by John O'Keefe-Odom
AgXphoto.info
Enjoying California. A few pics from the trip so far. Look for more in the future.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Don’t Forget to Bring Along Your Friends
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Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 1/45, f/8, ISO 1600.
by John O’Keefe-Odom
Every so often, it’s take your friends and family to work day. Usually, during these times, I completely restructure the trip to play tour guide. Still, I know, those who are coming along are going to end up waiting for me as I lie down just one more time to make a close up photo of some plant or rock or insect or something.
Bringing people along can totally change the structure of the trip. There’s not going to be anything great done on those. Yet, it’s rewarding.
On two of my last such trips, I was able to show some people I care about the places where I have been doing a good deal of my field photography. Forest, waterfalls, cliffs; it’s a helluva office.
Here are a couple tips for diehard photographers to make these kinds of trips a little more successful:
- You have no agenda. You’re not going to get anything photographed well. Accept this. Feel the weight off of your shoulders? The trip is about showing people where you work. It’s a great place.
-Pick an easy trail. No matter how athletic they are, unless they showed up with a rope or a life jacket, they weren’t set for a lot of adventure. Keep it easy. Easy is fun. Fun means a good time. You want them to have a good time. You have to make the long drive back with these people.
-Pack food and water. While you may be used to 20 hour days with about one meal and some snacks, ordinary people don’t live off of cigarettes and coffee. Bring food. They’ll get hungry.
-Make sure you have been there before. You want to look like a competent tour guide. Getting lost could really sap someone’s impression and confidence in you.
-If you made a photo out there, and have given it to people, maybe bring some people to that same place if you can.
-Share the photos. They will want to see the pictures that you made, even if you think they are not too good. This is their great adventure with The Mighty Photographer.
-Get back before dinner if you can. If they get a good meal at the end of the day, the whole day will seem happier and more positive.
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Repairman installs a new windshield after a rock hit the car
on the way back from one of the trips to Savage Gulf.
Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 1/15 at f/5.6 and 1/500 at f/9.5, ISO 400.
Keep photographing, and don’t hesitate to answer their questions if they ask them. But, you’re not a guest lecturer at Harvard. That’s what your blog is for.
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Savage Falls in Drought
Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 2 seconds, f/8, ISO 1600.
Monday, August 17, 2009
"The Steps" Closes Principal Photography Phase
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relax in the rain after wrapping up a scene on the last day
of principal photography for The Steps.
Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 1/250, f/8, ISO400.
by John O'Keefe-Odom
That’s a wrap, baby.
16 AUG 2009 marked the end of principal photography for the recording of The Steps in Chattanooga. A dynamic dramatic series built around the writing, acting and directing of Dylan Kussman, The Steps web-i-sodes put some worth back into watching video.
He’s actually got a script. They’ve gotten actors to perform the story. They recorded it so that it looks good on the screen. You can hear the sound clearly.
They’re ahead of some of the other guys.
If you had a chance to catch the first three webisodes some months ago, I know you’ll want to see what’s next. Kussman and Cofield plan a re-release of the whole set in a few months.
I saw what they were up to as I was on the set making some stills for the accompanying ad campaign. I’m telling you, it’s going to be good. They’ve got a lock on some solid material.
My guess is that after this effort, they’ll need to collapse for a few weeks. After they’re resuscitated by the Swedish Bikini Beach Volleyball team, it’ll be time to hit the tape deck for some editing and to watch some theatrical blood spill onto the cutting room floor.
Tim Cofield, the cinematographer, landed a supporting grant from CreateHere; they can be assured that he got something done with the funding. Not only did I see him do a sound job of making the video recordings, I had the chance to see his skills grow and develop as the weeks went on.
The Steps has its own official website. You can sign up for the newsletter over there. I had a look at it; I approve.
Some of my still photos are over there. They also feature some behind the scenes video. It was a great privilege to squeeze off a few frames on the set. The actors and crew were so cooperative, they completely renovated my thinking about photographing people.
Many thanks to the cast and crew for their cooperation.
Check out the website at followthesteps.net It’s the best way to keep up with the production.
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Bibliography Beyond Fieldwork:
Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)
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Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 1/30, f/8, ISO400.
by John O'Keefe-Odom
Snapshots of a bat that came to rest, briefly, on the outside wall of a downtown building, in the middle of the day. The animal is probably a Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus).
Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 1/30, f/8, ISO400.
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Reference website about bats in Tennessee: click here.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Savage Gulf: Fried Egg Mushroom Photos
Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 1/500, f/11, ISO 1600. Aperture 2.
AgXphoto.info
Some more mushroom photos from Savage Gulf; photos made on the trail near Suter Falls, at Collins West Trailhead. This particular mushroom looked kind of like a fried egg.
Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ AL, 1/180, f/8, ISO1600. Aperture 2.
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Monday, August 10, 2009
In The Studio and On The Set of "The Steps" with John McLeod
View through the window of John McLeod's sculpture studio
Pentax K200D, 28-80 mm FAJ AL, 0.3 seconds, f/5.6, ISO 1600.
by John O'Keefe-Odom
While snapping some stills for director Dylan Kussman, I had a chance to catch up with John McLeod, one of Chattanooga's most dynamic sculptors, in his Red Bank studio.
Nestled in a quiet suburban neighborhood, behind a red house with a wooded yard and a swing on a large hardwood tree, McLeod has been cutting stone and welding steel to build a ten foot tall triptych sculpture.
There are clear echoes of the human form in McLeod's latest piece, but we won't give away the answer. An overview of his collected works shows an influence of classical figure, and themes of birth and death in his forms.
McLeod is the kind of sculptor who develops a concept, and can carry it out with structural soundness and merit.
One of his works is displayed on Main Street, as a part of Public Art Chattanooga.
This, his most recent project, has been funded through a generous fine arts grant by the good people at CreateHere, one of Chattanooga's leading arts organizations.
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We found McLeod working with Tim Cofield and Dylan Kussman on their web series movie project, The Steps. John McLeod has acted in several speaking roles in the dramatic series; The Steps has also received a production grant from CreateHere.Cofield and Kussman have been recording the next season of The Steps right here in Chattanooga. It features amazing locations and local actors.
It's obvious: Dylan Kussman's decades of experience as a working, Hollywood actor add impact, power and polish to the production. Some of John McLeod's acting has already been published in previous webisodes.
Webisodes are short videos published on the Internet. They're solidly constructed dramatic performances that are as good as anything on television, and better than most.
Check out the website for The Steps at followthesteps.net. You can see more of McLeod's sculptures at johnmcleod.net.
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Detail of McLeod cutting parts with a torch.
Pentax K200D, 28-80mm FAJ, 1/30, f/5.6, ISO 1600
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Saturday, August 8, 2009
Mushrooms of Savage Gulf
Orange Mushrooms, Savage Gulf SNA.
by John O'Keefe-Odom
On the trail to Greeter Falls, in Savage Gulf State Natural Area, I found a wide variety of mushrooms in the forest. The slideshows below include at least 24 different examples of mushrooms and fungi near Greeter Creek.
While I haven't yet been able to identify all of them, you can see that they are different in size, shape and color. They varied in height from about one to seven inches tall.
It was very unusual to find so many kinds of mushrooms in one area in one day. Many of these mushrooms may be poisonous. Plants in Savage Gulf SNA are protected by law.
Greeter Falls, Savage Gulf State Natural Area, Tennessee
Click on the picture to play.
An Autoviewer Slideshow featuring the
mushrooms near Greeter Creek
Orange Mushrooms, Savage Gulf SNA
Click on the picture to play.
Autoviewer Slideshow, Part II.
A small red-capped mushroom pushes its way up through the litter on the forest floor.
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio Glaucus (male),
butterfly with a damaged wing rests on a leaf in the forest.
These two kinds of spiders are commonly found as a pair
on rocks in the streams of Greeter Creek.
I think these spiders are Dolomedes Tenebrosus, the Dark Fishing Spider. I think the small, light colored one is the male, and the darker, larger one is the female.
I have seen these spiders move across the water's surface. They bounce their abdomen up and down, but skim with the tips of their legs on the water's surface tension, much like a water skimmer. They can move very fast this way, faster than I've seen them crawl on the rocks.
These spiders will typically either sit still, or scramble to hide under a stone.
These spiders are large. I have seen them about three, almost four inches across. The spiders have a span about the size of a short chord across the palm of a hand.
If they are D. Tenebrosus, then they are poisonous; the fangs of the female are capable of penetrating human skin.
I see several of these a day in and around the waters of Greeter Creek, where I swim to make photos of fish. These spiders are noted to eat whatever is available, including insects and very small fish.
Let's hope they don't snack on photographers!
One pair of these spiders live under a rock about two meters away from where I was in the water when I made the photo below a few weeks ago. This rock would be just out of frame, to the viewer's right. At the time, I had no idea the spiders were a hazard; but, I think it is unlikely that they will be a problem.
Self portrait chest deep in The Aquarium, a rocky pool in Greeter Creek.
Fish in Greeter Creek at my favorite "aquarium" spot.
Sunlight on rocks, Greeter Creek.
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