I hope you're doing well and the summer temperatures aren't getting to hot for you. Over here in my neck of the woods, California's central valley, its been a fairly cool summer, with most days in the low to mid 90's, not to bad.
I've spent most of the summer at home working on projects and preparing my new releases for the rest of 2010 and into 2011. I did however get a chance to take a short trip to San Diego to chaperon my cousin during his water polo tournament in early July. The weather wasn't the best, overcast and cold, the coldest July since 1919 in fact and many of the locals told me they've never seen it overcast for so long this time of the year. I did manage to make a few images in La Jolla and will be sending the film off soon to be processed, hopefully something exciting will come back. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Stay Cool,
Edward Mendes August 2010
New Release - Sea Arch, Big Sur Coast
I never get enough of the Big Sur coast in Central California; it’s just one of those amazing places where you can continue to make new photographs for a lifetime. Which is good for me because this is one of my favorite places in the world and one that I come back to many times a year, either for family get-aways or to teach photography workshops.
I was scouting locations before the start of such workshop and decided to stop by my favorite sea arch at Soberanes point. The prior few days had been overcast but the cloud system had finally started breaking up and moving out of the area so I knew I had a chance to get some nice colorful clouds and some soft light on the north facing side of the arch.
As always I arrived well before sunset to scout the location and choose my favorite composition, after a number of different compositions I choose this as the one I would stick with and began the wait for the light to come along. I made a number of exposures both vertical and horizontal trying to capture different wave action against the arch and the coastline, making things extra difficult were the high winds that continued to slightly shake the tripod, making this one of the few sharp images from the evening.
Mamiya M645 / 45mm Lens / Fuji Velvia 100 / Polarizing Filter / Cokin 2-Stop Grad ND Filter / Bogen / Monfrotto Tripod and head
Like the Image? Let me know what you think!
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Special Pricing for Newsletter Subscribers.
As always my newsletter subscribers receive a 15% discount off any fine art prints and free shipping anywhere in the Continental US, just enter code "Newsletter" at checkout. Just click on the image above for purchasing info. If you're interested in more information regarding my fine art pieces please visit my information pages Fine Art Pricing, The Process or of course the Gallery to view my images.
Upcoming Fall Colors Workshop
Sitting here in the heat of August it's hard to believe that fall colors are just a few weeks away. My next workshop, Fall Colors of the Eastern Sierras: Mono Lake and Beyond, takes place October 8th to 10th and there is still space available!
The Eastern Sierras from Lee Vining to Bishop has some of the best fall colors on the West coast, drawing photographers from across the country to create great images of this special place. We'll be heading to all my favorite spots, including lesser known areas. Some of the highlights are Mono Lake, Olmsted Point, June Lake, Owens Valley area near Bishop, the Ghost Town of Bodie and more!
In addition to the beautiful locations we'll be shooting, the middle of the days will be used for discussions, lessons and print sharing in an informal classroom setting. I keep the workshops very small, usually no more than 8 participates, so I can give personal attention to everyone.
As always, one of my goals for the workshops is to make them available for everyone and to fit everyone's budget. I truly believe that these are the best workshops available.
If you'd like more information regarding my upcoming workshops please check out the workshop page of my website. There you can find both general information regarding the workshops or specific information on each.
The Importance of Making Prints
We're very lucky. As photographers, photography collectors or lovers of photography in general we have the opportunity to experience the history of the medium whenever we walk into a museum or gallery. Right there, hanging on the walls before us are the images of the medium's masters, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Paul Strand, Imogen Cunningham, Alfred Stieglitz...well, I could fill this entire article with names of brilliant photographers but I'm sure you get the point.
Even though these great men and women are no longer living we continue to be influenced by the images they created because their beautifully printed images or the film they were made from still survives. It's this great archive that allows us the opportunity to continue to enjoy and learn from some of photography's greatest artists.
I wonder if this is something that will be lost to future generations of photographers and those that enjoy photography? The ability to interact with and physically appreciate the art of photographers working today. Without the physical recording of an image onto film and the subsequent necessity to make prints from that film in order for anyone to see your work many images live only in a virtual world, either online or on a hard drive.
While places like Flickr and Facebook have provided photographers with a way to get their images in front of more eyes than ever before they don't provide a safe and secure place for them to be stored and viewed indefinitely into the future.
Regardless of how you store your digital files they are never truly safe. Magnetic devices with moving parts such as hard drives will eventually fail. Recordable media like CD's, DVD's and Blu-Rays are exceptionally fragile, one scratch and they may become unreadable. In addition they are seldom considered archival and are always at the mercy of the ever continuing tide of technology. Images backed up on DVDs today may not even be readable 15 or 20 years from now if DVD drives aren't available to access them. This forces image makers to continually make new archives of their entire library of images whenever a new technology decides its going to stick around for a while. Certainly there will be photographers that do this and keep their images safe but how many?
At the same time isn't there something about a tangible print that creates a deeper connection to an image? Think about it, whenever you see something you like or a piece of history or something well-known, what do you want to do? Touch it! That's why we're surrounded by signs reminding us not to do so. There's something about humanity that deepens an emotional bond when we're able to make a physical connection with something. I fear that without the necessity to make prints that emotional bond between viewer and print may one day be lost. In the end photography may come full circle, with the technology that is at the foundation of the mediums boom in popularity also being responsible for its eventual fall from emotional importance.
I'm Podcasting!
I've recently began hosting a new photography podcast titled The Photography 411 Podcast. The podcast is a discussion of photography in all it's forms, new products, gadgets, interviews with pro photographers and industry professionals, Photoshop, travel, hints, tips, the creative side of things and just about anything else. I hope it will be a fun and informative show for photographers of all skill levels.
If you'd like to check it out you can either head on over to the website, www.photography411podcast.com and listen there, check it out on iTunes, subscribe to the RSS feed and soon be able to enjoy it on the Zune marketplace too.
New Gallery Representation - Trewin Gallery
I'm very excited to announce that I've added a new gallery to represent my fine art work. Trewin Framery and Gallery in Modesto, CA is the newest gallery to carry my images, adding my work to their staple of already prominent artists.
I've had a wonderful time working with and getting to know Norman Ham, the owner and framer extraordinaire over the last few weeks. I really couldn't be happier to have my work represented by Norman and Trewin because first, Norman has a great appreciation for my work and is consistently working to introduce my work to people that may be interested in it. Secondly, I am one of only five artists he carries so I don't get lost in the shuffle and third, Norman is an expert framer which mean my work is always beautifully presented.
I haven't been out much lately but I should on the road creating new images soon, here are a few places I'll be in the coming months. If you see me out on the the trail be sure to say "Hi!"
Yosemite High Country........August or September I hope Mono Lake Area...................October 6th to 10th (Fall Colors Workshop and Scouting) Big Sur Coast.........................Anytime!
Lets network
It seems like everyone is on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and guess what, I'm no different. If you'd like to keep up-to-the-second on what I'm doing check out my profile on some of the sites below, add me as a friend or follow my Twitter.
Copyright 2010 Edward Mendes Photography
Feel free to forward this to someone you think may enjoy it.
