Daniel Ruf

Define Your Facination

"Whatever the medium, there is the difficulty, challenge, facination and often productive clumsiness of learning a new method: the wonderful puzzles and problems of translating with new materials."

Helen Frankenthaler

During late Fall I happened on an old farmstead that was set aside as a community park near my home.  It was the first time I had visited with the intention of treating the site as a serious photographic opportunity.  At first glance it just appears to be a cluster of old sheds and farmhouse with little desire trip my creative trigger.  After having taken some time to view all the nooks and crannies I walked back to the truck think that this was just one of those sad little plots of ground of little consequence.  Finally, I thought that if I didn't at least take out the camera I would never take the scene seriously and would drive down the road empty handed, but always curious.

Again, taking another look around, I found this shed, the exact same shed that existed a few minutes ago, but this time I realized I was fascinated by the doors, the windows and the hodgepodge placement of farming equipment.  A nice soft lighting on the face of the building and long afternoon highlights on the steel roof was enough to find a position to address this now beautiful exterior.

A little later, after the thrill of the hunt set in, I came upon what I call "the potting shed" complete with a bed of flowers and another set of an interesting door and window.  This time I thought about putting the Lensbaby lens on the camera to get an idea of what would happen with the scene and especially the highlights.

The lesson for me was two fold.  One, that if you one doesn't make the effort the "promise" will never be realized.  Two, that whenever a scene becomes difficult to decipher define the fascination, or, in other words, what trips your trigger.

Thank you for joining me today and please feel free to comment.

SIC 'EM BEARS!

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at-  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4

Look Up

"My best work is almost unconscious and occurs ahead of my ability to understand it."

Sam Abell

A snow system has finally reached Northwest Iowa and it is finally beginning to look a lot more like winter here.  With it being mid-January I can smile knowing that March and the sites of Spring are closer than if this storm was occurring in November, as is the case in many years past.  Finally the browns are covered and I now have a new palette to work with.

The blog image is from a couple of weeks ago when things looked and felt springlike and the cloud formations were absolutely incredible in the morning.  This is an HDR panorama that required 12 captures using Nik HDR Efex Pro to develop the 4 HDR images and then, using Photoshop CS5, a 4 image stitch to accomplish the final panorama image.

As I set up at the location I was captivated by the varied cloud formations that were moving across the sky.  It really reminded me of times when I've been traveling through the northern or western plains where the land, as well as the sky, has this immense breath taking feeling that overwhelm an individual.  In this case it's good old mid-western Iowa, where, even today, we can find such wide open vistas where clouds, not corn, can be king.

Looking up can reveal surprising tapestries...if we remember to raise our eyes from their normal human positioning by tilting our head back.  It is then that your mouth will fall open whereby both neck and facial muscles are exercised to a fuller extent.

Thank you for joining me today and please feel free to comment.

SIC 'EM BEARS!

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at-  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u

People, Too?

"There are many teachers that could ruin you.  Before you know it you could be a pale copy of this teacher or that teacher.  You have to evolve on your own."

Berenice Abbott

Yes, I too can photograph human beings,  but I try to capture a special moment and I usually am more comfortable around family.  In the case of the first blog image the family was in San Antonio to atttend the Valero Alamo Bowl and we happen to be walking along the beautiful River Walk.  My daughter and granddaughter were on the other side feeding the pigeons, a task that my granddaughter loved to do, and, with the backdrop of the various store fronts, the right pose presented itself.

My daughter has a surprisingly deep affection for our two granddaughters, which I find incredible considering the trend of a lot of today's young adults.  Yes, she is absorbed with her Ipod, her job and friends, but when it comes to her niece's she is a first class auntie and I'm so proud of the affection she gives towards the girls.

The capture is from a Canon 50D, processed in Photoshop CS5 and then worked in the Topaz B&W Effects plug-in.  I used a transparency filter to bring a little faded color back into the image and then added a slight blur to the entire scene.  With a layer mask I then brought some of the original color back into the primary subjects and the pigeons.

In this second scene at a court yard inside the Alamo area I was hoping to get a capture of the beautiful lighting in this fountain area, but finally went with the smallest amount of "human intervention" that would work.  This was processed in Photoshop CS5 with Nik HDR Efex and then converted to a black and white using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 which emphasized the lighting as well as the textural qualities of the scene.  Again, using a layer mask, I brought back a hint of flesh tones in the young girl.  I'm really glad that I didn't walk away from this scene and decided to wait for an opening when the crowd melted away.

I often surprise myself when I do these types of portrait situations since I spend a large part of my time searching for grand landscapes, clear waters or summer skies that are void of appearances by people.  I guess, when one really thinks about it, people probably have more of an influence on our lives compared to our surroundings which can define the person that one becomes.

Thank you for joining me today and please feel free to comment.

SIC 'EM BEARS!

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at-  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u

Old Friends

 

"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle." Walt Whitman

A couple of weeks ago, as with most any morning, I stepped to the front window of our house to gauge the sunrise possibilities.  There was a hint of color on the bottom of the still darkened clouds and a clear line of sky at the horizon.  No wind was stirring and there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground.  Solution...get in the truck and go.

After driving for what seemed to be an eternity the color in the sky was beginning to peak and I was still hunting for that good ol' foreground anchor.  There had to be some rural road with a nice clear shot of sunrise with a subject of interest as a lead in.  But where the heck was it?  A few moments later I hit a familiar gravel road and I knew a couple of old friends that just might be the answer.  When I pulled over to the side of the road my inner voice, you remember my inner voice, was yelling (always yelling is this voice) get out and HURRY!  A couple of minutes later and a couple of clicks later the light was beginning to fade and then...gone.  Nature waits for no one, especially a photographer.

This image is the result of merging two images at the exact same location...one properly exposed for the sky and one properly exposed for the foreground.  There are times when I prefer this method over an HDR capture, such as with fast moving clouds, which was the issue in this case.

Like regular human friends, photographic friends (subjects) are around when you really need them, and, as with human friends, they are a joy to share the morning with.

Thank you for joining me today and please feel free to comment.

SIC 'EM BEARS!

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at-  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u