Picture of the Day - The Lonely Lighthouse Painting

In my last blog here, I showed you a photo of the lighthouse at Yaquina Head taken at sunset. I also promised to show you a unique painting I made of that image that I show (and sell) at my art shows....and here it is.

It is difficult to see at this size, but one of the best parts of the painting is the texture of the sky. Its made of thousands of tiny lines going in every direction. The lighthouse had to be created separately, then pasted back into the painting.

This painting looks stunning on canvas which is how I display it at my shows. As I said in my previous blog, this technique only works on very simple images.

PS - I am sorry about the time delay between blogs these days, but I only have two nights at home these days before heading back out to the next show...and I spend most of my home time getting ready for the next show. After labor day, I hope to take a week off and catch up with the rest of my life.

Picture of the Day - The Lonely Lighthouse

Simplicity should be something one strives for in photography. Composed correctly, an image with just a few elements can be very pleasing to the eye and the mind. So it is with this photo of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, located near Newport, OR. There is only a fabulous post-sunset sky, a tiny bit of the ocean, the darkened ground and, of course, the lighthouse. Nothing else is needed. By having the ground so dark, it hides a large field of wild grass which would have taken away from the image's simplicity.

I always try to achieve simplicity of image when out taking photos, but it doesn't happen as often as I would like. And, it goes without saying, that so much of photography is being in the right place at the right time. I only had this one day at this location, so, in a sense, I got lucky with a great sunset. There have been many more occasions when I waited all day for a fabulous sunset and didn't "get lucky."

One thing I remember about this photo was a park ranger almost screaming at me to get out of the park because it closed at sunset...and to capture this image, I had to be in the park after the sun was gone.

FYI, this image was captured several years ago with my 35mm film camera using slide film and the camera mounted on a tripod.

In my next edition, I will show you a digital painting that I made from this image using a unique style that requires absolute simplicity.

Picture of the Day - Canoes

I photographed this image several years ago with my now ancient film camera using slide film. It was taken up in Canada on Kootenay Lake, near the cute little town of Kaslo. It was the colors of the canoes, of course, that grabbed my attention...and the fact they were lined up so perfectly on the beach.

Lines in photographs are an important element that can give your images depth and they lead your eye off into the distance. Lines are used as a basic element in all types of two dimensional art. Sometimes lines are very obvious and other times, like this image, they are more subtle. Examine some of your own favorite non-people photographs and try to identify the lines in the image. Better yet, look for useable lines in when you are out and about with your camera.

To see some good examples of how lines are used in photography, check out this Web site.

Picture of the Day - Base of Narada Falls

I took this digital photo about three years ago in Mt. Ranier National Park. And before you ask, the rocks really are gold in appearance, enhanced by the fact that they are wet.

This picture illustrates the fact that you don't have to photograph a waterfall in its entirety to have an effective image. In fact, the base of the falls is the backdrop for the incredibly colored rocks and together they make a good picture. Throw in some greenery behind the falls, and you have a very fine color image.

Remember to always start with an overall image, like the entire waterfall, then drill down to find beauty in a very small portion of the overall picture. Think about this the next time you have a camera in your hands.

Picture of the Day - Zion: Red Rock and Clouds

As the title suggests, this photo was taken in Zion National Park last November...two days before Thanksgiving, if memory serves.

Frankly, I cannot remember the name of this mountain (or very large rock, if you prefer). I just remember the light, the red mountain, and the amazing cloud formation right above it. What more could you ask for a photo opportunity?

The National Parks of Utah and Northern Arizona are just amazing places. I hope to explore more of them in the very near future. You should try and get there sometime yourself...I promise you won't be disappointed.

Picture of the Day - Old Truck under an Apple Tree

This image is one of my paintings that I show at my art shows. It was completed last year and has become quite popular. At my recent show in Whitefish, Montana, I sold out of every print I had of it. It has also become a best-seller in my Leavenworth shows, along with another painting I have of an old Ford truck, which I will share with you soon.

I took the original photograph in 2006 just outside of the small town of Hunters in northeastern Washington, right on the east side of Lake Roosevelt, above the Grand Coulee Dam on the highway to Kettle Falls. I was driving along and spotted what I thought was an interesting barn on a side road. On the way to the barn, I discovered this old truck which was invisible from the highway. The truck turned out to be far more interesting than the barn.

It was painted by hand (with a Wacom tablet) using Corel's Painter software. You can't see it in this small of an image, but there are some interesting brush strokes that I applied which make the painting really stand out.

All the strange mix of colors on this old truck are reproduced almost exactly as I found them...no additional colors were added.

Interestingly, almost exactly one year after I took the original photograph, I was back in Hunters and went back to this truck. It was in much worse shape than when I took the photograph and the apple tree is gone. I guess I got lucky with my timing.

Picture of the Day - Lightship in Astoria

This photo is of a retired Coast Guard lightship that is permanently docked in Astoria harbor in Oregon. I loved the ropes and the anchor chain running into the bow along with the rich red hull of the ship and the deep blue sky. Throw in a few white clouds and you have a very colorful image.

I took this picture a few years ago right with my then almost-new Olympus digital SLR camera. I was driving down the Oregon Coast on my way to California to do a couple of art shows. Astoria, if you recall your history, was the last stop for Lewis and Clark on their historic journey across America. It is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Although I have never done it, I think this picture would look great is a very large size, say 24x30 on canvas. Maybe someday I will get around to it.