MorseBlog

I spent the summer in Sandpoint Idaho with my Fuji GFX 50s ii medium format digital camera. My digital philosophy has been to retain and integrate the aspects of film that I enjoy so much. I tend to work with mostly manual lenses and not use a lot of the camera features and menus aside from shutter speed aperture and a new one for me, ISO. I made a series of earlier posts on some of my work which I list below. Old Glass  Lake Vibes Lake Morning June 5 2022 Trestle Creek August First Lake Pend Oreille I have travelled to this area over the years to visit my father and have always found the lake to be a challenge to photograph. It is predominantly blue in tone in the summer owing to many days of bright blue skies. The lake itself sits in a bowl of mountains that makes golden hour somewhat muted. This was an attempt to channel some of the mood of the lake and reflect that in my photographs. I found th...

As I mentioned in a previous post I had found some inspiration for a photography project that morphed into a small photobook. To recap the book will be hardcover in A5 (210mm x148mm) in landscape orientation. I am publishing this at Mixam my favorite photo-book publisher .  I received my softcover proof copies the other day and they came out nicely. I substituted one photo that I decided didn't look so nice. Since they were black and white images, I opted to print a monochrome book. The images came out nicely. I updated my minor changes and reformatted it for hardcover. This involves changing the number of pages and reshuffling a little to make sure the pages I wanted to land across from each still do. I use softcover to save a little money on the proofs before committing to the more expensive hardcover run. I have found with these softcover books with 32 sides (internal pages) 8 copies cost as much as one. So I order a batch of proof as they usually turn out well enough to give to...

It is interesting to ponder the cycle of creative drive. In the past these lulls in my photography used to concern me as I would wonder if I had come to the end of the road for this activity. However, over time I find that there is a natural cycle, and these low points are part of it. I suppose some part fatigue which is probably a protective mechanism to not get obsessed with something. I haven’t done much serious picture taking since February but really going back to January if you don’t count ‘finishing off a roll’ as real work. In the meantime, I have been printing some back catalog images using lith printing, so it is not like I have not been engaged, merely differently. I also realize that I have made some great lith images (by my own judgement). This is turn fueled or rekindled some work I did this morning.  My First Rekindling On another front I have the pleasure of taking Mollie out for her early morning walks. She gets me up early between 5:...

Ian Roberts in his YouTube video  Understanding Your Muse  tells a compelling version of the Greek myths surrounding the Muses. In Greek mythology Mnemosyne is a daughter of Zeus and mother to the muses; all are goddess that preside over the creative arts of mankind. Mnemosyne is also the goddess of memory (where we get the word mnemonic from) and she resides in the underworld near the Pool of Memory.  When one dies, in the ancient Greek understanding, they are taken to the Pool of Memory all bound up with worldly experience, ego, ambition, tragedy and fear. They drink from the pool and remember completely all of their unbound human potential. What a moment that must be! But that we must wait to die to experience it. But there is a related belief that when one is in the creative throes and in touch with one’s muses then there may be a moment where you can drink from the Pool of Memory and experience briefly your full potential. ...

I set about making a study by re-photographing some trees in the fog. As part of this I decided as I often do to print some of these images. These negatives are a challenge as they lack any significant contrast. This project reinforced my belief that spending time on a challenging problem can lead to unexpected yet satisfying results. One has to be open to following where the process leads, dead-ends and all. The second installment in this series is here.. . Here is a summary of a many days long processes where I will cut to what I think are the best results. I have more detailed discussions of each stage here...(links may not be live immediately) Conventional Print Details Lith Print Details I started making conventional prints. My aim was to stick to a theme of ‘ma’. It is not possible keep the fog white and the trees dark. So I biased towards white fog. I managed a couple of versions in Ilford Art 300 paper and Ilford FB Classic. They are here... Ilford MG Art 300 Ilford MG FB Class...

This is the one of a what I hope to be a series of posts on the creative process. As I have posted earlier I am trying to raise my game in photography and in addition to refining or learning technique I also want to expand my creative process and be more intentional about this aspect of my work. When I picked up film photography as a hobby almost 10 years ago I did spend some time learning and practicing new skills. In particular I benefited from a study of composition. I am now revisiting this subject and as a consequence of this I am more aware of it. I was watching a Nick Carver video on YouTube today. If you haven’t seen his work look him up. He has a unique perspective and his videos are engaging. As I understand it he makes a living photographing architecture and I think this influences his landscape work. I follow him as he works in film and so his passion as a landscape photographer is aligned with my interests as well. That being said however he often has a very different...