My Top 12 Images Of 2015

Alignment VI

Alignment VI

Alignment X

Alignment X

Alignment XXIII

Alignment XXIII

Alignment XXII

Alignment XXII

Alignment XXVIII

Alignment XXVIII

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Constellation XV

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Constellation XIV

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Untitled

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Untitled

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Illumination XXIV

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Illumination XXXV

This is a selection of my top 12 images of 2015. This selection doesn’t reflect sales, publication, or activities on the web. It simply reflects my opinion. Click on the titles to find out more about each image.
Geography
My obsession continued with places defined by water (either an abundance of it or a lack of it) in the polar-regions of Greenland and Iceland and in the deserts (an absence of water, yet often shaped by waters long gone) of Namibia, Argentina, and California.
Process
Half the images I released in 2015 were exposed in other years. Several of the other images were processed on location or the day they were exposed. I date “straight” shots based on the date they were exposed and composites on the date they are completed.
Concepts
There were several new twists on old subjects and themes: amid sensual dunes multiple moments / perspectives became conjoined; levitating stones became ice; below reflective water surfaces instead of closer details full landscapes are seen; seeing through things to what lies behind them shifted from skies to landscapes.
Magnificent Moment
Once again, flying over the 1,500 foot coral dunes of Sossusvlei for more than an hour was simply divine, especially when coupled with the hours spent walking its shifting surfaces in constantly changing light.
It’s challenging to choose so few images from so many – but it’s insightful. Try selecting your own top 12 images. Try selecting the top 12 images of your favorite artist(s).

View more of my Annual Top 12 Selections here.

View more images in my ebooks here.

View my full Works here.

View my Series videos here.

View new images in my newsletter Collectors Alert.

My Top 12 Images Of 2014

Alignment V

Alignment V

Alignment IV

Alignment IV

Antarctica CLXVI

Antarctica CLXVI

PS Manges Color, lighten, lighten shadows

Antarctica CLXXI

Antarctica CLXXII

Antarctica CLXXII

Constellation XI

Constellation XI

Constellation XII

Constellation XXI

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Contrail V

Contrail IV

Contrail IV

Antarctica CLXV

Antarctica CLXV

Incubation X

Incubation X

This is a selection of my top 12 images of all time. This selection doesn’t reflect sales, publication, or activities on the web. It simply reflects my opinion. Click on the titles to find out more about each image.

Geography
Antarctica, Argentina, Iceland, California
Process
I added something new to old projects; Antarctica and Constellation. I began moving forward on bringing a long-standing series to completion; Alignment. I released the first images from a new series Contrail that shows man’s marks in nature found in even the most remote places on earth; a complementary companion series of is soon to be released.
Concept
Similar themes echo throughout most of my individual series creating a shared network of connections. Alignment connects with Contrail and Refraction in different ways. Constellation connects with Correspondence in other ways. More connections are revealed over time.
Magnificent Moment
An hour and a half flying over Iceland’s south coast is magnificent but four hours of zodiac crusing in Antarctica’s Plenneau Bay (The Iceberg Graveyard) followed by three hours of dramatic light while passing through the La Mer Channel is even more magnificent.
It’s challenging to choose so few images from so many – but it’s insightful. Try selecting your own top 12 images. Try selecting the top 12 images of your favorite artist(s).

View more of my Annual Top 12 Selections here.

View more images in my ebooks here.

View my full Works here.

View my Series videos here.

View new images in my newsletter Collectors Alert.

One Thing Leads To Another – The Story Behind The Image

Incubation II

Incubation II, 2013 – Puna de Atacama Desert, Argentina

With Incubation II, I got everything I wanted – and more.

I’ve been working on a line of thought for some time, planning to make a series to fully develop it. Make multiple exposures of the same subject from different angles and combine them seamlessly. It’s like Cubism without the artifacts. Show what’s hidden by one angle of view by combining many angles of view. Show many sides of the same object simultaneously. Show the background that an object hides. Make a visual experience that more powerfully presents the experience of moving around, in, and through a space.

Not knowing what I wanted to do ahead of time would have changed the way I made exposures. I would have selected angles that offered the best relationship between object and environment, often prioritizing one over the other if any compromises were necessary, instead of selecting the optimal angle for both in two or more exposures. I wouldn’t have made as many exposures nor would I have know which alternate exposures to make – and why. Despite my best plans, I never could have planned for this magnificent moment of light, where its shape, split by a crack, echoes the shapes of the two cracked halves of the rock below it.

On my first visit to Argentina’s Atacama Desert I was able to gather several exposures that once combined served as proof of concept. They results, not just for one image but for multiple images, were successful enough to show that this idea and approach had lasting value.

My initial concept didn’t work entirely as planned. I tried a solution that looked similar to double exposure and while I was (and still am) interested in the way this made the objects look like they were vibrating (a new idea), it was too busy and unclear for the effect I was looking for here. On impulse, while I was processing the images, I tried nesting the stones within themselves and it was immediately clear that this was a powerful new solution. The technique served more than a visual device. The psychological dimensions of the work were heightened. The work was challenging me to expand my vision.

Finishing the first few images brought both clarity and productivity while photographing the location for the second time. I was able to make many related images, aware of what was different and what was similar. I was even able to rephotograph several subjects. Now, in addition to single images displaying multiple angles of the same subject, multiple images in the series do the same. It’s surprising how different things look from different angles of view – sometimes they’re unrecognizable.

The questions arose “How many images will this solution hold for?” and “What other related solutions will I find?” One thing led to another. Along the way, duplication, reflection, and distortion were also used. So new questions were posed, “Is this one series or many?” and “Will one series title hold them all?” (The working title for the series is Incubation.)

I’m not sure all of these images belong in the same series. While they’re all from the same location and they look similar stylistically and are related thematically, they also explore different ideas. Some are diverging significantly enough to make the case for placing them in several interconnected series. What’s the answer? Right now, it’s a mystery. I simply have to do more work to find out more about it.

I’ve found that the best plans are clear enough to stimulate productivity and flexible enough to evolve.

See related Contact Sheets from 2012 and 2013 here.

Questions
What are the benefits of working without a plan?
What are the benefits of working with a plan?
How do you create a plan so that it is generative rather than restrictive?
What mindset do you need to approach plans with to maximize productivity and insight?
When should you abandon one plan in favor of another?

Read more The Stories Behind The Photographs here.

New Series – Incubation

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 Incubation II, 2013

20121204__SAARGpumice-_0437-Edit Incubation I, 2013

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Incubation IX, 2013

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Incubation XIII, 2013

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Incubation III, 2013

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Incubation V, 2013

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Incubation IV, 2013

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Incubation VIII, 2013

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Incubation XI, 2013

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Incubation XII, 2013

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Incubation VI, 2013

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Incubation VII, 2013

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Incubation XIV, 2013

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Incubation X

My newest series of images Incubation uses a dynamic approach to representing both spaces and objects within those spaces, blending images of the same subject taken from multiple angles – panoramics, duplications, nestings, symmetries, tesselations, etc – that take on complex perceptual responses and psychological overtones.
Currently, all of the images are drawn from the same location made during two separate adventures (2012 and 2013) to the Atacama Desert in Argentina.
View more featured image collections here.
Search my online gallery for specific images here.
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Contact Sheet – Atacama, Argentina

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Click here to enlarge.

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Click here to enlarge.

In preparation for my return to Argentina’s Atacama Desert this coming December, I’ve been paring down my selects from my first trip last year. Within this set of images is a smaller set of images that suggests a way of seeing – animated sculptural forms making light and space visible and felt. (These words are not complete but they begin to describe what’s going on.) This is what I’m going to focus on and hope to discover more about when I return. With practice we can learn to come up with many ideas, but in the end I think it’s important to look/listen to the work you actually make and answer the calls within it, moving into them to pursue more depth and their connections to other things/ideas/emotions.

View more Contact Sheets here.

Find out more about my Atacama digital photography workshop here.

The 7 Best Argentinian Wines On Our Antarctica 2013 Voyage


Seth Resnick loves wine. So does Greg Gorman. The two of them have taught me most of what I know about wine. Through them I’ve come to appreciate wine in new ways and with a new depth of understanding. They know that if they drink wine with me, I’m going to ask a lot of questions, to learn as much from them as I can and to appreciate the wine I’m drinking with them even more.
On many of our Digital Photo Destinations workshop adventures, Seth and I share wine with our participants. On our 2013 Antarctica South Of The Circle Voyage we bought enough wine for the entire group to try a new wine at the start of each evening meal. As we embarked from Argentina, we selected only Argentinian wines, mostly reds, found at our favorite wine store in Ushuaia – Quelhue. Something that we looked forward to each night the wine started conversations, lifted spirits, and strengthened our community.
Here’s a list of the seven best wines we had during our voyage; each ranked on a scale of 1-10 (10 highest). You might enjoy them too. I use the iPhone app Wine Notes to record my impressions and usually include a picture of the person I drink the wine with along with the label in each entry as part of this journal. These are my only opinions (with input from Seth). Be mindful that I like my wines like I like my people, with character.

9.1            Malbec                                    Achaval Ferrer / Finca Bella Vista             Perdriel             2007
A truly elegant wine from old vines in volcanic soil riddled with complex flavors that are so beautifully blended they are hard to separate and keep changing from beginning to end and through its extremely long finish. It’s often appropriately referred to as a “chimera”.

8.9            Cabernet Sauvignon            Luigi Bosca                                                                          2010
Big, bold, full-bodied. Beautifully balanced structure with a great beginning, middle and end, with a long finish. Red fruits, cherry dominant with hints of chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon and distinctive earth flavors.

8.8            Malbec                                    Tapiz                                                            Black Tears            2008
Smooth full body with great mouthfeel (maybe a touch chewy) and solid structure and tannins. Big berry flavors, currant dominant. Complex layers. You can taste that it came from volcanic soil.

8.4            Tannat                                    Quara                                                                                    2009
Really big, complex, and earthy (especially on the nose). Fast, but lingers long with hints of cinnamon and tobacco. It’s unusual to find this grape on it’s own instead of blended.

8.4            Cabernet / Malbec            D V Catena                                                                         2010
Red fruits (cherry, raspberry, strawberry) with a hints of mint and eucalyptus. The smoky earth flavors from ashy volcanic soil gives it rich character.

8.4               Cabernet Sauvignon            Gascon / Finca Escorihuela Gascon            Reserva            2009
Elegant, rich, full, classic cabernet that doesn’t hide the earth it was grown in.

8.3            Malbec                                    Tomero                                                Gran Reserva            2008
A classic Malbec in every sense.
Wine is just one of the things that makes our workshops unique.
Find out about our 2014 Fly Antarctica Sail Across The Circle Voyage here.
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Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina



The highlight of our Patagonia workshop was walking on the glacier Perito Moreno in Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina. Viewing the glacier from a boat is a touristy affair offering limited mobility; if you’re lucky you’ll see a calving. Viewing the glacier from the extensive park observation decks allows you to control your angle of view at your own pace; you can see both the north and south faces. Viewing the glacier while you’re on it offers the best interactivity; there are an unlimited number of angles of view from which you can make images with any focal length, from wide angle surveys, to telephoto excerpts, to intimate macro details. Walking into this frozen wonderland is thrilling! The only thing that could put a damper on a visit like this is heavy rain. You can’t spend enough time there. If you visit the Perito Moreno glacier, my recommendation is to plan for a full day of ice trekking – or more.
The guides for the expedition company HieloYAventura are excellent: they set a warm casual tone; they’re vigilant about safety; they’re all accomplished ice trekkers. HieloYAventura offers three services; Safari Nautico (cruise); Mini-Trekking; and Big Ice, plus customized excursions.
(One other thing, our hotel Posada De Los Alamos was excellent.)