It’s that time again! Each year Pantone choose a “color of the year” that can help drive creative endeavors and design. Check out my image gallery celebrating this year’s color, “Classic Blue”. Here is some additional information on Pantone’s Color of the Year:
For over 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design.
A timeless and enduring blue hue, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.
Imprinted in our psyches as a restful color, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge. Aiding concentration and bringing laser like clarity, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue re-centers our thoughts. A reflective blue tone, Classic Blue fosters resilience.
From India to Antarctica, it seems I’ve spent the Holiday season just about everywhere on the glob. When you create a lot of books, you also spend a lot of time looking back at old photos and reflecting! Enjoy this selection from 15 years of December travel – and have as warm and safe Holiday season with the people, pets, and/or endeavors you love!
I create books in large part because I know how impactful and inspirational they can be to the right audience. Sometimes all it takes is finding the right perspective to instigate an idea, a project, or even a lifestyle change. What might just be a picture and technique book to one person fills in the gaps for others and can send them down a creative rabbit-hole.
To that end, I make it a point to highlight books that either come across my desk or that I am referred to by friends, peers, and clients (often one in the same!) that leave an impression on me or that I think might be helpful for the photographer who follows my work.
Today I am honored to discuss fellow Tales By Lightalumnist and kindred spirit Peter Eastway’s recently released book, The New Tradition. As a fan of both the traditional photographic works of staple legends like Ansel Adams and Edward Weston as well as the idea that photography can be its own self-contained conceptual art form, this book echos and expands upon this idea. Filled with hauntingly beautiful photographs, each one is accompanied with techniques and anecdotes that help describe Peter’s process and approach.
This is an important book that comes at a great time for photography enthusiasts. Digital photography has in recent years finally shaken many of the stigmas attached to it, and The New Tradition illustrates just that – a new way of approaching photography while capitalizing on the technology we have available rather than shrinking from it simply because it’s not how things were done “back in the day”. We have the ability and opportunity to push things beyond anything these historic innovators ever could, and I can’t help but think if they were still working they would be taking every technological advantage they could find IF it helped convey what they were hoping to communicate with their captures.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough! Order it today as an amazing gift for the photographer and artist in your life!
It’s #GivingTuesday – so it’s a good time to mention the wonderful charitable organizations featured in my recent book, WILD ELEPHANTS: Conservation in the Age of Extinction. Though the book does touch on the troubling plight of elephant populations, we also explore many of the fantastic organizations and individuals who are out there making a difference and providing hope for the future of these animals.
To that end, if you’re feeling charitable this holiday season here is a list of the organizations mentioned in the book. Maybe the nature lover in your life or the person who has everything would appreciate a simple holiday donation in their name? Anything helps!
Tis the season to find that perfect gift! Nothing feels quite as good as giving, especially when you’re able to check someone off your list with the confidence that they are going to cherish what you give them.
To that end, I’ve made it easy and cut prices on framed art cards and posters through Monday. Ready to hang, a variety of images insures you’re likely to find something for everyone on your list. Look no further for a thoughtful holiday gift – or simply a way to say thank-you to whomever is hosting your holiday events!
Click the link below to browse the varieties available and ready to ship. Please note there are limited quantities available – order now before your favorite images are gone! Here’s wishing everyone a joyous and peaceful holiday season!
Hope everyone is enjoying their Turkey Day – spending mine traveling in India. Next week I’ll be heading to Turkey, of all places! Gobble Gobble! What’s everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving dish?!
Happy Technique Tuesday! A little less of a technical lesson today as I’d like to talk about the many ways simple shapes and forms can become the basis for decades of design inspiration. This photo is from the book Indian Baskets of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and captures a Cowlitz-style basket made from bear grass and dyed cedar bark. Coiled baskets were generally used in cooking are adorned in diagonal zig-zags and checkers.
The detail and quality of these baskets was cherished and ownership of them was prestigious enough that many baskets of this caliber were kept unused as pieces handed down generationally or traded. This particular pattern was used as inspiration when Westlake Center in downtown Seattle underwent a re-design in 1989. The pattern covers Westlake park and expands a block in any direction and was intended to bind the central down-town park into a ‘living room’ for the city.
From beautifully hand-crafted basket to (exquisitely captured, if I do say so myself!) photograph to major metropolitan design element, the original artist had no idea their work would become so very timeless. Next time you’re down town, give it a look – and the next time you’re looking to do your own decorating, it’s worth considering that inspiration may come from unlikely places!
At the beginning of November I pried a few friends away from their families and obligations and had a great time exploring the canyonlands of Utah; A simple excursion for photography’s sake of the sort I haven’t had in some time! Usually I’m leaping from location to location, itinerary in hand and a clear goal in mind – to fulfill a book project, or fill a gap in my catalog with previously unexplored location, creature, or culture.
This time it was a relaxed trip with friends to feed the soul and recharge the batteries with no expectations that would elicit success or failure. It was a great trip and I’ll definitely make time for these kinds of trips in the future. Enjoy!
It’s a #TravelTuesday, and as I prepare to head off again this evening to distant lands, I’m doing a bit of reflecting on my past November travels. It looks like South Georgia Island is a common favorite for the month in years passed, sprinkled in between with warmer locales.
I don’t have any current plans for another trip to South Georgia Island at the moment, but several 2020 and 2021 trips are on the docket, and who knows what *secret* plans I may have brewing – keep an eye on the Events page for all the upcoming adventures!
I just loved the two weeks I had in Israel and Jordan, with a brief foray into the West Bank. For once I actually had friends set up a trip for me instead of the other way around. We had an extraordinary time with an insider’s access to what is the center of several of the world’s great religions. I found it to be exceptionally energizing and fascinating; with all that we hear about the Middle East, this was not what I was expecting. It is a microcosm of how well people of different faiths & cultures can live together and alternately how cruelly it tears people apart.
As with all my trips, we do our due diligence to find the best resources on the ground and much of what was captured wouldn’t have been possible without the access and insight provided by our fantastic guide, Simon Beni. I can’t recommend Simon enough if you’re planning a trip to the region – check out his website for more information!
In Jordan we drove up the Wadi Rum and I had flashbacks to Lawrence of Arabia, which is one of my favorite movies. Its rock formation are reminiscent of the desert southwest (without the camels), but instead of angular, the sandstone is pillowy.
We also visited the famous ancient city of Petra. It was fascinating to see in person, though the amount of tourists and the instantly recognizable features made it less interesting to me as a subject. Still, I’m thankful to have experienced it in person. Enjoy the pics!
