"Paradise Defined"

I captured this moment on Paradise Divide, near Crested Butte, Colorado on the first morning of a wildflower workshop. I was the only one of the group to circle around to shoot from this angle, but we all captured signature images. The workshop leader had been telling us he never shoots when teaching, but when presented with this scene, ran to his car, grabbed his camera equipment so he too, could capture the moment. His print of the scene is now a prominent piece of his portfolio, and recently headlined a show in England.

"The Resting Tree"

After shooting the Texas Hill Country for 14 straight hours, I really wasn’t looking forward to the 6 hour drive back home to go to work the next morning. Fortunately, the memory of this moment, the last capture of the day, pushed all the weariness aside. The miles simply melted away.

“Aspen Grove”

This print began life as an exercise at a workshop in Crested Butte, Colorado. The workshop leader, Nat Coalson, had all of us find a comfortable spot in which we could lie down with our eyes closed after wandering around the grove not shooting for ten minutes. He then asked us to “work” the scene with our cameras, exploiting our relaxed mood. Skeptical at first, I am now a disciple of spending time just “looking” when I first discover a new location. When you think about it, the goal is to capture the very best of an opportunity, right? This technique provides a bonus of enjoying the moment to the max.

"Shore Acres Fog" - Newport, Oregon

If you've seen my image known as the "Rarest Bear ever Photographed" you would assume the weather in the neighborhood to be ideal. That image was captured only an hour earlier on the far side of the headland seen at the top of this image. Marine layers move quickly, and certainly change what we see.

"American Basin"

What do you do three hours after your wildflower workshop concludes? Take a test, of course. Leaving Crested Butte, I drove through the mountains toward Durango, hoping to find wildflowers in the high country. At this altitude, near the tree line, this area stood out as if it were waiting for me to show up.

Seattle - Twilight from Kerry Park

An amazing skyline easily captured from multiple locations. Seattle at night is a visual treat for photographers as compositions here range from sea level to several hundred feet in elevation.

“Fireworks Stampede”

Composite? No. Through the use of a technique I used decades ago allowing multiple exposures on a single frame of film, I was able to capture multiple bursts without overexposing the ground scene. Once the exposure begins, the camera is not touched, and even though this should eliminate camera shake, the only exposure that captured the stallions correctly was the one seen here. Stallions? Look closely just left of the fireworks base.

"Golden High Country"

Anyone traveling through Colorado will understand how difficult it is to take the time to blink. Seriously, blink and you will probably miss something. The location shown in this print caught my attention as I exited a curve, causing me to instantly search for a parking spot. I think I spent almost an hour watching the morning light play with the autumn leaves.

"High Plains Chapel"

I've been shooting, off and on, for almost fifty years and this image tells an amazing story about the technology changes I've witnessed. To start with, the first film camera I used could not have produced this shot. Period. To show stars like this utilizes computer power even IBM did not have in the 60's, and now we process images like this on a home computer.

As someone that has willingly embraced new technology, it still amazes me that this exposure was done with manual settings that would have been familiar to the pioneers of photography. Combining those settings with the image sensors we now have gives me the opportunity to see, and present images I thought impossible just a few years ago. Before I make this seem simple, I did get in over my head on the processing side, so I talked to James Clinich (my shooting partner for this outing) about potential options. He thought he had a software package that could be used and volunteered to take a few of my shots just to see what he could come up with.

A few hours later, he sent me a file that allowed me to finish the image you see here. His application of a software designed to reduce noise by combining multiple images is quite amazing. Needless to say, I'm currently getting up to speed on Sequater Noise Reduction Software.