Music Monday: The Young Dubliners on Alaska Live

Alaska, Black & White, Music, Photography, Portraits

In an effort to increase the regularity of posting I will be creating a few themes for Far North Light. Today is the inaugural day of Music Monday, where I feature photos of the various venues and concerts I’m involved with around Fairbanks.

Capturing the essence of music in a photograph is no easy task. Obviously the biggest hurdle is lack of auditory signals. What is possible is trying to capture the symbiotic relationship band members share with one another, as well as audience members. Much like a sound wave reflecting off ceilings and walls, energy fills the studio or dance floor, it’s that energy that is possible to photograph.

Often to capture the intensity a plethora of obstacles must be navigated. Studio settings don’t offer audience members, or the added energy they bring, to incorporate into the photo. Bright spotlights accompanied with dark surroundings can easily lead to blown out highlights or indiscernible shadows. My technique is expose so no highlights have lost information, then bring back detail in the shadows. Rarely is ISO set below 1600. Another common impediment is a cramped enviornment: instruments, bodies and microphones can easily decapitate an important figure in the background. Thanks to the near unlimited picture taking ability of digital, shoot enough and there’s bound to be good frames.

As I mentioned in a previous post I’m doing a professional media internship for KUAC, Public Radio of Alaska. I assist Lori Neufeld in the production room for her show, Alaska Live, a live-music radio program feature Alaskan and visiting artists. The most recent band to play in the studio was The Young Dubliners. This Celtic-Rock band played a mellow version of their stage show. Check out the podcast here.

The Young Dubliners perform on Alaska Live in KUAC’s studio at University Alaska Fairbanks.

First Friday, Klara Maisch’s “Broad Pass”

Alaska, Arts, Photography, Portraits

My friend and artist Klara Maisch is having a First Friday tonight at Gulliver’s Books, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Her Alaskan Inspired prints and paintings beautifully capture the abstract nuances of everything that inspires her: mountains, trees, pillow lines, animals and nature of all kinds. Her work ranges from monochromatic medleys to impressionistic landscapes with vivid colors.

Check out her show, tonight March 1, from 6-8 p.m. on the corner of College and University. And check out the link to her artwork here.

Klara Maisch fills in holes on screen before screen printing.

Klara Maisch patches a screen prior to printing

Can I use that picture? No. Well… I’m going to. Street photography and copyright infringement.

Film, Photography, Portraits, Street, Travel

An issue every photographer struggles with, sharing their work with the world while protecting intellectual property, has a new high-profile case.

Humans of New York, the blog of street photographer Brandon Stanton, is a hugely popular blog featuring posed and candid images of the many unique citizens in America’s most populous city. According to The Guardian, clothing company DKNY offered Stanton $15,000 to use 300 of his photos. Feeling $50 per photo was inadequate compensation from a wealthy company Stanton requested more, which DKNY denied.

A fan of Stanton later brought to his attention that DKNY had in fact used many of his images in a window advertisement in Bangkok. Taking a very admirable path, Stanton asked DKNY donate $100,000 to his local YMCA, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. In what was a simultaneous act-of-kindness and backhanded swipe, DKNY donated $25,000 in Stanton’s name.

So how do photographers, and artists as a whole, attempting to establish their name protect it at the same time? There’s no fool-proof way. Watermarks, finding websites that don’t allow downloading of images and small file sizes are all techniques.

Personally, I size my images small enough they wouldn’t make a decent print and hope people will at least ask if they want to use it. I have found out this isn’t an adequate approach.

The topic will only continue to brew confusion and controversy, as popular image-sharing software Instagram has recently been sued over inadequate protection of users photos.

Today I will share some of my street photography from Seattle.

I didn’t have much reaction time when I saw how the orange of the man’s shirt and child’s stroller complemented the orange accents on the posters.

Here I was simply interested in the smooth curvature of the drinking fountain and the bike-lane indicator in the street when a pedestrian came to quench his thirst. Again I had to quickly step back to get a more inclusive image before he continued on his way.

I dig his tall, white socks with black shoes.

Complementary Hummers

Alaska, Photography, Street

I would like to thank everyone who’s continued visiting my blog in recent weeks despite my lack of posts. Through shooting many different subjects I have been behind on my editing and posting. Hopefully I will have many new posts in the coming weeks.

For now, to get back into the swing a things, a pair of complementary-color Hummers.

I admit, the image is somewhat flat. But after watching the red Hummer pull parallel to the green one I couldn’t resist quickly parking to run and snap a few photos.

Complementary colors are opposite from each other on the color wheel, in this case red and green. They are often considered to create pleasing effects.

It’s too bad the colors are about the only complementary aspect of these cars.

New years eve: Alaska Satellite Facility tracking aperture and fireworks.

Alaska, Landscapes, Photography

A satellite-receiving dish is seen as fireworks celebrate the end of 2012 and the start of 2013 on the ski trails at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Known also as a tracking aperture, the 11-meter dish is part of the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) of the Geophysical Institute’s Satellite Tracking Ground Station (STGS). The 11-meter X- and S-Band system, along with a smaller 10-meter dish, are just one appendage of a world-wide Near Earth Network, run by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The high latitude of ASF’s ground station allows for 11 connections per day with polar-orbiting spacecraft, ASF then downlinks, processes and distributes data.

I tried to correct the color of the tracking aperture, which had a yellow caste due to artificial lighting, while maintaining true hues of the fireworks. To accomplish this I set my white balance on the dish, lightened the shadows and slightly saturated the image. What made the biggest difference was a slight curve, increasing the highlights and decreasing the shadows, of the red and green spectrums. The end result, I feel is very close to what would have been seen.

My ISO was 125 and tripod shooting was essential, and exposure times were 10 to 15 seconds.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry. Bridge over Tanana River.

Alaska, architecture, Landscapes, Photography, Weekly Photo Post

I wanted the image I picked for the photo challenge this week to be geometrical at it’s core, not just elements of geometry. Rectangles, triangles, trapezoids and two half-circles dominate the composition. Critically: Even with a slight crop the image holds a lot of dead space and is mostly made dramatic by the fuchsia, late-August sunset.

Here’s a link to a blog titled mustbewonderlust, with pair of striking photos from Australia of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House.

Happy Monday and a safe week to everyone.

Please click on the image to view full size.

Bridge spanning Tanana River, looking north From Nenana, Alaska. Aug. 21, 2011.

A Halloween murder… of ravens.

Alaska, Black & White, Landscapes, Photography, Wildlife

The wind whipped all Halloween. Soaring and swooping ravens took advantage of the strong drafts to have some fun. A flock of ravens is also called a murder, fitting for this last day of October.

Ravens have long held a place in lore. Tricksters and shape shifters are among the most common Alaska fables. Raven Steals The light is a popular North-West Native American story where the earth begins bathed in total darkness. Accounts vary, but the plot often involves the character of Raven pretending to be the grandson of an old man who holds all the light. Raven then steals it and shines it over earth and water.

“And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted – nevermore!” – Edgar Allen Poe

Here a murder of ravens flies above UAF. © Robin Wood

Ravens and tree. Oct. 31, 2012.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

Abstract, Alaska, Black & White, Landscapes, Photography, Travel, Weekly Photo Post

Probably a little too much detail to be a true silhouette. But the dark outline of the boat emphasized against the cloudy background offers the same effect. I really like the boat far in the background. Image taken in Prince William Sound, outside Valdez, 2011.

Fishing vessels outside Valdez.

The second image is a true silhouette. Mountains at sunset in Denali National Park.

Mountains at sunset

Critter Corner: Mt. Rainier and Georgeson Botanical Garder Frogs

Alaska, Landscapes, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

A few weeks ago I posted images of real bears in Denali National Park and a bear statue from UAF’s Georgeson Botanical Garden. Today I’m posting a similar diptych: A frog from Reflection Lake in Mt. Rainier National Park and a frog from the botanical gardens.

The first image the frog is the only subject, he was an itty-bitty frog, maybe half a deck of cards. The mostly brown hues were rather ugly, so I did a quick and dirty desaturation of the image, converting it to black and white. I think the the black and white does a better job accentuating the frog’s natural camouflage. The shadow provides a small amount of depth to the mostly flat image.

The second image I like a lot because of layers. Shooting through a fence, with more fence in the background. The frog is far from the main subject. What’s fun for me is comparing the two subjects, the real frog in nature and the artificial frog in a man-made environment. I enjoy both, though the statue was a little easier to shoot.

A frog floats in Reflection Lake, Mt. Rainier National Park

Georgeson Botanical Garden frog statue.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Big. Big splash at the Sikuliaq Launch.

Photography, Travel

How great the image I was about to post fits perfects with the photo challenge this week.

Last saturday the 261-foot Sikuliaq launched into the Menominee River from Marinette Marine Corporation, Wis. The National Science Foundation owned and UAF operated vessel entered the water at a steep, 60-degree angle. It created quite a splash. Unfortunately the cloudy sky that deposited rain all day long makes it difficult to truly appreciate the size of the wave. The person on the tug boat in the lower left corner offers some perspective. Stay tuned for more Sikuliaq coverage.

Knowing it would happen fast and be unpredictable I went with a wide-angle lens and a high, 3200 ISO so I could use a quick shutter speed.

Here’s a Daily News-Miner article covering the christening and launch ceremony, as well as some science capabilities and the future journey of the Sikuliaq, co-written with my advisor Lynne Lott.