A New Simple Look to kevinlcole.com

For the past few years my personal website kevinlcole.com has been in a state arrested decay. When Microsoft's Frontpage web designer ceased to be supported by internet html I turned my attention towards our Flickr site, our smugmug site and our blog. Even in it's arrested state I averaged between 150 and 400 hits a day, with the higher average coinciding with image uploads on Flickr and our blog.
Thanks to my hosting provider fatcow.com and their new drag and drop website editor it gave my website a rebirth without all the pain. In keeping with my current attention span though kevinlcole.com is only an information page. I may fiddle with it some later as time permits or we experience rain delays, but for now simple is better.

A Smudge Painting of Me by Pat Thompson

In my last blog I wrote about how Flickr has enabled photographers and artists to collaborate and share images through the liberal Creative Commons Attribution license used on Flickr.
During one of our breakfast mornings Mike Baird, my friend and photo partner and I were talking that neither of us had nice head shots of ourselves that we could used as image ID’s in blog’s, group sites, like Flickr and others. So we decided to put a poll together on our Yahoo Photomorrobay Group to see if other photographers were also interested in head shots of themselves. There proved to be much interest in the idea so we set a date and decided we would do a pre-event walk-around to determine the best time of day and locations in Cloisters City Park. We took turns photographing each other in different poses, moods and locations and then posted our results on our Flickr sites. While none of the images I posted that day of Mike were use by anyone, one of the images Mike took of me was picked up by a very talented artist by the name of Pat Thompson. Pat was free to use Mike’s image of me through the liberal Creative Commons Attribution license that Mike has chosen to use for all of his images. Mike believes that an image not shared is an image never taken . When Pat Thompson finished his work on the image he contacted Mike making him aware of his work , freely sharing his artistic renditions of me with Mike and myself.
Sorry to be so long winded but I felt this story was pertinent as to how this image came to be, you never know when you push that shutter button who, where, when or how that shot will be used.

The top image is the smudge painting Pat Thompson’s magic pen created of me. Pat uses his computer screen as his canvas and may use digital image processing software from companies like Abobe’s Photoshop, NIK Software, Topaz Suite and others to brush his visions into a piece of art. Pat’s talents have created a vast website of the most interest and imaginative portraits from original out-of-the-camera images. Please take time and visit Pat’s website to experience for yourself his creative approach to digital art painting. You may even decide to have Pat smudge paint a favorite photo of yourself, just send him an email.

courtesy "Mike" Michael L. Baird, flickr.bairdphotos.com

The image to the left is the one of me Mike took that captured Pat’s creative eye. You can click on either image and it will take you where you need to go.










As a final note, this purposefully pose was intended to be stoic, contemplating and without visible emotion. I believe Mike and I succeeded.

Photomontage by Flickr member Temari 09

One of the rewards in contributing to Flickr (a photo sharing site) is the collaboration among Flickr members. If you are a Flickr member, and like me, choose to share the use of your images, you may be rewarded with a Photomontage like Flickr member and artist Temari 09 (her flickr screen name) created by remixing several images. Temari is truly an artist using her creative talents to produce compelling compositions with strong emotions. In this image, Temari used a photo of mine taken just south of Studio Drive this spring at sunset as the background to set the scene for this fashion model in Pakistan. After the selection of the perfect texture from another Flickr member and additional elements, Temari created this wonderful photomontage, as seen here in full size.

The lower image in this blog is my original image that Temari used to create the background.

If you are a Flickr member and you enjoy the creativity of Photomontages you might want to make her a contact and follower her as she continues to create these fascinating pieces of art.

Click on the image to see it on Flickr, over 6K views as of this writing.












Sharing images whether it be Flickr or other photo sharing sites is to say the least a heated subject among photographers. Personally, I enjoy sharing many of my images and making them available for other Flickr members like Temari. Several groups including, educational, non-profits, Local, State(s) and Federal agencies use my images daily in some form of media. Many of my images will show up in blogs, media articles, websites and on State and Federal Park interpretive panels.

Some of my images are copyright protected under the “Creative Commons” “all Rights Reserved” license and are available for purchase through my Smugmug account. Which, by the way is slow getting off the ground.

6 a.m. in paradise

This shot has been in our book of "wouldn't that be a cool shot" for many, many, many and many, years. For the longest time at least one, two or more of these lights have been burned out. The city does replace the lights periodically, but since they are on through the night they don't last long. Honestly, I don't believe all five lights at one time have worked during the eight years that I have been here. Then, throw in the unpredictable coastal weather during the only few seasonal months of the year. The fact that the moon is at this location in the sky only a few months of the year. And, is only full and setting as the sun rises one day in that month, and you have a "well, one can only hope" shot. For several years I have tracked the location of the sun, the moon and the tides to certain locations in Morro Bay. All the elements have to be just right for the best image composition fulfilling my vision. Sounds corny doesn't it.

Click on the image to see it on Flickr

just dream'n

Click on the image to see it on Flickr

After last Friday nights Art Walk and the opening of the Photomorphosis Exhibit at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, Anne and I decided to take an evening walk through town. The stores, shops and bench residents along Higuera Street often provide windows of entertainment and opportunities. Can you imagine my delight when we began to walk in front of the store window of coverings, a women's boutique . Those of you that know me know that I seldom if never go anywhere without a camera hanging on my chair.

Last Evenings Photomorphosis Opening and Awards Ceremony

The opening of the Photomorphosis Art Exhibit last evening was a huge success. There were so many wonderful pieces on display and picking a favorite or two was impossible. Being without words is not something I'm accustom to, but when they announced my name as the First Place winner with my image "Corridors of Peace", I was to say the least speechless. I am still a little speechless in writing this blog finding words hard to come by. Thanks to Renée Besta for all of her hard work in her organizing, planning and sponsorships, this would not have happened without her.

Photomorphosis

Tonight is the opening reception and awards ceremony for the Photomorphosis Exhibit at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. It is such an honor to be part of this years exhibit. The photo shown, excuse the point & shoot image, is the invitation card for all the exhibits opening this evening. Dennis Curry is showing wonderful images from Africa, Robert Burridge exhibits modern art interpretations and the Photomorphosis exhibit organizers choose my image called "Corridors of Peace" as the image representing the exhibit, what an honor.

The awards ceremony begins at 7:00 pm to award those images chosen for their excellence by juror Stephen Paterson in Nova Scotia. You can see his work at Stephen Paterson Photography . The exhibit runs from today August 6, 2010 until September 25th at 5:00 pm, if you are in the area I hope you will take a few minutes and stop by the Museum of Art behind the Mission de Tolosa in downtown San Luis Obispo to see all the great pieces of art on display.

Up Coming Art Exhibit

This year the Central Coast Photographic Society, an affiliate of the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, is presenting Photomorphosis. This is a Juried Exhibition of extraordinary imagery from the many professional and serious photographers around the central coast. There was approximately 50 pieces of art chosen from over 170 entries and will be displayed starting August 6 and completing on September 25, 2010 at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, in San Luis Obispo. This years exhibit will include two of our images and will be for sale during Photomorphosis. As members of the Central Coast Photographic Society we are excited to be apart of this years exhibit. Shown are the two images that will be included in this years Photomorphosis. This first image was taken during the Thursday evening Framers Market in San Luis Obispo. This warm breezy December evening was the perfect receipt for an evening of street photography. This image started as five exposures to ensure that we captured what lurked in the shadows and that of the colorful neon's that provided most of the illumination. The majority of processing was tonemapped in Photomatix from the five combined exposures, but the finishing touches that made this image what it is was completed in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

The second image is that of Historic Fort Point in San Francisco. Because of the tonal range of brights and strong shadows this started as a five exposure series to capture in entire tonal range. I then processed the five exposures in Photomatix, an hdr software, and then used several additional software tools including Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro and NIK Silver Efex Pro. All processing after Photomatix was done in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

At the end of the exhibit awards will be given for “Best of Show”, “1st, 2nd, and 3rd Places” and “Honorable Mention”. Total awards consist of $2000 in cash ad merchandise donated by many Corporate Sponsors, including NIK Software, LIGHT Photographic Workshops, and others.

Maybe we will see you there!

old wine barrels entangled in the vines of the friut

On Sunday afternoon Anne and I decided to take a trip down hwy, 46 between hwy 1 and fwy. 101. We travel this road often and last year we did do a wine tasting at ROTTA Winery and a few others. This trip was on the 7th of March so the vines were still dormant and several vineyards were busy with workers grooming the vines in preparation for the years crop. As we drove up to one of the wineries tasting rooms we passed this stack of barrels entangled with vines. I told Anne that before we went into the winery we had to walk back up the road to shoot the old barrels before this black cloud passed over. This day the wind was strong and the clouds would briefly fill the sky hiding the harsh mid-day sun . We did need to wait a short time for the clouds to hide the bright sun which was now in front of us. This image started out as five exposures blended and tone mapped in Photomatix. Unfortunately the image lacked that strong contrast and rich color that I like to see in my hdr's so I decided to take this image into a different direction. My first choice was to turn it into a B&W so I brought it into Silver Efex Pro by Nik Software. HDR's can make nice B&W's as the strong rich colors can produce a good tonal contrast for B&W. After Silver Efex Pro I went into Vivenza from Nik software, then a special effect in Color Efex Pro. I most likely went backwards a few times as one treatment or effect wiped out the previous, but that's part of the creative process when you don't have a definitive direction. Each time my Macbook Pro would start to bog I would merge the layers until I reached a point where I said the heck with it added a few textures and called it done.

Black Sands Basin, Yellowstone NP.... WOW!!

One of our favorite places in Yellowstone was Black Sand Basin. The small geysers are really awesome and the Snake River running throughout. But what really caught our eye was the streams of color. Every direction we turned we could see floods of color as well as designs. I believe Anne and I spent more time looking, waiting, watching and photographing all the different colors as the light changed. We have so many images to process from Black Sands Basin, it will take time, you know I work with a passion. On our last day in Yellowstone we even had the opportunity to photograph Black Sand Basin in the snow, in fact it was snowing while we took pictures. It was an awesome surprise to experience the place from the extreme weather and lighting. A few times I was quite discouraged as the weather was less than corroborative. Most days were typical of home, cloudy with a chance of marine layer,lol. But during the week we were there we experienced heavy clouds, rain, fog, winds, and I mean WINDS, and a much enjoyed sun. We tried to take advantage of the climate to capture nature at it's extreme. I hope you enjoyed this artistic impression of this poor burnt lonely lodge pole pine in Black Sand Basin.

On May 13th Anne, myself, and our friends Skip and Maureen left Visalia California for a two week vacation, a trip that had been in the planning for a year. Much of our vacation would be spent in Yellowstone National Park beginning the next Monday and carry us until a Saturday morning checkout from the Old Faithful Inn. We had decided earlier that we would take a few days and make a detour to Arches National Park near the eastern boarder of Utah for a quick one day visit. So at 6 am on that Thursday we left for what we had planned to be a two day trip into Arches NP. In six hours we hit Las Vegas, we can’t stop here it’s only one in the afternoon. At five we stopped for a light dinner and decided “hey, we are only four hours from Moab, we’ve already done a ten hour stretch, what say we go for it!”. Yes, you guessed it, we rolled into Moab 14 1/2 hours and 830 miles later. Our first stop was a Hotel for the next few days, and then our next stop was a Hotel, and our next, well you get the idea, there were zero rooms in Moab available. What to do now, oh I know, let’s hit the local pub for some libation after our short drive through three states. We decided on a Mexican Restaurant on Old Hwy. 191 which was still open at the now 10:00 hour. At this time I really thought we were destined to spend the night in the car, which meant a few double bourbons were part of the menu. For what happened next I give all the credit to Maureen for she decided to ask the waitress if she had a friend, friend of a friend, even an acquaintance that was working a reservation desk at any of the hotels for a room and that there would be 20 bucks in it for her. We figured even one room for the four of us was better than the car and gas station restrooms. I had barely finished my first bourbon when the waitress returned telling us she had found a room. At this point I couldn’t get into my wallet fast enough to flash another 20 dollar bill for another miracle. She laughed and said she would see what she could and before we knew it she had a room for us at the opposite end of town. All in all we had a great two days in Arches, took hundreds of pictures even with the ugliest of spring storms hitting us over the two days was a memorable experience. I decided to process this image first as a tribute to the dramatic moods we experienced during our stormy days in Arches. Arches is one of those spots on this earth that can be enjoyed no matter what mother nature does.

I have already posted on my Flickr page a few of our favorite American Bison images from Yellowstone NP ahead of this blog and we have many more stories to tell as I process more images.

Our weekend Burrowing Owl trip to Joshua Tree, California

For those of you that know Anne and I you know that of all the species of owls the Burrowing Owl tops our list of flavors. At just under 10 inches long, with a wingspan of 21 inches and a weight of 5 oz. these guys have a personality and clown like behavior that instantly grabs your heart. So when my brother calls me Friday morning to tell me he spotted 15 to 20 Burrowing Owls a few blocks from his house in Joshua Tree California my first reaction was, “we’ll be there tonight”. Now, Morro Bay to Joshua Tree is 350 miles and 6 1/2 hours of cross country semi trucks and impatient drivers speeding to reach their destination. You start by going over the Coastal Range and Cascade Mountains to Bakersfield, over Tehachapi to Kramer Junction, straight to Barstow, then down Hwy. 247 to Joshua Tree. I only mention all this because Anne was so busy at work Friday her first call to check in was at 3:15 in the afternoon when I broke the news that we were leaving for the desert as soon as she could get home. Before we knew it the car was packed the dog was at her favorite weekend retreat and we were heading for the desert at 4:30, just 45 minutes after Anne called me. I ramble on because I am confessing that I will never again drive that route on a Friday night, not even for a box of twenty dollar bills.
After arriving at my brothers house just after 11:00 pm we exchanged a few hugs and settled into a glass of wine to relax. The conversation quickly changed to the Burrowing Owls when my brother informed us that he had decided to check out the burrow that afternoon. He said that when he looked into the burrow he could see several eyes looking at him just inside the hole. It was then that we knew our hopes to photograph a colony of juveniles and adults numbering 15 to 20 was now but a dream. If there was one or two clutches of fledgling owlets and adults the adults had most likely already relocated their offspring to a safer secondary burrow or location far from the threat. My brother not realizing it had himself become a predatory threat just as if he was a Desert Fox or Coyote. We did however stay with the plan to arrive at the burrow site just before dawn in hopes for a successful morning of photography. Unfortunately our suspicions were indeed correct and by the end of the morning our only sightings were the two images I posted here and on my Flickr page. Just before wrapping up the morning we did spot several perched in and under a Creosote bush about 200 yards away but at that distance could not tell if adults or juveniles. We reluctantly decided to be there again on Sunday morning but this time we did not have a single sighting or even hear the familiar sounds of the morning calls. I am indeed happy with the two singles I captured and only disappointed that the 15-20 were not around. The moral of this story, if there is one, is to inform those not familiar with the behaviors of the wild to stay clear and be curious from a distance only.
We did have a great visit with my brother making the trip a success.

Roses' Grove

For those of you that have visited the Elfin Forest before dawn, watched the sun as it peaked from behind the hills, experienced it's beauty as the sun illuminates the Live Oaks, native shrubs and budding flowers. For those of you that have not visited the Elfin Forest for a dawn experience are missing out on what I will call the "Beauty of Natures Light". Last year SWAP decided to build a walk path to the inside of Roses' Grove. Prior to this, the path was a narrow sandy path that you stepped down to from the main walk path. As many of you know was not doable for me. I must thank the SWAP (Small Wilderness Area Preserve) group for their concern that all should enjoy the beauty of Roses' Grove while preserving all it's natural beauty at the same time by building this beautiful walk path into the grove. My only wish was that they had included a ramp to the upper deck so myself an other wheelchair users could enjoy being in the heart of the grove. Here is a link to their website with a Day-by-Day slide show on the building of the walkway by the California Conservation Corps . And you can visit their main page.
If you click here you can go to my Flickr Site to enjoy this image in larger sizes

Cholame Road

On a recent trip home from Visalia we decided to take a detour home by way of Cholame Road. This story could become long worded if I allowed myself to delve into all the stops we made along the way, but let's just say if you have never driven this path it is a must see. At some point you will need to make a decision, Vineyard Canyon Rd. to the left or Parkfield-Coalinga Rd. to the right. This trip we choose the first choice which would eventually lead into the small town of Sam Miguel just north of Paso Robles. Anne and I enjoy our country road trips and this was no different. This spring the country side was bright green and the wild flowers were quite prolific through most of the valley. Our hope was to bring home images of fields of poppies and lupine blanketing the green hills, well, that didn't happen. The only problem with country roads for me is no turnouts, no place to stop for those photographic opportunities we so hope for. So, we find ourselves shooting from the van and since I do most of the driving that often means turnarounds in the middle of a narrow country road so I am on the right side to hang the camera out the window. This time of year shooting for the car is the best way to go to avoid Ticks, Chiggers and all small creatures that can make life miserable. This shot was one of these times with the added ditch next to the road. By the time we negotiated around to the vantage spot I wanted three of the horses decided to hide behind the water tank and left this guy standing watch. We figured the other three were girls since they left so quickly and left the guy to handle the strangers. A few quick shots and we were on our way. As we left I was sure he told the girls what a stud he was for chasing off the strangers. Like I said earlier, we enjoy driving the country roads always seeing new sights, new sounds and even occasionally new people. And shooting from the van instead of getting out at every stop spending time to find that perfect angle for the money shot in your sights. Beats those crawly things calling those secret parts of your body home.
If you have come here direct you can see this in full resolution on my Flickr site

Sunset at Cuesta By The Sea

Monday evening we took a short trip across the Estuary to Los Osos, Cuesta by the sea. A small cove near the back of Estero Bay with abandoned boats, Kayaks, and sandy pathways. The purple ice plant is in full bloom covering the shallow dunes with color. Most pathways were not manageable for me but the few that were proved rewarding and fulfilling as the sun set. This shot was taken about 35 minutes before sunset and the first set in the series I took as the sun was setting. Interesting that after I took this series of five 1-stop exposures for my hdr the glow of light disappeared from the foreground and the impact was lost. This shot was taken with a Canon 5D Mk II w/TS-E 24mm f/4L with two Singh-Ray Graduated 4 x 6 ND filters on a Cokin Z-Pro holder. I stacked a 3-stop hard-step Reverse ND Grad and a 4-stop soft-step ND Grad to hold back the exposure of the bright sun allowing for a nice bright foreground. Supported on a Really Right Stuff, BH-55 ballhead, and Gitzo GT5531S carbon fiber tripod.
If you have come here direct you can see this in full resolution on my Flickr site