Miksang Day Three

Nikon D3000, 200mm (28-200), 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 450

This morning I saw a couple of small lizards sunning themselves on a wall outside the house. I look several pictures of them, and I liked this one best.

Nikon D7000, 50mm (18-55), 1/800, f/14,  ISO 500

Today the class shifted from color to texture, a subject that proved easier to work with. Two of the strongest shots I got were fountains. I was particularly fond of this close-up of a water fountain. The multiple textures – smooth, scratched, sandy, wet – were a good photographic find. I may eventually print and frame this picture.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/500, f/11, ISO 500

I might have missed this fountain entirely if a kid hadn’t been sticking her thumb in it to make the water spray everywhere. When she finished playing I moved in close to capture the fine details.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/320, f/9, ISO 500, cropped

For the first four days of the class we did our shooting at the Pearl Street Mall, one of those shopping areas created by replacing the street with sidewalks, art and plants. The environment was a magnet for Boulder bohemians, especially musicians. I didn’t take many pictures of them, because people were outside the scope of the subject areas I was trying to concentrate on. But I did snap a couple of good ones, such as this close-up of a saxophone player.

Nikon D7000, 200mm (28-200), 1/640, f/5.6, ISO 500, adjusted

After class and dinner I strayed across the street to Boulder Canyon Creek and shot some pictures of some folks kayaking.

Miksang Day Two

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/500, f/11, ISO 500

Day two once again found us in pursuit of color. Today I focused much harder on the Miksang approach, worrying less about getting technically good photos and seeking flashes of visual inspiration.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/320, f/9, ISO 400

And that proved to be a challenge. Take this photo for example. It was the product of a fairly strong flash of insight in keeping with the Miksang process. Looking at it reminds me of the moment. Trouble is, it isn’t an especially good picture.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/20, f/5.6, ISO 400

On the other hand, another flash produced this shot of a leaf in a fountain. It’s a product of the practice and a visually appealing shot. But note the motion blur produced by the slow shutter speed. I love the blur, but obviously I didn’t see it with my eye when I looked at the subject. So technically it’s outside the scope of what we should have been capturing.

iPhone

Still, some Miksang moments were there for the taking. My lunch provided this one.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/400, f/11, ISO 640, cropped

And this one was originally a larger shot that included all the girl and all the stone rabbit she was sitting on. But edited down to the core of the perception, it became a more Miksang photo.

Nikon D3000, 50mm fixed, 1/30, f/1.8, ISO 1600

That evening I stood on the deck and watched the clouds gathering to the east of the Rockies. I liked the thought that the storm developing as I watched might eventually sweep across the plains and find its way to KC.

Miksang Day One

Nikon D7000, 32mm (18-55), 1/250, f/8, ISO 100

First things first: happy birthday to the blog, one year old tomorrow.

Now down to business. In mid June I went to Boulder for a week-long seminar with the Miksang Institute for Contemplative Photography. The Miksang approach is sort of a blend of photography and meditation, a system that seeks to capture flashes of visual insight.

For the next month I’m going to blog some of the photos I look at the workshop. I’ll also stir in a few that I shot on the side, such as the mountain picture at the top of this entry.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/400, f/10, ISO 200

For the first day of actual shooting, we were sent in search of insight with a strong color component. The first one that hit me was a pastel-painted brick wall where the paint had flaked away revealing the original red.

Nikon D7000, 50mm (18-55), 1/80, f/5.6, ISO 200

Another strong color moment hit with this lid from a recycling can. You can see texture creeping in a bit with the water on the surface.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/100, f/5.6, ISO 400

I liked the strong yellow on this guy’s bike jersey. However, I didn’t show this one to the class because it was more a picture of a guy than it was a picture of a color. And the chaotic lines, while visually pleasing, also detracted from the sense of color.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/30, f/5.6, ISO 400

Likewise this one didn’t exactly scream “color.” But I liked it as a photo. It’s a close-up on the face of a sculpture of a frog. Rare moment: you can see a “self portrait” of me reflected in the eye.

Silo demolition

Back in my film days, I spent a fair amount of time photographing buildings in the process of being demolished. Here’s another example.

Notice the difference between the two shots. The subject is the same; the only change is the camera angle. The shot above was taken from a nearby overpass, and the shot below was taken from ground level. Note how the two images look and feel different.

State Drive-In

Ah, those sweet summer nights at the drive-in. Bad food. Warm beer. Awful audio. Barely visible screens (at least until the sun went all the way down). Sigh.

The State was the one we all went to when I was a kid. Many years ago they closed it up and tore it down. But I got some shots of the sign before it vanished.

The photo presents some shot composition lessons, but for this week I’m going to let the teaching slide and just appreciate it for what it is.

Wells Overlook

Nikon D3000, 50mm fixed, 1/1000, f/18, ISO 1600, edited

Another photo expedition, this time to Wells Overlook just south of Lawrence. The landscape naturally suggested a panoramic photo, so I shot a series of 30 or so pictures and combined them in Photoshop. I didn’t have a tripod with me, and the uneven frames shot by hand cost me a bit on the top and bottom. But with the jagged edges cropped away, the pan looks fine. As usual with extra wide photos, it will look better if you click on the image to enlarge it.

Rain fell for most of the morning, and it had let up less than an hour earlier. The haze was still fairly thick, which you can clearly see in the photo. Compare the vivid greens of the trees in the foreground with the faded greys that almost blend into the sky along the horizon. Normally I’m not a big fan of haze, but here it gives the image a pleasant sense of depth.

Of course I could have eliminated some of the murk by adjusting the input levels, as I’ve done with this photo:

Nikon D7000, 55mm (18-55), 1/320, f/9, ISO 100, cropped and adjusted

You can see KU in the background and a hawk of the non-jay variety riding the drafts toward the top.

For the record, this is what the overlook tower looks like:

Nikon D7000, 20mm (18-55), 1/250, f/8, ISO 125

And by coincidence, I shot exactly 61 photos with both cameras. Weird.

Liberty Memorial

Nikon D7000, 130mm (75-300), 1/640, f/6.3, ISO 200

The Sketchbook staff were at the Liberty Memorial last week. The main target was Union Station, but we also noticed some workers cleaning up some of the bas relief sculpture.

The lesson here is a question of shot composition. Compare the “best shot” above with other framing options made possible by a 75-300mm zoom lens.

The next shot provides the best detail on the worker, but it doesn’t supply much context. The drama in the scene is how high the scaffold dangles above the ground. This shot does nothing to show the height.

Nikon D7000, 300mm (75-300), 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 400

The next one’s a little better. The detail on the sculpture is good. Still, it doesn’t look all that high up.

Nikon D7000, 175mm (75-300), 1/1600, f/5.3, ISO 400

Of all the shots in the set, this last one puts the most distance between the scaffold and the bottom of the shot. But here it’s almost too much. The stairs at the bottom confuse the space, making it hard to judge the height. And the worker is now too small a part of the overall composition.

Nikon D7000, 75mm (75-300), 1/640, f/6.3, ISO 200