Daniel Ruf

Winter Entertainment

"Taking pictures is savoring life, every hundredth of a second" Marc Riboud

Iowa winters can be very "charming" if it involves a sunset or sunrise, otherwise it's probably one of the most difficult seasons to photograph. That being as it is I have a "bandaid" for the problem. 

During my senior year at Principia College I was required to develop a senior project that would be on display on some wall, in some building in the art department. I decided to do some sort of wildlife drawings or paintings which would involve my getting to know an artist at the St.Louis Zoo.  I can't remember is name, but the experience was a real heal to being able to finish my senior project.

Fast forward to 2022 and I find myself using these forgotten tools for graphite drawing to push myself through the winter months in Iowa. Like any other art or sport having a long layoff requires a long recovery time lean how to handle a pencil or brush to achieve an acceptable result, as above. It also takes a good camera and long lens to capture the subject as well.

I'm glad I've gotten back to using my finger, brain and camera to achieve a mental thrill over the Winter season.

Spring IS just around the cornerThanks for joining me here and you can view my work at the following galleries;

 Arts On Grand in Spencer, IA as well as the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, IA.

 

What's This?

"Art is the desire of a person to express Themselves, to record the reactions their personality to the world they live in."  Amy Lowell

Years ago I was fortunate to be able to take an art course given by Hank Hall in our community. Hank has a unique approach to art and can run the range from "traditional" art to a more abstract presentation.  A year ago I decided to take a visit to the abstract world by using some of the techniques that I learned in Hank's workshop. One of the results is the blog image for todays post.

The art you see is a combination of colored pencils, ink pens, acrylic paint, cotton balls, Crayola's, an old toothbrush and, finally, my thought process. It required many hours and procedures as well as a lot of trips up and down the stairs of my house after getting a new idea or procedure for the art.

The most important, bazaar, and exciting thing I learned is that while doing the process of creating this I realized that the art itself leads one to the next phase of its development.

I'm sure that this is a bit much for many  people to understand, but the more I worked on this piece the more I listened and would, sometimes, be led to the next step. 

Things have changed in that I not only do this type of abstract work but I continue to do my photography as well as beginning a relationship with watercolor painting, which was my passion in college.

Thanks for visiting, stay safe and enjoy winter

Take the time...take a walk!

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

A Journey Rejointed

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots".  Marcus Garvey

When I walked out of my college commencement I had accomplished majors in both biology and art. James Green, my art prof, was the one that woke up my interest in art from years of sleep, which thrilled my mother. It didn't thrill her so much as it cost me another year of college debt. 

At first my  primary concern was acquiring a job, along with a million other graduates, and to continue my interest in painting and drawing. They seemed like obvious intentions yet as time went by they became less important as marriage, children and jobs became the main focus.

I remember sitting with my kids while they watched Bob Ross (it's all his fault) paint on t.v. It was interesting, but not compelling at that time. He was enjoyable and convincing to watch and his approach to painting was amazing.

Fast forward to about a year ago when my interest had become photography which allowed both my painting history and access to such programs like Lightroom, Photoshop, Snap Art, etc. to combine for interesting results. At the same time I could vividly remember my watercolor experiences in college and a yearning to "rejoin" were becoming more annoying as I continued to resist the calling.

Finally I took the whispers seriously and began to wander through various YouTube videos to learn some basics. What I learned was that my hands weren't steady with a brush and my concepts both confused and vague. At this point I realized I needed some hands on instruction. My first solution was to relate my secret (kept from my wife so I wouldn't be exposed to spouse pressure:) ) to a good friend and artist Judy Thompson, judy thompson watercolors.com, and began getting some needed education into the finer points of watercolor. As time went by Judy realized that I needed some hands on instruction, but we lived about 90 miles apart. Judy then pointed me toward a good local friend Anita Plucker, artworkbyanita.com , and things started to roll from there. Anita, like Judy, have amazing teaching skills as well as beautiful art skills. I've followed both for years and each has their own style and concepts.

The above digital image was my first choice for beginning to add watercolors to paper. It was a foggy scene from a few weeks ago, but was concerned about the difficulty.

I'm taking weekly instructions from Anita and this is the first exercise that is still in the process of finishing. Much like my photography and past experience with art I take time away from the painting, sometimes and entire day or two and then return to refine some concepts.

This new connection, I believe, has also affected my photography, whether it's taking a more refined look at my subject matter from the view finder or the final touches of the editing process.  

I'm realizing that I am enjoying my reconnect with brushes and paint.

Thanks for joining me at my blog and have a really inspiring summer....maybe even consider one of the courses at the Pearson Lakes Art Center or Arts On Grand.

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

 

Transitions

"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountains and sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.  John Lubbock

It seems like the transition from autumn to winter has happened at least three times here in Northwest Iowa. We have seen the East Okoboji Lake surface freeze at least 4 times and each time the ice succumbs to another warming system that passes through for a week or so at a time. We've had about 3 inches of snow which has also disappeared leaving more leaves to collect, which I hope I've done for the last time this year.

The blog image is a morning a couple of weeks ago showing the ice retreating and the sunrise glowing. This has been a year of many glowing sunrises and sunsets and I presume it's largely the result of the western forest fires which have resulted in days and days of haze over the landscape.

This image was captured with my Canon 5D Mark IV using the HDR process in camera. The editing processes started in Lightroom with finishing touches in Photoshop CC, which mainly was focused on brightening the shoreline landscape.

Thank you for joining me here and I hope you have a marvelous Thanksgiving. Stay safe, use your mask and be aware of social distancing. I'm sure we are all tired of hearing the well meant warning, but when I'm out in public it seems that there is a certain deafness to caution by many.

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

A Long Time To Wait

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."  Joseph Campbell

It's been quite a awhile since the last fog event in our area of Northwest Iowa...so long that I can't remember the last time. Because of the wait I was thrilled when I woke up to hazy street lights and hoping that the fog was going to lead to some fun photography.

The blog scene has a much welcomed "Z" line running through the picture with layers of fog caught in the depressions. The interesting thing is that the lake areas really didn't have fog hanging around as I found out making my first swing the the lake areas.

This scene was shot with my Canon 5D Mark IV with a 400mm zoom on the front end. It wasn't until I saw the RAW file on the computer that I saw a bird taking flight near the middle of the image. Judge by the size I'd say it was a hawk of some kind.

The editing process started with Lightroom and Topaz AI Denoise, then Photoshop for the details, and NIK software for final touches.

The next day found us with another foggy morning, which provided another opportunity to try some different areas of our area. This wetland area is a prime area for gulls, pelicans, herons and ducks. As I took this shot a line of pelicans was making their way toward me and the camera. Luck is always welcome.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. The season is making a turn with a lot of leaves and acorns hitting the ground. It won't be long before we'll be seeing the white stuff, but the time for logging fall color is on its way.

Thanks for visiting...Keep safe and use the social distancing options and masks

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Options

   

"For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity."  Henri Cartier-Bresson

Spending an afternoon in a wooded area last week gave me the opportunity to work with natures figures. The oak trees in our area can take on some really graceful poses and with some nice lighting and a few flowers the options for creativity increases. In this case I was first attracted by the light in the background and the flowers in the fore ground. A pretty simple scene to work with. 

At home it went through the editing process starting in Lightroom and moving on to Photoshop to do the finishing detail process. After I finished I decided I'd like to see this scene as a black and white to weigh the differences.

While the scene holds up well, IMO, I still wanted to push this image in another direction. At first I thought I would use the opacity slider to bring in a little the color to see what difference that would make.

After a lot of fiddling I decided to use the brush tools in Photoshop and selectively paint in a thin amount of the original background yellow/green color in certain areas.

As you can see there are three images created from one particular capture. A lot of times I find my brain is locked in to certain "used" creative options and I forget to take on some different challenges.

I used my Canon 5D Mark IV camera with a 24 - 105mm "L" lens for these captures.

Thanks for visiting...Keep safe and use the social distancing options and masks

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Morning Lights

    

"Photography is about putting the pieces together." Daniel Ruf

This morning was all about patience and putting the pieces together. I changed positions several times, yet as I walked away to my truck to leave for home I turned and found this setup.  My last position was about 10 feet to the left. We can have the best lenses and camera money can buy, but if you don't move your feet you might miss the best shot of the day.

This blog image was taken with my handheld iPhone and its wide angle lens. The clouds and rocks demanded the wide angle approach and both subjects compliment each other. 

While I was driving in search of the right spot for the sunrise at 4:30 a.m. and using "The Photographer's Ephemeris" app I came to this lakeshore spot and realized that the sunrise was less important than the nice cloud formation that was taking place. 

The black and white version.

 

It's continues to be a learning journey no matter how old you might be.

Thanks for visiting

Thank you for dropping by...go plant another tree

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org