ASPEN GROVE SINKS CANYON WY

ASPEN GROVE IN SINKS CANYON NEAR LANDER, WYOMING ©1998

SILVER & OIL

Shortly after our move to Wyoming in 1997, I gravitated toward Mixed Media. I had practiced with oil paints back in Virginia, but I felt that the subject matter did not lend itself to transparent oils. However, the western landscape was a natural, and I made a series of hand-colored images. This was one of the first.

TO VIEW A LARGER IMAGE LEFT CLICK ON THE IMAGE. THIS APPLIES TO ALL IMAGES. THEN CLICK ON THE RETURN ARROW, UPPER LEFT CORNER OF MONITOR SCREEN.

PINE TREE ARCH UTAH 1999

PINE TREE ARCH ©1999

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

SILVER & OIL

SPLIT ROCK WYOMING 1998

SPLIT ROCK WYOMING ©1998
SILVER & OIL

This was one of my favorite rock studies because of the natural design and the boulder lead-in to the pinion pine in the background.

I revisited this spot last October (2010) and worked it over again with digital. The pine was reduced to a lot of broken pieces and the scene simply was not worth a second image.

A lightning strike may have put an end to the Pinion Pine. That happens frequently in this part of the country at the higher altitudes.

JACK JEFFERS; MONUMENT DRAW WY 1997 SILVER & OIL

MONUMENT DRAW
WYOMING OUTBACK ©1997
SILVER & OIL

We had not been in Wyoming very long before a local photographer offered to take me out to Monument Draw. He was what I would call a camera buff but very much interested in photography.

It's a good thing I went with him because it was definitely a four-wheel drive trip. The ride alone was worth the time, but when we got to the monuments I could hardly get my 2 1/4 out of the pack fast enough. The view of the Wind River Range in the background was stunning. But the erosional feature was the first of it's kind that I had ever seen.

The lighting was perfect and the sky was made for the scene. If you look closely, you will spot my guide in the background focusing his 4 x 5 in view camera. This silver image was the perfect candidate for oils. So, between the toning of the print and the layers of transparent oils, this trip turned out to be a winner. And that is what art is all about.

DESERT TRAIL WYOMING 2001

DESERT TRAIL ©2001
WYOMING OUTBACK ALONG BEAVER RIM.

This high 7,000 ft escarpment is located in central Wyoming, south of Riverton and is just one more fantastic area for an artist to explore.

This landscape has all the elements for a nice photograph and you have the trail as a lead-in for the eye. That is Dishpan Butte in the distance with a dark polarized sky in the background.

I also made a color image, but in my opinion, the toned silver image is far superior.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK UTAH 2008

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK UTAH ©2008

This is a digital image that was converted from color to black and white. You cannot go wrong in this park if the lighting and sky are working for you, In this case, the polarized filter helped to darken the sky to the point where I had a well balanced image.

Moab is one of our favorite areas to visit.

To view a larger image, left click on the above photograph

COLUMBINE COLORADO STATE FLOWER 2010

COLUMBINE

COLORADO STATE FLOWER 2010

While I enjoy photographing flowers, I do not consider it to be my major forte when it comes to photography.

The major problem here in Colorado is the wind. If you have ever tried to capture a flower in a slight breeze you have likely experienced dispointment because you must often woek with a slow shudder speed in order to get the depth of fleld necessary. The columbine is found at high altitudes here in Colorado and there is often a movement of air.

I use an 18-200 mm lens because it gives me all the range I need, and I do not ever have to make a lens change. Dust on a digital sensor can cause major frustrations and the idea is to keep that sensor clean.

On this particular day, the breeze was intermittant, so I was able to capture this image rather easily, and I had a nice background that was dark enough to show detail while allowing the light flower to stand out on its own. The aspen tree immediately behind the flower was in just the right place.

With the zoom lens, I was able to set up my camera and tripod several paces back and frame the scene exactly the way I wanted it. After getting all the elements just the way I invisioned them, I used the ten second delay timer to do it's thing. I often use the timer because it will help reduce any slight vibration that might occur from having your finger on the release button.

Toward the end of this Blog, I show one more flower from back east. It is a bloodroot along the Blue Ridge Mountains and just off the Appalachian Trail. I had a group of photographers from the Camera Club of Richmond out on a field trip back in the early seventies and one of the demonstrations I gave was how to build a background for flowers without damaging the plant. You may enjoy the story behind that scene. I hate to see flowers that have been trampled on or otherwise damaged by careless hikers.