BFK Photography

I stared out early this summer morning on a long hike up the mountainside, after three hours of back breaking hiking I slid off my back pack and camera equipment for a much needed rest. The beautiful light was just starting to build and it looked to be a good morning of photography.

I worked my way over the misty ridge in search of a flower shrouded landscape shot, but the clouds moved in and all I could accomplish was a scene of wild daisies that dotted the mountaintop meadow. What a wonderful day it was to be in the Great Smokey Mountains and being able to photograph such a beautiful environment, or was it ?

Now for the real story, I got up this morning before my wife left for work and walked four blocks down to the banks of the Ohio River in my hometown of Madison Indiana hoping to get a fog shrouded river shot. But instead with no fog present this morning I decided to head back home and go to bed, along the way I stopped for a diet mountain dew and a blueberry bagel, kinda hurts the purpose of the diet dew doesn’t it, and made my way back up the street to my house.

I decided to take a short cut thru the alley and came across an abandoned old car and garage with all the windows and siding knocked off. And it was here I came across my beautiful meadow of wild daisies, a patch about 4 x 4 feet, just glistening in the early morning dew.

I quickly shot off a few frames and continued on home, after loading the images into my computer it became apparent to me on what a deception photography can be sometimes. Many of or not all of the images I get are never exactly what I see when I shoot them, it is not something I go out and do intentionally, but it always seems to end up that way.

I think that is why I love photography so much, the ability to be able to take a scene or subject and somehow improve upon it’s beauty thru a camera’s lens. I guess some purists would find that objectionable but I guess art is in the eye of the beholder, I was just wondering what your thoughts on this are ?

Here is another wildflower shot from this spring, and this one might get me into trouble because I always get the exact title of this flower wrong, so I think I will go with Wood Anonme on this and if I am wrong I will be able to take anyone else’s positive identification as a learning experience.

There is a whole group of these little flowers that look so much a like that I guess you have to go by how many leaflets or stamens to get a good idea on exactly what it is, so I hope I am at least close on this one.

The many wildflowers that I shot this spring all have there own qualities that add to their beauty, this one seemed to be growing along side this large green leafed plant that added a wonderful contrast to the blooms of this flower. Also the white blooms themselves are a work of art with the intricate white petals and stamens, that is why I love macro photography so much, all the intricate and beautiful details we miss seeing in the world above them.

I have found that the area in which I live is a mecca for wildflower photography, Clifty Falls State Park is just one example of the many great places that are full of photographic wildflower opportunities, all the hardwood hills that line the Ohio River is another wonderful place to shoot as well. And having my hometown of Madison Indiana right in the middle of this beautiful area doesn’t hurt as well.

So if you live close by and don’t want to travel far you might give this area a try and I would be glad to help you out in any way.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and take a look !

Here is a closeup of a clematis thought I shot, the colors in this and the spiked stamens make this an interesting bloom to photograph, when I can’t get myself motivated to shoot I can always fall back on flowers to give me a subject worth working with.

How about this, another post in one week, I had a little time today so I thought I would post this shot of a Wild Columbine shot just outside of my hometown of Madison. This little wildflower was shot up in a “holler” as we call our canyons around here, just outside the city limits.

The hills and “hollers” that surround our community offer a suitable environment to host the numerous wildflowers that appear each spring, many can found growing into the town itself. They actually make a beautiful addition to the more cultivated gardens that dot our city, some adapt very easily and others don’t seem to fare as well.

Flowers such as the Columbine have flourished in many of the local gardens but others such as the Large Flowered Trillium have never been able to adapt, I guess this gives me a reason to get out and hike and shoot a few images each spring.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

I thought I might post another b&w image, this time of a barge traveling up the Ohio River near Madison Indiana shrouded in fog. The barge had just moved under the Madison Bridge when I captured this image, I felt like the fog added a mysterious and surreal feel to the scene, the river traffic along the Ohio can be a great place to shoot images if I would just take the time to search them out !

I need to concentrate more on this aspect of my work, but sometimes when you live someplace long enough you don’t get the same feel for it as people who don’t witness it as often get. There are many beautiful buildings in my hometown of Madison that people travel many miles to come to see and photograph, but I guess I take it all for granted because it always seems like more of a chore to photograph them and the other tourists stops in my area.

I think maybe my biggest problem would be I am not much of people person, and when I would set up on these spots to shoot people would invariably come and ask questions and try to shoot the same thing I was trying to photograph. I always ended up feeling rushed or hurried and I worried that would affect my work, so I always try to concentrate on images away from people and the other distractions in life.

I think thats why I like the internet so much, if someone asks a question I can answer in a little slower pace or I don’t have someone down my throat. And don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with someone asking a question, sometimes I just don’t feel like talking to people, I know that sounds bad but after coaching basketball for fifteen years and working with the general public for thirty I just feel like a little piece and quite sometimes.

I know this probably makes me seem like an old grouch, but I really am not, I do enjoy the blog world much more than the outside one it has a much better pace that I enjoy. So I hope my rambling doesn’t scare you off and I also don’t have a problem answering any questions it just might take me a bit of time to answer them.