Daniel Ruf

Around The Corner

"No Winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn"

Hal Borland

An early winter thaw has given rise to bare roof lines and rich black earth peeking through the thin blankets of snow that have survived a week of warming temps.  The downside to this energetic weather is that things look pretty dead and ugly while we all wait for the first green sprig to push from the earth.  It is nice, however, to be relieved of the piles of snow that have surrounded our house and to see our roof again...meaning I can quit worrying about the strength of our rafters.

The blog image today is from a hill top farm near the small town of Peterson, Iowa, and was one of the final captures of a long day of searching with my friend Mike Houge (check out his newest work at www.mikehouge.typepad.com ).  The scene had changed by the time the truck had stopped and we had set up for the shot since the setting sun found a mass of clouds to hide behind.  What I liked about the shot was the long leading fence line with an old faded barn at the end and the slight bit of magenta color that was bleeding from the sunset.  I processed the image in Photoshop CS5 with Nik HDR Efex software, dropped in a Fly Paper texture for the sky (painted it out of the foreground and barn area), tweaked the contrast, lightened areas of the fence line snow drifts and the barn and that was it.  I found that the Fly Paper texture really helped add some interest to the sky area, which needed some help, yet still retained a bit of the magenta lighting of the original capture.

Waiting for Spring is going to be a struggle since I've scheduled 3 days to photograph Sandhill Cranes at the Rowe Sanctuary, an Audubon Society facility, near Kearney, Nebraska (http://www.rowesanctuary.org/).  It's a great opportunity since the sanctuary has built blinds along the Platte River that photographers can rent for their own photo experience.  Most of the time the birds are within 30 yards of the blind and give the photographer great shot selections of incoming and outgoing birds in flight.  The main requirement, besides the fee, is that the occupant of a blind is taken to the blind at 4pm and must stay in the blind until pick up the following morning.  A warm sleeping bag is a must, but snoozing among the cranes is pretty fantastic.  The cranes are only in the Kearney area for about a month, so blind time is at a premium.  The Rowe also has other viewing opportunities for those that are passing through.

Thanks to all that stop by to visit my blog and happy shooting.

    My new book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" 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=V1

Taking Flight

"Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings. "

Victor Hugo

My second year with the Sandhill Cranes at the Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, Nebraska was invigorating, but not without its problems.  Of the two nights in the blind provided by the sanctuary only one morning involved the glorious light of sunrise.  The other two sunsets and one sunrise were totally clothed in clouds, or near so, and photography became a skill of trying as many options and tricks as I could muster to get some results.  The scene above was later in the evening with the last of the cranes coming to the Platte for the evening.  I used a high ISO of 1600 and had the benefit of a little fading sunlight sneaking through the cloud cover to add some color the the background clouds and also some light to the under side of the wings of the cranes.  I found that the use of the Topaz plug in and some localized blur helped to cut down on the noise in the image as well as using the in camera "noise reduction" aids.

When I first saw the image in my editing software I couldn't help but have a feeling of wonder about what it must be like to have the ability to fly and, with little effort, float in the heavens and look down on the earth without the encumbrance of a skin of steel surrounding ones self.  Flying without the fear of falling out of the sky due to some mechanical malfunction and being in total control of ones motion is the one freedom that man will never realize in his present human condition.

A couple of days capturing the beauty of flight with the Sandhill Cranes gives the photographer a real insight into the aerodynamic controls that the cranes use to take off, land and glide in their aerial world.  With long spindly legs, a watermelon shaped body and long skinny neck they look out of place and somewhat clumsy on the ground...especially while doing their characteristic "crane dance".  Airborne, however, all the pieces fit and provide a choreographed ballet of grace and weightless being.

I was in and out of sleep during the night, but was lulled by the rushing river and calling of the cranes during my time awake.  Surrounded by the warmth of my sleeping bag there was great comfort in the "alone-ness" of the dark night, serenade in the background, and bits of moonlight slipping in through the joints of my plywood blind by the river Platte.  The comfort of peace was all around and it was refreshing.

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

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

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

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Trippin'

"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art."  Paul Cezanne

When the outer world doesn't cooperate with photographic opportunities then I always go grab a batch of flowers from some local florist and start shooting.  It's a method I've used many times to keep the brain cells oiled and even sparkle a little bit.  It doesn't have to be flowers, it can be hub caps, bottle tops or dripping water, but whatever one chooses after a few minutes it will become the new challenge.

While I've been in my cranky mood of late I have also received a few junk mail advertisements about photo excursions or voyages with different photo workshop groups.  I look at the catalogs, like looking at a Christmas wish book, but the prices are so out of sight that I would have to get a couple of day jobs to get a low rent cabin on one of these junkets.  I never really could figure out why the big expense until I really looked at one of the "come on" photo ops...a well set table of fine silver with people dressed to the "nines" while clinking champaign glasses.  Then it hit me...this is not my idea of a workshop or photo op.  I think the price would slide downward a bit if someone rented an old Russian (no offense intended) fishing boat, loaded it with sleeping bags and canned spam and headed to the prime location intended.  And the workshop would entail being up before dawn with tripod and camera in tow in search of opportunities.  After about 10am it would be editing time, group discussions and chasing the learning curve before heading out at 4pm for some great evening shots.  The bed roll would see us crawl in at about 10pm, but only if we could withstand not looking at the evening shoot results.

I'm headed to the Rowe Sanctuary to photograph sandhill cranes this weekend and this will be my second opportunity in as many years to do this shoot.  I'm excited, probably just like I was last year, and I'm nervous, just like I was last year.  You know...the anticipation thing, but the thing I'm looking forward to the most is falling to sleep at night while listening to the chatter of cranes outside my photo blind.  Nothing better, except for maybe the times I've heard wolves howling in the north country.

The informal table in my 6 x 10 foot blind will be set with the finest cuisine...some cheese sticks, a few canned vienna sausages, bananas, water, crackers, etc.  All high on the food triangle!  The point is I'm not interested in food, mattress size or room service, but the moments that will make this experience one of the bookmarks of life...and of course a few good shots wouldn't hurt either!  There were some good images from last year, but I'll not soon forget watching my first "crane dance" or the sunrise on a Platte River that was covered in cranes.  Those mental images are as sharp now as they were last year and I'm so glad that I checked off one of those bucket list items by heading to Nebraska.

My advice when you get done playing with the flowers?  Dream a little and then get your map!

Thank you all for taking the time to visit my site and for any comments you might offer.

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  

http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V1