Daniel Ruf

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

 

No Snow?

"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

It's been a dry winter so far with up and down temps. Last week it hit 50 degrees on one day and it's 25 degrees today. No beautiful snow blanket covering what's left over from autumn. In our part of the world weather life we're having is an ominous sign that a climate surprise is around the corner.

The blog image is the results of a very thick fog we had last week combined with very cold morning temps.  As the morning wore on the tree branches started to gather in the frost particles which made a nice garment covering the trees.

It was a nice change from the humdrum clear skies we were having that was punctuated by high winds. I think I'm already tired of this drab looking winter, yet asking for snow is almost a crime!

We still get our colorful moments which makes up for lack of snow. This tree caught my attention as it seemed to be waiting for me. My actual destination was behind me, but I thought this scene was worth my attention.

By the way if you search YouTube for Judy Hancock you should find an amazing video of here discussion of Minimalist Photography along with a selection of her beautiful work. 

Thanks for visiting this site and feel free to comment while you're here. 

Wishing all of you a very merry Christmas and fabulous New Year. It has to get better, right?  Hold good thoughts, be safe, enjoy your family and extend a loving hand to all

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

 

Autumn.....So Soon?

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

It's unbelievable that it is autumn already! It seems like just yesterday we were watching the new flowers bursting and having to mow the lawn. The fact is the this is the norm for people of retirement age. It just seems that weeks fly by while we get older. 

The blog image is from a local park on a morning when an unannounced thick fog spread over our landscape. Of course the weather sources didn't happen to mention the fog in the forecast and I had a late start and had to choose the closest location that might have promise.

Just behind me was a totally different composition with the suns rays warming up the color of a grassland landscape. It was a morning of treasures as the fog was around for another hour or so. Since then high winds have shaken a lot of leaves off the trees and the landscape is getting ready for the winter season. 

As I was concentrating on getting these shots I could here pheasants and owls adding their say to the show adding the the autumn feel.

Thanks for following my blog and have a great week and a safe week.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I had an unexpected opportunity to hang and exhibit at Arts On Grand in Spencer,Iowa this past week. The show will be up until November 7. The title of the show is "Along The Way" and is a collection of not only lakes area themes, but other places where my wife and I have been outside of Iowa the last couple of years. If you're in the area Arts On Grand is worth the visit.

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