![\"full](\"https:\/\/www.organiclightphoto.com\/detail\/SentinelDomeMoonPanoWPDtl.jpg\" "\\"Sentinel")
<\/a>Another Day In The Park<\/p><\/div>\n
Later in the year, in early autumn, the crew and I ventured out to the coast at a low negative tide and discovered what lives under the water. \u00a0We spent the afternoon gathering sea stars and made this fabulous arrangement. \u00a0the interactions that occurred that afternoon and on the evening ride home showed me something that I knew was inside of my crew but hardly had the chance to make an appearance. \u00a0I saw stars, real stars and it was in the making of this photo that brought them out to shine.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Seaing Stars<\/p><\/div>\n
I also struggled this year with photography. \u00a0Trendy photos, trendy ways of displaying them and trendy marketing all designed to persuade the viewing public to think\u00a0mediocrity is something special. \u00a0It was troubling me greatly and then by a strange twist of fate I found myself standing over a raging torrent of water at a location that attracts many tourists. \u00a0Those who stop marvel at the water but I was looking in the opposite direction. \u00a0What impressed upon me was that standing firm on what has a real foundation is the only thing that lasts. \u00a0When all the madness has passed, what has remained is morality, character and tradition. \u00a0That is what my photography rests on and hopefully others will see that as well.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Standing Firm<\/p><\/div>\n
The heavens in 2012 were also produced events of amazement and wonder. \u00a0Most memorable was the annular eclipse of the sun. \u00a0I planned a trip, determined a location prepared all the equipment both for the trip and the photography only to it all vaporize and morph into something entirely different. On the one hand it seemed like the endeavor was all in vain, but what resulted were some photographs that were as unique as the event itself. \u00a0Many photographers produced interesting renditions, but I saw nothing like what I was given.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Broken Light<\/p><\/div>\n
It was amazing to see the moon and sun married in the sky together like that for several minutes. \u00a0Intellectually I know that the moon passes\u00a0in between\u00a0the Earth and Sun each month.\u00a0I know this because each month I am out trying to find and photograph the new crescent moon once it has passed conjunction and starts to reflect the faintest amount light back to the Earth. \u00a0But seeing conjunction happen during a solar ecplipse brings seeing the new moon to a whole new level. \u00a0A day later, after ‘Broken Light’ was made, it was the moon’s stage and the moon’s alone. \u00a0I ventured out again to capture this elegant crescent that was only 26.3 hours old from the moment I saw it pass in front of the sun. \u00a0Needless to say it was quite awe inspiring.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Rajab 1433<\/p><\/div>\n
The moons last year did not disappoint. \u00a0However the debates that revolved around the most certainly did. \u00a0The Islamic calendar is a pure lunar calendar. \u00a0It is based on sighting the new crescent moon each and every month. \u00a0In our modern world this seems to have become an inconvenience. \u00a0It is unfortunate because it is a most cherished tradition. \u00a0It is a tradition that helps us ground ourselves in reality rather than further immersing ourselves deeper into abstractions. The\u00a0unadulterated mind sees things as they are not as they are conceived. Marking time by physically seeing an event occur is real, while marking time by a contrivance of the mind is not. \u00a0The moon is real and when one looks to the sky and sees nothing one moment and then suddenly in the next moment sees the moon appears it has to leave that person’s heart in awe of the creative power that brought all of the universe into existence. \u00a0At least it does for me. \u00a0And so, these moons are a affirmation of the existence of a Creator and the photos of these thin ribbons of light hold great weight with me.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Shabaan1433<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Guarding Mercy<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Hearing The Call<\/p><\/div>\n
There was one other heavenly event that was of worthy note, the transit of Venus. A transit of a heavenly body is when that body passes between the Earth and Sun. \u00a0The transit of the moon could completely eclipse the sun due to its size and distance from the Earth. \u00a0Venus\u00a0on the other hand, is so much further away from the Earth and when it passes in front of the Sun it looks like a small dot. Nonetheless, the transit of Venus only occurs once every 105 years. \u00a0Due to this rarity, the 2012 transit of Venus was an event that most of us alive on Earth today will never see again. \u00a0Making sure I photographed it was imperative and was a pleasure to witness.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Second Contact<\/p><\/div>\n
As summer waned my thoughts started to focus on autumn. \u00a0I made it a point to make a trip to the Eastern Sierra imperative. \u00a0As October rolled around I dusted off the camping equipment and gathered up the crew and headed off. \u00a0We spent three days exploring and photographing that awe inspiring landscape. \u00a0At the time I was feeling\u00a0somewhat\u00a0flummoxed about how my photography was perceived. Among the questions the raced in my mind was one that continues to bother me. Do people understand my photography, do they see what I see, does my photography move people the way it moves me? \u00a0Then one morning while standing at the foot of the youngest mountains in North America, ‘Among The Dead’ was made as that very thought came to mind. \u00a0I wondered if me heart was dead and I was among the dead, or if the hearts of others were dead and I was among them. \u00a0Either I could not express my message, or it was not being received due to dead hearts.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Among The Dead<\/p><\/div>\n
Later that same morning as the sun started to hit the Sierra Nevada range, they acted like giant reflectors bouncing this warm light onto the pumice field I was standing on and the burned sage started to take on an incredible appearance. These burned twisted sangs were all that remained giving the feeling that I was looking at relics from an ancient time. \u00a0When light, subject, color, and texture all come together as they did when ‘Relic’ was made, it is hard to come away with anything but a winner.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Relic<\/p><\/div>\n
It was not long on the first autumn trip for my heart to find its winds and soar to great heights of \u00a0joy with the glowing colors of the Aspens. \u00a0As I was wandering I came upon this stand of young Aspens in the warm afternoon light. \u00a0They seemed to be dancing, in fact with the subtle breeze coming and going, the leaves would begin to shiver and almost twinkle in the sun. \u00a0I wanted to dance in the light with them. \u00a0I could not pass up the scene, and ‘Dancing In Light’ was made. \u00a0One of my all time favorite autumn images I think I ever made.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Dancing In Light<\/p><\/div>\n
Autumn has to be my favorite season of the year and there is no place that I like in autumn better than in Yosemite Valley. \u00a0I make the trek there every year and this year I made it alone. \u00a0The crew, despite their pleading were left them behind. \u00a0I love having them along, but the dynamic of making photos with them and without them is like night and day. \u00a0Being alone allows me to wander and take my time without\u00a0interruption. \u00a0I can focus on the light and how it plays with the trees, the grass, water and rocks. \u00a0My first morning in Yosemite Valley was strange. \u00a0I needed to wander for sometime allowing my heart to unfetter itself from the virtual reality of the manufactured world with all its worries and demands to the true reality of the natural world with all it awe and wonder. \u00a0Once that happened I came upon this stoic Ponderosa Pine and I came away with ‘Anchored’, probably my favorite photo of the year.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Anchored<\/p><\/div>\n
I spent three days in Yosemite this past autumn and it was quite productive. \u00a0I exposed 60 sheets of film. \u00a0Of those 60 about a third made to the scanner and were developed for print. \u00a0Of course ‘Anchored’ has already been printed as well as ‘Among The Dead’ and ‘Dancing In Light’. \u00a0This next photo was also made on the first morning of my Yosemite trip. \u00a0It was a photo that I have always wanted to do, and have always suggested to workshop clients, but for some reason it never was made. \u00a0Well this year I did. \u00a0I walked into this small grove of Black Oaks in El Capitan Meadow known as the Cathedral Oaks and looked up. \u00a0The light was perfect as the sun had just crested the tops of the peaks that surround the Valley and lit the tops of these trees. \u00a0It was as if I was standing in a great cathedral looking through a stained glass window, only this cathedral was made, not by the hands of men for the sake of the glory of the Shaper of Beauty, but made by Shaper of Beauty so that our eyes may see and marvel at its glory.<\/p>\n
<\/a>In The Cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n
On the last night of my trip the campground I was staying in was empty. \u00a0It was a Sunday night and I guess everyone that was there for the weekend had left. \u00a0It was dark, somewhat cold and very lonely. \u00a0As I was making my way back to camp earlier that evening, I decided I would try another photo that I had in mind for years. \u00a0I always wanted to photograph star trails while looking up through trees. When I returned to camp it was already dark. \u00a0By head light I started my campfire and then set up my camera pointed straight up again. \u00a0It is difficult working with film in the dark as the exposure times needed usually run into the time frame of hours and film starts to lose its ability to record light faithfully after about a few minutes of exposure. \u00a0This is called reciprocity failure. \u00a0But I wanted to try it out. \u00a0I focused as best as I could in the dark, removed the dark slide and opened the shutter. \u00a0I let the camera sit there for three hours as I burned off the remaining wood I had while I ate my dinner and read a book. \u00a0Around midnight the fire started to die. \u00a0I closed the shutter on the lens and called it a night. \u00a0Of all the photos I made in 2012, it was ‘Star Fire’ that I was\u00a0most\u00a0anxious to see when my films returned. \u00a0The light from the campfire produced an eerie glow among all the trees in my camp, and the long shutter worked well capturing the streaking stars in the sky. \u00a0A photo that I am very happy with and one that I will try again\u00a0in spite\u00a0of reciprocity failure.<\/p>\n