Picture of the Month – March 2011

March was a wet month in Ferndale, I think it rained every day. So I didn’t get out much to take photographs.

But true to form, although it came in like a lion, it had signs it was going to go out like a lamb. On the last day of the month it finally stopped raining long enough that Lori and I took a walk up Williams Creek Rd. On the way back I noticed this draft horse sticking his nose through an old window in his barn.

By the time I got my camera out and turned on, he had lost interest in the view out the window, so it took some coaxing to get his attention again. Captured with the Pentax point and shoot that I keep in my pocket, it was a good reminder that the best camera is the one the one that’s with you.

Picture of the Month – February 2011

Ever since I moved to Ferndale, I’ve wanted to have the chance to photograph the Victorian Village covered in snow. This month was the closest I’ve come, for the first time we actually had snow stick at our house, which sits at about 40 ft. above sea level.

I knew there’d be lots of snow up in the hills so Lori, her sister, and myself got up early and drove up the Wildcat and across Bear River Ridge. We watched the sun rise on the drive up and the dawn broke with a clear blue sky. Quite a contrast to the trip up there the day before when it was snowing sideways so hard that I couldn’t even take pictures.

The only other people stirring that early was a few ranchers distributing hay to their cattle who no longer had a plentiful supply of grass to feed on. We came across this group of cattle and I thought it was funny how the cow on the left just didn’t fit in with the rest of the crowd.

Picture of the Month – January 2011

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the KLR650 out on a long dirt ride, but with some good weather after weeks of rain, I figured it would be a good time to photograph some of the local streams. So I did one of my favorite loops, going up to Kneeland. It actually ends up being more of a figure 8 going up Redwood House Rd. and coming back down Shower Pass Road.

There were several beautiful spots that I found to photograph, but this was one of my favorites. I loved the color of the huge boulder sitting in the middle of the stream. It provides great contrast to the lush green foliage that surrounds the creek.

Picture of the Month – December 2010

I received a new Nikon 24-70mm lens so I was anxious to try it out in the low light conditions found in our local forests. Seemed like a good excuse to take the KLR650 out too. Rode the familiar Lost Coast Loop, but found myself stopping a lot more than usual to take photos. Amazing how new equipment will inspire me to go out and take pictures.

This was my favorite from the trip, although there were lot’s of photos I really liked from that trip. The lens is significantly sharper than any other zoom lenses I have in my kit. A very nice addition indeed. I’m going to have fun with this one.

Picture of the Month – November 2010

This is from a training burn the Ferndale Volunteer Fire Department did this month. I was driving the water tender during the drill, and after the interior training was done the fire was allowed to spread. I got back from the final water run so I had some time to start taking photos. I walked around to the back of the property where the outbuilding was burning and saw in the middle of the inferno a fire tornado forming.

It whirled for about a minute and was pretty cool to watch. It was one time I wished I had a DSLR with video built in.

Picture of the Month – October 2010

October in Ferndale is one of the few months that you can count on good paining weather. Since for the last few years I’ve been working on painting our house, that’s what I spent most of this month doing. I’ve also been working on the front fence for a number of years, and it’s finally nearing completion.

To celebrate the end of the painting season, our Cecil Brunner roses bloomed again. I’m really looking forward to seeing our fence in the spring after we’ve planted the whole length with the roses.

Picture of the Month – September 2010

This is sort of a self portrait. My assistant that I’m tutoring did the light painting behind me. I created this so I’d have something fun to post on Facebook for Halloween.

Picture of the Month – August 2010

This is still a work in progress. I shot the model and the statues in the studio, while the temple background is a 3D computer animated set. Once this piece is finished I’ll replace the image here and provide more of a description of the work done.

Picture of the Month – July 2010

Just in time for the 4th of July, the Ferndale Volunteer Fire Department installed a new flag pole in front of their new annex building. Once the cement was dry, we raised the new flag and parked the 3 current pumpers and our antique 1923 engine in front of the hall for this photo.

Picture of the Month – June 2010

I’ve been working with the folks at HALO long before I started my photography business and they’ve been a faithful customer since. Every few months they send me their latest products and I try and figure out some new way to photograph them that makes them look interesting. Hard to do when most of their products look pretty similar, and they also keep getting smaller and smaller which makes it tougher too.

This is one of the latest creations, the GEmini. The capitalization is meant to stress the mini part. Since they are used in ethernet applications, I used a Cat 5 cable to provide the scale. The background is a black tinted piece of glass with a blue gel, lit from underneath.