Daniel Ruf

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

Winter Color

"My apple tree will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'."

from "Mending Wall" by
Robert Frost

Finding winter color can be a challenge up here in Northwest Iowa and I had been looking for quite some time for a Bittersweet vine to work with when I stumbled on this one, clinging to an old fence line that has escaped removal by the land owner. I was most fortunate that the day started with a nice heavy fog which gave way to a heavy layer of hoar frost on everything in the open, including this stunning blast of colorful Bittersweet berries.

The demise of Bittersweet and other fence "decor" is the result of the push/rush by many farmers to add a couple of acres and/or reduce the need to keep planting machinary, etc. clear of snagging these "tempermental" land dividers.  My minimal experience in the field had taught me to allow a couple of feet of clearance to avoid such problems, but I'll admit, watching with a craned neck and steering a tractor were not my strong suit at certain times. 

The biggest problem in removal of a fence line is about more than just the loss of some Bittersweet vines or grape vines.  Since a margin for error was required for working along a fence line with farm equipment, it meant that most fence lines "protected" about 3 - 4 feet, counting both sides of the fence.  This "acreage" was, and still is, vitally important as wildlife cover, especially with such birds as pheasants and animals like rabbits, etc.  Today, it's not uncommon to see whole sections of land (640 acres) that are devoid of fence lines, meaning a large loss of wildlife habitat and food sources, especially during the winter months.  Add to that the fact that fence lines make acceptable snow fences during the winter and one can clearly see that fence removal is a harsh solution to gaining an acre of ground, maybe a row of corn or beans, and faster completion of farming chores. 

While I do understand the farmer "side of the fence" I'm not sure that a row of corn makes up for loss of habitat and snow fence with the removal of these aged lines of demarcation.  And, yes, as I found out personally, good fences do make good neighbors as some farmers tend to farm a little farther out of their fence line when a sturdy fence is absent.

The blog image is a simple production using Photoshop CS5 and a mild use of both Topaz Adjust and Nik Viveza plug in to enhance sharpness and color presentation.

Thanks for visiting my blog site.

    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

Getting Out

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. "
John Ruskin

Shortly before Christmas we had a break in the weather leaving a delicious layer of new snow on the ground and some sunlight which "forced" me to grab the gear and head to the truck.  It was late afternoon when I started out and as the light started to really get low I found my way to a couple of spots that I thought would work the best for the light at the time.  While heading down a familiar gravel road I past a farm driveway, gave it a quick glance and then kept driving.  My subconsious must have caught a glimpse of the beautiful patterns in the snow because that inner voice was screaming "GO BACK, IDIOT".  As I usually listening when the word "idiot" comes out I proceeded to back up the hill, park the truck, and get out into the crisp winter air.  When I moved around the rear of the truck it was then that I again caught the visual dining table of oblong circles pointing right up that long quiet drive and ending at the lonesome corn crib, a vanishing feature in our part of the world.  As the light was getting low and color began to paint the sky I had to work fast getting my gear set up while making some decisions. 

The area was a bit tight to work in since there was a very ugly machine shed to the immediate right side of the subject, but I think the directional indicators of circles and vegetation along the side helps to move the eye up the hill to the quietly waiting crib.  It also was clear that an HDR capture was necessary due to the light sky and dark foreground areas.  As I finished the work at this location I trudged around the area to see if there were a better positions, but this was the best spot and viewpoint for the subject.

The blog image is a result of the evening shoot and I began the editing process by using the new Nik HDRefex program.  I did some minor tweaks with the software to achieve the final conversion and was thrilled by the results, especially since it was the first time I had pulled something from the new Nik software. 

The longer I looked at the image, and after printing up a couple of greeting cards, I really felt that some frosting was needed to hold the viewers attention a bit longer in the environment.  Since the moon was getting close to being full and had cleared the horizon to the left I decided that I could introduce a moon to the landscape to see how it looked.  After seeing the results I was even more pleased with the outcome and left things be from there.

It continues to amaze me how just jumping into a vehicle with a bag of camera gear can make a normal winter outing a real thrill and doesn't even have to involve sliding on the ice.  I can distinctly remember thinking I was going to lose the light and lose the opportunity to find something photogenic, but give me enough gas, an old corn crib, lonely lane and some descent light and I'm usually happy.

Wishing you all a happy new year!

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

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