Creation Creating Creations

Ahh the art of creation.  When you think about it, everything in the universe is constantly creating... one could say that it's our divine purpose to create... that it's unavoidable.  As humans, we're blessed with the gift of conscious awareness that allows us to create at will.  I could go on and on about the philosophical nature of creation, but today I'm just going to focus on the creation of works intended to be artistic.  I phrase it like that "works intended to be artistic" because not everyone agrees on what can be called art.  Well, I'm suspending judgment, although I have my opinions on what is "good" or "bad" art, because for someone to take the time to create something means that they're sharing a part of themselves.  Intentional creations of things that don't necessarily need to be created--works of aesthetic or audible value designed to make a statement or elicit a feeling beyond mere function--are perhaps the strongest form of human emotion.


I sang the National Anthem this morning for the State of the University Address at UNLV, where I'm studying for my Master's of Music.  I didn't add any melisma or fluff, and I sang all the correct words the way that Francis Scott Key penned them.  It seems like often times, not to knock any large-event divas, the meaning behind the song is lost.  Raised in a military family, I can't help but imagine what it must have felt like to Mr. Key to be a prisoner, to have bullets and bombs percussing the air around his head, to fight for the freedom of his home, and to see the star-spangled flag being illuminated by fire in the sky.  He wrote those words to share his emotions, to convey what was going on to future readers.  He had no idea that his words would be turned into a song sung before sporting and other events.  But his emotions live on.  As a singer, it is my job to interpret and convey the emotions that both the lyricist and songwriter intended, regardless of the language or year of the song.


When I left the State of the University Address, I walked across campus and saw a friend of mine sitting under a tree.  When I approached her to say hello and pay her a compliment, I saw that her emotional state was less than happy.  She, too, is a musician.. a pianist and singer.  When I offered a friendly ear, through tears she explained that she was scorned by her piano teacher for missing a note in a piece she had been practicing for a couple of weeks.  She was questioning whether she wanted to continue with piano, or just focus on singing.  She felt like she is not really doing what she wants with her life.  After a few minutes of listening to her, I let her know that I knew exactly how she felt.  After I had what could be called bad luck with opera auditions in Europe (that's another story, but suffice it to say my music-tied emotions were shattered for a while), I left classical singing all together and ended up traveling the world.  Of course, I still felt a deep emotional connection to the world around me, and a need to create a shareable form of that connection, and thus began my photographic endeavors.


It is very difficult to be a good musician and not be in touch with your emotions.  Most of your free time is spent practicing, questioning yourself, doubting yourself, practicing more, getting nervous, and then finally performing.  Hopefully the performance goes well, which usually happens after enough practice, but even then you focus on the little mistakes you made.  Then, people from the audience tell you how great you are... very rarely does anyone say, "Thank you", or, "I really enjoyed that", or any other personal statement.  Personally, I don't like meet and greets after a performance for that very reason.  My performance is not about me, it is for you.  Sure, I place an emotional value on the music I'm performing,  but I perform for myself.  It is always up to me whether or not I want to share it with an audience (though normally I do, because I think the world benefits when people share what's in their souls).


Which brings me back to creation.  We all place emotional value on things, but often times we're a bit too lazy to do anything about that.  Now, granted, not everyone feels the need to create... not everyone has a "feeling" personality type.  But if you're reading this blog, you're likely someone who is at least intrigued by artistic creation.

"Wait a minute Nathan, I thought this was a photography blog!  What gives with all the music talk?"  Well, when people ask what I do, I tell them I'm an artist... then they ask what kind, and I modestly reply, "In every way that I can be."  I think in song, although I haven't quite honed my song-writing skills to the point where I want them.  Since I think in song, I try to convey a sense of musical motion in my images.  In this image I took at Cedar Springs, a farm I worked at in Sedro Wooley, WA, I can hear the raspberries and sunflower harmonize with the sunset in a soothing lullaby.


I think there are a lot of people out there like me, who think in song, and who feel connected to the world and sky.  But I also think that a lot of those people have been conditioned to live their lives based on the expectations of others, thus not allowing their souls to fully be expressed.


I was recently interviewed by Fine Art Photography Weekly, which was a huge honor.  The topic of conversation was "Do what you Love".  I think that is the underlying message of this post: Create what you Love to Create.  Here's the interview.  Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

First Step: My Very First Art-Walk

Phew!  What a great couple of days at the Boca Park Art Walk!  The weather couldn't have been more perfect on this warm October Weekend in Las Vegas.

It has taken me a few years to show at an art walk, as most of my prints have lived in galleries.  But the desire has certainly persisted.  Thanks to the support, patience, and encouragement from my loving partner, I was able to overcome the hurdle of procrastination, and present some gorgeous fine art photographs to my Las Vegas community.

I was so honored and flattered by the comments and feedback I received from visitors to my display, and I met some very nice people who I hope to meet again.  

My portable fine art photography display, featuring some Limited Edition Signature Prints. 

Not knowing quite what types of customers I would meet, I decided to sweeten the deal a little with a raffle to win a print.  Which print?  The winner can choose from five 12"x6" limited edition prints.  The raffle turned out to be a great idea, and fortunately, the winner didn't need to be present.  Here's a video of lovely Olivia drawing the winning raffle ticket:

AND THE WINNER IS: Judy!  Congratulations Judy (ticket number 8448780)!  You've won your choice of a Daydream Vignette Limited Edition print.  Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the raffle.  As a thank you for participating, I would like to offer you a special discount on your next purchase of one of my prints from Invaluable Vantages Printshop.  Make sure to contact me for your special discount code!

The raffle winner has their choice of one of the 12"x6" Daydream Vignettes Collection.  Congratulations Judy!

A lot of people asked me how I make my images, and how nice they look on metal!  I smile at that, because these images are actually printed on premium photo paper, so they are not only archival, but have superior depth of color over metal prints.  In preparation for the art walk, I created a poster that describes my image creation process, which you can see as a jpeg below.  If you're REALLY interested in the method of image creation I employ, I invite you to read my early blog posts on HDR creation, starting here.

One aspect of the show that I am very grateful to have experienced, was seeing the work and displays of the other photographers.  I am pretty happy with my current display, as I only bring limited edition prints, so I don't have much overhead, where I feel the typical M.O. among photographers is to make a whole lot of prints in different sizes and bank on familiar images (images that you've seen in magazines and advertisements).  I certainly have a number of images of those familiar locations (Maroon Bells, Mesa Arch, Horseshoe Bend, etc), but I often feel more satisfied with images that I create that can't be confused with someone else's work... images that tell a new story.  We'll see how it works out.  Beauty is beauty, and people like what they like.  I am just very glad that I didn't bring any of my "familiar" southwest images (specifically from Zion), because the images I would have chosen were essentially mirrored in the photography display across from mine.  

That being said, I wouldn't mind having more walls, and more various prints on hand... 

Sigh.

One step at a time, I suppose.  

In the meantime, please enjoy the current limited edition prints that are available.  Not all of these are able to be shown at the art walk, but they are all available for delivery.  If you mention the art walk for your order, I will extend the "Free shipping" promotion I am extending to the visitors of my display.  Ordering limited edition, signed prints is currently limited to direct communication with me via email (Invaluable Vantages - Email).  Of course, you can always purchase unlimited editions of my work, with the convenience of size and material selection, at Invaluable Vantages Printshop.

Through the Lens of Mortality

As my two years as a Master's student comes to an end, I am excited to present my Master's Vocal Recital Thursday, May 16, 2013, with my collaborative pianist, Michelle Lee.  During the recital I will be presenting a video featuring my photography (both time-lapse, and fine-art landscapes). I will have a reception with light refreshments afterwards.  The cost is free, but I am happy to accept donations in cash, check, or credit card.

Please help me save money and paper-waste by either printing these Program Notes and Translations ahead of time, or viewing them on your mobile device at the recital:

Cabrillo

Cabrillo, originally uploaded by navandale.

Via Flickr:
Cabrillo National Monument is the southwestern-most point in the United States. I recently visited San Diego as a part of a tour with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Chamber Chorale, for which I am the Graduate Assistant and tour manager. It was a long and enjoyable tour, and we sang at numerous amazing venues, including the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala... the oldest church in California.

I've been wanting to do more long-exposure images of waves on a rocky shore, so when I got the opportunity to make my way here, I jumped at it.

I knew that I would have to cross a military base to get to the monument, but I didn't think that I'd have to clear security. Well, I took a taxi from my hotel, and after $30 we arrived at the guard shack at the gate to the Naval base. The guard told us that the park was closed, to which I replied, "Oh, I know, we're not going to drive in the park. He's going to drop me off and I'm going to walk down to the shore and do some night photography." She said, "It's a bit dark for photos, don't you think?" "Actually, I think it's perfect. We have a nearly full-moon, and that's why I have a tripod." She could tell that I wasn't going to hurt anything, so she let me through.

I then walked down to the shore, making sure not to veer onto any coast-guard or navy property. I found a promising composition close enough to the break that I knew I'd get some cool images, but far enough away that my camera wouldn't get wet. I was wrong.

As I looked through the viewfinder I was blasted with a surprise spray from the crashing wave below, and got absolutely soaked. I was less concerned about my cold, wet jeans than I was about my camera. I retreated up the rocks to dry land and proceeded to dry off my camera and clean my lens. Not wanting to repeat my folly, I continued along the shoreline until I found this nice little cove. "This is perfect," I thought. I climbed down and set my camera up facing north towards the orange sky. I first captured the scene at a high ISO with a 30 second exposure, just to make sure I would like the composition. Then, I used my handy exposure-calculator app on my DriodX to determine how long my long-exposure should be at a low ISO and higher aperture.

Happy with the images I captured, I decided to head on back. It was, after all, nearing 1:00am, and I had to sing in the morning. Unfortunately, there was zero signal for my phone.

As I walked back, I tried to call the taxi driver to let him know to come pick me up, but the call kept dropping. Not 100 yards into my uphill trek I saw approaching headlights. As the lights got closer I could see that the vehicle was a truck... then I could see it was a police truck. I politely waved and intended to just keep walking, but the police truck stopped.

The window rolled down, and I knew I would get some sort of talkin-to from the authoritar, but then I heard a gregarious female voice greet me. It was the guard from earlier. She was relieved from her shift, so she figured she would come make sure I was ok. Awful nice of her. Even nicer, she then offered me a ride back to town. SUPER LIKE! I hopped into the back of her cop-car, and must say that I never pictured my first ride in the back of a police vehicle as being so pleasant. We chatted a bit when another pair of headlights came our way. I muttered, "I think that's my taxi" as it drove past. "Maybe you should flash your lights at him" I suggested, but it was too late. We passed each other. So, she turned around, turned on her cop-lights, and chased him down. I could only imagine his confusion and anxiety at the oncoming lights.

I thanked the nice officer, and got in my cab to head back to the hotel. After apologizing to the cab driver, he informed me that he saw my number on his caller ID, and assumed I was ready to be picked up... I love how things work out!

This is not an HDRi, as many of my images are. This is a single exposure facing north. Viewing this image large allows you to see the star trails, and exquisite detail throughout. The light in the background is from what I believe is a streetlight. The only editing I did to this image was a tiny bit of sharpening, and a tiny contrast adjustment.

Whiskey Skies

Whiskey Skies, originally uploaded by navandale.

Spectacular sunset over the Oak Bottom arm of Whiskeytown Lake. This was my stop after leaving Redwood National Forest on my National Park trek. I wasn't actually expecting anything special to come from Whiskeytown National Park (in comparison to many of the other National Parks I have seen and would see). That thought was stoked by the fact that the waterfall that I had wanted to visit and photograph had all sorts of trail-construction. 

On my approach to Whiskeytown through Willow Creek, I could tell that the sunset was going to be beautiful... But, I was surrounded by canyon walls, and really wanted a shot with Shasta Bally in the background. Well, as I exited the canyon and rounded a bend I saw this scene... I had to stop! Fortunately, there was a campground parking lot about 50 meters ahead. I pulled in, parked, and rushed to get my camera and tripod.

In my flip-flops I navigated the steep, thistle-covered bank to the shore-line. The shoreline didn't offer much in the way of foreground... all there was was a lonely rock far off to the side, which only offered one angle of view (lest I include the man-made embankment that made up the northwest shore).  I considered photographing the scene with just lake and sky, more of an exact mirror, but it just wasn't as interesting without something in the foreground.  So, I got my tripod folded wide open to allow for a nice low angle on the rock, and still see enough sky.  The only available angle from which to shoot the foreground, not get the man-made embankment, but still see the clouds and mountains required that I put the legs of my tripod in the water, and I squat in a smelly mud.  I took a series of shots as the light quickly changed, but this image was the first I captured, and the best of the evening.

The only way to capture the completeness of the scene was to shoot it as a panoramic. This is an HDR pano made from 4 horizontal frames. Each frame is an HDR image created from 3 RAW images using Photomatix Pro. Pano stitched in Photoshop.  Very little post processing was done to this image.  A little dust-spot stamping, unsharp mask, and noiseware standard in the sky. 


Enjoy, and thanks for visiting! :-)

Drinks, Snacks, and Violence... all in a Beautiful Day's Work

My recent trip to Yosemite Valley yielded some awesome photographic opportunities, as well as some unforgettable encounters.  Here's a couple images and anecdotes from that trip.

Ahwahnee

View of Tissayak (Half Dome) and North Dome from the Ahwahnee Meadows in Yosemite Valley.  The Paiute legend that I like (there are a few versions, and even some controversy over wheather it is a Paiute or a Miwok legend) states that a young girl and her husband were out from Mono Lake and were very thirsty when they entered Yosemite Valley.  The young girl was so thirsty that she drank up all the water in the valley, angering her husband to the point of beating her.  As she tried to run away she threw her basket at him, but then fell down and began to cry.  To punish them for bringing anger into a place of peace and beauty, the creator turned them into stone, the woman forever weeping: Tissayak.  Her Husband: North Dome.  Her Basket: Basket Dome. Her tears still streak the face of Half Dome.

Sometimes the scene is just too big for the lenses I have, so... I cheat.  This is an HDR-pano from 4 HDR images, arranged in quadrants.  Processed using Photomatix Pro's Batch Processing, and Photoshop CS4.  It's pretty easy to stitch pretty much any number of images together using photoshop's "Photomerge" option.  It only requires a little bit of foresight when capturing the images.  Make sure there's about 30% overlap per frame, and with just about any focal-length you can make grand panoramic stitches (as long as the "correct geometric distortion" box is checked).  Just make sure to shoot more than just the intended scene, as you will need to crop the slightly warped edges of the final product.  

Lunch Munchin

On my hike up to Nevada Falls, I stopped to admire the beautiful rainbow created by the angle of the sun against the spray.  Apparently, I wasn't the only one enjoying the scene.  This little ground squirrel stayed still for the entire time it took me to consider the shot, wonder if the squirrel would stay put, and set up my tripod... about a minute and a half in all.  Then, as soon as I took my bracketed shots, the squirrel looked up at me and scurried off.  

It's both cute and annoying how accustomed to humans some "wild" animals are.  Every National Park has signs posted on trails admonishing against feeding the wildlife.  Not only can the non-indigenous food cause myriad health problems for the animals, but the animals can most certainly cause health problems for humans.  These cute critters carry lice, ticks, fleas, other parasites, rabbies, and other diseases.  This squirrel was eating what looked like a torn of bit of a granola bar... probably no big deal... but before you know it, this squirrel will be dependent on handouts and be unable to fend for itself (...hmmm, is there a hidden socio-political statement in there).  

Thanks for reading.  Be well! :-)

Morning Song

Bridalveil Falls and El Capitan from the Merced River in Yosemite National Park during sunrise on an especially magical day. It was a cold night, allowing fog to cling to the more open areas of the Yosemite Valley. I camped at Camp 4, the more primitive of Yosemite's camps, which is about 4 miles away from Bridalveil Falls (also the closest to the falls). I had this shot in mind since before I arrived in Yosemite, so when I woke up at 5:30 with the birds, I knew I was running late. No time to make a breakfast fire and brew coffee. Dawn was upon me.

So, I hopped on my bike, and enjoyed a beautiful ride to this spot. I stopped along the way a few times contemplating striking compositions, but I didn't dally for fear that the fog would lift, and I'd miss the color in the clouds. Well, I arrived at this bend in the river, and carefully moved from rock to rock, careful not to disturb the fragile flora along the bank, until I had the composition I wanted. Honestly, I was hoping for something more interesting in the foreground... but I'm not complaining.

Yosemite Valley is a magical place, and this morning was no exception.  With the songs from all of the birds providing a melody on top of the melisma of the moving water, and the occasional crescendo and decrescendo of wind, I had no need for any ipod or other musical device during my stay. This image is but one of many taken during my stay in Yosemite, and can be purchased as a fine art print, puzzle, mouse-pad, coaster, coffee-mug, etc. at my printshop.

Now, Let's talk about Stability and Camera Shake.
To take this image, I used my brand new Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod with the Manfrotto 322RC2 Joystick Ball Head.  Sure, I could have used any tripod, but I am super excited about this thing. It is a carbon fiber magnesium allow, so it's super strong, and super light-weight.  Not to mention, I have full-360 degree rotatability, greatly expanding my shooting options compared to my old, heavy, unsturdy aluminum tripod.  Then, with my Canon 40D set to AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing)+-2, and self-timer set to a 2-second delay, I metered the midtones of the scene at f18 1/15 ISO 100 and fired away.  Why not use my shutter-release cable, you ask?  For shots like this, where I don't need to immediately capture what I see or expose for longer than 30 seconds, I like to use the camera's self-timer.  First of all, I find it to be a hassle to take out my SRC, hook it up to the camera, and then a couple minutes later have to take it back off to put my camera back in it's bag.  Second, even with a SRC and an awesomely stable tripod, it's very easy to get camera shake by firing too soon after composing the image.  I find that 2 seconds is generally a pretty good buffer to make sure the camera's stable.  If using a non image-stabilized zoom lens, you may even want to consider the 10 second delay for certain shots (or just take a few breaths before pushing the shutter release button).  Whatever you do, by all means, DON'T PUT YOUR CAMERA ON A TRIPOD ONLY TO PRESS THE SHUTTER FOR AN IMMEDIATE CAPTURE, YOU WILL NOT GET AS SHARP OF AN IMAGE, AND YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR TRIPOD!  Always allow some time after composing your image for the camera to settle, even when shooting panos!  Well, that's my two cents anyway.  I hope you found it informative, or at least interesting enough to read all the way through! ;-)

Thanks for reading!  Be Well!