I was just listening to a discussion about processing digital photos and what is considered viable business practice regarding dedicated time allotment. One side of the discussion seemed to think that 5-10 minutes per photo was max, while the other was of the opinion that each photo should be produced as an artistic work for however long it takes.

I remembered waiting for the film processing, pulling up each frame in the enlarger, and playing with a couple shots to get the exposure right. Assuming no burning, dodging, or whatever other tricks could’ve been used were necessary for the print, the time allotment for each of my hand processed photos was about 10-30 minutes – if it all worked the first time through.

Taking a look at my own digital workflow lately I think I’m going to step back into the processing a bit more. I’ve been focusing so hard on the in-camera completion that I lost sight of how processing was integral to creating the art I see in my mind’s-eye prior to taking the original shot.Thanks to my closest critics for pointing that out.

In light of all these thoughts, I’m giving up instantaneous photo processing for Lent.

I’m still waiting on the new powerhouse laptop for editing on the road since my current laptop has a 17″ screen and weighs in at 15 lbs ~ not to mention it’s lack of processing power for handling my Mark II’s RAW files in Lightroom.

About fifteen minutes before the sun dropped over the horizon Jean spotted a sliver of rainbow forming over the tip of one of the central formations in the canyon. I jumped outside the rail in what was later revealed as a rather precarious position (Jean snapped a shot with her Cybershot of me sitting on an overhanging ledge jutting out over the canyon) to take this picture and a series of shots I’ll be combining into a full frame horizontal panorama.  The slight colorization of the rainbow shows up dramatically against the storm clouds that were rolling in over the canyon. As the sunset progressed the rainbow turned more red and lengthened into the sky.

The reason this is my favorite photo from that night is that the rainbow was our symbol of the trip and the Canyon was my photography goal of the trip. This was the 5th or 6th rainbow we had seen. At every major turning point in the trip there was a rainbow just prior to sunset. Jean pointed out that there had even been a sunset the day we signed our new lease up in Portland (see here). We packed and moved our belongings up to Maine last week, a couple days after returning from Arizona. I was there a day before my flight got moved up by 3 days to avoid the cancellations caused by Hurricane Irene. I’m writing this now while at a business meeting (in Arizona, go figure) and hoping that the new place in Portland isn’t flooded due to Irene. The promise of God to Noah after the world flood was what rainbows are a symbol of Biblically. I just hope it was our own little promise of no future flooding. I’ll find out next week when I get home and actually have time to unpack.

If you’re interested in purchasing a print of this image or any other image on the site, please contact me via info@jondeckerphoto.com and let me know what images you’re interested in and how you would like to use it.

Grand Canyon is unmatched throughout the world in the incomparable vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. It is not the deepest canyon in the world (both the Barranca del Cobre in northern Mexico and Hell’s Canyon in Idaho are deeper, just to name two), but the Grand Canyon is known throughout the world for its overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape. Geologically it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the early geological history of the North American continent. Finally, it is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion in the world. Although first afforded Federal protection in 1893 as a Forest Reserve and later as a National Monument, Grand Canyon did not achieve National Park status until 1919, three years after the creation of the National Park Service. Today Grand Canyon National Park receives close to five million visitors each year – a far cry from the annual visitation of 44,173 which the park received in 1919. Grand Canyon became a national park in order to give it the best protection we as a nation have to offer. The mission of the National Park Service, here and elsewhere, is to preserve the park and all of its features, including the processes that created them, and to provide for the enjoyment of the park by visitors in a way that will leave the canyon unspoiled for future generations.

On Friday we got started a little later than expected, but were planning on taking the trip a bit more leisurely than previous road trips; after all, it’s a vacation. The rest of my family left Thursday morning for the Grand Canyon, and Jean and I are planning to meet up with them down there next week.

As Jean has never seen the Badlands or Mount Rushmore, we decided to make a grand adventure of the trip and head out to South Dakota as the first planned stop in our travels. It’s a 17 hour drive from my parents house in Michigan to the Badlands, so we planned on camping on the way there and splitting the travel into two days.

The car was running great, despite certain family members doubts, and we were making good time all the way down into Chicago; then we hit traffic – loads of traffic. Then the car overheated. Then I magically replaced the cooling fan using a 10 dollar socket set and a Leatherman tool in the parking lot of a grocery store – 3 hours lost. However, as Jean cheerfully pointed out several hours later while we were driving into the setting sun, “at least it happened now instead of in the middle of nowhere, or on the trip home when we’ll have more of a time crunch.” She was right.

The great part of the delay was that by the time we hit the flat section of our great country the sun was setting ,and I was able to stop the car on the shoulder of the highway to get some awesome shots of the cloud formations. Ten seconds later it was pouring rain. Did I mention the roof leaks? Oh, and the car doesn’t have AC either, but that will probably be a better story later in the trip.

We drove into an “oasis” (gas and food stop) off the expressway and filled up, parked the car, plugged the leaking driver’s side window with a plastic grocery bag, and went inside for Greek salads. After the rain let up a bit, we headed out again. The sunset was still lingering (it seemed to last forever over the flat fields) and the clouds were brilliant. The road work was not. I stopped once more, grabbed the blunderbuss, and shot the moon.

Now, several hours later, I’m getting into bed at a roadside inn and plan to be up with the dawn tomorrow to get a head start on the 9 hour journey still left before hitting the Badlands.

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With the purchase of the Hounds and the Blunderbuss coming so close together these sunset picture are a natural progression.

This photo was taken from the coast of Brooklyn over looking Gravesend Bay and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at sunset.

Now, to get back to packing for the move and next week’s venture into classic Americana as we travel across the U.S. and visit several American landmarks and natural wonders.

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I rode my bike, which I’ve named “The Hounds”, out to Owls Head park to try and capture the sunset at, well, sunset. I and my wife got going a little later than expected and were riding up the hill when the sun was in it final seconds. I’ll have go there again after we get back from our travels this month. I took this picture with my new camera, which I’ve named “Blunderbuss”. For reference, I took the hounds out for a ride and shot the fading sun with my blunderbuss.

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It was raining outside, and I was playing with the new camera indoors. This was shot almost on accident while tinkering with some of the AF settings. It turned out well.

These crystals cast rainbows all over our living room ceiling on sunny days. Jean, my wife, loves them.

Pie_Day

Jean made a blueberry pie today, and having just gotten the 5D I decided to take a giant snapshot of it. Hazard of getting new toys is I mess around with all the settings for hours. This one pie shot took far longer than it would have if I had been fully comfortable with the camera, but I’ll get there.

Anyhow, here is Pie Day, for your enjoyment.