I set out with a friend on a five-mile hike to a place we had never been, armed with nothing but some vague directions printed off the internet. After following the directions as best we could, we came to a very steep drop-off. He went and looked over the edge, then came back to where I was resting. I said “that’s the trail, isn’t it?” He nodded and grimaced. We talked it over and decided we had come this far and were not going back without seeing the waterfall we came for. So we climbed (more like slid on our butts, actually) about 60 feet straight down, knowing that we would either have to figure out a way to get back up, or find another route back to the trail.

I don’t consider this to be one of my best waterfall images, but it has a special place in my heart because of the adrenaline induced adventure I went on to get there.

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Burstarse Falls

Not only that, but I got an appreciation for why they named this waterfall “Burstarse Falls.”

Climbing a ten foot snowbank was never on my list of things I wanted to do, until I found myself at Crater Lake in February. As it turns out, I will gladly scale a wall of snow left behind by the plows, if there is something worth photographing on the other side.

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Wizard Magic

Admittedly, these are small adventures in comparison to the risks taken by those who thrive on thrill-seeking. But, for me, they are big departures from my comfort zone, and a revival of the wonderful feeling that it’s great to be alive. Or, as I heard recently in a talk given by filmmaker Kevin Smith, I’ve stopped asking myself “why?” and started asking myself “why not?”

Why not go someplace I’ve never been before? Why not get up before sunrise to shoot the dawn? Why not give up a steady, well-paying, but tedious job in order to fulfill my passion? Why not, indeed. And that has been, and continues to be, the biggest adventure of my life. So here’s to adventure, and passion, and uncertainty, and satisfaction, and the dawn. Why not?

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Fire Lake

 

 

Patience and Persistence

Patience and Persistence

Continuing with the theme of things I’m grateful for, these two attributes were not apparent in my personality before I became a photographer. At least not to the extent they are now. I do have to say, however, that patience and persistence are not always looked upon as positive, especially by the unfortunate souls who happen to be with me when I am stalking a shot. There are times when photography is best practiced as a solo activity. Non-photographers usually have a hard time finding the joy in waiting for just the right moment, or going back to the same locations dozens of times in hopes that the light will finally be right. For example, the three friends who were with me when I captured this image all went back to the car, while the mosquitoes dined on my arms and legs. I mean really, am I going to let a few itchy welts stop me?

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Mount Shasta Remembers

Then of course, there’s Burney Falls. A lovely waterfall, which is a two-hour drive, one way, from where I live. Knowing that cloudy days are usually the best time to photograph waterfalls, I have headed down there several times when the sky was overcast, only to find that it was sunny and clear when I got there. Most people just don’t get my disappointment at clear skies and sunshine! But, after many discouragingly sunny trips, the clearing clouds and intermittent sun finally combined to give me something unique.

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Sunshine and Mist

Likewise, I visited this spot on the shoreline of Lake Siskiyou dozens of times in the hopes of capturing the moonrise over the mountain reflected in the lake. On this particular afternoon, I saw that a storm was brewing and realized there was little hope of seeing the moon. But, I decided to go anyway, on the off chance that the clouds might clear and give me a glimpse of the full moon. Alas, it wasn’t in the cards that the moon would show. Instead, I was treated to one of the most spectacular sunsets I can remember. Again, persistence paid off, but not in the way I expected.

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Beautiful Turbulence

Photographing wildlife also takes patience and persistence. Wild animals rarely cooperate with the photographer, posing the way you’d like them to. Eagles are particularly stubborn and tend to just sit there and stare at you, even when you are willing them to fly with all the telepathic energy you can muster. And when they do decide it’s time to take off, they usually fly in the wrong direction. I have an ongoing joke about all the photos I have of “eagle butt,” taken as the eagle flies away from the camera. Only once in a great while do they fly towards you, and you better be ready!

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Bald Eagle leaving the nest

Sure there are times when luck plays a part. But, mostly it comes down to either waiting patiently, or trying again–and again. So, for nearly all the places I’ve photographed, I can’t wait to go back again and get a better shot, even if I was lucky the first time. And, if you go out on a photo shoot with me, you probably want to bring along something to read.

Zion National Park; Utah; storm; clouds; rock; rocks; cliff; red; orange; trees; weather; sandstone; desert; southwest; canyon; fog; mist; sky; beauty; nature; natural; scene; scenic; beautiful; Loree Johnson

The Storm Clears

 

 

 

 

The other side of Black Friday

The other side of Black Friday

Most people who know me know that I would rather stab sharpened pencils in both my eyes than go shopping on Black Friday. I remember turning on the news that day in 2008, while spending a lovely Thanksgiving on the Oregon coast with my sister and her family, and hearing about the poor man who was trampled to death at a Walmart. I still find it unbelievable that human beings would kill each other for a bargain on a big screen TV. Luckily, there are beautiful alternatives available for those of us who prefer not to risk our lives in order to get five dollars off on an external hard drive.

So, this year, I decided to brave the relentless crowds at the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge and Lava Beds National Monument. It was hectic, but worth it. The eagles were out, shopping for deals on ducks, geese, and maybe even a swan or two!

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Bald Eagle Pair

The bucks were shopping for does. (Or, were the does shopping for bucks?)

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Buck and His Harem

The hawks were out looking for bargains on just about anything. Hawks just aren’t that picky!

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Red Tail Hawk in Flight

At one point, it got so hectic that one of the hawks crossed paths with one of the bucks. And you can just imagine all the shouting in the background when the geese and swans noticed what was happening.

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Wildlife Photographer’s Dream

To top things off, on the way home, I was so distracted by the light show that I had to pull over and look. As far as I can tell, it was a publicity stunt put on by Mother Nature to get everyone to come out and spend some time in her “store.”

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Celebration in the Sky

After witnessing the beauty and brutality of wild animals in the wild, I wondered if maybe people trampling each other to death is just part of the circle of life. And as I drove home, exhausted from all that activity, I decided I would rather brave the crowds in the great outdoors than save a few dollars on something I most likely don’t need anyway.

 

 

 

I have a poor “laundry-ethic.”

I have a poor “laundry-ethic.”

All my life, I’ve had a good work-ethic. I always went to work, even if I didn’t particularly want to. Now that I’m not working a traditional job, I’ve discovered that my “laundry-ethic” is no good. When I was working regular hours, I always did my laundry on the weekend. I had a certain number of appropriate work clothes and wanted to make sure they were all clean so I could have maximum choices of what to wear during the week. Now that I don’t have the pressure of being limited by “work clothes,” I find myself avoiding laundry altogether, until I have no more clean socks. And it’s not just clothing, either. I avoid washing sheets and towels until I have to as well.

A few days ago, I found myself feeling bored and restless. Did I channel that into the multiple loads of laundry waiting to be done? Nope. I grabbed my camera and headed out the door in search of something to shoot. I found a golden eagle and forgot all about my dirty socks.

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Golden Eagle in Flight

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Golden Eagle Liftoff

 

A little later, I noticed a big lenticular cloud gathering over Mount Shasta. As I was navigating myself to a place where I could photograph it, I imagined it to be a big spaceship full of aliens from a distant galaxy. What if they saw me photographing them and decided to abduct me? And I wondered if they had a washer and dryer aboard. Or maybe some clean socks.

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The Mothership

 

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