Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

On the second morning at Bodie I spent some time working on a little lesson on how to work a subject, with some help form Richard Small, a master at composor himself, I came up with some examples. Below are the steps of taking a subject and then working through the possible approaches. First I found an interesting wagon, and then Richard and I went though several ways to use the wagon with other subjects as support. Notice how the position of the camera changes
and how the wagon looks in proportion to the background.

It’s a joy to study a subject and then try and find the most effective way to capture it and present it to the viewer. Below are some of my other favorites from the day. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking the images.

Thank You Father for allowing me to do this for a living……. Amen the pilgrim

*Photo Notes: D3s camera, 16-35, 24-120, 70-300 lenses, Capture NX2, Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0,
Photomatix Pro, Nik HDR Efex Pro, Photoshop CS5 Last image with Coolpix P300.

I arrived in Reno yesterday and drove down to Bridgeport, California to meet Richard Small to do a one day shoot at Bodie, the Ghost Town. We had a great time and did a lot of HDR images. This is a very fascinating place rich with history of the gold rush era. Bodies sits on a mountain side at over 8,000 feet of elevation.

The Ghost town is
filled with lots of old
machinery and the
towns buildings and
even some old trucks.
The textures and
colors were fantastic.
It was a great after-
noon of shooting.

I was composing a
shot when I very
attractive young
lady said I know I
know you, have
you ever been to
Photoshop World?
It turned out to be
Karen Nace who
works with Ben
Wilmore. I’m a
big fan of Ben’s
work and was
sorry he was not
at Bodie, but I
have to say Karen is
much prettier! Had to
say that Ben…..

It was nice to meet
her and we had a

conversation with Richard about how
we’re all fans of the NAPP gang. May-
be we will run into Ben in the morning.
I shot a lot of stuff and will shoot more
in the morning before I head back up
to Reno, so I will post some more
Tuesday, maybe Wednesday.

Blessings,

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: D7000, 12-24,
24-120, 70-300 HDR processed
with NIK HDR Efex Pro and Photomatix.

Sherelene and I had a great trip and I want to thank all of you for your prayers, we had a wonderful time out west…….. Sherelene arrived back home safely this evening so I’m thankful for that as well…….

Early in my career I dreamed of vast vistas, beautiful waterfalls, and clear aqua water, now I get excited about rusting old trucks and cars. Later today I will arrive in Reno and plan to drive down to the Old Ghost town, Bodie, more old building, gas pumps ,and old rusted trucks. What’s the deal here? Actually I think I know. The older I get the more security I find in seeing things that date back to the year of my birth, and before. There is something comforting about anything made that long ago, (like me), that is still around. Rust will get us all eventually, but these old things are still a round to tell us stories about our past. In college, one of my minors was history, and one of the greatest lessons is that if we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it. That has certainly been true in my life. Maturing is learning from the past, and doing it better in the future.

The one thing I can’t do is become
a perfect man, maybe better
but not perfect. The Word teaches
us that “all have fallen short of
the glory of God.” I think that
means that we are all sinners,
we’ve all fallen short of what
God wants for us. We can’t
become what He desires with
our own efforts alone. We
must lean on Him and use the
strength and power that comes
from HIm. Does that mean we
can reach perfection through
HIm? We can be forgiven for
all our sins and become saints
in His eyes, but we still live in a
broken body, that will sin again,
we do however, have forgiveness
in Him.

It’s not about being “good”, it’s
about living moment to moment
in Him. True victory in life is
only attained when we give up
trying to do it alone and ask Him
to become the director and
producer of our lives.

Then and only then can we find real peace and joy, victory and purpose in our lives. Does this mean we can stop trying? No, God expects us to give our best effort in anything we do, but we have to learn that our efforts can only take us so far. I’ve often heard the old saying, “He pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.” I think if you arrive anywhere and still have your integrity,
character, peace and joy. You worked hard, and God filled in for all your inadequacies. I don’t have to believe I can do anything, I do believe that anything is possible with Him……

In His love and power, I am,

the pilgrim




*Photo Note: All images D7000, 24–120, 70-300, 12-24. HDR, Nik Color Efex 3.0, and Topaz Filters.

The single most important ingredient to photography is stunning light for your subject. You cannot capture anything with great effect without the right light. I was editing my work for the last ten days or so, and found a number of images that simply would never have succeeded except for the light. I’m going to share some with you and make a comment about the light in each. The scene above was something I saw driving back from a sunrise shoot with Sherelene out at Dead Horse
Point State Park, near Canyonlands. The original image was color, but still very monochromatic,
so I converted it in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.0 to a good contrast range.

By contrast the image to
the right is the same kind
of condition, but the
color was much stronger,
thus I decided to leave it
as it was shot, in this case
the color works, but as
before the key is the light.

Both images below are
backlit, the trees in Bryce
and Sherelene shooting
at Balanced Rock. The
backlighting accents areas

of interest and makes the images pop. Below the sunrise at
Dead Horse Point State Park was just the right intensity to make the colors pop.

Time of day is also critical, early and late give that nice warm light that is so angular that it helps pull out all the texture, and thus sharpness. Below at Park Avenue in Arches National Park, the late afternoon light along with some nice puffy clouds did the trick…..

In your life, light is just as critical. Don’t walk in darkness, discover the one and only true source of light and life, Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

the pilgrim

*Photo Notes: D7000 and D3s.