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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Couple of Southwestern images.............

We went out of town recently and I had a day to shoot for myself. I'm not really too sure how I feel about these two images but I did see them, and I did capture them....



This pile of rocks is known as a caren...

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

An old promise upheld..............

Sometime in 1988 I was flying back from a commercial job and struck up a conversation with a young lady sitting beside me. The small talk lead "to have you done much traveling ? ", and I started to tell her of my China adventures a year earlier. I told her of Joe Young, the man I met from Saskatoon Canada, that I had become friends with. He had been to Carthage with his wife and I had been to Saskatoon a couple of times. I mentioned that we were planning to go to Tibet the following year and her eyes lit up. Reaching into her purse she handed me a plastic box. I asked her what this was all about and she replied, " Please place this Black Star Sapphire on the highest point of the mountain you get to. " I said I would. As fate would have it we never made the trip.

Honestly speaking this has bothered me for years. Just one of those things that would occasionally pop up screaming "I'm still in the cupboard-I need a mountain." Last night we were having a family dinner with one of our daughters family and associated relatives because Kelly, one of my grand daughters, graduates tonight from Holland Hall. She and I are a lot alike, pretty private, motivated and somewhat fearless. I have always danced to a different drummer as has she. I remembered the Black Sapphire !!! Tonight I will give it to her to place on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. She and her Dad are climbing it together this summer.

Today she turns 18 and is preparing for the event of a lifetime. I spent my Senior summer traveling in Europe and it had an amazing effect on my life. It confirmed in me the belief that I could do anything I wanted to, as this trip will for her. Her vision of climbing a world renowned mountain with her father has got to be absolutely an amazing experience for both of them. Go get em Kelly.....pick the spot for the jewel and remember it and the experience of the trip forever.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

A favorite challenging image......

I received a call from a potential client asking me to survey a photographic problem he had. His company rebuilds printing presses and he couldn't find anyone that could properly produce an image for advertising purposes. I met with him at his plant and like so many manufacturing facilities it was problematic. The lighting left a lot to be desired, the floors were stained from grease and paint from the general manufacturing processes. The background was strewn with a multitude of presses and equipment in various states of repair. I saw it was going to be a problem. After the first viewing I said that I could produce the images he needed, but I told him that I wanted him to get Styrofoam insulation boards and build a frame for them in an "L" shape to cut out the background view.

He was O.K. with that and then I added that he would need to paint them white. He looked at me in a curious way. Bear in mind that this was before the days of Photoshop and if you wanted a clean background you have to make it happen at the time pf the photography. The walls were 16 feet high and the "L" shape was long enough to make it appear as though the press was in a "white room." In order to cover up the floor I just wet it with water so it would catch some of the press reflection and also give me a surface to bounce the light around.

He did ask at this time if I had enough lights to get the shot. I assured him I did. We shot at night so I would have a totally dark room in which to photograph. I arrived at the job and started unpacking my 4 x 5 Linholf View Camera, 4 x 5 inch film holders, tripod and extension cords, and Polaroid film and the back for the Linholf. I set up the camera and tripod, focused the camera, made the necessary adjustments to correct for parallax and depth of field, and pulled out my light. I plugged in enough extension cords to be able to walk around the machine then plugged in my one incandescent bulb. He  said "Where are your lights ?? I held out the bulb and said, "Here..."He then started to question my sanity....and really was concerned that he got the wrong guy to do the job. I asked him to turnout the lights, I then set the Polaroid in the holder, the lights went out and I turned on my incandescent bulb and walked around they press. Satisfied that I had done enough I closed the shutter on the camera and told him to turn on the lights. " Is that all you're going to do ?? he asked....."Yes", I said pulling out the Polaroid to start it procession.

One of the longest minutes of my life started then. The Polaroid is basically used to get a starting point from which to adjust camera adjustments, exposure, an multitude of items in the process. He was grumbling that there was no way it could work and that he thought he he had hired someone that could do the job but felt that he had made a big mistake. He also wasn't going to pay if I didn't come across with something he could use. I was not really comfortable...

The minute was up and I peeled back the Polaroid and I handed him the result.............
Absolutely dumbfounded !!! How'd ya do that ????  I just calmly stated that that is the reason I was was a Professional Photographer......

The image below is the result and I had them as an account for years. A truly fun shoot.


Thursday, May 5, 2016

Project delivered..

The eight prints have been framed and delivered to the designer working with the Sigma Nu house at O.U. He had only seen the images on his computer, and when he saw the enlarged 19 x 19 prints with the three inch mat and frames, he was exceptionally pleased. It was a major home run for me. The next project has been completed and we're waiting for approval from the client. It involves 6 images from western Oklahoma for a hospital. The print size on them is 20 x 24 at last word. Once again three inch mats and black museum frames.

Today I'm going out to photograph  parts of graffiti to make into two 48 x 60 inch prints on canvas that will be shown side by side making a total size 96 x 60 inch image for a residential wall. This is going to be fun ! This is also the largest total print size I've ever delivered to a client. In the seventies I had a portrait account in Springfield Missouri order a 40 x 60 canvas portrait of her 5 year old son. The print was larger than he was. Look at the blog tomorrow and I'll try to have new images posted. I love my job...