ZION NATIONAL PARK UTAH

This image was made during the fall of 2015 in SW Utah. It was one of three parks that we visited on this trip, but the park we enjoyed the most was Capital Reef because it was the least crowded. Zion was packed with vehicles and it was very difficult to find a place to pull over unless you left early in the morning before sunrise. Once in a continuous line of traffic, you had to stay there until you were lucky enough to find a parking spot. Otherwise, it became a drive through. That is not the way I like to enjoy the scenery.

Bryce was much better, and we had more than enough space to walk and view the dramatic erosional features. Capital Reef was more to our liking, and we'll be quick to go back for a second viewing this coming fall. The erosional features in these three parks are dramatically different. But this is typical of Utah. The landscape changes fast as you travel along.

A Reminder of Summer to Come

A couple of people fishing in one of the small ponds at Ridgway State Park, just 15 minutes south of us.  Looking forward to when they stock the pond this Spring!

JACK JEFFERS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHER

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

This blog has been around for a spell and has a total of about 225 images posted. These images include a number of my original silver prints from the late sixties until I retired from film and printmaking  in 2005.  I then decided to give digital a shot. Well, I'm still adding to my digital collection at age 83 and quite a number of my new digital images are included in this blog. If I have a legacy, it will be my Appalachian Collection.

A brief biographical is shown to the left. You can also left click on an image and it will be greatly enlarged for your further enjoyment.

A note about the two images shown above.

Mountain Man was my first major award winner. It was the first photograph to take a best-in-show in an all-media juried art show. That statement was made in the Richmond Times Dispatch in 1972. This win opened the doors for photographers in multi media art shows.

The second image was made after my wife and I moved west to Wyoming in 1997. It is a "silver and oil." original. I made a series of these which became known as my Wyoming Outback. All of my originals were short edition originals.

There is a lot more to my story, but this is enough to fill you in on some of my contributions to the art world.

Jack Jeffers

I published two books over the years, but the first was a grand success, thanks to the Washington Post. This feature story appeared in the Sunday edition in the Panorama section. It resulted in the sale of nine thousand books which got me going as a working artist. The complete story is recorded in the blog dated 9-5-ll. Check it out, it gives some details about  how to order a copy of book number two, APPALACHIAN BYWAYS.

I have held on to a number of copies since it was printed in 1984.

                     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Virginia Historical Society

Of all the exhibitions which I have had over the years, this is the one that I remember the most.

Before we left Virginia in 1997, I donated over a hundred of my framed originals to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, VA. Their lovely building is right next door to the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. Because of my subject matter, my work fits in much better right where it is stored. Several years ago they displayed my art in a major exhibition that drew a record number of viewers; so many, in fact, the museum extended the show by several additional months. The image above was made by one of the museum staff.

Since then, I have donated two more large collections; one to Appalachian State University in Boone North Carolina, and the second to Radford University in Radford, VA. Again, I chose an academic atmosphere which allows more exposure to the general public. And I know that all of my silver sulfide originals will be well taken care of for future generations to enjoy.

I must also mention a smaller collection which went to Eastman Kodak back in the early eighties. They ended up publishing an eight-page feature article from the Appalachian Collection in their company magazine. It was a first class presentation and was titled An Interview with Jack Jeffers.

They also purchased all of the originals that were used in the publication. That also made my day.

My work can also be found in numerous private and corporate collections.

   

                                             
                                             Monument Valley, UT  USA


       
      Left click on image to greatly increase it's size.

                                  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This image was made several months ago near the foot of the San Juan Range in SW Colorado.
I was driving along a back country dirt road when I spotted the scene before me and the lighting and everything else was just perfect.   

The high peak in the background; just left of center, is Mt. Sneffels; one of several fourteeners along the western slope. It is just over fourteen thousand feet and this photograph was made before the spring melt in mid May of 2016. We were camping at Ridgway State Park at the time, and this is an easy camping trip for us because it's only fifteen or twenty minutes from our wilderness location along the Uncompahgre Plateau.

                         ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 So much to see, and so close to home. Posted July 25,2016  

Several miles north of Montrose, Colorado are the Adobe Hills. This is all BLM land, but it is open to the public. Just don't make the mistake of going in and getting caught in a sudden rain storm.  If that happens you are stuck. This stuff is like kitty litter. If it gets wet it turns into instant  goop. Having said that, here is a typical desert setting. Juniper trees in the SW Desert. And yes, take ample drinking water for your day in the desert. 

                                -----------------------------------------------------------------------

LADY IN A CAR 1979

This image was made during a hot summer day on July 21, 1979 in the small town of Bridgewater, Virginia.

There was an antique car show going on, and I spotted this lovely old lady sitting in an old vintage automobile. This scene would make a great image, if I could capture her without creating a distraction. There was an identical car sitting right nest to hers, and I decided that that was just what I needed to frame her and make a great black and white image. I set up my tripod and made several exposures before the crowd got in the way.

I always like to inform the subject, in a case such as this, that I had made a photograph just in case there was some objection. In this case she was excited that someone had actually photographed her in the old family car. What I didn't know was that she was blind and totally oblivious to what had just taken place.

This image later appeared in a number of exhibitions and has been published in more than one magazine. I also included her in my second book, APPALACHIAN BYWAYS which was published in 1984.

To enlarge the picture, click on the photograph.

FROM THE UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU

This is yours truly, the photographer, standing in what we call our back yard. We live at about seven thousand feet and have a grand view of the Cimarron Range to the east and the San Juan's to the south. This is a more up-to-date photograph of the artist in his own natural environment. It's nothing but us and the critters. Peace and quiet with all the outdoor amenities we need.

In the background is about a third of our woodpile which was cut right here within a hundred yards of the house. Someone recently asked me what sort of chain saw I used to saw up all this wood. I had to chuckle and showed him my 21 inch bow saw. I also have a twenty four inch which gives me another option for the larger logs.  It was all sawed by hand, the old fashioned way. No noise and little chance of having an accident. I enjoy cutting wood, and consider it to be healthy exercise. Besides, it's fun.

I am almost to the point of being able to say that I am eighty-two years old, and I still enjoy my wanderings with the camera and dogs. Some of my images find their way to this blog, with short essays about the image and where they were made. Feel free to enjoy some of my art work. Some of it goes back at least fifty-five years when film was considered the king of photography.

To view a larger image of the artist, click on the image above.

Cheers!

To visit my web site and pick up a lot of other good stuff, do a Google search for:  jeffersfineart.com

 It's a bit out of date, but some day I'll give it another going over. It's still filled with a lot of interesting information and a few of my old articles. And yes, some of my old collectable black & whites. They too have found new homes in various museums and institutions.
                                  -----------------------------------------------------

The city of Montrose, Colorado just recently opened a Railroad Museum, although most of the collectables fall in other categories.  This outdoor display caught my eye. I can actually  remember most of this stuff from my early childhood days and as a teen. I have sharpened an ax on an identical peddle driven grind stone. The circular saw blade is also a familiar piece of equipment. No guard bars in those days. An elderly neighbor who I often helped with his wood cutting accidently put his hand out to stop a fall one day and lost his right hand. You never forget images like that. He did survive but it was a bad experience. This was about sixty five years ago, and I still vividly remember that day on the farm.

To view a larger picture, click on the image above.

FULL MOON PRIOR TO ECLIPSE September 2015

This event took place on September 27, 2015

I was preparing to watch a rather rare eclipse of the moon. Blood moon. Red moon. But what I ended up photographing was the moon as it just peeked over Storm King Mountain which is directly across from our back patio. It is a good thing that I was set up with a tripod or I would have missed this preliminary event to the actual eclipse.  I could see the light from the moon just moments prior to it's appearance over Storm King Mountain. And it was evident that it would appear directly in line with a noticeable notch in the mountain ridge. Perfect! All I had to do was make the exposure just as it was in the process of rising into the evening sky. I made five exposures, and this was the best, because the mountain ridge actually shows in the image. You could not see the ridge in the rest of the exposures. This was it. One exposure, and one beautifully striking image. Being in the right spot at the right time was critical. This was the "decisive" moment.

All to often, a great image is missed because the photographer is not totally prepared to make the exposure at the absolute critical moment.

To view a larger image, click on the above image.

FALL COLOR IN COLORADO September 23,2015

Last Wednesday, I took to the high country to check out the color change. This would be to the east of Montrose and up a Forest Service road just beyond Cimarron, CO.  From here you go back into the mountains and soak up the fresh air and fall color.

I was a bit early, but there was more than enough color change to go around. This is but one image of several dozen which I took home with me. From our place along the Uncompahgre Plateau, this is a circular loop of about ninety miles and that makes for a real nice day's outing. Lots of time for photography and other outdoor activities.

The height of color in the high country is supposed to be today, but I plan to go out again tomorrow when the mass of humanity have returned to their more normal routines. I dislike crowds and dust so I will always opt for a time when the masses are thin or nonexistent.

Today is sunny and nice with a beautiful sky of mixed clouds. It's a great time of year to be out and about.

To view a larger image, click on the above image.