A few days ago, I was talking to my friend, Lotte Janus, whose “home” is the world (she never stays in one place very long but considers her “base” Ojai, CA). She comes from a very artistic family, with one person or another having acted, worked in photography, and so on.
We were talking about a photographic exhibit she saw recently near Bridgewater, NY, and the various styles of work exhibited. Then we started talking about my work because there were artists in the show whose stuff is as unique as mine. One of the comments she made was in regard to the adaptations I make for a single photo and, I believe, that her sister would be interested, also being a photographer.
So, feeling a trace of “challenge,” I decided to take a recent photo and play with it. The photo I chose was one I took for the Denver Botanic Gardens project for my friend, Ross Shrigley, who I have been shooting for this season. The original photo is above. One of the reasons I chose this photo is that it is just slightly out of focus, which would be masked by each of the processes.
First, I shifted it to my “Electric” process and produced this:
Better Late Than Never…..A Belated Birthday Gift for Ed: An Afternoon on the Pecos River, November 2012
Posted in Abstract, Alternate processes, black-and-white, Botanical, Contemplative, friends, Haiku, Idyllic, Infrared, Me, Nature, Pecos River, Photographic Commentary, Photography, Santa Fe, Solarization, Uncategorized with tags And Then It Reached Out As If, Battering Ram, Before Sunset, birthday, boulders, cairn, Cowles, Crucifix, detritus, Downstream, Ed, Ed Gale, Ernie, felled branches, fishing, Fountain Valley School, Gaia, Harry's Roadhouse, Herself, In the Afternoon Sun, In Time, Jump In, Kurt, Mother, myself (Sam), New Mexico, November 2012, Pecos Flow, Pecos River, Pecos Spanish Moss, Perusing the River, Rapt, river, River Rolls, rocks, Sluice, Striations of the River, The Shed, trees, Vortex, Waiting At the River's Edge, water, World In Motion on June 8, 2013 by sambissellPecos Flow
In early November 2012, I traveled down to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for 4 days of celebration and the birthday of one of my oldest friends, Ed Gale. Ed and I went to high school together at Fountain Valley School, outside Colorado Springs, in the late 60s. Along for the ride were a couple of more high school chums, Kurt Swingle and Ernie Steck. We all arrived on Thursday, enjoying a wonderful dinner in downtown at The Shed, which I highly recommend, if you are down that way! I also recommend Harry’s Roadhouse, where we had breakfast the following morning, after which we ventured eastward to Cowles, which is little more than a sign post on a road with a smattering of cabins, here and there. That said, however, it was definitely a home away from home for our overnight. Once we had unloaded the truck and settled our gear, we took off for a scan of the river for Ernie, who had brought his fishing tackle, and for me, camera in hand. They found a likely spot for Ernie to return to and I caught this candid shot, the faces of the innocent kept in confidence:
Perusing the River
We continued along our merry ways, whether it was Ernie donning his fly-fishing gear or myself continuing to shoot photos, as I am wont to do in a new environment. I traipsed about the shoreline as I studied the river and how various things got in its way to impede its course….that is, the rocks and boulders, felled branches and trees, detritus of one form or another, or whatever may be pushing it this way or that. While my concentration was the Pecos River itself, I was, occasionally, distracted by various bits that caught my eye.
Pecos Spanish Moss
The best of that afternoon follows…………………………. Continue reading →
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