An American Photographer in Rural England

Lord, please forgive my fractionalization!

2010-11-01T14:50:00.000Z

Like an onion, I am a man of many layers:

* Photography
* Music
* Writing
* Aviation
* Deep Thoughts
* Shallow Thoughts
* etc.

Previously, I have tried to pay service to these layers independently of each other through various means and methods. But no more! From now on I will be bringing those layers back together into the whole person that I am here in a blog hosted at my website. After all, it is those separate layers combined that make me the lovable person you all know:

JAMES!

So prepare to get the full-meal-deal as it were.

Cheers,

James

Coming to and End

2009-05-26T22:38:00.003+01:00

You know, for some reason when I started this blog I never really realized that I would at some point have to LEAVE England. Well, I am.

It is with quite the mixed bag of feeling that I prepare to move my family across the globe (AGAIN) this time to the high desert scenery of Tucson, Arizona. We're looking forward to being back in America after 5 years living abroad but we leave so many things behind: great friends, great church family, great travel and scenery opportunities.

So since I'll no longer be an American Yank in England I'm drawing this blogger site to a close. But fear not, for I have a cunning plan! I have begun the next step in my Blogger presence with ONE PICTURE ONE-HUNDRED WORDS which is just as simple as it sounds. I hope you enjoy it and I always love to hear your comments.

Cheers,

James

Palermo, Sicily, Italy

2009-05-03T14:19:00.004+01:00

DAY 3

On this day were were able to tour the island of Sicily off the Italian mainland. It was a bit chilly and as we ventured into the mountains it became cloudy and rained, all of which added to the ambiance of visiting Segesta which is an unfinished Greek temple from the 4th century. We also paid a short visit to the Medieval town of Erice which was completely shrouded in fog and made photography quite a challenge. Just a couple of images, you can see more of them as well as others from the cruise we too through the Mediterranean on my Flickr site.

Mediterranean Cruise: Day 1

2009-04-17T13:01:00.004+01:00

The first day of our cruise around the Med was pretty hectic and generally just a bunch of Point A to Point B action. Up at o'dark-thirty for the drive to London Heathrow airport for an Iberia Air flight to Barcelona (an Airbus A320 if you're curious about that kind of thing) followed by a small snafu when our transport to the port decided not to show even after a couple of phone calls to the main office.

Despite this we arrived on the Brilliance of the Seas with 2,200 of our newest friends and were quickly under way leaving Barcelona for Palermo. It was a grey, drizzly day very much like the norm we left in England. But I always try to make the best of what there is so I was able to do some photography on the surrounding industrial area and some of the more interesting ships as we left. Here are a couple of examples, you can see the most recent ones at my Flickr gallery.

I think what most amazes me about these container ships is that each one of those little colored squares is a semi-trailer/lorry trailer. And there are HUNDREDS of them on the ship. Just amazing.

Back with my prize!

2009-04-15T10:32:00.004+01:00

Growing up in the South I often dreamed of far away distant lands: Dayton Beach, Disneyland, that sort of stuff. Of course I knew of those "other" distant lands from the Arabian Nights and Camelot stories but to think about visiting them... nonsense.

Fast-forward many, many years and I found myself in the midst of a family vacation that included ports-of-call with names like Palermo, Malta, Cypress, Rhodos (the correct way to say Rhodes I learned) and Athens. And to put a cherry on top of it all we would visit Egypt and make the trek from Alexandria to Cairo to visit the pyramids.

Now if you know me you are aware that I'm pretty much a little kid in a middle-aged body. Being such, I naturally thought "wouldn't it be cool to sit on a camel while looking at the pyramids"?

Well, dreams can come true and to prove it I present to you my fantastic family in front of the Great Pyramids of Egypt while on camels.

From left to right: my son Jordan, myself and daughter Emmalea, son Zachary and daughter Hannah and finally my lovely wife, Jill. It is important to notice that the lead camel, perhaps offended at my wife not wanting to experience Egypt on camel-back, has decided to lick and chew on her head during the photo. While I took a few photos during our 2 weeks aboard the Brilliance of the Seas (about 27gig worth) this is hands-down my favorite image of the trip.

I will be "driving the PC" for many days to edit the images but will begin posting them as soon as I'm able. Prayers for sanity (mine and my family's as I shout "where were we when we saw....") during the process requested and appreciated.

Cheers!

Featured Image of the Week

2009-03-28T14:21:00.002Z

This week's Featured Image is being posted a couple of days early as I will be on a well-deserved cruise with my family in the Eastern Mediterranean next week.

I fear we have set a very high standard for our children when it comes to Spring Break vacations. You see, living in Europe we've always had such easy access to places I only read about as a kid growing up. So my children think that a normal Spring Break trip is a cottage overlooking Loch Ness in Scotland or touring Italy by train. Oh, what have I done...LOL!

This image was taken on just such a trip and Jill and I were able to escape one evening for a walk around Rome one evening. Our walk took us along the Tiber River and as we passed some trees we happened upon this wonderful sight of St. Peter's dome hanging in the night sky was the river quietly flowed beneath our feet. One of the most iconic images of the trip and the image I always think of when I hear the word Vatican.

As my Featured Image of the week you are able to purchase the base print for a reduced price for this week (actually 2 weeks due to our holiday break!) only from my preferred top-quality printing e-commerce partner ImageKind. Normal matting and framing prices apply. To see this image at my ImageKind gallery page please click here.

Please check back next week to see a new Featured Image from my image collection of "Unique Imagery From Around the World".

This Week's Featured Print

2009-03-24T07:19:00.003Z

This week's image comes from some when we were fortunate enough to live on a working farm in Norfolk county, England.

Norfolk lies in an area of England called East Anglia. Named after the homelands of the Anglo-Saxons in northern Germany it is, at least where I live, not nearly as flat as has been described. Rolling I would say is a good word to use. It is peppered with WWII airfields and if you remember the opening sequence of Memphis Belle then you have a good idea.

Looking out of our kitchen window we often saw the sun setting behind the infamous English hedgerows but, as happens in a land acclaimed for it's magical light, all the pieces fell together this evening. A quick step out of the front door and voila' a little slice of East Anglia captured to help us remember just how blessed we are to have lived here.

As my Featured Image of the week you are able to purchase the base print for a reduced price for this week only from my preferred top-quality printing e-commerce partner ImageKind. Normal matting and framing prices apply. To see this image at my ImageKind gallery page please click here.

Please check back next week to see a new Featured Image from my image collection of "Unique Imagery From Around the World".

Things you can't do anymore

2009-03-22T16:26:00.004Z

Earlier this week a friend of mine were talking about things we did while kids that aren't allowed anymore. Despite growing up worlds apart (he in England and me in various parts of the USA) lots of things were the same: fishing, rock fights, riding bikes all day and building clubhouses on "common" property. Kids are kids no matter the place.

In doing a bit of research for an upcoming trip I learned with great sadness that is is now forbidden to feed the pigeons in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. When I took my family there on holiday my wife was amazed that this was something that ALL the family wanted to do (and if you travel with family you know what a rarity that is!) and to say we dropped a bit of coin to support the local bird food vending economy would be an understatement.

I know the world is changing and is certainly not the place of my childhood. I certainly can understand the public health implications of the move as well as the effect they have on the historic architecture of St. Mark's (just as I can understand I would not let me children wander as we did when I was young), but it is sad to know sometime in the future I'll be talking with someone and say "Hey, remember when you could feed the pigeon's in St. Mark's? That was cool.".

I'm afraid to say it....

2009-03-18T08:16:00.002Z

Knowing what sometimes befalls a person when they make bold statements about things so I cringe when I think that I about to let this phrase loose on the world...

I think spring is here in England.

Flowers out all over the place, birds that have been gone are back (big babies, tough it out like the rest of us I say) and a general warmth that has been lacking is slowly creeping back into the ground. I do enjoy spring....

My first Featured Image

2009-03-16T11:15:00.005Z

Today I start what will be a (hopefully) regular feature of my blog: the weekly Featured Image!

This week's image comes from some time ago but still to this day remains one of my favorite images I've ever captures. While living in Alaska there are often strange weather occurrences due to the fact that Anchorage is surrounding on three sides by mountains and the remaining side open to Cook Inlet leading to the Ocean.

On this particular day we had a weather front move through that brought with it lightening. No that doesn't sound like a big event to most of you but lightening is a rather rare event in the city. As the front pushed through there was a very definate line where the air masses were meeting and it happened that as it was passing overhead the sun was setting and grazing the bottom of the clouds. Throwing open the window I quickly was able to capture and entire roll of images before the moment was over.

It was a tough wait the next day as my friends at Photowright Labs processed the slides and when I saw them I was not disappointed: 36 glorious glimpses into the combination of clouds, sunset and sky lay before me. The image seen below was the pick of the litter, eventually earning an Honorable Mention in the Alaska WILD photography competition and going on tour across the state of Alaska as well as being hung in the International Photography Hall of Fame.

As my Featured Image of the week you are able to purchase the base print for a reduced price for this week only from my preferred top-quality printing e-commerce partner ImageKind. Normal matting and framing prices apply. To see this image at my ImageKind gallery page please click here.

Please check back next week to see a new Featured Image from my image collection of "Unique Imagery From Around the World".

The summer of change...again.

2009-03-09T15:54:00.002Z

Well it's that time again, time to start thinking about packing up our home and moving 1/2 way across the planet. Again. Out time living in England is coming to an end and this summer we'll be experiencing a new climate we've never experienced before: the desert.

Yes, three years in Tucson, Arizona.

So expect a flurry of posting activity as I try to get caught up on images that have been captured but not yet processed. Frantic trips to see what I thought I'd have time to see but alas have not yet done (a familiar situation I fear). Say, for example, the Jorvik viking festival in York.

Frozen and windblown

2009-02-07T19:38:00.011Z

Every now and again I get a chance to get away from things and get out on my own and such was the case earlier in the week when I made a date with the Welsh hills. Truthfully I wasn't sure if I should risk it as for the two days prior to my departure the doom and gloom sayers at BBC (known as weather forecasters) were telling us the Island of Britain would be a solid mass of ice with possible mammoth sightings. OK, a little exaggeration on my part but honestly they were using words like WEATHER WARNING and SEVERE WINTER CONDITIONS on the screen. Unfazed, I hauled out my winter survival gear that has sat dormant in my shed and started off at a lovely 0230 to discover there actually WAS white stuff coming down from the sky!

Now because the majority of folks here haven't spent time in Alaska driving in snow on a daily basis the traffic was, well... nuts. Even starting at the crazy hour I did the traffic (and not the road conditions, the roads were darn near perfect by Alaska standards) my usual 5-hour trip to Wales took a leisurely 7 1/2 hours. But in typical Wales style the wind was blowing, the snow flying and the hills, oh those Welsh hills were a beautiful sight to behold. The purpose of this trip was to capture the Royal Air Force and US Air Force jets utilizing Low Fly Area 7 (LFA7) with the snow covered hills beneath them and the scanner told me what I already knew: all areas unfit for use. No jets on this day. But I was not here just to photograph but to test myself and get in some much needed fieldcraft time, so up to icy trail of Mynydd Gwerngreig I went and making the normal 45-minute hike in a lazy 1 1/2-hours in a biting wind. Later I did enjoy a hot lunch cooked Scout style on the side of the road while I took in great gulps of the fresh mountain air. A hot lamb shank supper later that night at the Dolbrodmaeth along with a frosty Guinness would have to do until the next day. The day the weather was supposed to get worse.

Morning dawned with much less snow that I had expected yet a quick look at the telly showed that most of England was shut down due to heavy snow. The area of Wales I was in was pretty much unscathed yet the weather was said to be moving in. To me this meant no jets for a second day so I might as well get some more time in on the hills and off I went. This time I headed to the rocky area of Craig y y Bwlch. Despite it being a short 10 minute drive from my hotel at Dinas Mawddwy when I reached the pass the deck was down to nothing, the wind howling and snowflakes the size of a 50-pence piece. In Alaska we call this... spring. So up I went. I pitched my tent and reclined inside with a sweeping view of the spot where aircraft converge from 3 different directions and with any luck bolt down towards Tal-y-llyn lake. But not today.

After coming down I drove the route through the valleys that the jets take and was able to explore little nooks and crannies I had not seen before and at one point watched amazed as a pair of juvenile red kites played around a stand of trees and rode the winds that swirled around the area.

Finally, after 2 days of being "skunked" the rumor was strong in the air that today would be a good day to see fast-moving pointy-ended things come swooping down the valleys. Lowfly spotters were out on both hills (we had met at the Bwlch but the weather was just too inhospitable there). So we waited, perched on the sides of of steep snow-covered hills ans joking between sips of hot drinks. The shouts of HAWK would break us out of the mood but the end result was 3 Hawks and another 3-ship of Haws too high to even point the lens at. But when they blast through the narrow valley at 500+ knots it is a powerful moment in time.

So was it a success or a bust? I'd have to say a little of both. Luckily I enjoy the mountains, I enjoy winter and I enjoy when my outdoor skills are challenged and put to the test. If I can take a workable image or two in the process that's good. If I can have my socks blown off my a modern piece of military hardware that's even better. So a hearty THANKS to all the guys who were on the slope with me that last day, as usual the company of rock rats is some of the best in the world no matter the number of movements.

Update...

2009-01-23T23:18:00.003Z

Well, as predicted, the weather here in Norfolk has been bleh. The good side of that is there are now over 1,400 images at the Flickr site. Lots of images from my days on Terceira Island in the Azores that haven't been seen before with even more on the way.

The big push in underway to get my backlog of images cleared as we have been notified that we leave foggy, soggy England this summer for warmer climes: Tucson, Arizona! The goal is to have everything up and ready so I can hit the ground running back in the States.

Some examples of images recently posted at the Flickr site:

When the weather is bad...

2009-01-16T15:15:00.003Z

WORK!

Poor weather has made it possible for me to update for the past couple of days and it appears the conditions will only get worse on into the weekend. So, enjoy photos being added quite frequently at the Flickr site and soon to follow many of the finer examples will be posted to various sites for purchase such as ImageKind, CafePress and Zazzle (two stores there) ONE and TWO!

Some recent additions include:

Back in the Saddle Again

2009-01-13T08:51:00.002Z

Well the Holiday break is finally over, the kids back in school and the cars fixed (which means I'm not sitting in a waiting room) so it is finally time for me to get back to work!

I do hope you had an enjoyable Christmas break. For us Christmas is bittersweet since we are so far from family, but as always the church family is there to help celebrate. Everywhere we have gone our newest church family is wonderful and helps us to feel a part of something bigger, feel like we're home.

This is also the time to look back and remember those things I was blessed enough to enjoy: the Weeting Steam Festival, low-fly spotting in Wales, Spring Break in Loch Ness, a winter trip back to Alaska and the general euphoria that comes with being a photographer. 2009 promises to be no less exciting with Spring Break slated to be spent cruising around the Eastern Mediterranean, more trips to Wales and a couple of possible trips I'm keeping under wraps for the moment. This year will also see us leaving England for (as of now) parts unknown so another adventure of moving the family across the globe is in store! I'm almost excited about that. Almost...

So here's hoping that 2009 will bring fun, adventure and laughs to you (OK, me too).

Best wishes,

James

How NOT to photograph Grey seals on the English coast

2008-12-08T15:44:00.015Z

The internet is full of guides on how to photograph here or the guide to photographing subject XYZ. But I'm going to take a different approach. I'm going to tell what NOT to do to photograph Grey seals at Donna Nook.

I know, I know. You're scratching your head going "What the...? Why would I want to learn how NOT to do something?!?!?!"

Let me 'splain. But first, a little proof that this might be worth a read:

Is he a cutie or what? Just a few hours old, his umbilical cord is still pink and pretty soft. So now are you interested? Read on my friend.

I have done a decent amount of wildlife photography but honestly, I'm a little rusty. I haven't lived in Alaska for 5 years and the largest wild animal in the Azores was the Least weasel I believe, unless you count feral goats. England has bigger game but with so much going on I haven't had a lot of time to keep the edge on my field craft. When I heard that one of England's largest populations of Grey seals birthed just a couple of hours north of where I live, I was ready to go... immediately. I actually had to wait a week but I was eager to get out there. I researched the site, printed maps and checked road details, plotted routs on the sat-nav and gathered gear from the shed containing boxes of gear I haven't used in a dog's age. I used to use a checklist when packing for a day like this but hey, I'm old and wide. Normal stuff for an outing, feels somewhat familiar. I'm ready to go.

So finally, the big day. Alarm goes off at 4am. Coffee maker perking away as I gather my gear scattered throughout the house. Poke my head outside and the weather has occurred just as forecast: 32 degrees, freezing fog. But this is probably my one chance to make it to the seals, the holiday season is crazy. A little fog won't slow me down too much. Car's packed, not my usual van-load as it died and I'm taking my wife's lovely BMW held together by the finest German rust. (Can you see it coming, can you??)

Half an hour into my slip-slide through Norfolk county on black ice roads my beloved Betty (the SatNav) decides to conk out. No problem, I reach to the right for my trusty map except... there's a door there. My map is back in my dead van. No problem! I remember when I was looking at a route that I needed the A1031 or something and it was to the east of Louth. I think. More slow driving and dirty water on the windshield from the gritted roads (known as sand in other parts of the world) and now my washer fluid isn't coming out. Broken connector tube from the cold (perhaps). Great.... luckily I have a bottle of window cleaner and I can just stick my hand out of the window to squirt it on the window. A this point I had a small thought that a sane person might consider packing it in at this point, but nooooo.

Two hours later I'm getting close to where I think I should be when I notice a big nasty ROAD CLOSED sign. "Oh yeah, I remember now." Now I'm on a detour through the skinniest, slipperiest back roads I've seen and I've seen a LOT. Solid ice, departed my planned route twice (ran off the road). Once I experienced a validation of my pucker function as I was headed to a drainage ditch that would have easily swallowed a bus, let along this little car. I reach for the maps I printed off of the local area... and get nothing. "Oh yeah..." I had taken them into the kitchen to get a bag to keep them dry and got distracted by the coffee pot making a funny noise. I sure they were safely still there. So I drive up and down roads until I find a bigger one,. then a bigger one, the lo-and-behold a sign. NO ACCESS TO SEALS Too bad I can't see anything to see if there's another sign around. More driving and I see the sign for the parking lot at Donna Nook. An hour and a half late I pull into the lot. Sun's not up yet but I'm going to have to hump it to get to the beach before it gets too light. Ah, optimism.

After a quick snack and a steamy cup o' coffee I'm ready to hit the beach. The area I'm headed to is a 40 minute walk from the car park, the beach/mud flats are very broad. Camera bag out, wellies out, waders... waders... WADERS?!?!?!?!? I had laid them on the radiator to dry the feet out after fixing a small hole in one foot and there they were still. I had not brought my rain pants because I was going to wear my waders, I had hosed out my wellies for the same reason and removed the insoles from my boots as well. All because I was bringing my waders. All I had for my legs was a thin part of thermals and a pair of fleece trousers. It was 34 degrees, thick fog, stiff north wind. Perfect setting for hypothermia. So I pressed on...

Over the sand dunes I went and within 20 feet I saw my first seal. I knew they would be there, but I wanted to get out to the surf line where the images would be more of a challenge. I saw people dispersing in different directions so I split the difference and went into the fog, heading for the distant sound of crashing waves. No waders, a pair of poorly-fitting hiking boots and very chilly legs.

I had hiked in fog before, but usually on a trail. I had heard about the confusing nature of fog, but had never experienced it. Well, until then. After an hour and ten minutes and getting my feet soaked I ended up approximately 40 yards north of where I started. I was not happy. I may have momentarily lost my temper. Had I not started to rub the skin off the back of my heels I might have stomped like a big baby. So, a scant 2 minutes from my warm car and a reasonable excuse to bail, I set out again, bound not to walk in a giant circle again.

Ignoring the fog, I relied on my ears to keep the surf in front of my. Walking across the mud flats I noticed footprints going in every direction. "Misery loves company." After the predicted 40 minutes (plus another 15 for my blistered feet I arrived at the surf.

"Hmph. Where's all the seals?"

Not north, not south. So I stood and watched. Well, I tried to see the surf I could hear right in front of me but I sure couldn't see much with the fog. Soon a pair of figures emerged from the mist and quickly informed my that the seals definitely weren't north. So they took off and I walked slowly, quickly realizing that this was not exactly the best position to be in. And then I saw him. A few more steps and I saw THEM.

No light to speak of. Darn near ten o'clock and it's dark. But I take my pack off, pull out my bivy sack to lay it on and start my stalk. Crouch, ten steps, wait, crouch, 15 steps, wait, check for seals, adjust track, ten steps, crouch, wait. This is how I was taught to stalk game and so I did for the next 30 minutes. Then I watched a group of people walk right through the colony and they barely moved. The seals barely moved I mean. The seals get enough traffic to not be too wary of people. Hmph.

For the next two and a half hours I crouched among the seals of Donna Nook, watching newborn pups call out for momma and learn to crawl on the sand. Bulls would contort into odd Yoga-like positions that made me giggle and the cows would flip you away if you got too close, not a problem with the gear I was carrying. And suddenly the adrenaline wore off and I realized I was cold. Real cold. Dangerous cold. I thought "I'll just crawl in this bivy sack and take a little nap to get warm." and I knew I had to get back quickly. Taking a nap on a very flat tidal beach with mud flats to cross was NOT smart thinking, a clear sign of impending hypothermia. So I packed up my bag and after a short conversation with another photographer we decided to walk back together. Richard was "kind" enough to photograph me as I was taking a photo of the only bit of sun we saw for most of the day. I had packed up my main gear and used Jill's camera and I don't care if it looks pink.

Richard has some cracking shots, drop by his web site to take a look please.

Coming back the fog cleared and looking back I couldn't understand how I could have gotten turned around. Now that I've been there, it's so easy.

So from this experience I hope you can see that there are a lot of little things (OK, some big things as well) where a little more time spent checking would have made the day much more enjoyable. Had I not been as prideful as I can sometimes be I would have relied on a checklist to be properly equipped. Now to be honest I'm pretty pleased with the images which you can see over on my Flickr pages. But here I am more than a week later and I'm still wearing ill-fitting shoes to keep the pressure off of my heels. The water, cold and hiking just chewed 'em up. You can also keep track of your important events (like photo shoots in the wilderness) with the Grey Seals on the English Coast calendar available now and featuring our cute friend in the first photo on the cover.

So listen to all those guides that tell you about what you need to accomplish amazing photography, but also remember that little things can make it go wrong real quick. So just like this seal I'll blow you a kiss and wish you the best of luck.

Lots of photos

2008-11-17T20:30:00.004Z

Two opportunities to see what's been going on here in the office and why things are so quiet. You can either view my flickr pages to see loads of images in easy-to-navigate folders...

OR you can scroll down a little and and watch my embedded shows of select images from the latest additions to the catalog and available for license or print purchase. Either way, I hope you enjoy.

Early morning sight

2008-10-29T15:15:00.005Z

I was able to squeeze in a little "work" today and head up into the mountains above Anchorage to one of my favorite stomping grounds of old; the Glen Alps trailhead. With a commanding view over Anchorage it is my favorite place to await the first rays of the morning sun as they creep in between Wolverine Peak and Flattop Mountain. Today didn't disappoint and there was the added bonus of an arriving jet into the airport, what a glorious sight it must have been from that aircraft.

Enjoy.

View across the Inlet

2008-10-24T02:52:00.004+01:00

A quick trip up to visit the property brought back to my memory a view I had seen many years ago and, surprise surprise, it was just as stunning today as I remembered. The Anchorage skyline as seen from Port McKenzie across Cook Inlet on a crisp fall afternoon.

On holiday

2008-10-23T03:59:00.003+01:00

Lovely to be home. Jill and I are back home in Alaska for a couple of weeks. Today we went to do an oxymoronic task called "absetee in-person" voting for the upcoming Federal election. On the way to City Hall we were treated to one of Alaska's normal traffic hazards: momma' moose and her baby crossing Tudor Road. And then it snowed this afternoon.

Yes, it is good to be home. Here's an image I captured while doing a little aerial vehicle spotting near the Anchorage airport. Enjoy and look for more images in the next few days.

The Holiday Season Approaches

2008-09-01T10:43:00.002+01:00

Yes, it's hard to believe but it is getting close to the time of the year for re-connecting with that long list of friends hidden away in your Holiday Greetings address book. Millions upon millions of pieces of mail will literally travel to and from the four corners of the globe in order to give yearly updates on what we do, the growth of our kids and the current state of our pets.

Not one to be content with the current offerings at the corner store, I decided this year to produce a line of holiday greeting cards with my own little style added to them. The first batch is out featureing a poor little eagle in a Santa hat waiting for the first glimps of morning in Alaska, scrumptious cookies, brilliant poinsettia (growing outdoors in the Azores of all places) and a couple of others.

My favorite is probably the single aurora image. When we were in Alaska the wife of our pastor saw this photo and called it the "baby Jesus" photo as once could imagine the sky looking like that on that very special knight. So Dar, THANK YOU!

When I was a young man...

2008-08-14T10:09:00.007+01:00

I was digging through a box of old photos the other day and ran across a little snapshot of me taken when Jill and I were dating and we had nothing better to do than go around the mid-west with a band I worked with and do what young couples do: listen to loud music and drink a beer or two. I may have had a couple more, but that's not really the point now is it? I had just turned 20 and am in full metal rock god gear onstage at Wishbone's in Columbus, Nebraska while working for the Street Legal band out of Beemer, Nebraska. Sometimes for the last couple of songs I would come up and play, a fun 10 minutes in my life.

Yes, that is my hair. Yes, that is a white leather fringy jacket ala' John Bon Jovi (whom I was once mistaken for in the Sioux Falls, ND airport for by a 10-year old kind once). Yes, I cry when I think about that guitar I sold (a 1964 Gibson Les Paul Custom "Fretless Wonder") for a pittance. Yes, my lovely wife Jill (then my lovely girlfriend Jill) took the photo and I remember it was with a red plastic Vivitar 35mm point-and-shoot.

Amazing Macro Photos

2008-07-30T07:39:00.003+01:00

Many of you know I have had a hand in running the Online Visual Artists Forum for awhile. One of the things we're doing over there is running bi-monthly themed contests with an open entry for members (yet another free service we provide you). You can see the last competition's winners on the front page and I'm amazed at what people can do with pencils and paint.

Now since I'm one of the "powers that be" I don't enter the competitions, but you have got to check out this current round of entries into the MACRO contest. Last count there were over 80 fantastic entries and my guess is that it will top 100 by the deadline of 31JULY.

So jump on over and take a look and feel free to cast your vote!

A Great Northern Lights Article

2008-07-26T16:37:00.003+01:00

I have made some fantastic friends in my years on the Internet. One of those is my buddy Ken who lives up in Canada in the Sarnia/Port Huron area. I met Ken back when we were trying to figure out if you could do such a daft thing as create digital slideshows with music (and back then rudimentary was pretty much the best you could wish for) over at the Pics2Exe forum hosted by WnSoft.

Well, out of the blue, Ken sends me a link to one excellent article in the Globe and Mail explaining what causes the aurora borealis to erupt in the winter skies over the poles (actually, they always happen but you can't see them in the summer). Oddly enough I just posted an entire gallery up of my aurora photographs for everyone to look at, there's also a pretty cool slideshow feature to use as well.

So enjoy the article, get a little ed-ju-ma-ka-shun while you're there then pop on over to the gallery and "oohhh" and "aahhh" at what happens in Alaska's night skies.

Weeting Steam Rally- Day 2

2008-07-21T10:22:00.005+01:00

If you have heard me wax lyrically about my first day at the Weeting Steam Festival, well... let's just say the second day didn't disappoint. With the arrival of a few more engines I heard someone mention the figure of over 50 for the attendees. There was more smoke, more noise, more people, more fun. My newfound friend in the traction engine community, Rob Shorland-Ball, was again most gracious to me in sharing his knowledge and love of traction engines and endured yet another string of questions about this and that. I would also like to thank for fine folks who were kind to me at the threshing display, the mill yard, and the water pumper section for educating me into this world I have grown greatly fascinated with.

If you want to see even more, consider a quick hop over to my gallery at Zenfolio. So, without further adeu, my second day at the Weeting Steam Rally:

Lensbaby and the Weeting Steam Rally

2008-07-18T15:49:00.006+01:00

Living here in England offers some of the most unique opportunities one could ever imagine. Case in point: the Weeting Steam Rally and Country Fair. Held just outside the small village of Weeting, Norfolk (pop. 1750) it is celebrating 40 years of shows in which steam powered vehicles (called traction engines) gather to show their stuff. Today I took my 4 children and my Lensbaby 3G mounted on a Canon 40D to Weeting to look around and I have to say, it was really an incredible time.

We parked in a huge field and as we approaced the main event area you could see plumes of grey sooty smoke rising from numerous locations, the smell of sulfurous-coal thick in the air. As we rounded a huge white tent we saw example on example of huge, lumbering machines. What a fantastic sight, some of these monstorous vehicles were 100 years old but looked as if they rolled out of the shop only last week. You have never seen or smelled so much Brass-o in your life!

At one engine we stopped to talk to a very nice gentleman named Rob who kindly took the time to explain what a traction engine was, what they were made for, and how they worked. The children were even asked to step up onto the platform and shown the controls. What a fantastic learning experience. He would explain how the coal fire heated water in the boiler and as he did, a lumbering 8-10 ton machine would go by, gigantic masses of cast iron spinning and stroking about with a speed that nearly defied belief. The ground shook, flecks of coal soot invaded every inch of body. It was grand.

I'm going back tomorrow with my serious gear to get even more images. Enjoy Weeting as seen through the Lensbaby, you can view more and larger images at my print order website.

Now at PhotoShelter... ME!

2008-07-12T13:56:00.004+01:00

I'm always on the lookout for an organization that explores areas for my imagery I have yet to reach... and here's another one: Photo Shelter Collection. I enjoy being part of an organization that looks at what I have to offer and edits down to what they feel is a sale-able product for their customers. AWESOME!

And as you might have noticed, they have a nifty little widget just to the right that will loop what is available for licensing. There is a whole pile of files in the works to be uploaded, many of which haven't been seen before so keep your eye on that little box. Cool stuff awaits.

TinEye coolness- AGAIN!

2008-06-26T14:36:00.004+01:00

Heather Williams over at Ide'e just sent me another cool demonstration of how TinEye not only locates an image across the internet but also variations (from mild to wild). I've posted the link below which will show you what I mean. Cool, very cool.

http://tineye.com/widgets/display?tux

Got Airplanes?

2008-06-12T07:59:00.001+01:00

Check out the images I captured yesterday of the RAF practicing their formation flight for the Queen's birthday celebration over at my Aviation Blog!

Humor from the War Zone

2008-06-10T16:22:00.002+01:00

My darling wife sent me this in a card I received from her today. Apparently English translates just as horribly into Afghani as it does into Chinese, we saw loads of this type of thing on our two trips there.

TinEye: Coolest Thing on the Planet

2008-06-06T08:05:00.006+01:00

Yes, that's how I really feel about TinEye. But what is it?

TinEye is a search engine. For images. Based on their unique pixel "fingerprint" and not metadata or watermarks or any of the usual means of tracking a photo. Oh, did I mention that it takes into account crops, changes in size, stuff like that? ARE YOU WHOOPING AND HOLLERING YET?!?!?!?!?!?

Well, maybe not at first. Lots of us are and let me give you a couple of reasons why.

Currently in the US there is something called the Orphan Works legislation (OWL) that, simply stated, will allow someone to use an image without the creator's permission if the creator can't be found by a "diligent search". What THAT is currently isn't clear. But TinEye's image identification technology could link up the prospective user and creator, allowing a legal and properly credited (better yet paid) useage of that image.

Another use would be that of a stock image company looking for images they represent being used after being obtained by a publication. A current use for TinEye's technology scans numerous publications and compares those images (some even placed into collages or greatly altered) to those listed in a database. Monthly reports can show you where your client's images are, allowing more efficient invoicing on their behalf.

Here's an image of a very famous A-1 Skyraider photographed by my father Frank O'Rear that was part of the first Air Force Medal of Honor mission flown in the Vietnam conflict. TinEye found it and with great joy, it is exactly where it is supposed to be and nowhere else.

Multiple upon multiple other uses but these are, for obvious reasons, the ones that excite me the most. There's even a cool Firefox plug-in that will let you right-click an image and search the TinEye database. For more information on TinEye jump on over to their website here. Watch the short video and prepare to go "cool".

Wedding Season is Upon Us

2008-06-04T09:59:00.004+01:00

One of the most assured signs of spring is seeing a church or chapel filled to the brim with well-dressed folks on a Saturday: sure sign of a wedding! I was greatly blessed to be able to photograph a wedding recently in the coastal village of Burnham Deepdale here in the UK. Now being from the States we think we know what old is when we visit places like Colonial Williamsburg or Jamestown. But really, that's nothing.

St. Mary's church was built somewhere around 1066 some 400 years before "the colonies" were just that. Sporting a massive round tower it sits just off of the main coastal road in north Norfolk county. As usual, the bridal party was full of charming children and stunningly beautiful women. Handsomly-dressed men also abounded and the occasion was one filled with joy and gaeity. The Vicar was most helpful even to the point of showing me where the really good locations were and exactly when I should be there. What a joy.

I was simply overcome by the thought that for nearly a thousand years this very site has been the focus of song, prayer and tradition. To stand next to the organist as he played and hear, no, feel the hymns reverberate throughout the structure made one feel quite small. Small, but not insignificant. It was a great event and one location I would be quite happy to visit again.

Tackling the "Way Back"

2008-05-26T11:58:00.010+01:00

We have two back yards. The "back" yard and the "way back" yard. The back yard is for everyday stuff: hanging clothes, playing with toys, growing grass to cut so it can grow so you can cut it again. Normal stuff.

At the back of the "back" yard there's a fence. Hastily constructed to allow us to move in, the fence separates us from the wilderness that exists beyond. We had peeked through knotholes, even looked over the top standing precariously on old paint cans. All we saw was green. Tall, spiky green.

Recently we decided to brave the "way back" and open it up. One could hear my heart sinking when the slats of a small section were removed only to reveal that the green we previously witnessed was in fact 4-foot tall stinging nettle plants. The whole thing was nettles; a nettle farm so to say.

The boys and I entered the forbidden domain of the "way back" with weed whackers (strimmers in the UK), saws and intent to do harm. We began at 9am and for the UK it was a hot day, graced by a breeze ever-changing in direction. As we peeled back the layers of nettles we discovered an amazing array of, well... crap. The remains of multiple burn piles, a 55-gallon drum, what could have been a toaster and a large amount of glass and aluminum containers. Please note in the following photo the height of the nettles as they're cleared by our industrial strength trimmer. The fencing section behind the patch is 8-foot if that helps.

By 4pm the entirety of my face was stinging and I had lost most of the feeling on the left side of my tongue. Coated with the juice and remains of many a nettle plant we had beaten the "way back" into submission. We discovered a section of concrete pavers that made the perfect base for a burn pile, as well as some ruined remnants of a Japanese-style garden that once inhabited this place.

Next time we get a decent day we'll work on digging up nettle roots.

Sigh...

Establishing Routines

2008-05-13T09:39:00.002+01:00

Now that we're "settled" we're tring to establish some routines in our house. One of these is a walk in the evening. the girls and I walk about 1/4 of a mile to the roundabout and back, passing over the River Wissey and a couple of winter wheat fields. Red deer sightings are pretty regular as are the ever-present rabbits and hares of the Norfolk countryside. Last night we were treated to a fox bounding through the wheat field in pursuit of... well, supper I imagine.

There has been shift in priorities here so I no longer carry my camera with me every waking moment, but I assure you there are images on the way.

Finally... home.

2008-05-05T20:59:00.003+01:00

After a very, very busy few weeks I can finally say that we're settled into our new homes. I say homes because while the children and I are enjoying the myriad of duties that come along with getting a new home (and it's oh-so-small yard) in order, Jill is now in Afghanistan getting settled into her (shared) room for the summer. To say this summer will be interesting for our family would be, well... an understatement.

Here, we're concerned with de-nettling the yard and I have the skin rash to prove it! Despite being much smaller that the farmhouse yard, this one has been in a state of neglect for some time. Almost everyday we pull out 2-3 bags of weeds from the beds as well as from the lawn itself. We even have a fenced-off section that was once a Japanese style garden but now is pretty much a refuse crop with a sprinkling of waist high nettles. We'll tackle that beast later in the summer I think.

New images are coming soon. There are just a few more little issues to resolve in the chapel (like telephone, television, fuel oil leaks, etc.) and then I can swing my full attention to working through the Scotland images as well as completing the Altered States series of books that have been promised ages ago.

Thanks for your support AND your patience. Should you have a message you want me to forward to Jill please pass it on to me at here.

Quick Post Between Events

2008-04-13T21:59:00.003+01:00

Well, a week in Scotland at a cottage overlooking Loch Ness is something I must insist you ALL do at least once in your lives! To say our time there was relaxing and the "calm before the storm" would be an understatement. The weather forcast for the week included my favorite word (snow in case you don't know) and we weren't disappointed. Not enough to cover the roads but enough to make the hills looks spectacular and put enough of a chillin the air to wake you up.

One of the best days was Sunday where we did... nothing. No agenda, no plans, nothing. We did start a puzzle it took us the week to finish and my youngest daughter proved to us all she is an UNO shark in the making but other than that, we were lounging by the fire. Wonderful.

Our cottage DID afford us some spectacular views of Loch Ness and the town of Drumnadrochit. The photo below is just one of many I took suring a snow storm building across the Loch from us. We did eventually get out and visit Fort George, Urquhurt Castle (2 minutes from our cottage) and the Culloden Battlefield. I was also able to get a day away to focus on my photography by driving around Loch Ness. In case you're interested in finding out more about our cottage an others offered by our gracious hosts, please visit their website.

But, work calls. We arrived back home at Sparham Hall on Satudrday evening and have spent Sunday packing up preparing for our move into the Old Chapel starting on Monday. Hopefully the weather will co-operate and we can get settled quickly (so I can finally LOOK at my Scotland images).

Thanks for hanging in there, will post more when I'm able.

Followed by Good News...

2008-03-21T08:30:00.003Z

As always, God is gracious beyond anything I can ever fathom. We have found a new location to live only a week after finding out we needed to move. IT doesn't replace Sparham Hall Farmhouse by any means but it'll do. News when it happens.

And Now the Bad News...

2008-03-11T22:09:00.002Z

In quite the surprise development through circumstances beyond our control we now find ourselves having to find a new place to live. To say we're crushed would be an understatement (especially with Jill having to go downrange in just a few weeks) but we know that there's a Master Plan and we serve the One who is running it.

Forgive any lapses of posts that may follow, I'll post as I'm able until we're settled in the new location. Wherever that may be...

Bit by the French Yet Again

2008-03-02T20:49:00.005Z

Most of you know that, despite giving them every chance at disproving the stereotypes that abound about the French (in general of course) every time I visit something happens to reinforce said stereotypes.

Well, point proven again.

Jill and I were taking a one-day trip run by the base to visit the historic town of Bruges, Belgium. This meant of course that we would have to cross the Channel and traverse a small part of France to get there. Seems the French dock workers are having a strike, sorry... industrial action as they call it, and have parked their boats in the harbor at Calais preventing the timely movement of passengers, cargo and the like in and out of the port. The result? Three hour delay. COMING AND GOING! Like I said, every time I go...

Nonetheless we arrived in Bruges and has a great (albeit short) visit to this wonderfully preserved city. Renowned for the varying styles of architecture throughout the city center (and from building to building in some cases) it was a real treat to visit. Jill had a grand time shopping and although it was a bit on the chilly side with the sharp wind it was an enjoyable day out. Our bus driver from Fun and Sun, Gordon, provided the greatest running commentary during our trip and I even learned a few French jokes I didn't know.

This image was taken outside of the Belfort (belltower) with the stature celebrating two 14th century guildsmen who led a revolt against the French in the foreground. Perhaps they were also delayed by industrial action?

Where'd the airplane photos go?

2008-02-28T00:23:00.002Z

It has come to my attention through discussions with both readers and other blogger colleagues that my blog American Yank in England is actually fulfilling two purposes: the original intent of documenting my interactions with the rural aspect of living in England and my love of aviation photography. The two sides, while not totally exclusive of each other, do deserve their own spot in the big game so to speak.

So, over the next couple of days I'll be migrating the aviation posts to the new aviation blog and let the two sites stand on their own.

An upgrade you might be excited about is that I'll be featuring larger photos. There will be a very subtle watermark across them because there are idiots in the world who feel anything on the Internet is fair game to take without asking (or in my case paying a licensing fee). As always, I appreciate your input and comments and hope to continue to hear from you in the future.

Cheers,
~James

Frosted Garden

2008-02-23T10:24:00.007Z

Following on the footsteps of our foggy mornings I posted about earlier was one of my favorite weather phenomenae: ice fog. While living in Alaska I came to know it as hoar frost but as the linked Wikipedia article informed me there are loads of names by which it can be known by. Not matter what you call it, ice fog creates some of the very best conditions for garden photography especially if it happens when life is just starting to spring to life.

It didn't take long once outside my door to see how a thin deposit of ice crystals had transformed my plain old yard into something special. There was just a hint of wind (thus the very shallow depth-of-field in this series) but otherwise all was still. No birds flying about, even the farm animals were surprisingly quiet.

And my prize of the morning was a single rose that had been frosted, almost painted as if by Jack Frost personally that sat at the far end of the garden. One could almost see thousands of tiny jewels reflecting the scant light of the early morning. It was simply stunning.

A complete gallery of images from this morning are available for viewing at my ImageKind gallery and co-incidentally is the first gallery to utilize the newest ImageKind product line of greeting cards from within this gallery.

The Fog Days of Winter

2008-02-18T08:01:00.006Z

England is reknowned for fog. Just about every war movie made concerning the European theater has the same scene where "the boys" are grounded for days on end because the fog has the field or the coast or the enemy target "socked in" by fog. Recently we experienced these events in the here-and-now with school starting late 3 days in a row (great for the kids, not so great for their Dad). It was unbelievable how you couldn't see anything past the hood (bonnet) of your car. Much like being in white-out conditions during a mid-western blizzard except there isn't going to be a snowman in your future when it's all over.

Flights at both military and civilian airfields were disrupted as you might imagine. At one point I was parked just outside a field that was an airfield during WWII and if you strained to listen, you could almost swear you heard a bunch of young cocky kids joking about their last flight over Bremmen or Munich or the like. It was just plain spooky a couple of times. As the day wore on the sun tried to burn off the fog and along one stretch of road it almost succeeded.

Almost.

Stars at Night

2008-02-11T22:27:00.001Z

As the day's fog cleared it became apparent that there would be yet another night of crystal clear skies before the "mist and murk" began to seep through the countryside. As there is a wonderful array of farm buildings around I've been working on ways to feature them in some images. success as you can see below. During the exposure of the second image the sky was lit up quite brilliantly by a fireball meteor that burned for nearly 2 seconds. I though one of the military jets was dropping flares, gave me quite the start.

Here's to more equipment tests!

~James

Nice couple of days

2008-02-05T23:14:00.002Z

The snow has gone (OK, it went right after it came) and the temps are back into the 50s which really seems wrong since it's just turned February, but the sights this time of year are still spectacular. Driving through the countryside you will, at very odd times, come across the iconic British phone booth. I found this one yesterday not far from Camp Bodney, a British army base due south of us.

Finally!

2008-02-04T20:48:00.000Z

It wasn't much, it didn't last long, but it was glorious to stand outside in the crisp wind and be lighted upon by:

Signs of Spring

2008-02-01T15:10:00.000Z

In typical atypical weather prediction fashion the Met Office is issuing severe weather warnings for wind, rain, sleet, snow and I thought I heard them say flying pigs (but I'm sure that's a mistake on my part) as I'm sitting down and editing photos of Blue Peter crocus that are in full bloom on my back patio. Also in bloom are daffodils and I saw the first batch of snow drops under a tree in the backyard. I just don't understand the weather anymore. Its gone all wonky.

I'm starting to get the "feel" of this nifty little Lansbaby and what it does when you squeeze and point the lens element off-axis. In the photo above the center bloom is tack-sharp while the further away you go the more "slurred" it gets. Don't know if I could make a living by doing it exclusively but it is a neat little tool to add to my optics arsenal. If you're thinking about picking one up yourself, be sure to get the supplimentary telephoto and wide-angle lenses. They really do round out the useful range of the Lensbaby 3G.

No photo (don't look)

2008-01-30T01:27:00.000Z

There are days where I feel a little like Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed King of All Media. I say this because there is now yet another outlet for my relentless babbling and rapier-like wit: Squidoo- because everybody's an expert on something.

I previously had a couple of lenses there but realized I wasn't as much of the expert as I thought, so I regrouped (by myself?) and have now found a topic that I feel I can speak to with some air of authority:

What to Do With a Ga-zillion Images

I had to assign it a rating but there wasn't a PG since some people feel the words "crap" and "poo" are liberally sprinkled through the posts but hey, I am what I am.

Enjoy!

Red Lion pub at night

2008-01-20T00:08:00.000Z

There was a very short break in the miserable weather we've been having (and I DO mean miserable) so I decided to do a little experimentation at night with the new Lensbaby 3G. A short drive down the A47 and I was in the middle of Swaffham which was sparsely populated at the hour of 8pm. After a few "orientation" images I finally got my exposure dialed in (no auto-exposure or auto-focus features, talk about old school) and I was off.

One image that lept out once I was back home was the one below. All pubs in the UK have a sign hanging out proudly displaying some sort of graphic designation of their name. Often times you can also tell if it is a "contract" pub with a specific brewery or if it is a "free" house meaning they pick and choose which beverages they offer their clientele. You'll notice that the pub sign is sharp (and I mean TACK sharp) but as you get away from it the colors quickly go to blurry and what I have heard other photographers describe as a "slurred" look. This is because of the bellow design of the Lensbaby, a construction technique gleaned from the larger and much more expensive large-format cameras.

I like it, expect more "visual slurs" to appear here in the future!

~James

New Baby in the house

2008-01-13T22:11:00.000Z

And before you get all worked up it's not THAT kind of baby!!!! It's a new piece of equipment and the "baby" part will become apparent in a moment, but first we must have a story...

Most of you know Jill and I have been blessed with 5 wonderful children. First, there were three boys. Then, we realized we just had too much free time on our hands and over a three year period adopted two beautiful little girls from China. It's on this second trip to China to get Emmalea that I obtained one of my favorite souveniers: my beloved Chairman Mao windup alarm clock and desk calendar.

Remember that Jill and I both grew up in a culture where Russia and China were the "bad guys" and endured all the propaganda that went along with such a position. Now try to imagine being in that country and having the mental paradigm shift that, by golly, they're pretty much like you and me at the "normal joe" level of things. We had an incredible time on both trips but I was still looking for that special something that would bring back memories of my travels and possible stir up a conversation when guests saw it. Well, I found it in a little shop on Shamian Island in Guangzhou, Guangdong province and I knew I had found my souvenier the moment I set eyes on it.

On close inspection it has all the requisite "good party member" items: red color, utilitarian styling, a practical use as well as the likeness of Chairman Mao leading the masses. Then you look a little closer and notice the second hand is a Chinese fighter jet swooping through the skies. And finally, the piece de restance, when wound up and the seconds tick off one of the masses being led by Chainman Mao is waving their Little Red Book along to the rhythm of the jet swooping above! I can't tell you how old it is but there is a bit of age that came along with the purchase price, something in the neighborhood of $4-5USD. Oh, and it still works AND keeps very good time.

So, now you know the background to this interesting little piece of kitch I have a strange fondness for.

"How in the world are you going to make this come around to having a new baby in the house?"

Oh ye of little faith.

One of the nifty gadgets I recently acquired for my professional endeavours is a small lens that, by way of a flexible lens barrel, allows me to achive a very nice selective focus effect while making for some incredibly blurred and smeared parts of the image. As we photographers are always trying to make our work stand out and grab YOUR attention, I thought that this little guy would be a hoot to experiment with.

Thus, the Lensbaby 3G has now been added to my optical aersenal of image making equipment.

Let the fun begin, and how about we start with my buddy Chairman Mao...

The Arrival of D. Glen Elrod (esquire?)

2008-01-07T06:56:00.000Z

My buddy and fellow photographer D. Glen Elrod finally sent me the link to his blog. I first met Glen when he was stationed in Alaska working in the hospital with my wife in the Women's Health Clinic. Both our families left at about the same time, Glen going to England and our family going to the Azores. He was able to visit us once on official business (ask him about playing bunko... then again, I doubt he remembers anything) and we were able to take a space-available flight up to see him for a week where we went to Caen, France and visited the beaches of the Normandy coast as well as Mont Ste Michel.

As fate would have it, we also moved to England and spent a year trying to meet up to do some work together with minimal success. I seemed to be perpetually busy here on the farm while he visited his second home of London as his family are great fans of the theatre. Now, Glen is out of the service and setting up a nice little practice in Alaska and teasing me relentlessly by asking questions like "What's that green glow in the sky?"

So if you get a moment, stroll on over to his blog and pay him a visit (he has a great Bruce Willis photo BTW) and welcome my buddy to the busy ecclectic world of blogging.

Quick Post... now updated!

2008-01-06T11:20:00.000Z

Haven't a lot of time, the cow if finally calving but the calf is huge and presenting breech. The vet is on the way and hopefully she won't have to have a c-section in the barn (but then my nursing skills might come in handy, I've done quite a few human c-sections and as they say... parts is parts.

Until then, enjoy this fun Google Map of locations I've photographed with links to the images coming from those sites. Will be updated continually!

UPDATE:

Great news, the calf is out and mamma and baby are doing well. The vet helped with the "calf jack" (yes, lots of parts familiar with a car jack) as the little guy was coming out rear-feet first (not good). Did I mention this was her first calf as well? I've since learned that until they have their first calf they're called a heifer and from that point on they're just a plain old cow. Never knew that, check off my "learn something new" item for the day!

So, enjoy the images of the new calf (which Graham was kind enough to point out was "big like James") and Mom!

2008 gets off to a Great Start!

2008-01-03T15:43:00.000Z

To be honest, I was hoping that by now I would be posting photos of a new member of the farm family, a calf from a big beautiful Charolais cow (whom I affectionately call the stroppy wench because of her disposition towards me). But alas, she has other plans so no news about that birth. The girls did get to see another lamb born this afternoon from one of the Texal sheep though, so that day wasn't a total loss. ;-)

Good news was that my postage stamps are flying off the shelves over at the Zazzle site. The best seller so far is the Incoming Eagle design. It's a really good feeling to know that people not only appreciate my photography but also what can be done with the images.

Well, off to do a little more work before the (ahem) snow storm hits. Don't hold your breath for photos of snow anytime soon.

~James

The End of 2007

2007-12-31T14:40:00.000Z

Another year has finally come to an end. Friends have been made and lost, the landscape of many locations around the world changed. Today as I write this I have just finished the last piece of artwork to be created by me this year. Somehow it is fitting that it has both an English theme, the flavor of travel and the feel of techniques of the past.

Captured by a digital camera, this image was converted to black & white and then altered to have the grainy feel of high-speed film. Because of the long exposure time needed to render the flame, ghostly images of people moving about the memorial have made their way into the scene.

As we're a long way from home, travel over the holidays helps to take our minds off not being with family and friends. Thanksgiving was spent in Paris having fine French wine and croissants instead of roast turkey with oyster stuffing and hours watching the Macy's parade. The connection to our temporary home country of England is obvious.

Titled "Ghosts Around the Flame" this is an image of the Princess Diana Memorial in Paris , France at night and as I stated, the last artistic piece I will create in 2007. It is available for purchase at my ImageKind gallery.

I wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year. Leave your bad memories and bad habits in the past where they belong, treat the upcoming year as the new creation that it is; devoid of mistake and folly until we bumble along into it. May God bless each and every one of you.

~James

New Life on the Farm

2007-12-26T12:36:00.000Z

One of the things that I most enjoy about living here on the farm is that there always seems to be something going on. Prepping animals for shows, feeding/cleaning, collecting eggs. On and on and on. But one of my favorite times is happening right now: lambing season.

The expectant mother sheep were brought in last week to help the newborn lambs survive the weather. As you might expect, they don't do cold and wet very well. Last night saw the first of an expected flood on new lambs born. I am always amazed at how they're up on their legs, looking for their first drink of milk 5-10 minutes after being born. Within a couple of days they're jumping and hopping around, playful bundles of energy.

Life on the farm is good.

~James

Merry Christmas from England!

2007-12-23T15:53:00.000Z

Just a quick note wishing everyone out there a very Merry Christmas. We have gotten as close to a white christmas as we're going to get this year in the form of fog. Lots and lots of fog.

Remember the real reason for the season.

~James

ImageKind Making a Great Photo Better

2007-12-14T13:40:00.000Z

There's good news and bad news about the print I'm about to discuss, but in typical storyteller fashion I'm going to wait until the end before I let you know what that news is. Cheeky monkey, ain't I?

So back to today's topic: print-on-demand (POD) enterprises. Some of you may remember how excited I was about finding a company that made prints of my work that were just as good as if I had made them myself slaving over my own square-eyed monster (the computer). ImageKind has continued to prove themselves as a firm I can entrust my most prized images to for top-quality treatment. Case in point: my Mammatus and Crepuscular images.

This series of images was captured from the drive in front of my English farmhouse and lasted for, oh goodness, almost 2 minutes. Luckily I was able to capture a few that exceeded my expectations. One in particular I got my creative digital artist fingers into and made what I think is a stunning image very suggestive of an oil-on-canvas painting. So, off it went to ImageKind to be printed on canvas and shipped to me.

Awesome doesn't begin to describe what I pulled out of the shipping tube a couple of weeks later.

Rich colors, fantastic textures and the incredible feel of heavy canvas boasting an image I created on its surface. It went right from the Post Office to the Frame Shop at RAF Lakenheath(since this is a personal piece I can use their services) and now, hanging on my family room wall, it a piece of art I am very fond of.

Now, as promised: bad news and good news.

Bad news: this particular print is MINE and if you want it, you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.

Good News: this particular image is available for you to purchase (along with many, many other of equal quality) from my ImageKind New Arrivals galleries. The print you see is 32 inches x 21 inches set in a 1-inch deep distressed black wood frame.

Well-done ImageKind and RAFL Frame Shop. You make my images (as well as my walls) look great!

Cheers!

~James

I Wish I Knew the Story

2007-12-11T11:41:00.000Z

If you're a regular reader of my ramblings or have the pleasure of knowing me personally then you will know how I get about stories. The goal of my photography is to allow people to look at my work and have it bring out memories that they pass along to those who surround them in the hope that THEY will pass the tales along in the future. One of my earliest posts in this blog helps you understand how the discovery of a small, seemingly insignificant item can suddenly take on a life of its own.

So imagine how chuffed I was (chuffed is an English term meaning excited and currently without a Wikipedia entry) when my wife called from the States saying she had found a large American flag at a second-hand shop. From her description of it, it sounded like a "casket flag" of the type used at the funeral of a US Armed Forces veteran upon their burial. Sadly, it was folded and hanging from a coat hanger.

Upon the flag's arrival back here in England I found it was indeed a casket/storm flag measuring 5x91/2 feet in size and manufactured by the Valley Forge Flag Company of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The stars are made of individual pieces of cloth sewn onto the blue field as opposed to being completely embroidered as most flags I've seen lately are. The two brass grommets have the number "2" stamped on them. Not sure if this gives an indication if it's age or not. Sadly, there were a series of stains (they appear to be from the flag being wet, perhaps stored wet) below the star field running through many of the white stripes. Happily, after numerous washings and a couple of attacks with a toothbrush and stain removed they're almost gone. I'm still in the process of trimming the stray thread from the stars. As far as age I can only say that it is a 50 star flag and dates itself to the post-1959 timeframe.

OK, you have a big American flag. So what?!?!?!

I photograph many US Armed Forces family members to include active duty Air Force members as well as a fair number of Boy Scouts, both of which look just cracking in front of a huge US flag. As this one was 1/3 the price of a new one, if nothing else it was certainly good value for money.

But here's the nostalgic part of me making an appearance:

What's the story behind it? The thrift store it was found in (Valley Thrift) is located just a few miles away from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Dayton has quite a large number of military retirees. Casket flags are used in the funeral service of an honorably discharged veteran and presented to the family at the conclusion. Was this flag used for this purpose? What was the history of this veteran; what had they seen, what stories could they (or did they) pass along to the next generation? Had the family member passed away and the flag been found and donated? Was it used as a casket flag at all or as a storm flag?

I wish I knew as I have mixed thoughts about using it. Am I showing disrespect by using it in the course of my photography (properly displayed according to the US Flag code, and only for the aforementioned purposes)? On the other hand, might it mean more to someone having their portrait made with a flag honoring a veteran?

Honestly, I'm just not sure. I can say I'm proud to own it and if nothing else it has been cleaned, mended and stored according to protocol. If you think this might know the history of this flag or have any thoughts I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers,

~James

Equipment Testing

2007-12-10T07:08:00.000Z

I must admit that these days I take any manufacturer's claims with a grain of salt. In some cases with an entire handful to be quite honest. (I attribute it to being an "old grumpy codger" or at least aspiring to the title.) That is, with the exception of one company: Canon.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I've acquired the latest bit of digital camera kit from Canon, the 40D camera body. Having come up through the ranks with their previous offerings (Digital Rebel/Rebel XT and 20D) I knew what to expect for the most part. I had heard about how "noise-free" the newest DIGIC III chip was supposed to perform and decided to put it through some of the same lengthy exposure times I used when shooting Fuji Velvia slide film just for fun, to see if the reports were exaggerated or not.

Well, I have to say the excitement over this piece of equipment is justified. I set up looking out through a window here in England and used an exposure time of just over 11 minutes. I honestly have to say that for the first time, I'm beginning to see the gap between what digital can reproduce in night photography significantly closing! Compared to similar images coming from a 20D the difference is quite amazing and I fear this means more trips into the cold night air once again.

~James

Fountains at Versailles

2007-11-27T17:42:00.000Z

Paris. The city of love and lights. Romance is conjured up at the very mention of the name in the minds of most people. The dream trip for young couples in love.

I was fortunate enough to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Paris and witnessed young couples in love staring deep into each other's eyes. In one instance there was a proposal at the top of the eiffel Tower and in another Paris was where an engaged couple purchased their wedding rings. Love was definately in the air.

Along with the veritable bucketloads of love being flung into the air is the flip-side of love: war. Paris was the scene of revolution, upheaval, plague and the depths of human suffering at the hands of one another in the name of... whatever you mind can come up with.

Just outside of Paris is the palace of Versailles, a spectacular display of planning and workmanship. It very nearly bankrupt the country of France as it was being built. Aside from the intrigue and treachery it was witness to over its lifetime, Versailles is a marvel of engineering at its pinnacle. Engineering on a grand scale no less. I've been in many a village around the world that would fit nicely inside the stone and guilt iron perimeter many times over with room to spare. Impressive for sure.

Many more images are on the way from this trip, I'm working hard at trying to get them out in time for the holiday season. Check back to see if I've made my self-imposed deadline!

~James

Mammatus and Crepuscular

2007-11-08T17:33:00.000Z

The saying goes "better to be lucky than good" but personally, I'd rather be both. I much prefer the saying "chance favors the prepared mind". Simply put, be ready to take advantage of whatever happens across your path. Let me illustrate...

Today a colleague of mine was up at our house (the Middle of Nowhere he calls it) working out the particulars of a holiday photography event we are doing together. Meaning, of course, that we were inside most of the day polishing ad copy, constructing sets, all that fun stuff that makes the lives of photograpers the envy of all those around them. Well, maybe not. Add in that the weather has turned blustery and drizzly and the day was productive but not the kind of thing you's use to sell a new life in the English countryside.

Driving back from picking up my son from the bus stop I caught a flash of color out of my eye and as we rounded a bend in the road. The hedgerow opened up and there it was: mammatus clouds on fire from the setting sun. Mammatus clouds are very cool, like hanging balls on the underside of a cloud resulting from sinking air. Despite their sometimes fierce look they actually signal the latter stages of a storm and for me, are the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow. As if this sight weren't good enough, bby the time I dragged my cameras into the driveway the sun had sunk below a band of clouds creating spectacular crepuscular rays (god beams, sun rays).

The entire event lasted perhaps 10 minutes from when I first saw it and then, gone. Lucky because I live in a place that these two sky events happened, good because when I ran in the door everything was ready to use and in the scant time available I was able to, I think, capture the essence of what I saw.

I love my job, I love my job, I love my job...

~James

Slideshow for 2008 Calendars

2007-11-07T20:14:00.000Z

As I previously mentioned, there are now SIX 2008 Photo Calendars in this year's offering. New for this year is a streaming photo slideshow complete with music for those who wish to browse a bit before making a purchase decision. To view the slideshow, click this link.

An Active-X plugin from Photodex is required, the software company that is responsible for dragging me kicking and screaming into the world of streaming image content!

Blast From the Past

2007-11-04T20:04:00.000Z

Today I was performing the exciting task of file maintenance on my computer (oh yeah, the exciting lives of photographers!) and came across this image I hadn't seen in some time. Thought I would share about it.

While living in the Azores I was very fortunate to become friends with a great group of men through our common association with Boy Scouts. It was our intention to have a cross-island hike with the Troop and to spend a couple of nights sleeping under the stars.

Well, apparently WE thought it was a great idea but the BOYS just rolled their eyes and developed various maladies that took them out of action. Know what? The men went anyway!

Terceira Island is known for dairy cows and a great cheese/butter making tradition. you're bound to pass field after field of dairy cows and as we passed this one paddock we realized that the ground was much higher on the other side, giving me a perfect hoof-level view of the approaching bovine subject. One of the guys on the trip was Bill Comp who caught me in-action while I snapped away making what would become a very popular image from my time at Lajes Field.

Evening on the Farm

2007-11-01T19:59:00.000Z

Fall is a wonderful time of the year, seemingly no matter where in the world you are (that is, unless you're somewhere where there IS no fall). The air gets that crispness that can catch you off guard if you're not expecting it. You look out the window at the grass and can't quite tell if there is dew or frost on the blades. Then there's the sun hitting those leaves as they make their final transformation from natural powerplant to natural fertilizer.

Then there are the nights...

Night photography has always been my time for me. Like shoveling snow or mowing the yard, it is a time when you know you'll not be disturbed. Despite being just a few steps from my door, I was able to enjoy nearly an hour of time to experiment with a new camera body and enjoy an unusually clear night on the farm. And with all the advances in technology over the years, when I photograph at night, for the most part I time my exposures with the time-tested mantra of:

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi..."

~James

Boys and Their Toys

2007-10-29T13:57:00.000Z

"Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life."

I am incredibly fortunate to have the above line apply to my line of work. I enjoy what I do. I like the travel, the people, the events I document.

I also love one of the benefits: gear, kit, tools... toys.

One of my latest acquisitions is a Canon 40D digital camera body. Back are some of my favorite functions from when I lived in the "F" world (F for film of course) such as spot metering and more frames-per-second but also an innovation for the digital SLR world: live view.

Simply put, I can now see through the lens on a nice bright 3.0 inch screen on the back of the camera which lends itself quite nicely for macro photography when your camera is in an odd position such as when I was photographing the read/write heads of a crashed hard drive. When hooked up to my computer I can even remotely locate the camera while watching what is before the lens on my screen. I can see some fun and exciting bird and (hopefully) wild mammal images in my future.

Love my job, love my job, love my job....

~James

The Spirit of Murphy is Alive and Well

2007-10-24T07:08:00.000+01:00

There are areas in life where I am on the cutting-edge and then there are areas where I'm a bit... behind. For instance, I think I'm one of the few people who hasn't seen Cats. So, while trying to find some entertainment for the family at the video rental store I find the musical on DVD and thought I had found a gem.

Arriving home I opened the case and no kidding, I think I was the first person ever to rent the movie. Not a single scratch on the disc. Not a smudge. Clean as a whistle. And it was utterly enjoyable until about the 10th minute when it started to crap out. You know, pixels appearing, stutters and the like. And yes, I checked it in other players and with similar results and it continued throughout the remainder of the program. So much for seeing singing dancing cats.

On a similar topic, my daughter's copy of Barbie of Swan Lake looks as if it was mauled by a belt sander yet doesn't skip a beat.

Thanks Mr. Murphy, wherever you are.

PLEASE NOTE: I've gotten a couple of comments from my European readers that some of my "James-isms" don't readily translate. So, where possible, I'll try to link to sources that help explain some of my peculiar terminology. Love the Wikipedia!

~James

Fall Surprise

2007-10-23T13:29:00.000+01:00

I call it the Green Monster. Spread out before melike some limitless ocean of vertical fury, it called to me. No. Beckoned me to come and tackle it with what puny weaponry I could amass.

I am, of course, referring to the lawn.

Arriving in England in one of the driest summers one could remember I foolishly assumed every summer would be like that one, that the tales of rain and mist and cold penetrating fog were the by-product of a people wanting to keep the "good stuff" to themselves.

And then there was THIS year. No kidding, I would have to take the battle to the lawn every 5 days. Not even a whole week went by before I stepped out into this 3-acre nightmare of continuous greenery once again. With a walk behind mower, no less.

So I was filled with glee (scary thought) when I 'rounded the shrubbery in the front yard and came across a small stand of silvery mushrooms sprouting up through the lengths of grass blades and fallen leaves. So, in typical James style, I quickly abandoned lawn care and grabbed my gear for a 30-minute session spent on my belly trying to capture this little treasure, this fall surprise that I found in my yard.

And when I was done, in typical James style as well, I mowed it flat.

~James

More and more...

2007-10-16T13:15:00.000+01:00

More calendars have been added with at least a couple of more on the way. The latest calendar is titled QUIET PLACES and contains soothing images from around the world to hopefully bring just a bit of calm and quiet to our otherwise busy lives.

http://www.cafepress.com/james_orear

It is forcast to rain quite a bit here in England today so it is a perfect day to sit inside and be creative with my images!

~James

Jill and I get WICKED in London

2007-10-09T12:38:00.000+01:00

In a rare moment of not-work, Jill and I took a trip down to London and saw the musical WICKED which is the back-story if you wish about the two witches in the Wizard of Oz.

First, let me say that the Apollo Victoria Theatre is a grand structure seating just over 2,400 people in a very classy art deco style (as it was built in the 1930s) and fits the production quite well. The stall seats on the floor have nary a bad view until you get close to the front. Reasonable priced drinks and all the fixings for a fun evening to include popcorn and ice cream at intermission.

So, without going into any plot-wrecking details, let me say that this show was simply fantastic! There were quite a few twists and turns along the way that made good use of the existing Wizard of Oz plot and certainly give one a thought or two to ponder on the way home. The singing was spot-on and for once the sound didn't blow me out of my seat (unlike our experience seeing Phantom of the Opera last month). The leads were strong singers as they usually are but Kerry Ellis, who plays Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West), just blew me away with her voice. She is quite impressive and reason alone to go see the show (if you only needed one).

So suck it up, spend the bucks and have a fantastic night getting WICKED in London.

Let the calendars come forth!

2007-10-03T21:50:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note to let you all know the first of many 2008 calendars are being released today. In typical James style, the first offering is somewhat unusual: eggs.

Yes, eggs. The kind that chickens lay. On the farm. Not the sterile uniform shapes you see in the local supermarket but the eclectic variations of size, color, texture and shapes that you only get from chickens that run around the farm eating who-knows-what and laying their eggs behind office doors and on the seat of the tractor.

EGGS 2008 Calendar

More to follow...

~James

Snowdon conquers... again!

2007-10-02T14:07:00.000+01:00

Back in July as some of you might remember I went to Wales with another leader in our Scout troop to see how challenging Mt. Snowdon, Britain's highest peak, would be to our young men. We were met with a stiff wind and for the final 1,000 feet of the 3,560 mountain was shrouded in fog. Despite climbing the cairn at the top, we saw nothing. I could have been hiking in a quarry for all I new.

Well, the weather was not exactly the same last weekend. It was worse. We hit the cloud deck on the Snowdon Ranger trail at what I estimated to be the 1,500-1,750 foot mark and climbed the switchbacks for what seemed like eternity before again reaching the top in what seemed like a full-force gale with nothing to see but the swirling grey.

Looking back, it was among one of the best hikes I've had in a long time. Sadly it was also my last with the Scouts as family committments consume my limited "free time" and one must set priorities. Be prepared. Hike hard. Smile, Scouts!

Patriotism

2007-09-28T10:35:00.000+01:00

Over the past few weeks I've had multiple occasions to interact with non-Americans here in Britain and almost always the topic comes up about America's doings in the world. I hear things like:

"Why does America do XYZ..."

"Why do you Americans do XYZ..."

"You Americans always do XYZ..."

For the most part I smile and endure the rant and then proceed to do a little education, take advantage of the chance to make a couple of points:

1. America is made up of individual persons, each possessing an individual point of view.

2. Not every American agrees with the decisions made by the government.

3. When our leaders mess up, we let 'em know it. An election often results in the voice of the people being heard.

4. Despite my personal feelings about current US policy, both domestic and international, I love the place with all my heart. It is home.

Just as all Brits don't enjoy Guiness and mushy peas, not all Americans enjoy war and politics. Take a little time to get to know us as individuals and you might be surprised at what you find.

~James

Encouraging Our Youth

2007-09-10T06:38:00.000+01:00

Every once and awhile my vocation allows me to encounter what I feel is a young person with amazing potential. such is the case with Cassandra. I met her family through Boy Scouts which her brother attends and soon found myself tutoring her in photography. She brought a selection of her arts and crafts and I immediately was captured by her Sculpy figures (Sculpy is like modeling clay but you can bake it in the over to cure it and make the sculpture permenant).

Currently we are collaborating on a series of figures (she sculpting and I photographing) and I am constantly amazed at what emerges from the tissue-filled shoe boxes I get from week-to-week. Snakes, hedgehogs, fairies and as this image shows... purple dragons.

Work, work, work...

2007-08-28T07:07:00.000+01:00

Summer this year in England has been atypical to say the least. A year's worth of rain in just over a month and cooler than normal temperatures (usually) have made it very unlike last season when you couldn't buy a cool wet day to save your life (or your crops).

The good part is it allows one to get caught up with projects sitting around the house. A perfect example is the website dedicated exclusively to portrait photography at the studio. Check it out!

http://www.jamesorear.co.uk/

On the Queen's Rolls Royce

2007-06-07T07:22:00.000+01:00

OK, not exactly the photo you were hoping for but c'mon, this is as close to being on a Rolls Royce as I'll probably ever get!

When friends and family come to visit us (no matter where we are) its an excuse for us to visit the places we don't get to see because we're stretched a little thin. Yes, you're all an excuse for me to have a holiday! So, when Jill's folks came to visit one of the places we visited was the Queen's cozy little getaway at Sandringham in Norfolk county not far from the city of King's Lynn.

Inside the house proper there was no photography allowed and after viewing the incredible number of art works I can see their point (reluctantly) but what a feast for the eyes of a confirmed car nut when you entered the museum's car section which is thankfully open to photography!

This Rolls Royce was one of my favorites and the touch that set it off for me was the hand-painted seal just above the trunk (boot) release. With my reflection in the mile-deep paint I couldn't resist my one chance to show everyone that I really HAD been "seen" on the hood of the Queen's personal car!

Cheers!

~James

I'm Back!

2007-05-29T07:14:00.001+01:00

Back from a conspicuous absence! Lots of things going on, lots of updates so let's get going.

WINTER HAS RETURNED: Saturday a front moved in, the ran came with it and now it is a chilly 44 degrees with a nice fresh wind out of the north. I swear I thought I saw a polar bear roaming the fields.

VISITORS HAVE A GREAT TIME: Jill's parents and her brother arrived from Nebraska, USA and we literally drug them around the southern part of England non-stop for a week. Norwich cathedral, Castle Rising, Sandringham Estate, Iceni village, Westminster, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London as well as a little time with the grandchildren. That are back home safe and sound.

MORE "KIDS" IN ABUNDANCE: Many sightings of baby blue/great tits, blackbirds as well as green finches. Little balls of fluff, full of energy.

IRIS WATERCOLOR SERIES AVAILABLE: A series of watercolor-style images from the ever-blooming iris beds in the yard is now available, just click here to go to the gallery.

NEW BOOK SERIES: Very close to launching an entire series of books and that's all I'm going to say. OK, not all I'm going to say. A combination of visual and written impressions from around the world.

NEW LOCATION: The sheep we've been tending over the winter are now in a BEAUTIFUL pasture next to a very picturesque river and they're LOVING it. Taken with a very small Nikon COOLPIX L11 digital camera purchased for Jill's upcoming travels around the world.

Cheers!

~James

Getting (re)Organized

2007-05-18T08:56:00.001+01:00

I enjoy solving problems. Lighting situations, efficiency issues, all are a challenge I enjoy. My stock image cataloging system has been finalized now for a little over 2 years but was at least twice as long in development. Every once and awhile I get that itching thought that "there has to be a better way" to do something and next thing I know a week has passed and although no "real" work has been done the garage and tool shed have been re-organized as well as my documents on the computer and my workflow for posting to all my electronic venues.

So, if you wonder if I've dropped off the edge of the English coastline, fear not. Just getting organized (again) and preparing for a week of my wife's parents and one of her brothers coming over the pond to visit us.

Cheers!

~James

Shave and a Haircut

2007-05-08T22:14:00.000+01:00

Life on the farm is quite a blessing for a photographer. I would equate it with being a sports photographer and living next to the spring training camp for your favorite team or being a military aviation photographer and living on a military base (with permission to shoot no less)!

Not long ago I was able to photograph the time-honored task of sheep shearing. A couple of observations I made during the event:

You should be of short stature in order to minimize your need to bend over,
You should be strong as an ox in order to wrestle a full-grown ewe or ram into an unnatural position,
You should love what you do.

I've seen shearers on TV do sheep in less than a minute, but not sure how long they could actually keep up the pace. The guys I watched would do one every 2-3 minutes and kept that pace up for nearly 12 hours. And as silly as I thought sheep looked with a full fleece, they look ridiculous with a "high and tight".

By month's end the livestock will be moved to summer pastures, my twice-daily walks through the farm will be but to collect eggs. I'm glad to think of them in a large grassy field, but then again the kids and I enjoy greatly the chance to go to the barn and walk among the, to talk and pet Ben and Dave and Daisy in the cow pens. To look for Puppy, Spot, Patch, Dominic and Mr. Texal in the sheep pens and chase the wayward lambs back home to their mums. But they'll be back in the fall and we'll welcome them.

Cheers!

~James

Sidebars and Moles

2007-05-04T07:47:00.000+01:00

You might be looking at the new element to the right, how cool is that? My friends and e-commerce partners at ImageKind have developed a way for YOU to quickly browse a featured gallery from this page. Plans are to rotate the galleries on a weekly basis. I am SO glad to be partners with the best and most innovative fine-art printers in the country!

As promised, here's a small peek at what I was able to capture in pixels after my boys caught a European mole (Talpa europaea) in our bathroom (entry point unknown). When seen close-up, he can actually look quite frightening (although he seemed to be yawning)! I was amazed at the purpose-built nature of this creature; an organic tunnelling machine capable of making up to 20 meters of yard-devastating passages a day!

On the home front: still no rain. After the driest and warmest April in recent memory we still haven't gotten any measurable precipitation. A fencing project around the yard (for rabbit control, pesky little, well... pests) is on hold as you can't get into the ground at all. Good news is the clouds have moved back in, let's pray for rain!

Cheers!

~James

Weekend Update (but I'm not Chevy Chase)

2007-05-02T07:38:00.000+01:00

What an event-packed few days it has been here in England! I'm not really sure where to start.

The "kids" a.k.a. the 3 song thrush chicks talked about in this post and this post have been sighted multiple times in the yard acting just like three brothers: dive-bombing each other, fighting for food, that kind of stuff. Great to see that they've stuck around as the thrush population has dwindled in this area from what I've been told. Hopefully they will discover their singing voices soon, right now they're just yappy noisy kids!

The mole is no more! My youngest son Jordan discovered it in a trap Saturday morning whist mowing the monster, er... the yard. From his size I'm guessing it was the Poppa mole. I was amazed at how soft his coat was and how HUGE his paws were. Now I know why they're so destructive.

In related mole news, the boys caught a LIVE mole. In our BATHROOM! More as that situation develops.

The Boy Scout trip was great, a 1-mile hike with full gear from camp to the beach end and back, then a 10-mile hike from Stiffkey to Wells-next-to-Sea along the salt marshes of the north English coast. No injuries during a session of sand dune free-fall time and everyone made the hike with only minimal injuries to feet due to new boots (despite warnings, don't get me started).

And finally I've discovered the incredible diversity in the (seemingly) mundane world of eggs. I grew up with eggs coming into our home 12 perfectly formed copies at a time, all white and clean and perfect. Well, they don't all come out that way, especially if you have "farm" chickens around. Here's a sample of my egg portrait series.

Cheers!

~James

Unexpected Visitors!

2007-04-23T20:48:00.000+01:00

For those of you who have been along since I started this little bit of literary bumbling you may remember the second post I did about the Demise of the Hen Harrier. Long story short: beautiful raptor found dead in yard. So imagine my joy at sighting not one but TWO raptors as I brought the kids home from the bus stop! If my handy-dandy Peterson Field Guide is correct then this must be a pair of kestrels (Falco tinnunculus). Kestrels are small falcons and these two were gliding and swooping over the hedgerows from field to field, one stopping just long enough for me to grab this image from the van (because no one EVER goes anywhere without a 300mm lense, right).

With any luck they'll hang around and settle into our little corner of paradise so I can write about them a little more and perhaps take a better portrait next time.

Cheers!

~James

The Kids are Gone!

2007-04-23T12:23:00.000+01:00

No, not MY kids. The kids in the nest. You know, the thrush chicks that hatched just before we left on holiday. THOSE kids. They're gone. Outta' here. Flown the coop, so to say.

I will say that they were in real need of a bigger place. Three of the four eggs hatched and they were jammed into the nest rather snugly. No, it was worse. It looked like a soup bowl with three feathery gaping squawking beaks in it. I was happy to see the mum in a wanut tree in the front yard this morning, singing her heart out. So, I'll assume the kids are fine and growing fast since I didn't discover any of them with the lawn mower. Egads, that would have been horrible.

It was a short stay but it was great seeing what I almost pulled out of the double-blossom cherry tree go from mess to nest to home. Fly fast, fly free (but stop in for family photos if you please)!!

Cheers!

~James

A Little Good Press

2007-04-19T07:38:00.000+01:00

Publicity. Anyone who has ever had anything to do with sales of any kind knows that if people don't know about your product, sales are tough to come by. Luckily for me I have the gift of gab and can talk to almost anyone about anything and oddly enough, my occupation happens to be included in "anything"!

Through some great networking over at the Online Visual Artists forum the subject of press releases came up. I developed one and sent it to the local papers here in Norfolk county. As an afterthought I also sent it to the local branch of Stars and Stripes newspaper. A week or so later I was interviewed and just before we left for holiday in Garmish-Partenkirchen in Germany they called asking for more images.

The result was a very nice full-page, full-color spread in the UK Weekly section of the paper which also includes posting the article online. For those of you wishing to read it simply click here.

Be thankful that only the print version includes a photo of yours truely.

Cheers!

~James

My Kind of Camera Store

2007-04-18T08:27:00.000+01:00

Having been gone on holiday this past week I'm always poking my head into camera stores around the world. While in Innsbruck, Austria I finally found one that takes photography as seriously as me!

But seriously, holiday was great. We were back in the mountains and of all the topography we've experienced over the years these are our favorites. We saw some incredible sights, met some great people and might have even gotten a decent photo or two. Most importantly I'm fully recharged and back at work full-steam. More from our trip to come in the weeks ahead.

Cheers!

~James

A Face Only a Mother Could...

2007-04-06T11:26:00.000+01:00

Oh come on now, she HAS to love her little ones, right? But really, not exactly the face one would put on the desk at work.

I was quite excited a few weeks ago to discover the beginnings of a bird nest in the cherry tree of the front yard. Initially a collection of birch twigs and straw, I wasn't sure it would even hold water much less a wiggling young one. But as the weeks progressed I was amazed at how it began to take form and as of 2 weeks ago the inside was a perfect bowl shape, lined with soft grass and moss. Amazing. Not long after, 4 blue speckled eggs appeared. I was going to have quadruplets (surrogate, that is)!

Yesterday while mowing the monster (a.k.a. the yard) I took a quick peek in and saw one chick out and a second struggling to get the shell off of his head. A quick snap and I've left them alone to get a bit of nourishment from mum. Hopefully I've correctly identified the egs as belonging to the Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) with the help of our farmer friend, Graham. Close cousin to the common blackbird (Turdus merula) I'll keep observing from a distance to get a definative ID as I've yet to get a good look at mum on the nest.

Cheers!

~James

The Sound of Silence

2007-04-03T23:24:00.000+01:00

2,200 years ago the emperor who unified the warrior-states of China died. Buried along with him were more than 6,000 life-sized warriors, archers, horses and chariots painted in full-color and made of terra cotta. Found in 1975 by a group of farmers digging a well, the terra cotta warriors of Xi'An in Shaanxi province, China are a UNESCO World Heritage site and truely a sight to behold.

So what does this have to do with a blog about an American photographer living in Norfolk county, England? It just so happens that I have a close connection with that area. My oldest daughter, who we adopted from China in 2001, is from Xi'An and during our trip there I picked up a small set of miniature terra cotta warriors. Since then they're moved from Ohio to Alaska to the Azores and are now sitting in my office here in Necton.

As part of my collection fo projects for Alamy I have gotten much of my collection of Chinese trinkets and photographed them against a high-key background for their potential use in reference books, travel guides or websites.

Funny how the things you pick up along the way not only bring back vivid memories but also make themselves useful in way you would never have imagined.

This is likely the last post before our outing to Germany for Spring Break. Chances are I might find something to photograph along the way... well, maybe.

Cheers!

~James

Yet Another Outlet

2007-03-29T14:42:00.000+01:00

Good news if you're in the field for stock images, I am now working with the stock photo agency Alamy. Images from all over the world will start to appear at my personal Alamy page which can be accessed by simply clicking the Alamy button below. As always, requests for specific images are given full consideration and researched fully at no charge.

In other news, the weather in England was AWESOME for 3 whole days and is now back to what is considered stereotypical English weather: cold and fog. Even at 3pm I can barely see the Necton church steeple and the wind turbines of Swaffham are somewhere out there (white windmills in fog, even I haven't figured out how to photograph that situation... yet). I'll let you know when that photo is available!

Cheers!

~James

Unexpected Guest

2007-03-28T07:28:00.000+01:00

Soon after arriving in England and finding this wonderful house I began researching the wildlife I could possibly encounter while performing my vocation. Walking around woods and fields in the wee hours of the morning trying to find the perfect angle and lighting means you can run into some interesting creatures. Alaska was full of adventure from large mammals, most notably bears and moose. The Azores had the elusive least weasel to try and find (which I did). England has a selection of deer (have seen both the red and muntjack varieties), the fox and badger (not seen... yet) and lest I forget: the hedgehog.

Despite being covered in 6,000 hard spiked spines, the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) doesn't top my list of creatures to be feared while "in the wild" much to the disbelief of some of the Boy Scouts I work with. While camping on Terceira Island in the Azores, Portugal I had one crawl inside my tent and wake me while sniffing around the opening of my sleeping bag. When I realized what it was, I went back to sleep and lived to tell the tale the next day.

This guy was almost flattened by my van as I pulled out of the driveway. Luckily he survived and later in the day I was able to photograph him (or her) whilst rummaging through the flowering hyacinths for bugs and slugs. He's welcome in our yard anytime and quiet honestly would love for a group of them to move in, as long as they sleep in a place where I wouldn't accidentally run over one with the mower.

Cheers!

~James

Lights in the Sky

2007-03-21T22:45:00.000Z

Yesterday's weather was a simply ugly event here in East Anglia. Tempertures were just above freezing. There was a strong north wind that stung your exposed skin. It would rain. Then sleet. Then snow. All in the space of a couple of minutes, then start all over again. There wasn't enough accumulation to really affect travel, but the conditions made going about your daily tasks rather... unpleasant.

Today was better with growing sun breaks and the wind began to calm down. As I returned home from the base the sun was setting and a large expanse of sky opened up and there they were, fat in the middle of the opening: Venus (the star-like light) and the crescent moon. Fortunately I was able to get home and grab a few images from the driveway before the cold and hunger drove me inside. The day really wasn't that bad I guess.

Cheers!

~James

The Exploding Tit

2007-03-19T07:18:00.000Z

We have gotten a cold snap! A week ago we were outside flying kites and riding bikes on the patio (ok, the KIDS were riding bikes) and it seemed as if summer was on the way. NOT! Today we have snow showers, sleet storms and a brisk wind out of the north. Cold, cold, cold.

Despite being covered in down and feathers, the birds feel the cold as well. Winter finds them in need of high-energy food and the reason suet cakes exist (bird feed in cakes of lard... YUM!). A trick they use to keep warm is to fluff-up their plumage. The spaces between the feathers holds in the heat they generate and is the reason why poofy down jackets are so warm. This little guy (a blue tit) was fluffing-up and looked like he was about to explode!

We also have a new neighbor; a cow in the buildings behind our house delivered a calf over the weekend. I'm doing a sort of "farmer apprenticeship" program with the father and son who run the farm, what fun! I'm sure it will provide the meat of many a future post. Stay tuned.

Cheers!

~James

Sarcasm Central

2007-03-15T13:31:00.000Z

This may come as quite a surprise to many of you but there have been times in my life (rare, to be sure) where my fantastic command of the English language has been used in a less-than-congenial manner.

I know, I know. Hard to believe.

Be that as it may, I have often been complimented about the speed with which I am able to spout forth a stream of unbelievably sarcastic statements, sharp as rapiers and barbed as the stems of roses. So it is in this spirit that I offer:

SARCASM CENTRAL

Ever wish you had the perfect comeback for someone's cutting remark or wish you had a way to express HOW you feel without actually SAYING it? Imagine their surprise when you smile and sip a bit of coffee as they see exactly what you're thinking. Oh, I'm a bad man...

Currently populated with a growing selection of coffee mugs it will soon be joined by t-shirts, posters and more. Take advantage of my arsenal of cutting, biting remarks to express yourself and quite possibly not get written up for doing so.

Cheers!

~James

Strange New World

2007-03-13T10:57:00.000Z

Today in a rare burst of cleanliness I extracted the duster from the closet and brushed away the accumulated bits of nastiness from my shelf of beloved cameras I have used (and abused) over the years. Ranging from completely manual Canon FTbs to the AE-1/A-1s of my "cutting teeth" periods to my beloved Canon EOS 1-n and medium format Brooks-Veriwide 100 I can remember the angst and anticipation inside me as I waited for the lab to work their arcane magic on my celluloid creations. I remember the jubilation I enjoyed when I found a lab in Anchorage, Alaska (Photowright Labs on Fireweed, love 'em) that could get my slides back to me in 3-4 hours instead of 2-3 weeks. It was like the photo fairy has sprinkled her magic dust all over me! Reminiscing about those magical old days has really got me thinking about how technology has changed things for artists in general and specifically for photographers like me.

Take this morning for an example. The birds in my back garden feed pretty heavily between 7-11am, thus I'm pretty active at the camera stand during those hours (see my blog posts for the on-going saga of "the blind", link below). As the morning went on I would shoot, switch cards out and continue shooting while downloading and running images through CaptureOne. I'd shoot a little more, switch cards, run the keepers through my Photoshop template actions for my CafePress greeting cards. Shoot a little more, keyword, upload, create descriptions, shoot a little more. So, in those three hours I was not only able to capture my little friends feeding and grooming but process the images, catalog the images, create products out of them and have them available for purchase all within (literally) minutes of the images being captured.
Despite all the changes that have taken place in the process, the motivation is still the same:

I love what I do!

If the light goes to crap (what a concept here in England) I'm able to take my hands off the camera and simply enjoy the starlings trying to get to the suet feeder while the "yard boss" robin runs them off. I can laugh as the green finches never give up trying to crack safflower seeds even though they can hardly get a single one into their beaks! Yes, I'd love to be able to pay my bills with the money made from stock image fees and product sales, but I'd still be doing this anyways.

We've come a long way, baby.

Cheers!

~James

Great Visit to London

2007-03-12T10:56:00.000Z

One of the great things about being active in some sort of community forum is the ability to network with folks and make new friends. I belong to a particularly active and most useful forum called the Online Visual Artists Forum run by the lovely Sarah out of Seattle, Washington. Through this group I was fortunate enough to become friends with Mr. Paul Helm.

Paul is one of a handful of old-fashioned honest-to-goodness print makers using traditional methods involving such items as plates, ink and presses (like, no electricity or CPUs). He and a group of fellow printers had the ability to have a gallery show in London and I was invited to attend (and I said YES of course)!

So, Saturday found Jill and I driving down to Epping to catch the Tube into London. Morely Gallery is just a short walk from the Lambeth North tube station and the Imperial War Museum and a 5 minute walk from the south bank of the Thames River and the London Eye.

We met Paul who was not only nice as could be but also took us on a tour of the print making facilities of Morley College where he creates his masterpieces. Here's a photo of Paul and I (he's the distinguished looking chap on the right, I'm the pale hobbit-ish bloke on the left) in front of his display area.

Be sure to visit his website to learn more about him and his art, fantastic stuff. An incredible day topped off by incredible weather and my first ever serving of fish and chips at the Three Stags Pub. Highly recommended though you might want to take your cholesterol medication just before eating.

Cheers!

~James

The blind: one step closer

2007-03-07T14:31:00.000Z

While sitting in front of the square-eyed devil known as my computer a wave of realization came over me.

Birds are cool.

Most of the people I know would agree but have already conjured mental images of bald eagles, red tail hawks and the like. I'm referring to the little guys that are coming in ever-increasing numbers to my back yard feeding station.

Blue tits, robins, sparrows, blackbirds. THOSE birds. Plain old ordinary residents of everyday backyard feeders. If you have the time and can sit and watch then, it can be quite a laugh.

Our yard has what I refer to as a "yard boss" and he is the smallest of the three robins I see regularly. But there is no doubt that HE is the boss, HE controls who comes and goes to the feeder from his perch on the bird bath. He squawks, he jumps, he flitters and chases if he were a child of mine I likely would have tied him to a tree just to hush him up. He is quite comical to watch when he gives chase to a blackbird 3-4 times his size AND WINS.

They say that when you pet an animal it releases 5-6 different pleasure hormones and helps lower blood pressure. I haven't given bird-petting a go but I will say that as the "yard boss" does his thing and the blue tits burst into a furious fit of movement (see photo) all seems right with the world for just a moment, and sometimes a moment is all you need to make it through the day.

Cheers!

~James

A Fine and Pleasant Misery

2007-03-05T08:24:00.000Z

One of the greatest authors I have ever had the pleasure to read is Patrick McManus, a fine writer who creates books about his youth with titles like "They Shoot Canoes Don't They", "Never Smell a Gift Fish" and my long time favorite "A Fine and Pleasant Misery".

I mention this as I had the distinct pleasure to finally go camping (if for only one night) in the fabled woods of England called Thetford forest. As if that wasn't exciting enough (for me at least) it was also the first night camping for many new Boy Scouts that had made the transiting from "cub" to "boy" and were now entering the world of the boy-led camping world (and all that one might imagine that entails).

Having just endured a week of stuck-on-the-couch illness I figured a night in a tent would either cure me or kill me and at the moment either was a welcome option. Suffice it to say I survived with nary a scratch and was pleased beyond reason to discover we hadn't missed the total lunar eclipse. Best of all, everyone lived although the kids with wet sneakers (trainers) weren't all that pleased about it. When asked by my wife how it was I remember thinking it wasn't quite a "fine and pleasant misery" but it certainly had potential.

Cheers!

~James

The Blind: a work in progress

2007-02-24T12:28:00.000Z

Photographing military aircraft or the aurora is much easier than photographing teeny-tiny birds. Even the bigger ones are wiley and smart with eyes like eagles (duh James).

While not a fantastic shot, this is an example of how close I'm able to get to our resident red-legged partridges (called Frenchies by the local farmers). My office has 2 large doors that open onto the back yard and with the air of curtains and some clamps I'm able to create a "blind" of sorts to view the action.

With spring approaching, more and more visitors are showing up. Earlier this week we saw a pair of great spotted woodpeckers. My youngest daughter was watching blackbirds in the bird bath when she said one of them "looks wrong" and upon closer inspection I realized why. Improvements on the blind are planned, will advise when there is more to report.

I should also let you know that more and more images are being added to the fine-art print galleries. Having recieved works from this fantastic e-commerce partner I can say with utmost confidence that you will LOVE the results. If you're looking for something extra special consider ordering a print on canvas. Incredible. something you'll pass down to your children.

Cheers!

~James

People People Everywhere!!!!

2007-02-21T07:29:00.000Z

Crowds. Ick. I am NOT a city guy by any means, I'm much more comfortable in the middle of nowhere facing the elements with my wits and a small survival kit than I am a tourist map and urban canyons.

So finding myself in the middle of London during the Chinese New Year celebrations left me a bit... wanting. Mostly for solitude.

We had taken our family to London for the day so you might imagine how a parent with two little ones dealt with the crowds. Mostly by afflicting the girls with the grip o' death among the swarming masses of humanity. This was also my first real trip into London (I had arrived at Heathrow 6 months ago but promptly boarded a bus for new diggs in Norfolk) so I was attempting to take in this historic city in between glances around me to find the little ones. I must say it is an amazing place and one which I plan on documenting in my own way at a later date (sans children and crowds if I have my way).

Since this wasn't a "working" trip photography was a second-tier activity but I was able to get an image or two which lent themselves to my artistic interpretation of the day and have just been released as a short series of blank greeting cards. We'll see if subsequent trips to the urban jungle produce similar results. Hopefully without the whole of England along as well.

Cheers!

~James

THE BOOK IS COMPLETE!

2007-02-11T11:47:00.000Z

With great joy I announce the publication of my book:

"Unique Imagery From Around the World: Stories and Techniques Behind Their Creation"

Filled with some of my favorite images from Alaska, the Azores, China and Venice, Italy this book endeavors to let you in on what happens behind the scenes of a single image. Weather, culture, technical considerations, the whole lot.

More information as well as excerpts from the book are HERE!

Bring on the Snow!!!!

2007-02-09T11:34:00.000Z

As you may or may not have heard, England is suffering from one of the biggest snow falls in 4 years.

Well, most of England is.

Knowing that chance favors the prepared mind and that mine is nice and new (I keep it in a box so I don't use it un-necessarily) I set up Jill's nifty little Canon S3 on a tripod in hopes of recording a series of images showing our yard filling with with a glorious gift from the clouds.

And yes, the titles are on the correct images.

The top photo was at 9:30am. The bottom one at just before 11 as I returned from my accountant's office.

The kids got out of school early.

They had a 2-hour delay today.

They got sent home just after being picked up.

There is LESS snow in my yard now.

I love the Brits but they don't know JACK about snow.

Cheers.

Notecard sets now available

2007-01-30T08:18:00.000Z

Mother knows best. We all have heard it over and over again but for some of us (me) it takes a couple of hard knocks to the head for me to listen sometimes.

My Mom has told me numerous times how she wished she had a certain image on a notecard. Mom is a big fan of cheering people up by sending a card with a simple message inside. In this day of instantaneous communication using modern technology the art of hand-writing a card or letter is becoming a lost art (and a sin I'm blatantly guilty of).

Finally realizing yet again of just how smart Mom is I have begun releasing a series of notecards featuring my images in full-color on the front and a "ghosted" black and white image inside. Each package contains 6 cards as well as envelopes and are available in a growing number of designs. If you have a favorite image you's like to see on a card simply let me know!

Cheers!

~James

Birds of a (different) feather

2007-01-29T15:14:00.000Z

Photography is a lot of things but stagnant probably is a poor choice of descriptive terms. Technology is constantly changing the equipment we use, the film we prefer as well as the subjects we choose. While in the Azores I became a great fan of cultural festivals which included Holy Spirit parades and bullfights.

Bullfights are scarce in England.

Birds, on the other hand, are not. Even in the course of the winter season there is a plethora of both big and small feathered friends about the property. So, adapting to what has been presented me, I have began in earnest to photograph my littlest friends.

Late last week I was working on capturing a very active resident of the property feasting at the seed feeder. The Great Tit (Parus major) is a small bird with vivid yellow breast covering and moves with great speed. Setting a position to photograph from is greatly eased as they feed just outside my office doors that lead into the garden. Closing the curtains and applying a couple of clothespins and I have an instand blind which also allows me to coma and go at will.

During this session a subject suddenly presented itself, a bird of a different color, so to speak. Skimming just above tree-top level came a pair of RAF Apache Longbow helicopters, the same kind that recently participated in the extraordinary effort to rescue to downed British soldier. Quickly shifting from one bird to another I was able to get one frame of the helo before it disappeared behind another line of trees.

Then the Great Tit, as if missing the attention, chirped and sang while on the feeder. Posing for me.