Many galleries and collectors feel a stagnation in “traditional” nature photography, with too much emphasis on the same ‘ol shots. More Flatirons or golden aspen anyone? I’ll talk about the importance of staying rooted in traditional composition while exploring boundaries and breaking the rules with novel subject matter. In my own work, I have a split personality between those photographs that sell well, and those that I consider boundary-pushing art. Finding common ground is the challenge that keeps me interested.

Bio:

I have been a photographer since I was first handed a 1970’s vintage Vivitar point-and-shoot.  According to my mom, it was a camera with a PhD (“Push here Dummy”). Despite its quality (ahem), I later migrated to a Pentax K1000, a wonderful little 35mm manual film camera that I’d still recommend for those with a learner’s permit.  Growing up I assumed that I would become a musician, following in the footsteps of my artistic parents, but was later seduced by a different kind of beauty inspired by mathematics and physics.

For many years I was a climate scientist at the University of Colorado and Regis University, developing the techniques used to predict sea-level rise from melting glaciers. During that time, photography was a passion.  Now the roles have reversed: I work full time as a photographer and volunteer my time as a co-author of the forthcoming 2013 United Nations IPCC climate report.

My artwork has been featured by Defenders of Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation, Nature’s Best, and many other artistic and scientific publications, covers, documentaries, and galleries. One of my photographs is currently on display at the Smithsonian. Recent honors include a 2010 Defenders of Wildlife award and a 2011 Windland Smith Rice International award.

Rob is a naturalist who has been involved with animals since he was very young. He has always had a passion for birds of prey, and has pursued that passion throughout his adult life. In college, he spent numerous hours studying the nesting territories of prairie falcons in Northeastern Colorado, and additional time researching screech owls nesting along the Boulder Creek trail in the center of Boulder, Colorado.

Rob taught life science and biology for seven years in the late eighties and early nineties. Since that time, he has spent most of his free time studying raptors and refining his photography techniques.

 Photography has also always been a part of Rob’s life. He began taking pictures with a Polaroid black and white camera when he was twelve, then quickly moved on to a 35 mm SLR. His first SLR was a Kowa. In high school he became the school’s photographer and was able to use the school’s Pentax cameras. The basics in photography have stuck with him.  Rob shoots all Canon Digital with lenses up to 500 mm.

Rob has many awards and publications to his credit including featured covers of Birders World, Living Bird, American Falconry, National Wildlife Magazine. He has published 2 books and is the principle photographer for three others. A highlight of 2008 was winning Image of the Year from the Photographic Society or America.

We had a last minute cancellation for our original April 12 presenter, but there is very good news!  Glenn Randall has stepped in with a wonderful program for us. The details follow:

On April 12, 2012, Glenn Randall will present “Sunrise from 14,000 Feet.”  Here’s how he describes the origin of his project:

“Summits are magical places.  Reaching the summit of a high peak gives me the exhilarating, humbling and awe-inspiring experience of being a tiny speck on top of the world.  To me, mountaineering is almost a metaphor for the human condition.  It embodies in concrete form the way we reach for the sky, yet can only climb so high.  In the spring of 2006, I began working on a series of images I hoped would capture these powerful emotions.

“Most summit photographs I’d seen were rather boring.  How could that be, I thought, when the experience of reaching the summit is so enthralling?  Then I thought about when those photos were taken: at noon, in midsummer, when the sun is as high in the sky as it will be the entire year.  Most summit photos taken at that time of day show distant, hazy peaks almost lost in the white glare of the midday sun.  In an attempt to give my images an impact that matched my experience, I decided to try shooting sunrise from the summits of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks.”

So far Glenn has done 42 shoots on 29 peaks.  Come see the images from this unique project, hear the stories behind the most exciting shots, and learn more about the art of landscape photography.

Glenn Randall has been a full-time photographer and writer specializing in the outdoors for 33 years.  He has had over 1,000 photographs published, including 67 covers, and sold over 10,000 prints of his landscape images.  He’s also authored nine books and 200 magazine articles.  Farcountry Press published two books of his landscape photographs, Colorado Wild & Beautiful and Rocky Mountain National Park Impressions.  Glenn is a regular contributor to Outdoor Photographer and is also a sought-after workshop instructor.  You can sign up for his monthly newsletter, read his blog and see more of his work at www.GlennRandall.com.

Mark Alison’s presentation will focus on the ways in which artists discover the various genres of photography and how they find the right fit based on purpose and happiness.  There will be an open discussion segment with the presentation as well.

Mark is a portrait photographer from the Denver area.  He has built his business from the ground up and achieved success in the industry.  He teaches workshops and mentors growing photographers.   “I enjoy expressing myself in different styles and skills.  The joy I get from serving the client is where the real passion lies.”

The March meeting of the Flatirons Photo Club will be held on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 7PM. Our meeting location this month will be at 3901 Pinon. This is a red brick building BEHIND the Har Hashem Synagogue. To get there drive east on Baseline Road. One half a mile past 30th Street you make a right turn onto Meadowbrook which is just past the synagogue.  Go south on Meadowbrook a short distance ( maybe 1/8th of a mile) and you will bump into Pinon.  Make a right onto Pinon and again drive a short distance and you will come to a large parking area on the right with a mailbox that says 3901 Pinon. The two story red brick building is there. Find a place to park and enter the building through a pair of double glass doors on the right side facing the parking lot. Our meeting room is immediately inside the doors. I will put a sign on the door so people will know they are in the right place.

Join Mark Johnson in the spirit of his internationally-acclaimed book, Botanical Dreaming, for an inspiring lecture on a variety of creative techniques for crafting expressive flower portraits—including montaging with textures, adding creative borders, and creating luminous soft-glow montages.

Bio:

Mark S. Johnson is an Adobe Photoshop luminary, a photographer, an author, and one of the most passionate instructors you will ever encounter.  It is this passion that inspired him to write, photograph, and design the internationally-recognized book, Botanical Dreaming.  Mark’s immensely popular eBook, the Photographer’s Photoshop Companion, has helped thousands of photographers from around the globe understand and enjoy Photoshop.  His signature video tutorial series, The Photoshop Workbench, was viewed by half a million unique visitors last year.  Mark’s latest eBook, Illuminating HDR, is one of the most comprehensive HDR resources on the planet, and his sensational Photoshop Impressionism Video Tutorial Series is the first of its kind anywhere.  

Through the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, The Radiant Vista, and Boulder Digital Arts, Mark has lectured in front of and worked side-by-side with countless individuals, including Adobe’s Chief Executive Officers, the U.S. Ambassador to Finland, and 2010 Academy Award winning director, Louie Psihoyos.  His tutorials appear regularly on the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) web site, and his imagery and articles have been featured in Photo Techniques, Nature’s Best, and After Capture magazines.  Watch hundreds of Mark’s free and entertaining Photoshop tutorials at www.msjphotography.com.

The February meeting of the Flatirons Photo Club will be held this month on Thursday, February 9, at the Main Library on Arapahoe Avenue (just west of Broadway) in the Boulder Creek Room. Park in the main library parking lot – free. Enter the library at the main entrance, go up the stairs and up the ramp to the right and you will be facing the room. WE WILL BE STARTING AT 6:45 PM BECA– USE WE NEED TO BE OUT OF THE BUILDING BY 8:45 PM.