The HDR Workshop

Pont Mirabeau, Paris
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

Chris Alvanas led our workshop on High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography on Saturday. Judging from the emails I've received today, it was a success! 9 participants attended at 2701 East Main Artists. These photographers came away with much useful information, as well as inspiration from Chirs' great images. As a bonus Mr Alvanas shared some of his retouching techniques.  That alone was worth the cost.

I seem to be shooting more and more HDR images of late. It has put some magic back into my photography. The results are often other worldly, with a depth that is lacking in many "normal" images. Now, with the advent of digital, this profession is rapidly changing,  so fast it makes my head spin. It's an exciting time to be involved. And you can expect that six months from now there will be another new new thing.

The City of Light

Eiffel #1
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

Yes, indeed, Paris was lighted up for Christmas. I've posted some images of our cruise from Paris to Rueon in Normandy. See them on my Flickr site as well as my website. I am so turned on by this wonderful city, I find so much to photograph. So much to do, so much to eat... Yes, "I love Paris in the winder, when it's raining, "etc. etc.

Why, Oh Why, Do I Love Paris

Paris street scene
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

Even though it rained day after day, Paris was,is, and always will be our favorite city. Ah, the City of Light. Food, wine, art, and especially the people, they all inspire me. We cruised to Ruoen on the Seine. This is a wonderful city, and it was in full Christmas dress. As I stood in front of the cathedral, I thought of Impressionist Claude Monet, who also stood in this very same spot so many years ago. He painted this famous facade 28 times, in shade and in sun, and with warm colors and cool. Some of his variations have been lost, but the many that survive are now treasured masterpieces, spread far and wide.

Third grade, Namibia

Third grade, Namibia
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

This Ultimate Africa trip is one of the many Overseas Adventure Travel trips my wife and I have taken, and we thought it was the best, a real adventure. The guides were amazing, the tented accommodations perfect, the wildlife profuse, and the people warm and friendly. What more could we ask.

We met the children at two different schools, one in Namibia, and the other in Zimbabwe. Grand Circle Foundation has built and funded many schools through the world, these being two of them. We met the teachers and chatted with the students right at their desks. The kids sang for us, even performed a native dance. it was an unforgettable highlight for Kathy and I.

Rhino

Rhino
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

On our very last day at the Wilderness Tented Camp in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, we came upon a male and a female rhino out on the veld at sunset. These huge beasts have been hunted to near extinction but thanks to the efforts of many interested parties, they are being re-introduced here in the park. 

The male, built like a Sherman tank, hovered around his princess protectively, circling her,and posturing for our vehicles, like "Don't mess with my woman..."

The Orange Sellers

Orange Sellers
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

This was in Zimbabwe, on the road to Victoria Falls, October, 2008. We stopped because our driver needed some produce to take home. Immediately a thong of vendors, mostly kids, approached our bus. They offered up oranges and other fruit, with desperation in their eyes. This country was descending into darkness. Mugabe and his greedy mob had raped the land, had failed their people miserably. We all felt embarrassingly fortunate for our lot, separated from these children by a thin piece of glass, and the good fortune of our birth. We sat silent, shaking our heads "No,"  helpless to their plight.

November

Pressed by rain
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

Every autumn, after the trees are mostly bare, and the leaves lay scattered and brown, I remember my father's passing. To me October is clear and bright, red, yellow, and sunshine. November, on the other hand, is brown and smells of burning leaves. My heart always feels heavier then.
It has been almost thirty years, but it seems like yesterday. The phone call came on the seventeenth of the month from my brother Charlie, who has been dead and gone a good long time himself. I was in a photo session. I could hear the two college girls laughing while I took the call at the reception desk. I hung up the phone slowly, put on a tight smile, and finished making my clients portraits, like nothing happened. This is what I remember about in November.

New Look for Jan Armor's website

migration_8390v1
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

This image is called "Migration," appropriate because it celebrates the migration of my web site to something leaner and meaner. 

Kathy and I were shopping in Seekonk when we saw a enormous flock, no, swarm, of little black birds descend on one of the busiest intersection on the East Bay at rush hour, on their way South. They perched on the wires, oblivious to the noise and traffic just below. Occasionally a sharp noise might unsettle them as this picture illustrates, then they would alight once more, resting from their long journey. It was an amazing site, one that is repeated year after year, and this time I had my camera...

Little Zack's feet

Little Zak's feet
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

Justin and Kristin cal him Zacherie, Grandma Kathy calls him Zack, I call him Zak. He arrived into this crazy world at 7'4" When 7 year old Jack was told he now had his first cousin he said, "Welcome to America." Yes, little Zak, welcome!

Portrait of Sheila #2

Portrait of Sheila #2
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

This is a reconstituted image from my old film days. Time is short. I must get busy selecting favorite images for posterity and rework them, not that anyone cares... 

In this case the original image was a motion blured portrait of Sheila that I further manipulated in the darkroom... way back in 1993???? Fast forward... yesterday I downloaded a computer generated image from a Flickr friend and laid it over the rescanned Sheila image with this result.

Tree line #1, Pardon Gray Preserve

Tree line #1, Pardon Gray Preserve
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

Here is just one of many examples of texture overlays on my stream, most graciously provided by the members of our community. I am always amazed how they can transform an image from ordinary to extraordinary.

This Old House

Old House #1
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

Just a short walk north on Main Road from Pardon Gray (see below) This image, and the one preceding, began as three well spaced exposures, then converted to HDR, and finally managed in both Lightroom and Photoshop for this effect. Careful, watch your first step out the front door...

Old Oak,Pardon Gray Preserve

Tree line #3, Pardon Gray Preserve
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

I've been taking pictures here for several years. The main feature of the preserve is an ancient cemetery out in the middle of a cultivated. It is an island of trees pushing up the old stones, defined by a beautiful Rhode Island classic stone wall. There are a few other trees that stand guard, this Oak being one. It has a magnificent shape, with beautiful limbs. It is a tree with the character of an old Yankee farmer.

on the farm_101

on the farm_101
Originally uploaded by jandarmor

From a series I did yesterday of my #2 daughter's #1. It was a fun morning with her, first at the old studio, then out in the yard, beach, and finally lunch. She ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, and a sundae (without whipped cream) for dessert.

The Pardon Gray Land Trust

Kathy and I got there just before the sun broke over the hills to the east. I had come again to photograph The Pardon Gray Preserve. This was my third visit to the quiet island of trees in as many weeks, and I felt the same quiet spirituality again settle over me. Although this historic cemetery sits just 500 yards off the parking lot, it seems like a distant vision. Surrounded by a tidy Rhode Island stone fence, it was here the Pardon Gray family laid their own to  rest. There are only a few head stones, many tilted or fallen, but the grass has been recently mowed and dandelions add happy yellow accents here and there. The field was alive with red winged blackbirds, fluttering nervously as I passed by. The early morning sky was magnificent. There was a tangible stillness. I felt fortunate to be here, in this moment, photographing such lovely trees. This is a sacred place. I know I'll return.

The business of the Pampas

                          

The only beasts able to survive on this sparse land are sheep, and consequently, it is the business of the pampas. Kathy and I stayed on an estancia and saw things up close. Here a man shears the wool from the animal's face. Clippings are swept into a pile to the back, and later baled and sold. The gauchos are independent contractors, and come with their own horse and dogs. We watched them work, in concert, man, horse, dog, herding the sheep from one pasture to another. The dogs are amazingly intelligent, in constant motion, and very devoted to their masters. Staying on this ranch was another great OAT experience, and well worth the bus ride.

The Pampas

After a long bus ride, we crossed the border  (a tense affair, these neighbors don't like each other) into Chile. Then hours more, endless fences, and once, a gaucho herding his newly sheared sheep to another pasture. Here the land is flat, and stretches off into the horizon, punctuated by birds and framed by barbed wire at the bottom of the landscape, and endless white clouds above. Calafate bushes flash by, occasionally I sees dots of sheep way out on the rolling plains, and once in a while, another car passes, meaning, another human being. This land is big and empty, and feeling like our Great Plains without any people.

Perito Moreno Glacier

Named after the explorer who discovered it, this living wall of ice defies photographic description. Creaking, groaning, booming, it speaks to those who care to listen, and with patience, calves gigantic offspring into the lake. Our guide Pedro played Pavorati as we rounded the corner from above this massive formation. Our eyes tried to make sense of it, tried to understand the scale of this enormous white line that was facing off with the lake. Amazing!

Tango in Buenos Aires

It IS big here. They do it in the bars, in the streets, at art fairs, and for the tourists. Ah, yes, for the tourists. We were warned that these Tango Shows were a rip off. OAT came through, however, because the dinner and show that we attended were both excellent! It was dark and I was shooting at 1600 at  f/5.6 and 8 at 1/4 and 1/2 second for some blurring. I knew I wanted to put this together with the music I purchased from the performers.

Tango Lessons in Buenos Aires

Amazingly, we were early. Here is what I saw when we walked in. Two kids practicing on a dimly lighted floor, bartender engrossed in his magazine. So authentic! Eventually many from our group showed up, and we had our lesson from two friendly, footloose instructors.

Companeros

It is the people that make the trip. Here are some of our Overseas Adventure Travel companions taken in the little bar where we had our tango lesson, great folk all, even the Republicans!

The Arts District of Buenos Aires

The bright colors leave no doubt where you are. Lots of characters, good street art (Kathy held me back from buying, "We have no more space on the walls.") and the sun was casting strong shadows everywhere. Kathy did the walls, and I, the shadows. Like always, I wish we had more time. One hour was not enough...

The trip to Patagonia

I'm reliving the trip. Someone once said that when you travel to a place you do it three times; first, prior to the trip you research it, second, you go there, and third, you remember through words and pictures. It has been a month and I am reliving it. I've made an extensive DVD for our dinner party, so I can torture our guests. I posted the photos on the web (see my links), and now I'm blogging it. "Man With The Umbrella" is a print I entered in the Portsmouth Arts Guild show, and one that will go up in our personal gallery. We were on the roof of the Overseas Adventure Travel HQ in Buenos Aires, chatting and looking at the scenery. My muse spotted him  and I had just a second to compose this.  Actually, it composed itself. BA is an interesting city, and we had a great time street shooting our hearts out. 

Sometimes you've just got to leap right in

Because if you don't, you'll miss the big splashes in life. This from Dorset Quarry, Dorset, Vermont. 

At the Deblois Gallery, Newport, Rhode Island

All of the images are just now coming down at the Deblois Gallery, "Thinking Inside and Outside of the Box," in Newport, RI.  A jolly good show! I had one of my dolls in this exhibition. Here's one from the series, not in the show, but actually one I liked the best.

Another granddaughter, and another redhead

She may not be the biggest kid on the team, but she's their tiger. What a ball hound, quick, unstoppable, goal oriented!  This holds her in good stead in school, keeping her eye on what's really important... see photo.

The wife

of my life!
She's loaded, with talent that is, and wearsthe artist's mantle so modestly.  At the moment it's sculpture, and lately, colored pencils. Previously, pots, pastels, and of course, photography. Here's a couple recent pieces, but go to her site to get a good look. (see my linkage, armorsculpture.com)

Our littlest munchkin

Here she is folks, the newest, sweetest little girl. She might be the last but who knows, more is better. 

Another birthday shoot, three weeks ago

My number three granddaughter, or is number two. There are so many now, I forget who came when... She's me with an e, though. We are connected in some magical way, and have been from way back when. I can remember feeling a mysterious tie between us when we made eye contact, even when she was an infant. One of seven beautiful kids.  We are blessed.

My red haired cutie!

She's number five, and she is FIVE very, very soon. True, she's still fits into clothing from her third birthday  shoot, so she probably won't be the tallest kid in her class. But what a personality.

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

As I finish up my DVD of Patagonia, I am again awestruck by the raw, windswept beauty of Torres. The light is magnificent, flashing in and out, as it moves across the mountains and valleys. The clouds bump up against the peaks, then roll over and envelope. Hard rains come and go. The trees lean away from the force of the wind, sculpted by some invisible hand. We had so little time. How I wish I could have spent several weeks roaming this park. Torres del Paine is a special place.

Patagonia web link

While on board the Mare Australis, going around the Horn in rough seas, I put on a quickie slide show for the rest of our Overseas Adventure Travellers. Take a look at this partial set of images at www.armorphoto.com/Patagonia/index.html. I'll be posting a more complete series later.

Reliving the trip...

The DVD is coming together. It's like reliving the trip. I am so taken with this place, Patagonia. The horizontals of the pampas, the calafate bushes, the birds, the fences, and of course, the sky. Spectacular formations race across this windswept land, ever changing shapes that take one's breath away. Then the mountains of Torres del Paine appear on the horizon, and grow to enormous mastiffs that reach into the sky. This is a spectacular place.

Patagonia, a trip to the end of the world...

Back just a few days. Wonderful companaeros, great weather, and absolutely spectacular scenery, from the horizontals of the pampas, to the verticality of Perrito, and Torres del Paine, this is a wild place. Check out the pictures at www.armorphoto.com---travel---patagonia.