Daniel Ruf

Don't Miss The View

"Even if you fall on your face, you are still moving forward."   Victor Kiam

It's no secret to my wife that I have my share of bad habits or failings since I manage a repetitive use of any one of them on a daily basis.  My mistress, photography, also brings up the subject frequently, but in this case I usually am more mindful of the instruction.  One thing that consistently has control is this notion of being so focused on a destination that I miss the the entire journey and a good case in point is when traveling.  If I'm bound to get to Duluth, or any other place for that matter, the estimated time of arrival is carved into my brain and all attention is focused on this one achievement, except, of course, those necessary stops at the McDonald's drive thru.

I've found that this also takes hold when camera work is completed.  If it's been a successful shoot my brain will have a pretty good idea of the "highlight" shot or shots (if I'm so lucky to enjoy the plural form) and when I gather my excited self in front of the computer it is the chosen direction to find the particular capture, process/edit it and pronounce the yeah or neah of the scene.

As many of my posts have mentioned the winter weather here in Northwest Iowa....well, it just isn't.  The brown skeletal scenery is still missing the white blanket of winter and the beauty that it leaves for us to enjoy.  In order to curb the frustration my usual solution is to read about photographic processes, organize my file system or do still life photography. 

The blog image is an example of what's wrong with my "get there at all cost" approach as it applies to my editing process.  I found this in a file of work from about 2 years ago and I can actually remember the trip since I was in a mode of wanting some shots of the wind generators that have taken over our landscape.  How or why I passed this capture on the way to the editing process I will never know, but it is proof that one should at least view the journey, or in this case the body of work, that gets recorded.

Thank you all for your generous tolerance.

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

Surprises!

"It's not what you look at that matter's, it's what you see."  Henry David Thoreau

A couple of weeks ago I had the great need to get away from the house, daily chores, and prep work to just get out for some serious one on one time with the camera.  The minutes that can be chewed up behind a computer or at the printer can add up to hours and suddenly one finds dust laying on the camera bag from lack of use.  With that in mind I left home at about 4 a.m. wanting to be at a particular spot at a certain time.  I really hate trying to manage shooting time since most times I play things a little loose to keep my creative side open to any and all possibilities.  As I was driving through the countryside I looked out the drivers side window to catch the rising crescent moon and suddenly I knew I had to find a foreground to go with the shot.  Turning at the next gravel/rural road I came the casual morning trek became the frantic search for something of interest.

As time passed, my brain was telling me "the moon's getting higher, the moon's getting higher" while I also noticed that "dawns early light" was also going to become marker of time slipping away.  Finally, I saw a grouping of wind generators in the distance and thought that this might be a possibility, but wasn't really to keen on a landscape with a bunch of steel sticking up into what might be a beautiful sunrise.  I gave it a good look on the way by, thought "yuck" in the back of my mind and then that little argument starts..."you better stop"..."no, I don't like it"..."you better stop"....  Unfortunately, as I continued on to the west, the road made a big dip causing the surface landscape to disappear.  As I made the next rise that familiar voice..."You better stop and get out"...was screaming.  I slammed on the breaks, grabbed my gear and entered MOSQUITO VALLEY!  While throwing tripods up, swatting at pesky, hungry mosquitoes, putting on a 70-200mm zoom, yelling at myself that I couldn't get the whole scene in because the moon (go figure) had risen high enough to slip outside the viewfinder, cussing the two generators that weren't working, changing the lens to a wide angle zoom, slipping in a neutral grad filter and................Finally, yes FINALLY I was ready to get serious.  I was able to slip the tree on the left horizon in so that it wouldn't look so barren and get those wispy clouds in which help break up an otherwise boring sky.

Shot done, wind picked up, moon out of reach and that was pretty much the morning shoot.  Back at the ranch the editing was really pretty simple, a little Viveza on the moving blade patterns to define them a little more as well as giving a little more "body" to the thin, wisps of clouds and it was a done deal.  Of course, as with most captures, a person can sit there, as I did, and do the Monday morning quarterback thing of..."I should of this" or "I should of that", but growing in any artistic medium is about lessons learned, which lead to growth of both our vision and our results.

Heck, those pieces of steel don't look half that bad with the title of "Iowa's New Harvest" attached to the image.  Wind energy...using a renewable resource to preserve those that aren't.

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