Daniel Ruf

The Others

"The one phrase you can use is that success has a thousand fathers, and failure is an orphan.

Alan Price

I've noted before on this blog site my gratitude for those that have played a part in my growth in the photographic art, whether artist, teacher or friend and the blog image is no exception.  As many of you know I'm a follower of the work and teachings of Tony Sweet and Susan Milestone, Tony's partner.  Their expertise, as well as that of many others listed in the upper right column of this blog, have been instrumental in my growth as well as the growth of many other photographers.

The concept for this particular image came from one of Tony's instructional DVD's "Flower Photography Artistry" that is available for purchase on his website. The image here is a combination of a flower in front of one of my prints from a while back.  The print was of a field of yellow coneflowers and had been blurred in Photoshop Elements as a creative measure.

After fighting the wind on several days in the attempt to capture some images of tulips around our house I decided that indoors shooting was going to be the answer.  Our tulip beds are new and therefore don't offer a lot of background color due to the sparse populations (this will be improved over the next few years with more plantings).  I had wanted to use the background print on several occasions and this became the appropriate time to experiment.

In this case the distance of the tulip from the background is probably double the distance of the tulip from the camera and the setup is catching soft ambient light from a window to the right.  As many of you know I really enjoy doing still life photography in natural light since it is such an exceptional light full of color and softness.

Since I was working with a recently purchased used Nikon D300s I also practice the use of the overlay program which is a fabulous in camera tool that I have high hopes for as well as other camera adjustments that come with this camera.  My thanks again to Tony for his advice and guidence in this selection.

While we all are affected in some way by those that pass through our lives it is often forgotten the role, however incidental, these wonderful "exclamation points" play in ones development.  To all those in the right hand column, as well as many others, a big thank you.

Sic 'em Bears!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy this beautiful Spring.

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

Review

"I believe that art is a humanitarian act and I believe there is a responsibility that art should somehow be able to effect mankind, to make the world a better place. 

Jeff Koons

The Smoky Mountains were calling to me this week to return to those files of several months ago for a review of the captures from a two week period when I was there for a workshop given by Tony Sweet.  It was during this review that I was struck by the fact that my usual routine during my first review of work is to go directly to the captures that had strong impact on me while I was in the process of clicking the shutter, bypassing all others.  I'm beginning to believe that with more and more experience a photographer begins to know "the winners" as they are composed and collected.  It is hard to contain my excitement about an image from the time of taking the picture until the time when I can begin the editing process toward completion.  Luckily, at the Sweet workshops, we are required to bring a certain amount of "work of the day" to critique sessions, which I find extremely beneficial as an "on the job" training procedure, which also gives me an early preview of a "favorite".

As my experience has evolved I've learned that, due to the aforementioned "impulsive" behavior, a later review of files can often result in finding the so called diamond in the rough image, which is the case of this blog image. 

 As is my usual custom I arrive at workshop locations a few days early so that I can "limber up" my skills and spend some time alone in the area learning lighting situations and finding areas of interest.  As it turned out on this trip I was able to work in some foggy conditions that did not present themselves during the workshop period and I was extremely happy about the "chance" I was given.

This particular image of the iconic Sparks Lane was accomplished on one of the few occasions when I was alone on Spark Lane, since usually there seems to be about 10 to 20 photographers vying for position on this road during the early morning hours.

This capture was processed in Photoshop CS5 and then further handled in Nik Color Efex Complete edition where I added a little more foreground fog and then painted the foreground trees, grass and road back to their original definition to bring them forward from the middle ground.  It seemed necessary to darken the upper extremities of these same trees as they seemed to recede into the background and I didn't want that.

All in all it was a good stroll down memory lane with favorable results.  It was also a reminder to me about the importance of attending workshops as a "growth promotion" of sorts.  I would encourage anyone seeking on location experience with photography, or any art for that matter, to give some thought to attending workshops given by a qualified master.  It will be an experience I doubt you'll regret.

Thank you for stopping and feel free to comment.

My 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=V

Keeping Cool

 

"I am still learning."   Michelangelo

With the summer heat that has gripped  the midwest I have spent some days going through my archived work looking for refreshment and work during idle times.  The blog image reminded me of my annual frantic search for Columbine and a small park in the town of Redwood Falls, Minnesota where I finally found large numbers of these flowers in a variety of growing situations and I spent the entire morning working at a number of settings.

This happens to be one of my favorites since it involves a nice alignment of flowers and a creek area in the background.  It also required me to use a 1.4 teleconverter on my 70 - 200mm lens (something I learned a recent Tony Sweet workshop) to soften the foreground clutter so that full attention was on the main subject.  After getting everything put together it became a matter of waiting for the wind to cease and for the sun's light to find a spot in the overhead canopy of leaves to light the one flower.  I find during these times that "wishing doesn't make it so", only waiting.

The blog quote from the famed artist and sculpture reminded me of the trials of the digital world...That anything new becomes old in 6 months.  Because of the fast pace of this new art form it has been necessary to learn digital photography info and equipment at a faster and more regular pace than was necessary in film photography, or at least it seems that way.  I think the biggest thing that I've had to learn is to pace myself by learning at my slow pace, remembering to develop my craft.

As my friend Mike Houge continues to tell me, "It's all about the journey" and it certainly appears to be the case.  While standing before the setting of Columbines it's easy to be entertained by the surroundings and it's one of the perks of learning photography.

Summer is half over with Fall on the way and winter following.  Enjoy it all with regular journey's!

Thank you for stopping and feel free to comment.

My 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=V

Developing

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home."   Twyla Tharp

Like any other endeavor in life photography is a journey of learning and developing and not only of oneself.  The process of drinking in the instruction of others enlightens the approach and vision of the artist provided they are willing to accept the challenge of growth in the medium.  Whether it is making a concerted effort to rise before dawn to catch the suns first rays or reading from piles of books and magazines on the night table, the development of a vision, approach and body of work is an unending, yet exciting journey.

Recently I was helping a friend figure out a way to process multiple digital exposures in their computer and it occurred to me that Tony Sweet ( www.tonysweet.com ) had put such a script in his book "Fine Art Digital Nature Photography".  I sent the friend a copy of the script and that was that.  Later during the day I was troubled about not having ever used the script which meant that I really had no idea of its complexity or results, but of course this is the instructions by master photographer Tony Sweet, right?

Later I challenged myself to try something new and the results are the two blog images taken as 10 multiple exposures of flowers that are around our house (another very good reason to have flower gardens as part of the artists habitat).  Anyway, the process was easy enough for me to understand and has been much more enjoyable than watching the "boob" tube in the evening.  All that is required is a little effort to get off ones backside, a good editing software, multiple exposures of just about anything and following the script laid down in the aforementioned book.

It really becomes an enjoyable lesson in using color, form and composition and, quite frankly, all of photography is pretty much a lesson about working with those three components.  Of course after one gets used to using this tool then they can really begin experimenting with camera movement, subject choices, etc.  The skies the limit!

While I could give you the page number in the book, it's my opinion that this is a cover to cover study of great ideas by someone that can reduce photographic skills to a consumable bite size for most any photographer willing to learn.  It's up to the reader to explore and maximize the potential.

Enjoy and thank you for stopping.

My 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

Back Home

  

"While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see."

Dorothea Lange

Continuing education, especially in the arts, is to me one of the fundamental elements of personal creative improvement that any artist should endeavor to do.  It's all well and good to daily pursue our own schedule of creative achievement, but in the long view one is often helpless at falling into conceptual errors that often stagnate our creative movement.  I have just returned from participation in my second Tony Sweet workshop with refreshed brain cells and weary body.  This years location was the Smoky Mountain National Park and it was an area of one photo stop after another.  In order to get myself primed and lubed for a new location I arrived in the Smoky's about 5 days early to get the feel of the area.  It was a good idea since I had the opportunity to work with fog in the landscape, which did not occur after the workshop started.

Tony, and his partner, Susan are not only excellent photographers, but also skillful communicators and mentors, with a good deal of wit thrown in.  While they don't hover over participants they are always within grabbing distance for suggestions and guidance or answers to any questions.  Their knowledge of equipment and software usage is huge which helps in the final output of a photographic image.

The blog image is from a place called Sparks Lane, although a different view from the more iconic view from the opposite end of this location.  As I was setting up for a low viewpoint with my camera and tripod that would include the flowing water covering the pavement, Tony suggested that I get lower, pointing to the wet pavement surface.  I gave him a grimaced look since the thought of getting wet early in the morning wasn't on my priority list, just yet.  He gave me some good natured ribbing and then left the scene.  After finishing "my" capture, I took a peek of the view from the pavement surface and decided that he was correct...as usual...that another foot or so lower was indeed the better shot.  After seeing the results in the LCD screen, I never gave the previous shot another thought.  This WAS the shot.

Like anyone else in the world, I can become stale in my approach to my work and my surroundings.  The sobering thing about ones creativity is that it reveals a stagnant approach which viewers can see a mile away.  Let's face it, a viewpoint from our eyesite of, say, 6 feet, is not always the best!  Flex those knees!

    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

Idle Time

    The last few weeks have been a hodge podge of recovering from surgery, traveling to and from Texas to visit our grand daughter, and sitting inside watching freezing rain cover the landscape.  My time in the field with a camera has been limited, mainly by a load limit placed on me by my doctors, but it has allowed me time to sit in front of the computer (not exactly like sitting behind the lens) and revisit some work with the colors of black and white in mind.

The blog image is from my trip to the South Dakota Badlands when I was fortunate to be a participant in a Tony Sweet workshop.  While it has been a full 6 months since the trip I do remember thinking that final image was going to end up as black and white composition. Surprisingly I was so taken with the color rendering that I really didn't pursue the "dark side", being perfectly content with the original capture, but that might have been a big mistake on my part. 

The set up included an extremely long 25 second exposure using the Singh Ray Vari ND filter in the beautiful diffuse morning light, camera on tripod, mirror lockup and remote cable release.  It was my first experience using the Singh Ray filter and the results were beyond my wildest imaginations for this situation involving rapidly moving clouds and I wasn't prepared for the great separation that occurred from the motion blur.  The editing process was pretty simple with some touch up with Nik Color Efex and the general contrast and color tweaks.

Yesterday, while watching cars sliding down the street from my office window, I started playing with this capture again using Nik Silver Efex Pro and I believe the results are closer to my original concept adding a little more drama to the sky and highlighting the background peaks.

As can be seen in the works of other photographers, both film based and digital, the first horse out of the chute is not necessarily the final act of the play.  With some maturity of thought or creative process or new technical applications the original capture can almost become a living entity, changing with the whim of the artist.

I hope you are all having a marvelous Thanksgiving and thanks to everyone for connecting with my blog past, present and future.

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

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

 

Always The Student

"When the student is ready the teacher will appear" Zen saying from Tony Sweet blog.

It would seem that much of my time has been spent drifting from one experience to another while doing a great deal of listening.  I'm a firm believer that we are led through life experiences by listening for guidance.  Unfortunately it is "a still small voice" that beckons us on our travels, which, in my more duller moments, I tend to miss completely.  A lot of my approach to photography has been that an inner instinct will help guide me to the place I'm supposed to be.  The image above, "Green Blankets And White Pillows", is an example of following the whispers that one hears during the course of a journey.  At this juncture of the days shooting my options were looking pretty dismal.  Lot's of corn fields, lots of clouds, lots of light, but nothing that really led me to pull the trigger.  Getting in and out of the truck at various locations got to be a real strain on the ego, as each scene didn't seem to measure up to what "I" was hoping for.

It is at these points in time, when ego gets in the way, that I'm fortunate enough to realize that this whole photographic experience is not about me...has never been about me...will never be about me.  It's about the Divine landscape that I find myself in love with.  It's about the grace of the living earth, be it mountains or corn field or meadow.  When I snap my attitude toward the clear direction of capturing God's gift to us all, then the wheels start to mesh and the sight becomes clearer.  And so it did, this one afternoon, in an Iowa cornfield.

To those that live near mountains or canyons I can understand their consternation of an Iowa landscape; it may appear wide and plain.  I have a tremendous love of the "highs" and "lows" of our United States, but, as a retired farmer, I am part of the living soil...our ancestors were rooted in the living earth and to it we will all return.  A good deal of my work includes those hills and dales of my state and, yes, a few cornfields thrown in for good measure.  My great respect for farming hinges on that fact that it provided me the chance to reach out to my real passion, photography, once again, and for that I'm forever grateful.

The blog image is an 3 shot HDR processed in Photomatix and edited in Adobe Elements 8.  Not a whole lot of "razzel, dazzel" after that.

We are all students for our entire lives and the only time that life gets really bumpy is when we forget that simple fact.  

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

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

Spaces

My mind is still filing through those days at the Badlands workshop and while sitting in front of the computer editing work I am continually reminded of lessons learned from Tony Sweet and Susan Milestone.  The keys to the whole workshop class work and field work sessions could be summed up in a few words; designing space and subtle adjustments.  So, while hunting down subjects I found myself looking for situations that made for unique design elements while still recording the beauty that is the Badlands.

The blog image was taken at sunrise at the "doors and windows" area on the eastern side of the Badlands National Park.  While watching the sun rise I was attracted to this unique silhouette and the hard edge line that trickled down the cliff and then proceeded across the viewing plane.  The only real problem in the capture of the image was situating the camera in such a place as to hide the sun to alleviate any specular highlights from causing distracting problems in the image and, of course, finding this position before all the color was drained from the scene.

The black negative space is a compliment to the overall scene and I think enriches the design and color of the image.  So far this is one of my favorites, but I'm sure that memory of the morning, time and place, are strong prejudices for me.

The time at the Badlands proved a long standing belief I have that location workshops are a good jolt to the learning process, especially when led by qualified instructors that are mentors of the art of photography.

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  

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

Learning Can Be Fun

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength..."  John Muir

This past week found me at South Dakota's Badlands at a five day photography workshop given by Tony Sweet and his partner, Susan Milestone, and what a week it was.  Both of these master photographers were excellent in knowing where to be and when and I can still hear Tony calling to all of us "here comes the light" while many of us were facing the opposite direction waiting for the sunrise glow to paint the eastern facing escarpments of the Badlands area.

The blog image was taken during a 3 minute period of luxurious light at the Big Badlands overlook area.  Just below my feet is a large expanse of air which I was trying not to be blown into by the south westerly winds of the morning.  While we all stood in awe of the special lighting effects I somehow managed to get the camera reset, shutter speeds and f/stops dialed in to fire off this three image file for HDR processing later in my motel room.  While making such a capture is a real thrill, being in the very presence of this changing light in a vast open landscape such as the Badlands, is indescribable. 

Both instructors fulfill the word "work" in workshop with a fairly non stop schedule of activity.  By 4:30am most of the attendees were loading their vehicles for departure at 4:45am to parts unknown in the Badlands National Park near Wall, South Dakota, our home for the five day photographic event.  We usually were on site long before the actual rising of the famed fireball, our sun, but the dawn light can be some of the most delicate pastels that any artist can imagine, and this morning was no exception...except for the gala event shown above. 

After about a four to five hour shoot at various locations, we usually gather for our only feast together at a local restaurant and fill up on carbs.  After breakfast we had about 4 hours to ourselves to process our previous work (or nap...so they tell me) and then we would meet for a two hour critique/instructional session with Tony and Susan.  It was a growing experience for me that involved learning about how various color or design nuances can elevate an "o.k." picture to a full fledged image of quality.  After 5 days of this instruction we all were surprised that, while we were all in the same location for a shoot, there were no similar images shown at the meeting.  Could it be that 9 photographers of equal ability proved that vision IS in the eye of the beholder?

When the class was over, we grabbed a bite to eat and loaded our gear again at about 4:30pm for the evening shoot, which took us to new venues and scenic lands within the park.  Usually, and this applied to morning an evening shoots, if the skies were partly cloudy the shoot would last longer since that golden light would spend more time bouncing around the cloud banks making us scurry around for new locations for different lighting situations.  By and large our day would end at about 8pm and we would head back to our rooms to ready ourselves for the next day.

For those of you that are longing for a fulfilling workshop experience and are willing to invest yourself in your artistry, take the time to check out Tony Sweets website, http://tonysweet.com , and click on his workshop tab.  Also, take the time to check his blog and get to know this amazingly gifted artist.

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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