Winter Visitor

Winter is a stark time of year visually. I think about it in terms of black and white with various shades of gray. In this part of the country (Bucks County, PA), we get a special little visitor that seems to perfectly fit with my vision of the season – the Dark-eyed Junco!

This rather mono-chromatic flier blends in well with the gray-skies and snow-covered landscape. In this image the background and perch mimic the colors of the bird and convey a sense of the season. I like the simplicity of the tonalities in the image and the very limited depth that I was able to achieve with a large-aperture long telephoto lens (Canon EF 500mm f4.0 L IS with Canon TC 1.4X).

Compositionally, I wanted the bird to not overlap with any background elements in which it would merge tonally. Being down low enough to the ground to keep the portrait intimate, that is, at about eye-level with the bird, was also critical.

***********************************************************

Looking Up

It’s hard for me to not anthropomorphize the behavior of animals looking up to the sky as being spiritual. There just seems to be a natural interpretation of any animal with their eyes searching the “heavens” as seeking guidance or being lost in a sense of wonder.

As someone who spent their college career in the study of animal behavior, any form of anthropomorphizing was unscientific. As an artist now, I don’t have to fight that urge. In fact I think it has become a part of my image-making process. I look for the “expressions” in animal subjects that relate to my own emotions and feelings. My work isn’t just about the animal in my image, but also about how their behavior speaks to our own lives.

This little kit Red Fox was part of a den I worked at for over a week. I  feel like I caught it in a private moment of youthful contemplation of the universe. Color isn’t important to the image, so I rendered it as a black & white. To instill a sense that it was unaware of my presence, I composed so that it blends into its surroundings but made sure that the eyes and ears (pointing forward with its line of sight) are clearly visible.

****************************************************************

The Maine Thing – Day 5

One of the attributes of Acadia National Park that I especially like is the ability to park in the right lane of “The Loop” just about whenever I wish. This gives me the freedom to explore and respond to the landscape freely. And since the park is never really closed, I can do this for sunrise, sunset, middle of the day, or middle of the night!

One location on the loop that I like is at Otter Cove. Here, the mountains reflect into still waters lined by forest. I see it as a serene view, without great drama. Therefore my image represents it using symmetry, subtle tonality, and lots of sky. The clouds both provide visual interest to the sky but also minimize the landscape further. There is both direct and indirect light hitting the land along with shadows of the clouds themselves. This image was made with a Micro-Four-thirds system camera (Panasonic GH2) and an Olympus 9-18mm m4/3 lens. This lightweight camera and lens combo is a great travel kit.

Otter Cove, Acadia (c) 2012 http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

**************************************************************

Kutztown Folk Festival starts Saturday June 30!

My 9 days at the Kutztown Folk Festival starts this Saturday (http://www.kutztownfestival.com/ ). This summer staple is always a fun time and draws an audience from around the region which can number over 100,000!

There will be a lot of early mornings in my future and 9-days of smelling funnel cake, but the opportunity to meet new customers, and see some previous ones as well, makes it all worth while. 

One of the newer pieces that I will have at the show is this image – “House Finch”. It has become an image that I particularly like as it has many of the elements that I try to bring to my work. Much of my imagery that is about birds includes a good deal of habitat, some painterly selective focus, and soft light. The bird is  relatively small in the frame but the composition still make it the clear point of interest. The photograph was made with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III camera with a Canon EF 500mm f4.0 L IS lens and a Canon TC1.4X on a Gitzo Tripod with a Foba Superball head and Wimberley Sidekick attached.

“House FInch” available as a 6.75 x 9.75 print matted to 11×14

****************************************************************

Just a Drop Will Dew

Soon after I started making pictures (over 30yrs ago), I quickly became enamored with “macro” photography (photography of small subjects working with specialized lenses which allow you to focus close to your subject). My first “serious” lens was a used Sigma macro lens. It allowed me to explore nature in a way that made even the yard of my Philadelphia apartment seem like a wilderness.

I continue to explore nature through this close-up photographic technique, although now I do it with a variety of close-focusing lenses and in natural areas rather more diverse than my Philly front yard. However, it is the visual simplicity that I can achieve with macro-photography that really keeps me going back to it.

In the case of the image below, a simple line (leaf edge) and the contrasting almost-perfect orb of dew create an image of simplicity and tension. I am drawn to water droplets as characters in my work. They appear as jewels on misty mornings, after a rain, or when the appropriate dew point and I intersect.

For this image I was working with a Canon 40D and a Canon EF 100mm f2.8 macro lens set at f2.8. I had a shutter speed of 1/640 and set the ISO to 400. I set the camera to Aperture Priority and metered in Pattern mode.

Dew Drop – (c) Paul Grecian – http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

*******************************************************************

 

Blue Jay in 7×14 Series

I have been putting together a series of images printed at 7″x14″ and will be now offering this new image. The bird of course is a Blue Jay, an image I made here in Bucks County just yesterday. Blue Jays are handsome birds with sharp features and unique coloration. We’ve had one visitng around the house lately, so I’ve become more conscious of them.

The colors in this piece are very complimentary giving it a somewhat peaceful feeling. The branch lines lent themselves well I think to this more panoramic presentation. Importantly, the branchs diverge toward the right of the frame which balances the figure of the Blue Jay on the left. I had nice soft light with which to work, but a long focal length lens (400mm w 2X TC = 800mm) and low light required a higher ISO (1250). I was very conscious of the way the leaves frame the bird and the over framing of the image so that it would be a successful 7×14.

Blue Jay in Spring Foliage

*******************************************************************

 

Maine On My Mind

I’ve been planning a trip back to Maine for this summer. My first visit last year to Acadia National Park was a profound experience. I am very curious how I will perceive the area differently during a second visit.

I have been working with images I made in Maine last June  and will be printing a few to include in shows and at Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville, NJ. One of the new prints will be of the image below depicting the Margaret Todd schooner in Bar Harbor at dusk. The blues in the sky reflecting in the harbor waters served as a pleasant contrast to the warm tones of the sails. I composed to emphasize a sense of place, the rocky foreground providing grounding from which to stand and enjoy the scene.

Yea, I’m ready to go back!

The Margaret Todd, Bar Harbor, Maine

 

**********************************************************************

Warrior III – The Yoga Bird Returns

I have selected a new image to accompany Downward-facing Dog, an image of a Great Blue Heron stretching in a posture that reminded me of the famous yoga pose of the same name. This new print, which is of an image made the same morning as Downward-facing Dog, is of the same bird in yet another yoga-like posture – Warrior III. Warrior III is a more difficult position to achieve, at least for me, though this heron seemingly does it with little difficulty.

As you have probably guessed, the new print will be titled – Warrior III. Like Downward-facing Dog, I use the  reflection to create a Zen-like symmetry in the image and the overcast lighting (acting like a huge softbox) to eliminate shadow and harsh reflections. My composition does not reveal any real horizon line so the bird and it’s reflection almost seem to be floating in air. The tree limb that breaks the water’s surface and a few water bubbles are all that “ground” the bird to a terrestrial sphere.

"Warrior III"

****************************************************************

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…..

OK, so that’s the postman’s creed, but it’s also emotively, the conditions I like to work in visually. We haven’t had much snow around here this winter (62 F degrees yesterday!). The other day it did rain heavily and that was followed by some wonderful fog. It was a fog that kind of rolled around low to the ground and the water, changing the landscape as it moved.

What I like about rain and fog is how they change the pallete of the landscape allowing me to work with darker more saturated tones. Wet colors are vibrant and deep. The fog allows me to simplify my visual experience in the images I make. With fog in the landscape, I can isolate elements against clean, textureless, evocative backdrops, drawing the viewer’s attention to what excited me most visually. There is a sense of mystery involved for the viewer as parts of the landscape are enshrouded.

In this first image, the tree limbs seem to reach out from nothingness as fog above lake waters obscures their trunks and the ground. It is an image that seems the reverse of what we would expect to see which enhances its sense of mystery.

(c) 2012 Paul Grecian - http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

 

In this second image (part of my “pathways” series), I use the fog to obscure the end of the path which not only simplifies the image visually but adds a good deal of suspense to the piece. Sometimes I like having the viewer need to finish the “story”. I also like sensual lines, in this case both the foreground tree on the left and the curves of the path itself both contribute and offer contrast to the otherwise straight lines of the woods. Compositionally, I use the foreground tree to point the way up the path as well.

 

(c) 2012 Paul Grecian - http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

Winter Flock

As soon as I saw the local forecast for Bucks County included snow, camera batteries went into their chargers. I have not acclimated well to cold this winter, the temperatures have been too inconsistent. Warm one day (or 3), cold for a day, then warm again.

I can dress for the cold though, for the most part. My biggest issue is cold toes and fingers. It hadn’t stopped snowing yet when I got out this morning. We only had a few inches, but it was enough to make it finally look like winter. I was thinking winter birds today, so I geared up with that in mind.

After a while outdoors, I was beginning to wish I had been more prepared for landscape imagery. Truth is though that I like to concentrate on one genre of work at a time during the winter, so today was birds. The snow fell heavily at times and began freezing to my camera and lens making it difficult to gain access to all of the controls. I had to scrape away ice from my camera to access the ISO button and even the front control dial.

The image below is of a flock of Cedar Waxwings. I like how I can expose to attain a clean white background by composing against the sky. The yellow tail tips of the waxwings add a bit of dramatic color to an otherwise fairly monochromatic piece. I was also pleased to be able to compose to limit overlap of the birds. For the most part, each bird remains a distinct shape.

*******************************************************************