Postcard from Chiricahua

This maybe the best photo I could find that shows what Autumn is like here in the deep Southwest. I took this at Chiricahua National Monument, about two hours southeast of Tucson.  This is one of those National Monuments that is not near anything. Still, I highly recommend you go there if you are in the area.

This is also another photographic lesson in “looking down”…something I’ve mentioned here a few times, including the last blog. You would be surprised how many people never do this and how many great photographic possibilities they pass right by.

Very early in my photographic career, I was influenced by several of the great masters of landscape photography including Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter…Adams for his great work in black and white…and Porter for his color work. Both photographers made breathtaking images of large natural landscapes, but it was Porter who made me aware of the profound beauty of small scenes in nature.

Shooting magnificent landscapes like Yosemite, Zion, Bryce, and other is very rewarding, but finding beauty in just a few square feet of nature, like the picture here also has its own artistic rewards.

In terms of commercial dollars, this photo would not be a best seller as compared to, say, a sunrise winter shot of Bryce Canyon. But, I don’t care. A small natural scene like this one makes me feel just as artistically fulfilled.

I think you would find it quite rewarding to search out Eliot Porter on the net and take a look at some his photographs.  

Postcard from Tucson

Back in my college days, as a homework assignment, I was instructed to just go outside my front door and start taking pictures. Over the years, I have done that more than once…including this photo. I literally opened my front door, looked down, and shot this photo.

A little background: on this day, my new Sony NEX-6 camera arrived via UPS. As I unboxed it, and, of course, I wanted to start shooting immediately. But, the battery needed charging and I needed to learn just a little more about the camera.

Finally there was enough of a charge on the battery and I had enough knowledge just to be dangerous. So, it was time to step outside and start taking some experiment shots. But, just as I got the camera ready to go, one of our almost daily monsoon storms arrived. I wasn’t going anywhere as it was pouring rain. But I did stand under the porch overhead and take a couple of quick shots to make sure the camera worked.

Then I looked down and saw the landscaping rocks were soaking wet, and they were giving off great color, like never before. That is something most rocks of color do when they get wet, with a little help from some great light. So I just pointed the camera down, and took a couple of shots.

A little post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop, and here is the result. So maybe I boosted the colors a little, but that is the fun of making one’s own photos. So let that be a lesson to you all…just step outside and look down. You might get lucky.

PS: The sun is currently shining and these rocks are just plain ugly right now. But wait…more rain is in the forecast for later. Grab your camera and come on down!

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from San Jose

Welcome to the library on the campus of San Jose State, my alma mater. If you recall from previous posts, I visited the campus with my camera last summer when I was in the Bay Area. It’s always interesting to return to one’s college or university after so much time has passed.

The official name of the library is the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. This library did not exist when I went to school there, but it does sit on the same site as the library I knew and loved all those years ago. I thought that library at the time was the biggest one I had ever seen. I remember getting lost in the stacks a couple of times. Ah, the innocence and ignorance of youth!

This photo was shot looking almost straight up from the entry lobby. I just love how the lines converge from the left and right into the center area of each floor…and how that area has its own shapes within shapes and its own set of intersecting lines.

Of course, black and white is the only good choice here as it’s the lines and shapes that count, not the color. I think that is true for about 90% of the architectural photos I make.

Believe it or not, I got my jump start in photography here at San Jose State. Although I was a journalism major, I took one required class in photography. That got me hooked! I wound up taking every photography class they offered and was even a student assistant for a short time.

I think the advantage I may have over most over today’s crop of photographers is the countless hours I spent in the darkroom working mostly in black and white. Photography is both a craft and an art form…it may be the only art form that uses both sides of the brain.

The work I did at SJSU prepared me for the digital darkroom I use today…and all those classes gave me a start point to become a creative photographer…to see with my heart and soul, and to see the final composed image before I even snapped the shutter. Maybe it’s fitting that I took this photo at my university and processed it in black and white…a kind of tribute to all I learned there.

I loved photography as an art form back then and still do today. What a good feeling that is.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from Tucson

It’s the monsoon season here in Southwest Arizona. Our skies look like this almost every day. Around 5:00 PM, the darker thunderheads roll in and the gods let loose with with their thunder and lightning, a bit of very heavy rain and often some high micro-burst winds.

Then the sun comes back out and all we are left with is high heat and humidity. Yesterday I compared our weather to Tampa, FL and found our temps to be the same, but we had a much higher humidity. So much for the expression, “But it’s a dry heat!” Bull!! Not this time of year.

Anyway, I took this photo yesterday with my brand new Sony NEX-6 camera. Its one of the first pictures I took with this remarkable camera. Those who know me know that I have been using Nikon equipment for many years. And I still use and love my Nikon. But is is big and heavy and sometimes I just hate carrying it around.

Enter a new breed of camera…a lightweight mirror-less single lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses and most of the other goodies you find on their bigger cousins.  Remarkably, the digital sensor on this new Sony is the exact same size as the one on my Nikon. But, yet the camera and lens will fit in the pocket of my shorts (but not in jeans or other tight fitting pants).

I did a lot of research before I plunked down my cash, and the reviews on this baby were fantastic. Even DP Review, whose reviews run for 25 pages or more, raved about this remarkable camera. After I bought the camera, I read that the godfather of HDR photography, Trey Ratcliff, is making this Sony camera and lens system his primary photographic equipment…and like me, relegating his Nikon equipment to a backup roll.

The photo is the Bioresearch building on the UofA campus. Beyond the photo to the left  is the Medical Research facility, almost a mirror image of the Bioresearch building. The unique canopy you see is a 300-ft. long, 87-ft. tall steel shade structure that covers a large rooftop courtyard area between the two buildings.

The canopy consists of 240 4-ft. wide by up to 37-ft. long mesh panels, stretched between stainless steel cables…assuring maximum sun filtering while allowing free airflow between the panels. The mesh panels were installed on an angle to allow for optimized shading in the rooftop courtyard area, which turned a heat island into usable space for the students to gather. That is why you can see the clouds through the panels.

This turned out to be a good day to experiment with my new camera and lenses…at least before the rain hit. After looking at this image and some of the others not seen here, I think I got my money’s worth.

Postcard from the John Muir Trail

This is Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park. It is not in Yosemite Valley, but you get to it from the Valley via the first leg of the famous John Muir Trail that runs from the Valley to all the way to Mt. Whitney…some 210 hiking miles to the south and an elevation gain from around 4,000 feet to over 13,000 feet. That’s only part of the story as a hiker must go up and down 7 mountain passes on his way to Whitney.

This first part of the trail from the Valley to Vernal Falls is 3/4 of a mile in length with an elevation gain of 400+ feet. After hiking it the last time, I felt like I had climbed 4,000 feet. It is uphill all the way to the falls. These old legs and lungs ain’t what they used to be.

I did this hike in May, meaning the falls were overflowing with snow melt water from high in the Sierra’s. That year set a record for snow fall, so this photo shows the falls as full as you will ever see them. I took this photo with a 300mm lens as I was back a ways from the falls…but I could still feel the mist of the falls in my face.

If you look to the top of the falls on the right, you will see two hikers. This gives you an idea of scale (click on the image to see a larger version of this photo). The falls are 317 feet high. There is a wonderful trail that takes you up to the top of the falls, aptly named Mist Trail. It is not a trail I recommend in Spring when the falls are this full.

If you stay on the John Muir Trail for another few miles, you will come to Nevada falls, almost twice as high as Vernal Falls. On this day, I did not have the energy or time to continue on to Nevada Falls.

Frankly, one of my life-long dreams was to do the entire John Muir Trail, but it never happened. Oh well.

PS…you can see both Vernal and Nevada Falls quite clearly from Glacier Point, high on the south side of Yosemite Valley...and you can drive up there. Thank God or would have never seen Nevada Falls.

PPS…the John Muir Trail joins up with the Pacific Crest Trail for about 160 miles. That trail runs from Mexico to Canada. I never did that one either. 

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from Washington, DC

There are two things I remember clearly about my visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum: the first being the two aircraft you see here hanging from the ceiling like 2 model airplanes in a little boy’s room.

Of course, the airplane in the foreground is the famous Spirit of St. Louis…the very first plane that flew non-stop from New York to Paris in 1927. Flown by Charles Lindbergh, he and his airplane were instant celebrities, not only in America, but around the world. The plane cost $10,580 to construct, but Lindbergh won $25,000 for being the first to fly non-stop across the Atlantic. So the investment paid off!

By the way, the gold-colored nose panels you see here are not the way it looked on the historic flight. Not long after the museum took possession of the Spirit, conservators applied a clear layer of varnish or shellac to the forward panels in an attempt to preserve the flags and other artwork painted on the engine cowling. This protective coating has yellowed with age, resulting in the golden hue seen today.

The aircraft hanging in the background is the Bell-X1, the very first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound, AKA Mach-1. It did this on October 14, 1947…piloted by Chuck Yeager. For me, it was quite special to see these two historic aircraft hanging side-by-side.

Oh, and the other thing I remember about this day…it was the first time ever I was asked if I wanted to buy a senior citizen discount pass. That’s a milestone moment in a person’s life when they are viewed by others as a senior citizen. The previous milestone was when they stop asking to see your ID when you purchased an alcoholic beverage. Time marches on.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from the National Gallery

I’ve been fortunate to visit many of the great art galleries of the western world…the National Gallery and the Tate in London; the Louvre and the Orsay in Paris; the Uffizi and the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence; the Guggenheim in Venice; the Chicago Institute of Art; just to mention a few. Some of them I’ve visited more than once.

But, I visited the National Gallery in Washington DC only once, I am sad to say. It’s an absolute treasure house of art from around the world. When one visits a museum such as this, one becomes overwhelmed with the magnificent works in front of your eyes. You want to go back again and again to see them all. If it were possible, I would go every day and take in just one painting per day.

On this day in DC, I came across this well-loved painting by James McNeill Whistler…originally titled “The White Girl,” but later changed to “Symphony in White.” It is arguably his second most famous painting…the other being the painting we all know as Whistler’s Mother (I’ve seen that one also as it hangs in the Orsay Museum in Paris).

The White Girl was painted when Whistler lived in Paris. The model was his mistress, Joanna Hiffernan. He submitted the painting to the Royal Academy in Paris for inclusion in the famous annual Salon exhibition. It was rejected by them along with paintings by Manet, Monet, and several other famous Impressionist painters of the time. You see, the Royal Academy was quite conservative and did not consider most of these new works as being good art (read Ross King’s excellent book, “The Judgment of Paris,”to learn more about the end of neo-classism and the rise of the Impressionists and how the establishment fought this new kind of art).

Now about the photo: I call this one “Transitions,” as your eye must go through three rooms to arrive at the painting…each room transitions to the next. But, if you look closely, you will see I changed the second room to pure black and white. So you transition from color, to black and white, then back to color where the painting hangs. The beautiful doorways make the transitions even better. This is one of my most favorite works. Believe it or not, it was shot on slide film, then later scanned into my computer for post processing.

Some don’t, but many museums allow you to use your cameras while viewing the artworks. But be warned, you will not be allowed to use a tripod or flash in any of the museums. If you get caught doing it, you will be kicked out. So my advice is to bring a camera that has built-in anti-shake so you can capture those beautiful paintings. Be sure and take several exposures as even anti-shake cameras are not perfect, especially in low-light conditions.

What is somewhat amazing is that the camera that took this image did not have anti-shake (wasn’t invented then), nor did I use a tripod…the shot was hand-held. Sometimes you just get lucky.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from 35,000 Feet

A few years ago, my friend Susan and I flew from Spokane, to Calgary, to London on an overnight flight over the pole. The first leg of the flight was on an Air Canada puddle jumper to Calgary. Then we boarded an Air Canada jumbo jet for the long journey to London. However those big planes ever get off the ground is beyond me…but am just glad this one did.

We got lucky as they put us together in the very last row of the plane…which had only 2 seats instead of the usual 3. So we had a great time back there…and the flight attendant liked us and kept bringing more wine and drinks whenever we wanted. We both imbibed more than usual, hoping it would help us sleep before we arrived in Great Britain. It sort of worked, but sleeping on any plane is never easy.

The sunrise woke woke me up and I managed to grab this shot. For once, I got a sunrise above the clouds. You can just make out the Air Canada Maple Leaf on the tip of the wing.

They schedule many of the London flights from North America to arrive in the morning. After landing at Heathrow, we took a hotel shuttle down to our hotel right at the very edge of Hyde Park, near Marble Arch. Our bodies were totally confused as to the time of day…and we were not ready for a nap.

So we walked across the park, right in the middle of an anti-American protest. Our goal was to visit Harrods in Knightsbridge, have lunch, then head back across the park…which is what we did, dodging protestors all along the way.

I think we managed a small nap in the late afternoon, but of course our body clocks were so messed up at this point that a good sleep never happened. In the evening, we took the Tube down to Trafalgar Square to attend a concert at St. Martins in the Field.

It was wonderful…except both our body clocks kicked in to tell us it was night time and that we were totally exhausted. I think we both slept through most of the concert. We managed enough energy to get to the Tube and get back to our hotel…where slept like the dead. But the good news was our bodies were now on European time.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from Seal Beach

There are a few places along the California coast where elephant seals gather off and on during the year to molt, to choose the dominate males, and to eventually breed. These seals are big…the males reaching up to 20’ long and weighing in at 8,800 lbs. Elephant seals take their name from the large proboscis of the adult male which resembles an elephant's trunk. I think their rather large size also might have something to do with it.

Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert on seals of any kind. But when I visited this beach near San Simeon with my camera, I saw many of them throwing sand on themselves with their flippers. This photo is of one such event. I was lucky to get the sand in full flight…and in case you didn’t notice, the seal’s head is partially obscured by the rock on the left.

Curious about the sand throwing, I did a little research. Based on the time of year that I was there, this seal, and his companions were probably in the midst of loosing their skins. If so, they use the sand to stop the itching that results from molting. They also use wet sand to cool themselves off on hot day…this was not a hot day.

The State of California has set up parks along the coast where the seals hang out. This helps maintain the seal’s security and allows tourists to safely watch the seals in their natural habitat. Colonies of seals are very loyal to a particular spot, so these seals and their predecessors all use this beach.

You can read more about the elephant seals by searching the Internet…or even better, find a seal beach the next time you are on the California coast and observe them in their natural habitat.

(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com

Postcard from Gettysburg

If you never have been moved by being at a historical site, you may have never been to Gettysburg. It may be the most important and revered site in all of American history.

I write this on July 1, 2013. It was 150 years ago this very day that the battle of Gettysburg began. It was a three day battle. On the first day, a small expedition of Confederates marched toward Gettysburg, ostensibly looking for supplies and shoes for their veterans. They had just made the long journey on foot from Virginia to Pennsylvania to bring the war to the North.

Meanwhile, Union cavalry had approached the town from the South and saw the Confederates were approaching the town. The cavalry’s commander, General John Buford made the bold decision to dismount his troops and fight. He new he had to defend the high ground and delay the Confederates so the rebels could not have it before the nearby Union Army arrived.

His troops fought hard, and the rebels started bringing up reinforcements. Then the first contingents of Union infantry came into town and the battle kept escalating. Before the end of the day, it turned into a major battle. The Union Army was driven back, through the town and up into the hills. You could say the rebels won the day, but they did not get the high ground.

That was crucial to the final outcome of the battle. On the second day, the Southerners tried to sweep around the very end of the Union lines at Little Round Top. They almost succeeded, but were eventually driven back. The Union troops had the high ground and could not be dislodged.

On the third day, General Robert E. Lee made the fateful decision to marshal his troops and attack the center of the Union line. To do that, his troops had to march a mile across open ground, and be subject to intense Union artillery and rifle fire from Union troops lined up by the thousands behind a stone wall.

One part of the Confederate troops made it to the fence, but were cut down or made prisoners. The majority were killed or retreated back to their own lines. This third day of battle is known as Pickett’s Charge as it was led by Confederate General George Pickett.

The next day, the rebels started their long march back to Virginia. For some unexplained reason, the Union Commander, General George Meade, did not pursue. Had he done so, the war would not have continued for another two years.

There is more to this battle than I briefly talked about here. If you go to the Wikipedia Site, you can get more detail. But to summarize, the battle was costly to both sides, with a total casualty figure of around 50,000 soldiers and civilians.

I was able to spend two days in Gettysburg and visited most of the major battle sites. I even walked partway across the open field where Pickett’s Charge took place. My hotel was next to General Lee’s headquarters. Trust me…it was all very moving. I am so glad I got to make the trip.

The photograph, made to look like it was taken back in 1863, is of a Union Captain re-enactor. He and his company of Union soldiers gave an interesting demonstration of the Union line of battle, how the troops marched in formation then changed in battle formation…even firing muskets. It was all very interesting…and loud. Thank God for the re-enactors who keep the history of the civil war alive for all of us to appreciate and understand.

PS: If you have not seen the movie “Gettysburg,” you need to. It may be the most accurate movie Hollywood ever made…Pickett’s charge and other scenes were filmed where the real events took place. Thousands of re-enactors were used as troops. There is a new Director’s Cut of the movie out and I recommend you see that one.