I decided to start shooting portraits lately, mostly because I realized that I need the experience. Mostly when I shoot portraits it is just my wife or kiddos.      

     I have recently read a book-"Visual Poetry", by Chris Orwig. He has so much to say about photography and none of it is f-stops, gear, how to do this-or-that, etc. He talks about the philosophy behind what you are shooting. This approach is just what I needed because I feel that I get so wrapped up in gear, and acquiring stuff that I lose focus on what I'm doing and what the "end goal" is.

     The next few weeks I will be posting shots of stuff that I have learned about recently. Portraits are one thing that is, for me, telling. For me, to be able to get a "real" portrait, it has to feel like I have made some kind of connection with the person I'm shooting. I want you, the viewer, to see into the person and feel what they are feeling. I want their eyes to say something to you and leave you knowing something you might not have before.

    My first sucker was my cousin, Tony. At first glance he looks pretty rough. He's covered in tattoos, has a bald head and beard, and wears mostly black. Tony is one of the most caring and "real" people I know. He understands and listens. I wanted to catch that in a photo.

     I will be doing more shots of people this week and posting some of them here. Till then,

Cheers!

So I have a friend who is a pro portrait shooter. I told her how much I'd love to have a 16-35mm f2.8L. She said that I could borrow hers any time I wanted as long as she didn't need it at the time. Man this thing is wider than a combine on a dirt road and sooooo crisp. I took this pic with the lens about 5 inches away from my nose. 

Sooooo fun!

Also I have been uploading "textures and nature shots" to several stock photography sites. A stock photo site is a site that:

1. you upload images (good ones) of stuff they want.

2. they, in turn, sell them to clients who use them for web production, design, etc. Such as: 

3. they give you between $.25 to $5.00 per download, depending on the size of the file that the customer wants. Pretty cool, that's for sure.

You have to pass a "test" of sorts-they make you upload ten of your best images and then if seven of them pass, you're in! (seven of mine passed, first try, and they weren't even my faves-oh well!)

I will be taking some pics of a lot of stuff soon, but I'm feeling a bit queasy. Might be a while. 

Till then!!

CHEERS!

     On our last trip to Colorado we had the honor of going to Neptune Mountaineering to hear Pat Ament speak and put on a slideshow. To say the least he is a bouldering legend and to hear him was very much a thrill. After the show I got a chance to meet and talk to another bouldering legend, Jim Holloway. These pics are pretty poor, but out of respect, I didn't want to bother them too much so I hurried.

Isaac with Pat Ament

Me with the ever towering Jim Halloway. BTW, I am 5'6" tall, evident here.

     For those that don't know, bouldering is climbing that is nearer to the ground and ropes are not needed. About 50 years ago a man named John Gill decided to hang up his trad climbing gear and just work on acrobatic, short routes. He became known as the grandfather of modern bouldering. By the mid to late 1950's he was doing problems that today would be rated around V9 and V10. (The "V" scale, named after John "The Verm" Sherman, who was also at this slide show, is a way of grading difficulty on a boulder problem-V0, easy-V10+, very hard. Some super humans today are calling out grades like V15 and V16!)
After him came gentlemen like Pat Ament, who, among others, were responsible for putting up large amounts of problems in the Eldorado Canyon area, as well as all over Colorado. Jim Halloway came later in the 1970's and put up more, harder problems all over Colorado, as well-some of which are STILL unrepeated. Amazing!

     Anyway, it was cool to be able to chat with these gentlemen, and I thought you might like a bouldering history lesson. 

Can't wait to get out and pull on some REAL ROCK!!

It will happen soon, my friends!

Cheers

Went to the beach at MacBride today, not to swim. I bought a pair of snowshoes and took the family sledding while I took pics. Snowshoeing is a BLAST!! I will do more! 

Kari's jump!

The return on her investment!!

Isaac's first run. 

Have fun and make sure you get outside, yourself!!

CHEERS!

I've been working on portraits lately because it is something that doesn't really come easy to me. Sounds silly, but I want to become a well rounded photographer. In order for me to do that, I have to practice what I find hard. Here is Isaac, my  son, and my very favorite 10 year old in the whole world.

Cheers!