Cal Rice Photography

Interpreting Images

Photographs may exist for several purposes.  Some images are to adequately document a trip or place to bring back memories for those who were there.  The pictures are not necessarily artistic but remembrances.  Some take pictures to share with others.  This may take the form of an album, slide show or prints to hang on the wall.  A third category is to artistically represent some person, place or thing.  Finally, there is the more abstract artistic image which may be not be recognizable, in terms of what the object was, but stands on its own as a piece of art.  Today I will share three such images.  I will also share what I see in the image, but you may see something completely different, and that is fine.  All three images were taken in Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ.

Star Trails Set in Stone

I find this image very peaceful.  My first interpretation was this appeared to be looking at star trails, that one might get with a long exposure photograph (on a clear night) with a hill or mountain in the foreground.  The North Star would be out of the image to the lower left and there would be a very low light on the horizon in that direction.  Another meaning to this picture, for me, is “Monk at Prayer”.  I see a Monk kneeling at the altar in the foreground with the sweeping cathedral arches in the background.

Petrified Mummy

It was only after altering this image to black and white that I saw the mummy image.

Rock of Ages

This formation near the end of Lower Antelope Canyon is one of my favorite images.  From a purely technical artistic standpoint the eye enters from the left and flows down the curves.  The bottom is slightly darker than the top of the image so our eye tends to move from darker to lighter – thus moving up through the image.  When we get to an edge we need something to keep our eye from flowing out of the image.  At the top, right where the image becomes lightest, there is a black rock (shadow) pointing down, right down the center “slide” of the image to take our eye back to the bottom again.  From an emotional standpoint I named this Rock of Ages from the old hymn of the same name; Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, Let me hide myself in Thee.  These rocks have evolved over millions of years when this was under an ocean, a bog with dinosaurs walking through it (dinosaur prints are still visible in the area) and a tremendous upheaval.  So clearly this is truly rock of ages.  One definition of “cleft” is fissure.  Truly this is a fissure where the rock has opened up.  As I stood there all alone in the quiet canyon it was easy to think that this spectacular fissure was truly created for me.  Although I entered the canyon another way, a person could certainly descend into the canyon down this wall.  There are certainly opportunities to hide within this fissure.  The rock at the bottom provides a perfect hiding place.  Finally, considering the total hymn,  hiding behind the rock one can look up and see the heavenly light.

When you see a piece of art, especially if something about it appeals to you, take some time and think what its meaning is for you.

Horseshoe Bend

When a river carves a path similar in shape to a horseshoe, it often is called a “Horseshoe Bend”.  There are several of these on the Colorado and Virgin rivers in southern Utah and northern Arizona.  Over thousands of years when the river came to harder rock it would turn seeking softer rock to erode.  The first two pictures are of the Horseshoe Bend near Page, AZ.  It is only a couple of miles south of town.  There is a nice sized parking lot and then about a half mile hike to get to the river.  The view is from the top of a bluff, about 1,000 feet straight down.  The legs of my tripod were about 6 inches from the edge of the bluff.  I saw some people crawling on their stomach’s to peek over the edge and take their picture.  I have also known of people to crawl up to the edge and then hold their camera over the edge, but without getting their head out in the open space.

In the second image you get a better feel for the height by seeing the photographer up on top and close to the edge.  Color differences occur from shooting until dark one evening and then returning early the next morning.

The third image is from a different horseshoe bend.  This one is in Dead Horse State Park near Moab, UT and the Canyonlands National Park.

Dead Horse State Park

Antelope Canyon

Photographing in the slot canyons of southern Utah and northern Arizona is an amazing experience.

Antelope Canyon

People often say a picture looks better than the real thing.  In the slot canyons that is definitely true.

Antelope Canyon

The canyons are quite dark – most of my exposures were from 1/2 second to 30 seconds.  When it is dark our eye does not see color well.  However a camera, by using a long shutter speed can absorb color.  So, within the canyon, one may be able to tell whether the color of the rock is somewhat red, yellow or purple, the eye does not see the brilliance that can be captured by a camera.

Antelope Canyon

These images were recently captured in Antelope Canyon (both Upper and Lower) near Page, AZ.  The beauty of an image can make one forget that all of it is solid rock.

Photographing Furniture

Wildwood-Rustic.com is the home web page for Duane Shoup, a master rustic furniture craftsman located in northern Minnesota.  He selects wood, that is what many people reject, and lets the wood shape lead him into wonderful creative furniture.  If you happen to be in the Bemidji, MN area this month, he has some pieces on display at the Bemidji Community Art Center.

When photographing any three dimensional object be sure to turn it at an angle so the depth becomes visible.  Then look for what is the unique aspect of the piece to highlight it.  The cantilevered sofa table has a very unique under structure.  Duane found a piece of wood the right shape to provide the cantilever support.

The most unique aspect of this rocking chair is the rocker.  They are made of alternating dark and light species of wood.  So we want to be sure and show them off to an advantage.  The background for both pieces was solid black to minimize any distraction for the furniture itself.

The photoshoot took place on the porch of his house.  The porch has a roof but is open on the sides.  We hung a black cloth, set the furniture in front of it and then used a large reflector and/or two flash units to fill in the areas that needed a little extra light.

Before long, I am sure these, along with several other pieces, will be appearing on his web site.

Moving Lights

County Fair time has arrived in Northern Minnesota.  Carnival rides have many lights which can be fun to photograph.  Some of the rides are interesting all alone. In this case I was lucky out to have a rain shower pass through and leave some lovely color in the sky.

Be creative and see how you can position multiple rides to make an even more interesting image.

Finally, the real fun is to take a long exposure when the lights are in motion.  This exposure was 2.5 seconds.  To capture this type of image there are several things to do.  First, you need a good support for your camera, such as a tripod.  Second, set the ISO to as low a number as possible (probably around 100).  Third, set the aperture to be as small as possible (this is the largest number, such as f16 or f22).  Finally, I recommend setting your camera on manual mode (where you set both the aperture and shutter speed).  With the aperture set, select a shutter speed.  The beauty of digital is now you can look at the image on the back of the camera.  If it is too dark, set the shutter speed longer, if too light set the shutter speed shorter.  Very nice, lights in motion, pictures can be captured with shutter speeds of 2 seconds and longer.

Go enjoy the fair and stay around to take some night pictures of lights in motion.