Open Gallery Call

The Fine Art Photoblog is expanding by a few contributors and has put out an open call for gallery submissions. This is a great opportunity to collaborate with some established artists and gain exposure (no pun) in the online photographic community. The blog is closing in on 1,000 daily readers via RSS, with hundreds more in unique visitors to the site itself... If you've been thinking about bolstering your online presence and want to work with a small group of talented, motivated photographers, I encourage you to check out the above link for details...

Ahoy all,
Cody

Not Even Once

Jay and I did a whirlwind tour up to White Sulfer, across to Harlowtown, down to Big Timber and back home last Saturday. Funny thing - we drove all that way to photograph the windmills outside Judith Gap and because I didn't take the time to actually look at the map in my hands, we turned the wrong way and didn't get the chance. Still a fun day hanging out with Jay, though, and MT's always pretty - no matter where you are. Here's a picture I snapped in Harlowtown, I guess they're having problems with the kids and drugs or something. I thought it was kind of ironic to have the meth sign on the side of a drugstore and bar...

Boarding up Mill Creek

Jay and I videotaped and photographed some friends launching their snowboards up Mill Creek yesterday.  Josh built a kicker that was sending them about 65 or 70 feet - another 10 or 15 feet would have them over a little lip and extending their distance up to 120 feet, maybe more.   Good times in the snow...and the air.

Pony Race

As some of you might have read on my personal blog, I went off the road on Valentine's evening and spent the night in the ditch in my car - good times. It was a bit chilly, but not too bad. I found a rancher this morning to pull me out and away I went down the road to find the biggest breakfast Clyde Park, MT had to offer. Here's a shot I took a bit before the night decided to take a turn...

Announcing FineArtPhotoblog.com

Back a few months ago, I was browsing through the massive list of site feeds that I subscribe to.  I came across one that caught my eye - an open call for fine art photography galleries for an upcoming project by Brian Auer, the sole talent behind Epic Edits Weblog.  With nearly 2,500 daily readers, Brian has become a well respected member of the online photographic community - not only because of his stunning images, but also for the knowledge and techniques he offers to his viewers for no apparent reason other than his true passion for the art. :-) 

So, upon Brian's request, galleries were submitted by 30 artists from all over the world and a vote was held.  I can only say that I was incredibly honored the day I received an e-mail from Brian telling me I had been chosen as one of the 6 (seven including Brian) who would launch the effort.  After a couple months of everyone working until 3 and 4am, it's all come down to today -  FineArtPhotoblog.com.

Here is an excerpt from the Press Release and a snapshot of the homepage:

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SAN DIEGO, CA February 11, 2008 - Fine Art Photoblog announces the launch of a unique new website, offering the discerning art buyer opportunities that have so far not been available.

In the manner of a photoblog, seven internationally acclaimed fine art photographers work together, publishing a work of fine art photography daily; every day another photographer, each photographer once per week. The works will be up for purchase in two variants, targeting two groups of buyers.

In the manner of a gallery, the website will acquire and permanently display the works of seven great photographers. An extensive search interface completes the offer, providing capabilities to search for artists, keywords, and certain characteristics of the photographs (horizontal or vertical orientation, colors, etc.).

Right from the start, all works will be available in two qualities:

• as high-quality but unsigned prints from printing services such as Imagekind.com or RedBubble.com (at the discretion of the photographer). These are printed in sizes and on papers of the customer’s choice. They are shipped matted, framed and glazed, according to the customer’s wishes.
• as definitive and collectible signed prints of the highest quality available called The Work. In case of digital prints, The Work will be available in only one size, perfectly fitting the characteristics of the image and printed on exquisite fine art paper of the artist’s choice, either by the artist himself or by a fine art printer under the direction of the artist. The Work is the unique expression of the artist’s creative power.

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Almost Igloo

It's time for Igloo Nation again, with feet of snow sticking in the hills and more storms coming. Today was spent up Tom Minor Basin, nearly completing the first of several igloos I'm going to build this winter and early spring. Here's a teaser shot, but I should have it completed tomorrow and will post some shots. Ken (K2 here on the blog) is going to join me...after a morning spent viewing Ansel Adams photos at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman.

Pheasant Times

I went pheasant hunting with a couple of friends yesterday. I just carried my camera around and took pictures of the day and the experience, what a great time. It was rippin' cold, but we were bundled up and I actually got hot from time to time. We must have walked about 8 or 10 miles, so the blood was flowin'. Good times with good friends.

Been 'away'...

I've been working on some personal projects recently, so I must apologize for the absence. I've decided to start selling my prints in earnest and needed to have the basic framework in place to be able to do so. That's where I've been...

If anyone is going to post in the next few days/week, there might still be an issue with the upload process. Instead of opening images in your browser, it prompts you to save them on your computer...not good. So, when you're posting, if you're HTMl savvy and want to tinker, do so. If not, I'm happy to edit the code for you. This just started happening, and hopefully will be resolved soon.

For my images I'm just picking and placing here, as none of these are new. I've been going back through my three 'recent' trips to Utah and it's been a blast. Here are a few of my favorites I've 'rediscovered' so far.

Fallset

Sunset east of Livingston. Beauty!

Idaho, ID

Went down to Jackson Hole again last night. Took some photos on the to-and-from. If any of you get the chance to go to Mesa Falls just outside of Island Park, ID...do. It's a truly amazing place...

Fire and Ice

Just some shots from the last couple of days. Junebug and I spent Saturday in Yellowstone with legendary photographer David Muench...quite an opportunity, really. I think the most important thing that I learned is something I've always feared in my style...I shoot a lot of photos that traditionalists would look down at. But David shoots this way too - into the sun, no/low light, busy content. I never post those kinds of photos because I've wanted to ensure I'm showing the best of the best, but the term "best" is quite subjective. You might see some new styles coming from me here on the Livingston Photo Society...

Weekend with the lads

Spent the weekend with the lads in the Little Belt Mountains and along the Musselshell River. Beautiful up there. Here's a sample...

Color is here

Fall colors have returned to the Montana landscape. What a treat.

Mas, mas...

Here are some shots I've taken over the past few weeks. Yellowstone with Jay and project shots for my friend Krista...enjoy!

CR

Chico Peak Pano

Doolittle and I went up Chico Peak last weekend, a quick overnighter. This is a 360-degree panorama from as high as we got - 10,044 feet. We sat discussing whether or not we were going to summit the last peak when we noticed a rather large grizzly bear just below us, which we sat and watched for nearly an hour. Between the bear and rolling thunder from a fast-approaching storm, we decided to head back...at a quick pace. Of course, a mile or so from the car we had a 30-foot encounter with a speeding moose. Montana rocks.

Be sure to enlarge the panorama to its full size when it opens in your browser. Interestingly, since this photograph was taken a week ago, a raging wildfire has sprung up just a few drainages over. If taken today, all you would see in front of Andrew (picture-right) is smoke roaring east at 30,000+ feet.

Air Show

Alright, so I've never been to an air show before, ever. I remember seeing something stealthy over Bozeman once, but I've never had a ticket and gone in and wandered through it all. Well, I found out yesterday that the Blue Angels kick ass, period. There's no other way to say it. In fact...I questioned my career for a few seconds. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing and wrapping my head around for the first time. I know, I know...just show you the photographs. Ahoy!

Montana Panorama

These are my first panomaras in a long time, but they're pretty sweet. Love those multiple lens flares. Anyhoo, the top photo is a glacial lake located just below Mt. Cowan. You can see Doolittle, Shellie and Josh in the bottom-left corner. Comprised of 13 images, this stitched photo is about 15 feet short of being a full 360-degree shot.

The bottom photo is of Elbow Lake, where we camped, and is comprised of 5 photos. The glacial lake from the above photo is nestled about 2000 feet above Elbow up in the visible cirque. These are both large files, about 700 KB. Each opens in a new window, so be sure to enlarge...

Elbow Lake

If you're ever up for a 20-mile hike, I suggest going to Elbow Lake. I'm a native of Montana, and it's definitely in the top three most beautiful places I've been to in this state, if not the...

Just can't beat it.

My feelings are that there's hardly a place on the planet that can beat Montana's beauty this time of the year.

Morel Of The Story...

It's morel mushroom picking season here in MT...the tail end of it, actually. Still, we've had much success on our outings to the regions of the West Boulder that were burned by last year's massive wildfires. Doolittle and I went out on Saturday and got about 5 gallons, enough to eat our fill and dry the rest for later use. What a treat to be able freely harvest a rare delicacy that the rest of the world pays as much as $300/lb for dried. I was reading a website this evening on preserving morels and one comment said, "Who has excess?!" Ummm, we do...the ones in the photos are those that we didn't eat for dinner. Plenty of excess over here...

Here are the shots from my 'Late Night Morel-Drying in the Bathroom" study. ha