Spring...Maybe??

The winter season has finally ended...or at least we'd like to think.  Kansas winters aren't too terrible, but this last one seems to keep dragging on and we had a couple significant late season snow storms.  And, just when we finally do get a little spring weather tease, it seems like we slip back into cooler temperatures.  I know more than one person who'd like to strangle that stupid groundhog in Pennsylvania.

So, what does a sunny summer photo of a beautiful river have to do with winter?  Absolutely nothing! I'm tired of cold weather and I'm ready for summer.  In fact, let's just skip spring altogether and bring on the heat wave!

Enjoy!

Behind the Lens

I spend a lot of time with a camera shielding my face, staring at the world through the lens (TTL for you non-photography junkies).  A consequence of my love affair with this medium is that I rarely show up in any "real" photos documenting my family's daily happenings or vacations.  Sure, I could always approach a stranger and ask them to snap a photo of me and my family, but I'm not too trusting of other people with my equipment.

However, there are times when I like to document that I *still* exist.  When this occurs, I typically find a light source (usually our nearest star), place it directly behind me, and then attempt to frame an interesting composition that includes my indispensable sidekick.  Most of the time, the resulting photos are never shared since I don't view them as serious photos, it's simply me messing around.  But, the photo here actually turned out really cool and so, I wanted to share it.

This photo was taken during our annual family trek back to Wyoming.  We were wrapping up a nice evening walk along the beautiful Green River.  I had actually turned to photograph something else and noticed my shadow staring back at me...and *Click*.  I like to think of these photos as my own little self portraits.

If you happen to follow me on Instagram (travisgraham44), you may have noticed a couple of my other self portraits in my photo stream.  Speaking of Instagram, I really enjoy that little application and feel like it's another easy avenue for creativity.  I only post photos taken with my iPhone because I feel like importing photos from my other cameras would be cheating.  My most recent Instagram photos appear in my blog sidebar.

Enjoy!

A Simple Window

A simple click that probably made me stop and think more than most.  Why?  Because I had a really hard time explaining to myself why I like this image so much.  It seems so simple, yet I kept coming back to it over and over.

So, each time I came back to it I tried to determine a new reason for liking it.  Below is my list of reasons, in no particular order:

1. Simplicity - Let's face it, there's really not much going on here.  Yet, it's been shown before that some of the most striking images are very simple in structure.  For the most part, I think people tend to capture too much "info" within a single image.  Have you ever come across a scene that you felt was absolutely amazing - we're talking the bee's knees - snapped a photo and then been disappointed with the image upon later review?  Why didn't the image convey the awesome feeling you had at the time of capture?  The likely culprit is probably that the image contains too much information.  Yeah, it happens to me all the time!

2. Detail - The photo really brings a rustic feel to my mind.  You can tell that the window and the siding are a bit weathered and the overall structure definitely wasn't built yesterday.  The weathered look provides a lot of details in all the wood siding and I managed to nail the exposure to bring out detail in the white frame of the window and the screen.

3. That screen covering the glass window - This is probably the hardest to explain, but it's also what made me stop and take the picture in the first place.  Even now, each time I open the image my eyes immediately focus on the screen.  It does help that it's the brightest part of the image, which means our eyes and brains will tend to focus on it first.  But, the screen itself lends a lot in trying to "see" the building as a whole and what the building is for.  Right away I think of a building that's not meant to be occupied for long periods of time.  The screen is too restricting to let in a lot of light and nobody is going to peer through that window to gaze at beautiful scenery.  If someone had been standing there, looking out the window as I took the photo, you'd hardly be able to see them!  It's also quite thick and an obvious conclusion is that the screen's sole purpose is in protecting the glass from being broken.  If I had no other knowledge of this building, I'd conclude that it's located in a very public place and has been on the receiving end of vandalism in the past.

4. Contrast - I love the contrasting shades of black, white, and gray.  The shadows help draw attention to the details of the wood.  I think the actual building is red and white, but I took the actual picture in black and white (not color and then converted to b&w).  The shadow along the left and bottom edges of the window frame help in making it pop out of the scene.

5. The bird shit - After the screened window, it's the next thing my eye is drawn too.  Just a weird little detail that really seems to fit in just right.

6. It's different - By this, I mean it's different than my preferred captures of wildlife and natural landscapes.  I love capturing nature in photos and it's my first choice when I venture out with my camera.  But, I don't want to be caught up in a label, either.  It's fun to venture outside my comfort zone to try capturing a compelling image.  I mean, technically I'm not really a photographer, since I don't make any money doing this.  In that sense, I'm just an engineer.  But I like to keep myself on my toes!

Enjoy!

A Stroll Along The Green

It's been severely hot and dry this summer, not just here in Kansas, but all over the mid and western US.  The lack of water has taken its toll: lawns are yellow, trees are already losing their leaves, and crops are quickly going to waste.  It's times like these when you realize our immense dependence on water and how much we take that dependence for granted.

It's also amazing how much difference a year can make.  About this time last year, we were visiting my hometown in Wyoming.  The winter of 2010-2011 had produced record snow packs in some areas and, although winters in Wyoming are already tough, the vast amount of snow was a welcome site to a state suffering about 10-12 years of drought conditions.  As we drove across the state creeks and rivers were flowing out of their banks.  We drove into the Snowy Mountain range west of Laramie (Highway 130 - a beautiful drive!) and there were still 6-8 foot walls of snow and ice lining the road in several areas.  In fact, I wanted to show my wife and kids the Sugarloaf area where my friends and I often hiked and fly-fished during college and we couldn't even turn off the road because it was drifted in with snow.

But that was last year.  We just returned a week ago from our annual trip for this year and the landscape was a 180 degree change.  Dry, hazy (fires in several regions including some of my old stomping grounds), and hardly anything was green.  So, it was a great surprise when we rolled into Green River and saw that the actual Green River was flowing quite nicely at a much higher water level than I expected.  It was probably the only flowing body of water we saw on the entire trip that didn't look like it was a couple months away from drying up completely.

One of our first nights back in town, we took the kids and drove down to the Scott's Bottom area of the river on the southeast edge of town.  The city has done an amazing job constructing a greenbelt system that spans a good deal of the river and now extends from the middle of town all the way to the Scott's Bottom (aka FMC Park) area.  We were all anxious to stretch our legs a bit after the 2-day drive from Kansas and there's  no better way than strolling along The Green.

It's an extremely beautiful river and I often forget how much I miss it.  I couldn't help staring at it, reading its ripples and pools thinking, "There's probably a fish there....and there...and there."  The area we walked is a thriving riparian habitat and my kids were quick to start pointing out the various birds and critters we saw.  These riparian zones along the river stick out like sore thumbs, considering this area of Wyoming is mostly desert with not much more than sagebrush and dirt.  I've always loved standing high on the hills surrounding the city and looking down on the contrast provided by the lush, green banks of the river.  It truly is an integral part of the community and environment.

This photo shows the river and the hills that rise above her east of town.  The light was just starting to come together and I stepped away from the family to frame the shot.  I chose black and white to try highlighting the contrast I was seeing.  The clouds were really starting to form nicely and I liked the shadow play they were causing upon the hills.  I also liked how the clouds and some of the hill "faces" that were in light were complementing each other.  Throw in the light that was lightly touching the grass in front of me and things came together well.

Enjoy!

It's Good to be Home

It's hard to describe the feeling I get when returning to my hometown, but I look forward to it each visit. I don't get the opportunity to visit as much as I'd like, so I try to take advantage of it as much as possible. This year I've challenged myself with taking the time to get out and take some meaningful photos. It's tougher than it sounds because my primary reason for visiting is family and it's hard to sacrifice time with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles - who I only see once a year - to go out shooting photos.

Nonetheless, my wife, kids, and I spent most of the day exploring the wonderful landscape surrounding Green River, Wyoming scouting for good photo opportunities. This day, we concentrated on the area east of town where the Green River winds it's way south leaving the town behind it. My plan was to file away some spots that I would later return to during more ideal shooting hours. In fact, most of my shots early in the day were with my iPhone just trying to put together ideas.

It was pretty hot during our midday excursion, so we decided to give the kids a break, but agreed that we'd come back in the evening after it cooled off. Returning to the river around 7:00, we walked along the bank looking for wildlife. I wasn't fully in photographer mode, instead trying to help my kids enjoy being able to explore an area they're unfamiliar with. It turned out to be an absolute gorgeous night. I snapped a few pics here and there, but wasn't completely satisfied with most of them. After some time, we decided to call it a night, but at least I had a few more ideas to return to.

As we started back toward my Grandma's house, my wife asked about an area I mentioned earlier in the day. I told her we were very close and asked if she wanted to cruise that way for a bit and she agreed. I knew we couldn't get to the exact spot I wanted before sunset and didn't really want to attempt it because it would've made for an interesting drive back to town in the dark. Had it just been me and my wife, then maybe. But with the 3 kids with us, I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.

The dirt rode was horribly rutted from someone else's poor decision to tear up the road sometime earlier in the year when it must've been sloppy with mud. So, it was very slow going as I navigated to keep everyone from bouncing out of their seats (the kids were enjoying it!). I finally mentioned that we couldn't make it to where I wanted and that I'd turn around. But my wife told me to at least go down around a bend she could see explaining that we could possibly catch the last of the sunlight over the town. I continued on and have to give her credit because the view back toward the west was spectacular. Actually, the views in all directions were pretty impressive. I stepped out of the car, crouched down, and snapped the picture you see here. Not bad considering I was still in "scouting" mode and we'd taken an unplanned detour.

Enjoy!