It’s hard to believe that is has been over a year since I posted the original “Having Fun in the Dark!”, so much has changed since then. Through the trials and tribulations of 2020, photography has become my escape. I guess there are far worse addictions! What began with a practically spontaneous attempt to capture the Milky Way, has become an obsession to capture Deep Sky Objects (DSOs), such as galaxies and nebulae.
Read MoreThe one that started it all!
Well, maybe it’s a bit of an overstatement that one image inspired me to stick with photography for 36 years and counting, but like anyone who has ever gotten their first birdie or caught their first fish, having one “really good” shot can do wonders for the desire to keep trying. For me, it was this image. Looking at it now, I am little underwhelmed. I have certainly taken better air show images since then, but this was the first one that I remember looking at and saying, “Wow!”
The Blue Angel Diamond Formation taken at Marine Air Corps Station Cherry Point, Spring 1984.
I can still remember seeing it for the first time. I was traveling to the beach with some friends and was popping slides in and out of a small, battery operated viewer, feeling disappointed about my lack of results and then I saw this one. I was thrilled to say the least.
These days I just pass by another shot of the Blue Angel Diamond. With a 500mm lens and 9 frames per second, I expect to see good shots of such a pass, like the one shown here at the 2018 MCAS Cherry Point
2018 Blue Angel Diamond, MCAS Cherry Point
air show. The 2018 image is superior to the one taken 34 years earlier in every way. Technology, better optics, and perhaps a little skill obtained over that period make a huge difference. Getting a good shot is still a thrill, but I don’t think anything will ever top that first one!
I had misplaced the original slide for many years and recently went on two day quest to find it. Ironically, I found in a box marked “Special!” with asterisks all over it. Who would have ever thought to look in there!?! Fortunately, that quest lead to finding many long forgotten images that I am now scanning and restoring, starting with the one above.
By mid-1984, I had been actively pursuing photography for about 4 years. I was learning the fundamentals, but was never really excited about the results until this one. I have known plenty of people that have entered the hobby enthusiastically, only to give up after achieving results lower than their expectations. Just because your images may not look like those in National Geographic (mine certainly don’t!), doesn’t mean that they are not good or even great. Keep firing away, learning as you go, and eventually you will get the one!
The "Quarantine" Images
It’s been a while since I created a new blog post. I had one in the works a few weeks ago and then the Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic struck our nation and our world. Photography has, in many ways, been therapeutic for me, especially during this unprecedented time in human history. And, since this blog is the closest thing I will ever have to a journal, I decided to create an entry regarding it.
Like many people, I think my first few days of “shelter-in-place” were spent in shock, glued to the updates posted by CDC, WHO, and Johns Hopkins University. Then, one evening, almost in protest… I posted this image with the description, “I’m weary of thinking about the corona virus, how about some fishing vessels instead?”
Fishing Vessels in Swan Quarter North Carolina
I couldn’t quite believe the response, so the next evening I posted another image, challenging my artistic friends to do the same. What was intended to be a fun distraction for friends, became photographic therapy for me. As the days added up, so did the pressure to find images worth posting (at least from my perspective). As a result, I started digging through literally thousands of old images, looking for hidden or overlooked gems such as this one.
Rocky Mountains, just outside Great Falls Montana
From my friends’ comments came inspiration, resulting in more digging, processing and resurrecting images that were wasting away as 1’s and 0’s on my external drives. The daily social media posts lead to daily updates of steves-gallery. That had never happened before, and God willing, will likely not happen again.
This experience has been unimaginable in its scope and tragic in its impact on humans across the globe. There is little to feel good about in the midst of such a global tragedy, but at least for me, photography as an art form as been my silver lining.
God bless everyone, with his help, we will all get through this and be stronger for it.
Why I rarely delete a photo...
As you probably can guess, I shoot a LOT of photos. I tell people that I do photography by “brute force.” In other words, I shoot lots of frames and hope that there will be a few good ones. As a result, I have 1,000s of images stored on hard drives. And, although it is tempting sometimes, I rarely delete photographs unless they are horribly out of focus or have some other technical problem. Oftentimes, I will load all of the most recent images on my computer and fly though them looking for “that” shot. The one that I remember taking and can’t wait to see full size. This strategy means that I sometimes bypass a pretty nice image while searching for another.
Lately, I have started searching through those old files, looking for a hidden gem. This weekend was one of those times. Here are a couple of photos that I had skipped long ago. They certainly aren’t my best, but they should have a least made the “cut.”
With data storage getting less and less expensive, there is really no reason to delete files on the first pass. I am finding more and more that some of the images that I didn’t care for during the first (and brief) viewing, are not so bad. My guess is that many photographers are similar in this regard.
Fort Macon, North Carolina
Blue Heron, Chocowinity Bay, North Carolina
Cameras for Christmas (or whatever reason...)
Buying something has become so easy, you just open Amazon, read a few reviews, then click “Buy it Now.” You can get practically anything from them now, I think that they even sell books. Making major purchases online is so common place that folks are buying cars and even homes off websites. That being said, let me tell why I decided to purchase my newest camera from our local photography store, ASAP Photo and Camera. In fact, not only did I buy my new D850 from them, I have bought ALL of my camera gear from them, going back as far as the days of film.
Besides the obvious reasons of supporting the local economy, the biggest reason that I return time and time again to ASAP is for their knowledge. Everyone that works there loves this art form as much, or more, than their customers. Not only do they know their stuff about the gear, but over the years they have gotten to know me. They know what I like to shoot, where I shoot, and have more than once steered me away from an item towards something that is better suited to ME and my needs. In fact, on a couple of occasions, they have convinced me to buy less expensive items than I had intended to purchase. Don’t get me wrong, I still read my fair share of online reviews and watch way too many Youtube videos, but I never forget the fact that the people writing those reviews and posting those videos may or may not be an expert.
Although it used to be cheaper to buy camera equipment from the major suppliers like Abe’s, Adorama, and B&H, that is no longer the case. It is true that sales tax will be applied, but in most cases that is offset by the savings on shipping cost. This is especially true if you are one of the unfortunate few that gets a defective item, you just return it to the store and get a new one. So much simpler than shipping it back to some warehouse, hoping for a quick turnaround.
If you are thinking of buying someone a camera or related gear for Christmas (or buying for yourself), please check out my fiends at ASAP Photo and Camera (www.asapphoto.com/) , or your locally owned camera store (if you are fortunate enough to still have one!)
Havin' Fun in the Dark!
If you have been following along, either here or on Facebook, you may have noticed that most of my September images have been at night. This wasn’t necessarily intentional, but two of my 2019 goals were to get at least one good lightening shot and try shooting the Milky Way.
Thunderstorm over Chocowinity Bay
The Milky Way over the Neuse River
In addition to these, I have been working on selecting some of my Grandfather’s images to restore. As fall approaches, my favorite time to shoot, I plan to begin restoring his photos and creating a page dedicated to them on this site. A sample of one of his amazing landscapes is below. Stay tuned!
Digitized from 35mm Slide by Gerrit Spaanbroek, circa 1950
Inspirations, mentors and more...
I have always been drawn to images. I think it really began when I found a box full of slides that had been taken by my Grandfather, Gerrit Spaanbroek, in the 40’s and 50’s. Seeing those images as young child transported me to times and places that were impossible to reach in any other manner. They were story tellers. Some were stories of nature’s beauty, while others of people from foreign lands.
Dutch Couple - Gerrit Spaanbroek
Later, leafing through magazines like “National Geographic” and “Life” transported me the same way. Now, through the proliferation of the web and social media, I am inspired almost daily. Facebook, twitter and instagram have changed photography forever. It’s awesome!