REFLECTIONS

Reflections are all around us! We see them in bodies of water, on the hoods of cars, in sunglasses, and the list goes on. They create interest, intrigue, and mystery in our images. And, they can also enhance our compositions. 

There are two key components for me when looking for reflections, especially when it comes to reflections in lakes, ponds, or rivers: Timing-- I like to be there early in the morning when the water is still and calm; before the winds pick up. Shutter speed-- when the wind has already picked up and I have no choice, I don't take those shots at 1" or longer. I am not after that smooth, silky look to the water. I want to make sure I get a reflection of my center of interest. 

In fact, my first example was a scenario where the waters weren't still and calm. It was several minutes after sunset, so it was getting pretty dark. I like shooting around that time, rather than shooting an hour after sunset, to pick up that awesome cobalt blue in the sky. For this image of Bally's Casino in Shreveport, Louisiana reflected in the Red River, I had to increase my ISO to 800 to get a decent shutter speed of 1/4.  

This image is of a large pond along Owl Creek Pass in Colorado. It is one of my favorite areas in the state to capture those beautiful autumn colors, and there reflections. I pretty much filled the frame with the golden trees and their reflections. I always say photography requires skill, planning, and, yes, sometimes a little luck. The pond was relatively calm that day.

These reflections were different from any others I had, or have, photographed. The lake was low that year, exposing thin island-like slivers of land. The result was a patchwork of reflections and slices of thin land shapes in between the reflections. Very artistic and visually poetic. 

Caddo Lake, it is said, is the only natural lake in Texas! It is a large lake, near the quaint historic town of Jefferson. It is home to ubiquitous cypress trees found growing from the bottom of the lake.

They look prehistoric; like a scene in a movie. This image shows tree reflections in the fall, as well as the reflection of vacationers canoeing and taking pictures. The Spanish moss hanging from the trees in late autumn gave the scend an extremely mysterious feel. 

Now, this scene is soothingly calm, peaceful, and tranquil. The early morning time and the thick fog translated this scene into an idyllic image, especially with those muted hues throughout the image. Yes, timing is extremely crucial when trying to translate an image into a thought or feeling. 

Now for something more intimate. I had to get low to the ground for this image, to pick up the reflections in the water. It was worth the effort. 

The time of day and weather conditions have to be just right to pick up reflections like these.

It was one of those "wow" moments. And, yes, it would be easy to lighten the entire image, but I would have lost the mood this image conveys. 

This image depicts nature's art. The focus is on shapes, incredible shapes of nature, especially when you see a perfect inversed mirror image of this natural design. The water looked like a mirror that day.  

 

Let's finish with a spiritual reflection. This is called Church on The Rock, in Colorado.
I loved the church's reflection in the small pond.

So, go out there and reflect on reflections. They're a lot of fun to photograph. You can translate thoughts and moods with reflections, especially under the right lighting and weather conditions.  

Contact vegaphotoart@gmail.com if you would like to learn more about reflections.

 SEE WITH YOUR IMAGINATION, NOT YOUR EYES

It has been a couple of years since I touched on this topic, but I get so many comments on it that I think it's time for a revisit. 

When it comes to photography, the eyes see too much. I don't photograph simply what my eyes see. To do so limits me. I don't try to just get the best photograph of what I see. Instead, I ask, "How can I make this look? What's my message? What made me stop?" I use the answers to those questions to help me with how I am going to translate that object or subject into something we call a photograph. I don't see with my eyes; I see with my imagination. My right brain shakes hands with my left brain and says, "I have an idea, and this is what I need from you." 

Let's start with this example. On the left is a photo of what my eyes saw. Beautiful flowers. Ugly background and surroundings. My right brain, my imagination, kicked in. I had an idea. The idea was to do a double exposure, but just of the flowers, isolated from that ugly background. When I visit botanical gardens, I always carry with me a large non-reflective piece of black flannel material.

The first step was to get the best composition of the flowers, and the appropriate f/stop setting to make sure I would cover the grouping of flowers. I set my camera's multiple exposure feature to give me two exposures. I set the delay self-timer to 10 seconds. Click! During those 10 seconds, I walked behind the flowers and held the black material behind the flowers. My camera was then ready for my second exposure. I took my standard 3 steps for this type of shot: 1) Change my f/stop to a shallow f/7.1, 2) Set my lens to manual focus and take the flowers slightly out of focus, 3) Underexpose the second exposure by a - 2/3. Click! The camera was still set for a 10-second delay. I walked behind the flowers and held the black material behind the flowers, like before. Done!

         

       
                              BEFORE                                                                         AFTER

I don't have a Before photo for this next example, but imagine this scenario: a duck in the water. On the surface (no pun intended), that thought doesn't convey a great, dramatic photo, does it? Let me take you inside my (right) mind.

The water on the lake reflected various-colored trees from the surrounding area. I saw whites, browns, and greens. Tall trees; long reflections. I also noticed the vibrating motion of the reflections. If I underexposed the scene, I could exaggerate the colors in the reflections--they would "pop." By doing that, I would also get a very fast shutter speed to freeze the motion in the water. But wait, there was one more element to add to my composition! I saw a duck to my right, moving to my left, toward the area I had chosen to photograph. I waited until the duck came into view in my viewfinder, and with my camera already set for fast continuous shooting: clickclickclickclick. Done!

                                 f/9     -2 stops underexposure!     1/800 shutter speed     

Next time you see a puddle of water, don't jump in it. Photograph it. 

It helps if we take the labels off. When I saw this, I didn't see a puddle; I saw art. This puddle was at an elevation of about 10,000.' Not a car in sight.

I watched an Aztec dance troupe for several minutes. Their costumes were historic and colorful. Their dance moves were fast. I took several photos, at high shutter speeds, which is a typical response when shooting fast-action dancing. However, I started thinking that I wanted to also capture the essence of the dance, and not simply the dancers frozen in time. For that idea, I switched to slower shutter speeds to capture the essence; the spirit of the dances. 

I took a walk in downtown Boulder, Colorado after a rain. As I walked under a bridge, I noticed this unique mural of a wolf on one of the bridge supports. I stared at the interesting mural, then looked to my right and noticed a puddle. A mural to my left; a puddle on my right. My imagination kicked in. I no longer just saw a wolf and a puddle, but a wolf in the puddle. The thought occurred to me that if I jumped across the puddle, then lowered myself closer to the ground, I might pick up a reflection of the wolf in the puddle. I was no longer seeing with my eyes, but with my imagination. Click. 

So, don't just photograph what your eyes see. Let your imagination do it for you.
I look with my eyes; see with my imagination. 

Have fun exercising your imagination. Don't limit yourself. Contact me if you want a 1-on-1 field lesson or a ZOOM lesson. 

www.elivega.net     Eli Vega Photography on Facebook.

  

 

 

 

 

 ABANDONED PLACES

Abandoned places yell my name to make sure I capture what's left of them. I could write a book about abandoned places. The pages would be filled with more questions than answers. Who lived there? Why was it abandoned? Why did the business fold? What did they talk about over dinner? What was their lifestyle like? What made them happy? What made them sad? The list goes on.

These are the philosophical and social questions, but I also need to combine them with the question, "What made me stop?" The answer to that question helps me decide how I want to photograph the subject before me. I'm looking for the best angles, lighting, composition, mood, and whatever else I can introduce that best translates my thoughts or feelings that made me stop in the first place. 

These Anasazi cliff houses always amaze me. We can't answer philosophical and social questions from our current-day perspective, and it's impossible to ask them the many questions we have. I chose late afternoon to get the best angle and quality of lighting on these dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado.

I found more in north-central New Mexico, in Bandelier National Monument. These honeycomb-like homes begged questions too. For this image, I closed in tighter. To me, this image asks simply, "Where does that ladder lead to?" What questions do you ask?

Now we fast-forward to more modern times, several miles north of here to north Denver, Colorado.

One of my students alerted me to this old abandoned house north of Denver--Thornton. She said she thought she could get permission for us to go inside and photograph. Great, I thought, and I thanked her for it. We were not disappointed. Again, what questions do this dining room, adjoining living room, and collapsed floor beg of you? A wide-angle lens allowed me to translate my questions into a story-telling image. I converted it to black and white for historical emphasis. Quite honestly, I was afraid the floor might give in below our feet. I was prepared for a significant emotional event.  Unfortunately, that house is gone now. A victim of urban renewal. 

                                                        

I found this lone house in the middle of nowhere. Maybe they didn't like neighbors and preferred to live in solitude in the shadows of those big mountains in Colorado. If you squint, you can see the Great Sand Dunes in the distance. The jet contrails add to the mystery.

I wondered who lived here? Was it just a little neighborhood in the mountains? Were they miners' residences? When mining lost its luster, did the families just disappear, in search of new beginnings? I wanted to show the context in which these old shacks were situated. They were up against the mountains on one side, and a creek below on the other.  

Oh, if those walls could talk. I can see children running up those stairs as their mom screams a warning to be careful. 

Here is another abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. I added a lot of sky to add to the feeling of isolation. I say isolation, but perhaps to them, it was a comfortable and peaceful isolation. You can see the lone highway that runs by it. 

I'll finish with this beauty. It seems like such a small space. I can only assume a family lived there. But, they did the best they could with what they had. And I'm sure they made the best of it. As they say, you don't miss what you don't have. I photographed it around Christmas time and someone had placed a red Christmas ribbon on it, which led me to convert the image to black and white, except for the ribbon. 

So, take some day trips this year in your county or state and see what historic stories you can find. They're out there just waiting to aim your lens at them as they hide their stories in secret.

 HISTORIC BUILDINGS, DOWNTOWNS, & STRUCTURES

Anything related to history grabs my attention, but today I am narrowing it down to historic downtowns, buildings, and structures. My primary goal with this subject is to create something that goes beyond the documentation of it. I don't want a snapshot-looking image that we can take with our mobile devices--cell phones and tablets. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that. 

So, if not a "snapshot," what then do I look for? I consider as many options as possible. Some of those options are right-brain, creative approaches, shooting extreme wide-angles, taking uncommon perspectives, shooting at certain times of the day or year, and taking advantage of lucky chances--like unique skies at the right time. Given the right circumstances, I might even stage a shot to to dress up the scene a bit.  

This first example is downtown Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The entire downtown is on the Federal Register of Historic Places, which means there are extreme city ordinances that protect its downtown history and architecture--no Starbucks, McDonald's, or Subways!

One day I came up with the idea of creating an image that reflected the fact that if you visited downtown Eureka Springs in the 1980s and again in 2024, it would still look the same. This image was taken in 2018. I went at 5:30 am, in the middle of the week to eliminate any modern vehicles in the streets. I stood toward the center of the hill that leads to downtown. Being several yards from the first buildings in sight, I used a telephoto lens to "compress" the scene. Telephoto lenses give us what's called the "illusion of compression," that is, subjects, in this case, the buildings, look closer to each other than they really are. Click.

This next example is of a historic structure--the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado. You need to put this on your "bucket list." On this particular day, the weather was questionable. It was very cool and uncomfortably windy. There is a gondola that takes you across the extremely deep gorge, across the canyon below. I approached the gondola operator and asked him if he was operating that day, given the wind conditions. He assured me that, yeah, they were operating. He said they had run the gondola in stronger winds before. I trusted him, so I got on. 

It didn't take long before I realized my tripod was going to be useless. The gondola was swaying across the gorge. I tried my best to be "manly" under the circumstances and didn't panic. Instead, I went to Plan B: wide angle lens to cover the broad gorge and an ISO of 500 to get a fast enough shutter speed that would counter the swaying motion of the gondola. Click.

Luckily, the operator took us safely back to the gift shop area that day. 

There is another historic structure in Colorado-- Crystal Mill. It is a really cool reminder of the state's mining history. The mill is surrounded by a creek and is situated up in the beautiful Colorado mountains. One year I decided to wait for autumn colors, which usually show off toward the end of September/early October.

For most vehicles, it is impossible to navigate across the steep, narrow, and rocky gravel road that takes folks to the mill. I decided to pay a Jeep company near the mill. I'm glad I did. The ride was scary, extremely bumpy, and just wide enough for one vehicle, but used as a two-way road! This photo will give you an idea. The Jeep we were in and the vehicle next to us barely fit. If you look ahead of the open-air Jeep, you can see how narrow the road is! We were on our way back.  

As incredibly uncomfortable as the ride was, at least for me, it was definitely worth it. See below. 

The beautiful state of Utah is also known for its LDS (Mormons), or Latter Day Saints history. The 210' high LDS Temple in downtown Salt Lake City is something to behold. I have several photos of it, but here is a frontal view of its facade. Across the street is a beautifully-designed pool with a thin layer of water that reflects the temple. The twilight hour gave the image a strong and dynamic feel.

My hometown of Hot Springs, Arkansas is known for its famous Bathhouse Row. From the 1920s until the 1950s, folks like Al Capone went to the "City of Vapors" to get their natural hot water treatments in the bathhouses that lined Bathhouse Row. Today, there are still eight of the original bathhouses standing. They are part of Hot Springs National Park. Only two still provide natural hot springs water treatments. The others now serve as restaurants, gift shops, or art venues. One of them is a museum and the national headquarters for the state's only national park, which surrounds the city.

I have a collection of all eight bathhouses, but below is the majestic Quapaw Bathhouse, with its elaborative and decorative Greek architecture. It opened as a bathhouse in 1922. The clouds were on my side that day.

This next historic structure is outside the box. The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas is one of the most famous and iconic structures in the United States. Although I have several images of it in my collection, for this one I thought I'd try something different. Across the street and a few yards from The Alamo is a large obelisk on a large marble slab. Infantrymen like James "Jim" Bowie and David "Davy" Crocket are engraved on the large piece of slab. Basically, they are relief sculptures.

It occurred to me to create a double exposure, one with some of the infantrymen superimposed over the Alamo itself. The whole idea started with me thinking, "What would it look like if they were coming back from the dead through the Alamo?" 

I mentioned at the beginning that sometimes I will stage a historic shot. I did that with the state of Arkansas' oldest bar, the Ohio Club, in downtown Hot Springs. I knew that if I took a picture of it from across the street, it would look like a very good snapshot. I wanted more. I had an idea.

I talked to the owner and told her I had an idea for a shot, and if she would allow me to create it. Not only did she oblige, but she said, "Tell me when you're gonna do it and I'll make sure to place a couple of (traffic) cones in front so nobody will park there."

Al Capone used to frequent Hot Springs. It was his getaway from his Chicago, shall we say, culture. The Ohio Club was one of his favorite haunts. Like today, it was a restaurant and lounge. 

Now that I had the owner's approval, I then contacted the owner of a beautiful classic 1929 Ford I had seen around town--the same era as Al Capone's visits. 

So, I coordinated a shoot with the two owners. I planned it early in the morning so we wouldn't get much traffic. When the owner of the '29 arrived, I politely gave him specific instructions as to exactly where I wanted the car. As he maneuvered the car to the right position, he told me, "This isn't easy. I don't have power steering." Click. You can see "Al Capone" sitting and smoking a cigar in front of the Ohio Club.

 So, start with your own town first and see what you can find. You can also do what I like to do, which is take a 60-mile radius day trip and see what you find. And, when you have the time and resources, visit other states as well. Have fun finding historic downtowns, buildings, and structures!

 IN-CAMERA MULTIPLE EXPOSURES

The term is multiple exposures, but after years of experimenting with this technique, I landed on simply double exposures--just two images on one "frame." The reason for this decision is that I found that the images get too "muddy" and too "busy" when I create three or more exposures. I'm not trying to discourage you from doing so.It just doesn't work well for my taste.

Before I get to the 'how,' let's talk about the 'why.' As I say in my popular book, Right Brain Photography, I think like an artist first; photographer second. My three years as an art major were the foundation for my artistic bent with photography. Double exposures feed my love for artistic creativity. They are part of my creative aesthetics repertoire. 

Ever since I first picked up a camera and joined a camera club in Fort Worth, Texas, photography has carried the torch of extreme detail, extreme sharpness, and shadowless exposures. There is nothing wrong with that. I have lots of images, especially those I sell commercially, that fit that description. However, to add diversity to my portfolio, I like to mix it up a bit. That includes creating Surrealism through photography, photographing a variety of subjects, shooting intentionally under-exposed images, creative camera body techniques, Impressionism through photography, and, yes, double exposures.

Now, let me move on to the 'how.' 

These are the steps I take when I want my double exposures to have that impressionistic feel.
1) My camera is on a tripod and set for manual focus. I normally set my f/stop to f/5.6. I take the scene slightly out of focus (thus the need for 5.6). I take a test shot to make sure I like it. It should not be too much out of focus or too bright. If necessary, I make proper adjustments and re-shoot it. If I like the way the first of my two images looks, I am now ready for my double exposure.
2) I engage my double exposure feature for two shots. The options are up to 10 shots! 
3) I re-take the test shot, since I know how it's going to look. That will be the first of two exposures. 
4) I then set my f/stop to f/16 and refocus manually to get a sharp image. In addition, I also underexpose the second planned shot, usually by – 2/3. Click. I’ve got my double exposure. This is more art than science.

Now, when I don't want an impressionistic-like image, the only procedure I do differently is to keep the same f/stop throughout the process--usually f/11-f/16. I want both images to look sharp. In step 1, I don't want the first shot to be under or overexposed. I then continue to step 2 and so on.  

Okay, now you know what I do and how I do it. Actually, the most difficult part to all this is not the steps; the process, but to allow the imagination to go wild and imagine how subjects may blend together well. By well I don't mean perfect, but, rather, will a certain combination give me a cool, creative, mysterious, or a Salvador Dalí-ish look to it? Think creative aesthetics. We're not trying to document a subject; we're trying to create art.

With that long introduction, here are some of my examples of double exposures.

I saw this street performer standing still on a New Orleans, Louisiana corner--in the French Quarter. I liked what I saw, but at the same time, I felt like I had not quite captured the essence of the French Quarter--Nawlins. I turned my glance away from him to an artist behind me. I loved that she was painting on pieces of shale. I walked closer to her and started chatting. Her theme was blacks picking cotton in the old South. My right brain took over. It occurred to me that I could superimpose one of her art pieces over the pantomime across the street. She let me get some shots of her pieces, which hung on a fence-like structure--the kind you see at outdoor art festivals. 

I took a photo of her art, horizontally. Then I walked back to the street performer and got a vertical shot of him, superimposed against the artist's art. Voila! Now, I had captured the essence of Nawlins. 

Below is that same photo turned sideways, so you can more clearly see the artist's art on shale.

I saw these twigs and leaves on a pebble walkway at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I thought they might look good together as a double exposure. 

I saw yet another street performer, but he was in downtown Boulder, Colorado. As I looked up, I saw an interesting balcony with closed shutters keeping the inside from view. So, I decided to "put" him in front of the window shutters. Click. 

Now, back to flowers--tulips, to be exact. 

I thought I'd have fun one Halloween season. I bought a small scary skull. When I got it home, a crazy idea hit me. How would it look if four "people" were talking to each other? I titled it, "Heady Debate." Now, for this particular set-up, creating 4 images worked well. I had to be careful as to where I placed the skull in-between shoots. I used a piece of scotch tape to mark where I had to place the skull all four times.  

It was in the middle of my birthday hike. I like taking hikes on my birthday. I guess it's my way of convincing myself that I'm not aging. You can laugh at that. 

It was during the hike that I came across this old road surrounded by trees. It just felt like a double exposure.

I was playing with the idea of an image titled "Self-talk." I guess I was working backward. I had the idea, now I just needed someone to talk to himself. So, I asked a friend of mine if he'd mind modeling for me for this crazy Idea I had. When he arrived, I orchestrated the shot. I told him to sit on one side of this coffee shop booth and pretend that he was listening to someone telling him something. Click. Then I asked him to sit on the other side and pretend he was trying to make a point, to himself! In both instances I told him what to do with his head, hands, glasses, etc. 

It looks like a ghost talking to himself. This is about throwing away the rules, the expectations, and perfection. It's about just having fun with the medium of photography, fed by the imagination. I don't see with my eyes. I see with my imagination.  

 

This last example was the very first double exposure I ever tried. We're talking circa 1986! Think about it. In 1986, I didn't have an LCD display screen to see what I got. No previews.  

What you're looking at is The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas superimposed over the Heroes of The Alamo that were carved into this huge obelisk near The Alamo. 

So, I highly encourage you to let your hair down, think "no right angles," think outside the box, and just have fun with it! Enjoy your new self, and send me some of the fun shots you take. E-mail me at vegaphotoart@gmail.com.

Take care! 

 SHOOTING IN THE SNOW

So, I'll cut to the chase. The built-in light meter was designed to give us the "correct" exposure. Just ask any photo enthusiasts who love reading the camera's histogram to make sure they "got it correct."

And therein lies the problem when it comes to shooting in the snow. The built-in light meter, which drives the histogram, is designed to get us back to gray, or neutral. If I'm shooting snow in color, the meter will choose, or recommend that I choose, certain settings in order to give me gray, not white, snow. Without getting technical about it (you can articles on that), that is what it is designed to do.

The settings I am referring to depend on whether you're shooting aperture priority, shutter priority, or manual exposure. And they can be any combination of f/stops, shutter speeds, or ISO. 

So, therein lies the problem. Here is how I handle the problem of the built-in light meter trying to give me gray snow. Roughly 95% of the time, I prefer shooting in Aperture Priority. I will use that exposure setting to explain what I do. If you shoot shutter priority, you will need to focus your attention on your f/stop to get it right (I don't recommend that mode when photographing snow because, in a high percentage of cases, subject movement will be zero to almost none). If you are shooting in manual mode, obviously you will need to change any combination of f/stop, shutter speed, and ISO to get it right. 

Now, to my solution while shooting aperture priority. When the built-in meter gives me gray, it does so because it doesn't want me to "overexpose" the scene, which is white. But, it doesn't know that snow is supposed to look white. It is designed to "think" that I need gray snow. And there is the kicker. It will, technically, underexpose the beautiful white snow. For example, if gives me, say a shutter speed of 1/250, I know it's going to look gray. So, I will need to change my shutter speed to anywhere between 1/125 or maybe 1/60 (or anything in-between), depending on the scenario, in order to get white snow. In other words, I'll slow down the shutter to allow more light to hit the sensor, which will in turn lighten/whiten the snow. The common term for doing that is a misnomer--we usually say explain those steps by saying something like, "I had to overexpose the scene by a +1 stop." In actuality, we aren't overexposing the scene (the white snow). What we are doing is overexposing the exposure the light meter gave us. I talk back to me built-in light meter by saying, "No.No. I know what you're trying to do. I don't want white snow. At that point, I, not the meter, am in control of how I want my snow photos to look. 

Following are some examples, and what I did. Keep my explanation above in mind when you read about what adjustments I made (+1, +2, etc.).

For this image, I only made a +2/3 stop adjustment. In other words, I gave it 66% more light than the meter thought I needed. It's not about how much light I need, but how much I want. There's a big difference between the two. If, as in this scene, there are a lot of areas in the scene that are darker than the snow in the scene, as in the leaves and plants in this scene, the adjustment can be minimal, like a +2/3 stop. In other situations, as I'll show later, the adjustments needed are greater.

This retro bicycle half-buried in snow got my attention. I had to increase the exposure to 1 1/3 for this scene. As you can see, snow covered most of the scene. The lighting also plays a part. A bright sunny day might require more of an increase in exposure than an overcast sky. 

This was during one of my winter workshops in Rocky Mountain National Park. I loved the cute family scene of a mom and daughter snowshoeing in the park. This took a +1 overexposure.

Here is an extreme case where there was a lot of snow in the scene. I had to go to a + 1 2/3 to get what I wanted! That's 166% more light than the meter thought I needed for the "correct" exposure.

By comparison, I only needed to go +1 stop for this mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I included this last one to show that, yes, sometimes I don't have to make any adjustments at all if the lighting throughout the scene doesn't require any adjustments to the exposure. This image was shot at -0-.

There are no formulas to memorize when shooting in the snow. But, it's not as scary or intimidating as this might sound. Just remember that art is subjective; photography is art. Additionally, photographer preference, also subjective, will determine how much of an adjustment to make. And, let me throw in another factor. Not all cameras are calibrated the same. I know this after years of offering field workshops and 1-on-1 lessons. A +1 adjustment to my camera might look similar to your same image shot at +1 1/3 with your camera. 

What I do is estimate how much adjustment I think I'll need and take my shot. I then display the image on my back screen and decide if that's what I want. Let's say I shot it at +1. If it looks a bit too bright, I reshoot the scene at +2/3. If it looks a little too grayish, I may reshoot it at +1 1/3 and see how that looks. It's subjective, and that is perfectly okay. There is no such thing as the "correct" exposure. The right exposure is what we should be shooting for, pun intended.

Have fun out there!! 

DEFYING REASON

Defying reason is associated with the art movement, surrealism. It is more common to art on canvas than it is to the art of photography. Nonetheless, I sometimes like to introduce it in my photography. It's the perfect medium to present something either out of context or in a way that takes a while for viewers to realize exactly what it is they're seeing. I like to play with, mess with common visual expectations.

The beauty of art is that we don't have to always document what we see, or expect to see. To think outside the box is to see outside our selves (sic), our known associations, our expected associations. For example, we don't think of tulips and ice together. The notion is surreal, defying reason. 

This month, I want to take you into the world of the unexpected. Why does this sound like Rod Serling introducing The Twilight Zone? 😊

We've heard of ghosts, right? But, we don't really expect to see one when we see a photograph. Or do we? Do you see a ghost, a faint ghostly figure of a woman, toward the lower center part of this image?

I asked a friend of mine to serve as my "ghost" for several images, both inside and outside this beautiful 1887 hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I asked her to wear a white dress, a white dress, and white shoes. For this one, I asked her to start moving slowly in place when I gave her the signal. What I captured was her subtle movements, for about ten seconds, while keeping everything sharp at f/11. 

Part of the mystery and mystique of surrealism is the "bending of the mind," or catching the viewer off-guard, if only for a few seconds. Some images make you pause for a second until the brain puts all the pieces together. Such was the case when I saw this scene. I knew what I was looking at because I was there, and I had seen this scene before in broad daylight, but.....

There were walls around downtown that were in such bad shape that they were deteriorating. Some had been exposed to the elements for decades. There were large gaping geometric holes, where there were once windows. It was through one of those holes that I saw lights from a boutique shining through the windows.

This next scene, even to me, looks like I was on a different planet. 

This is actually a city park, yes, a city park, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It's called Garden of The Gods. Most photographs of it are during the day, but over several years I had fun going there after the sun went down just to see what I could create when people were, for the most part, no longer there. It was shot with my lens set at 32 mm, aperture at f/4.5, and with the shutter at 30 seconds, and ISO 400. I liked the dark formations against the late sunset colors and the sparkling stars in the sky.

I am always on the lookout for the unexpected; for the juxtaposition of elements we don't expect to see together, at the same place, at the same time.

There is an eatery in Longmont, Colorado called CHeBA Hut. In front of their business is an interesting string of great old VW buses. It just so happened that the building next to theirs had a wall-to-wall mural painted on the said. Click!!! Without an explanation, this scene defies reason. 

Sometimes a humorous combination of elements makes for great surrealism. 

Another mural. I found this one inside a bicycle shop in Boulder, Colorado. I loved the staggered bikes against the backdrop of a rider in the mountains--the mural. By the way, my personality is such that I don't hesitate to ask for permission when I find something worth shooting. As I learned years ago, if you ask, you might get it. If you don't, you won't.

When a friend saw this next image, he said, "It looks like there's a dragon inside shooting fire from inside the tunnel." 

For these kinds of shots, timing, and patience are critically important. It was late evening. The surrounding mountains hid the late-setting sun. With my camera on my tripod, set for a 20-second exposure and f/16, I waited for several minutes until that special moment when vehicles were going toward the tunnel while others were coming out of the tunnel. I knew that by waiting for that strategic moment I would get a lot of red and yellow light streaks coming across my view. The high red streaks were from a bus entering the tunnel. 

By the way, when it's dark like it was that evening, fast-moving vehicles do not register (record) on film and sensors. They're moving too fast. The only thing that registers are the continuously moving lights, which appear as colored streaks. 

Speaking of light streaks, this last example also had light streaks. However, they were motorcycle light streaks, not cars and trucks. 

Yes, through photography, we can create images that, unless you peak "behind the curtain," defy reason. It's surrealism. This was a 12-second exposure at f/14. ISO was 100. I love the red sweeping S-shape created by the beautifully crafted motorcycles as they whizzed by. 

So, go and either find those perplexing, mind-bending scenes or create them yourself. Sometimes, you will need to think outside the box that's outside the box. I don't see with my eyes. I see with my imagination.  

Contact me if you ever want an in-person or virtual one-on-one to learn more about this genre of photography.