The Reluctant Blogger

Tree In Mourning

2011-01-08T19:19:00.003-07:00

I wanted to shoot this last year. It didn't happen. So, I waited for a year and shot it this afternoon.

Tree In Mourning, 2011

Last and First

2011-01-03T09:19:00.004-07:00

Here are two images. The long panorama is the last image of 2010. Taken on New Year's Eve of 2010 out on the road to Stansbury Island on Utah's Great Salt Lake.

Lake-effect Storm and Stansbury Island, Great Salt Lake, 2010

This next image is the first of 2011. I went out to shoot a panorama of the discarded Christmas Trees at the local pick-up spot, but saw this red sled instead. Woah, that kind of rhymes.

Broken Red Sled, 2011

Don't make it too hard on yourself...

2010-09-23T13:55:00.002-06:00

...like I usually do.

I created a tutorial on color management, but when I tried to put it into CSS I couldn't figure out how to put my text and images in because I spent so much damn time making my tutorial.

Anyway, if you want the tutorial on color management, you can get it HERE.

Homework - Site Critique / Project Proposals

2010-09-01T21:49:00.003-06:00

I am not sure if the two sites are built with HTML or Flash, but I'm pretty sure the Apple.com site is with HTML.

Apple

The Apple site, although an obvious choice, is elegant in many ways. Their design is super clean, there are minimal clicks needed to get to where you want to go, and their product is always showcased immaculately.

It's easy to get around because they use type in a clean way, there is a lot of white space to separate the elements, and they keep the 'hype' to a minimum. Not a lot of bandwidth-hogging flash animation, but I think that it is a flash driven site...I could be wrong. I might be a little hazy on the differences now that I have been out of web-development for a while.

The site is great because the Apple geeks can get around easily, once they learn the hierarchy of the site it is intuitive to get from A to B (I know because I am one of them...). The Apple store isn't really as easy to get to as I think it ought to be, but I think that Apple knows that the core customer will end up in a retail store rather than buying online...so that might not be a bad strategy in the end. Hell, who am I to second-guess Apple right?

The other site is one for a company that my friend owns here in Salt Lake called Equipt Outfitters.

Equipt Expedition Outfitters

Equipt has just re-done their website and it will be experiencing some growing pains. The first thing I love, is the first thing that might have to be re-done. I love the photography on this site, but the problem with the main image right now is that is has a lot of 'dead space' on the site that can't be used for navigation. There are a lot of the links that can't be seen until you scroll down to the bottom of the page. The titles to the links at the top are a little ambiguous and I believe they will have to be a little clearer with what they intend the buttons to be called.

It is first and foremost a lifestyle site designed to draw a paying customer in and purchase product. The problem with the product page is that it is image driven and the main image forces the viewer to again scroll down and find the links to the various items offered.

I love the use of imagery on this site, but unfortunately the reliance on using the entire image is forcing some awkward design issues.

Links to my sites:

Great Salt Lake Photographic Survey

Utah Bigfoot

Creche-A-Day

First project? I think I'd like to make a real website for the Bigfoot blog.

Back at it...

2010-09-01T21:45:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm back at this blog now. A few things in life have changed, but I won't go into it here. Needless to say I have some loose-ends to tie up, and so returning to this blog will be part of it.

I'm taking my last 9 credits at USU, and one of the classes will be in web design. One of the others will be in video production, and the last class is my research and thesis credits.

I'm actually looking forward to getting some more web skillz under my belt, it's been a super long time since I've updated any of my sites, so it's about time. In that period the web has changed quite a bit, and the software I was using to make my sites is no longer supported or used...hence the need to take the web design class.

The video class will be an extension of my existing skill-set and just makes sense to learn how to do linear story telling and prepare myself for the 21st century. I am doing processes from the 19th and 21st century, so that's pretty cool I think.

On to the homework assignment...

This blog has moved

2010-03-26T08:15:00.001-06:00

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Coolest Thing I've Seen Lately

2010-02-07T07:24:00.002-07:00

Hinckley

2009-11-17T06:37:00.003-07:00

Here is something just in case anyone checks the blog.

I found two sheets of 4x5 film in the basement in a film holder marked with the words: "Hinckley at pulpit, 100% lights up". I knew I'd stashed these away, but thought I'd lost them. I decided to process them 40% longer than normal, so I did and they turned out perfectly.

These are two scans from the negatives. I plan to make platinum/palladium prints of them.

DM-1 Motor Test - ATK, Promontory Point, Utah

2009-09-12T21:06:00.001-06:00

This is what I was up to on Thursday. I skipped the third day of school and headed up to ATK. Needless to say it is quite a sight when 3.6 million foot pounds of thrust get started. The ground was shaking and I was 1.8 miles from the motor. I was yelling at the top of my lungs and I could barely hear myself. It was very cool.

DM-1 Motor Test - ATK, Promontory Point, Utah

Potential

2009-07-18T16:32:00.002-06:00

This has some potential.

Potential, 2009

Ropes

2009-07-17T17:54:00.003-06:00

Abigail did the ropes course twice while we were at Aspen Grove this week. Here is an interesting multi-shot stitch looking straight up at her while she goes around the short course.

Film

2009-07-01T21:14:00.005-06:00

For the past nine months I haven't shot any serious work with a digital camera.

I have shot paper negatives of all sizes and film up to 8x20 and 11x14. I recently returned from four days going around the Great Salt Lake with a group of off-road enthusiasts. All of our gear was pre-1979. Trucks, camping gear, cameras, clothes...the whole package. I shot a Hasselblad 500c, a Canham 4x10 and my old Nikon F. I shot a bunch of black and white and a bunch of transparency film too.

I have been scanning and playing with the black and white files for the past two days and I am constantly reminded why I have fallen back in love with film. It's just plain and simple...it's awesome! Yes, it's slow and clunky and messy and all that other stuff that everyone complains about, but guess what...I don't care!

Anyway, I just had to publicly affirm my love for film.

Passey Children Dancing In Camp, 2009

Pilings

2009-06-30T16:22:00.004-06:00

Here are some eroded pilings. I thought I needed to post something new, so here it is.

Weathered Pilings, Original Saltair Location, 2009

Eggs

2009-06-02T08:27:00.004-06:00

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've blogged, so here's a quick update on basically the only interesting thing that's been going on at our place. We got laying hens. We have 7 chickens right now and average 3 eggs a day. 2 of the hens aren't laying yet, and one of the hens is done laying for good. She is probably going to end up in a pot.

The eggs are a pale green shade and are yummy! I ate the first two this morning on some toast. Bestest eggs ever!

Zel

2009-05-16T22:49:00.001-06:00

Your photography should be fun. If it's not you're doing something wrong.

Zel With Rosey Boa, 11x14 Paper Negative, 2009

Zel With Rosey Boa, 11x14 Paper Negative - Inverted, 2009

11

2009-05-12T13:14:00.004-06:00

Abigail turned 11 yesterday. 11 on the 11th...her magic birthday.

We got together on Sunday at Jon's to celebrate Mother's Day and Abigail's Birthday. I took a photograph of her with a 4x10 camera. A special negative from a special camera on a special day for a special girl.

Pretty special eh?

Abigail's 11th Birthday Party, 2009

Deprived

2009-04-23T13:36:00.003-06:00

WASHINGTON - APRIL 23: (AFP OUT) White House National Economic Council Director Larry Summers (L) nods off while U.S. President Barack Obama talks to the press.

The images are from Getty, and were originally two separate frames. Since we're doing panoramas in class right now, I thought that this would make a good one.

Here is a pretty good description of Larry Summers. This is from an article in the Washington Times written by John Ward from last year:

"He won't be shy. The thing about him is he doesn't sit behind the scenes," said Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University. "He's a forceful presence."

"My guess is he's going to take that position and make the most of it, and [Timothy] Geithner will have a competitor, even though he's the secretary of the Treasury," Mr. Zelizer said.

Looks like he's off to a pretty good start.

Easter

2009-04-12T09:12:00.005-06:00

We have a pretty low-key Easter. Here are some pictures.

Living Room Prior To Egg Hunt, 2009

Connor Hunting Eggs With Droopy Pants, 2009

Abigail Reaching For Blue Egg, 2009

Last Egg Found, 2009

CakeBeard

2009-04-08T16:22:00.003-06:00

Here is one of my students. The shot on the left was a test for an upcoming portrait project. After we shot it he asked if he could put chocolate cake all over his face. How could I say no? Shot on Polaroid Type 59.

Jake and Jake Wearing Cakebeard, 2009

Beauty

2009-04-08T15:11:00.003-06:00

Here's the poster for the upcoming production of The Sleeping Beauty at Waterford. I shot the image for it with the 4x5 and made a VanDyke Brown print, a 19th century printing technique.

Sleeping Beauty Poster, 2009

Grades

2009-04-07T23:07:00.013-06:00

I did this term's first on-line update. I had to reassess several of the student's grades and honestly evaluate their performance for me. I was surprised to see that I had a few that were getting F's.

I saw this chart tonight and chuckled.

Apparently there are a lot of American's who think that President Obama also deserves an F. The advice I give to my students that are getting F's right now is that it's early in the term, they've dug themselves a hole, but it's not too deep that they can't get themselves out of it. They only have to stop digging and get to work.

It's the same advice I'd give to Mr. O.

EDIT:

May 3, 2009

Since an anonymous commenter bravely came forward to dispute the polling numbers, calling them inaccurate, I thought I'd provide a little more information for the 'discussion'. But, I do issue a challenge to the cowardly commenter to come forward and identify themself, lest we all think that they are hiding behind the internet and it's warm cozy anonymity. Calling out the chicken? Sure...yes, I am! Hey 'Anonymous', let's take a real hard look at that poll you are referring to shall we? Ok, let's. Since you won't open your mind and look at the actual data, rather than just taking the number at face value, it tells me that YOU are the one looking at only the things YOU want to see. Find a warm'n'fuzzy about Mr. O and you're happy. Dig into the facts and find out what's really going on? Never mind...it's too hard and I'm busy stuffing envelopes for SUWA or Al Gore.

Before he thinks that I'm resorting to a personal attack, let's look at the data from the poll that he is claiming to use.

Personally I don't think he used a CBS approval poll. I think he is referring to the ABC/Washington Post poll which fleshes out a little like this.

This is from the ABC/Washington Post poll dated April 26, 2009.

Let's look at the numbers. First of all, the MSNBC poll that the original commentator...let's just call them 'Anonymous' (oh wait, that's what they chose to call themselves anyway) disagreed with...that poll was answered by 1.8 million people. MSNBC viewers, which we all know is the Olberman/Matthews propoganda arm of the Democratic party. Dispute that? How can you when Olberman and Matthews themselves relish the thought of it.

The ABC/Washington Post poll talks about it's own polling methods. Quoted from the source:

METHODOLOGY – This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone
April 21-24, 2009, among a random national sample of 1,072 adults, including landline
and cell-phone-only respondents and an oversample of African-Americans (weighted to
their correct share of the national population). Results for the full sample have a 3-point error margin; click here for a detailed description of sampling error. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, PA.

One thousand adults are determining the nations approval rating of the President? Are you kidding me? People who rely on these numbers as an indicator of how to direct and determine policy are relying on one thousand people? And what is this 'oversample' business? How can it be called an oversample for African-Americans if it just weights to their correct share of the national population? What does that mean anyway?

Anyway, if we take the polling methodology as scientific (which I'm not sure I do at this point...), and the sample group as broad enough and large enough to reflect the voice of the average American (which I'm not sure I do either...), and we assume that the pollsters didn't just call people in New York, LA and Portland, (which we don't...), we can move on to analyze the data.

Still with me Anonymous? I hope so.

For the policies that Obama campaigned AGAINST Bush on, namely Iraq, Afghanistan, the War on Terror (which has conveniently been renamed to 'international troublemaking'), Obama gets high marks. It is interesting to note that his policies haven't changed at all, in fact, Obama is putting more troops into Afghanistan than Bush had. Essentially Obama is continuing the Bush policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now how can Obama campaign to to the exact opposite of the 'failed policies of the past eight years', but continue to do the same things? Interesting...

On to his major points of problem for the poll takers and poll readers (or non-readers...).

Economy = poor
Taxes = poor
Health Care = poor
Deficit = poor
Immigration = poor
Automakers = poor

This tells me that when the American public sees Obama enacting the socialist policies of taxing the rich to pay for the poor, health care, being lax on immigration and controlling the US auto industry, he scores very poorly. Americans stand for Capitalism, not Socialism. To argue that what Obama is doing is not akin to Socialism is to bury your head in the sand. He claims he does not want to grow the size of government, but what has he done in his glorious 100 days? Yep, he's grown the size of government. A lot.

The very issues that Obama rallied the American people against are the ones he's scoring high on. The issues that Obama is most strongly identifying with and enacting with reckless abandon, are the ones he scores lowest on. He *is* going contrary to the will of the American people on the things that will have the longest lasting domestic impression.

I didn't know this, but in this poll is something called a 'personal favorability' rating.

These numbers tell me that the American people are saying, "Obama, we really like you, and we're not taking anything else into consideration when making that decision".

Perhaps the most interesting thing of all is how they break down this 'approval rating'. A dissection is in order:

Let's put this into perspective. Again, my original post was speaking to students and grades, both from a teachers and a parent's viewpoint. Let's say you were asking your student's teacher if they were doing a good job in their class. The teacher says, "I somewhat approve of Johnny's performance in my class". Would that make you happy? Would it make you as happy as the teacher saying, "I strongly approve of Johnny's performance in my class".

Well, honestly, does the 'somewhat approve' label really sound like a resounding endorsement? Does it? If you go to a restaurant and you 'somewhat approve' of the food, do you think you'll go back? If you bought a pair of jeans and your friends 'somewhat approved' of how they made your butt look, do you think you'd wear them again?

Obama is getting a 'somewhat approve' from 27 percent of those polled. How can the media trot those folks out as being in the same camp as the 'strongly approve' folks? Well, I guess they have to draw a line somewhere, and that's where they did. It's their poll, so I'll let them have at it.

Also, what about those people that answered 'no opinion'. I cannot believe that it is as high as seven percent. Clearly those people don't approve of what the president is doing or they'd be saying so. 'I liked the food at the restaurant but I have no opinion on it'. That doesn't cut it for those people to be in the 'approve' camp, but does it quite cut it for them to be int he 'disapprove' camp? Maybe not. I just have a hard time believing that you can find anyone who doesn't have an opinion one way or the other on any of these issues. I wonder if they voted this past November, just who they voted for?

The problem for me is that we hear approval numbers and we automatically think that 72 out of 100 people approve of EVERYTHING that Obama is doing. Clearly from the data provided in the ABC/Washington Post poll we see that it is not the case. Quite the contrary.

Anonymous is claiming that the CBS poll he is referring to gives Obama a 68% approval rating. In my classroom a 68% is a D+. Would you be happy if your little Johnny was getting a D+ ?

I still say Obama is getting an F, the MSNBC poll from 2 weeks ago and the ABC poll from this week are right about the same. Here is a link for the non-believing anonymouse liberals. (yes, I misspelled 'anonymous' like that on purpose...)

CLICK HERE FOR AN EDUCATION THAT MIGHT HURT YOU.

Hell

2009-04-05T19:30:00.004-06:00

So I figure after watching all five sessions of conference, I can afford to do a little ox-pulling this afternoon. I might spend some time in hell for this, but I don't mind.

I got the hen-house moved into the backyard this afternoon. Had the help of four of my other hell-bound neighbors. Polla's saving grace is that she was in bed sick this afternoon. Otherwise she'd be going to hell too.

I need to reassemble the hen-house next week, get it painted and get it populated.

Hen-house In Three Movements, 2009

Manualist

2009-03-31T21:52:00.001-06:00

What is a manualist? I didn't know either until I saw this.

Everything always comes back to Star Wars.

Girlfriends

2009-03-22T21:25:00.004-06:00

Abigail and her two girlfriends, Megan and Alissa. Abigail is the one on the right. They made a 'fort' in the front room, ate food, watched TV, had a blast. I fell asleep.

Disappointment

2009-03-14T07:16:00.008-06:00

Once upon a time, back when I was first asked to write an 'artists statement' about my project, I included these words:

"You however, are not my intended audience. I am creating this work to stand as a record for those who may never get to experience Great Salt Lake. You can come and visit it if you would like, others in future generations will not be able to experience the lake as it is today. It is those viewers that I am hoping to enlighten."

Several people that I respect read those words and suggested that I remove them, so I did. It is a little harsh. Basically true, but harsh. Harsh in a way that I thought might alienate my audience. So...I removed the text.

I bring this up only to remind myself that I am not really creating this work and these images for any one single person besides myself. I am not trying to please any particular group of people. I am not doing this to win a Pulitzer Prize (although that would be fun wouldn't it?).

Last month I entered a photographic competition which is created for projects that are broad and in-depth. After reading the judges statements from prior years and looking at previous award winners, I decided that my project could probably use exposure to a broader audience, and might actually stand a chance of winning something. I want this work to be seen and the story of Great Salt Lake to be known by more than just a small core of individuals.

For 2 months I sat patiently, writing my acceptance speech on a napkin to have 'just in case'. Last week I started to get a little nervous as the deadline approached. This week I was a total basket case checking the competition's website for any news announcing the winners. Finally yesterday a statement was made on their website to 'stay tuned to your e-mail'. So...I did.

I checked it. Frequently. Religiously. Anxiously. Obsessively. Thankfully I was rescued by some diversions yesterday and was forced to take my mind off of it, but those didn't last long, and I was again tempted by the siren call to check 'just one more time'.

I figured I'd at least get something in the e-mail. The project's organizers had said that they would contact those who were in the top 5, 10 and 20 percent of the judging as to encourage and reward their good efforts. Previous year's competitions had seen up to 800 entries and I figured, what's 20 percent of 800? 160 or so? Is my math really that bad? I figure I have a pretty good project, I should at least get in the top 20 percent shouldn't I? Of course I should!

So...anxiously I awaited to see how well I would place. I even announced my obsession on Facebook.

Last night, late, the announcements were made.

The only announcement that I received was that I would not be getting any awards.

What..the...F*&^????? No awards? No accolades? No parades down main street? Not even a pat on the back? There must be some mistake! I hurriedly re-scanned the list of award winners thinking I must have been in too much of a frenzied state to have recognized my own name the first time I scanned the list. I went over it again, upways and sideways and crossways and backways...it's starting to sound like a Willy Wonka monologue, but no, my name is still nowhere to be seen.

I lean back in bed and realize that I am actually very disappointed. I am bummed. I am even somewhat sick and light-headed about it. Then, I am mad. I am angry. I take it out on the nearest available person...my wife sitting patiently in bed next to me. She knows I'm just venting and let's me rant. She knows I'll get over it but still offers some words of compassion. Not many, but enough.

I lay down and fall asleep angry. I feel betrayed and sad. More angry than sad, and less betrayed than sad, yet more angry than not, and still with an underlying current of sadness and betrayal topped with a thick frosting of anger and bitterness mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg. No wait, that sounds yummy...there was no cinnamon and nutmeg...just bile and sourness and putrid anger and disappointment. I don't know when my consciousness blended into my unconsciousness, but clearly it wasn't long after closing my eyes.

I woke up this morning at 5:15, eyes wide open. I realize I went to bed angry, but now all I can think about is something that I heard once from my favorite musician, guitarist Pat Metheny.

He said, and I paraphrase...it is only 6:30 in the morning right now...”I don't care if people like my music, I only care if I like my music. If, after I present my music, people like it, that is great. If they don't like it, that's fine too, but I don't make my music to be liked or not, I make it for me.”

When he said that, I was angry. Who was he to discount me as his 'biggest fan'? I have over 30 of his CD's and can 'air-guitar' nearly every solo perfectly! I've seen him in concert...three times! I had him autograph a photo I took of him playing in Portland! I am a HUGE fan! Who does he think he is after all? Without me, the adoring fan, he would be NOTHING! Of all the nerve!

As I have thought and re-thought about this statement, the clearer it became and the more sense it made. Of course he doesn't make his music for others, he is not a commercial songwriter, he is an artist. For me to accept that about his work, I would have to accept that about my own work.

For a long time I made my living shooting photographs for other people. Clients who would pay me to do it exactly how they wanted. They hired me based on my ability to deliver what they needed. Occasionally I would get the great client who liked my interpretation and let me have a pretty loose leash, but ultimately it was them paying me, and if they didn't like it, I would re-shoot it.

This Great Salt Lake Photographic Survey is not for a client. It is not for any particular group of people. It is for me.

It sucks when that attitude conflicts with me being mad about not placing in a competition. Inner turmoil. The angst of the tortured artist.

I know it's not supposed to make me mad when other's don't like the work. After all, it is only for me right? If you like it, great! If not, that's fine too. Right?

So, now I'm drafting a letter in my head. It goes something like this:

Dear Judges,

Can I have my 150 bucks back?

Horse - reassembled, Rozel Flat, Great Salt Lake, Utah, 2008

Faith

2009-03-08T08:56:00.007-06:00

Here's our exercise in faith.

Spring Planting, 2009 from Michael Slade on Vimeo.

HERE is a little better quality version.

Coleman

2009-03-07T08:37:00.003-07:00

No...not Gary.

I refurbished two Coleman lanterns and a two-burner stove yesterday. The red lantern is my dad's. I remember falling asleep camping as a kid in our huge canvas tent listening to that quiet hissing sound, surrounded by the soft white glow.

With a little bit of maintenance, some new fuel and a bit of determination I got both lanterns and the stove running all at the same time.

We had the power go out the other night for a while, and even though we have a lot of flashlights and candles, I was not satisfied. I'm getting a little closer.

Lego

2009-03-05T12:48:00.004-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything of my own...but rest assured, I am still shooting.

I was forwarded a link to an amazing set of photographs taken by Mike Stimpson. He is a big fan of Lego's, classic photography, Star Wars and has a wonderful sense of humor. What do you get when you throw those qualities in a blender and let it sit on high for a while? Well, you get an amazingly creative set of images. He has recreated many of the 'classics' in photo history using Lego figures.

Here is a link to his Flickr site of classic images.

Annie

2009-02-25T17:44:00.003-07:00

Even Ms. Leibovitz is having a hard time paying her mortgages. At least she has assets and isn't afraid to use them. Much better than a bailout I think.

This is from the story in the Daily Mail of London:

"Photographer Annie Leibovitz has borrowed £10million against some of her most famous pictures to pay the mortgages on all her homes.

The artist, 59, has become so concerned with her mounting debt, accumulated on properties she inherited in 2004 after the death of her lover Susan Sontag, she has turned to a company that lends money with fine art as collateral.

Documents seen by the New York Times reveal she secured the funds by giving the company, Art Capital, ownership of all her work - past and future - until the loan is repaid. "

LINK

Times

2009-02-19T18:43:00.003-07:00

Well, if you, my faithful reader remembers my prediction of the end of the newspaper business, you may be interested to see the following chart:

The Sunday New York Times now costs more than one share of New York Times stock. Four bucks for the paper, three bucks and seventy-seven cents for one share.

I'm thinking of buying one share to frame on my wall. You may not be able to buy them very much longer.

The Grey Lady is dying a slow death.

Pyro

2009-02-17T19:31:00.002-07:00

I did some film testing over the weekend.

I shot some 8x10 sheets of FP4, HP5+ and TMAX 400. I shot two different scenes on each type of film, for a total of six sheets. I processed them today in a new developer from Gordon Hutchins called 'MaxPyro'. It's a staining developer which adds UV density for non-silver printing processes. The stain that it adds is green-ish and the negs have a unique quality to them.

I liked the FP4 negs the best so far, but I need to do some prints tomorrow to see for sure. It will be interesting to see how they scan also.

Xanadu

2009-02-15T21:29:00.003-07:00

Abigail and I rented it last night. We're watching it for the second time tonight.

You can make fun of us if you want, admittedly it's a terrible movie, but the soundtrack and miss Newton-John make it worth it.

The music is awesome. Tell me that you don't wanna put on some leg-warmers and roller-skate around in the driveway after hearing this.

Elwood

2009-02-10T18:30:00.002-07:00

We have an Elwood 8x10 enlarger at Waterford that up until this morning was sitting upside-down in a storage closet. I decided I was tired of thinking about setting it up, so today I did.

It's about 8 feet tall and looks like a rocket ship. I believe it's from the late '40's.

Miraculously all of the parts to put it together and make it work were actually there, it even has a 300mm Schneider enlarging lens which is very sharp.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning it up, making a table for the easel, putting on the lens and made 4 20x24 prints.

There is quite a bit of fall-off toward the edges, and I'm not sure I'm happy with any of the prints, but it was a pretty amazing thing to be enlarging an 8x10 negative. It was incredibly sharp. Possibly the sharpest enlargement I've ever made. I can't wait to shoot some new images and do some more printing.

I have an idea to make a digital center-graduated filter to place in the light chamber. I also picked up some glare-free glass to make a new glass negative carrier. I want to print these full-frame with a thick black border, and the regular negative carrier won't let me.

Pics of it tomorrow. I was too busy having fun today to even document it.

Fence

2009-02-01T20:41:00.004-07:00

I have been out to the lake twice in two days. Made one exposure with the 8x20 yesterday, made two more today. I wanted to see what I *hope* it can look like on at least one shot, so I shot it digitally also.

This is a piece of fence I have been looking at for three years. I have never had the right time to shoot it until tonight.

Inaugeration

2009-01-20T21:23:00.004-07:00

I hope BHO doesn't disappoint all those who came out to see the anointing of The Chosen One.

We'll see what tomorrow's sunrise will bring. I expect to find that he's come and filled my gas tank up and paid my mortgage.

Cut

2009-01-08T19:46:00.005-07:00

Abigail has been growing her hair for about a little over a year. It has to be able to be put into a ponytail that is twelve inches long. She has been very patient and looking forward to getting it cut for a while.

She told me, "I like it short because it doesn't get in my food as much". Sounds like as good a reason as any I think.

Here are some pics.

Action shots by Polla...

Studio shots by moi...

(don't you love the heavy-handed vignette?)

Tequila

2009-01-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Reminds me of Pee-Wee Herman.

First

2009-01-02T22:04:00.003-07:00

This is my first photograph of 2009. Charles Uibel took me out to the causeway that goes from the Hinkley Ranch to the south end of Antelope Island. This causeway is on private property, behind a big locked gate and is impossible to get to without permission. Fortunately Charles does have permission and allowed me to tag along with him today.

This causeway has had three breaches punched into it so that no one can use it to access the southern portion of Antelope Island. It's too bad, as we were about 2 miles from the island and there are some cool rock formations to photograph on that end that you cannot get to otherwise.

Breach In South Causeway To Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Last

2009-01-01T11:28:00.006-07:00

This is the last shot from 2008. I went out west of Stansbury Island yesterday and made this as the light was getting very sweet. I think I'll print it big.

Sunset On Deseret Peak

Polaroid

2008-12-28T10:15:00.002-07:00

I'm sad it's going away. It has been one of my favorite materials. There is an organization now that it hoping to Save Polaroid. I think it is a good idea, but ultimately, like the company, will fail.

Click Here To Save Polaroid

Snow

2008-12-24T07:14:00.002-07:00

Snow from Michael Slade on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas Eve!

JOBO

2008-12-21T07:06:00.003-07:00

Last week I started my very own JOBO Hospital. Waterford had 4 working JOBO's at one time (a JOBO is a machine made to develop various sizes of film and prints). Over the years they have gone bad and put into storage. Last year the last one gave up the ghost. During the summer another one was found and purchased off of eBay. When I was hired one of the things I wanted to do was repair the ones that were dead and get them all running.

This term the Juniors are going to be doing color E-6 medium format, so even though we have one working unit, I had some time and decided that I would dive into them. I completely disassembled all four of them, determined what wasn't working, cannibalized bits'n'pieces and got two of them running perfectly. I even calibrated the water heaters.

Of the remaining two, at least one of them can be brought back to working condition. I need to have the motor looked at and possibly rebuilt. The fourth one would work except that the heater control switch has been ripped out of the circuit board. I'm afraid that's beyond my level of understanding. If anyone has a broken JOBO CPP/CPA-2, let me know. I could use the parts.

Here's the film developing room. On the left is my NuArc exposure unit.

Tomorrow I'm rebuilding the large Seal dry-mount press...during Christmas Break I might add. Aren't I dedicated? Actually I'm just avoiding potential problems and it's really a selfish motive.

Camel

2008-12-20T22:49:00.006-07:00

I got to pet a live camel tonight. I blogged about it more on my Creche Blog.

The camel's name is Chuck. To make it stand you say: "UP! Chuck!"

Students

2008-12-09T12:20:00.004-07:00

Here is a selection of student work from last term. I had one senior who was working with portraits and the 2 1/4 TLR. I also had four juniors who were shooting 4x5 field cameras using paper negatives. The juniors even got to use the 8x10 for a day.

Creche

2008-11-30T22:27:00.001-07:00

I've started a new blog for the Christmas season. It's called 'creche-a-day'. It's located here:

Cick here to go to it.

Concert

2008-11-30T22:15:00.004-07:00

Abigail is in the Riverton Children's Choir. They had their Christmas Concert tonight in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. I have been playing with a Canon G6 camera and shot some pictures in it's RAW mode. Put them into a pano. Didn't turn out half-bad I think.

Captain

2008-11-18T21:55:00.003-07:00

So a bunch of guys from Utah have decided to do a 'Relic Run'. That means that nothing that is newer than 1975 can go on the trip. Trucks, maps, camping gear, sleeping bags, clothes, cameras, etc... NOTHING.

I've started finding my gear already. I have this cool flashlight that was given to me by Jim and Vicky Cushing. I needed a flashlight at their house the other night to look at my flat tire (see previous post), and this gem was brought out of the cabinet. I was so excited!!! It is circa 1972 and will be perfect. It puts out just enough light to be functional, but not enough light to be good.

Super-mega bonus-points for looking like a light saber. It even has a belt clip loop.

Flat

2008-11-17T14:02:00.002-07:00

I have a habit of using tires that I know are going to go flat. I had a tire/rim that was bent and was leaking air pretty badly. I put a can of Slime into the tire thinking that it might stop the leak. It didn't. I ended up trying to drive the truck on it's rim and bent it worse and cut up the tire's sidewall pretty bad. There was a three-inch cut in the sidewall, and no amount of slime would help. I had to fix it on Sunday. No biggie.

Mistake

2008-11-14T11:12:00.002-07:00

Mackenzie Martin, one of my sophomores, printed this portrait of her 100-year old grandfather. It was printed on the wrong side of the printing paper and all of the inks ran together. I saw it and wanted to keep it. The ink has not dried, nor will it ever dry (well, it might in 50 years or so...), so I took a photograph of the print to preserve the character of the running ink. I really like this. I might actually do a series of images that are done like this.

Test

2008-11-13T15:20:00.002-07:00

This is a photograph of Abigail I shot about 2 months ago. I needed an image that was a .psd file to show my 10th grade class how to flatten and save an image for the web. I figured I ought to at least post it to the blog. Here it is.

Shot with the Hassy, the 100mm lens, some Ilford film in my basement studio with a big softbox.

Bias

2008-11-08T17:21:00.007-07:00

Journalism is officially dead.

I wonder why the Washington Post didn't see this trend and report on it several months ago.

And Matthews? He makes me wanna puke. First he gets a tingle up his leg over his candidate, admits it on national TV, then he cries over a speech. Ugh.

It's not surprizing that their outlets continue to perish. Their contributors are cancerous.

Redux

2008-11-05T05:58:00.004-07:00

Redux:

/rɪˈdʌks/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ri-duhks]
–adjective
brought back; resurgent: the Victorian era redux.

Origin:
1650–60; < L: returning (as from war or exile), n. deriv. (with pass. sense) of redūcere to bring back; see reduce

Many people have been comparing the upcoming administration to what would have amounted to Jimmy Carter's Second Term. While searching the internet for portraits to use as examples in class, I stumbled upon this image taken by Richard Avedon. He photographed this while working on his last project - Democracy.

I think it is an eerie premonition that Avedon paired these two next to each other.

God help us all.

Love

2008-11-03T19:03:00.001-07:00

On the eve of what is bound to be a stressful, anxiety filled election day, I have had this song stuck in my head. I found this video on YouTube and it made me smile.

Effects

2008-10-29T22:42:00.002-06:00

My nieghbors wanted me to do something special for their Christmas Cards this year, so two separate families came over on Sunday afternoon for a photo session. Each member of each family dressed up as a Star Wars character and I shot individual shots for each of them. I am going to do a composite complete with special effects that will incorporate each of them into a grand battle out on the west desert of Utah.

I did a test tonight of knocking out a figure, adding a light-saber effect and dropping it into a background I'd shot during the summer. I also did a little reflection just to see how it would turn out.

Not perfect, but I'm pretty happy.

Capitol

2008-10-13T22:05:00.003-06:00

I took four of my Junior AP photo students and my daughter up to the Utah State Capitol building to do a little view-camera mini-workshop. Each student is working with a Wista 4x5 and we're shooting paper negatives. I'm using a Toyo 8x10 field camera and doing the camera movement demos with it (it's easier to see how it works with the larger groundglass).

The students shot about 20 sheets of film today, and then each shot 2 sheets of 8x10. Even Abigail jumped under the darkcloth to check things out.

I had to make a little timelapse and set it to music.

Utah State Capitol and Waterford Photo Students from Michael Slade on Vimeo.

Carrots

2008-10-12T13:44:00.001-06:00

We planted purple carrots this spring. Today I dug them up.

Zion

2008-10-04T20:55:00.002-06:00

This is how you know you're in Zion.

Oh yeah, the shake was pretty good.

Photograph courtesy Pascal Schuback.

Anniversary

2008-09-11T15:08:00.001-06:00

Seven years. Wow. Seems like yesterday. Don't ever forget.

I shot these images on October 10, 2000.

I was in New York for the Eddie Adams Workshop and rented a helicopter for about an hour and a half to fly and photograph over New York. I get nostalgic and want to look at them every now and then.

I miss the World Trade Center.

Crew

2008-09-08T22:07:00.004-06:00

I went out with the Waterford Crew on Saturday morning. Got to hang off the front of a little motorboat while the 8-man skull went through the paces. Got a good shot of it...paid for it with salt water droplets all over my camera. It was worth it.

Mariotti

2008-08-27T09:49:00.003-06:00

Legendary Chicago sports writer Jay Mariotti resigned from the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday. There is an article about it HERE. His basic reason is that sports writing is now a web-oriented profession. Newspapers are out.

You may remember a post of mine a few days ago where I was talking about this. I also noticed yesterday that the New York Times ad revenue is down significantly this year. I wonder when the demise of the newspaper business will no longer be news.

Bonneville

2008-08-22T20:31:00.011-06:00

My son Connor and I went out to Wendover, last night to meet an old friend from Portland, Ed Sanman. Ed had been on a two-week road trip out to see as many interesting car events as he could. He came to Wendover to attend Speed Week at the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats.

We slept in his very cute Airstream Bambi (crap, no photos...bummer...), and headed out early to get the first light.

I shot some neat panos and a couple of singles, and let Connor do some shooting. He concentrated on the 'World's Fastest Ferrari', which ironically, has a Chevy V8 engine in it.

Here are some shots of the cars and our set-up as we spectated.

Came home today sunburned and tired. A fun few days.

Osama

2008-08-20T20:33:00.001-06:00

I think the best way to express my outrage at the guy is to make fun of him...or at least laugh uncontrollably when others make fun of him. After all, it's the American Way...Osama would hate it.

Thesis

2008-08-16T22:30:00.005-06:00

I had my MFA thesis exhibit for the past few weeks. It was at the AVA Gallery in Logan from August 1-16. I took it down this morning. Defended it last night, and I barely passed. They raked me over the coals. I sold one print from the show...the one Jon Long told me to swap out (the swimmer showering at Saltair). I'm glad I put it in. Anyway, here's how it looked. Many thanks to those who came and showed their support.

Ghosts

2008-08-16T22:17:00.002-06:00

Went to Lake Powell last week to relax on the biggest houseboat I've ever been on. Jet-skis, kayaks, ski-boat, fishing, sleeping, sun-burning (I thought I was 'tanning'), etc... Went down with Polla and the kids, my brother and his family. A good...no, a GREAT time was had by all. I even shot a roll of slide film with my underwater Canon camera. Can't wait to develop them actually.

Shot a LOT of time-lapse, and only a few stills. This is one of them. I stared at this rock all week knowing I'd want to shoot it before I left. It is really the only still image I did all week. A nice break.

Gear

2008-08-16T20:03:00.011-06:00

Call me a geek, but I like to look at the sidelines instead of the action sometimes.

This is an amazing panorama of the photo pit at the end of the 100m men's final. Ah-maze-eeeeng!

Secret

2008-08-10T04:39:00.002-06:00

Charles' Secret Spot from Michael Slade on Vimeo.

Charles Uibel took me to one of his secret spots out near Great Salt Lake this week. He's shooting the lake also, but his style is quite a bit different than mine. He's been to places I didn't know existed, so it's good to get out to the lake with someone else.

I did take a still that I liked a lot too.

Swedes

2008-08-08T21:31:00.002-06:00

Well, this past weekend was a busy one, the Anderson's from Sweden and the USA got together...well, at least the ones that are related on our tiny little branch on the family tree.

We met at Anderson Park in Pleasant Grove, which was the homestead site of the Anderson family. There is a neat amphitheater there that we all gathered together for the ceremonial family group shot.

Yes, I took it. Of course it had to be a panorama. The final image measures 10x30 images and can be downloaded HERE.

WARNING: THIS FILE IS VERY LARGE...57 MEGABYTES LARGE...IF YOU DON'T HAVE A HIGH-SPEED CONNECTION, YOU WILL BE WAITING FOR A WHILE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Mac users, option-click to download it, PC users, click 'save as' and you'll be able to get it too. If you have trouble downloading it, let me know.

Here's a small version. If your eyes are shut it's your fault, not mine.

Church

2008-07-27T17:47:00.003-06:00

Since I didn't go to church today (spent the weekend in St. George...), I thought I'd share something about some Texas churches that some people I know from APUG are doing.

I have several photography friends who are working on extended multi-year projects. I think that the things that the participants in The Texas Church Project say will ring true.

Glass

2008-07-26T07:37:00.002-06:00

I learned the most amazing thing about cutting glass. Allow me to pontificate...

I am making 60 (yes, sixty) frames for my MFA exhibit which opens on Friday, August first at the AVA Gallery in Logan. Come on by if you are in the area.

Whilst making my frames, I decided this round to cut my own glass. I am getting my matt board and foamcore from a local wholesaler who also sells glass in 32x40 sheets in packages of 6 lights (a light is a pane of glass...). $25 for 6 sheets and I can get 3 pieces for my frames out of one light of glass. So, not too shabby on the pricing, it is a lot less than what I paid for cut glass 2 years ago.

I have a Logan matt cutter, and discovered that they make a glass cutter. I bought it for $26 and can now cut my glass.

I started cutting and after one package I had worn through the pin, or axle, that the diamond glass-cutting wheel rides on. Snapped it right in half.

I found a 'repair kit' which consists of three extra wheels and two axle pins. I decided to look on Logan's site to see about any special 'instructions' they might have.

I scoffed, thinking I knew everything there was to know about cutting glass, but I learned something that has made all the difference.

Logan recommends using kerosene or lighter fluid as a lubricant both on the wheel of the cutter and liberally along the piece of glass to be cut. I got some Kingsford Charcoal Lighting Fluid (it was a buck cheaper than Kerosene), and went to town.

I sprayed it on a paper towel and wiped it along the area to be cut. I also lubed up the cutter.

The first cut was so smooth! I couldn't believe it! The cutter worked so well, it was amazing! No jumping across the glass, just a smooth even cut with not a lot of glass splinters after it was scored.

Snapping the glass once it was scored took very minimal effort, and I was amazed at how straight and even the final cut was. I didn't have to press down as hard as without the fluid. I am thinking that's why I broke the first cutting wheel axle initially. Too much pressure. With the fluid, you apply minimal pressure. A may zing!!!!

Anyway, Tyler probably already knows all the glass secrets, but this one had escaped me for all of those years. I haven't decided if I'll share it with my friends or keep it to myself. ;)

Sinking

2008-07-16T19:58:00.002-06:00

...ship that is.

In my career I started out as a photojournalist working for nearly every paper in Utah in one form or another.

Started out in Tooele shooting half-tones at 5am for paste-up with a waxer and x-acto knife at 8. What memories. I've seen the digital revolution rumored and whispered about, then fully embraced. Darkrooms and stat cameras tossed out the windows. Hard-drives and sat. phones eaten up like candy. Big big changes in the industry during my career.

I've shot for AP, UPI, AFP, Newsweek, Forbes, Agence France-Presse, some unknown Asian business magazines, Runners World, and a smattering of magazines in the off-roading industry. A pretty varied career within publishing, and the industry has always captured my interest, even after I abandoned it 15 years ago.

Why did I jump ship? I didn't like the way things were going. Let's just say I was a round hole trying to fit into a square peg. I left and started shooting commercially and editorially, but no more hard news.

I held my breath, silently at times, at others not so silent, as I watched the news business turn more into business and less into news. Clearly it's been bad business, because things in the newsaper bid'ness just ain't what they used to be.

I don't think of myself as any kind of soothsayer, but as I saw newspapers shift and squirm and try to figure out how they were going to deal with cable TV and the internet, I wondered how they were going to survive.

Multi-media arrived with a subdued roar to the newspaper bid'ness, and the lines of print/TV were blurred even more. Being a 'Platypus' was beginning to be considered a necessary evil. What's a platypus? A newspaper PJ who was forced to carry a video camera and generate content for the internet. How in the world they expected even that small change to work is beyond me. For some it does work, for most it doesn't.

It's been sort of sad, but almost predictable to see the slow steady demise of the newspaper industry. Where it will go from here is anyone's guess...but not really.

Newspapers are slow and cumbersome, and some would even say cold-blooded. Kind of reminds me of another creature that went extinct en-masse.

This recent screen-grab from Drudge says it all:

These headlines have been trickling in for some time now. Unfortunately I think the flood gates might be opening.

Emergency!

2008-07-14T11:26:00.009-06:00

Got back from Long Beach late last night. Polla and I went down for a wedding (it'll be a seperate post...), but since I was heading to LA, I thought I'd see if I could be a little 'touristy'.

I have had a fixation on the show 'Emergency!' lately, and I did some research on where it was filmed. Come to find that the original 'Station 51' was just about 15 minutes away from the airport! I found a fan site with instructions on how to go there, found that they actually do tours and aren't afraid of the occasional 'fan'. So, MapQuest directions in hand, we went looking for it and found it quite easily.

When I got there there were some firefighters outside sweeping up the place, doing yard work, making it look nice. It was pretty hot, so they were working up a pretty good sweat. Firefighter Tom offered to give me 'the tour'. They do this ALL THE TIME, and I have to say I apologized over and over for taking so much of their day, but he never even gave the impression that it was an inconvenience. It was weird to drive up and have this total 8 year old kid flashback as I looked at the building and realized it looked exactly the same.

This is their new ladder truck. It's an '03. That's all I really know about it. The original Dodge Squad 51 is in the L.A. County Firefighting Museum. Engine 51 has been in service at Yosemite National Park until recently (this summer I believe), it was retired and is going to be restored and join Squad 51 at the museum.

This is the radio room now. The original radio room is now the Captains Quarters. The tones that LA County Fire now uses are not the ones used on the show. They don't even sound close. They do get the warbling tones on occasion, but Firefighter Tom said they don't sound the same. He said he would have to kick me out and cut the tour short if they got a call. They have a couple of fun photocopied promotional photographs from the show that they hand out.

These two shots are the 'Day Room'. Everything is the same, except that there was a partition removed between the kitchen and dining areas. I asked if they ever watch any old episodes just for fun. "We do that every day man...why would we watch it on TV?" Firefighter Tom had an answer for everything.

In the Day Room they had a little shrine set up with this memorabilia. There were a few other knick-knacks around the room, a model of the building, a poster of the original Dodge Squad 51, etc...

This is the display that they have for tourists to come and see. The "Squad 51" phrase is trademarked and cannot be used, as is "Emergency!", so neither can be used on any marketing material from LA County Fire. Universal Studios has allowed the station to have this display up and that is all they can do. They do sell t-shirts that say "The Home of the Show" and LA County Fire has trademarked that so they can use it on their Station 127 materials. "The Home of the Show" don't quite cut it for me, so I didn't buy a t-shirt.

The locker/shower area hasn't been changed since the show. All original cabinets and woodwork. The sinks/toilets/showers are to the rear of where I am standing for the picture.

Now many of you may be wondering just why am I showing a picture of a brick wall and a treadmill? Well, this sets up an interesting story.

Several years ago, the station decided to put in an indoor gym so they could take advantage of the AC cooled facility in the summer heat. In order to put in the gym, they had to remove two small brick partitions that were originally used to seperate the sleeping areas from each other. They saved the bricks and put them out back behind the station. One day a 'fan' came and when they found out the bricks were in the back, asked if they could have them. They subsequently found their way onto eBay and Universal Studios got pissed.

Apparently Universal and LACFD had an agreement that when the show was done being filmed, that the station would remain in the same condition that it had at the time of the series. Hence the original shower cabinetry, kitchen, offices, furniture, etc... About the only thing that has changed are the sheets, mattresses and personnel. So, Universal is enforcing their agreement, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't change the building.

I wonder where those bricks are now???

This is a pair of turn-out boots and a wall map of part of LA County. Nothing particularly noteworthy, I just liked the boots and the light.

Here is me. My wife calls me a geek...she's a good sport putting up with me.

Journey

2008-07-08T13:17:00.004-06:00

Alright, for all those die-hard Journey fans, their latest album, 'Revelation', is a little 'different', but heck, who said different wasn't good?

For the record, I LOVE Steve Perry, and all that he did for Journey, heck, there wouldn't be a Journey IMO if it wasn't for Steve Perry. But, he made the choice not to be with the band, not the other way around.

So, Journey wandered aimlessly for several years trying to get 'the sound'. Nothing worked, everything sucked, everyone was comparing the latest lead vocalist to Perry...rightfully so. We all have that voice stuck in our head and nothing else will do.

Along comes Arnel Pineda. Yep, an unknown discovered by guitarist Neil Schon on the internet. Breaking down any preconceptions of how talent is 'discovered', Schon and the boys flew Pineda from the Phillipines to America for a little audition.

Well, cut to the chase and Pineda is the new lead singer for Journey. Yes, Schon admits that he was looking for someone to recapture that signature Journey sound, and Pineda does a pretty gosh darn good Steve Perry impersonation, which is probably what got the attention of the band in the first place.

But, there is a difference to his sound. Is it good? Is it bad? I'll describe it as young and timid, and not quite sure he can pull it off. It's as if Pineda is waiting for everyone to discover the emporer is not wearing any clothes.

Pineda will have to wait a long time, because he can sing. I mean he can really sing. Sure he has a tough time hitting a few notes, a few are a bit flat when they need to be a bit sharp (to fit that memory stuck in our heads).

Disc 1 is full of new material, one or two will end up being hits. That's about all we really got from any single Journey album in the first place, so this one won't fall short in that regard. One is already destined to be a wedding reception/senior prom classic, "After All These Years", and yes, I do like it. It has that classic Journey guitar riff that will stick in your head. Also some good ol' fashioned '80's sappy lyrics that really do tug at the tender heart strings. A positive message with a singable melody that will endear itself to the 'easy listening' set immediately. Other than that single, they all are pretty run-of-the-mill soft-rock songs. A few guitar solos hidden in just so Schon can have some fun.

Disc 2 is all old classic material that let's Pineda show his chops for the old fans, and for better or worse, sets himself up for the instant Pineda/Perry cage match. Pineda can sing, but he's not *quite* Perry. But, I am an old-school Journey fan with a secret longing for Perry to get off his a#* and re-join the band. I'm not sure they'd have him, as they've waited for years and decided to take matters into their own hands. The classics are all there, with the occasional off-key soaring high notes and all. Pineda will have to tune his voice just a tad to satisfy the harshest critics.

Disc 3 is actually a DVD of their first US concert held in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can sense a bit of tense nervous energy from the crowd waiting to see if Pineda will crash and burn. Remember, these fans have been punished by not one, not two, but three previous singers between the Perry era and today. Pineda takes only one song to warm up the crowd before they jump on board the Journey memory machine. It is a good concert video, and a very good concert. Drummer Dean Castronovo makes a very powerful case for himself even being the lead vocalist on one tune.

All in all I'm pretty happy to see Journey rekindle the spark that they had back when I was a wide-eyed hormone filled teenager sitting like a wall-flower dreaming of dancing with Kim Skousen during 'Open Arms'. It seems most bands of their generation would be content to sing at the county fair and rest on their laurels re-hashing old material. The old material is what concert goers are going to want to hear, but it's nice that they're working on new songs as well and trying to win over a new audience.

I'll tell you how well Pineda sounds live if I can pick the cotton out of my ears after hearing them in concert this Friday. We're taking the kids and yes, I'm bringing a lighter.

Independence

2008-07-05T20:28:00.004-06:00

Apu from 'The Simpsons' said it best:

"Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it!"

So...we did.

A Small-Town 4th from Michael Slade on Vimeo.

An HD version of this video can be seen by CLICKING HERE.

Falcon

2008-07-03T23:48:00.000-06:00

I saw this Falcon at the parade today in Riverton. I didn't have time to focus. I was trying to catch my family as they walked away from me. Sorry.

Education

2008-06-26T19:30:00.004-06:00

Today I went to school...chicken slaughtering school.

Solstice

2008-06-21T20:18:00.005-06:00

This year I celebrated it with other people.

Here's some raw footage of the timelapse I did.

WARNING - kind of big.

Last year didn't turn out as well.

Work

2008-06-18T01:01:00.006-06:00

Shot a commercial job yesterday for Tim Goodman, a local singer.

He arranged for this gutted out piano to borrow, brought it out in a huge U-haul then he, a buddy of his and I, lugged it out into the Great Salt Lake. What a pain...but it was worth it.

Bugs

2008-06-15T13:59:00.003-06:00

I think these RC cars look like bugs.

RC cars at Black Rock, Great Salt Lake from Michael Slade on Vimeo.

Glowsticks

2008-06-09T12:09:00.004-06:00

Here's a fun little time-lapse test we did last week. Abigail is the dancer, I am the fat one.

Abigail Dancing in the Dark from Michael Slade on Vimeo.

Chicken

2008-06-06T22:39:00.005-06:00

My parents got 75 chicks this spring. They are growing up quickly. We get to kill them in three weeks. I can't wait to see them running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Here's my dad feeding them. Apparently chicken feed isn't as cheap as chicken feed anymore.

Ham

2008-05-21T15:20:00.000-06:00

Spot the ham.

Speaking

2008-05-15T07:56:00.002-06:00

Presented last night. Was supposed to end at 9pm...I chose to ramble on a bit longer, ending at about 9:20. I was surprised when I was finished because I still had a few more things I wanted to say. I think I need to learn how to shut up.

The place was packed...standing room only!

Thanks to those that did come. For those that couldn't make it...well, you've probably heard me talk before, and you'll probably hear me talk again.

I had a lot of fun and I think that those who made it learned something. I know I did.

Here's a pano of the theater and yours truly pontificating. Photo taken by Jason Goates, a friend from the Expedition Portal website.

Waterford

2008-05-14T11:52:00.004-06:00

It's official. I am very excited to announce that I will be teaching at Waterford next fall.

I will be one of two full-time photography instructors teaching in a very well established program with world-class facilities. I couldn't be happier.

It's about a 20 minute drive on the east side of the valley. One of the perks is the free-flowing Coke machine located in the teacher's lounge just down the hall. Oh yeah, Tillman will send me the 8x20 camera too. I think this will be really fun. A lot of work, to be sure, but definitely exciting.

Demonized

2008-05-13T07:55:00.006-06:00

I found the following information this morning while doing some research on Great Salt Lake.

"In your teachable moment explain some of the differences between what the Bible says and what Mormons preach. Then locate a map or picture of the Great Salt Lake, in Utah. If you cannot locate one at home, go on the Internet or make a trip to the library to find it.

"As you look at this great expanse of water in Utah, have your children note the beautiful features of the lake. Do not read anything about the lake to your children saving all the details for later. Just have your children describe the great beauty they see in the Salt Lake from a bird’s eye view. When you have finished your assessment, take your children on a day trip to a near by fresh water lake, one that is full of life and God’s beauty. Enjoy the lake together, but pick a time toward the end of the day where your children can reflect on the life and beauty of the lake.

"If possible pull out the picture of the Great Salt Lake. And then explain that even though the Great Salt Lake looks beautiful from a picture, or even from a distance, it is not. Because nothing can live in the Great Salt Lake. It is filled with so much salt that nothing can survive. It only looks like it is alive, and that is how it is with Mormonism and all other cults.

"From the outside they look to be beautiful and alive. But as you finally see them up close you will find there is no life at all. Just as there is no fresh water, fish, or green foliage in and around the Great Salt Lake so there is no true spiritual life in or around the Mormon faith. It is all a façade of the real thing."

First of all I have tremendous problems with the original premise of the article, that of claiming Mormonism is empty and a farce.

Secondly, and this is somewhat ironic, I am almost more offended by the idea that the author can demonize the Great Salt Lake.

How ridiculous is it to say that the lake is empty, dead, devoid of green foliage, fish...only 'looking like it is alive'. Drawing the analogy between that 'dead lake' and the 'dead Mormon faith' is quite a stretch. Maybe a better analogy is to realize that indeed most people see the lake as dead, but upon further examination is rich and vibrant and full of life.

Clearly the author has never been to Great Salt Lake...or done much study about Mormonism.

Betsy

2008-05-12T15:34:00.006-06:00

I recently learned of an old folk song that mentions the Great Salt Lake. Written around 1849, it is uncredited. Sung to the tune of the tragic English ballad, "Villikens and His Dinah."

Sweet Betsy from Pike

Did you ever hear tell of Sweet Betsy from Pike,
Who crossed the wide mountains with her lover Ike,
Two yoke of cattle, a large yeller dog,
A tall Shanghai rooster, and a one-spotted hog.

Singing too-ra-li-oo-ra-li-oo-ra-li-ay.

They swam the wide rivers and crossed the tall peaks,
And camped on the prairie for weeks upon weeks.
Starvation and cholera, hard work and slaughter--
They reached California 'spite of hell and high water.

One evening quite early they camped on the Platte,
Twas near by the road on a green shady flat.
Betsy, sore-footed, lay down to repose--
With wonder Ike gazed on that Pike County rose.

Out on the prairie one bright, starry night,
They broke out the whiskey, and Betsy got tight.
She sang and she shouted and she danced o'er the plain,
And she showed her bare arse to the whole wagon train.

The Injuns came down in a thundering horde,
And Betsy was scared they would scalp her adored.
So under the wagon-bed Betsy did crawl
And she fought off the Injuns with musket and ball.

The wagon broke down with a terrible crash,
And out on the prairie rolled all sorts of trash.
A few little baby-clothes, done up with care,
Looked rather suspicious, but all on the square.

They stopped at Salt Lake to inquire of the way,
When Brigham declared that Sweet Betsy should stay.
Betsy got frightened and ran like a deer,
While Brigham stood pawing the ground like a steer.

(alternate verse about Great Salt Lake)

They came to the desert and Salt Water Lakes,
The ground it was teemin' with varmints and snakes,
Beset by wild Indians, Comanche and Sioux.
'Tis a glorious tale how they ever got through.

(I like that verse better...it's kinder to Brigham and makes the lake sound like the villian instead)

The alkali desert was burning and bare,
And Isaac's soul shrank from the death that lurked there.
"Dear old Pike County, I'll go back to you"--
Says Betsy, "You'll go by yourself if you do!"

They soon reached the desert, where Betsy gave out,
And down in the sand she lay rolling about.
Ike in great wonder looked on in surprise,
Saying, "Betsy, get up, you'll get sand in your eyes."

Sweet Betsy got up in a great deal of pain.
She declared she'd go back to Pike County again.
Ike gave a sigh, and they fondly embraced,
And they traveled along with his arm round her waist.

The Shanghai ran off, and the cattle all died,
That morning the last piece of bacon was fried.
Ike got discouraged, Betsy got mad,
The dog drooped his tail and looked wonderfully sad.

They suddenly stopped on a very high hill,
With wonder looked down upon old Placerville.
Ike said to Betsy, as he cast his eyes down,
"Sweet Betsy, my darling, we've got to Hangtown."

Long Ike and Sweet Betsy attended a dance.
Ike wore a pair of his Pike County pants.
Betsy was covered with ribbons and rings.
Says Ike, "You're an angel, but where is your wings?"

A miner said, "Betsy, will you dance with me?"
"I will that, old hoss, if you don't make too free.
Don't dance me hard, do you want to know why?
Doggone you, I'm chock-full of strong alkali."

This Pike County couple got married, of course,
But Ike became jealous, and obtained a divorce.
Betsy, well-satisfied, said with a shout,
"Goodby, you big lummox, I'm glad you backed out!"

This song is even available on iTunes. Check it out. It's one I'll make you all sing next time we're around a campfire...be prepared!

Rocks

2008-05-06T15:15:00.002-06:00

I am preparing some rocks. I had to start by washing them. Of course I put the technology contained in our kitchen to good use.

I want to make them look 'wet' without them being 'wet'.

Get it?

Escape

2008-04-30T18:38:00.003-06:00

It seems I'm posting other people's stuff on my blog lately...not that I haven't been working, it's just that it's kind of 'boring' and not 'blog-worthy'.

I did find this though that I like.

Clearly someone has thought about this song WAY too much.

Potato

2008-04-25T09:16:00.004-06:00

Apparently it's the international year of the potato, or 'IPY' if you're in the know.

Cliques ici s'il vous plais.

J'taime la potato.

Karaoke

2008-04-23T07:50:00.002-06:00

Sing along. It's alright. You know you wanna.

One more...no lyrics. I know you know it anyway...

'Gotta feelin' that's forever..
that we're gonna' stay together...'

Woody

2008-04-15T07:49:00.002-06:00

In honor of April 15th, I needed a good song to cheer me up. I actually played this song in HS Jazz band. Of course I thought we were good, clearly not this good.

This is Woody Herman's band playing the Chick Corea tune, 'La Fiesta'. La Fiesta is Spanish for 'The Fiesta'.

Yes that is Lyle Mays playing the keyboards.

LAX

2008-04-13T14:15:00.004-06:00

Connor is playing Lacrosse again this year. Here is a shot from practice Saturday.

Tomoko

2008-04-05T08:06:00.003-06:00

I was looking at the Sotheby's catalog for an upcoming auction on photography this morning, and the image that W. Eugene Smith made in 1971 forced me to learn more. I have looked at this image many many times, but today I thought I'd like to understand this image better. This is what I discovered about it.

Aileen Mioko Smith
July 5, 2001

The following is Aileen Mioko Smith's statement explaining her decision to no longer release the photograph "Tomoko and Mother in the Bath" by W. Eugene Smith.

This statement was released at the Arles/Perpignan, France Photo Fetes press conference.

The decision to no longer release the photograph "Tomoko and Mother in the Bath" was made after a great deal of deliberation, with love and care. I am grateful to be given this opportunity by the organizers of this press conference to explain this decision.

"Tomoko and Mother in the Bath" was taken by W. Eugene Smith during our project of photographing Minamata between the years 1971 and 1974. Taken on a chilly December afternoon in 1971, in the little bathing room, the air was intense as we all four in bated breath made this statement. It would never have happened if merely the will of the photographer had been asserted upon his subjects.

I believe it is the viewer that creates the power in this photograph, completing its image. And so this photograph has been in a constant process of being re-created over the 30 years since its making, and I wish to add, will continue being created anew for the years to come, now in a different and in some sense more powerful way.

In spite of working with Gene and fighting with him as though a colleague, he was finally, a mentor, and the decision I made as holder of copyright to this photograph was very much because I believe in what he said, and because I wish to honor his tradition. I do not intend to have this decision be a setter of precedents, but I do believe that this decision contributes to the work of photography as art and journalism. I have never felt so sure and good about making any decision in my life, and that is for me personally quite a miracle.

Gene said that as photographer he had two responsibilities. One was to his subjects and the other was to his viewers. He said if both responsibilities were met, this automatically would meet his responsibility to his editors. "Integrity" and "stubbornness" were what Gene held most high.

I would like to tell you a little about Tomoko's family. Photography is neither medicine nor god and the photograph "Tomoko and Mother in the Bath", in spite of its release worldwide, could not cure Tomoko's illness, the result of being contaminated with deadly organic mercury from a Japanese sea polluted with industrial waste. Her mother had unknowingly eaten contaminated fish while pregnant with Tomoko and the poison had gone through the placenta to the child. Tomoko's parents called their eldest a "treasure child" because she had absorbed the poison that would have remained otherwise in her mother. Because of Tomoko having taken away the poison from her mother, all of Tomoko's siblings, five girls and a boy, were not afflicted with Minamata Disease like Tomoko.

Prejudice remained, and still does to this day against those who have members of the family afflicted with Minamata Disease. This makes marriage difficult if not impossible in some cases. In 1976, shortly after her rights of passage into adulthood and shortly before her siblings reached marriageable age, Tomoko died. Tomoko's death was an indication that Tomoko, so loved by her family, was making a statement as she left their lives. This was only a decision that could be made by Tomoko, and so it was.

Tomoko's parents to this very day remain firm in their desire to rid the world of pollution. "Extermination" is the word Tomoko's father uses. And so they care that this photograph be not erased from this earth. And so be it. (The work in publications that already exist, in museums and with collectors will do that.)

Needless to say, after Tomoko's death, this photograph meant something different. It wasn't about Tomoko anymore, a life being lived, but about continuing to reach out to the entire world, seeking the extermination of pollution, expressing the love of mother and child.

In living life, we learn that the gift of love is given to us willingly, we cannot take it for granted, nor can we assume it will be offered forever.

To be honest, over the years it became a greater and greater burden for me to continue to answer to the publication of this photograph. Tomoko's parents remained silent, but I knew how they felt because I know how I feel. I kept telling myself, "I know people have been moved, even their lives changed by this image. I must continue to release it to the world. It is my duty." But gradually, this was turning to profanity. I knew that Tomoko's parents, now nearly a quarter century since her death, wanted Tomoko to rest. "Yasumasete agetai" (we want to let her rest) were their words. And I felt the same. I literally felt Tomoko's efforts over these two and a half decades, each time going out to the world, naked, showing everything of her polluted body.

This photograph would mean nothing if it did not honor Tomoko. This photograph would be a profanity if it continued to be issued against the will of Tomoko and her family. Because this was a statement about Tomoko's life, it must honor that life and by it her death.

The viewer, what about the viewer? To really honor the viewer, I must not lie to her or him. How could I publish this photograph, keeping secret the fact that in reality we needed Tomoko to rest?

What about the world of photography? Will this decision to terminate future publication abet a "dangerous trend" of subjects asserting themselves, preventing the release of images? I do not believe so. This particular decision made on the Tomoko photograph was an act of exercising copyright, not relinquishing it.

There is a fight to be fought, and it must be the right fight that we fight. Each case is different. And I believe this decision will add strength to photography, not weaken it.

I believe this particular decision does honor to this particular photograph as a work of art and as a work of journalism, and by it honors the art and journalism of photography itself. Because --if I may be so brash to add-- if all subjects and viewers in the world knew that each photograph that is seen in the world is a result of careful deliberation, not an accident of mass production, the power of photography would soar.

Finally, to me it is as though Tomoko is sending us out into a world --this time without her-- saying, "Now it is your turn. Now you must express with your art and your journalism the statement this image made, and even more!"

The challenges are great before us whether we are photographer, working in the world of photography, or, like me, simply carrying on from the tradition of W. Eugene Smith in other ways. There is so much to do, and what might be called the "loss" of this photograph can give us courage to know that we have a task before us that is great.

Original article.

Here is another fascinating article about the image by Jim Hughes, longtime friend and Biographer of W. Eugene Smith.

Presenting

2008-04-04T21:52:00.013-06:00

It's official - I will be presenting my work at an international conference! Pretty exciting for me actually. Even though it is happening in Salt Lake City, the 10th International Conference on Salt Lake Research & FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake Forum, is actually a pretty big deal.

I can't remember if I was invited to speak, or if I invited myself to speak, but either way it's going to be a good experience for me.

The presentation will be on Wednesday, May 14th 7:30 – 9 PM in the Post Theatre on the campus of the University of Utah. I'd better start working on it now.

So, consider this an invitation to come and attend. The specific details are here.

Spiral

2008-04-02T07:58:00.004-06:00

Thought I'd make a movie of just the Spiral Jetty.

High-Res Version

Twenty

2008-03-29T06:44:00.003-06:00

Minutes that is.

Twenty minutes to interview with Salt Lake Community College and then ten more for them to assess my work. An interesting interview, and I felt like I had to talk fast, which I probably did.

To fulfill some legal requirement that says you have to make everything fair, they asked each person they were interviewing, nine (IIRC) questions. Seven faculty members and an HR representative (remember the fair part), asked the questions. There was also a sheet with the questions which was taped down to the table (an interesting move I thought...). Questions were asked such as (and I paraphrase):

What do you think the rewards and challenges of teaching at an open enrollment school might be?

What can you bring to the faculty and department?

Where do you see the recent developments in photography affecting how it is taught?

What professional experience do you think you can bring to the classroom?

Is there a challenge faced in the classroom that you successfully overcame?

Describe a work environment where you faced hostility and discrimination.

Blah blah blah...yadda yadda yadda (not to be flip, but remember, it all went by in a blur).

I think I answered the questions well, if not honestly. I hope I get a return interview and give them a chance to actually meet me. The interview was very matter-of-fact (remember the fairness doctrine), and left me, well, wondering how they can make an assessment in that type of interview.

I think the only thing that is fair is the idea or concept of being fair for fairness' sake. It certainly isn't fair to the interviewee, and I don't see how it can be fair to the interviewer either.

I left the room and they were free to browse through my portfolio. I slid a small aluminum box across the table with the proclamation, "This is my book project". Another large black box "with digital and non-digital prints" in it. Those were the only things I got to say about my work. Hopefully it does a good job of speaking for itself.

What is fair? Life ain't fair.

Boogie

2008-03-27T09:44:00.001-06:00

Now I finally have something to blame it on.

Jetty

2008-03-27T08:04:00.004-06:00

I have gone out to the Spiral Jetty probably 20 times in the past few years. This time I tried to do something a little different. I did a time-lapse where I moved the camera 3-feet down the length of the jetty and made a frame. I haven't processed it yet, but I think it will be pretty neat.

At the end of the jetty I turned around to look at the end of the jetty with the view towards the north for the time-lapse. I liked it enough and thought it might look nice as a single image. Here it is.

The time-lapse will have to wait. I have an interview at SLCC today. Wish me luck!

This horse had a hard time getting through the winter. I had to re-assemble it. There were many parts that I couldn't find.

Limericks

2008-03-17T07:30:00.003-06:00

Three years ago Polla and I travelled to Ireland with my parents. While we drove around my mother got the idea that we should all be writing limericks. A few of them were even written in the town of Limerick.

How quaint.

Limerick Limericks
24 May 2005

We rode through Ireland with Mike,
He drove us from sight to site,
We saw the most
From pillar to post,
'Twas better than riding a bike.
Bonnie

Limerick's an old Irish town,
Throughout the world has renown.
And Limerick verse
Can make a man curse
Without rhyming words to put down.
Larry

We drove thru the town Abbeyfeale,
A pic of O'Connor to steal,
We met with the chaps,
Traded cash and some laughs,
Then, back to the road, up the hill.
Polla

I will not be bound by rude rules,
'Nor cowed by insufferable fools;
Though lines of my verse
May cause you to curse,
I was trained in the very best schools.
Larry

We were driving through Limerick that day
The twenty and third day of may.
It was seen as a must
Write a limerick or bust;
And now Mum wants one everyday.
Polla

24 May 2005

We stopped at sweet Eva Lane's
In a down-pouring-cold-Irish rain,
And to our delight
She said "That we might,
Find rest for our bodies and brains".
Larry

26 May 2005

I'll tell you a story, 'tis nice
'Bout a woman, her name Lena Rice;
At Wimbledon played
And first place she made--
Our lunch by her grave sure was nice.

The Ravens all gathered around
To share ham, salami, and cheese;
The graveside was nice
As we ate in a trice
In sunshine and warm Irish breeze.

27 May 2005

The beds in this country, they are
The lumpiest I've slept on--by far,
If you want some Z's,
You can try, if you please,
But it helps if you frequent the bar.
Mike

When we did in Ireland arrive,
We determined that Michael should drive.
We were always in doubt
As we went round--about,
If we'd ever leave Ireland alive!
Bonnie

12x20

2008-03-13T12:21:00.003-06:00

Here's another little movie I made yesterday.

Magcorp

2008-03-12T22:06:00.001-06:00

It's hard to believe that a place as nasty as Magcorp can have some very beautiful scenery.

Magcorp extracts magnesium, potash, gold, silver and chlorine gas out of the waters of Great Salt Lake. This is one of the evaporation ponds where the brine is concentrated to a specific salinity before it is moved to the next stage of the process.

The red/orange color comes from a special kind of bacteria that grows in the hyper-saline waters. Additional red color comes from the brine shrimp that also like to live in the salty brine.

I made some digtial exposures, some film exposures with the Mamiya 7II, trying out my B&W filters I recently re-discovered, and even made one exposure with the 12x20.

Here's a shot of the evaporation pond near Magcorp.