WINTER WONDERLAND 2013

It is time to show Danny off and in a very lovely sticky snow. This image was made up on the Uneompahgre Plateau, just to the west of Montrose, Colorado. We are in the process of building a new home at about the seven thousand foot level and a move is scheduled for about May.

This plateau is just short of being a hundred miles in length and nearly fifty miles across. The highest point reaches a little above ten thousand feet with a full range of trees. In this area where we are standing, it is made up predominately of Juniper and a few scattered pinion pines. And as you gain altitude, you will encounter scrub oak, aspen and ponderosa pine, followed by spruce and lodge pole pine. The area also supports a full range of wildlife including deer, elk, bear, moose, mountain sheep, rabbits and so on. Oh yes, there are mountain lions and a few smaller critters that live in the Colorado high country environment.

I often use a touch of sepia in my black & white images. It adds just a bit of warmth which I find to have eye appeal.

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

NEW EXHIBITION TO GO UP IN 2013

I was recently informed by the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, Virginia that the present exhibition of my Appalachian images will be replaced by a different selection of originals from the Jeffers' collection. The present exhibition is scheduled to run through January 28, 2013.

The exhibition has drawn so much favorable attention that it was decided by the museum staff that the show would be extended by several additional months. THE SECOND ROTATION OPENS FEBRUARY 11, 2013 MONDAY MORNING AND RUNS THROUGH MAY 26 OF 2013. 

This image was recently sent to me by a friend from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

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

JACK JEFFERS--- TWO RARE BOOKS STILL AVAILABLE

APPALACHIAN IMAGES  Photographs by Jack Jeffers 

Published by Radford University Art Museum 2005

I still have several dozen new books available from this printing, and they are priced at $25 plus $5 shipping.  They are all signed by the artist. This printing has been showing  up on the Internet as a rare book, which I find to be of interest. Also a bit pricey.

To view a larger image of these two books, left click on the above photograph.

And, as you will note below, Mr. Ehrlicher has given it a big thumbs up.


5.0 out of 5 stars An American showpiece-timeless era, May 28, 2011

By 

E. J. Ehrlicher (Chicago Illinois, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Appalachian Images - Photographs by Jack Jeffers (Paperback)

I bought the book. What an endless joy to review the timeless photos of Jack Jeffers. The Appalachian people and landscapes he photographs in black and white are so beautiful, that one can look and feel the images. Although, so many of his images were taken in the 1970's and 1980's, they look like they could have been taken back in the 1920's, so rustic they seem. The latter part of the book includes photographic images from his current home of Wyoming and they capture the beauty of that state. Jack Jeffers is a towering figure in photography. I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys nature and a timeless era.

APPALACHIAN BYWAYS    Published 1984 

There was a press run of five thousand copies when I was working at Radford University, and most of those books have found new homes. I have maybe a hundred left.  I also make it a point to sign each book.

This price of this book is $25.00 plus $5 for shipping.   

To place an order, contact Jeffers at   info@jeffersfineart.com 

JUNIPER 2009

This image was made a few miles to the NE of Montrose, Colorado. You don't have to go very far from home to find this common desert dweller. To me, they are lovely trees to photograph and each one has a character of it's own.

I made this image one chilly morning during the winter when the shadow was strung out across the hillside. I was struck by the simplicity of the setting, and that is one of the things I look for when making photographs.

To view a larger image, double click the left button on the mouse.

TRAIL RIDER 2012

A couple of weeks ago I took the dogs for a walk in the vicinity of where the Black Canyon of the Gunnison passes through Peach Valley. I don't know where the name peach came from because as far as I'm concerned, this area is little more than rugged high country desert. The vegetation is basically juniper, pinion pines and cactus. Plus a lot of rock.

You know what? I almost left my camera at home. As much as I continually stress having the camera along, I almost broke my own standing rule.

A group of trail riders and their three mules were just getting set to take off along the trail to do some seasonal trail maintenance. I had barely parked my truck and told the dogs to stay in the vehicle before the group hit the trail. I was in such a hurry that I just grabbed the camera and quick set it to automatic, and when I raised that camera, the leader of the pack was already in my viewfinder. I made three rapid exposures and this was the best. All of the elements are as near perfect as you can get. In fact, having his hand raised added that little something extra.

I chose to present this image as a sepia black and white. You just cannot beat a nice black and white when working in this country at this time of year.

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

COLORADO COLOR 2012

Often, a nice image appears right in front of you.

Yesterday, I took Danny and Bella out to the Adobe Hills for a walk and some good runs, and they got both. The temperature has been in the low seventies lately, and the sky was a dark western blue. In other words, a lovely day.

On the way out we passed a corn field and a couple of cottonwoods. I missed this opportunity going in because, at the time, I was not thinking about my camera, which I just happened to place on the back seat of the truck before we left home. This is about a five mile ride and it is an area which we often frequent.

I realized after I passed the scene that this combination of old corn stalks and two old cottonwood trees had real potential so I stopped the truck and backed up about twenty paces and took a second hard look.

The lens, which stays on this camera, is an 18 to 105mm and it is my all-time favorite. Today, I made several exposures right at the 105 point. Perfect!  And naturally, I had the polarizer on the lens. It pretty much stays there for all of my work, but every so often I take it off. All I had to do, following the transfer into my computer, was to chop a little off the top and bottom. Presto!  Done.

The moral to this outing is simple. Always keep your camera with you when you go out for a hike or just to sit on a rock and watch the sun set. There are times, like yesterday when it pays off.

To view a larger image, click once on the image with the left button.   

  

PINION PINES NEAR RIDGWAY, CO 2012

A while back, I was sitting in the shade beside our RV when I noticed this lovely forest scene. Fact is, I had viewed it several times before, but today it was becoming something special because of the rapidly changing lighting and shadows caused by the moving clouds. I noticed how nicely balanced the lighting was when the clouds were thin. The end result was what I used to refer to as a 360-degree umbrella. "Soft lighting" in other words.

Needless to say, the tripod and camera came out and this was the final result. In keeping with my silver images from the old days, I converted the color to a nice sepia. Usually, you don"t  have to look very far for nice images. It is often  a simple matter of spotting that elusive image and pulling it out of the total scene. This was such a case where years of practice paid off, and I didn't even have to get off my hind quarters.

Had this image been produced in the lab, it would likely have taken me the better part of several hours to make a finished silver print. Now, with high tech digital technology, the exposed image required but a few moments to produce. Setting up the tripod required more time than the actual making of the image.

Sometimes, I feel more like a computer geek than a photographer, but I still think back to all of those years when I would tote that film camera pack and tripod around for hours at a time and then have to wait for several more hours, or days, before being able to view the finished negative. Personally, I feel that a fine silver print is more in keeping with traditional art than this new technology. But for someone who has a worn out back and has had to deal with three hip replacements, it is a dang sight easier to tote around a digital than a forty pound field pack loaded with film equipment and a heavy tripod.

This way, I can still have fun and preview my finished images immediately after making the exposures. Oh, how times have changed. I do have to question whether this is equal to or better than my collection of silver sulfide exhibition prints. Next image please...