OK, I have been accused to be a chatty Kathy. Which, I find this fun because in life I tend to be a more of a listener and doer in person. In my marriage life, this works really well. My wife is the talker and I listen and do as she says. “She who must be obeyed”.
But I do like to chat it up about photography and more about creativeness. I like to hear what you are all doing in photography. I also like to explore why you are doing with your photography. I’m a curious fellow.
There is a new website starting up in the Portland, Oregon. Its purpose is to cover the local photography scene. It’s a little slick with heavy advertisement of local photography business and it has three sections devoted to wedding or portrait photography. But, it does have its fine art sections as well. Plus it has one of my favorite four-letter word. It’s F-R-E-E to join.
I’m not going to plug the website any more then this. But the website editor had asked me to write something about where to go photograph in my favorite state, Oregon. I told him that I follow Ruth Berhard’s rule. Which was that “good photographs can be made 100 feet from your front door”. But with me it’s more like within 5 miles.
What about you? I know that many of you enjoy packing up the camera and gear and heading out to what locations? Do you like to go it alone or with a photo buddy or with an army of fellow photographers? I asked this of photographers I know and admire and I got responses of “It’s my time” or It’s my way to get away from the family or I prefer to work within my studio”
What about you?
With me I’m a homebody. I want to around my family just incase I’m needed. I tend to photograph during the time the kids are at school and process my film when they are asleep or doing their homework. I know my strengths and helping at homework isn’t one of them! That’s the wifes job, Thank you.
Anyways, open up and share your thoughts about photography. More about your photography.
I have to go now; my daughter has woken up and demands breakfast. “Little She who must be obeyed”

I thought Ruth said that about photographing in one's backyard. Not that it matters. I just extend my "backyard" to the redwoods 50 miles north of my doorstep. Excuse me while I take a get walk out to the garage and get another bottle of our local organic brew (an IPA) on this incredible sunny northcoast CA day! Thanks for waiting. It is actually hot out there in the sun (55F in the shade). The neighbors are mowing their lawns and I will have to be doing that here soon -- looks like some rain coming in a few days. I was up until 12:30 last night...my three boys celebrated their 12th birthday with two other newly 12 year olds (girls). We had an over-night pary at the local US Coast Guard housing -- they have a "barn" we used. All the girls slept over at one of the BD girls' house in the housing area, and I slept overnight at the barn with all the boys. The boys finally settled down, but it took awhile! I cooked pancakes for all this morning before dw and I took our boys to the baseball field for the first day of Little League and their exhibition games.

So photography does get sandwiched in with raising a family -- and often mixed in. I have my on-going series of photos of my boys in the environment (8x10 platinums, some 120 color shots that I have not printed in a long time, and some 120 film contact platinum prints). I don't see photography as "my time" or to get away from the family -- though it is a side benefit. I have been photographing as a personal experience for 30+ years. I met my wife-to-be photographing in New Zealand in 1980 and continue to fold my photography into my activities and family situation. I do any darkroom or studio work from 9pm to 7 am. Not the most efficient way, but "Sleep is for wimps, he whimpered."

It sounds a bit trite if I say it too much, but I photograph as a way to learn how to see more intensily. And my prints are my way of sharing what I have learned. My photography (or perhaps more accurately, my life as a photographer) has always had a strong educational aspect to it. For 12 years I volunteered as a lab assistant at the darkroom at the university -- both for access to a darkroom and to help others in their photography (this was while working for the US Forest Service for 12 seasons as a wilderness ranger).

I eventually became the paid darkroom tech at the university and have been doing that for the last 18 years . I was a workshop assistant for the Friends of Photography workshops for many years, as well as a few times couple other workshop groups. Recently I have been giving workshops...have one schedules in a week in Yosemite...sweet!

But my imagery is all about the light reflecting off the landscape, rather than the landscape itself. I love working wit the forms light creates almost independently of the landscape reflecting it.

Vaughn

"But I photograph as a way to learn how to see more intensily. And my prints are my way of sharing what I have learned. My photography (or perhaps more accurately, my life as a photographer) has always had a strong educational aspect to it." Vaughn stated.
Very well put. I like that statement a lot! Sounds like you might have a nice project book with the subject being your three sons. Wait a minute... wasn't that a old TV show?
Hey Vaughn, my daughter is interested in the Calif Redwood state park. Where is that exactly? I use to live in the Bay Area and photographed a lot in the Big Basin park. Is that anywhere near the Redwoods?
I had attended a John Sexton workshop with Ruth co-leading it. When she said Backyard someone spoke that they don't have a Backyard and she changed it to reflect it. Originally, she also said 50 feet but then added 100. I have a vsh tape of her during the workshop. It was being produced by Kodak, when they cared about film photography. It was a terrible windy day at the Weston Beach and you can hardly hear her over the wind. You can play "Where's Robert" on the tape.

Such a sunny beautiful day here in Portland and my 2 nieces came to visit with their mom out on the sun porch where I was like a cat in an easy chair in the sun. But what is it with the two girls obsession with pictures of "naked people"? The older girl is 8 and the younger is 6 and once they learned that down in the basement Uncle Dennis has pictures of naked people they constantly bug me to go look at them. I wasn't going to be budged from the sun porch this afternoon so the girls piled on me and demanded we go through the books on the porch in search of pictures of naked people. I have tons of art books and auction catalogs and there is no end to their appetite or obsession with seeing every possible picture of a naked person. It makes me feel kind of weird being the uncle Dennis who shows them pictures of naked people. Their mom is unconcerned so I guess it is ok. In the art books there was only a couple of images that are arguably porn and I skipped over them and said nope that is a bad one you can't look.... oh please oh please.. nope. I don't really understand what the naked people thing is for the girls.
Dennis

I became inspired in photography because of intense vision and clarity. Now at 56 years with sadly failing eyes I think I partly work from a memory of intense vision.

Robert, there is no "California Redwood State Park". Big Basin State park is about the southern limit of the range of the redwoods. Muir Woods National Monument is a set of redwoods just north (12 miles) of San Francisco in Marin County. Most of the redwoods in and around the Bay Area were cut down to build the cities...if there were any left, they were used after the big quake.

So the next big section of redwoods (except for a few pockets here and there) are in southern Humboldt County -- Humboldt Redwoods State Park along the Eel River and Grizzly Creek Redwods State Park along the Van Duzen River. There are a few others down there (such as the new Headwaters reserve). North of Eureka one gets to Redwood National Park, and several state redwood parks that are managed together. So I am not quite sure where you daughter was referring to.

I assisted at a Friends of Photography workshop that Ruth taught at. Amazing lady. Either that workshop or another had Morley Baer -- now there was someone who was pretty intiminating in person...at least for me. He was much more interested in the "why"!

"My Three Sons" -- a good working title! Vaughn

From North to South
Jedidiah Smith Redwoods state park (Take Howland Hill Road)
Strip of Redwood National park (Crescent City to West)
Del Norte Coast Redwoods state park (on 101 S of Crescent City. Excellent hiking)
Town of Klamath (In Hoopa Indian reservation)
Just west of Klamath is strip of Redwood National Park
Prairie Creek Redwoods state park
Redwood National Park
town of Orick and Stone Lagoon nearby
S of Orick the Redwood NP is east, not easily accessible except for Bald Hills Rd (Lady Bird Johnson road, access off 101 is N of Orick)

No redwoods here:
Patricks Point Park
Trinidad SP next to Trinidad
Little River State Beach

Arcata....

Around Santa Cruz there are many private redwood groves. Friends of mine have a ranch up in one of them, and build a 3 mile long live steam railroad. Nothing like going through the redwoods on a train!

Thanks for the directions to the Redwoods, Vaughn and Don. I'm planning a trip down south and my daughter is insistent to visit the big trees. I bought a photo of Morley on the Big Sur coast photographing with his 8x10. Fun image.
Dennis, I did get to do that "Cat Nap". It was great to feel that warm sun warm my old bones up.

Robert...Don's suggestion of Howland Hill Road is great...small dirt road winding its way through the giants...and a great view of the Smith River at the northern end.

A few miles south of Klamath, make sure to take the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway (use to be the main highway) through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park -- lots of trails off the Parkway...this is where I do 90% of my photography. The new highway goes up and around the park -- some nice views of the forest, but not in the forest.

Arcata has Redwood Park -- all second growth redwoods and some recent homeless encampments. Eureka has Sequoia Park with some old growth redwoods and (unfortunately) lots of ivy (imported English stuff, not poison ivy)...also a nice pond, Rhododenrons, and the city zoo.

Let me know when you are coming down this way. If it is convient for all parties concerned, perhaps we can get together.

Vaughn

"Eureka has Sequoia Park with some old growth redwoods and (unfortunately) lots of ivy (imported English stuff, not poison ivy)...also a nice pond, Rhododenrons, and the city zoo."
I have the English stuff to. All over my Doug Firs. I have spent an afternoon pulling the vines of the trees. I understand that they could actually pull a tree down! I can't believe that but I rather play it safe and pull it down.
Eureka sounds like the place to go, if memory serves me. It's somewhat between Oregon and the Bay Area. I have two weeks to spend and thought I travel down with the family and do day trips this way and that.
I'm playing with the idea of hitting Pajaro Dunes. It's nice and central to lots of photographic areas.
But it all depends on the economy and jobs.

The Pajaro Dunes are about 350 miles south of Eureka. Eureka it is about 275 miles north of SF and 100 miles south of the Oregon border if that puts us in perspective. Have you ever stopped at Honeyman State Park, OR? Nice dunes...and Sutton Beach, just north of Florence, OR is also good for dunes(with a bit of walking). Do you have any date yet...or what month you might be traveling?

English Ivy -- as long as it is on the ground it does not produce seed -- but once it starts to clims up high, it flowers and produces seed the birds spread. So getting it out of the trees is the first step!

When I see "Honeyman" I think of "Honey bucket" port o potties. I shouldn't but I hits me that way
I'm in the early planning stage for my trip south. "She who must be obeyed makes the call" (The wife) but I know that my daughter has express a deep desire to see Redwood trees. She did a report about them for her environment portion of class. I'm thinking of 2 days at Eureka then on to Monterey.

Robert, you may already know this but here's a couple of additions

South of Eureaka, take the "Avenue of Giants" -- the OLD 101 through the redwood trees. My first first was in January 1965 as a kid heading with my parents to Portland, just after the December 1964 floods that wiped out everything but the trees (whole towns, railroad bridges, roads, etc. It was interesting to see the waterline 30-40 feet above the then-dirt-roads-since-the-flood-destroyed-them in the forest, and crossing the Bailey bridges put up by the US Army). Now only a couple of places have that waterline marked - look for them. Look for them high above you....

Plenty of Kitsche along the Avenue of the Giants - drive through trees, trees made into houses, logs made into houses, gift shops suffering from the recession, etc etc. But your kids will like the detour through the trees(and it parallels the freeway). Look for a couple of small towns that were completely wiped out by the flooding. Stop at the visitor center to see pictures.

(this section is far more interesting than the other side trip through Prairie Creek Redwoods, IMHO)

And then drop down to Leggett on 101 and take Highway 1 all the way to San Franscisco, cross the Golden Gate, and resume 1 all the way to Pajaro Dunes. Take a couple of Barf Bags for the section between Bolinas and the return to 101....your wife and kids will appreciate it ;-). Highway 1 is a southbound looks over the cliffs kind of drive, like most of the Oregon coast, but in places a bit more rugged than Oregon 101

Good morning, Robert;

In looking at the title, and in looking at the messages, it is a good thing that the 1000 character limit for a message has been removed.

Enjoy your trip;

Ralph Javins

Hey Ralph.
I'm not a man of few words when thinking or writing about photography. I believe a good discussion is always a great way to communicate. In my youth, I tended to be mono sylibic ...."Huh, Hungry, Take photos. and so forth

Good morning, Robert;

One of the characteristics for which I am quite well known, and in some circles considered to be a master of the type, is that of the quality of verbosity, which, as I am sure that all of you are very well aware, is the ability in some curiously enabled individuals to say in seventeen or more multisyllabic words, what the average person can say in three.

How do I know about that prior 1000 character limit for a message? Because I ran into it.

Robert, if you and I ever really get going, we will not need just a cup of coffee. We should probably ask them to bring us the pot of coffee, and to set another one on the stove to brew before the first one runs out. I have always enjoyed the English language. The criticism often heard about the "inability to express yourself in English" can be overcome by studying the language.

Your comment about photography also reminded me of my own addictive tendancies. Usually I cannot be satisfied with just "a camera." I admit that I am a technical type who appreciates fine mechanical and electronic devices. Even then, just the device itself is not sufficient. I also need the accessories and other supplemental pieces that expand and improve the range and capabilities of the system.

Yes, I do use that stuff also. One of my activities this afternoon when the sun moves around to the western side of the house will be photographing some of the flowers now blooming out there. Until that happens, I need to go out front and bed the replacement water pipe in sand and then backfill the trench, followed by resetting the sod. Yup, we had an unexpected need for some plumbing activity here. 1967 to 2009 for a plastic water line from the meter to the house was not too bad a time period for that rock to finally crack the side of the water line. ("Selected backfill," indeed!) The four times the normal bill for water consumption was not appreciated.

Enjoy; Ralph Javins

Hey Ralph, 40+ years with plastic is not too bad, I guess. Plastic is cheap and easy to work with, but its lifespan is relatively short.

Recently I had to get a new battery for our '88 Accord -- I was a little disappointed that I only got ten years out of a 5 year battery...

I am not much of a talker (I do better online where I have time to think about what I am saying), but I do like to listen.

Vaughn

Well said, Vaughn.

There are long winded speakers that are worth talking to, and then there are just long winded speakers -- you know, the ones that take 1000 words that would otherwise justify only a few words

Normally when I look through a thread on any forum I barely skim the posts that are more than a couple sentences. I generally don't want to spend my time reading some long drawn out statement. However if there was a forum or thread or group that was specifically set up to write long creatively wordy or stream of conscious type writing then I would be more interested and I would occasionally take part. I take it this thread is something like that.
Dennis

So I guess I should edit myself or zip it? :0)
He-he.

Good morning, Don and Dennis;

A quick check of the message on 2009 April 06 does show that I can make a simple and short statement. However, sometimes I do enjoy "embellishing" a statement. I do like the English language. I also learned to converse in Morse Code, so I can be quite succint when required.

The main problem I ran into with the 1000 character limit was not for normal social conversation, but in technical discussions. At times it is not fully informational to provide only the minimum information needed in giving a quick answer. For better understanding, it can be useful to have more background information and some commentary on how the question and its answer relate to the other parts of the system. It may be that other compensating adjustments may be needed to keep the system properly operating as a whole. That is why I ran into that 1000 character limit.

Enjoy; Ralph Javins

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Note that the posting program drops extra spaces that serve to delimit words...

Phew! I thought my computer had a virus of some sort but I see its a gag.
Thank you, I breathing now!

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Long as you're not cursing me out in some binary way.
I would also worry if there was smoke signals coming from my computer.
It's quiet on the Pacific Northwest side. What's happening?