France, more Images...

Sunrise, Moon setting, Marcay, France

I am sitting in the Brussels airport processing images while waiting for a flight to Glasgow- only 90 more minutes.....

Church Ceiling, Notre Dame

Here are a few more images from the last 10 days in France.

Falaise d'Amont, France

Greece

Woman in Church, Paros, Greece

Having some fun in Greece the past few days. Yesterday we drove the entire circumference of Paros in about 4 hours......Stopped for lunch in a small town and pointed at what we wanted. LOts of white churches with a blue roof, beaches and boats...has rained every day for a few hours but the light is pretty darn good after....Got back to town and was sitting in the church gaden when the woman in this image walked in and sat down....I could not resist......

Leaving for Frankfurt on Friday then back to the states on Saturday.....

New Mexico, Rancho Taos

Racho Taos, New Mexico

Found this one in my shoebox of o0ld film images yesterday. When I attempted printing this on paper years back I was simply not able to make it work. With a little help from the digital world I was finally able to finally create my vision of this often photographed church.

Red Church, Iceland

Red Church, Iceland

This image is from two years back on my first trip to Iceland. On this day it was off and on rain with a few moments of decent light when the rain would stop. This image, posted today, was made through the bus window during a particularly hard rain using my Canon 5DMKII. This was the first time I realized if you kept your lens wide open most of the moisture on the window would not be apparent in the final photograph. Point in fact it actually made the image appear soft and, and for lack of a better word, semi foggy....which I think actually made the image work.

There are times when I get into thinking images always need to be sharp and have a full dynamic range - I might need to get over that....

I was able to process this image in a way that worked for me using Photoshop CS6 Beta, NIK Color EFX Pro4 and Lightroom4.

Iceland - Grass Church

Church with grass roof, Iceland 

The one image I wanted to make on this trip was to re-shoot the church with the grass roof. One would pass this church on the way to the glacier lagoon - it sits on a private farm just off the highway. When I was  in Iceland last year I had maybe 15 minutes one morning to photograph this church and never got something I liked....This time around there were only three of us so time was not an issue. I decided to make a three image panoramic to give an idea of how remote a location this is. These churches are in all sorts of locations from behind the barn to high on the hill overlooking a town - other are hidden like this one on a private farm hidden behind the barn....

Highlight of the trip was going back to the glacier lagoon twice....this morning we caught a marvelous pink sky over the lagoon that lasted for about 60 minutes.....and it got even better after the sun peeked out...IMage from this week will be on the blog next week...both iPhone (iphone-antics.blogspot.com) and these pages.

Driving back to  Reykjavik  today - back to New York tomorrow.......these trips always end way to fast......

Church Gate

Gate, Iceland Church

This church was located on a fairly desolate farm in the northwest corner of Iceland. You see these small churches in many different locations from main roads to behind an individual home....More on this when I get home and have some time to process a few more images....

Weather has been fairly off for the past two days - rain and fog. Do not really mind the fog but could do with a little less rain.....

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 

Rancho De Taos

Rancho Taos Mission

My take on the often photographed 'San Francisco de Asis' Mission Church in Rancho Taos, New Mexico. 

My first knowledge of this Mission was a Georgia O'Keefe painting and two photographic images, one by Ansel Adams and the other by Paul Strand. I remember thinking, at first glance,  what an elegant almost 'great pyramid' type structure. Immediately this was on the bucket list.

I stood at this mission for the first time in May of 2009 and wanted to capture an image from a different angle then I previously saw in O'Keefe, Strand and Adams.

This image has been processed several times since capture. The goal was to isolate the Mission from the surrounding structures and this oddly cropped version is what finally worked for me.

IPhone

Why is so difficult to accept accept the IPhone for the camera it is. Do technical tools always need to be the highest this or the highest that. The IPhone is the IPhone simple as that -  resolution and image quality are what they are - at least at this point in time. Could be simply a cultural issue - not really know....

There is something organic about the images one can make with the phone, and, on a personal note, I like what the phone can capture. For one, many of Edward Steichen's images were not that technically resolved and he was considered a master. In sports they say "that's why they play the game", and, for photography this holds true - "that's why we capture an image'...we can talk forever about what if and why but the best thing any photographer can do is keep shooting no matter what camera and what resolution is in your hands. It was Chase Jarvis who said, 'the best camera is the one you have with you'.

For me the IPhone becomes a visual diary, artist proof and final image - all in my pocket. Additionally, having the ability to see an image in a larger format instantly is very helpful out in the field.  Use the tool for what it is - see what happens...you will be pleasantly surprised.

The IPhone has become the one camera that is always with me - 'don't go changing - we love you the way you are'.......