New Series: My Favorites

I shot this image with one of my best friend, (Bill Pekala), in the Great Smokies at Morton’s overlook.  We were sitting watch it rain after everyone else had left, with no shot at all and decided to just wait 10 more minutes until official sundown, them we agreed we would head down for dinner in Gatlinburg.  A minute later the clouds broke, the mist started rising and this occurred, we shot so fast I thought our motor drives would burst into flames, we still argue about who got the best shot!

It has been said that the line between genius and madness is very fine, very fine indeed!  After two weeks of sharing the work of some of my favorite people and their incredible photography, which was very well received, by-the-way,  I thought it might be fun to share, maybe, 10 of my favorite images from my 53 year career.  Following the stunning work of the last two weeks it might be impossible to follow their work,  but there is a method in my madness, let me explain.  After a pretty good search I ended up with 100 images!  I broke them into 10 categories; Abstract (7), Sports (3), Monochrome (17), Friends (6), Travel (13), Family (8), Americana & Rust (8), Color for Color Sake (9), Landscape (18) and  Wildlife (3).  I discovered something very interesting, I had a very specific connection and memories to every subject and situation. Please allow me to share each image with it’s own short narative.

I was teaching a workshop for the Bio Comm Meeting in Bar Harbor. ME for Nikon.  We had just released the new Nikon D800 and I was testing it on this trip.  I headed to one of my favorite beaches in Acdia National Park and shot these colorful rocks in the incoming surf.  I remember how much I enjoyed the sound of the water rolling over the rocks, and the nice breeze and the smell of the ocean. I also remember how I was wowed by the files that camera produced!  That shot hangs in our great room 30 X 40  Crystal Archive face mounted print!

When teachings a workshop in Nashville Tennessee, I found this unique decorative arrangement of rusty tools welded together on an office door.  I shot it with the Fujifilm X-E1 and the 18-55 zoom lens. That was that day, with this image, that I realized what a great system the Fujifilm X-system truly was, it is still one of my favorite images!

One of my favorite shooting locations is Old Car City in White Ga.  It is the largest junk yard in America with 36 acres and over 4,000 rusting cars and trucks, many prior to 1960. I love to shoot hood ornaments and this one on an old Cadillac is my favorite, she is beautiful!  Fujifilm X-T1 with the 60mm macro lens.  I love visiting with the owner and my friend Dean Lewis!

I am a writer, photographer, pilot, comedian and story teller.  I love this close-up image of the type hammers shot with my first Fujifilm love, the X10. I’m still shocked at the quality of images you can make with that little camera and this is such a big part of how I started my writing career!

While leading a tour in the South of France with a my dear buddy Bryan Peterson I wanted to make this shot and looked all over France for it, but to no avail.  On our last day before flying home Bryan suggested one last market in Paris, as we entered the market this was the first thing I saw, it was exactly the shot I had dreamed of!  I borrowed the vendors chair and stood up on it to get just the right angle.  His spices were covered by a large white nylon tent, (think softbox!!), it was the perfect light for the shot I wanted so desperately to make, once again, this print now hangs in our kitchen!

One of my favorite shooting locations for a sunrise is Hurricane Ridge Olympic National Park.  After shooting the first light I love to drive to the end of the parking lot and take the gravel road a hundred yards or so down the mountain where there is a large growth of Lupine, if they have dew on them they make spectacular close-up images, this morning we hit the jackpot!

I would love to share some more, if you desire, if you do, post a comment and I will keep this going all week!  It’s been fun for me to relive these memories!

Blessings,

the pilgrim