February 2011 Wallpaper and Something New

Cypress Tree on Lake Mattamuskeet in Eastern North Carolina

As I was getting ready to publish my wallpaper for February and trying to decide what photo to use, I was going to use another beach photo or a glorious sunrise but thought, “February is a bleak month, I’m going to go bleak.”  So I chose a photo that I think represents “bleak.”  

“Bleak” might be a little harsh, but unless you happen to live somewhere like Barbados (Hi, Sarah!) February is a month of hopeful anticipation.  Here in the southeastern US it’s definitely still winter but there can be signs of spring.  The Midwest and Northeast will have snow on the ground for months.  So, for February here’s bleak.  Tell me if you agree.

Since I now have an iPad I thought I needed to have a matching wallpaper for that, so here is an iPad wallpaper to match the calendar.  No calendar on this though, I didn't want it to get too cluttered up.

iPad Wallpaper - If you have an iPad you should be able to figure out how to save it!

August Wallpaper Calendar

August 1st came and went, but August 2nd is a better day anyway. It's my son Scott's birthday - a national holiday in my family! For the calendar, a day late and a dollar short will have to do. I will happily refund your money if you are not completely satisfied!

I've got a number of essay ideas floating around in my head and will have at least one of them on paper for the upcoming deadline for the next CNPA newsletter. With any luck it will end up as a blog post. So stay tuned!

This month's photograph is from a visit last year to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was taken at Currituck Heritage Park near Corolla, North Carolina.

Paper Testing and June Wallpaper

When I bought my new printer late last year one of the things I intended to do early on was to try out a number of papers and eventually settle on one or two that I really liked and learn how to make the best possible prints from those papers. I spent the last several months working with some Lexjet paper I got "free" with my printer along with several papers I had laying around the house. My "go-to" paper has been Crane's MuseoMAX paper. I originally discovered MuseoMAX paper from print guru Gary Kerr at Fine Art Impressions, who used it on a couple of custom prints he made for me. It's a very nice paper, with a smooth matte surface that holds sharpness and color like a glossy paper. The best of both worlds in many ways.

Over this past winter I took a fine art printing class from Les Saucier, who had recently begun using Hahnemuhle's Fine Art Baryta paper. In his class I made a print of my own using this paper, which I found to be very nice. I had also read about a new paper from Canson called Canson Infinity Baryta Photographique that was said to be very nice. A few articles placed it higher than the Hahnemuhle in terms of print quality. So I ordered some 8.5x11 sheets of the Hahnemuhle and the Canson and proceeded to make test prints on all the paper in my storage cabinet. I must say that - despite my relatively basic knowledge of the art of printing - the Canson paper blows me away. Amazing shadow detail, all the way to the deepest blacks, excellent color and sharpness, and a nice white surface that really makes for a fine print.

I'm still going to use the MuseoMAX as well, as I like the matte surface and warm tone of that paper for certain photographs, but the the Canson is my new favorite. I just ordered a bunch of it from Shades of Paper and can't wait to start making prints with it. Great stuff! Once I've had some time with it I'll start thinking about custom profiles.

It's a day early, but here is the June wallpaper calendar for those of you who collect it. The Place to Be in June is Roan Mountain, and this is an image from last year's visit there. A beautiful blue sky and lovely rhododendron make a great representation of June in the Southeast. Enjoy!

Something New

A recent discovery of mine is the writings and teachings of David DuChemin. I recently read his book “Within The Frame” and have purchased a number of e-books he has written. At $5 each – sometimes less depending on his deals – they are a great deal and have provided me with much inspiration. David’s focus is on vision, as opposed to so many writers who are all about the gear, the software or the location. He is very visual oriented and his approach speaks to me in a way that I “get.”

Consider this plug to be a “thank you” for what comes next.

One of the things that David does for followers of his blog is that he creates a monthly desktop wallpaper calendar. He has even provided the Photoshop template he uses to anyone who wants to make their own. So in keeping with the tradition of sharing I have decided to offer my own monthly calendar wallpaper. Free of charge, just for fun, hope you like it and tell others! I’m going to try to avoid duplicating the image used in my print calendar, just for a little variety because I’d hate to limit myself to only 12 images per year! I’m going to try and pull images from the more “artsy” side of my portfolio for something a little different.

This month’s wallpaper is a photograph I made a few weeks ago in Belhaven, North Carolina. Belhaven is a wonderful little town on the Pungo River. A quick temperature change created a layer of fog over the water and I was able to capture some images that represented the dissolving effect of the fog on this receding line of pilings in the water.