Tag Archives: Split Rock Lighthouse State Park

Landscape Photography: Giving Up #1

By Alec | Published October 20, 2009

dayintherain#1Today’s image is the first of three I’ll be posting as a series titled, “Giving Up.”  In early Octoboer, 2009 I left Saint Paul at 3 am to catch sunrise on Lake Superior in Duluth.  The forecast was for rain, it rained all the way up I35, then stopped in Duluth.  Then started again in Two Harbors and never let up the rest of the day.  “Perfect” I thought to myself.  I’m not at a computer, I’m not working, I do have my cell phone, but thank you ATT for having bad service on the North Shore.  No pushing.  Its so easy to push hard, natural for many of us.  To take hold of circumstances, engineer a vision or outcome, start pushing on the objects we think we need or can help us construct this vision, often times repeating the same processes we’ve employed in the past.  This is not good or bad behavior, but we can’t assume it will actually produce the outcome we desire.  My entrepreneur friends should notice I’m speaking directly at them.

Nor does it guarantee that we’ll feel good about the process when we’re done.

“Perfect” I thought again.  I can’t lose today.  Its horrible weather, so no expectations on the photography, just get settled into being here, explore areas I haven’t explored before, and just keep moving.  At times I still love exploring.  Maybe its just looking at land for sale around the arrowhead, maybe its taking the recommendation of my friend Lavonne; that gravel road “shortcut” to the top of Carleton Peak or the trail up the east side of the Beaver River that might give me a entirely new perspective (I’ve looked Lavonne, the trail isn’t there:)).  In the next installment of Giving Up, it will be the turnout on Hwy1 near Finland.  The “turnout.” Its not marked, its not used much.  It was magical.

In taking this attitude, in avoiding the same routines I usually use, in giving up on the idea of taking good pictures, I was able to have one of the finest days of personal photography I’ve had in a long time. This was the last image created on that day in early October.  I shot this at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, let Kaya out for a run, and headed home.

Technical: ISO 50, f/10, 2 second shutter, manual exposure mode, camera flash set to manual and rear curtain sync with no flash compensation

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Welcome to my New Photography Site

By Alec | Published September 29, 2009

little2hNEW NEWS Well, I did it again. :) I have a new site with a new domain name and for good reason. The short of it is a change of focus and a need for better SEO (don’t worry if you don’t know what that means). Those two simple sounding issues created a number of large headaches, now cured!  Many, many thanks to my good friend, Matt Albiniak, for overseeing the overhaul.  THANK YOU MATT!!!!!

What’s new?  I’ll be offering more workshops and that information will be available here, including online workshops. I’ll be producing more video tutorials, and I’ll be blogging in a more traditional sense about photography. Most of this new blog activity will be found in the “News” category. I will blog frequently, but I don’t know if I’ll blog regularly. Hmmmm…..

So, if you’re in to pictures or you’re just a good friend that puts up with me, then I’ll send you an email when I’ve posted a new image (like today). If you’re really into photography, you may want to subscribe via RSS to keep up with the frequent “News” posts, or subscribe in the “ENEWS & UPDATES” area.   If you prefer, you can follow on Facebook via Networked Blogs and always feel free to share a post on Facebook or other social media using the new sharing feature found in the posts.  Ok, please subscribe one way or another, if you haven’t already.

OTHER NEW NEWS I’m in a new studio as of Wednesday, Oct. 30th, located in Edina, MN.  I love referrals for studio work and if you have an idea for creative studio photography you’re interesting in trying, let me know.  I’m usually game.  You can view my portfolio of studio work at my commercial website.

Fine Art Gallery: Please visit the Fine Art Gallery to purchase fine art prints.  The design needs tweaking but the site is fully functional.  If you have questions regarding a print, feel free to contact me directly.

Regarding today’s post:

Today’s post was shot from a perspective shown to me by a 2009 Digital Landscape Workshop participant, Amy Okaya.  I was so taken with the image she produced from this spot that a few weeks later I went back on Sept. 10, 2009 and shot my own take on it.  This was sunrise at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.  What stunned me was how many new ways there are to see an old subject and all it took was a fresh set of eyes to show me.  Perhaps there is a lesson in there for all of us, regardless of what we pursue????

Technical: ISO100, f/8, 2 stop bracket exposure, 3 frames total, High Dynamic Range (HDR) with Photomatix software.

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