What am I grateful for? In these times, my health and that of my friends and fans worldwide. Thousands of you tune in every week to watch Tequila Time on Facebook & Instagram which deeply gratifies this old heart! I’m also fortunate to have great connections with B & H Photo, participating in their virtual Optic event this year. If you missed it, be sure to check it out!
This week on my live stream, I expounded on the photos in my popular book Photographs from the Edge. This book is a timeline of travels near and far with tech tips from noted photography author Rob Sheppard. Many of you may remember that he was the longtime editor at Outdoor Photographer.
In this latest episode I mention several Photos/Travels to the Edge products that I am offering for the holidays, so here are the links for easy access! If you purchase Photographs From the Edge (or any other book on my website for that matter) and you want it signed or inscribed to that special someone, please put that in the notes field when you check out.
Photographs From the Edge goes hand-in-hand with my TV show Travels to the Edge, available both on DVD through my online store, or streaming on my Vimeo On-Demand channel day or night!
Finally and most importantly, everyone stay safe and healthy this holiday season – it seems the experts are on the cusp of a vaccine and some normalcy may be on the horizon. I for one plan to minimize my risks as much as possible in hopes of a travel-rich 2021 – I’ve got work to do!
The OPTIC 2020 Conference is happening this Sunday and Monday! Things have obviously shifted to a virtual venue- however, that’s made time to ramp up with tons of content for this event!
Frans Lanting and I will be the keynote speakers. For my part, I will be discussing international wildlife, and it’s status in the age of man – with a showcase of a lifetime’s worth of wildlife photography to accompany my perspective on how things have changed over the course of five decades now of being a world traveler.
My segment will be available at 1 PM Eastern / 10 AM Pacific on Monday, November 23rd with a Zoom Q&A to follow!
Also, the OPTIC challenge returns with another exciting round of contests. Upon registration, submit your photos to win your share of over $13,000 worth of prizes!
Thank you for visiting my blog! I try to keep it up to date with great photos, tips, and updates about where you can join me for events and workshops – be sure to follow me on your social media channels for a variety of content! Facebook is a great place to connect with fellow fans, Instagram for great photos, Twitter to see the things I follow and share, YouTube and Vimeo for both free and subscription-based content, and LinkedIn for “work”! Phew. There’s a lot of stuff out there, check it out!
I’m excited to announce my participation with B&H Photo once again for this year’s OPTIC 2020 Conference! Things have obviously shifted to a virtual venue- however, that’s made time to ramp up with tons of content for this event!
Myself and Franz Lanting will be the keynote speakers. For my part, I will be discussing international wildlife, and it’s status in the age of man – with a showcase of a lifetime’s worth of wildlife photography to accompany my perspective on how things have changed over the course of five decades now of being a world traveler. My segment will be available at 1 PM Eastern / 10 AM Pacific on Monday, November 22nd with a Zoom Q&A to follow.
Also, the OPTIC challenge returns with another exciting round of contests. Upon registration, submit your photos to win your share of over $13,000 worth of prizes!
In autumn my home state of Washington shows its colors, deepened and moistened by a welcome rain. I spent time photographing abstracts from the Olympic Peninsula in the west to Icicle Creek on the east side of the Cascade Range. In between I documented my yard for an upcoming book on Seattle gardens and scouted Port Townsend for a new abstract workshop. While I am an avid consumer of news, photography and nature has helped me keep my zen through these tense times. Take a hike, listen to water and the wind, cast your gaze into the reaching branches of a tree, it’s good for the soul.
Ask anyone who lives in an area where mining, logging, or any other natural resource has left barren or debilitated habitats in their wake and many will tell you just how long it takes to recover; in some cases the answer is simply “never”.
Enter the Tongass National Forest – the largest remaining intact temperate rain forest on the planet. With a unique ecosystem where this ancient forest meets the ephemeral Pacific, this is home to over 400 species of wildlife comprising one of the rarest ecosystems in the world.
In 2001 the “Roadless Rule” was enacted in this region to keep it safe from the development of roads and logging that would most definitely have a negative impact on the local flora and fauna. This past week the current administration continued it’s attacks on conservation by rolling back this rule, Opening up nearly 10 million acres of the Tongass for logging and development.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to get out there and vote ASAP and help protect these natural bastions of rare ecosystems for the denizens of them who can’t!
Did you know that Season One of Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge is available for streaming worldwide? It’s true! For an episode, or a season – check it out!
When the series first launched, American Public Broadcasting interviewed me about the series – talk about a blast from the past! Here are a few of my responses from that Q&A:
APT: What a great job to have … to travel the world with a camera and take pictures.
AW: There’s actually an ulterior motive to it. I almost want to use my photos as worms on a hook to attach people to the subject, [make them] care about the subject, and ultimately help the subject. Whether it’s a vanishing culture or an endangered landscape, I think we ought to care more about these subjects than we currently do.
APT: How many times do you think it takes to get that award-winning photo?
AW: You know, I never really think about statistics but I can tell you when I started out it took me a lot longer to arrive at a good shot. At this point in my career, I can see the subject and capture it fairly quickly. I’ve done a lot of wildlife [photography] and you don’t have time to wait around – so you make fast decisions. That has served me well with cultures and even the very ephemeral, changing light on landscapes.
Virtually everywhere we went was a dream so they’re all great. One that stands out is a trek around these really remote mountains in Patagonia (Southern South America). It’s memorable because virtually everything had to be carried on our backs. We were out there in a really exposed environment, and bringing high-definition cameras along is unheard of in those locations. But really, it’s a TV series of highlights. We had thousands of places we could have gone and we boiled it down to 13. Each one of them better be a homerun and they were all homeruns.
All of season 1 is available for streaming world wide via Vimeo On Demand
After a scouting trip last week I have made the executive decision to switch the upcoming Abstract Astoria workshop location to beautiful Port Townsend on the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula. It offers just as much or more photo opportunities and I am particularly smitten with the bunkers at Fort Worden State Park, the waterfront, and the wonderful restaurants. Join me there right after the election! We’ll all need a bit of a respite!
Of course, we are keeping our workshops to safe and small groups. Only a few spots are left – sign up today!
If you’d like a little more insight into what I’m looking for when on the hunt for intriguing abstract shots, check out last night’s episode of Tequila Time, where I discuss one of the major themes I teach in this and other workshops, as well as my Pathways to Creativity streaming series – expanding your visual vocabulary! Check it out!
I took a day trip last week to Mt. Rainier, and found some black bears ambling about beneath our local 14,500 foot stratovolcano. Enjoy the gallery and have a fantastic weekend!
I started off the month of October by leading a small workshop on the Olympic Peninsula for a handful of intrepid photographers who were ready to be safely out and about. Much of what appears to be fog in the photos is more than likely smoke still heading up north from the many devastating fires in California.
I’m so fortunate to live in such a varied and beautiful location where so many lessons can be taught in one place – from the varied lighting conditions on beaches versus the shadowed canopies of trees along their edge, majestic old-growth trees, and waterfalls to practice longer exposures.
Never be afraid to alter the location around you, as in the shot with the stacked rocks. It’s still possible to stage a scene while staying true to the natural wonders of the location, and in some ways enhance it while getting comfortable with the creative process!
In the photo below, the stacked rocks are not just an attempt to manufacture a subject, or add an interesting foreground element to capture the eye. While both of these things are happening, it’s really the smoothness of the rocks that informs the viewer about the location – the timeless rounded edges that speak of centuries of erosion. it so happens their rounded shape makes them easy to balance and stack.
