Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

Random Image for the Day:


Mountain Bluebird - Mt. Jefferson in the background

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, oregon stock photography, photography

I'm not a birder. Really. I'm not. I just happen to live in a house that looks at the world at mid-tree level - with very large windows. And since that's where birds tend to live, I see a lot of them. So I have a mild interest in them. Especially the colorful ones.

When I first moved to Central Oregon, I actually took an informal survey of bird species that would visit my feeders year-round. I counted something like 42. Over the past 3 years now, I've come to know them all pretty well. So I notice when there's suddendly a new species around. Mostly one that doesn't belong here.

This has been the case with two new species I've come across over the past couple of weeks. One was this Blackbacked Woodpecker:



The Audubon Guide tells me that this uncommon woodpecker resides largely up North, in an area stretching from Western Alaska all the way over to the East Coast of Canada.

Then, two days ago, I saw a Redbreasted Sapsucker hanging around my feeder. It is supposed to live mainly in coastal areas, from BC down to California. Not in the High Desert of Oregon.

Now maybe those are just a couple of freak sightings - or maybe then again, they are not. Could it be that global warming has started to show its face by encouraging the redistribution of bird territories? I know it's completely hypothetical - but it's possible, isn't it?

Anyone with more info or a similarly unusual sighting, please leave a comment. I want to get to the bottom of this.

Labels: Bend Oregon photographer, oregon stock photography, photography

Ok, I admit it - I have an unreasonable obsession with angles and lines. But in my chosen profession as architectural photographer, after all, angles and lines are everything. To me, it doesn't even matter if they're straight, curved, upsight down, crooked, wiggly - as long as they're exciting to look at.

Take this house, for example.



A few weeks ago, I shot this residence for a local Bend architect.



As even the untrained eye can see, the angles on this home are exquisite. The combinations of straight lines with leaned beams, cool glass with warm wood, tinted concrete with natural rock, are beautiful. And unlike 99% of homes here in the area, this one isn't elevated some 30 feet above ground to take advantage of the mountain views (which is does have in abundance) - rather, it is nestled into the ground to blend into the environment and shelter its occupants from the at times strong winds.



And despite its sizable square footage, you never feel like you're in a very large home. It's always intimate, cozy, inviting.

Very cool.

Labels: architectural photographer Bend Oregon, architectural photography, architecture, Bend Oregon photographer, commercial photographer Bend Oregon, photography

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