Oh the Days: Reminiscing

Oh the day when I would sit under a tree and close my eyes, not a care in the world.

Oh the days when I would run all day and not get tired.

Oh the days when the fish always bit, and there was always water to fish.

Oh the days when I would run through neighbors yards and they would smile.

Oh the days when I could hold my breath forever, observing the ways of the fish.

Oh the days when summer would never end, and when it did, the snow was always above the knees.

Oh the days when I could watch the squirrels jump from limb to limb.

Oh the days when I wished I could fly, and believed it could happen.

Oh the days, how there is never one alike. I only wish for one of those days: everyday. 

MT

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New Page on Olympus Lenses

Check out my new page(located on bottom right of this page.) I discuss old lenses on digital cameras, the benefits of them, and I share some images I took over the weekend. Hope you had an awesome weekend. I will post more later, time for coffee now.

MT

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New Images

I just uploaded some new and different photos to my photo gallery page. It is located at the bottom of the column on the right. I will try and add to this over time. Right now I have not streamlined my system, therefore it is very time consuming at the moment to upload a gallery. I hope you enjoy.

PS: Here is a photo that resembles whats soon to come.

MT

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Reading and Replicating

Today one of my classes was cancelled so I decided to splurge and get an overpriced coffee at school and read my Outdoor Photographer. The article I chose discussed techniques of creating panoramic images. I carefully read it, my senses quickly becoming more sensitive(I think the caffeine was the culprit, not the article). I could bore you with all the technical aspects that I find way too fascinating or I can just show you what I got out of the article. Below is my idea of a nice panoramic shot. I believe this was six different shots stiched together. Enjoy.

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Project Healing Waters

Here is a shot I captured for a photo assignment. It doubles as a documentation of a great weekend. This weekend as I previously wrote, I took two soldiers on a guide trip. I came out of the weekend with many things tangible and intangible. Two things are going to be around a lot more on my future fishing trips. The PHW hat and the shown fly box. The flies were tied by the men, and an awesome note was written on the inside of the fly box as well. Awesome. To know they took the time to do this, just blows me away. FOr anyone that thinks this world is in the tanks, they should meet soem of the people I have been blessed with meeting.

MT

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Reaching Out

This cloud struck me as worthy of an exposure. Not so much for its aesthetics, but for its thought provoking value. To me, I see a human figure reaching out with one arm, striving for something. What? It is unclear, but obvious it sees something I do not see.

This is sometimes how I view my photography. I am searching, looking, reaching for a certain image. What? I do not know, I do know it is there though. So tonight when I head to Knob Knoster State Park with my friend William, I will search, look, and reach out for that unknown something.

MT

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Amazing Discovery

These images shown are not my own. They are taken by a famous photographer, Lennart Nilsson. I found out about his work today while looking in my Psychology textbook(yes I do read it). His most famous work is his book “LIFE”. It is an intimate look at the develpoment of a human fetus. THe images are stunning and informative. Never before had I seen actual photographs with such clarity and detail. I am doing more research on him but for now I will just share a few photos that I felt were exceptional.

Here is his: http://www.lennartnilsson.com/home.html

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Fishing Report for 9-20-08

Well, I had a wonderful weekend at my home. I was able to meet two servicemen that have recently served in Iraq. Both have sacrificed a lot for their country, and should be recognized for this. It was my privelage to guide them on the river as a part of Project Healing Waters, an organization devoted to helping servicemen and women thru their injuries and or experiences by means of teaching them to fly fish. Eventhough I have never been in the military, I believe the river and fly fishing has helped me in many ways as well. It jus seems to be a good activity that gets your mind concentrated on something that is so peaceful and beautiful.

Now to the actual fishing report. We were fishing the North Fork of the White. The day was mostly cloudy and at times, threatening rain. It was in the high 70s air temp, and probably around 65 degrees water temp. The fly that caught all the fish was a rubber legged stonefly pattern. Nymphing was the tactic, with at least one B split shot. The fish were not really aggressive but the fishing was okay, you just had to be very precise on your mending and placement. Both of the guys were able to catch a 16 inch fish: one Rainbow and one Brown. Overall a slower fishing day than I would have liked, but I believe that both men came away with a better appreciation and understanding of fly fishing.

I will be posting more on Project Healing Waters and how it has affected the servicemen as well as myself. I just havn’t come up with the right words yet. I can say that it is inspiring and humbling to hear the first hand accounts of the soldiers fighting the War Against Terror. They must always be in our prayers. 

MT

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Equality

Switching from color to black and white often leads to some of my favorite images of the subject. This image shows the detail equally between the shadows and the details. Never an easy task, but I enjoy the manipulation that black and white enables. I just love the clouds, I feel they definately capture your attention the most.

I did not spend hours in a darkroom like Ansel would have, but I did dodge and burn digitally. Sorry to the purists.

MT

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Another Memorable Evening

 

 

Oh what a beautiful evening it was at Knob Knoster State Park. I am so glad I got myself up from my computer and decided to go for a little photo expedition. Not that it’s too hard, but with gas the way it is, I must weigh my choices. Photography won hands down.

I only had an hour so I went straight to my ole’ faitful spot. I knew the cloud cover was just heavy enough to keep the sensor from easily being overexposed. I also knew the clouds would make for an interesting part of my composition. I wanted to focus again on my pre-visualization skills as Ansel always did. I knew that I needed more than a horizon and sun photo, I wanted to push my own personal envelope.

I walked around the dam of the lake, looking for intriguing subjects. I took some of the horizon, which I will most likely upload at a later time. I was nearing a treeline that borders the lake when I noticed the sunlight became increasingly more intense. The sun was peeking out from the cloud cover! I had to work fast. I knew from previous experiences that light like this does not last long. The color range in the clouds was an awesome background, the lake a spectacular reflector. You can see the wispy clouds in both the sky and the lake. Amazing! I quickly composed what I felt would be an impacting image. I stooped closer to the water with my tripod, I wanted foreground detail. Being that the light was so harsh, I actually used a fill flash in order to retain detail in the foreground. Good thinking right? I thought so. This image was about the only one I was able to make in the less than a minute of spotlighted sunlight. I feel it did a good job of showing the warm evening light.

I shot numerous shots tonight, but this powerful image was my favorite. I only hope that I can convey that power in my images, so that my viewers can feel like they were there with me. I wish all could experience nights like this. Feeling the warmth fade with the sun, seeing the tones of the sky go from blue to orange and then back to a blueish violet, I sit there. I contemplate what my eyes just captured, what my heart felt, and what I can’t wait to share with my viewers. I know its another night that will be thought of on the nights I must study, do homework, or just don’t get out in time. Night is here, the owls are telling me so. The mosquitos are buzzing something in my ear, I am not sticking around to know what they are saying.  I walk back to my car satisfied, feeling many emotions. I know this was a great night, if it were my last, my photos would attest to what I felt. A photograph is in deed worth a thousand words.

Good night for now, I return tomorrow to the Ozarks to fish. Stay tuned.

MT

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