Imagination in Isolation

Icarus's Ghost

The above photograph almost made it into the book.   When I framed it, I wanted the lines of the sand to lead the eye to the cloud formation.  I imagine many things while I'm out, especially when I view cloud formations.  This particular formation made me think of Icarus leaving the bounds of the Earth and heading toward his sunny destiny.  With his arms pushed back, knees bent, head toward the sky with only one goal in mind.  That's what I saw when I pressed the shutter button.  When I finally showed this piece to a few people, they didn't see much more than lines and a few clouds.  

I'm not easily influenced by what others think about my work, but this time I had to listen.  The book is more about making a connection to the viewer through the photographs and stories.  Each of the photographs intended for the book were selected based on a number of questions.  When an image passed, it was considered for the next round of cuts.  Icarus's Ghost made it all the way to the end, but fell short on the final cut.  I still find reasons to enjoy this image.  Others may find they enjoy the image as well, but it just doesn't fit the goal of the INVISIBLE project. 

A Sneak Peek

I thought I put a little sneak peak at one of the photographs from the INVISIBLE book.  This is one of Rebecca's favorites.  

Broken 

I don't want to say much about this yet, you'll just have to wait for the book.

My Birthday Wish

Today is my birthday and so far it's going just the way I wanted.  I woke up to plenty of fresh bleach white powdery snow (nearly 2 feet).  It's cold, well below freezing.  There's the promise of sunshine and a decent amount of clouds.  It all adds up to perfect conditions to get get out and make some new work.  My bag is packed, my gear and winter wear is hanging in wait and now I play the waiting game like a kid waiting for everyone else to wake Christmas morning (I had a hard time waiting as a kid, but that's another story for another day).

My goal today is head out to one of my favorite places.  

I'm not getting any younger.  I could use a good hike in the cold.  It clears my head.  I plan to do a little color photography, but for the most part, today is going to be an infrared kind of day.  So here's to turning another year older and doing something I love just one more day.

This Way Home

This Way Home II Textured Ed.

While the majority of the photographs for the INVISIBLE project are monochrome,  I am also working on color treatments and textured photographs.  All the works were made using my infrared camera, but some just call out for different treatment in the digital darkroom.

The day I stumbled on this scene, it was overcast and rather dull.  I had been wandering making some interesting frames, but as I walked closer to this tree stump, I stopped.  I started to look at it and I realized it was pointing in the direction of the entrance to the park.  I thought about it for a moment and wondered if someone bent the piece of wood as a sign of where to go if they lost their way.  I made several frames, but it wasn't until later that I realized the longing of the image.  That's why I added the textures.  To me it needed a little more story, more of a sense of losing oneself, but leaving hope for those to follow in my footsteps.   

The Ones That Got Away

I was standing next to this group of pine tree stumps, buried, bleached and blown smooth by sun and sand.  I photographed this marvel many times throughout my various adventures to the dunes, but today, I wanted a different perspective.  I racked my lens out to 10mm, the widest it would go, and moved in as close as the lens allows (which is just under 12 inches).

A Different View

I wanted to make it seem as though the protruding root near the lower part of the left side of the frame was reaching out to draw the viewer in.  Through the lens it looked distorted and perfect, but being wrapped up in moment, I failed to realize this 2 dimensional photograph wouldn't hold up the same way as my feeling in that moment.  This is one that got away.

I was wrapping up a session on the dunes one evening, trying to make it back to the parking lot by a specific time, as I had a dinner date with friends later this particular evening.  It wouldn't be long now, I told myself over and over as one new fascination after another keep me shooting. I crested one dune only to find myself face to face with a sand formation I'd never seen the likes of during my entire travels.

Wonderwall

The southwest side of this dune had taken on a new life.  I wanted to photograph it for hours, all the details, the light of the setting sun, everything about it was perfect.  The only problem:  just as I set up the first frame, my phone started to ring.  It was Rebecca, my wife, telling me she was leaving the house without me and to hurry up or I'd be late for dinner.  Cursing myself for having a life and not finding this enigma earlier in my travels that day, I made a few more frames and left.  I never did make the photograph I wanted of this spectacle.  Wonderwall took its title from the fact I will always wonder what could have been.  This is one that got away.

The old pine stumps are a favorite subject of mine while I hike around the dunes.  One over cast day, I found myself wandering, not willing to give up the chance to make something new.  I found myself in a group of stumps near the base of a high dune.  It's a small valley, I seldom visited, because in the past, it was difficult to make vast landscapes.  This day, I found myself getting closer for details.

Broken

Crawling around in the cold sand, filling my pants, my pockets and even my beard with little reminders of my endeavors, I pushed myself lower, sometimes digging myself into the sand,  so I could shoot at a different angles.  This stump proved to be the most difficult of the bunch.  I just couldn't position myself in a way that flattered it or allowed me to show it the way I wanted.  While I like the photograph above and while I picked sand out of my teeth for days because of my image quest, this was also one that got away.

I'm not saddened by the ones that get away, they make me a stronger photographer in the end.  While these images will not grace the pages of the INVISIBLE book, the images and stories are worth telling.  After all, INVISIBLE has always been about the adventure, not the destination. 

Follow that Breeze

While we didn't feel the full effect of hurricane Sandy here in Michigan, we did have some extremely windy days.  I spent a few days chasing the wind along the shoreline, because my first visit to the Silver lake sand dunes left me with sand in my teeth after cresting the first hill.  It took less than 5 minutes to collect enough sand on my tripod and camera to know it wasn't worth ruining my gear.  I packed up to return another day.

The morning I returned, the wind wasn't nearly as violent, but still had a good 25-30 mph force behind it.  There weren't many places to hide from the breeze, but I did manage to find a few high dunes to block a little of the sand long enough to make a few nice frames.

Standing just over the edge of one of the dunes facing Silver lake, I planted my tripod deep in the sand for support.  Due to the high amount of wind, the sand was still rather loose, so getting a footing was not easy.  One step might put you ankle deep in sand, while the next one lands you knee high.  It's an unpredictable place and that's what I love about spending time climbing and hiking all over it.

The morning I made the following image, I was working on longer exposures to show motion over the sands.     

A Gentle Breeze

I had already captured a bunch of cool motion photographs, but this one holds a special place in my mind.  I was nearly knee deep in soft sand, blocking the wind from pelting my camera, or worse, knocking it down a steep dune.  The air was cold and harsh, but I was firmly planted in the side of the dune.  I made 2 exposures from this location before moving further down the dune and nearing losing my camera.  I wanted to find a better angle, which I will admit I did find, but that story, as well as the photograph, is being saved for the book.  Let me just say, I know what it feels like to be assaulted by high velocity sand cresting a dune.  Facing it head on, to make the photograph I wanted.  It's an incredible and somewhat painful experience.