Category Archives: Commentary

Commentary, Community, Night Photography

Night Photography Article at SFGate

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Updates:

  1. I can’t believe I neglected to include the link to the article! See “Photographers Find Light in the Dead of Night“
  2. After I posted the link to this article earlier today I got word that two of my prints have been selected for inclusion in the show. Hope to see some of you Bay Area photographers at the reception!

San Francisco’s SFGate web site has an article on night photography and especially on the history of the medium in the San Francisco Bay Area:

“Before this eccentric genre emerged here in the 1970s, only a handful of shutterbugs shot in the dark. At the turn of the 20th century, Alfred Stieglitz conjured images of an evanescent New York. In the 1920s and ’30s, Brassaï captured lustrous scenes of Paris a la nuit. And O. Winston Link glorified American modes of transportation against the backdrop of night in the 1950s.

But night photography didn’t become a codified style until a group of Northern Californian photographers (including Richard Misrach, Arthur Ollman and Jerry Burchard) started tackling nighttime as a major theme in their work.”

The Bay Area has been fortunate to be a bit of a hot spot for night photographers who have “gone over to the dark side,” and this continues. The Nocturnes, the Bay Area night photography group, is celebrating its 20th year with a series of exhibitions this year, including a recent show at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard (which is, in many ways, ground zero for area night photographers) and an upcoming event:

The Nocturnes 20th Anniversary Photography Exhibit: Reception 6:30 p.m. Nov. 9. Through Dec. 3. Free. Harvey Milk Photo Center, 50 Scott St., San Francisco. (415) 554-9522. harveymilkphotocenter.org.

 

Commentary, Locations, Sierra Nevada Fall Color

Sierra Nevada Aspen Hunting and the Weather

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Something to think about for photographers headed to the eastern Sierra to photograph aspen color next week: The seven-day Yosemite to Kings Canyon weather forecast is calling for snow (!) on Wednesday and Thursday, and things don’t look like they’ll totally clear out on Friday. This has some ramifications:

  • Those of us who get to the eastern Sierra by way of one of the trans-Sierra passes may encounter difficulties if the forecast pans out. I would not be at all surprised to see a temporary closure of Tioga Pass Road (highway 120) though Yosemite, and other passes to the north could be affected. This makes for a very long drive for those of us in the SF Bay area!
  • A storm can affect the aspen color display. A cold snap can, or so many of us believe, encourage the colors to change. But wind can also bring down many of the leaves in a hurry. (I once arrived before dawn at North Lake to see – just barely – incredible color conditions in the grove the runs up the hillside on the far side of the lake. Moments later a snow squall blew in, and as the wind began to blow I retreated to my car for a half hour. When it passed, half of the leaves had blown down!
  • On the plus side, an early winter storm can bring some opportunities and advantages as well. Overcast and rainy/snowy weather can intensify the colors and create some very compelling and moody scenes. New snow adds something special to the scene, whether only on the higher peaks above or down among the trees.

It could get interesting, so check those weather forecasts and the road conditions on the mountain highways. Fall in the Sierra is a time of change in many ways. Pacific winter-type weather systems start to move through, and they can range from very mild to virtually full-blown winter storms. While most of them pass quickly, some can last for a few days and close passes. It would be very unusual for such an early October storm to actually mark the beginning of the winter road closures, but mid-October storms have done so in the past.

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Commentary, Site News

B&H Photo and Think Tank Photo – Blog Affiliate Sponsors

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I’m pleased to announce that I have been able to resume my affiliate relationship with B&H after a short “intermission” for the past few months caused by some changes to California tax laws.

Affiliate relationships benefit the vendors and those of use who operate blogs. I only accept affiliation with companies that I would deal with or actually do deal with myself, and B&H is definitely on that list for me. When you make a B&H purchase through a link on my blog, while the purchase price is the same for you, a small percentage of each sale is returned to me for the referral.*

I continue to have an affiliate relationship with Think Tank Photo, the manufacturer of innovative and high quality camera bags and related products. Their Airport Acceleration bag is my primary tool for carrying my equipment.

Receive a FREE CAMERA BAG from Think Tank Photo

Thanks,

Dan

* In case you wondered how much income the ads produce, here is my full disclosure: I generally earn less than the costs of running and hosting the site. The ad income helps me  reduce these costs – and for that I’m grateful! :-)