Scotland - Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Castle, Scotland

 Inveraray Castle is located in Argyllshire, Scotland. According to Wikipedia the castle is haunted by the 'ghost of a harpist' who was hanged in 1644 for peeping at the lady of the house. There are those who say they hear mysterious sounds of a harp in the castle.

This image was made in January 2009 using a Mamiya 645DF and a phase one p65+ digital back.

Iceland - Jokulsarion Glacier

Sunrise, Jokulsarion Glacier, Iceland

'Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative'.....H.G. Wells

Everglades - Chokoloskee

10,000 Island, Everglades

It is just before sunrise and I am sitting in a parking lot outside the hardware store in Everglades City, Florida. I am meeting a boat captain to take me out to the 10,000 Islands which are mostly deserted beaches, water and mangrove trees, some of which are growing on oyster beds....These islands date back quite some time, some as far back as 3,500 years. Eerie place at best...

Today this body of water is very calm except for the sound of our motor and the wake produced by the boat - not a sound except for what my mind tells me is an alligator  - and visually just the twilight starting to peak out on the horizon -

So we motor out for about one half hour and Captain Ray stops the boat, looks at me and tells me this is the spot, get out of the boat. I mean we are in the middle of nowhere and he is telling me to get out of the boat - I hesitate - he says you will miss the sunrise if you don't get out now - I am thinking miss the sunrise', what about the alligators and anacondas I have heard so much about?

Long story short I get out of the boat and find myself standing on an oyster bed - the water is maybe 2 feet deep and I can see down to the bed - Captain Ray hands me my tripod and drifts his boat out in the water (out of my camera view) telling me he will come back in 30 minutes to pick me.....of course I am always looking over my shoulder to make sure he is still there - and of course he is floating about smoking a cigarette and eating breakfast....business as usual for Ray....

After a few minutes I become comfortable with this and fire away at the sunrise for maybe 20 minutes....when I turn around the image above was waiting.....the moon setting behind me....

What an amazing experience this was - of course I spent the rest of the day jumping out of the boat on many of the islands feeling a bit fearless after that sunrise experience....WOW.....

Iceland Landscape

Iceland Landscape, Circa 2010

'I believe in God, only I spell it Nature'.....Frank Lloyd Wright

Iceland - The Road and the Sky

The Road and The Sky

'When we come to the place where the road and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
They told me I was going to have to work for a living
But all I want to do is ride
I don't care where we're going from here
Honey, you decide'.......Jackson Browne

Have no idea why but when I saw this scene it reminded me of the Jackson Browne song quoted above....I always have bit and pieces of songs in my head that were important to me over the years. They are always popping up at the strangest times - this one of course being a bit more literal....

This is Route 1 in Iceland leaving the glacier lagoon as we headed back to the hotel.....

Iceland - Glacier Lagoon

Glacier Lagoon, Iceland

'Future generations are not going to ask us what political party were you in. They are going to ask what did you do about it, when you knew the glaciers were melting'...Martin Sheen






iPhone Blog: http://iPhone-antics.blogspot.com
Website: http://harrysandler.com

Glacier 2

Glacier 2, Iceland

 Another image from last year 's trip to Iceland.

Note to self - clean sensors before leaving for a trip. In the old days we used to spot our prints and I am hard pressed as to why so many images posted to various facebook pages and blogs lately are fraught with little back spots, aka; sensor dust and grime. Before showing an image take the time to clean these spots your image - with today's technology, specifically content aware in Photoshop CS5 it is not a tough job.

I mention this because today's image was covered in dust and grime (see below for a small portion of the image)...took over 30 minutes to clean.

 

 One can also use content aware to clean and smooth images as I did below... I wanted the foreground clean and smooth so I removed what I believe was black ice...

Image Management:

Phaase One P65+
Mamiya 645DF
47mm lens
Photoshop CS5
Lightroom 3

Oregon Coast

Oregon Coast 

Last summer I was touring the Oregon coast with my daughter (am emerging photographer) making photographs on the various beaches where you could get access. We found this scene just below Canon Beach - at least that is my recollection of the location. Spending a day with your daughter is always amazing - and her interest in photography is priceless......that is her below - first day using a big girl camera.....

Image Management (image above):

Phase One P65+
Mamiya 645DF
47MM Lens
Photoshop CS5
Lightroom 3

Church, Iceland

Church, Iceland

'Sometimes you can tell a large story with a tiny subject.'....Elliot Porter

Image Management:

Phase One P65+
Mamiya 645DF
47MM Lens
5 image Stitch in Photoshop CS5 

Iceland Glacier

Sunrise, Iceland, Glacier

'Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence'....Vince Lombardi

Leaving for another trip for Iceland next week - doing an iPhone workshop in Reykjavik and then getting lost in Iceland for a week.

Image Management:

Phase One P65+
Mamiya 47MM Lens
Photoshop CS5
Lightroom 3

Rental Boats - Versailles

Rental Boats - Versailles

 Took the 26KM ride to The Palace at Versailles early yesterday - and was not at all dis-appointed - well maybe there might have been a few hundred too many tourists. But I had hired a driver he knew a back way in - looked like he made some deal at a back gate and in we went - basically parking on the other end of the palace with maybe 4-5 other cars. You can get a table at a restaurant in New York the same way....

This is not a very good time of the year to visit Versailles as it is overrun by tourism.....and one would really need to spend an entire day there (or more) to really get a feel for the Palace and surrounding grounds.  Basically I got a few impressions of Versailles and hope to get back one day.

The benefit of going in the back gate was immediately being confronted by the image of the rental boats tied up and waiting for the day's activities. Ended up using slightly toned black and white to tell the story.

Image Management:

Phase One P65+
Mamiya 645DF with 47MM lens
Polarizer
Photoshop CS5
Lightroom 3

Old Silver Beach, Cape Cod

Old Silver Beach, Cape Cod

Image Management:

Mamiya 645DF
Phase One P65+
47MM Schneider Lens
Local tonality applied in Photoshop CS5