A Cathedral of Cloth

If I choose abstraction over reality, it is because I consider it the lesser chaos.
–Robert Brault

I took this photo standing inside a deflating hot air balloon on a Sunday morning. At the time, I thought the beautiful glow of the sunlight coming through the colored panels was reminiscent of stained glass. In my imagination I suddenly found myself standing under-dressed in a very warm cloth cathedral.

“Cathedral of Cloth” [Click on the image to enlarge/reduce its size.] Nikon D300, ISO 640, f/1.8 at 1/60 sec., 85 mm

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You can now follow me on Instagram at @EarlHarrisPhoto, where I am posting photos captured and edited solely on my iPhone. Come follow me! We’ll get lost together.

Bars and Stripes in Glass

“We may shine, we may shatter,
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,
We are fragile, we are human,
And we are shaped by the light we let through us,
We break fast, cause we are glass.
We are glass.”
― Thompson Square

Glass has got to be one of the most fascinating and flexible materials on earth. It’s a solid liquid that can be shaped and molded and blown and stretched and stamped and etched and leaded and colored and swirled and patterned and fragile and bullet-proof and …

I think you get the idea.

Nikon D300, ISO 200, f/16 at 4.7 sec., 60 mm

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HDR in Ruins: Help Wanted

Please, I need your help!

Over the Easter holiday weekend, I got the opportunity to sit down and work with some photographs I captured in Stockton, Utah in July of last year. I had just gotten my Mamiya 645 Super medium-format film camera, and wanted to take it out and shoot a couple of rolls of film. An earlier post featured one of the B&W photos from the Mamiya film shoot, but I had never even looked at the digital images I got at the same time.

I recall that my intuition had me thinking that the early morning light and the landscape that lay in front of me was the perfect combination for some interesting HDR images. I therefore bracketed all of my shots for each scene by a half stop. I haven’t done a lot of HDR work to-date, but it is a technique I’ve become more and more intrigued with for its ability to show so much detail and texture. And if you’ve come to this site with any regularity, you know how I’m drawn to textures.

So here they are. I’m pretty happy with the results and think I might like to have a metal print made of the best image from this series. The problem is, I can’t decide which one is the “best image”. That’s where your help comes in; which one would you choose to print? Please leave your opinion/comments below. Thanks.

#1

Nikon D300, ISO 200, bracketed aperture for HDR conversion at 1/125th sec.

#2

Nikon D300, ISO 200, bracketed aperture for HDR conversion at 1/125th sec.

#3

Nikon D300, ISO 200, bracketed aperture for HDR conversion at 1/125th sec.

#4

Nikon D300, ISO 200, bracketed aperture for HDR conversion at 1/125th sec.

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Waiting on the Post

This beautiful egret sits on a strategically positioned post waiting for breakfast to show itself in the water below.

Nikon D300, ISO 400, f/5.3 at 1/1000 sec, 95 mm

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This photograph is now available as a standard, canvas or metallic print from

The Gary Fong PowerSnoot®

Gary Fong has produced some of the most versatile and convenient flash modifiers on the market. Using a Gary Fong PowerSnoot® with a hand-held, off-camera Nikon SB-700 flash, I was able to capture the photo below in subdued natural light using no backdrop whatsoever. In fact, the “backdrop” in this photo consisted of lawn and garden equipment and shelves full of tools.

Nikon D300, ISO 200, f/22 at 1/250 sec., 50 mm, SB-700 flash, Gary Fong PowerSnoot®

The PowerSnoot quickly and safely attaches to most any standard-size flash unit and allows you to really focus and contain the burst of light emitted by the flash. It can produce some stunning, dramatic effects to spark your creativity and expand how you incorporate flash in your day-to-day photography.

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I appreciate your comments and feedback.

Chiseled Features

The artist, inspired by love and fear
created him out of stone
Chiseled features hide his tears
as he dreams of flesh and bone.
– EH

Your comments, ratings and shares are greatly appreciated.

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It’s Still Life

I had everything arranged as I wanted it. I turned my back to the scene and simultaneously depressed the remote shutter release. As I was shooting tethered, I looked at my computer screen and there I saw something unexpected. A happy accident had transformed my scene, giving it a completely different feel from what I’d envisioned. Though it wasn’t what I had planned, I had to admit I liked it.

Leave it to the cat that had previously been content to only watch from nearby to suddenly have a differing creative vision.

Nikon D300, ISO 200, 1/20 sec at f/9.5, Nikkor 35 mm

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Ooh, It Makes Me Wonder

And it’s whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
– Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven

Nikon D300, ISO 200, 1/30 sec at f/2.4, 35mm

Your comments, likes and shares are greatly appreciated.

Contrast in Nature

Joy and grief are never far apart. In the same street the shutters of one house are closed while the curtains of the next are brushed by the shadows of the dance. A wedding party returns from the church; and a funeral winds to its door.
– Robert Eldridge Willmott

Nikon D300, ISO 200, 1/350 sec at f/4.8, 35 mm

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I love your “likes” and comments!

There Goes The Neighborhood…

Nothing recedes like progress.
– E. E. Cummings

Nikon D300, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec. at f/9, 50 mm

Today I am taking photos of kitties available at the shelter for adoption. Can you guess what tomorrow’s post will feature photos of? Be sure to stop by for a full dose of cuteness!

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Please leave your comments/thoughts about Progress below.
Thank you for visiting.