Is this America or Myanmar?

On Gary Crabbe’s blog, he posted an article from the L.A. Times and one from the O.C. Register about the police harassing photographers in public places. The O.C. Register article angers me in particular because that happens to be on the most scenic beach I’ve seen in So. Cal. I can understand a wedding or commercial photographer photographing on the beach to need a permit, but some nomad landscape photographer shooting the water? Give me a break. People like me blend in with the landscape and rarely interact with the people so no one is being disturbed. Best of all, we’re there to celebrate nature. I look just like any other asian tourist.



So now that they’re issuing $100 fines to photographers without a permit, I urge you all the exercise your 1st amendment rights by respectfully shooting away at Corona Del Mar beach. If you get fined or better yet, arrested, let them and let the absurdity of the story take care of the rest. Corona del Mar Beach IS a PUBLIC beach, and even if it wasn’t, the coastline should be public anyway. Gandhi stood for peaceful, non-violent protest and photographers should take advantage of those rights to do so. If the authorities think otherwise, then the Supreme Court will eventually have the last word.

P.S., the photo was taken before the fine took into place. I wouldn't want to harm anyone with the my pixels afterall.

The Underground Railroad

Yesterday I went to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally my plans were to just go see the Newport Aquarium on the Kentucky side of the river, but then I read a little more into what else is in Cincinnati and found the Freedom Center to be of interest. I’m glad I went. The museum is top notch and I ended up staying for 3.5 hours reading all the displays, artwork and doing the interactive stuff. Oprah Winfrey’s movie was quite disturbing to watch as it was about the Underground Railroad. It’s mind-boggling at how narrow-minded society was in those days. In many ways, you could argue it’s still the same nowadays when it comes to segregation and opportunities for minorities.

The museum covered the history of slavery in an interesting manner. The facts were there, but concise enough to keep it interesting. Not only was African-American slavery covered, Native Americans were covered as well. I learned that President Andrew Jackson was strongly anti-Indian and started the movement to conquer the continent. He started at first by duping the Native Americans, then killing once resistance was met. President William Henry Harrison is also generally portrayed as some sort of war hero in the history books, but look at how he earned his reputation. His reputation was primarily based on killing the Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe and the War of 1812. The textbooks make the Native Americans seem like the bad guys, so of course Harrison comes across as a hero. But put those sorts of stories in the context of the Freedom Center, and it’s a sobering reminder of the history of our country.

There are museums you go to for entertainment, and others you go for enlightenment. The Freedom Center is definitely enlightening to say the least. I’d recommend it to everyone.

Northern White Rhino

If your mother was shot in the chest with a rifle, would you celebrate the feat by mounting her head on your living room wall?

I just read on National Geographic photographer, Nick Nichols' website about the endangered Northern White Rhino. So out of curiosity I did a web search on the species. I found this conservation website with a touching photo of the Northern White Rhino. The wild population of these incredible animals range between 5 to 10, all located in Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Several are scattered in various zoos around the world but captive breeding efforts haven't been all that successful despite a decade's worth of effort.

If you're interested in finding out more about rhinos, check this site out! International Rhino Foundation

Conceptual Photography

The difference between a successful photo and a pretty good one hangs on a very slim margin with that difference being thinking about how you want the final image to look like. Some photographers refer to that as pre-visualization but that sounds too scientific to me. I’d rather think of it as “thinking man’s photography” or conceptual if you will. Most landscape photography is rather formulaic if you want to achieve pretty pictures. To achieve those types of pictures, you’ll typically see a perfect balance of low, wide-angled foreground leading into a nice colorful sky. Nice, but not really all that memorable or requires much thinking to do. Here I will show several back to back photos of the same subject matter with subtle adjustments in composition that make or break the image.



With this first image, “Sunset over Pacific Ocean, Montara State Beach, California”, I have a nice sunset with colorful clouds and an interesting little creek flowing into the ocean. When I shot this I was exploring the light and composition, then it occurred to me to find a place that emphasizes the S-shape of the creek leading my eye into the sun. To find that, I backed up around the bend and position my tripod in the water so my position in the creek had both the S-shape and the sun at the end of it. It sounds simple enough but if I hadn’t been consciously thinking of the final image and looking for ways to improve upon the first composition, then I probably would not have gotten the shot shown below.



In this 2nd group of photos, I will show how achieving the image you want is impossible to duplicate twice. This image, “Train Passing over the Falls of the Ohio and Downtown Louisville, Falls of the Ohio State Park, Indiana”, resulted from me walking around the waterfront park looking for ways to capture all of the local icons all in one image: the bridge, the train, the Falls of the Ohio, the Ohio River, and the Louisville skyline. Very rarely in landscape photography are we blessed with so many major elements all in a single line of sight. Getting them all in one shot on the memory card or film is even more difficult.



I walked around various perspectives around the bridge looking for a way to capture all the local icons, so I decided on framing the skyline underneath the pillar of the bridge and the left corner of my frame, then find a high enough perspective to see over the trees so I could capture the Falls of the Ohio and the Ohio River on the left and far right respectively. The next element going for this image is the vanishing point that the bridge provides from the left side to the right side, which is also the way a person tends to read something. The vanishing point helps me achieve what I want because the focal point of the composition is the icons. While I was walking down below along the river, I’d heard the train roaring from above so I kept that in mind while shooting this composition. I composed then waited for the train the pass by again before snapping this shot. This image is easier said than done considering all of the elements described above, a result of conceptual photography.

Now let’s compare the above image with my attempt to improve upon the light. The first image was inspired, while this image is merely me trying to improve upon a pre-visualized image. The colors are more vibrant just like I wanted, but I just could not get the Falls, skyline and river the way I liked it from the first time not to mention no train was passing by on this day apparently. It goes to show that even if you try to improve upon or copy an original idea, the 2nd time around is never as inspired.



I try to approach all of my photography in this manner but a lot of times the elements required aren’t there such as inspiration, ideas, light, subject, composition, etc… But my favorite images that I take generally fall into this category. I’ll let the viewers see if they can find other examples on my website of the methods I’ve described here.

Updated Book List

It’s been awhile since I’ve read any books so I recently purchased several from Amazon.com. Notice all the books listed below are either nature, travel or photography books. Aside from those subjects, the only other topic I usually read about is sports.

1. The Photography Essay – William Albert Allard
2. Backroads of the California Wine Country – Gary Crabbe and Karen Misuraca
3. The Big Open – Rick Ridgeway and Galen Rowell
4. Smithsonian Guides to Natural America (Central Appalachia Region)
5. A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
6. I’m a Stranger Here Myself – Bill Bryson
7. Lewis & Clark Voyage of Discovery – Stephen Ambrose and Sam Abell
8. Seeing Gardens – Sam Abell

So far I’ve read A Walk in the Woods, The Photographic Essay and The Big Open. All three are worthwhile reads. A Walk in the Woods and the Photographic Essay are must reads in my opinion depending on your interests.

A Walk in the Woods is about Bryson’s experience hiking the Appalachian Trail with his friend Stephen Katz. The book is hilarious at times and generally witty throughout. I was hooked from cover to cover. I’ve read very few books cover to cover as my attention span typically isn’t very long.

The Photographic Essay covers Bill Allard’s 40+ year career mainly with National Geographic. This was a revealing look at his methods and the struggles in his career. The most important point I took away from the book was Allard’s unrivaled passion for his subjects. His work is truly an extension of himself.

I haven’t had a chance to read the Wine Country book yet but I’ve glanced at Gary Crabbe’s photos in the book and was blown away. The photos were some of the best I’ve ever seen from the region. He was generous enough to send me an autographed copy so I could give my Amazon purchased copy away as a gift. The book is a perfect blend of road trip travel guide and photography book with neither overshadowing each other.

I’ll try to add links for all the books in the next week or so.

Honest Abe and My Old Kentucky Home

The elementary school version of Abraham Lincoln is that he was born in a Kentucky log cabin then made his mark in Illinois before becoming a legendary United States president. In the AAA Tour Book I discovered that Abe’s birthplace was within driving distance of Louisville so I decided to go check it out. The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site is located in Hodgenville which is located about 60 miles south of Louisville. Not that far but nevertheless with today’s gas prices every mile of driving raise one’s blood pressure.

I was surprised while driving down there to have no traffic jams given the 4th of July weekend. In California it’s pointless to go anywhere on holiday weekends because you’d spend it all stuck in traffic so this came as a welcome relief. The site itself was neat and orderly. Not at all touristy which was the opposite of what I had expected. I found it to be thin on content as all was there was a small visitor’s center with a few displays, a log cabin housed in a monument building and the Sinking Spring in which young Abe took his first drinks of water. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by seeing the Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan National Historic Sites but I call it as I see it.



The cabin was discovered a few years ago to not be the actual Lincoln cabin as a tree ring count revealed it to be circa 1840. The future president was born in 1809 and moved to Knob Creek when he was two years old so therefore it could not have been the actual cabin. The cabin is supposedly reminiscent of what the actual Lincoln cabin looked like.

It was impossible to shoot the entire cabin because the building housing it was too small to get far enough back from cabin to capture it. I ended up just snapping a couple snapshots with tourists and the ranger in it for potential stock photo use. Nothing inspiring photographically.

Next I went to the Sinking Spring which was a relief from the humid air. For some reason walking down the steps it immediately felt like an air condition and was at least 20 – 30 degrees cooler than the thick Kentucky summer air a few feet above. Since it was midday the contrast was heavy so I put on my flash to at least salvage something from the trip. Not perfect but better than nothing. The Sinking Spring isn’t photogenic in my opinion but definitely would be best served shooting it in overcast conditions. I’m into history though so my intentions for going were more for historical curiosity than for any intended great photo ops.

I took a nice short trail stroll through the oak forest boundary trail behind the monument. Since tearing ligaments in my left foot in May, I’ve been unable to do any serious walking so attempting the short hilly trail would be a confidence booster for me if I could make it without significant pain. My foot has come a long way as I didn’t feel much pain and felt in good condition overall. Surprising given that I’d had almost no physical activity in weeks. A young family was exhausted after the first incline and needed to break while I felt fine so it definitely made me feel better about my foot. I took no photos as the lighting contrast was too heavy. Again, best in overcast conditions.

After stopping by the gift shop, I left for My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown which was on the way back to Louisville. Given the gas prices, it’s more economical to squeeze in as many convenient sites as possible rather than make separate trips.



My Old Kentucky Home was established to preserve the antebellum home of Stephen Foster. Considered to be America’s first composer, Foster wrote songs such as Oh Susanna, Camp Town Races, Beautiful Dreamer, and of course My Old Kentucky Home which also is the official state song. Does California have a state song?? I’ll have to look that up.

The home was a three story “mansion” but really wasn’t all that large. The ceilings were huge though so it’s more tall than wide. No picture-taking was allowed inside which was a bit of a bummer but outside is for the taking. The grounds were very nicely groomed with brick, flowers and white benches so it’s probably a worthwhile shoot in the fall and winter. An evening show called Stephen Foster’s Musical is a major attraction but I didn’t purchase a ticket for it as it meant I would have to kill 4-5 hours waiting for it. Patience is not my strong suit, even more so given the sweltering weather. The road signs pointed out the Civil War Museum was located nearby but it was already 4:15 and I was in no mood to go outside again in that weather so I took Bardstown Road back to Louisville.

Tips:

1. Bring a polarizer – cuts sun reflections to increase color vibrancy which is necessary for sunny and overcast days.
2. Go during the off season – It is way too humid in the summer. Bring sunscreen and a hat if you must go.
3. Consider a trip to Mammoth Cave National Park as well if you plan on going down this way. That way you could get a mix of history and WOW factor. Reservations are recommended from April to October according to the website. I want to take an introductory tour, then later a half-day caving expedition if my first experience is gratifying.