The Forgotten Pier

photo by Jim Walton

"Forgotten Pier"

I was recently in Ocean City, New Jersey with my family. While I always take some photographic equipment along on vacations, it always ends up being hard to find time to scout for locations and get back to shoot when conditions are right. Especially when you have young children along...as I am sure most parents can relate to this. We were walking the beach one evening after dinner when we stumbled upon this old fishing pier that had been abandoned long ago. There were other piers along the newer areas on the boardwalk, and they were always packed with people. It made me wonder why this pier had been left for the sea to slowly tear down. At the same time, it is still a popular site to see and people would wander down there to take a look at the old pier. I instantly knew I had to try and capture this wonderful relic.

I knew that the sky was going to make or break the image because there needed to be a sense of movement both above and below the pier to convey the ghostly isolation of this old structure. Luckily, there had been clouds and fronts moving through just about the entire time I was there. The problem with that is a lot of the times the clouds will block the sunrise until it is too high in the sky and you will lose the first light "glow" and colors. That is exactly what happened the first morning, but the second morning (last day of my trip) mother nature came through for me.

There were many nice compositions using the rocks and the shore, but I decided that I wanted this image to just be about the beauty of this broken down pier. I also wanted to enhance the mood and isolation with movement in the clouds and the surf, luck also provided a nice mist in the air to aid in my goal. I waded out into the surf and composed very close to the pier at 16mm with a 5 stop density filter to kick my exposure time up to 25 seconds. This long exposure time would cause the surf to blur together and the clouds to streak just a bit. In order to keep the tripod still enough in the surf for such a long exposure I had to almost fully extend the legs and sink them deep into the sand, then give the tides time to settle the sand around them (a very quick way to ensure your tripod never opens/closes well again without breaking apart every part to clean out the sand). The clouds were still thick on the horizon so it took a moment for the sun to clear them which left only a few moments of the warm first light before the sun was to high. At 25sec exposures, I only got 3 shots before the magic was gone and everything in the sky brightened up. This was the first of the 3, a single exposure processed twice and blended together.

I would also like to say thank you to Jim Walton, a young kid who has a passion for photography that is very rare for his age. There are few teenagers that will rise at 4:00 AM and ride their bike several miles to take a picture. Not only did he do it once, but he was there the second morning trying again just as I was. He was kind enough to take the above picture of me just after the magic moments had passed and I began moving around trying to capture other perspectives, you can still see a hint of the early morning colors in the distance. He sent it in a email and I had no idea he even took my picture. Thanks bud, and keep shooting!

People's Choice Award 2010

"Shadow"

Anthony is once again honored to announce that he has won the People's Choice Award in the 2010 Olney Arts Council's Fine Art Show for the second year in a row. He is both humbled and honored that the general public, who could have voted for any of the amazing pieces of artwork from all mediums, chose Anthony's "Shadow" as their favorite. I have said before that I am not a fan of competitions because of how easily one can get wrapped in the desire to win and become critical of others, but in the end you are subject to another's opinion and views. That is not what art should be about. I create prints because I am inspired to do so, and I love it. The fact that so many find my work appealing amazes and humbles me every day. Anthony would like to thank everyone who attended the show in support of the Olney Arts Council, who have created a friendly atmosphere for people to display their work, and the many talented artists on display.

Make A Wish

"Wishes"

I am very pleased to announce my latest release "Wishes" from my Oregon/Washington trip this summer. Capturing a shooting star with a camera is a very rare thing, but capturing two is truly once in a lifetime. I consider it to be one of the most magical and amazing images in my collection. There have been many inquiries into the story behind this image, so I thought I would share the tale of that evening with the mountain.

It was taken at Mt. Rainier National Park in the Paradise wildflower fields. We spent an afternoon hiking and scouting for potential images at sunset using Mt. Rainier as a backdrop only to discover that the sky was just "too clear and cloudless" to produce any drama in the sky above the peak. As sunset started to unfold, as expected, I was less than thrilled with sky portion of my images. The weather was gorgeous and the sky was crystal clear, so we decided to hang around for several more hours to do some twilight and night photography over the mountain. I saw the potential for a nice twilight image where the sky turns that deep blue just before dark, stars twinkling, the cool shadowed mountain with the warm alpine glow jut behind it , and the blue lupines scattered throughout meadows. Capturing an image like this is very technically challenging. Each of the components take on their magical "glow and color" qualities at different points throughout the evening, plus enough light needs to be available to account for factors like wind moving the flowers around. In order to put all these pieces together it required blending 4 images together taken at different points over a 4 hour period. First I had to find the composition that would really emphasize the soft glowing blues in the lupines, and ensure everything was setup, in focus, and exactly the way I wanted. Once the process is started, the camera can not be touched or moved. Now that everything was in place I waited until dusk to take the first exposure of the wildflowers. The second exposure was taken about an hour later with the focus shifted to the mountain and the soft glow behind it. Over the course of the next two hours I would take an exposure about every 30 minutes to ensure I captured the sky as the twilight blues turned to black and the stars began to shine bright. At that point it just becomes the difficult task of blending the selected images together to produce what the human eye was actually seeing that evening.

While we were standing around talking between shots, I did notice a shooting star to the left of where we were shooting. It wasn't until I got back to the studio and began sorting through the images that I discovered I had recorded two separate shooting stars throughout the evening. It goes without saying that I instantly knew I had lucked out and found my "drama" for the sky portion of my image. I used the two sky portions with the shooting stars along with the other two foreground images to recreate that evening in one slice of time.

I hope you enjoy this very special addition to my collection, and don't forget to wish upon the falling stars.

Oregon and Washington 2010

"Composing in the fading light along Washington's Coast"



"Scouting wildflower fields at the base of Mt. Rainier "

"Scouting locations during low tide"

"Photographing among the wildflowers in Washington"

Anthony has just returned from his expedition into the wilds of Oregon and Washington. He spent 8 days in these two beautiful states, covering more than 1500miles by car and over 30miles backpacking beyond the commonly visited areas. Just about every landscape imaginable from rugged alpine peaks to deserts and rugged coasts are located in this region. With such a diversity of landscapes to choose from, Anthony realized it would be impossible to try and capture great representations of them all. Instead he decided to let the light and weather be the guide, and he would drive, hike, and camp back and forth across these two States to try and put himself into the best situations with the landscape and the weather. This endless chase took him to the rugged coastlines of Washington, giant rain forests, wildflower fields around Mt. Rainier, pristine alpine lakes, camping next to glaciers in the high altitudes of the Three Sister's Wilderness and the Tatoosh Range. This amazing adventure has yielded some amazing new images that will be released later this fall and winter, once Anthony's busy fall schedule is over.

Anthony will be off to the boundary waters of Minnesota during the first week of October. He will be working with several other prominent photographers and producers from the United States and Europe. They will be exploring the fall colors and wildlife by foot, canoe, and car. Stay tuned.............

"Evening Takeout"

The last several months have been fairly uneventful for Anthony. 2009, while incredibly thrilling and humbling, was quite the ride. The huge international success of his encounter with the lynx; negotiating contracts and image agreements with publishers, agents, and private individuals; exhibits; crawling through slot canyons in the Southwest to walking among the bears of British Columbia all made for a remarkable time. However, by the end of the year Anthony found himself tired and burned out. He decided to take several months off and put his cameras aside to regroup and attend to other important matters. Anthony began to oversee the remodeling of his home in Olney, IL. While not the most relaxing task, he enjoyed designing new elements in his home decor. He focused on nothing but his home and enjoying time with his wife and two young daughters who tormented the workmen on a daily basis. Known for being fairly reclusive anyway, not many saw him for a while.

Inspiration and passion are amazing attributes. Anthony was near completion of his renovations in mid April and was out on a walk around his lake when a young adult Great Horned Owl swooped down and grabbed what appeared to be a Coot. He watched the owl land in a grove of trees were he spent an hour or so listening to the crows squawk and pester him from above. After finally having enough of their torment, he flew to the other side of the lake underneath a spruce tree where he remained for the rest of the day guarding his prize. Intrigued by such unusual behavior from a known nocturnal hunter, Anthony instinctually ran back to the studio and grabbed his camera. He spent an hour or two photographing the owl keeping a watchful eye on it's surroundings until heading back to the house. Anthony spent the better part of the day still intrigued and peering out the windows to see if the owl was still there under the spruce tree. At sunset Anthony began to see all the elements of a great photograph coming together: great warm light, unique behavior, beautiful subject, backlighting, etc. In that moment all his passion and desire to be out shooting returned without even realizing it. He was out till dark working with this owl, and has been working in the studio and shooting steadily since that evening.

People's Choice Award 2009

"Heart Of An Angel"

I am honored to announce that I have won the People's Choice Award in the Olney Arts Council's Fine Art Show this year. This award means a great deal to me because the votes came from the general public who could have cast their vote for any of the wonderful pieces of artwork from all mediums, but they chose my Heart Of An Angel as their favorite. I have never been a big fan of competitions because it is very easy to get wrapped up in the desire to win and become critical of others work when in the end the decision lies in the hands of one individual's or one panel's idea of what is a winning image. That, in my opinion, is not what art is about. I do this because I love creating stunning prints....for myself .....and for my fans and collectors who are moved by my work. So it is very humbling when the people choose my artwork above others. I would like to thank everyone who attended the show in support of the Olney Arts Council and the many talented artists on display.

I am also pleased to announce that the winning piece will be on permanent display in the Holiday Hotel and Restaurant in Olney, IL. The owners have been long-time supporters of my work and they are thrilled to add the People's Choice to their collection. They invite everyone to stop by and see the piece often.

The Great Bear Rainforest: Fall 2009

"Family"

"My Fish"

"Spirit Shower"

"Dreaming Spirit"

"The Spirit Bear"

I have returned from my adventure searching for the very rare white Spirit Bear in the Great Bear Rainforest along the Pacific Coast of British Columbia. I returned home to orders collected from the September shows that had to wait until after my trip. Collectors are always excited to receive their new artwork, so I do my best to get them out as quickly as possible. As of today, all orders are completed and my life is beginning to settle down for the moment. If all continues according to plan, I will have time between a few scattered engagements to catch up on many images that people have been excited to finally see. However, for the moment I would like to take the time to share my experience in the Great Bear Rainforest, which was truly one of the greatest Nature experiences I have ever had.

When one starts spending a lot of time observing and photographing wildlife, it is very easy to become accustomed to the excitement and adrenalin of capturing images of wildlife in their natural habitat. In the beginning there is that rush of “I can’t believe I got that close” or “I can’t believe I stumbled upon that.” Over time, one begins learning behavior and therefore adapts to allow for better approaching the subjects which in return allows for consistently better images. So, even though you are witnessing wonderful natural wildlife behavior, it becomes more difficult to “Wow” one’s self or make some lasting impression that one will always carry with them. This trip into the Great Bear Rainforest not only “wowed” me, but has given me a much deeper understanding of bears and seeded an even deeper respect for wildlife.

I worked with a very small group of 5 other excellent photographers, and our guide and Captain of the Oceanlight II with more than 30 years experience exploring this region and working with bears. When I decided to go on this trip, it was with the intent of capturing something rarely seen (Spirit Bears), but also having the opportunity to try and capture some nice wildlife art of beloved species like the Grizzly and Black Bears. I had no idea of the proximity I would be to these bears. What was truly amazing, it took several days before I realized it was happening, was that we were not just close to these bears, but we were among them. These animals actually accepted our presence and continued with their behavior as if we were part of their environment. Even though these animals are a very large apex predator, they are easily frightened and avoid danger at all costs. So, they will quickly disappear into the trees if they feel threatened in any way. During this time of year they are feeding on Salmon in the many streams and inlets of the region, which means there is no place for us to hide and observe them. We had to stand in the open or work from Zodiacs to be able to photograph them. In that situation, it is up to the bears to approach us which means they have to trust us. These bears would walk by and eventually get closer and closer, but we didn’t realize we had earned their trust until they would actually turn their back to us while being fairly close. While not the most attractive view for a photographer, it was encouraging because we knew eventually they would turn and might approach closer. It wasn’t until the second to last day that I realized that we were actually “among” the bears and not just watching them. We had the good fortune to find a Mother Grizzly with a first year cub in one of the inlets. Over a couple of days of working in this inlet, we would see her from a distance constantly keeping an eye on us. She would come in close enough for us to get distant images of her and her cub, but always remained alert and on the move. On our last afternoon, all of a sudden, she decided we were “ok.” Her ears laid back and she brought her cub within fifty feet of us and lazily feed on fish and sat around. The sun came out (it is a RAINforest) to add a little magic to the moment. She had accepted us as part of her environment for the moment.

Being among the bears for an extended period of time like this allows one to really get a close look at the behavior and interaction of these animals. You can see the expressions change on their faces, and the emotions and tensions expressed between them. Watching the interaction between not only the bears, but between the bears and us was truly astonishing. The human like emotions displayed between them has made a lasting impression on me that I will never forget, and has changed the way I will view wildlife of any kind in the future. Over the next several weeks I hope to post a large number of images that will portray some of the qualities I have told you about, so maybe you will be fortunate enough to see a glimpse of what I witnessed.
More to come, so stay tuned…………………….