Questing for Beauty

Posted on February 1, 2016 by garbergeektography

High Key Light. The tiny heart-shaped hole, intricate veins, and beautiful color captured my eye on a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Print available.

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”

My photography mentor, Shari Miller, shared this quote by Henry Miller yesterday.

In case you are wondering why I have a photography mentor, I have spent the last few months giving careful attention to the incredible and mysterious world of photography through The Arcanum: The Magical Academy of Artistic Mastery. The best way to describe the Arcanum is a fun cross between Hogwarts, a MMORPG, and an online course—all geared towards improving your own photography through peer and mentor feedback, access to tutorials and videos, and the discipline of committing to quests … I mean challenges. I have just completed Sphere 0 and after 10 levels, I have a few thoughts on the whole Arcanum experience.

Henry Miller’s quote would be a perfect motto for our cohort in the Arcanum. Shari has named us “The Cohort of Seers–seeing more of the beauty in the world, in others, and within ourselves.” And with her guidance, my peers and I are embracing a joyful experience of exploration and encouragement. We’ve been having a great time discussing intention, experimentation, color, texture, and having fun with photography. I have taken the opportunity and the space to push myself to try new things, think about my goals and the story I am trying to tell, and learn to find my voice and style. Our cohort is not afraid to experiment or discuss the philosophy behind and in our art. Shari has been a great leader in helping us to ask questions and think about emotion, mood–and borders.

Through the Looking Glass. While on the driftwood beach at Jekyll Island, Shari’s words about borders and experimenting with mood and texture guided me to compose this other-worldly image. Print available.

While my experiences have certainly helped me improve my technique, both in composition and in processing, the most important areas of growth have been in the discipline of photography and the reflection on the images. For me, taking the time and patience to commit to improving and reflecting on my art has been enormous. I am somewhat competitive, and I love games and puzzles, so the structure of “challenges” is perfect for me! In meeting each challenge, I allow myself the time and focus to give care, attention, and space for growing my artistic voice. In a world filled with busy-ness and need, it has been helpful to allow myself this time and place for focusing on something that brings me joy and allows me to exercise my creativity.

Grounded in Solitude. I’m not usually drawn to landscape shots, but mindful of my tendency towards busy-ness, I found peace in focusing on this quiet scene. Print Available.

The discipline of photography has provided the foundation, but much of my growth has also come through the reflective piece that Shari and my cohort provide. While we do talk about gear, and theory, and software, and technique, we also talk about emotion, mood, memory, story, beauty, inspiration, gratitude, perspective, and philosophy. My cohort is composed of people from around the world with different ideas, interests, and styles. Hearing their viewpoints and seeing their images and the stories behind their images, provides both inspiration and instruction.

As I begin Sphere 1, the next level in the Arcanum journey, I journey with a sense of gratitude for the space, people, and time to focus on seeing and creating beauty. This journey brings balance and light and reminds me of who I want to be.

Starry Nights. The swirls and patterns in the driftwood reminded me of van Gogh’s painting. This was such a joy to process and I experimented with several new techniques, layers, and colors before finally settling on this version. Print available.

Time to Put the Wheel back on the Wagon

Posted on January 25, 2016 by garbergeektography

We know. It’s been a while since a good, content-heavy post. Between our work and travels in 2015, we got a little bogged down like this farm equipment. But it’s time to put the wheel back on this wagon and start sharing more from our 2015 adventures as we look forward to even more exciting photography in 2016. This first batch is from our October trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We stayed in the Cade’s Cove campground so we could be close to the action and the light. I think I had just finished some binge sessions playing Witcher III. The virtual explorations looking for herbs in farmhouses might have influenced my perspective and tone. At one point, we even saw a bulletin board and went looking for quests. 🙂

I loved the mix of textures in the wood, the puddles after the rain, and the bits of metal on the hub. Print Available.

Michelle loves texture, too, but she likes to get in closer than I do. 🙂

Another mystical fantasy image. This was from our first night in Cade’s cove. I liked the cool gray clouds, but I went for a more other-worldly approach, adding some texture and purply-ness to the scene. Print Available.

Michelle had everyone fooled. The whole park was full of people searching for bears. The people in the line of cars saw Michelle with a longish 90mm macro stalking this caterpillar. Everyone stopped and asked where the bear was. Print Available.

Towards the end of the trip we decided to go chasing waterfalls. We decided to hike up to Laurel Falls in the rain (thank goodness for panchos). When we got there, we watched a couple climb the falls followed by a proposal. We ended up taking a couple of shots for the family who was watching from below (no pressure!). When they left we decided to play with some long exposures.

Wordless Wednesday: Meadowlark Landscape

Posted on July 8, 2015 by garbergeektography

Wherever we May Roam: Tugaloo State Park

Posted on May 12, 2015 by garbergeektography

A gorgeous red clay road through the canola field. Print Available.

Our second camping adventure took place in northeast Georgia at Tugaloo State Park, near the small town of Lavonia. Tugaloo

An osprey we encountered at Richard B. Russell State Park.

State Park is located on Lake Hartwell and within a short driving distance of several other state parks such as Richard B. Russell State Park, Victoria Bryant State Park, and Hart State Outdoor Recreation Area (two of which we visited). We enjoyed driving through the small towns dotting the area and taking pictures of the canola fields in bloom. We hopped over to Athens one day for lunch and stopped off at the outlet stores in Commerce on the way home, so there is plenty of variety in the area to explore. We didn’t see too many restaurants near the park, and everything seems to close up early, so be sure and pack your meals!

Sunrise over Lake Hartwell. This location was about twenty steps from our campsite.

Our campsite was a decent size, very level, and covered in gravel. We were right on the water, near a small cove for boats, canoes, and jet skis. The view was beautiful and it was very peaceful to listen to the water as we relaxed in the shade. We both agreed it would have been more fun to be there with a boat or kayak, but the view was nice and we were able to walk along the beach, and the dogs had fun getting muddy. We didn’t fish or try the water or the pool—too cold—but it looked like all of the kids were having fun! We had a fire pit, concrete picnic table, water and electric hook-ups, and a nice, clean comfort facility just steps away. And we loved having a pull-though site!

Sunset near the amphitheater, a short walk from our campsite.

The roads to the camp sites were more narrow and uneven than we had experienced before, and this campground was both larger and more crowded than our last experience, but we did arrive at the tail end of Spring Break. There were a lot of kids and families there, but it was a fun, friendly experience overall. My only complaint would be the ENORMOUS light our neighbors left on all night (the same neighbors who played the radio well after quiet hours). Some friends of ours camped there the same weekend and their grandson had a ball playing with the other kids, swimming, etc. We saw plenty of dogs, kids whizzing by on bikes, and boats making waves in the lake. It would not be the place I would recommend for peace and quiet, or nice long hikes, but it was a fun getaway and the landscape in the area is beautiful.

While I love wide angle landscape photos, I am beginning to see the different stories I can tell with the telephoto. Here is the same sunset on Lake Hartwell from , as Obi-Wan would say, “a different point of view.”

Canola Road

Posted on April 13, 2015 by garbergeektography

As we were driving up I-85 to our faculty retreat at Lake Hartwell, we kept seeing these beautiful yellow fields in the distance and instantly wanted to know what they were. We saw a couple up close and found out that my guess of canola was on target.

This was the first close-up of a field we got. We loved the red barn in the background. The stalks were about 4-5 feet tall, so I had to use my tripod as a monopod to get some extra height. The dramatic sky cooperated, too. Print Available.

After having a wonderful dinner, we rushed to Watson Mill Bridge for sunset. But even in our hurry, we couldn’t pass up this Georgia red clay road bisecting these canola fields during golden hour. Michelle insisted I stop, and I think this is my favorite photo from the trip. Print Available.

Botany Bay? Botany Bay! … Oh no!

Posted on March 19, 2015 by garbergeektography

On our first trip in the camper to Edisto Beach, SC, Michelle mentioned going to Botany Bay Plantation. I knew I had heard that name somewhere before, and I kept racking my brain to figure it out. Turns out, that SS Botany Bay is the name of Kahn’s ship in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (and later in Star Trek: Into Darkness). Of course that name came from the original Botany Bay in Australia, which was a penal colony. After discovering the geeky nature of my recollection, I repeatedly quoted this line from Pavel Chekov when he discovers the identity of the mysterious marooned ship.

When Michelle showed me pictures of the old trees on the beach, I couldn’t wait to get there to capture the sunrise. Of course, the weather didn’t cooperate very well … or maybe it did. A dense layer of fog blanketed the sun. This gave a certain mystical and lonely quality to the shots that I had not anticipated, but that I thoroughly enjoyed. The fog was like a giant softbox, giving even lighting over the trees and lightly shrouding the other objects in a distance. This really helped me isolate my subjects and also gave me an interesting canvas in the background to use various processing techniques and textures. I processed all of the following shots with a combination of MacPhun’s Tonality Pro and Karen Hutton‘s and Tanya Wallis’ forthcoming texture pack.

We have several more images from the Botany Bay Plantation shoot on the way, but I am grouping them in different blog posts. The area has so many types of landscapes: bogs, marshes, ponds, streams, dense forest, farmland, and beaches. It really was a great place to practice a variety of landscape and nature shots.

This was one of my telephoto images with the a6000. I used a basic black and white conversion in Tonality Pro and added the Bursty Blur texture from the texture pack. Print Available.

i had some fun with the wide angle distortion on this one! I liked the effect that the Sandy Cool texture had on it. It seemed to fit the beach theme. Print Available.

I went for an authentic Ceti Alpha 5 look to this one, with the reddish goodness. To add texture, I used "Face it - Scratched" from the texture pack.

I went for a Ceti Alpha 5 look to this one, with the reddish goodness. To add texture, I used “Face it – Scratched” from the texture pack. Print Available.

Since I saw the name "Alien Skin Burn" in the texture pack, I've always wanted to use it. It seemed to fit the mood of this photo very well.

Since I saw the name “Alien Skin Burn” in the texture pack, I’ve always wanted to use it. It seemed to fit the mood of this photo well. Print Available.

After the split tone processing in Tonality Pro, I added the “Cold Skin” texture to this photo. It enhanced the blue tones and added a cool vignette. Print Available.

One of my favorite split-tone presets in Tonality Pro is “Blue Morning.” Split-toning involves taking a black and white image and adding two different tints to the shadows and the highlights. In this case, the shadows get a blue tint, and the highlights get a golden tint. I decided not to use a texture on this one because I liked the contrast between the textured ocean and the smooth sky. Print Available.

Garber Geektography Phase 2 (Part 1): Wherever We May Roam

Posted on March 16, 2015 by garbergeektography

The Tumbler in front of Rogue Shadow at our inaugural campground at Edisto Beach State Park, SC, USA.

The Tumbler in front of Rogue Shadow at our inaugural campground at Edisto Beach State Park, South Carolina.

My parents may have Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” but we have Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam” (though Michelle prefers this version by Iron Horse). We are now introducing Phase 2 of the Garber Geektography project! One of the things I learned from my time in The Arcanum was my penchant for travel photography. I had a lot of opportunities last year for travel experiences, and while I have a few trips lined up this year, we are mostly sticking a little closer to home.

The galley of the Rogue Shadow. Perfect for the two of us.

As we were trying to figure out how to incorporate a travel mentality into our lives, Michelle and I downsized to one car–appropriately named The Tumbler because it came in black–in anticipation of buying a camper that would allow us more freedom.

A reverse side of the galley and the bed area. We have a queen size bed at home, and the dogs sleep in their own beds. In the full size bed in the camper, they opted to sleep in the bed. Go figure.

The galley and the bed area. We have a queen size bed at home, and the dogs sleep in their own beds. In the full size bed in the camper, they opted to sleep in the bed. Go figure.

We spent the better part of a year researching different camper options and planning. We finally decided to go with a small travel trailer—the bathroom sold it for us! We’ve dubbed it the Rogue Shadow and are going with a Star Wars décor. It is a Starcraft Camper, after all. By the way, Rogue Shadow is the name of Starkiller‘s personal transport. Starkiller, A.K.A. Galen Marek, was Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. Seriously, you can look it up in Wookiepedia!). We are ready for the adventures before us!

We’ll be posting reviews of the locations we explore, as well as updates on our (mis)adventures as camper newbies. Part 2 of our phase 2 project is coming soon, so stay tuned!

Our first campsite spoiled us! It was spacious, with trees all around, and a great view of the salt marsh in the Live Oak Campground at the Edisto Beach State Park in South Carolina.

Afraid of a Little Rain?

Posted on February 10, 2015 by garbergeektography

“Storm on the Mountain.” I spent most of the morning paying attention to the details and doing some pseudo-macro work. As we were leaving, though, I caught a glimpse of the rain cloud on top of the mountain and went into landscape mode. Another thing I learned about walking in the rain is that is the best time to catch some great fog and mist. I processed this as an HDR image while also overlaying some effects using the “Midnight” setting in Color Efex Pro. Print Available.

Atlanta can be weird when it offers you a glimpse of Spring in the middle of Winter. I love the burst of color I saw in these little buds filled with rain drops. Print Available.

As many of you know, I’m teaching a course this semester called “Creation Theology, Spirituality, and the Arts.” I’m having a blast with the course and am learning a lot from my students. One of the plans for the course is to have intentional encounters with nature and to discover our own connection with it and with the divine.

Our first “experiential learning” session was Monday morning, and, of course, the forecast called for rain.
I debated whether or not to cancel, delay, or offer an independent learning session. The rain was fairly mild between 8:00 and 9:00, so I decided to go ahead with the plan.

Michelle really liked the wispiness of this shot. Again, I was drawn to the water droplets on each of these shafts of long grass. Print Available.

Of course, when we all got there and emerged from our vehicles, the rain started a bit more in earnest. Luckily, I had read a column earlier in the morning that encouraged me to “think outside the box” even when doing theology. My friend, Carra Hughes Greer, challenged me with these words: “Maybe our quest for knowledge is a bit misguided. We see it as linear; seeking information and truth must lead to answers. Instead, maybe faith is about seeking truth through imagination, a process that is not linear and does not lead to black-and-white answers“(click the link for the full article). I’m so glad that we pressed on through the rain in order to practice mindfulness and a new way of thinking about God and practicing theology. It was a joy to see members of the class walking freely in the rain, using cell phones and cameras to record their encounters, or sitting under shelters with sketchpads and journals.

In conversations afterwards it became apparent that we all needed a jolt out of our patterns of normalcy. When rain threatens, normal people stay indoors. Normal people don’t think about a mindfulness walk at a bird sanctuary. But sometimes the spirit calls us to step out of normalcy and enter into a world of imagination.

This was my favorite shot of the day. I’ve been watching a lot of Don Komarechka‘s macro work and have been fascinated with the refraction of light in water droplets. If you look at the largest drop towards the right, you can see the upside down image of Stone Mountain. Processed with Intensify Pro by MacPhun. Print Available.

Garber Geektography

Adventures in Imagery

Tag Archives: Nature Photography