Daniel Ruf

More Of Winter

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show."
Andrew Wyeth 

Another 3" to 5" of the fluffy white stuff last night, which meant an early rise to shovel out walks and driveways, cleaning off vehicles, and enjoying being in this white landscape of our small town.  I can hear the plows moving about the town and the snowmobiler's beginning to run the frozen lakes.  It's a good time...another time of the year to enjoy.  While it brings with it the biting chill and brisk winds it also reminds me that the earth is lying in wait for that burst of Spring we all await.  In our case, we will anticipate the arrival of blooms from new bulbs that we planted last fall...the crocus, dwarf iris and others will be a welcome addition to the flower beds in our yard and will also provide early flower photography opportunities for me.

Christmas is around the corner and a part of our family is home for a short holiday celebration, while our oldest will be busy with the Baylor football team at their first bowl game in years, and our youngest will be attending hospital duties as an RN.  In our family Christmas chores are not an unusual event since living on a farm always brought with it a certain amount of work routines that had to be tended.  Whether the regular milkings or just keeping a close eye on other livestock, the celebration of the Christmas season was secondary to the welfare of our livestock.  Tending livestock can be a chore for some, but can also be a reminder of some sacred skills that have been part of humanity for ages, even during the first Christmas.  

It is my wish that all will have a blessed Christmas season and properous and safe new year in 2011.   Let the peace that you live in your life infect those around you and then those throughout the world.

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

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Dalliance

 

"My first thought is always of light."  Galen Rowell

One definition in Webster's Dictionary of the word "Dalliance" is "an action that is not serious".  If this is true, then much of my work could be considered a dalliance, a sniff of a wildflower, laying among wildflowers or gazing at light on wildflowers.  It takes a lot of dalliance to reduce my normal human ego down to a distance of about 6 inches, which is where many wildflowers exist.  It takes a lot of dalliance to appreciate the fragrance of a woodland meadow since it's not usually available to the casual observer.  And, it takes a lot of dalliance to appreciate the last rays of warm sunlight that showers fine edges with lights crystals.

Deciding on camera gear, setting up tripods, looking for position are all dalliance's...or the moments when the surroundings begin to infuse our psyche.  The longer the search the more our physical systems hone in on the peripherals of our camera and lens.  If at this point one is still just setting up a camera and lens, then it's time to sit down, adjust our attention to the reason of residing at this location, and breath.  The object of our consideration will not move and our capture will not be moving unless we absorb the ecosystem of the fascination.  You know, the birds, the sound of the waves brushing the shore, the wind.  It's all simple, but our species has progressed (?) so far so that our eyes and ears are only attentive to the most obvious of human clutter....NOISE...both visual and audio.  Hence, our personal space has been reduced to office cubical and home with few of us dallying among the sounds and visuals of Peace.

The blog image, a simple onlooker of my dalliance, was made all the more precious by the dance of light.  What in broad daylight is a ball of fire, flattening colors and tones throughout, becomes stardust during the fragile hours of dawn and dusk.  The sun is much like us...it has it's moments...two each day to be exact!  Add a little fog or haze and its dazzling rays offer us a longer time to dally. 

Thanks to all that have taught me the art of dalliance.

Take time this Christmas season to........................................................dally!

For more views of my work visit;

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

"Art On 16th"  http://www.hankhallarton16th.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

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

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Our Center

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.  Happiness never decreases by being shared."   Buddha

Last weekend was pretty full with normal routine things and prepping for a photography class that I'm instructing at "A Piece Of Work" gallery www.apieceofworkinc.com  in downtown Spirit Lake, Iowa, but I did manage to sneak away early in the morning to visit one of my favorite places - Ft. Defiance State Park.  Up until recently Spring Creek, which flows through the park has been a real torrent and not really photogenic, but rains have subsided for a few weeks and normal flow rates are in place.  As the blog image shows the lighting was diffuse and soft, which tends to really bring out the colors of an area.

It's hard for me to get very close to moving water and not want to put my feet in and that's exactly what usually happens when I'm anywhere near Spring Creek.  It's a rather lazy stream that ambles through the tiny park, but makes several 180 degree turns in the process.

While I was setting up for a series of exposures, contemplating some HDR editing with Photomatix, I realized that for the first time in a long time the outside world, with all it's demands, clutter and buzzing, was gone and it was at this point that I realized that when my feet are wet my "being" becomes centered.  The beauty that surrounds me becomes the focus of my creativity, including all the subtleties.  The time in this place was for deep mental cleansing breaths, both for the creative Muse as well as my emotional pulse.

The blog image was worked in both Adobe Elements 8 and Photoshop CS4 and then I used Nik Viveza for improving the color balance throughout.  For some reason (which I'm sure is light related) the bluish and magenta tints were running rampant and the white balance settings in my Canon 50D didn't seem to be handling things very well, but that could be due to the mixture of lighting that this location held.

So, being clear on the center and balance of a photographic image is just as important as one's own personal balance and "centeredness" ( a word not found in Webster's) and, just as a well exposed, thought out photograph, shows the true beauty of a subject. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog site and enjoy the week ahead.

For more views of my work visit;

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

"Art On 16th"  http://www.hankhallarton16th.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

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

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Losing Silence

The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders.

Edward Abbey

While doing some reading on The WIlderness Society website I came across some data that was put together by the U.S. Forest Service.  It stated that the U.S. loses 6,000 acres of open area per day to such uses as industrial, residential and agriculture.  When I computed the figure over a years time I figured that in 369 days we destroy the equivalent of the entire acres in Yellowstone National Park.  I was wondering about these figures because I've begun to think about a natural resource that we are losing along with those acres...Silence.  The loss of trees, rivers and wildlife is huge in each of those 6,000 acre, but those acres, in many cases, are replaced by things that make noise or provide a platform for things that are noisy.

In a discussion today with my friend Mike we were relishing in the fact that one of the things that we liked most about the art of photography...or at least nature photography...is the connection that we have with the places that we photograph.  Unlike many artistic endeavors that are created in a man made studio, the outdoors is our studio and with that comes all the peace that comes with these location shoots.  And peace doesn't mean the absence of sound, for the very sound of the wind through the pines or waves sliding over a sandy beach give us a sense of peace.  As we stand behind our camera our view of the living image is enhanced by the sensations that surround our being, including the peace.

As luck would have it, Guy Tal, www.guytal.com , discusses these treasures that are a part of making an image on his blog today.  The hiking, the camping, the searching, the finding and all the other dots on the map of creativity in between, become part of the process of making an image.  The capture of the image becomes much more than pushing the shutter release, it becomes an internal record of a sense of place and peace.  Our hope is that our internal image becomes visual to the viewer.

I'm beginning to believe that the benefits of nature photography are as much psychological as they are artistic for I know that when I exit a forest I am better for the travel in this sanctum.  The question is...how long will it be before we no longer have these quiet places or no longer realize what we've lost?

For more views of my work visit:

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

Art Of The Vine Gallery http://www.artofthevinegallery.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

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