Daniel Ruf

BRRRRRRRR

Winter in Iowa this year was a real challenge and in this month of April it still is poking its head in between warm days, when we get them. Even on a good day when I can head to the golf course I have to check the "chill" temperature before I decide my apparel for the day.  I also found out that Canon 5D Mark IV camera in the severe cold weather gets a bit slow and so do my "clicking" fingers.

As of today we are still waiting for a good rain so that the trees will start to put out new leaves indicating that they actually are alive. Landscape photography at this point is lacking a "warm" look and is not even worth the effort as cold winter scenes are not really popular in Northwest Iowa.

If we're lucky maybe the month of May will actually have a steady run of warm weather for both golf and photography.

The blog image is of Lakeside Laboratory which is about the best color I found in the white land. It's a laboratory that is real active during the summer with people interested in learning about the lake area natural habitats and wildlife and flowers.

Thanks for stopping by...Keep warm and safe.

More of my work can be seen at Arts On Grand in Spencer, Iowa and soon to be in the Pearson Lakes Art Center in the Okoboji area.

Enjoy The Leaves

       

                                              Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.Albert Camus

One morning I was looking out a window looking at the autumn leaves hitting the ground and realized that the previous frost had done its damage and I needed to get out to gather what pics that I could before every leaf had hit the ground. I grabbed my camera gear and ran to the truck to start my sleuthing for the autumn views.

The trip was a lot of stops and starts as I would get out, set up camera gear, take the shot, gather the gear up and place it all in my truck and head to the next opportunity, if there was one.

After cruising up and down roads I started to head back toward the lakes areas for a different scenic view which turned out to be a good decision or listening to that other voice that does tend to show up quietly at times. As you can see in the blog pic above not only did I have some nice shadows to work with there just happened to be a dock and a person to create the attraction that was needed to complete the image.

My experience over the years have taught me that the best pictures are the ones that included a bit of a surprise to fill in the blank spaces.

Thank you  all for visiting my blog site and I wish you the most beautiful Christmas this year.

More of my work can be seen at Arts On Grand in Spencer, Iowa

Autumn Passage

"Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower"  Albert Camus

Yesterday morning I visited the edge of East Okoboji Lake to watch another sunrise break the sky into multiple shades of color when I noticed the remaining leaves of summer that were backlit by the morning light. It was a reminder that Autumn was fading fast and its colors dwindling. In just a few months this landscape will give way to an iced lake and a white covering of snow. With this in mind I spent the rest of the day capturing every hint of color that I could find and rejoiced in each gift found.

Thanks for visiting my web blog and enjoy the remains of color that Autumn is giving to us

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Just Seconds

"What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time"  John Berger

My wife and I just came back from visiting relatives in Wisconsin and while there was autumn colors they were not as strong as usual since the area had had a lot of rain prior to our arrival. All that being said, it was beautiful if one found the right spots. Top that with visiting her cousins and it was a very enjoyable trip.

The blog image is a "pure luck" . To make a long story short, I was getting a hair cut by one of her cousins on his back porch area which opened to a beautiful lake scene. I was taking various trips to the bathroom to see the progress of the haircut and on my last trip my wife yelled at me to get back to the porch as a beautiful sunset was taking place. On the way I was thinking that it couldn't be possible since I just seconds before I had been sitting where I could see the sky and nothing was happening.....not even a hint of a sunset.

When I got to the living room I could see this orange glow filling the porch area. It was incredible. I only had my iPhone at the time and got working as I was concerned that this sunset wasn't going to last long. Within 3 minutes is was gone, leaving no evidence that it had ever occurred.

It was our last night there and it couldn't have been a better ending to our trip.

Thanks for visiting my blog site and enjoy the rest of Autumn as the cold snap is just around the corner

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

AHHHGGGGGGGGGGG!

"Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features and book-length manuals, and cars with dashboard systems worthy of the space shuttle."  James Surowieki

This past week I had a Dell laptop computer that is approximately 13 years old that I use for running my Epson printers. A few years ago I had to add an external drive as storage for thousands of photos in order for the computer to pick up speed and allow me to spend less time waiting for things to process. Recently the Dell people warned me that the battery in my computer was toast, but I could still use my computer as a plug-in device. Some weeks later I got another reminder that Dell would no longer support my laptop. After all of this drama the Dell finally showed signs that it was coming to crash time, meaning the purchase of a new laptop was near.

I own a MAC monster which I do much of my photo editing. When the MAC arrived several years ago I spent the first 2 weeks threatening to throw the thing out on the street and then driving over it.  The set up and learning process was mind numbing for my 69 year old brain and Apple doesn't make learning simple, IMO. During it's aging I've had my computer person beaf up all the the internal devices in the MAC and I have also added 3 external drives over time to keep the MAC at a steady pace during my use. 

My choice for a laptop was an Apple MacBookPro as I wanted to keep things simple. In the following week I spent more time with my computer person than I care to admit, but the beginning was my contact with the Apple service people and trying to follow their instructions over the phone...an Apple product as well.  They were very patient and kind and I was somewhat pleased with their efforts, but still was going through brain trauma. 

Following my phone experience with Apple along come the questionnaire from Apple about my satisfaction with the tech connection. I was fair and balanced in my report, but did suggest that Apple should have a book of instruction that came with the computer. I'm sure they have their reasons, but even the auto setup provided on the computer was flawed. Heck, my wife just got a RugDoctor vacuum and it came with a book and all my Canon cameras have come with "health" sized books that have been very helpful.

I'm sure you're board by now as I'm tired of writing, but lets just say that the digital age "ain't" what they promised and it's cold hearted in it development and processes.

Pray for me.

Thanks for joining me

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Looking for Spring

The "The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!" Ansel Adams

It's tiring to slosh my way through deep winter, then winter warmup, then almost out of winter, then hello winter, then almost spring, then WHERE IS SPRING! And that's exactly where we are right now in NW Iowa, knowing full well that we could see another freeze......or maybe even the flakes.

So, I'm looking for reminders of Spring or something close as I'm bored to death with pale grass, snow piles holding on and winds from hell. 

My files and files of images are always and uplift for downer times. Looking at them I can remember where I was and how it was. The image above brings back a foggy morning as I let my Boston Whaler float closer and closer to the subject as I point my 70 - 200mm canon lens toward the sunrise while steering with the other eye. Timing and place can make all the difference. If I were on dry land with my camera the scene maybe totally different and not as thrilling. We saw morning here in the lakes area when there was heavy fog around one lake and little around another. Treacherous driving and guessing became the "compass" of the morning.

 

The edges of the lakes are just starting to open along with the hope of Spring. Hunting for Pasque Flowers at a local preserve is the beginning of opening the mind to Spring. Missing this by just a few days can mean the difference from a clear sharp looking flower to dull limp petals.

Enjoy the coming Spring and thanks for following my blog site.

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Keep Looking

"Life rarely presents fully finished photographs. An image evolves, often from a single strand of visual interest - a distant horizon, a moment of light, a held expression." Sam Abell

Our eyes are one of the most magnificent parts of our body we've been blessed with. They are always working, except when sleeping, and making hundreds of "corrections" minute by minute. From bright light to morning softness they adjust and focus continuously.

Photography is an art form that requires vision along with creativity. When one is out with their camera their eyes are flashing from one subject another while at the same time adjusting to light, color, movement, near and far changes. These concepts of our eyes are also a requirement for photography. The camera is our instrument to focus on the subjects we find, enjoy and capture.

In order to progress in the creative process of photography it requires constant looking, evaluating, and returning to the subjects we find. As I've noted in several of my blog posts I continually return to subjects of the past as was advised by my good friend Tony Sweet tonysweet.com during his workshops.

A single subject can change from one day to the next based on time, light, season, etc. and the results of these changes can be amazing and is good enough reason to keep looking and returning to subjects as well is finding new ones.

Keep looking, my friends and thank for visiting my blog site

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Missing And Finding

 

"If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of better stuff." Jim Richardson

If there is one thing that has been the result of the virus is that we all have missed something, whether it be time, place or friends each of us have made sacrifices that we'll never get back. My "something" was making the regular trip to Arizona in the winter and also a planned trip to Italy, land of my ancestors even though my DNA says my genes are more comfortable with British and French connections. IT HAS TO BE WRONG! 

The blog post above is from Sabino Canyon, a place I've spoken about more than once on this blog site. Not only do I get to photograph some incredible light in the canyon I also get to take walks with my daughter and her crazy dog Murphy. It's a time to switch gears from the lakes region of Iowa to the comfortable landscapes of Arizona.

That being said...the time of lock downs and masks has also resulted in other photographic adventures and opportunities.

Our town has an amusement park that decided to light it up through the night as a big thank you to the nurses and first responders that have given so much of themselves to keep us safe and healthy.  On this particular morning I found splashes of color that I didn't know existed as the park is usually dark through the deep of night. I can remember scrambling up and down the docks looking for different angle options. Social distancing wasn't a problem here...just me and the lights.

Even during the day I was occupied with other options of social distancing by sitting in my truck and waiting for the possible.  Being retired makes this a normal day, but I made a bigger effort to find warm blooded options for my camera and in many of the situations I wasn't looking at their butt as they scampered away into the dense forest.

It's impossible to "candy coat" this event that we are all facing on our planet. The solutions involve staying safe, wearing a mask (that might be the reason for the perky ears), and finding something to thrill your heart and soul.

Thanks for stopping by

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it."

John Burroughs

We've had many days of frosty/foggy mornings this past couple of weeks up here in NW Iowa and it's a gift for a photographer. Its importance in an image comes forward once the sun throws it's bright rays on the frost laden trees. I've spent a lot of time waiting for the foggy skies to clear so that clarity comes to the rescue. I even managed to remember to pull out my polarizer and attach it to my lens. Doing this even made the scene  perkier .

Atmospheric occasions like this make winter scenes really perk up and will be candidates to send into Our Iowa Magazine for the 2021/22 winter next year. It always feels weird to think that I'm shooting for next year now. It will be that same thing for every season. And what makes it even more unusual is that the call for entry to next winter likely come in the summer when I'm shooting summer scenes.  

A few days later I went to another one of my favorite places that had the frosty covering and enough opacity int the sky to get some color from the sun.Without the sun this scene would be pretty dull and gray. 

Both blog images were captured with a Canon 5D MarkIV and edited in both Lightroom and Photoshop. 

This has been a great start to the new year as I don't think I saw much fog and frost last year or the year before. We're at the point on the calendar that I can start thinking that Spring is just around the corner.Granted, it's a few blocks away yet, but I feel better thinking it's closer.

I wish you all a fabulous New Year and encourage you to get out to enjoy the season of winter wherever you are.

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

 

 

 

"Our forests offer much more than just beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Each one has a different story to tell."  Raveena Tandon

Snow has finally arrived to our part of the world...not much, but getting more today. Finally it beginning to look like winter with a nice white coat covering a thirsty soil.

Years ago I was attending a Tony Sweet (tonysweet.com) workshop, my first, at the Badlands in South Dakota. As we were loading up our vehicles with our gear he made a statement that still stays with me. "Always have your camera ready to work as you never know what's around the corner." I can't tell you how many times I've ignored that strong advice, but as time went by I soon learned, after watching enough wildlife butts heading over the horizon, that I needed to heed his advice. The blog image above is evidence that being ready makes all the difference.

This youngster was on its way not long after I stopped my truck and grabbed a couple of shots. I used my Canon 5D Mark IV with a Canon 70 - 200mm lens attached. As I finished looking at the shots on the LCD I wasn't sure how much I would like the image of the deer looking back, as I had a couple of normal side poses that I finished with before it left for the deeper forest. As it turned out this pose became a new addition to my file named "Intruder" which is full of different shots of wildlife that were alert to my presence.

This image is a cropped portion of an image that has been popular because of this lone canada goose that  had its eye on me the entire time I was composing this image in its full frame form. As I mentioned in the previous post of December 12, I have been watching videos made by Judy Hancock on YouTube concerning "minimalist" photography. It's a new concept to me and I've enjoyed learning the steps to doing more of this kind of work.

Old dogs can learn new tricks....it just takes longer.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to comment or share with others. Have a happy New Year, stay safe and don't over do on the holiday. I'll be sleeping right through the celebration as always

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org