here are a few more favorite shots from a road trip back in april, i just got these back from the lab. if you haven't done so already, you check out holga series of southwestern colorado landscapes round 1 if you'd like to see more.

a roadside pit stop near the top of red mountain pass, colorado, shot with a holga:


canyon of the ancients national monument are well preserved by tax payer's dollars:


wildfires in 1996, 2000, and 2002 burned much of the park. for the first 20 or so miles of driving in, the not-so-green-table looked very much like this, as shot from the fire lookout at park point overlook:


the spruce tree house, among the best-preserved cliff dwelling at mesa verde:


to avoid harsh shadows, i chose to shoot the largest cliff dwelling, cliff palace, at dusk using a tripod and my 70-200 f/2.8 lens zoomed to 200mm for 1/4 sec, f/11, iso 200. sorry, my holga just didn't have the low-light capability that the nikon d300 has. it boggles my mind to think ansel adams pulled some great stuff back in 1941 that still rival what a 100 megapixel camera could shoot today. if you scanned in one of his large format negatives at 300dpi, you'd get the about equivalent of about 100MP image. it just goes to show you megapixels don't matter.


and a 4 second exposure after sunset (f/6.7 and iso 800) was needed for this panoramic perspective using the nikon 12-24 f/4lens. it was super peaceful, quiet, and had the place all to myself for the better half of two hours. now, that is a luxury!


the balcony house, built some 1,400 years ago and 'found' in 1884, is an intriguing place to explore. my imagination had fun thinking about what it was like to live a thousand years ago, without the internet, global commerce, and reality-tv. while i was walking around, the rangers were so patiently answering visitor's questions. i overheard one of the small kids ask the rangers, "why did they built their houses so far from the road" :)

i probably would have asked the same question if i was 5 years old!


while many the the areas have been excavated and restored, there are many reminders of the ancestral puebloans of mesa verde like rock drawings, pottery shards. i enjoyed seeing the tiny foot holds cut into the rock and spaced apart like a grade 5.7 or so at the rock climbing gym! and to think kids ran up and down this rocks all day long carrying water, food, and toys!

ah... the excitement of getting back film :)

it seems those days are long gone for mainstream professional portrait & wedding photographers. however, the giddy landscape photographer hobbist in me still loves to shoot medium format film. perhaps it is a step back to simpler shooting, the greater dynamic range, the "happy light leak mistakes," or just the thrill of not-so-instant gratification of seeing photograph captured months ago.

for a few extra bucks, pictage scans in the images at a decent resolution and allows me to quickly download them directly from their servers via ftp. sure, the whole process of buying film, mailing it in, paying for the cost of developing may cost a bit more than shooting digital. but i will say that the entire process of shooting film medium format film on a low tech camera forces me to think different. creatively different.

talk to experienced film photojournalists: they shoot very differently at the beginning of a roll of 36 than they do at the end of the roll.... especially when they haven't captured a 'worthwhile' moment.

similarly, when shooting with a roll of 12, i find myself thinking long and hard before pressing the shutter. the funny thing i'm discovering, is the "keepers worth printing" are almost at a 90% rate.... waaaaaay higher than the percentage from shooting digital. for personal work, i actually print maybe 2% of what i shot digital. gulp.

chromatic aberations, light leaks, double exposures, and soft vignetting: these are among the hallmarks of the $30 plastic holga. here are a few from my latest 3 rolls of fujifilm fujicolor pro 400h (120mm). you have the option to get 16 images in a 5x6 format, or 12 square images larger in size (my preference).

shot months ago, but posted for the first time below, here's the black canyon of the gunnison national park in colorado, as seen through my holga:



a shooting range just outside the park entrance... gotta love the dynamic range straight out of the camera:


view of montrose from a short hike in black canyon of the gunnison national park


palm trees in avalon, california


love the grain in this photo of nicole, taken after enjoying a bottle of riesling and chocolate cake on a hot day in avalon, catalina island:


nicole gets a "free hug" at balboa park in san diego, california. behind me, the museum of photographic arts, showcases some awesome photographic art and has a killer artsy bookstore and cool photobooth inside. it is a must see if you are in the area!


an extra cool 'happy mistake' resulting from an accidental sideways double exposure:


stay tuned in a few days for a series of landcapes of mesa verde national park, among other colorado locales also shot with the holga-nator.

ahhhh. nothing like a little r & r to recharge the creative juices. we spent a glorious week on the big island of hawaii exploring the off-beat paths leading to adventure with our good friends ryan & desi. highlights include night lava sightings, watching the sun sink into the sea, tasting many different roasts of kona coffee, spotting dolphins, turtles and some mischievous feral goats :)

442 ft akaka falls in akaka falls state park:


the kona brewing company's gecko mascot shot while on an national geographic kern-photo assignment by ryan:


i love this shot, also taken by ryan on his 2 megapixel waterproof point-and-shoot:


exploring the volcanic wonders of hawaii volcanoes national park, trying to spell "L.O.V.E"... but it was difficult to make the letter "L" while shooting.


it is amazing that life grows on the land of recent volcanic activity:


it has been over 25 years since volcanic activity has occurred at the kilauea volcano, so we were in luck to view it both during the day (left) and night (right):


hiking inside thurston lava tube at night was a cross between sh*t scary and halloween giddy (taken with only a halogen flashlight, a tripod, and 4 second exposure).


'we see dead people':


as the thick vog (volcanic fog) rolls in, we pondered if this could be the last shot of us if the sulfuric gas blew our direction.


we walked away normal... or did we?


back to regular programming....

here's desi holding the world's biggest avocado we've ever seen and could call our very own :)


and part of the delicious salad (sorry, the guac didn't make the photo because it got eaten too fast :)


apple-bananas and lychee fruit.


nicole defends the sand castle wall of sand before waves destroy her masterpiece.


living in denver, we are about as far as one can get from the ocean in the continental u.s... so when we see a beach, we come running. here's my shadow-self portrait, something i've been shooting for over 10 years.


a cheesy portrait (we actually do not have that many shots of us not taken by us, so thanks, ryan for this one!)


panoramic view of the waip'o valley taken with a circular poloarizing filter and a 2-stop neutral density graduated filter.


kona sunset.


another cheesy photo to show our grandparents that we actually did have a really good trip:


shot off the road on the hawaiian scenic belt loop


i dig the the clean lines of this shot... which might make a good deskop shot.


ditto for this one:


the champagne ponds, where the sea water blends with fresh, volcanic-warmed waters.... ideal for an evening dip.


another sunset... alas not green flash. i asked a few locales and because of the vog, they haven't seen the 'green flash' in about 6 months :(

finding time to create meaning, personal work is an important challenge for every photographer. personal work is what many photographers dream about and love to get inspired to create. yet, that same meaningful personal work is something very little of us get to do 100% of the time. or even 10% of the time.

that's why on my way back from durango, colorado two weeks ago, i made sure i stopped along the road to smell the flowers, savor the sights, and get back to my landscape photography roots. while there were not an abundance of flowers, there were plenty of stunning landscapes that reminded me about the greatness of wild colorado. part of the love of landscape photography is the solitude. the other is the search for the good light and composition and then using photographic tools to attempt to 'capture the moment.'

95% of the time i find myself waiting for hours or days in patience and perseverance while traveling, planning, and scouting locations. the remainder 5% can be pure adrenaline experience measured in minutes. ahhh, that's when the elusive 'it' happens.

this image was photographed literally standing next to the road for 1/2 second exposure, f/22, iso 100 at 12 mm focal length near red mountain pass.


just outside of silverton, colorado, this landscape reflection was photographed for 1/750 second exposure @ f/9.5, iso 800 at 14 mm.


red mountain pass photographed for 1/60 second exposure @ f/16, iso 200 at 12 mm focal length.


i dig the dramatic perspective with the 10.5 mm fisheye while i was hanging out for 1/90 second at f/9.5, iso 280.


minutes before sunset, the light skimmed across these distant hills located south of montrose, colorado. the image was shot at f/2.8 at 1/250 sec , iso 280, and focal length of 125mm.

100% true to heart of the artist inside is what this post is all about. it's been over 6 years since i've shot film, which seems way too long. here's what can be done with the simple love of photography, a $30 holga medium-format camera, three rolls of ilford sfx 120m film, a psuedo-infrared filter, and some 'old skool' inspiration:

pueblo de taos church (taos, new mexico)


pueblo de taos village 1.


pueblo de taos village 2.


pueblo de taos village 1.


reservation dog.


cemetery at pueblo de taos 1.


cemetery at pueblo de taos 1.


pueblo de taos home front 1.


pueblo de taos home front 2.


pueblo de taos church 1.


25 minutes prior to speeding ticket (salida, colorado).


ranch in salida.


bandeleir national monument 1 (colorado).


bandeleir national monument 2.


bandeleir national monument 3.


nicole on trail in bandeleir national monument.


i'd like to think each of these 16 photos could stand alone printed on a 30" x 30" gallery canvas, thanks to the wonderful resolution of medium-format film :)

22 miles off the coast of los angeles, catalina island was our favorite cruise ship port of call on this cruise. we visited the small town of avalon, where resides about 85% of catalina island's 4000 residents. avalon reminded us of a thawed-out version of colorado's crested butte with a shared zest for a simple life, plenty outdoors pursuits awaiting out the front door, colorful characters, and brightly painted homes.

this trip we took a few rolls with the holga (a medium format film camera which costs under $30!), our nikon d-80, a few lenses, and no tripod.

given we are photographers, it is surprising to see how little we actually photograph each other (other than cheesy test shots to check if equipment is working properly). however, vacationing is a grand time to experiment with different techniques and photograph for the love of the art. and the best part is we can enjoy the keeper shots and frame for our home :)

this is almost a week's worth of scruff from not shaving... nicole says she spotted gray hair in my facial hair ( i can not call it a beard). yet another sign of approaching 30.



another classic kern-photo self-portrait made with our favorite super wide-angle nikon 12-24 f/4 lens.


there are few gas stations on the island since bikes and golf carts serve as a popular mode transportation.


we liked this prayer:


this random tree in struck our interest. we whipped out our 10.5mm fish-eye lens looked up just before taking this snap:


i fired this shot of nicole to see if a little sb-800 could overpower the sun... mission accomplished using f/13 at 1/200 sec, iso 100 (one sb-800 flash provided the light on nicole, which was set at manual full-power and triggered wirelessly with our nikon d-80 pop-up flash as a commander, such a cool little trick :)


looking up to a pleasant surprise of palm trees is a simple delight :)


3 pints of locally-grown strawberries for a whopping $6... gone in less than 10 minutes :)


looks like little baby toes :)


as a special treat, we indulged in a nice bottle of savignon blanc with a super dark flour-less chocolate cake (spot r. j.'s self-portrait in the reflection, too :)


and some of the finer details in life:

after years of saying "son di-ago," it was about time we visited the world-famous san diego zoo. if you have no idea what we mean, rent anchorman: the legend of ron burgundy (2004). the movie has a funny ending filmed at the zoo. anyrate, here are a few of our favorite snaps from our spring break day:



here's seven-month old, 27 lb female giant panda named zhen zhen.


a polar bear yawns with remnants of sweet potatoes.


looks fake, but 100% real.


and our favorite, the meerkat!

our first full day of spring break was spent in los angeles. first stop was a palm sunday visit at the beautiful cathedral of our lady of the angels. then we headed over to the la brea tar pits to tickle the kid in us. nicole wanted to be a paleontologist when she grew up. if you've never been to see the hidden geological wonder smack dab in the middle of l.a., you gotta check it. researchers are still digging up dino bones in goulash tar pits like this:


buckets of tar:


a sad story... a baby elephant screaming for its mom sinking in the tar pits (mind you, it is a statue).


denver got slammed with snow, so we relished the green grass.


then we headed to rodeo drive in beverly hills to see if we could spot some celebrities.


r. j.'s competition:


at all cost, we wanted a shot of the notorious hollywood sign. for 25 cents, you can stick your camera in front of huge telescopes and snap this:


to all of my (nicole) pa school friends out there -- i can now safely say i have stood in the footprints of hermione :) i feel smarter already...


nicole has her own star :)

in all of its two-megapixel glory, here are a few our favorite images taken with our iphone camera during some rest & relaxation in sante fe & taos, new mexico. we purposely left our digital slr cameras at home to take a creative break and do more with less. so first thing yesterday we visited bandeleir national monument, which is a sight to see. however, we didn't display our pass on 'our dash' this time, but we did get a good laugh :)


peering out of almost a 1,000 year-old cliff dwelling.


now featuring super national park model, nicole.



and me being me.


experiencing our ancestor's abodes gave us great appreciation for the simple things in life, the true necessities of life: food, faith, water, sun, and shelter.


then we made our way to our favorite rancho de taos church, the st. francis of assisi.


then over to the taos pueblo for some fresh fry-bread. nicole was inside getting the goods while this little pooch wanted in sooo bad.


nicole with the holga and our permit tag hanging, which allowed us to snap photos. in the background is a 'reservation mutt,' who befriended us quickly when he learned we had food.


gotta love funky doors....


and big blue skies...


our favorite taos eatery, the apple tree, was closed for a bit of a winter sabbatical :(


it seems dash finds a girlfriend in every city we visit. his favorite taos husky chases him below.

if you love the discovery channel, buy this: planet earth the dvd series.

we are only 23 minutes into it and i can safely say, UN-FRICKEN-BELEEEIVABLE. top favs so far: high-speed cameras documenting great white sharks eating a fur seal.... completely out of the water! time-lapse of seasons changing from space. you have to watch it to believe it. you'll laugh. you'll cry. you'll be amazed.

second favorite: the six plume bird of paradise, cleans the forest floor before dances for his prospective mate.

my wife's comment: "wish men did that."

___

we love our denver zoo pass. today, my mom flew in for a bit of skiing. we hit up destination #1: the denver zoo.

here are two of my favorite images today that are pitiful in comparison to the videography of the aforementioned dvd.

the calm sadness to the reality of a zoo:


this lioness could kill me in a millasecond:

en route to cannon beach, oregon after a long week of teaching, i sleuthed out some quirky color with a dash of technical trinkets and organic flair. here's what was seen through the lens (commentary to follow-up in a day):

haystack rock in the distance with the pacific ocean.

i recent hung out with gino siller and we totally geeked out at the denver zoo. we had a RADTASTIC time with a rented $7,500 nikon 400mm f/2.8 lens, thanks to camren. having rubbed shoulders with fellow national geographic photographers, it is nice to pretend for a day that i'm on assignment, even though it is an urban zoo self-assignment.

i dedicate this entry to my mom, who has instilled in me a super appreciation of wildlife via our backyard, foreign travels, national geographic, the discovery channel, and animal planet. the writings of ken rockwell served as supporting inspiration :)

here's gino, an animal pimpin' in style with his brand spankin' new nikon d3, which is a nikonian's dream camera. btw, nikon just kicked canon straight in the balls with this new $5,000 digital camera.


after we talked shop trippin' on caffeine, we headed to photograph some of the world's coolest creatures. first up, i spotted dash's new girlfriend. nicole and i agree she's so pretty, she could be waaaaay out of his league:



and here's the rest of the crazy creatures photographed in kern-photo style:


raindeer love.


bambi's competition.


about as homely as they get.... on par with loveable shrek.


the fastest animal on land, the cheetah.


these things will eat you and ALL your loved ones (so i had a bad big bird experience as a little one):


these guys got pissy when they didn't want to share.


and my favorite shot of a siberian tiger.

#9 on my list of 101 goals is to photograph 10 national parks i've never visited. do national monuments count? i'll count it, mainly since it is staffed by national park service, which have awesome uniforms reminiscent of my old boy scout uniform. i visited pipestone national monument earlier this week. i wanted to learn more about red pipestone (rock jocks call it 'catlinite'). many native americans consider it sacred. they carve the soft stone into pipes used in traditional ceremonies. the tradition of pipemaking stems back thousands of years. it is wonderful to see the tradition alive. today, carvings are made and sold for art and ceremonial use. only a few pipestone quarries exist, making this small southwestern minnesota town special.

the grand entrance:


i arrived at sunset, which provided wonderful, clean light. i knew the 'good light' wouldn't last long, so I had to hurry. it was about 15 degrees without wind chill when these photos were taken.


a fisheye perspective of an active pipestone quarry. permits are required to quarry the stone and may take up to 6 years to obtain.


tools of the trade:


red twig dogwood (cornus sericea/stolonifera) resembles red pipestone.


prayer flags hung around the quarries serve as spiritual reminders to natives.


milkweed seed pod with a distant light in the background (taken with Nikon 85 f/1.4 at f/1.4). gotta love that creamy background bokeh!

each year we become a member at a special 'expand your mind' place. last year was our grand dam. this year it's the denver zoo. we have always had a love/hate relationship with zoos. while we opt for their family-friendly, mind-opening experience, zoos can also lead to the disneyfication of nature. as photographers, we must avoid imparting the notion that our images of big game behind bars were taken on an african safari. disclaimer stated... now back to regular programming. meerkat manor, anyone?


a fishy kiss.



eyes hold powerful emotion.



these are part of a new personal project on animal portraits which elicit a certain 'quietness.'


pontificating about our day at the zoo.

if you'd like to see images from our last zoo visit, check out the gallery here.

tonight i decided to drive on out to capture some great dramatic southwestern landscape in camera, but just 'missed' the good light. i looked forward to using 'golden hour' of natural light, which occurs 30 minutes prior to sunset to 30 minutes post sunset/sunrise. usually, it is during this time in which i capture the best dramatic landscapes because the lighting in fairly evenly lit and within a dynamic range suitable for capture with a digital SLR. so when i arrived at the white mesa trail in the ojito wilderness, it was so quiet. i said some special prayers for loved ones and it felt like god was right there. here is the handheld glimpse of the jemez volcano backlit by the sunset (all images processed sans photoshop effects).


when all else fails, grab the fisheye for a unique perspective. spot the jemez volcano far off in the distant in the right side of the photo. the vignetting is naturally created by the combination of the low light and the wide-angle perspective.


life is a highway. i dropped the ragtop on the rental pt cruiser convertible and did a little self-portrait heading back to the hotel. growing up my father had a convertible that instilled the sense of exuberance and as the wind blew my hair it felt as if we were flying at lighting speed. i was reminded of a similar experience a few years ago in san diego with nicole... hertz treated us to a black thunderbird convertible, which was the cherry on top of a killer vacation. insert nicole in passenger seat (and dash in the back seat) and life is good. (image was taken at f/2.8 ISO 1600 at 1/10 of a second handheld, which is a great lowlight action setup with our Nikon D-200)

en route to new mexico's salinas pueblo mission national monument for a photo escape, r. j. passed over the majestic rio grande river:


the clear light at sunset paints a perfect backdrop to the sandia mountains with a touch of fall foliage.


the cultural resources in the desert southwest are amazing. here lies abó, the remains of a pueblo indian mission church influenced by spanish colonials.


after sunset a little creative light painting experiment yielded a message to his wife nicole... i love you! (ps- no photoshop used, just a 20 second exposure aided by light painting with a small halogen headlight it took about 10 tries to get it right).

you may have heard of nashville's grand ole opry, the Saturday country radio show broadcast since 1925. next door is the vegas-style hotel, the gaylord opryland resort, which new friends lindsay & taylor opened r. j.'s eyes to. it was a sight to be seen, filled with foliage, foliage, and more foliage with unique colonial decor and huge glass skylights. there was a five member band dressed up in funky neon foliage and cast in the limelight, a unique sight to behold. spot them if you can:


the place felt like willy wonka's factory, with glass ceilings, palatable flowers, funky floating balloons, and a not-so chocolate river.


then we stumbled upon the 8pm water light show, on par with the legendary show at las vegas's bellagio.


and these reminded us a fireworks!

true to his hungarian vizsla instinct, dash thrives when in the constant pursuit of something to tickle his fancy. while on the way back from another morning hike in vail, dash discovered the magical wishing well of hope. we think he wished for at least one of three things: 1) a hungarian girlfriend 2) a raw pheasant, primed and plucked 3) a nap in a sunny quiet spot.


another dash discovery.... his bonehead nickname, 'dash board,' on some premium vail signage.



our leave-no-trace philosophy: 'take only photographs, leave only footprints, and shadows.'

dash in his 'hoppy state of being.'

busted, again.


"chairlift in the sky"... the name of the most famous r. j. song you've never heard of.

we recently felt the urge to 'get out of dodge' and headed to the one and only vail, colorado to