Amble On

France #3

2011-07-18T20:09:00.005-04:00

More images from the book. This post and this post also have images.

France #2

2011-07-17T01:20:00.005-04:00

Some more images from the book. This post is a continuation from this post.

France #1

2011-07-15T10:52:00.008-04:00

This month I'd like to post some of my favorite photos from France. I'll start by showing some of the images from a book I just put together here titled Côte d' Azur. Their low resolution, full screen preview makes the images look really soft so I'll post the majority of the images from the book here (you should still follow the link above to see the book layout, sequencing, and a really nice intro by Kirsten).

So here we go in no particular order,

Minor Narratives #43

2010-07-20T14:55:00.003-04:00

Walked at the beach. Found 2 plastic sand molds.

Minor Narratives #42

2010-06-08T02:32:00.001-04:00

Walked at the park. Found 1 Sponge Bob ceramic figurine.

Minor Narratives #41

2010-06-01T21:55:00.003-04:00

Walked at the beach. Found 1 lighter and 1 sponge bob play watch.

Minor Narratives #40

2010-05-27T12:18:00.001-04:00

Walked at the beach. Found 1 pacifier.

Minor Narratives #39

2010-05-21T16:46:00.004-04:00

Walked at the beach. Found 1 broken comb and 1 Spiderman ring.

Minor Narratives #38

2010-05-18T22:11:00.004-04:00

Walked at the park. Found 1 indian chief.

Minor Narratives #37

2010-05-15T20:51:00.002-04:00

Walked on the boardwalk. Found 1 noise maker.

Minor Narratives #36

2010-05-13T21:38:00.003-04:00

Walked at the beach. Found 4 lighters; 2 empty and 2 half full.

A Big Mac View

2010-04-24T22:45:00.004-04:00

A Big Mac View

Found at an overlook off the Appalachian Trail: 1 Big Mac box, 1 paper coffee cup (20oz), and 1 dried orange peel.

Minor Narratives #35

2010-04-12T11:19:00.003-04:00

Walked at the beach. Found 1 metal fan(?) piece.

Minor Narratives #34

2010-04-08T21:47:00.002-04:00

Walked at the beach. Found the rear portion of 1 horseshoe crab.

Minor Narratives #33

2010-04-06T23:57:00.003-04:00

Walked at the lake. Found 1 fisherman's bobber.

Monument Triptych

2010-03-27T23:54:00.003-04:00

Currently in the capitol with the family. Cherry trees are still not fully bloomed but pretty none the less.

Spring is Here

2010-03-20T21:50:00.005-04:00

From Storm King Mtn, looking southeast.

Spring seems to be finally here in the northeast. Took a midmorning hike today up Storm King Mtn which overlooks the Hudson River. Storm King was a favorite subject for landscape painters of the Hudson River School in the mid-19th century. It's situated just north of US Military Academy at West Point. The plan was to break-in some new hiking boots, field test a new "tripod" (more on that later), and try out a new HD video camera.

The video below is a water fall I found along the trial. Consider this a test only.

Color or B&W?

2010-02-28T22:36:00.004-05:00

This last week we had a major storm blow through the New York area and leave about 12" of wet, heavy snow. It brought down many trees and power lines, our DSL cable connection amongst them.

Yesterday was the last day for a piece I had in a show here and the piece was from my Offseason series. This recent storm provided some additional material for the series, one of the images which I'm including above. The series has been in b&w up to this point but I really like how the color in the trees pops out in this image so I have some to decide if I'll convert the image above to b&w or shift the focus of the series. Decisions, decisions.

Minor Narratives #32

2010-01-30T21:13:00.003-05:00

Walked at the beach and the park. Found 3 pink objects.

Deconstructing Labyrinths - Part 1 / Image 6

2010-01-11T11:47:00.003-05:00

78 various pieces. 3 motors, 4 rubber washers, 1 glass penta-prism, 5 circuit boards, etc.

Minor Narratives #31

2010-01-09T18:33:00.002-05:00

Walked at the river. Found 1 drain cover.

Down+Out

2009-12-31T07:36:00.004-05:00

A show I'm in.

Minor Narratives #30

2009-12-19T21:09:00.002-05:00

Walked at the park. Found 1 rusting CO2 cartridge.

Minor Narratives #29

2009-12-17T22:37:00.001-05:00

Walked at the beach. Found 1 spider crab shell.

Minor Narratives #28

2009-12-07T09:22:00.004-05:00

Walked at the beach. Found 1 beach ball piece.

Minor Narratives #27

2009-12-05T19:40:00.003-05:00

Walked at the park. Found 1 broken balloon.

Polka dots

2009-11-16T15:54:00.001-05:00

Deconstructing Labyrinths - Part 1 / Image 5

2009-11-08T11:13:00.005-05:00

80 die-cast and stamped metal pieces

Minor Narratives #26

2009-11-07T13:47:00.003-05:00

Walked at school. Found 1 broken reflector.

Deconstructing Labyrinths - Part 1 / Image 4

2009-10-30T10:36:00.007-04:00

68 sq. in. of flex circuit

Deconstructing Labyrinths was started here

Minor Narratives #25

2009-10-23T20:14:00.003-04:00

Walked at school. Found 1 theater prop.

Minor Narratives - #24

2009-10-22T21:41:00.004-04:00

Walked at a city park. Found 9 blue and 2 red plastic bag ties.

Minor Narratives - #23

2009-10-17T21:58:00.002-04:00

Walked at school. Found 3 painted leafs.

Autumn walks

2009-10-11T11:18:00.006-04:00

Mink Hollow, Catskills.

My favorite walking season, Fall, is upon us here on the east coast. The mornings are brisk and the last of the humidity disappeared a few weeks ago. The fall color continues to creep south, this weekend it was at peak in the Catskills and patches of color are just starting to appear further south too.

The Super Heroes Among Us...

2009-10-05T22:59:00.004-04:00

It's been just over a month since my last post but I'm finally back and will be posting on a regular basis again. A couple of cool photo related things happened this past month. A photo book I made titled Ordinary Hours won an Honorable Mention at the 2009 Photography Book Now competition hosted by Blurb.com. There was quite an international field of photographers and their books represented and I was honored to have the book featured. More info can be found here.

Also I just finished packing an order for five large prints today which will be making their way west to Pax Wine Cellars in Santa Rosa, CA. They make an excellent bottle of wine and the head wine maker is a good friend. Check them out here when you get a chance.

So that's it for the shameless plugs. Back to regularly scheduled programing...

The Importance of Long Term Projects

2009-08-29T15:38:00.013-04:00

The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic with both a move and a new semester to deal with. But this morning I finished putting the final touches on my syllabi and there's only a couple more boxes that need to make their way down to the new garage so I'm in good shape, for the moment at least.

One of the things that kept me sane these past weeks is that I got to work on what I'm calling my really, REALLY long term photo project. It occurs once every year, on or around the time of my son's birthday. The project was started when I was thirty and the goal is to make one photograph of him a year, in a similar aesthetic, till he's thirty and I'm sixty (Lord willing...)

If this sounds impossible well perhaps it is (it's hard enough getting a two year old to sit still much less, I suspect, an adolescent who's willing to have his picture taken). But I think like many things that take a long time to develop (a classic vehicle rebuild, a special book collection, or a long term relationship) it will be the sum of the experiences rather than the finished project that ends up being very special.

One of my favorite long term photo projects is a portrait project by photographer Nicholas Nixon titled, The Brown Sisters, that he's been doing since 1975. You can find out more about that project here

Regularly Scheduled Programing...

2009-08-19T10:37:00.004-04:00

We are in the process of moving and without internet this week. Next week I should be back to regular posts. Stay tuned...

Golf

2009-08-06T00:28:00.003-04:00

Golf this week. A foursome with my two brothers and father. It's been at least 10 years, probably more. My father showed that he still has a consistent par game, he easily outplayed us all.

I don't usually like smiles in portraits because they often feel forced but I made an exception here because my brother has a good smile. He also photographs, his work can be see here.

Wilderness Sunset

2009-08-02T01:28:00.003-04:00

Just got back from a four day backpacking trip in the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon. It's a beautiful range, more similar in appearance to California's Sierra Nevada than it's wetter neighbors (Cascades) to the northwest.

For this portrait of Zach against a strong setting sun I needed some fill light on the shadow side of his face. Without my usual flash equipment, my pack was heavy enough already as it was, I had to resort to the pop-up flash on the camera body. Turning up the flash output as much as it would go and getting in close gave just enough fill in the shadow areas ( shadow from the flash under the bill of his cap)

Deception Pass

2009-07-23T00:00:00.003-04:00

My wife and I visited Deception Pass State Park this week, it's one of our favorite parks in Washington. The park's facilities were all built by the CCC in the 1930's (as were many of the early state parks in the region). They also helped to build the Deception Pass Bridge which links the northern section of the park on Fidalgo Island with the southern section of park on Whidbey Island.

Perch Fishing

2009-07-18T12:18:00.002-04:00

Went perch fishing with my grandfather this week on Lake Washington. He just turned 84, is in good health, and loves to fish and get out on the water. Mount Rainier was out and it was a beautiful day. We caught a couple dozen perch and talked about going out for king salmon in Puget Sound later this month.

Surfs Up

2009-07-14T00:08:00.005-04:00

Went surfing at Westport, WA with my brother this weekend. I was prepared for the weekend crowd but thankfully the rainy weather seems to have followed us from New England and as a result there was plenty of elbow room to be had (I counted 25 to 30 surfers in the water at one point, but on a sunny weekend my brother says you can expect 3 times that number). No wind though. The waves were in the 2 to 3 foot range, boring for my brother who surfs every week (he was a good sport about it though) but perfect for me as I haven't surfed for 10+ years. I was definitely rusty at judging the waves and had a number of face plants when I dropped in too late and the tip of the board buried its self at the bottom of the wave.

But after an hour or so it started to come back and I remembered how peaceful it is to float on your board, with the rain pouring down around you, waiting for the next set to roll in.

Mtb Mass Murder

2009-07-06T11:54:00.007-04:00

Seattle mud from the first mtb ride? Nope. Try 3k miles worth of dismembered bug bodies. Our whole car was pretty bad but the white fork legs took the brunt of the blood and guts. Thankfully a little warm water, soap, and elbow grease took care of most of the carnage.

On a happier note I did my first ride with my brother at Saint Edward's Park. I hadn't ridden there for a few years. A lot more trails and bike traffic. Trails were fast and flowing with lot's of stunts scattered throughout the park.

On the Road - Conclusion

2009-07-05T11:54:00.003-04:00

After leaving the Twin Cities on I94 we arrived at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota on the evening of the 2nd. Set up camp, had dinner, and then took a sunset drive along the park loop road looking for wildlife. That night a couple of mild thunder storms rolled through and kept everyone awake so we broke camp early and were headed west again by 4:30am.

I watched the sun rise and morning break across eastern Montana while the family slept and I drove, alongside the Yellowstone River, listening to the reading of the Declaration of Independence on the local NPR station.

We arrived in the late afternoon in Missoula and had a delightful visit with relatives. Attended a photography show opening of Kevin Michael Connolly's work (more on his work here) and had some great pizza at a local restaurant.

Saturday morning we were back on the road by 7:30am and looking forward to the shortest drive of the trip. Three mountain passes and 7 hours of driving later we arrived in Seattle.

On the Road - Part 2

2009-07-02T07:35:00.003-04:00

The 3rd leg of our trip will start this morning. We've spent the last two nights in Rosemount, MN with friends. We are headed for Fargo, ND (our halfway point in the trip) and then onto Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the night.

On the Road - Summer Travels

2009-06-29T15:26:00.004-04:00

Exercising the fat Notre Dame ducks

Riding with Markus

We've finished the first leg of our trip. Currently we are in South Bend, IN. We narrowly avoid the hot and humid weather they've been having and it's currently pleasantly cool and breezy. We will leave tomorrow morning on our second leg of our trip west, destination the Twin Cities.

Generally the drive so far has been very easy. We hit some thunder storms outside of Cleveland, which did an excellent job of washing the remaining New England mud from my mtn bike.

From now till the end of the summer the blog format will include more travel reports/photos than specific photo projects. Stay tuned.

Deconstructing Labyrinths - Part 1 / Image 3

2009-06-12T23:04:00.003-04:00

27 gears & 31 springs

Deconstructing Labyrinths - Part 1 / Image 2

2009-06-09T22:21:00.003-04:00

41 wires

Deconstructing Labyrinths - Part 1 / Image 1

2009-06-04T12:53:00.007-04:00

170 screws

A new project.

Minor Narratives - #22

2009-05-27T21:00:00.004-04:00

Walked at the coast. Found: 1 glass bottle with an oyster shell inside that had grown too large to be removed from the bottle.

Travels with Toddler, Part 2

2009-05-23T22:10:00.012-04:00

"Now, Charley is a mind-reading dog." - John Steinbeck

Fatherhood has taught me many things in a short amount of time but, undoubtedly, the most significant has been patience. A walk to the park with my son that should take ten minutes takes the better part of an hour as every bug must be examined, the perfect throwing stick chosen, and total strangers greeted and impressed. Once at the park it's no quicker as there is a strict playground equipment "circuit" that must be adhered to or there will be hell to pay come departure time. A short walk becomes a two hour exploration and increasingly, I'm finding I wouldn't have it any other way.

In Travels with Charley Steinbeck embraces the back roads and regular breaks he takes, for Charley (and himself in his advancing years), and uses them to explore and meet new people. I suspect that this approach would seem almost quaint by many road tripper's standards, including my own. In past trips there was always a mileage or time total to achieve for each day and a 4-5 hour stretch between stops were the rule rather than the exception. With my toddler on board, it's a long shift if we go 2 hours between stops.

With this recent road trip I found myself enjoying the less hectic pace and the regular stops for food and potty breaks. Watching my son trying to make friends with a group of kids twice his age at a rest stop or browsing with him through a road side tourist trap will be the memories I cherish in the future, not the fact that I didn't have to stop the car till the needle was on empty.

Travels with Toddler, Part 1

2009-05-19T00:15:00.019-04:00

"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike." - John Steinbeck

This past weekend I the opportunity to road trip with my toddler son up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and then return via the Maine and Mass coasts. We camped one night and stayed in a hotel one night due to thunderstorms. It was our first father-son road trip and a good warm-up to a much longer coast-to-coast road trip that we will be making next month.

For this trip I decided to reread Steinbeck's Travels with Charley which I hadn't read for years. As it turned out I found myself on a lonely section of New Hampshire road that Steinbeck writes about, parked in a turnoff, changing a dirty diaper.

REI Co-op Photography Rights Grab

2009-05-10T21:01:00.006-04:00

As a Seattle native and outdoor enthusiast I've been a member of the REI co-op for quite awhile. (Just bought a thule box at their sale last week actually).

But it just came to my attention here that they are involved in a blatant photography right's grab in the guise of co-op member photo "sharing". And this isn't the first time they've done it either.

"I irrevocably grant to Recreational Equipment, Inc., its affiliates, agents, representatives, licensees and assigns ("REI") in perpetuity, for no additional consideration, permission to use the photographs . . . an unlimited number of times in any manner REI deems fit . . . . I agree to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless REI . . . from any liability, claim, damage, judgment, cost, loss, expense . . . by virtue of any publication or use of the Photos as previously described. I agree that in the event of a dispute arising out of the use of the Photos, my damages shall not exceed Fifty Dollars ($50.00) and in no instance shall I be entitled to seek an injunction against REI's use of the Photos."

Perhaps it's just me, but as a co-op I hold REI to a higher ethical standard in its dealings with co-op "members". For those of you who are fellow members, I encourage you to voice your concerns here.

Rogue's Gallery

2009-05-04T11:56:00.002-04:00

Traveled to Seattle this past weekend to shoot a wedding. The groom and groomsman wanted to do mug shots so I lined them up against the wall and hit them with a direct strobe. Not your typical portrait setup but a fun change of pace (still a little bit of editing to do to get them all matched up).

Minor Narratives - #21

2009-04-21T21:00:00.002-04:00

Walked at school today. Overcast. Found: 1 plastic popsicle stick.

Minor Narratives - #20

2009-04-17T20:13:00.002-04:00

Walked to the beach today. Windy. Found: 1 piece of burned newspaper.

Photography Workshops

2009-04-14T13:00:00.005-04:00

Fellow photographer and friend Josh Miller has just updated his site with new photography workshops he's offering this year. His workshops are quite popular and usually fill up fast so mark your calendars.

You can learn more about the workshops by going to his site and following the workshop links.

Minor Narratives - #19

2009-04-13T22:03:00.003-04:00

Walk at school. Sunny. Found: 1 powder puff and 1 broken action figure.

2 bike wheels, 2 strobes, and 2 pocket wizards

2009-04-10T20:05:00.003-04:00

Something a little different today. I decided to bring along some camera gear on a ride I did today. Since I was riding by myself I got to be both model and camera guy this time. I used Pocket Wizards (radio transmitters) to trigger the camera and the two strobes from the bike as I road past. Look closely and you'll see the transmitter's antenna sticking out from under my left hand where it was zip-tied to the handle bar.

Minor Narratives - #18

2009-04-05T21:41:00.003-04:00

Walked to the beach today. Sun and wind. Found: 1 unused bottle rocket.

Ordinary Hours

2009-04-03T10:40:00.002-04:00

I've been neglecting my blog for the past week or so to focus on editing and arranging a couple of new projects and a new site for them. One of them, Ordinary Hours, is a project I'm excited about and while still ongoing, I thought it was established enough to post on the new site. I'm also in the planning stages for two new projects this summer, stay tuned!

The new work and site design can be seen at lunstrumphotography.com

Minor Narratives - #17

2009-03-25T21:51:00.004-04:00

Walked at school, warm. Found: 1 dried Marumi kumquat, 1 plastic recorder end.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

2009-03-24T23:49:00.003-04:00

A little unabashed self promotion here...my better half has a new blog and new anthology out, titled The Sincerest Form of Flattery, that she co-edited. Check it out here!

Minor Narratives #16

2009-03-24T23:36:00.003-04:00

Walked around our block. Warmish. Found: 1 pair of broken plastic glasses, and 1 broken paint ball casing.

Minor Narratives - #15

2009-03-19T20:07:00.003-04:00

Walked to the beach. Overcast with wind. Found: 1 rusted steel machine head screw.

Welcoming Spring

2009-03-14T23:20:00.006-04:00

Here's a cheesy short I threw together from a ride today, my first ride of the year, and a welcome to Spring (hopefully not too premature).

Minor Narratives - #14

2009-03-13T21:53:00.002-04:00

Walked to the beach, then the park. Sunny. Found: 3 rusting beer caps, 1 dime, 1 broken Sears badge, 1 action figure gas mask.

Minor Narratives - #13

2009-03-07T22:24:00.003-05:00

Walked to the park, warm. Found: 3 moss clumps, 1 plastic plant pot.

Minor Narratives - #12

2009-03-06T08:31:00.003-05:00

Walked to the beach, warmish, snow melting. Found: 1 rubber ball core, 1 red string, 1 small granite rock, last snow of the season (?)

Testing

2009-03-02T20:49:00.003-05:00

I was getting some photo equipment together today for a class demo later this week when this image presented its self. The storm that blew in this week forced us indoors today and everyone was a little antsy, lots of looking out the windows and watching the snow fall.

Minor Narratives - #11

2009-02-25T21:15:00.003-05:00

A one hour walk on campus today. Found: 1 black cotton mitten, 2 broken ipod earbuds, orange peels, gum wrapper.

Minor Narratives - #10

2009-02-22T15:30:00.003-05:00

Walked to the park. Cloudy. Found: 1 piece of duck tape, 1 strip of Velcro (loop side), 1 broken pen body, 1 acorn, 10 orange beads, 1 white bead.

Playing Around

2009-02-19T22:13:00.009-05:00

I needed a composite image for a class demo this week and I was tired of the old one's I'd been showing so I made this one while we were at the playground.

There are a lot of photographers out there who work in this composite, time-lapse style but one of my favorites is Barry Frydlender (b.1954), an Israeli photographer. More about him here and here.

Minor Narratives - #9

2009-02-17T22:50:00.004-05:00

Walked to the park. Sunny. Found: 1 McDonald's hot beverage cup, 1 McDonald's straw, 8 pistachio shells, and 1 plant frond.

Minor Narratives - #8

2009-02-13T21:29:00.002-05:00

Walked down to the beach today. Clear and windy. Found: 1 ice cream spoon, 1 champagne cork, 2 liqueur tops, pine needles.

Minor Narratives - #7

2009-02-09T20:21:00.002-05:00

Walked to the beach today. Snow is melting. Found: Missing persons flier, cell phone with missing battery, broken child's shovel, doll leg.

Yobama Roll

2009-02-07T09:13:00.006-05:00

With all the hoopla over the copyright issues of the HOPE poster right now I thought that the irony of this "borrowed" Yobama Roll image was just a little funny. Mmmm....spicy king crab.

The image was sent to me by Gregorio and was taken in a sushi restaurant in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by JJ Gomez. Both Gomez and Gregorio work for a nonprofit, Healing Waters International, check out their website here.

Minor Narratives - #6

2009-02-06T22:53:00.003-05:00

Walked down by the tennis courts and sledding hill today. Cold. Found: 1 pair of sunglasses, 1 chunky bar wrapper, frozen whitetail deer droppings.

The HOPE drama continues

2009-02-05T16:28:00.003-05:00

So it likes like the AP (who Mannie Garcia, the photographer behind the HOPE image, was on assignment for when he took the photo) is going after Shepard Fairey for copyright infringement. It seems unlikely to me that they have much of a case against Fairey but we'll see...

The Year in Pictures has a nice overview of the current situation here and Photo Attorney has an interesting look at the legal ramifications here.

Minor Narratives - #5

2009-02-04T21:47:00.005-05:00

Walked from the school parking lot to class and then back. Cold. Found: 1 essay on the geography of ancient Palestine, 1 black plastic hair clip, 1 bent blue paper clip, 1 receipt for $78.80.

Minor Narratives - #4

2009-02-02T22:17:00.003-05:00

Walked in warmish weather to the park with my son. Found: 1 torn photograph, 1 evergreen branch with attached cone, 6 plastic beads, playground rubber mulch.

Minor Narratives - #3

2009-01-31T12:23:00.003-05:00

Grocery store and parking-lot walk. Found; crushed green grape, trucker sticker, cigarette box top, rock salt.

John R. Stilgoe

2009-01-30T15:47:00.005-05:00

I'm in the process of rediscovering one of my favorite authors, John R. Stilgoe. He's a professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard. His observations and insights about "everyday" environments make for very interesting reading.

Check out Outside Lies Magic, an easy read and one of my favorites. Or his Landscape and Images, which is a little more time consuming. If images are your thing, Stilgoe has a nice essay in Walking the High Line by Joel Sternfeld. You can also see just the great images by Sternfeld here for free. Finally, Stilgoe's Shallow Water Dictionary is a beautiful little book exploring estuary English, it's the perfect size to throw in your pocket for a walk at the coast.

While I'm at it I should also recommend Home Ground, Language for an American Landscape, edited by Barry Lopez. If you've ever wondered what a "sheepback rock" or a "freshwater lens" are then this is the book for you. It's in a similar style to Shallow Water Dictionary but much more comprehensive. But forget about throwing it in your pocket, you'll need a small backpack at least.

Minor Narratives - #2

2009-01-29T21:15:00.004-05:00

Walk to the beach and back. Found; baby sandal, beer can, leaf, ribbon, and charcoal.

Minor Narratives - #1

2009-01-27T23:01:00.005-05:00

This image will be the first in a series. Walking from class to the car. Found; dead bird, yellow string, penny, dirt.

Sermons in Stone

2009-01-24T22:08:00.019-05:00

I decided to spend a few hours this morning walking in the woods behind our neighborhood. We've had a couple of warm days this week but surprisingly the the majority of the beaver pond back there is still frozen solid enough to walk on.

I'm midway though an interesting book titled Sermons in Stone by Susan Allport. It chronicles the history of wood fencing and stone walls in New England and New York; exploring their historical context, purpose, and construction methods. For example, in the Dutch New Netherlands of the 1650's (covering sections of current day New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania) the punishment for stripping (removing) a neighbor's fence was a whipping and branding for the first offense and death for the second offense. Early fences were often the only barrier standing between a farmer's fields and winter starvation.

On a similar note, colonial law dictated that it was a farmer's responsibility to fence and protect his crops, not the livestock owner, who's livestock were allowed to roam free. Both chronic labor shortages and the small amount of cleared agricultural land during this time contributed to these rulings. It was deemed far easier to fence the crops than to fence the livestock.

Shrunken Landscapes

2009-01-23T21:59:00.007-05:00

We had some errands to run this afternoon in the town over from us so it was decided we would also check out a state park in the area that we hadn't explored yet. It was unseasonably warm today with the high just over 40˚. The snow is melting fast though it looks like the rest of the week will be colder so it will probably stick around a bit longer.

The park is densely surrounded by homes, as are most of the parks in the area. There is a small parking lot just off the street. A right-of-way, perhaps two hundred yards at the widest point and much narrower in parts, leads the walker for a half-mile along the shore of a lake until one reaches the main body of the park. As you walk this narrow right-of-way you sense that you're walking through someone's backyard, which you essentially are, and you're careful to not look to closely into the back windows of the houses as you pass.

Obama Hope Image: Further Updates

2009-01-22T16:40:00.013-05:00

It has been really interesting today to see the responses on different blogs regarding the recent developments concerning the Obama image. Some law profs over at PrawfsBlawg have been surprisingly divided over whether or not Mannie Garcia has a case against Shepard Fairey. More here.

Also there are some direct quotes from Mannie Garcia over at Swampland here. He's quoted as saying that he'd like to talk to Fairey, and "as gentlemen we can work this out...."

So it's going to be interesting to see where this all goes. Personally, I would be surprised if Garcia had much of a case here. Artistically it seems Fairey can make a pretty strong case that his poster's intent is very different than the intent of the original image and that it's directly a result of his handy work after the fact, not Garcia's.

It's nice to see though that Mannie Garcia will get some credit for all of this and that the original photographic image will no longer be stuck in image limbo as number 159,463 in a Google Image search.

Obama Image Mystery Solved!

2009-01-21T09:28:00.003-05:00

I just got an email from Tom Gralish regarding the mystery of the Obama image used for the Hope poster. Seems that it is an image by Mannie Garcia taken in 2006 at a press conference Obama had with George Clooney. More here on Tom's find

An Elite Club

2009-01-20T21:19:00.012-05:00

We had to go into school today to prep for classes tomorrow. Since it's the last day of break we decided to make the most of it and take a quick trip down to the beach. We drove to Connecticut's first state park on Long Island sound. There were a few hardy souls there enjoying the sun, wind, and cold.

The inauguration was foremost in my mind as we walked. We had just listened to the swearing-in ceremony earlier and I had also been thinking about an article in the Boston Globe about how the stress of the job accelerates the aging process in presidents. It's a job that must be very lonely at times. So I was looking for an image that would convey my hope and enthusiasm for the future, while also speaking to the isolation that I imagine is often part of the job description of being president.

Update: I've changed the image crop a little, I like the new one better.

The Mystery behind the Obama Hope Poster

2009-01-20T19:12:00.027-05:00

I was looking at one of my favorite image blogs today, The Year in Pictures, and there was a post regarding the original photographer behind the iconic image used for the Obama Hope Poster that we all know so well by now, and which I love myself. It seems perhaps the original image has been found...or has it?

After I saw the "original" I started to wonder why Shepard Fairey, if he had found the image from a Google Image search, would then take the time to flip and stretch, and add the suit, tie, etc. I've played around with similar conversions in the past myself and the process is really easy, it would have taken Fairey much longer to add the additional content than it would to do the conversion its self. So I did my own Google Image search and found the image above on the right here.

This image seems more likely to my eye. I copieda version into Photoshop and layered it over the Hope poster. Except for a little rotation, the Obama image seems to fit the Hope poster really well. Here are some examples with the opacity of the layer changed so that you can see the poster through the image.

It seems like a pretty good match. I'm currently trying to nail down who took the original image. If you have any thoughts let me know.

Update: It seems to be an AP photograph (using Tineye), still looking for a source credit...

Update 2: I found the AP image in a CBS article here. I've put in an image request to the AP, still waiting to hear from them.

Update 3: The image is Mannie Garcia's and currently the AP (who Mannie was working for at the time) is going after Fairey for copyright infringement, more here.

Beaver Lodge

2009-01-19T22:44:00.004-05:00

Our week of cold weather has left the lakes in the area frozen enough to walk on. So I hiked down this morning to a beaver pond behind our neighborhood. This image had been on my mind for awhile, originally in an unfrozen lake, but I thought I would try it with the ice. The access out to the lodge was certainly easier than packing my kayak all the way down there and back. Two strobes provided the key light.

Visual Proximity

2009-01-17T18:56:00.003-05:00

We walked around the Weir farm today on the coldest day of winter so far with temps in the mid teens. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was cold but not nearly as bad as we've experienced in South Bend, IN were the cold was painful after a few minutes outside. I thought visually this scene had some interesting layers to it. The contrast between these plants and those only a few feet away outside, wrapped in burlap, was quite interesting. I tried combining the two but it didn't work compositionally so I thought perhaps the icicles in the scene would give the viewer a clue as to the conditions outside the greenhouse.

X marks the spot

2009-01-16T14:35:00.009-05:00

This morning, just before sunrise, I saw out our kitchen window that the three neighborhood deer were bedded down near the edge of the lake. These three have been hanging around since this summer when the two offspring where just young, spotted fawns. Now it's hard to tell them apart from their mother without looking closely. While most of our neighbor's properties are wooded and slope steeply to the lake, ours has a small , flat clearing that the deer seem to prefer. We see them down there at least a couple times a week. Last night was one of our coldest to date and the deer were up and on the move by 7:00, earlier than they usually are, they often hang out in the area till at least 10:00.

After the sun had risen a bit more I walked down to have a look at their beds. Even with temps in the teens last night, the deer had mostly melted through our three inches of old snow to the bare ground. I've also noticed over time that one of the youngsters always likes to sleep a bit away from the other two (that's her bed in the lower right corner), seems even deer have their own family dynamics.

I'm often surprised during the image editing process by what I didn't see in the scene while I was photographing. In this case, I was so focused on the deer beds that I didn't realize that there was a giant X dead center in the image (it's probably also due in part to the fact that I wasn't looking through the viewfinder in this case, I was holding the camera over my head so that all three beds would show up). More often than not these "surprises" don't work out but in this case I kinda like the results.

What's Next for Amble On?

2009-01-14T22:51:00.009-05:00

Today this blog is two weeks old!

I know, you bloggers out there who've been doing this for years are thinking big deal right? But the last two weeks for me have been a real eye opener in just how much fun, and work, blogging can be. I've already met some new people I wouldn't have otherwise and I'm also amazed at the level of support I've gotten in such a short time from all of you readers out here, thank you! I've also made the first, and biggest, hurdle and proven to myself that I can sustain my own interest in this project over time.

In terms of blog content, the last few weeks have been very broad and purposely so. There have been some days where I felt the content was inspired and some days where I was really working to come up with something. And that daily (for the most part) struggle really has been the most rewarding aspect I think. I started this project with the idea that the posts would occur on a daily basis. I'm still committed to that goal, though if you've been keeping score you'll see I've come up short a few days already. I've decided I'm not going to beat myself up about that and I've given myself two rules in that regard;

1st - I'm taking Sundays off. It will be a day to recharge and refresh for the week ahead, no blogging.
2nd - Sick days won't be an excuse in the future unless I'm on my death bed, today I was a wuss, I promise it won't happen again...

You'll also see that I've changed the content description of the blog somewhat. I've decided that the visual content will be art photography (as opposed to the broader definition of just "art"). I also thought that "movement" was a little vague and far reaching...for instance "personal movement" could infer such things as dance, which I assure you nobody would want to see my personal interpretation of. Locomotion infers movement with some purpose to move from point A to point B. I've also decided not to limit the locomotion to just walking as I have some bike locomotion stuff planned for the future (stuff that was started in grad school with my Walk & Ride project).

Finally, I've decided that this blog will be structured around month long projects. Each month I'll present a new set of images/observations based on a theme, concept, or working method. The idea is to keep things interesting for myself and also create some image challenges to work towards. At the end of each month I'll have a mini project of 30 odd images or so. This is also where you, the reader, comes in. I would love to make these monthly projects interactive and I invite you to suggest themes, concepts, or situations I can get myself into. The only rules are that the projects have to be structured around personal locomotion and be image based. I know some of you are coming from creative arts backgrounds and some are not but I would love suggestions from everyone, don't be shy!

So this is getting too long already. You can send me project ideas through the blog comments here or at

nathan at lunstrumphotography dot com

The first mini project will start in Feb.

Sick Day Portraits

2009-01-14T15:06:00.007-05:00

Today I seem to have caught the same bug my wife and son have had the last couple of days. So no walking today but I thought I would share a couple of images made this last weekend in Philly. These portraits are part of a long term project I'm working on called 31 Sons.

Valley Curtain

2009-01-13T15:00:00.005-05:00

The plan this morning was to explore more of the loop that I first started here. I decided to start at the end of the loop this time and try to meet up with where I had stopped previously, about halfway. The first (or last) part of the loop is a cross-country walk, mostly down hill, to get to an established trail. Along the way I came across this structure made out of plastic tarps. I imagined that it was a failed project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Upon further inspection I found an identical structure a hundred yards south of the first one. At first I thought they might be deer blinds left behind by hunters but that seemed unlikely, tree stands seem to be the preferred choice as I've stumbled upon a number of them in this area. And besides, there was nothing stealthy about these tarps, they stuck out of the landscape as badly as one of Christo's pieces. There are also some small stone and wood walls that have been built between each of these structures and many of the trees in the area have been flagged with plastic tape, creating implied boundary lines. My guess is that this area was used as a paintball field at one time by some local kids.

I continued on and made some progress on the loop though I again ended up running out of time after two hours. The combination of snow and lots of fresh windfalls is making progress slower than I would have expected.

Quiet Moments & Keeping it Simple

2009-01-12T21:34:00.004-05:00

We met up with our neighbors down the street and walked over to the local sledding slope. Three kids and four adults equals lively conversations and nonstop action. I had brought a strobe on the end of a pole, and with the pole in one hand and the camera in the other, I had some creative lighting options and plenty of exercise chasing the kids around. Those images are full of laughter, flying snow, and speeding sleds.

But as the sun set and the kid's began to tire and think about hot cocoa, I made this simple image in the fading available light. I often find that the scenes that I forget about during a shoot are those that many times are the most effective. This image is a reminder for me not to forget those quiet moments and that a simple approach is often the most effective.

Old and New - 1/10/09

2009-01-11T08:46:00.005-05:00

We walked around historic Philly yesterday. The combination of a Saturday and the threat of snow seemed to be keeping everyone inside, it was really nice to have the neighborhood practically to ourselves. The matte red brick of the Colonial Georgian architecture against the modern, glossy office buildings creates some interesting visual contrasts. The image here is the "back" door to Independence Hall.

Green & Yellow

2009-01-09T20:34:00.009-05:00

I walked down to the beach this afternoon to see if anything had thawed out, which it hadn't. In fact, the beach is frozen now too after our ice storm. You can't tell where the beach ends and the water begins. I made this image thinking it would make an interesting study in point of view with yesterday's image. Made with a long telephoto lens from the beach looking across the lake to the other side.

I often find myself sharing Robert Capa's famous quote with my students, "if your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough." Of course, coming from a war photographer this quote's context is different than me standing on a private beach in a residential neighborhood or a student photographing on their campus. But it holds true that a photograph's point of view will usually confirm for the viewer the extent to which the photographer physically experienced the scene in front of the lens.

We'll be in Philadelphia this weekend. But I'll be continuing the walks and photographs and if I don't have time to post them over the weekend, I'll post them on Monday.