Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

Yesterday, I went down to the Deschutes River in La Pine, near Pringle Falls, taking some shots for the Upper Deschutes River Natural Resources Coalition.

The waterlevel looked to be about 6 to 8 feet below normal, exposing the black obsidian on the river's shore, in places whitened by dried algae. An older fisherman I came cross only mutely shook his head when I asked him how the fish were biting, and shuffled off with his head hanging low.

Given what I had to work with, I decided on some close-ups - of which this one here became my favorite:



(By the way, it's all private property down there. I got permission in advance from the homeowners association to access this part of the river, so please, folks, don't go trampling around down there without asking first.)

I later talked to the president of the homeowners association, who told me that every year around this time, the powers in charge of the water supply turn off the faucet at the dam upstream, leaving only just enough water so the fish can survive. It stays that way until spring. The reason is conservation - so the farmers down-stream will have enough supply next summer to water their crops.

Now, I could launch into this long rant about how I detest the practices of the local water-management officials who seem to base their decisions purely on a commercial rationale, and with little regards towards the natural health of the river, its inhabitants and the wildlife who relies on it. But - that would do little good, now would it?

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, editorial photographer Bend Oregon, Editorial Photography, oregon stock photography, photography

The other day, I realized how terribly harsh life must be as photo gear in my equipment bag.

Over the past two years or so, I've done some pretty good damage to my Canon 10D, my 20-35mm wide-angle lens - and most recently - to my newly-acquired Canon Speedlite 550EX flash.

Once, my tripod-mounted camera fell onto the grantite floor of a bathroom I was shooting. It was a damn tight space, and I must have nudged the tripod with my foot. The floor was ok, of course - but my 10D had a little dent in the top, and also the small diffuser of my on-camera flash had broken (although the flash was closed at the time). Everything else worked great, the lens was fine - and overall, it was nothing short of astonishing how well the camera had held up to the crash.

Burning Man then claimed my 20-35mm wide-angle lens. I had read a lot about camera handling and maintenance in the Burning Man forums prior to my departure (including warning such as "If you have a nice camera, don't bring it"), and I had taken certain precautions, such as wrapping each item in my bag in a thick ziplock bag and only taking them out if I absolutely had to. I also ended up not changing any lenses during the entire week, because I knew that dust would inevitably get onto my sensor and screw up my shots.

But - there was no getting away from that superfine alcali-dust after all. Even if you keep your camera and lens inside of a ziplock at all times (which I pretty much did), the dust will get you. Luckily, it got to me only on the very last day. After the Burn too. I got home and upon cleaning my equipment, noticed a tiny speck of dust on the inside of my lens' front glass. It showed up in test shots as a dime-sized dark blur - and made the lens of course unusable that way. I wonder how many orders for new gear B&H gets after Burning Man ...

The third accident happened only a couple of weeks ago - I was on a shoot, and my tripod-mounted camera with the Speedlite on top fell over. And I wasn't even in the room. How it could have happened is seriously beyond me. The result of it however was that one side of the little foot that connects the flash to the camera broke off. I tried to super-glue it back on - no dice. At an event a few days ago, I ended up using lengths of gaffers tape to keep the flash on top of the camera, but the contacts were not working reliably.

So - now you might ask: Why hasn't she gotten in touch with Canon yet, and gotten these items into the shop to be repaired?. Well, I did call them. But of course all my gear is *just* beyond the warranty. So needless to say, Canon support was of very little help (they suggested sending it in or just buying new gear). And here's the sole biggest reason why I won't send anything in to them: They take WEEKS to evaluate and repair your stuff. Which working pro, I ask, can be without his/her camera or main lens for that long of a time?

Sure, you could go rent different gear to cover you for the length of the repair (Canon - disappointingly - doesn't offer a service like that). But not only are good rental places hard to find, they are also beastly expensive. None of them are in Central Oregon. Or Oregon for that matter. So take for example Gassers in San Francisco. Renting a 10D will cost you a cool $100 - per day. If you need it for say 2 weeks (the lenght of the repair) - that's $1,400. That will buy you a new camera. TCR is a bit cheaper, but not much. (Note to self - get into the camera rental market.)

So I'm stuck. I either risk losing out on jobs because my gear is in the shop, or I'll pay through the nose to be able to take on those jobs, and in the end might not make any money off that work.

For the future I think I'll look at taking out insurance on my gear. Before Burning Man I had my insurance agent work me up a quote for kicks. She wanted $500 for a year's coverage. I thought of all the nifty gear I could buy with that, and declined. Of course, my new wide-angle cost me over $400 alone. Add to that the flash, and I would have made out already.

If anybody has any bright ideas however, post them here or email them to me.

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, photography, photography gear

Recently photographed at Scanlon's Restaurant:



And yes, I got to eat it too. It was fabulous. Look for the recipe in the December edition of Bend's own Gusto Magazine and for more images here.

In other food-related news: Grant Ellis, a freelance journalist writing an trend article on the rise of amateur food photography for Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, noticed the article on food photography I wrote a while back for O'Reilly (no doubt due to its kick-ass Google rating) and interviewed me for it. I'll be posting a link to the finished piece when I get it from Grant.

And last, but not least - my favorite sushi restaurant (and one of the all-time best on the entire West Coast, in my humble opinion) Sushimotos in Sunriver has changed owners. The original chef, Ed Metcalfe, is heading back to the Bay Area to start a new sushi bar. His talents will no doubt be sorely missed by regional sushi-afficionado, but I hope to get down to his new place soon - and maybe even do some food photography for him while I'm at it.

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, commercial photographer Bend Oregon, food, food photographer Bend OR, food photography, photography

Last week, the good people at the Oregon Business Magazine sent me on an assignment into the foothills of the Ochoco Mountains, near Prineville. I was to do a portrait of Rick Steber, celebrated writer of Western novels and recent recipient of the "Best Western Novel" award for his new book Buy The Chief a Cadillac.

I ended up hanging out in his cabin for three hours. He read to me out of a couple of his books, told me about the time when his dog Strider got attacked by coyotes, and talked about all the interesting people and stories he comes across while travelling the West. It was utterly fascinating, and I was having a real cowgirl moment.

Of course, I did take his picture too:

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, editorial photographer Bend Oregon, Editorial Photography, photography, portrait photographer Bend Oregon

After the awards party on Saturday eve I was seriously exhausted, so I took yesterday off to recover - and hence, the pics from that event are up a day late. I hope you all still enjoy them though:


The amazingly talented Marcia Whitehead sings an aria after the screening of "Laundry and Tosca", the documentary based on her quest to become an opera singer


The BendFilm awards festivities at the Elks Lodge get started with a drink at the beautifully decorated bar


Central Oregon's own "American Idol" Katie Rush greets the guests at the door with her glowing smile


Jody Denton, head chef and owner of "Merenda" restaurant, puts the finishing touches on the dessert buffet


The evening kick-starts with the announcement of the "Indie Kids" award.


Mark Duplass accepts the award for Best Screenplay for "Puffy Chair"


The audience loved Taggart Siegel's "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" so much, they awarded him the Big Check with an almost 99% approval rating


Taggart Siegel lets Farmer John give direct thanks to BendFilm over the cell phone after the movie wins its second award of the evening for "Best Documentary"


The "Best in Show" award went to "Shakespear Behind Bars", a documentary about a band of prison convincts who put on a production of Shakespear's "The Tempest"



From singer to singer: Marcia Whitehead chats with Central Oregon "Idol" Katie Rush


A happy Taggart Siegel celebrated his win with Hanna Elias, director of "The Olive Harvest"


Winners Circle (from left): Scott Coleman Miller ("Uso Justo"), Evan Stuart ("Reality Check"), Taggart Siegel ("The Real Dirt on Farmer John"), Mark Duplass ("The Puffy Chair"), Taggart's producer, and Devor Robinson ("Police Beat")


The most sought-after piece of brass of the evening - the BendFilm trophy

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, editorial photographer Bend Oregon, Editorial Photography, photography

For those interested (and seriously - who isn't?), here are shots from the second day at the BendFilm festival:


At the screening of the much-anticipated documentary "The Eskimo and the Whale" by Bend filmmaker Jenn Hofman


A sold-out McMenamin's theater


Author and "Oregonian" film critic Shawn Levy discusses his new book ...


... "The Last Playboy", at DiLusso's Coffee shop


Filmmaker Taggart Siegel ("The Real Dirt on Farmer John") at home with his Bend host family


Free public transportation, provided by the "GreenEnergy" bus


Party at the "Tigerlily" boutique on Minnesota


The sponsors from Oregonlive.com at the Tigerlily party


Filmmaker Evan Stuart ("Reality Check") at the Sportsvision/Bend Living party


The jam-packed party at the Sportsvision store on Wall Street is in full swing


BendFilm founder Katie Merritt & friend at the Sportsvision/Bend Living party

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, editorial photographer Bend Oregon, Editorial Photography, photography

In my function as volunteer photographer for this year's BendFilm Festival, I was out there yesterday to cover the first day of the Festival.

Here are a selection of shots:

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, editorial photographer Bend Oregon, Editorial Photography, photography