Working on a dreary day...

Because of the weather today I had to cancel until tomorrow some plans that were in the works. I've come up with some interesting images from the past several trips and travels. I seem to be drawn to weather, color, and visual structural design. Obviously purple is a factor in these images.

Please check out this site

I came across an amazing project today from Kickstarter it really puts a new perspective on creativity. Please look at it and help it you can...if nothing else...somewhere in you...there may be an instrument idea that you have and should explore.

The following is the link
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/405192963/landfill-harmonic-inspiring-dreams-one-note-at-a-t

Go to Home on the page to see the video.

Thanks for taking to time to go there.

More images coming soon.

The great Wall......

Since childhood I have been awe of China.....the art, ceramics, silk painting, and all the rest. In 1987 I was invited to join a group with Eastman Kodak to travel the country for a month meeting with  Chinese Professional Photographers. It was remarkable in the sense that I had applied to AFS to travel to China and teach English at the same time learning conversational Chinese. I wanted to do this to essentially kill two birds with one stone. See the country and learn the language. I thought that the ability to think like an American businessman and know the language could open a lot of commercial windows for me, however, I was turned down by AFS.

I was in the studio on a Saturday morning and the phone rang, it was December 1986. It was Paul Ness, an old friend, and a wheel at Kodak. He asked me what I was doing the month of July of 1987. Looking at my schedule I said "Nothing". I had no weddings booked as yet for July. He asked me to join with him and several other Professional Photographers to travel throughout The Peoples Republic. I thought about it for a few seconds and I said YES !! He said he would send more information. I was on the trip and I almost jumped out of my skin. CHINA !! At Last !!!! Then reality set in.

A month with the studio closed. Senior portraits would be beginning to be booked, probably a few weddings...I must be nuts. The professional photography business is hard. I was working as much as I could and and was getting pretty worn out. I did need a break, but a month.......stark raving mad...but what an opportunity. I left on the trip with reservation.

While in China I saw a third world country that I didn't expect. The rural areas had not changed with any technology, Buffalo carts, human energy spent on what we did with machines. But...the colors, and country defy explanation. I would look at a mountain covered with stair steps of greens going from yellow to deep emerald colors from the rice in varying phases of growth. I saw an extremely hard working group of people that in many ways are exactly like us. I also found myself relaxing and beginning to realize that there were things and vision I could change in the business.
I was really changing how I looked at my overall view of my vision and direction I was moving photographicly. It was a really astounding revelation.

We were on the great wall towards the end of the trip. A Monument of proportions you can't imagine unless you are there. This image had never been published and for me tells the visual story of the wall. It was shot with my Linholf 4 x 5 on Ektachrome film. Enjoy.

I will follow up with a few more images soon...........spread the word.

The Encounter...continued..

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about photographing a guy on a side street west of the square in Springfield while in Alan Browns class at SMS. I had just passed a run down bar and snapped an image of it for possible future use in a blend or what ever.  I collected images in many cases as future parts of completed combinations of images making one complete picture. Ya just never knew what could happen in the darkroom. Bumbling down the street I saw a guy walking toward me and the auto pilot came on and I photographed him. Hard to be discrete with a thirty five...He stopped and asked me if I took his picture. In one of my finest DUH moments I acknowledged that I did. "I don't like having my picture taken.......I want the film."  As diplomaticly as I could I told him that I needed the other images on the roll, there was no way, look for your paddle. He reached behind himself and I pictured myself getting knifed.....I knew I was dead. He pulled out his wallet and gave me a five spot...."Don't make that picture." he said and walked on. I immediately went back and printed the

print......Why has it taken me 44 years to understand the warning I saw just before taking his picture.
Go figure...

I have a new image of the Great Wall in China which I will publish in a couple of days. It's never been seen by anyone other than interested friends and was shot with my Linholf 4 x 5 when I was there in 1987. I have several more images I''ll post from China in the near future that are pretty incredible. Spread the word.

I found it !!

As I mentioned in a recent blog, I was photographing in Downtown Springfield and got a "street shot" of a guy that didn't want to be photographed. We had a discussion about it and ended the conversation on an unexpected note. That image was captured approximately 43 years ago. Looking through my negative file I found the image and the shot I took immediately before it. Viewing the pair of shots is like reading tea leaves pretty wild. I'm having the image scanned and next week it will be in the blog. Don't miss it....I can't believe it took this long to see the real message.

I was wondering where it went...

I have been coasting along with this blog fairly content with its' success, approaching 9,000 viewings,
and wondering however, where the video I made concerning drilling for water in Nicaragua went.
In a moment of exploratory exasperation I DECIDED TO FIND OUT ! I started scrolling through the different past entries and got to the "older posts" at the bottom of the page. I clicked on it started scrolling down and SHAZAAMMMM there it was, in the center of the page with the "start"triangle in the middle of a still image. Checking to see if it was still available I clicked the triangle with the mouse and it started up. My nephew, Andy Putnam, created the soundtrack music which I personally think fits it to a "T". He is a sound engineer in Nashville and is extremely talented and in demand in the city. To see the video go to  http://morganstudiointulsa.blogspot.com/ and check it out.

Another Commercial shot....

In this shot of a part of a commercial printing press I faced the same challenge as the last shot of the complete unit, however this one was taller. Living in the world of 5'9" tall items are always a challenge. Once again I had the company isolate the product with the walls and I began working on the shot. We decided not to wet the floor as it was not in bad shape and didn't need to cover past machining damages to it. The shot took about 20 minutes to get photographed and it was shot with my Linholf 4 x 5 camera on Ektachrome film. I really love this kind of assignment.

A long time account and challenging shot...

My first assignment with this company really made me think, which is the essence of the profession.
The company manufactured printing presses for commercial use. As it seems in all commercial photography assignments,  there is always a hook, generally involving shooting on  site and time deadlines. This was no exception. I was called and ask to view the product and discuss the possibilities of getting an image for advertising purposes. I arrived at the company and we talked about the shot, hopefully I would be able to get something that showed the machine in the best light.....no pun intended.

We walked out into the plant and I saw what could be a gorgeous machine....surrounded by factory works, trash cans, workbenches, and it was darker than the inside of a wolf.  The first question I was asked is whether or not I had enough lights to make it work. I answered yes. I walked around the press which was HUGE ! The floor was concrete and pretty rough. I formulated the plan in my head and explained it to the owner of the plant.

I would be back in two days when the rebuild was done and all of the parts were on the machine. I asked him to construct walls using two 4 x 8 Styrofoam sheets supported by 2 x 4 studs giving me a wall 16 feet tall running around two sides of the machine. Basically I eliminated the rest of the plant and gave my self something to reflect light off of. We wet the floor covering years of production reminders, and also something else to reflect light off of. I set up my Linholf 4 x 5 and did a walk around to get the feel of the shot.

I asked him to turn out the lights and I went to work. After about 20 minutes of grand endeavor on my part, I asked him to turn on the lights again. He looked at me with a look of "How in the hell could I have hired this guy ?, and said, Bet ya don't have anything. I pulled out the Polaroid out of the back of the camera and started the 60 second count. He was tapping his foot ....for effect I guess. The minute was up and I had the shot I wanted. He was dumbfounded. " How'd ya do that ????? Mirrors strings and wires" I replied. Then I put in the Ektachrome and finished the job. I'll have another for you in a few days.

Close call............

Seeing the N.O. images of the last entry reminded me of an occasion when I was street shooting in Springfield, my college town. I was about 8 to 10 blocks west of the square and as I remember there was an old shoe store, a thrift cowboy western shop with clothes and boots and the area was generally run down. All of the other buildings were empty and dark. I was shooting a shot or two here and there ad noticed a rather interesting guy walking toward me down the sidewalk. Interesting face, walked assertively, a bit bowlegged, and had on a cowboy hat. About ten feet before he got to me I tripped the shutter on my camera that was hanging about waist level. Guessed the focus, knew the exposure, figured I was discrete enough to be in the CIA.  He stopped dead in his tracks, looked at me and asked " Ya just take my picture..." "Yeah" I answered.....( A great NO BRAINER moment, one of many that have followed me through life. ) "I don't like having my picture taken" he replied. "Watcha gonna do with it ? " soon followed. NO BRAINER # 2 " Don't know" looking at my life flying before my eyes. " I want the film", he said. #3 "Can't have it ...got other stuff on the roll I need". By this time I was trying to get real invisible.... There was a long silence....and he reached toward his back pocket.
OH JESUS !!! HE' GOING FOR THE KNIFE.....life passed faster in front of my eyes...it was going to be short by that time.....I knew I was going to die. He pulled out his billfold instead and gave me a five spot..."Don't make that picture kid". He turned around and walked away.

I got back to Ellis Hall and immediately developed and printed the picture......I've got it somewhere.
I'll show it to you if you don't tell him you've seen it.

Street shots...

While looking for some old images I came across two from my student days at SMS....as it will always be.....another story. I had gone to New Orleans over Easter Break and photographed the city.

I believe it was the Easter of "70"and it was a good time and my first encounter with the city. As always in a new location my photographic senses were on high alert and at that time primarily attuned to the decisive moment. I just walked around and shot when I thought I saw something worth noting.  Reflections on these images 43 years later seem to give them a more substantial boost than they had at the time. It really makes me consider photographing Tulsa now for the future...but someone else will have to make the comment on the Tulsa shots...43 more years is asking a lot.

Completing a challenge...

Adding and eliminating visual references to imagery is part of the job as a photographer.
I took this image of a power generating facility and decided to see what I could do with it.
It was looking pretty shop worn so I decided to shine it up so to speak. I really like the results.

The Rebuild...

As I said several months ago, I was working with a company that rebuilt equipment used in the oil business. Here are the before and after pictures of the machine they rebuilt. Really fine precise work that entailed rewiring, rebuilding, customizing, and reshaping different parts of the original machine. I love this type of assignment.

A Master at work...

Over the years I've had the privilege of meeting individuals with hidden talents. Being from a family that depended on wood ( as lumber that was sold by the carload by my father ) I seem to have  a built in propensity for the love of wood. My desk is made from the wood from the walnut trees that I grew up with in the front yard of our home in Carthage, and I have always marveled at the grain and color of the many varieties of wood from all over the world. I have had several friends that have been able to wield their creative forces through wood with amazing results.

One of my instructors in College, John Walker, created amazing sculptures with wood in the most unexpected ways. He made a series of different foods from different woods that were absolutely fabulous. Cherry pie with cherry filling flowing onto the plate, other foods all of them actually appearing to be real, with the exception that they were wood. He captured the kinetic energy within each piece. Bill Harmon, a cabinet make in Carthage could turn wood into anything and brought out the personality of a pre-ww-I airplane propeller for me through his use of the right varnishes on it.
Jack Fix took some wood I had in the basement of the studio that was probably close to one hundred years old, and made a spinning wheel for his daughter.

Jim Vander Lind, now retired from the University of Tulsa, is another guy I would have never expected to have an affinity with wood. I met Jim through the Sunrise Rotary and saw some of his work and was amazed. Because we were having to harvest a few trees from the front yard of the Carthage home, and of course the fact that I couldn't use it all, I offered him some, actually...all he could take. Jim and I rode up with a friend of his in another vehicle with a trailer and they loaded up.

The image here is Jim liberating a bowl from a piece of wood. His work is flawless and I'll soon post an image or two from the results of his working with some Morgan Walnut.

OOPS..............................

Life can be hard ......even for Santa..........

Have a great Holiday !!!!!

PEACE...........the end..

After the Japanese musicians, acrobats, and dragon dancers finished their performances Peace Wave, the Americans, took the stage and ran through our performance which consisted of some original songs finishing with Amazing Grace sung in Farsi and English which was a hit. Backstage I looked at Quigley and he commented that we, our group, really needed to get out of Baghdad as we had no hostages at that point and the scene was starting to look pretty dicey. As the words came out of his mouth the opening cords to the Beatles song "Help" flowed through the arena.

On the Japanese side of the group there were four guys that wore leather pants and jackets, had Ducktail hair and were accompanied by their "manager". They spoke NO English. Peering through the curtain these four guys were playing and singing the song in perfect English and sounded just like the Beatles. It was like an open invitation that we accepted as we gathered in front of the stage and started dancing. Once we got out and started we started to wave the Iraqi audience down to join us and we rock and rolled with them until about two in the morning.

The Iraqis in charge were a bit taken back by the event but were powerless to do anything other than watch. They were videotaping the entire event and about two they started to try to shut it down. Before they could though our Peace Voice ( The Japanese ) and Peace Wave ( The Americans ) Banner was flown to the roaring sound of "Johnny B. Good." We wanted to have Peace and retrieve hostages.

We loaded on to buses and were taken to the Japanese Embassy where we finally had dinner and were able to relax. There were two American Professional wrestlers that were part of the Japanese group that were a big hit when they took on a couple of Iraqi wrestlers, Captain America, and G I Joe. Interesting conversations into the morning.

Stairway to Heaven in Baghdad

As promised last week I'm adding some never before scenes from The Sports and Music Festival in Baghdad. This Festival was our chance as Peace Wave, to secure the exit from Baghdad all of the Japanese hostages that were being held by the Iraqi's one month before Desert Storm. I went to the soccer stadium one evening to watch some matches and encountered one of the Japanese participants
that was a National hero among the Japanese Kite makers.

As I walked into the stadium I saw, what I can only describe as, "a stairway to heaven".  A kite train is one kite attached to a line that holds many more along the line. Ascending out of the stadium was the train of 500 kites being flown by this Japanese gentleman. I can't tell you how overpowering this sight was. I have never seen such a display of power in my life. Perhaps you need to be a kite flyer to appreciate this sight, but for me, it was awe inspiring. The next day on the floor of the Palestinian Hotel where we were staying the same man was painting on a sheet of rice paper. As his brush flew over the paper I saw him create an image of a Geisha  holding an umbrella and looking at the viewer. He took this drawing and made a rectangular kite which he gave to me as we were passing through customs in Japan.

We attended several of the events before our games in Volleyball, Basketball, and of course the Music Festival. The line up in the photograph of the arena is of the Japanese Judo team preparing to start their match. Tomorrow or by this weekend at least, I will post the image of the ending celebration of the Festival. It was a moment of excitement and proposed promise, that was all inclusive throughout the arena.

Maple Leaf Portraits...a Tradition continues....

Well I'm packed up and ready to travel to Carthage Missouri for the annual Maple Leaf Festival and

facebook.comthe Morgan Studio Portrait sessions. The One Shot started close to 33 years ago as an outgrowth of our St. Ann's Portrait sessions. We always held it on the Friday before Maple Leaf weekend and after completing the Portrait sessions for the morning and afternoon classes I opened it up to families of the attendees of the school. It has blossomed since and  is has allowed many families to be able to watch their families grow up on the walls with a Morgan portrait. I've included a few shots from the past. 

Proof.....

The outpost of saucers........... I've noticed we weren't the only home in the area that has been invaded....there are several outpost around us....this may take a homeowners association meeting to discuss options..............

NEWS FLASH !!! Martians in the front yard !!!!

I looked out this morning and saw their habitat constructions......constructed quickly overnight.
I have evidence that I'll get on the web this afternoon if not sooner. A complete colony. This looks like just the start. Check back !!!!

Fall is here......

Today was my day to get outside.....I took the day off. I guess I hadn't realized with the heat that Fall is here and I found the proof under my feet. I can remember as a kid collecting pockets full of found treasures like this that, inevitably, if not for my Mom would have ended up in the washer. I guess all kids are the same...everything I did had never been done before, and each day held surprises just for me. Looking back I can see my Dad talking with his friends about time gone by and what they did as kids, in days made just for them. They too had their own pockets full.

Senior Portraits continued....

Every Senior deserves something different in terms of imagery. Primarily this can occur in location, lighting, attitude, or a combination of all of the listed factors. This is the one of the reasons for my required  consultation with the client and their parents. The last thing in the world I want to do is to create a line of "look alike" Seniors. Yet it happens all of the time as I look at my clients billfold portraits of their friends from other studios. I wouldn't want it if I was a Senior, and I won't deliver that type cookie cutter images to my clients. A typical session with me will last two to three hours, sometimes broken up into sections to capture the right light for the different areas where I photograph.  To be continued...................

Senior Portraits.......

The heat has finally stopped and with the oncoming rains from the Hurricane it is going to be a great Senior Portrait Season. My Seniors have always been distinctive primarily due to the fact that I only use a background once for each client. It belongs to them. I started this policy in the early 80's for two reasons. I wanted my Seniors to be distinctive  and I always wanted to keep myself continually searching for more challenges. I love this type of challenge as it keeps me at my best and every client image is different. Over the next few postings I will show you some images from the past as well as new clients after they make their selections. This is going to be fun........

Another story from Byron...

As many of you know, Byron Morgan and I had a company in the film business that was to produce some of his scripts in the late 70's and through the 80's. It was Byron that was responsible for getting me involved in the rescue of the Japanese hostages in 1990 that were being held in Baghdad. The story of that adventure is in an earlier installment here on the blog. I woke up yesterday with John Paisleys' name in the forefront of my mind. This is the story I got from Byron......

Byron went to California to partake in a program which was called Life Spring,  a series of self awareness classes and exercises. In the classes bonds were built between members present and Byron connected with John Paisley as well as several other individuals. Byron explained to Paisley that he was a writer/producer for NASA and Paisley said he worked in D.C. also. They exchanged phone numbers after the event so they could reconnect when they got home. Byron told me that he tried several times at the number Paisley gave him but was consistently told that there was no one there of that name. Byron was perplexed as one of the main points of the Life Spring event was honesty. Byron eventually wrote off  the meeting as "the way it was".

One afternoon Byron received a call with the other end of the line stating that he was John Paisley, and they needed to have lunch. Byron accepted and at the meeting Paisley told him that he was sorry he didn't reconnect but he couldn't because of his job. As far as anyone was concerned he didn't really exist, he worked for the CIA. Because of this and his responsibilities with the organization, he didn't reply to Byron's calls. Paisley went on to say that he had retired and now was free to meet, which they did on several occasions as they both had military backgrounds.

I was talking to Byron one day and this is where the story came from. I had seen in Time Magazine
that a body had been found a few days after a boat washed ashore in the Potomac not far from the Russian Embassy. It was the body of John Paisley and it was reported that he committed suicide. Because the body had been in the river for several days identification was made by dental records.
Byron went to the funeral and noticed three distinct groups attending, Friends, CIA, and a Life Spring group. Byron had a lingering set of questions concerning Paisley's passing. It was ruled a suicide with with a gunshot to the head. Byron thought that IF it was a suicide, Paisley would have burned the boat as part of the sendoff so to speak, and Paisley was shot in the back of the head. A few days after the funeral the Dentist that identified the dental records retracted he assessment. he didn't think the teeth matched Paisleys' records. Byrons'  assessment of the whole thing is that Paisley jumped the fence and joined the other side. Paisley was pretty idealistic according to Byron and may have thought he could have changed the course of history by his actions. We'll never know.`

The light......

I had an interesting series of conversations with a photographic friend of mine over the course of a week or so and it got me thinking. He was pretty blunt in the statement that the most recent images he had seen on the blog were low contrast and not much color. I disagreed in most cases, not offended, just thought it was a matter of inexperience and lack of vision on his part. I say that after looking at his images, large 30x 40's and smaller shots in bright light of race cars, tulip fields, and flowers. His eye saw a different subject in a different light. I will admit I shun direct sun but have used it to my advantage many times. I just like the quiet light. I'll do some more images today and post them today or tomorrow. Come back to see if you notice the difference.

And the Winner issssss....................

Ok................I love the muted color and the black that seems so soft. It's all in the lighting.

I'm satisfied.

Mushrooms revisited in white.....

Ok....I tried it again on the white background with  different"subject". A little broader smile this time but I still feel as though the black may be the way to go.

New Mush..they're everywhere !!

In spite of the devastating heat we have been having Mushrooms still continue to pop up. These came from a neighbors yard which could make them felony mushrooms as I didn't ask if I could take them......check out the police blotter if you don't hear from me. I tried the white on white instead of black and I don't think I'm truly happy with the result. I think today between sessions I'll try it on black with maybe some different lighting. Stay tuned in.....

Fire !!!

It seems as though I'll never learn..with the fires  50 to 75 miles away from us I didn't photograph the sky. It was absolutely amazing. The smell of burning wood with a tinge of man made material floating  through it, greyed the sky into a yellow green grey patch which can only spell disaster for someone. The sun was a faint light glowing white through the fog. I'll never forget the sight.

The new family.....again

We have had an amazing number of rabbits in the back yard ever since we moved in. I looked out yesterday and there were 4 hangin' out and as I looked at them I noticed they were nest building. These are some of the shots I took for the record and I'll keep you posted on their progress.  

Moving grass....

Several years ago we were in Paris walking through one of the parks. I spotted a clump of long grass/weeds and really liked the color in the late evening light. I decided to use a slow shutter speed to add to the "look" of the image. As I was photographing it I was reminded of a shot I made in 1986 with my 4 x 5 on the Washington coast. It is perhaps the best reminder of time I have made. Once again a slow shutter speed with waves breaking over a fallen tree. The water falling off the log became a moment in time we never see............in fact, speaking of never see.... I had left my dark cloth on the end of the tree that I photographed .......and I didn't "see" it until about ten years later as I looked at the print.  ( Go Ansel....) I'll try to get the image scanned and let you see it.

Great lookin' Peppers

Love salsa...like peppers and these are going to taste great.........I really like the light.

Sleeping Walrus........

Another day...another look. I see what the problem was with the veggies that didn't want to be photographed. It was all attitude and perspective. I was looking at them in the wrong light....no pun intended. These are not zucchinis, OR cucumbers.....I lost the seed pack and really not sure, but leaning to zucchinis, these are Walrus's disguised as veggies. Case closed....

Maple Leaves...

As promised a couple of days ago the Bonsai Maple leaves. These are actually the Godzilla mutation of leaves. I have neglected to trim the branches of this tree because it was hidden under the wisteria and they just kept growing. Generally the leaves are small and petite but these got away. I promise to do better......

Black & White-Mushrooms in the yard

I had to mow the yard last week as we don't have enough goats to keep the grass in check. As I started, I noticed a mushroom that had sprung up a few days before in the front and decided that it would be a good exercise to check out my metering with the grey card. I picked it and photographed it in morning light the next day. I have a distinct love for the taste of mushrooms and like the look of them when exposed properly. Hope you enjoy the images.

Stay tuned for some Senior Portraits as the booking are starting to roll in. Enjoy !!

On a mission...

Today I'm going out to continue filling out my new book of images that will deal with the city of Tulsa. I've been collecting the images I have over the last several years but not with any reasoning involved...it's just what I do...collect images. I've played around with some treatments and kept some straight....it all depends on the images. Here are a couple and I'll keep you posted as to the progress.

Sold OUT !

Just thought I'd pass the word that my Alaska book has sold OUT ! I'll probably go into a second edition soon but I'll look out for any inquiries before I do. I have another image book in the works so I really don't want to spread myself too thin. These are a few of the Alaska images that I like but didn't make the book.

On a Commercial Job...

I often refer to Commercial Jobs assuming that everyone realizes that a "Commercial Job" deals with industry. The shoot could be for a "Glamour Shot" of a product, an image for an annual report or print advertising, a video for a client for television, a portrait for client for print purposes or a Board of Directors, or even a before of after shot of something being revitalized for clients. As an example of the before and after shots....I am shown here in a machine shop photographing sections of a very large machine that is to be rebuilt by my client. It is huge and will take three months to totally rebuild. The financial saving to my clients client is remarkable, and the rebuilt machine will be like brand new for considerably less than a new machine would cost. I'll let you see the rebuilt shots when we photograph them. I love my job.

Rainy New Orleans

I just got back from a stay in New Orleans, and it only rained twice. I lived there in the Mid-80's and it is a City with a unique soul. The people all have a musical step and a light heart, which is what you need to survive there. A friend of mine, Joe Bergeron, a photographers photographer, his wife and Karen and I met and had dinner in the quarter one evening. It was great-the food was amazing-and company fabulous.

When it rains in New Orleans, the toads chock there is so much water. We were at Brennens, just arriving and the sky let loose. You can always spot the tourists....they're the ones that run looking for cover. We watched the rain and listened to the thunder....we had a great time. I love the light during, just before or just after a storm. It is soft and "clean".