digitalmontanablog

Telling Stories.

DL Dorr — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:51:46 +0000

“It is interesting being a shooter. The pictures you make are like a connect-the-dots game that becomes the line of your life, as real and vibrant as the lines on your face and hands. We tell stories with our pictures. In turn, our pictures tell our story—what we did, and how well or poorly we did it, and, very significantly, if we stuck with it.” Joe McNally in “Sketching Light: An Illustrated Tour of the Possibilities of Flash”

Most people who know Digitalmontana Photography are on my email list. At the bottom of every list image is a quote by a famous photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, considered the father of photo-journalistic photography. The quote says, “Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”. In essence when we shoot we are capture a slice of an unfolding story.

When I take the time to go through my library of images I see more than the images in front of me. I remember and re-live the stories behind them and I am certain that I am not alone in that respect. Each image triggers a flood of memories and emotions associated with that tiny slice of time. Call me biased if you will, but that’s why it is so important to record these events, to capture our stories to be passed on to others, whether it be family or friends. It is so important to record those moments and places which are special to us, to be able to look back, see where we’ve been, how far we’ve come, how much we’ve changed; how much life has happened to us! When we’re gone, the pictures will remain. They will tell the future our story…who we were and about our lives. Your heirs will thank you.

Several days ago I posted about the search for Snowy Owls and how we did not find them. Recently I returned to that area with new information about their location and did find them. Not the typical bird found in our area, some experts think the Snowy Owl has been pushed further south due to lack of food or the severe weather conditions in the Arctic.

For the Oglala Lakota Indians, the Snowy Owl represents the North and the north wind and were admired and respected by the tribe; in fact, warriors that excelled in combat wore a cap of owl feathers to symbolize their bravery.

It was a privilege to find and photograph these beautiful birds which are the color of winter.

Snowy Owl peeks over a drift of snow

Outdoor Theater - Best Seats in the House

A lone Snowy Owl in front of a beautiful mountain backdrop in Northwest Montana

Assignment: Backlighting

DL Dorr — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:31:43 +0000

The most recent self-assignment subject was backlighting. This type of lighting illuminates the subject from behind and can be used very effectively for translucent objects or silhouettes. In this photo I used a strobe flash with a spot grid and aimed it at glass beads I purchased at a local bead shop. I used a 100mm macro lens at F 32:

Some Are A Little Different

It’s Winter…finally!

DL Dorr — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:52:57 +0000

The first serious snowfall in our area has finally arrived. I’m sure our local ski areas are ecstatic about that as well as the local economies. Recreation is a big industry in our valley. Here’s to good ole mother nature!

Lady Winter At the Door

Mindful

DL Dorr — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:23:06 +0000

“And becoming mindful is an art. Before you can make good photographs with natural and available light, you have to know what’s there. It means noticing the small details of color and qualities of light. Every location has beautiful light, colors, and context, but not everyone sees them.” Visual Poetry by Chris Orwig

Iris

Water droplets like jewels on an Iris petal

In Search of Snowy Owls…

DL Dorr — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:24:09 +0000

Despite the Snowy Owls being elusive, Saturday was a good day. We were able to get out of town and into nature AND take a few pictures. Our day started about 8:45 AM and we got back to town around 5 PM and drove nearly 200 miles looking for these spectacular birds. Our turn-around point was the National Bison Range where I go several times a year, however this time there were few animals to shoot, but the scenery was spectacular!

Mission Mountains

One of the great surprises was the picture of the little Sparrowhawk or Kestrel, a type of Falcon. The background colors were spectacular!

Taking a break

This tree caught my eye as we drove along an irrigation ditch near Pablo Reservoir searching for the Snowy Owls. The shape was intriguing and I thought perhaps I could extract it for a composite element, but as it turns out the image stands alone on its own merits. At least that’s what I think.

Winter Tree stands next to the Pablo Irrigation ditch.

This is a slightly different angle on the same tree with more of the irrigation ditch in the background.

Pablo Tree stands next to the empty irrigation ditch.

Updating

DL Dorr — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:03:31 +0000

One of the curses of professional photographers is the continual need to update and try to keep up with the quickly changing technological landscape. This goes for blogs as well as equipment, software and social networking. It has gotten to be quite insane with all the choices a photographer NEEDS to be successful or to just keep up. The treadmill we are on never stops. With that said I would like to say to stay tuned for upcoming changes…both here and on my website. We (my technical adviser: Christian Dorr) and I have updated our hosting service and in the future hope to install a storefront for selling Digitalmontana Photography art and images.

In just a few short weeks I will be attending another MPPA convention in Billings and am in the process of selecting images for this year’s competition. The selection process is always a PITA, but I have excellent mentors advising me. Onward, through the fog!!

Seven Silent Sentinals

Check this out

DL Dorr — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:22:02 +0000

I don’t usually post in my blog without putting up at least one image, but today is different.

In 2009 I attended a MPPA convention in Helena and met a gentleman from Texas, Larry Lourcey, who is a Master Photographer. He spoke on running a home-based studio, but that’s not what impacted me the most. It was his ART which appealed to me. One of his loan images was of a ballerina and I knew I had to try and do something with ballerinas…anything. On my way home the Ballerina Project was born.

Larry and I have stayed in touch since then and I’ve followed his projects and have found inspiration in them. He also has a YouTube channel where he posts tips and tutorials on Photoshop, creativity and other topics. He’s a busy man. One of his most recent blog posts was about Steve Jobs and Seven Life Lessons and what we are able to learn from him. Take the time to visit Larry’s blog and his YouTube Channel. Find out why he’s a MASTER. Good Stuff!

The Colors of Glacier National Park

DL Dorr — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 15:53:55 +0000

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Self-assignment / Geometric

DL Dorr — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:40:20 +0000

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Finding the moment: A Day at the Bison Range

DL Dorr — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:17:44 +0000

I have neglected one of the great natural resources of our area. For too long I have not visited what was once one of my favorite haunts: the National Bison Range at Moiese, MT. It takes only 90 minutes to drive there and if it’s done early in the morning, as I did yesterday, there is little traffic to contend with along the west shore of Flathead Lake, although I did run into school traffic at Pablo and Ronan.

As I approached the main gate from the East I found low-lying fog hugging the potholes and river bottoms around the Ninepipes area, although by the time I arrived at the entrance most evidence of the ethereal wisps were gone except for the shroud above the Flathead River.

The road which runs as a loop (open from May-October) is called the Red Sleep Mountain Drive is a 20 mile stretch of gravel road and takes one to such places as: Headquarters Ridge, Pauline Creek, Elk Park, Bitterroot Trail and Antelope Flats.

Yesterday was a perfect day! I drove the loop twice and was transported to a place I rarely find: solitude in the moment.