Arts in Harmony - 2009

This year I was fortunate to have 3 images selected for the Arts in Harmony art show in Elk River, Minnesota. This is the 13th annual show and it is second in size behind the Minnesota State Fair Art Show in all of Minnesota,




This is my 5th year of acceptance into the show and having 3 images selected from the 692 submitted works is quite an honor. The show is open to residence of the United States and 241 artists submitted work.




These are my 3 images selected for the show. The first was made in the South Dakota Badlands. I've always loved black and white photography and this image highlights the alternating bands of light and dark lines so prevalent in the Badlands.

The second was made from the end of Artist Point in Grand Marais, Minnesota. I have probably shot more sunrises from this location than any where else. This was another incredible sunrise and fortunately the seagull decided to hang around for this 69 second exposure (I was silently cheering for the seagull to stay until I heard the shutter close. It then quickly flew away).

The third image was made earlier this year when I met my brother in Portland for a weekend of Oregon shooting. This is a unique interpretation of a rather iconic Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach. A Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter was used to gain a relatively long 2.5 second exposure that allowed the foam in the water to blur giving the beautiful curved lines. The moodiness of this cold, rainy and windswept day was accentuated by the contrast between the light and dark.

Stop by and see the show, it is really a great mixed media show, if you're in Elk River. The show is on display at the Sherburne County Government Center but is only open during regular business hours.

Roger

Bosque Del Apache, Day 3

Today was the final day, or rather morning, at Bosque Del Apache and the final morning of shooting for this trip.

In addition to Snow Geese the other significant bird, at least for me, is the Sandhill Crane. There were many thousands of Sandhill Cranes and were quite a contrast to the geese. While both species occupy the same space, the geese act as one body, generally flying-in and flying-out as a flock. The Sandhill Cranes are more individualistic. They travel in much smaller groups and take their time when changing locations. It may take a half hour for all the Sandhill Cranes to vacate a pond whereas the geese are all gone in a matter of seconds.

So today's images are devoted to Sandhill Cranes. I didn't get any real good images of the cranes (so I need to return someday) plus I'm tired, after driving 650 miles (800 tomorrow), and don't want to spend a bunch of time working the images.



What's really funny about this picture is that the cranes line up and go for a walk in the morning prior to flying off to the fields. They just march along single file and then randomly start squacking before taking flight.

I very much enjoy Bosque Del Apache and understand why people keep returning. It sounds like the numbers of birds is down alot from previous years, global warming, but the sights and sounds are still awesome.

Roger

Bosque Del Apache, Day 2

Got to Bosque Del Apache this morning an hour before sunrise. There weren't any birds in the pond everyone said to shoot so I followed a few cars to some other ponds. No geese there either so it was back to the first pond. Got there just in time for the fly-in of a flock of Snow Geese. Fortunately we had just the slightest amount of clouds and they were located in a perfect spot. This first image was the first frame of the day. It is just so awesome to see the sky filled with these geese. According to the last count, on Dec 18, there were 13,800 geese and 5,130 Sandhill Cranes. There were also 41,855 ducks along with an assortment of eagles, hawks, owls and other birds.



The geese hung around at the pond until after sunrise. Then somehow the 'blastoff' was triggered and the all rose from the water at the same time. Once in the air they all headed straight for the fields. This image is the sky filled with departing geese.



Later in the day I was playing with a slow shutter speed trying to capture a sense of motion. With my camera still using 1/15th of a second for the shutter speed there was another 'blastoff' from the pond I was at. I was a bit dismayed with the slow shutter speed but was pleased to see the results this evening. I may have to try this technique again.

Tomorrow morning I will return to Bosque Del Apache for sunrise one more time before heading out for a long drive to Oklahoma City.

Roger