I was scraping the bottom of the barrel that day, trying to find something - anything - to inspire me to continue being a living photographer and not just a distant memory. Between a long, crushing winter, and being quite ill for most of Jan-Feb, I've done too much sleeping and not enough photography. I haven't talked about it publicly but my bloodwork placed me in the early stages of diabetes, and I've had no energy... but I'm feeling much better now, six weeks after making major dietary changes, and my optimism has returned.
Now if only spring would arrive! "They" say warmer temperatures are coming on Saturday, which is April Fools Day. Hmmm... well, assuming it's no joke, the Big Melt should be starting soon.
Meanwhile, today I offer... my front porch. It's an open porch, although roofed, so snow can collect on the floorboards. I liked the look of this little patch of snow that had partly melted and then refrozen in lumps. An overnight frost had deposited millions of starry crystals on the wood and ice. I shot straight down at it, using the tripod, and made one intentionally blurred shot (ICM). Then I blended the two images to taste, gave it a pano crop, converted to black and white, and boosted the contrast - et voilà!
I don't know how much I like it, but it beats lying around and whining. Tomorrow, starting a series of shots from real outings. You know, when I jumped in my car and actually went somewhere. Here's hoping for a lot more days like that!
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: snow ice abstract 2-photo blend pano panorama black and white B & W monochrome ICM intentional blur looking down my front porch winter cold desperation staying alive wild mind last of winter Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2023
© All Rights Reserved
My friend George Tsougrianis, who directed the award winning documentary film Wild Prairie Man, has expressive hands. In early January, he and writer/artist Madonna Hamel were at my house discussing wide ranging ideas about art and life and future projects. I sat back with my camera and a 105mm lens, snapping away, and they both ignored me, as I have trained them to do. Madonna has expressive hands, too, but the angle of light was better when I pointed the camera at George, and this frame jumped out at me when I began sifting through the images to see which ones, if any, were worth processing.
Full disclosure - although the shot was unposed, I decided to go full-studio mode by digitally removing some lighter areas, especially near the edges and corners. I liked the first version, but the graphics of his hands surrounded by black were too compelling to resist. Sort of the opposite of what I did with the grove of trees in a winter-white environment (posted yesterday). The two should look good side by side on the page, I think.
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: hands expressive talking artist filmmaker George Tsougrianis B & W black and white square candid unposed on black digitally altered natural light window light my living room Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
© All Rights Reserved
An empty house on a small rise in the vast prairie. The word "singularity" came to mind just as I began this upload, so I will go with it. I think it characterizes the three shots I want to show you from my late summer, evening drive. Each of them is really about one thing, in this case the little house against the backdrop of a prairie sky.
This wasn't the image I set out to make. I didn't preconceive the composition or point of view or even consider the subject in advance, although I have driven past this house countless times, have walked around it, peered through its broken windows and doorways, and occasionally photographed birds on the property and mammals nearby.
But this image presented itself. When I didn't get the light I had hoped for, casting about for a way to salvage the moment, I looked back over my shoulder and saw what I needed to do. And then in processing I refined the idea a little more, opting for a square crop, keeping the design elements at the bottom fairly symmetrical while allowing chaos to reign at the top.
Frank Zappa said, "Art is making something out of nothing, and selling it." I find that view too cynical; let's drop the "selling it" part. Van Gogh sold exactly one painting in his lifetime. Let's say that art is making something out of nothing - or rather, drawing something from deep inside your own psyche or spirit or inner sanctum, and sharing it with anyone who is willing to look (or listen, or read depending on what kind of art you have made).
If someone wants to buy it, well, that's a bonus. But mostly, we do it because doing it is at the heart of our sense of self and our purpose in life. Never hold back; never talk yourself out of it. Life is too short to play mind games with yourself!
Photographed at Rosefield, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape old house sky square black and white B & W monochrome empty abandoned vast vastness prairie singularity graphic shapes textures contrast Rosefield Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
© All Rights Reserved
Number 2 in the current series of square crops. Think of it as a celebration of square. My first camera - a Kodak Brownie Starflex from 1960 - shot square photos and had a waist level finder. Even though I was happy to make the transition to 35mm and rectangular format four years later, I have always retained a soft spot for the formal dimensions of the square crop. This image of a dandelion in seed was intended to be square from the moment I set up my tripod.
And it's a focus stack. I made 45 shots of the seed head, camera on tripod, slight change of focus for each shot, then combined them. It's a different look from what I've been able to obtain in the past with a single shot. Shooting with a fairly wide f-stop, I had excellent sharpness along the plane of focus, and the 45 separate planes of focus created good depth of field, but not enough to produce confusing background shapes that would disrupt the pattern. Disclaimer: I may sound like I know what I'm talking about, but the truth is I am experimenting with this technique and there's still a lot of guesswork going into it.
The black and white conversion was an afterthought.
Photographed in my backyard, where there is no shortage of dandelions, in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Common Dandelion Taraxacum officinale flower wildflower plant herbaceous perennial seed head seeds focus stack macro close up pattern nature natural square crop B & W black and white monochrome beauty beautiful wild prairie backyard garden Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
© All Rights Reserved
Tanker cars sidetracked beneath a dramatic prairie sky. This is the final black and white conversion for now; starting tomorrow I'll be back in the colourful world.
I made this shot while driving home via secondary roads, with several scheduled stops to add images for a magazine story I'm working on with my friend Judith. However, this had nothing to do with the story - in fact, very little of what I shot was connected to the story: you have to work with the light you get, and prairie skies were on display that afternoon.
Converting to black and white increased the drama, as the sun was still high in a very bright sky. I was then able to increase contrast in the sky without worrying about a colour shift or producing an unreal-looking dark blue. Black and white by definition is a departure from reality. In the old days of film I would have used a red filter to darken the blues.
Photographed in Aneroid, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape train cars tanker cars rainroad sky drama dramatic clouds cumulus black and white B & W monochrome land of living skies prairie Aneroid Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
© All Rights Reserved