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As the Crow Flies: Studying Shapes and Patterns

4/11/2014

I made it safely to my workshop destination. The little plane was no problem and it turned out to be one of the smoothest flights I've ever had. Just for the record, there were at least two "saloons" in the Utah airport.

Their services were not needed for this passenger who was flying on self-assurance.

It helped that I had to engage full-scale overprotectiveness with my camera gear when they tried to stow it in the cargo hold, telling me as I boarded that the plane was too small for my large carry-on bag. I got lucky and they said I could try to get it on. The lady sitting next to me, who was a double for Susan Sarandon, was not very happy about me wedging it under the seat in front of me, but let's just say that everybody survived. She did not bother saying goodbye to me at the end of the flight, despite my explaining that it was all camera gear and if it were clothing I would have been more than happy to put it under the plane. We went our separate ways. But we (my camera gear and I) made it safely and we're ready to start working.

[Note to non-photographers: do not try to get between a photographer and their stuff. Do not suggest you stow it in trunk or on the roof rack for a trip, unless you want to intentionally rile them up.]

During both flights I used a little point-and-shoot to look for aerial compositions. I had a lot of fun doing it. I thought about getting out the "good" camera, but airplane windows are usually so scratched up (here's another addition to the bizarre list of life questions: what scratches an airplane window? the air? imaginary tree branches? microscopic bugs with sharp feet skating along upon the ice skating rink of airplane windows?) that it is difficult to get great images anyway. Even if the window was wide open, there is usually a layer of something (pollution? clouds? haze?) that make it hard to get crystal clear shots. These are more for fun than anything else.

Today I'm off to see the giant sequoia forest. So I'd better get going. This is my only free day before the workshop starts.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are enjoying the warmer weather and longer days!

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Elevation at the Fair

2/7/2013

Originally published Sept. 13, 2011

I have been doing fine art photography at the State Fair for several years now. If you are reading this from outside Minnesota, you may not know that our State Fair is loved by many residents and gets around 1.7 million attendees a year, although I think a few are probably repeat visitors.

Photography can run the gamut from food, people, animals, night life, rides, games, fireworks, and live music either as single subjects or in a multitude of combinations. I have so much fun that I wish they would come up with an unlimited pass to all 12 days of the fair.

This year I decided I would take advantage of some of the rides with elevation in order to gain a higher perspective. That included the Sky Ride, the Chair Lift Ride, and the big Ferris Wheel on the Midway.

Here are a few of the aerial images taken during my 3 visits. Only a little over 300 days to go until next year!

As the Crow Flies: Studying Shapes and Patterns

Elevation at the Fair

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