Sorry, I gave you a bad link in last post regarding favorite photos of 2015. Click on the following to get to the right page on my website: Favorite 16 for 2015
Extraordinary Light Canon 1DS Mark III 220mm 1/4 sec f8 4 stitched images
I felt prolific with the camera in 2015. I had a hard time deciding on my favorite images. I started with 350 images I liked, narrowed it down to 60, then finally to the 16 I show on my Best of the year page. I had a hard time picking my favorite image of the year - you get attached. I am not objective. In the end I decide with my gut; how I feel now and how I think I'll feel about the image years down the road - staying power. My favorite is an image I took at dusk, the last day of October, with a particular colorful sky as a backdrop to gold, pink and black mountain tops, with the foreground being bare birch on the Richmond, Vermont property we acquired to build family homesteads and a photo studio. I suspect the personal attachment to the property played a role in my decision. What do you think?
October's End PhaseOne IQ180 240mm 1/6 sec f9 ISO 35
The image I wrestled the most with for my favorite spot was Spring Moon Light, which is Patty's all time favorite, and adorns a prime spot on our condo wall. I love it too.
Spring Moon Light Canon 1DS Mark III 100mm 1/8 sec f14 ISO 100
I made considerable updates and additions to www.MySCGpriorities.com . I now have Note Cards available for you at $3 a card, with quantity units of 25 per card. I hope you visit and find something you would like to have - In any case, enjoy, and may you live your love priorities.
So much love is expressed at Christmas - It's wonderful. "What a Wonderful World - I see friends shaking hands, saying, How do you do? They're really saying , I love You".
First Snow 2009-10 Winter - January 10th, 2010. Hope for 2015-16 Winter?
It's unfortunate Christmas is called a holiday; a day away from the norm - "a legal day off, a vacation". Wouldn't it be wonderful if every day were like Christmas, where love were expressed freely? As I grow older and wiser I become more and more convinced that God is the love within us. The message of Christmas just might be - love as you can.....all the time! - A celebration of the birth of true love.
It maybe silly, and telling for me to say, but,....I love to watch the Hallmark station between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always cry at the end of each movie. I have the theme of all the shows figured out and I watch anyway - there is no mystery (maybe a little magic) - true love always wins out. The theme is: a struggle with a decision that has to be made. It may be a job choice, a living location, a family business struggle. And invariably there is a decision about which man or woman to go with. The movies are always sealed with a kiss, when everyone knows that the "true love", regardless if it had to do with the main characters Self-realizing, Connecting, or Giving, was chosen.
Merry Christmas to you always....and love to you and yours!
There are little f feelings like excitement and conquest, and then there are BIG F FEELINGS like Love and Gratitude. Love or gratitude, which is grandest?....I suspect love, but maybe they go hand and hand....with one comes the other.
William Arthur Ward, a motivational speaker, spoke of gratitude: "Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings." I love it.
Why can't all in the world see the obvious - It is gratitude and love that will transform the world to a peaceful, coexistent, wonderfully diverse, place to live!
The saturday before last, Patty and I meandered south to the quaint river village of Middlebury, to attend a late afternoon opening reception for four well known Vermont photographers, at Edgewater Gallery. Edgewater Gallery is a well regarded New England gallery with great light, high ceilings, beautiful display areas, and generally houses expensive oil and water-color pieces by respected New England artists. I know they periodically display photographers work and I wanted to see these photographers new images, talk to them and "see" if I felt I have what it takes to exhibit there, with some of my large prints of Lake Champlain and other regional, images. If I may so, I can see it. I really believe it...and I am happy about that, because that belief will help drive me to get there - This is a little of the "Ali affirmation" I spoke of in the Acadia Adventure blog, October 17th.
Silk 2 PhaseOne IQ 180 240mm 1/6th sec f20 ISO 100
As Patty and I were walking over the bridge, around the corner from the gallery reception, about 3:30pm, a half hour before the start of the reception, I looked down at the falls below and said: I love it - I have to come back here and shoot the falls with this late afternoon light - At the right exposure the water is going to look like silk. I returned, to capture the image above, and it wasn't what I was visualizing. I know I need to expect the unexpected, while capturing moments in nature (the people like forms in the shadows above are an example), but I wasn't satisfied with the results compared to what I was visualizing, so I went back another day and captured the image below, which is more like what I was visualizing.
Silk Phaseone IQ 180 480mm 1/5 sec f22 ISO 35
I have the pixels to print Silk 36" x 50". I will do some large proofs to see if the image is what I visualized or if I shoot again. At this point, I love the silk like strands of water....but that's just me - the first hurdle to a gallery wall.
I went to my local urologist yesterday for my annual follow-up PSA, as a result of my radical prostate surgery in 2004. The doc said: "How long has it been since your prostate surgery?" I said, with a question in my voice, it will be eleven years this December. He said; "It's unusual for prostate cancer to reoccur after that many years, but yours may have. We will confirm with another PSA, and then we can talk about radiation". WHAT!?
A Rush PhaseOne IQ 180 240mm 15sec f9 ISO 35
I surprised myself with how clear my thoughts became after hearing the doctor mention I may have cancer again. It is clear to me....I will not have radiation. I will live simply, meaningfully, do what I love to do, be with who I love to be with, and be a good person....for as long a time as I am blessed to be given.
I didn't go to the lab to draw the next vial of blood, Kristin, a pleasant young assistant, who is thinking about being a radiology tech, said; "I usually don't draw blood, but I am the only person here right now, so I will try once. I don't want you to be a pin cushion so if it doesn't work the first time I will send you to the lab." She focused and diligently inserted the needle. My questionable blood started flowing down the plastic tube, oh so slowly. It gave me time to find out Kristin was in Vet School when she got pregnant, had to quit, but it was a blessing, she said, because in the last three and a half years she decided to go another route and wouldn't change a thing....she loves her daughter and married the father, who she loves.
I asked when would I find out about the new PSA test. They said 10am tomorrow, but if you register for online records, you may be able to see the results before tomorrow. After leaving the urology dept. I went to the eye specialist dept to see how the images they bought from me looked on the walls. They were impressed and I was happy. They asked for calling cards to give to admirers. I felt good. I then went home, thought more, with much clarity, got console from Patty and registered for on-line access to my records. About eight hours after thinking my remaining time will be short, I saw the results <.01. I cried. Well, what the hell, maybe I'll live with the love that became clear with the thought of death, no matter how many more years I am blessed to have, to live my love priorities!
Of course Fall doesn't end until December 21st... however, the leaves are now coming down fast and furious, and one starts thinking about snow, and a new season, about this time of year. This Fall (I suppose I should say...thus far) has been a "a rush" for me, with images produced beyond my expectations.
Fall's End PhaseOne IQ180 240mm 1/6 sec f9 ISO 35
I am so excited about moving beyond Lake Champlain, with trees and non-Champlain water, I added Trees, Tree Abstracts, Inland Water and Coastal Water sections to my website www.mesipe.com. In searching my photo data base, I surprised myself with how trees are so prevalent already in my shooting. I love the image above, taken October 30th, from the upper field of our new, Richmond, Vermont, family property. It may be my favorite "image of a life-time" .... to date. We'll see if it has wall staying power.
Exploring the Richmond area, for the first time, this last month or so, has been a pure delight. Fall in Vermont is universally known as great Fall foliage sightseeing ... and who knew... it exceeded my expectations... and only fifteen minutes from our home in Burlington.
Water Rush PhaseOne IQ180 240mm 1/10 sec f9 ISO 35
Take a minute and look at a few of my new images at www.mesipe.com. It is hard to think that Winter can top Fall for delightful image making.... but who knows... I'm open to it!
I have always loved birch trees and am delighted to discover that birch are prevalent in our soon to be new home of Richmond, Vermont. I will now add birch trees to my photography water fixation. The beauty is ... Lake Champlain tributaries run through the area with birch all-over their banks.
Richmond Backyard Hasselblad Stellar 19.31mm 1/500 sec f5.6 ISO 100
I am new to searching for birch in the area. With just a few days opening my reticular activator to birch, I am seeing birch all over, in particularly beautiful settings.
Richmond Birch 1 PhaseOne IQ 180 300mm 1/50 sec f5 ISO 35 2 stitched images
Birch Fall PhaseOne IQ 180 300mm 1/4 sec f11 ISO 35
I am anxious to look for winter light on snow covered birch and moving water. Maybe my image of a life-time is right in my future backyard!
After attending my first PhaseOne Camera sponsored workshop, earlier this month in Bar Harbor, Maine and the nearby Acadia National Park, I have new meaning for a passion for photography.
Water On the Rocks PhaseOne IQ 180 120mm 1/3 sec f14 ISO 35
The three independent instructors (there were two PhaseOne professionals present as well) for the ten attending the workshop, are world class Landscape photographers, with the well deserved self-confidence and self-belief for them to say so - a Mohammed Ali like affirmation. Check them out: Tim Wolcott at www.GalleryoftheAmericanLandscape.com, Kevin Raber at www.luminous-landscape.com and Steven Friedman at www.friedmanphoto.com.
Clearly passionate about their photography, and possibly obsessive, these three pay attention to every little detail in perfecting their images. They first understand that without good content, composition and emotion, to grab the eye of the viewer, no extra attention to the details will make any difference to entice. But with the objective of producing very large images with the very capable PhaseOne equipment, the attention to the details, once the basics are present, does make a world of difference when you are expecting the best from yourself.
I made a list of equipment they use to help perfect their images, some of which I will purchase to help advance my photography. They include a 3x12 magnifier to check the focus while taking a picture, a Big Stopper (10 times neutral density filter) to buy more time while taking an image, to add affect of more motion, a sun tracking application to determine the sun's location at any time, a distance calculator to be more precise with the area of sharpness in your image, a top notch monitor calibrator to make sure your monitor is going to reflect how the image prints, a view finder to view a scene to the scale you wish to print, and a twelve foot ladder and tripod to get above the brush to view the image you want. A twelve foot tripod?..... now that's obsessive....maybe a drone though.
The point in mentioning all this "stuff" is that with a great deal of passion in doing what we love to do, we will likely be successful. Success, as I am defining success is - the realization of our unique good; world class, in our own right - a feeling we will only know as it relates to ourselves and our effort in doing our best at what we do.
Grass Birch Berries PhaseOne IQ 180 80mm 1 sec f16 ISO 35
I am grateful to have been able to attend this extraordinary Acadia workshop and learn from not only the independent instructors, but the well informed staff of PhaseOne. Kevin Raber, for me, was the "grand finale" when he presented a twenty minute display of images, accompanied with music and inspirational commentary. I realized, at the end, that he is a great example of what I speak to in my book about Self-realizing, Connecting and Giving.
Thank you Drew for doing the extra details to make for a memorable and learning experience!
Patty said..."you have to see this sky". I seldom run for a camera at twilight to take a picture in our backyard. September 21st was different. I saw the sky and immediately knew this was light to be captured. The next day several people said..."did you see the sky last night? It truly was extraordinary. In processing the image below, I actually reduced the color saturation - It was too unbelievable and looked too intense. As it is, it is hard to imagine...surely, a momentary natural gift from God.
Extraordinary Light Canon EOS iDS Mark III 220mm 1/4 sec f8 ISO 100 4 stitched images
Still wanting to exhibit a high impact photo related to water quality of Lake Champlain for the All Souls Interfaith Gathering Place exhibit in October, I went to my data base of 10,000 images of the Lake. I found the image below, which I captured on the Burlington waterfront in July of 2012, at the height of the drought. Ugly, yet artistic, right?
Too little rain, too much rain - nature tests our ability to deal with it's delicate balance - a lesson on balance, relevant for many natural aspects of life. You name it - too little or too much can cause havoc - not just water....sun, food, drink...even sex.
Drought Affect Canon EOS Mark III 100mm 1/1000 sec f6.3 ISO 100
Stacy, a friendly clerk at my local post office, said, while asking how her summer was going - " It's been a great summer....except...except for the last month. We are selling our boat and putting in a swimming pool because we are fed up with the Blue Green Algae in the St. Albans Bay and Georgia Beach, where we have been boating and swimming for years. We don't want to fish in the Lake any longer, and certainly can't swim in the Lake with all the algae."
I drove the thirty miles north from Burlington to St. Albans to check the area for myself. I asked the only two fisherman on the St. Albans Bay pier where the beaches were - "Oh, St. Albans Beach is over there, and Georgia Beach is a few miles south on the Lake Road, over there (pointing to the south). But, you can't swim....there closed"
Closed Today. Closed Yesterday. Closed Tomorrow. Closed. Closed. Closed.
St. Albans Bay water quality has been in the news a lot lately. It's problems with the Blue Green Algae will no doubt add fuel for the water quality passionates during the forum with water quality stakeholders at All Souls, Interfaith Gathering Place in October. Knowing my images are going to be on the walls at the Gathering Place, I wanted to capture the ugly algae to catch the attention of the forum participants. I decided on the image below. I have to apologize - I can't capture ugly; I am programed to look for beauty.
Blue Green PhaseOne IQ 180 35mm 1/3 sec f11 ISO 35
In October I will be exhibiting about 20 images from my Lake Champlain project at the All Souls Interfaith Gathering Space, Shelburne, Vermont, in conjunction with an important forum of stakeholders to improve the water quality of Lake Champlain.
Meach Cove Sunlight Canon EOS IDS Mark III 300mm 1/15 sec f22 ISO 640 7 stitched images
I love Lake Champlain and generally, my images depict it as pristine landscape. Yet, it's a real challenge to maintain a high water quality with 18 square miles of water shed and run-off for every square mile of the lake; this is about six times greater than the great lakes.
Every time we get a heavy rain I cringe, knowing the beaches will close due to unhealthy coliform counts, at least for a short while. Can you imagine being permanently restricted from taking a dip in this precious Lake on a hot summer's day? Waste water treatment has kept the phosphorous down for now, but with new land development, population growth and desire to improve crop yields, current efforts to protect water quality result in a constant battle just to meet the status quo, not to mention make improvements.
If a priority is high enough it will get done! That's my belief. One way, sooner or later priorities call our attention either by value or consequence. If improving Lake Champlain's water quality is made a high enough priority it will be done. Isn't it our responsibility to leave our environment as unspoiled as we found it? Indeed, in a better condition than we found it. With everything there needs to be a balance, but spend any time experiencing the natural beauty of Lake Champlain and tell me the weight doesn't fall heavy to the side that it is our responsibility, our opportunity, to preserve this God-given environment that holds the pride of Vermont.
Meach cove farms 2 Canon eos mark iii 300 mm 1/60 sec f11 iso 640 6 stitched images
Shirley
Shirley was the most significant-other to my father, Walter. She was life-blood for dad, personally and professionally, at Sipe & Gray Oil Co. for about fifty years. She was much more than the secretary/bookkeeper; she was my dad’s keel, under the stormy surface, in stiller waters, keeping the ship afloat, with loving care and concern.
And, Shirley was more significant to me than I realized when I was younger and less wise. She was the guiding hand during my first job at 16, while I helped get accounts receivable statements out on the exact right day, and learned the importance of balancing the books down to the penny. Shirley’s pleasant demeanor and loving care lead me to a career in accounting and financial planning, where I had the honor of returning a guiding hand to her and dad at S&G.
I won’t forget Shirley’s warmth, care and love…..and the fishing on Lake Marie, her quiet presences at milestone events when I was growing up, and the screaming love that was manifested with her gorgeous cakes.
May you have eternal happiness and love Shirley. I love you.
Mike Sipe, protired
Burlington, Vermont
www.MySCGpriorities.com….influenced early by you, Shirley
August 9th, Just a day after my 69th birthday I, and Patty, who turned 69 in April, celebrated a Minnesota "potluck" with our families, serving up Brats and Sauerkraut under the disguise of celebrating a day in our 70th year of life. It was followed by a Saint Paul Saints ball game in their new, wonderful ball park in downtown St. Paul. It was a great day for me; having family come together and spending time reflecting back to my boyhood, including my boyhood love for baseball.
Allis-Chalmers PhaseOne IQ 180 120mm 1/30th sec f22 ISO 100 3 stitched images
I move on. Briefly reflecting back is great, fixating there is not. In Toledo, Ohio, half way back to Vermont, from our wonderful visit to Minnesota, in a Outback Steak House, next to our Marriott Hotel, after 11 hours on the road, I felt a most wonderful feeling. I don't know where it came from or why. I looked over at the table next to us, seeing 8 or so "old" people - gray hair, if they were lucky enough to have some, sagging body parts, waddles, blemishes and bellies and I just smiled, thinking we are they and they are beautiful. I felt a sense of freedom, earned wisdom, light-heartedness, connectivity and time....still time to do more of what we love to do. I am feeling like an old Allis-Chalmers tractor, staying tuned up as well as can be, to plow more fields, not worried about making hay when the sun is shining, but just doing what turns me on, now.
Summer 2015 has been a little washed out for image taking, for me. A vermonter environmentalist declared Vermont a rain forest this year. However, winter and spring were not washed out for me, I was lacking winter and spring images for my Lake Champlain project and my desire to find winter and spring images paid off; it is funny how that works when the priority is high enough. Five of the seven favorites, year to date are spring images. Ironically, my favorite image so far this year is a spring image, but was captured at Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Cannon Beach Canon EOS IDS Mark III 84mm 4sec f20 ISO 100 2 stitched images
I love the Oregon coast. I have seen beautiful images of the rock formations dotting the open sand beaches of Oregon, and I wanted to capture one. My daughter Bridget suggested we tour the coast rather than stay in Seattle when we visited her in March. I lucked out to find a full moon setting fifteen minutes before sunrise on March 6th (Actually Winter I guess). I would have loved to have had my more powerful PhaseOne 80 mega-pixel camera with me, but stitching two 21 mega-pixel 4 sec images miraculously worked out. I guess the gulls were sleeping.
Five of my seven favorites to date this year are black and white. Public feedback I receive do not favor black and white, but they really appeal to me. Often I process images in both color and black and white and decide by gut feel which appeals to me the most. Maybe it is just a learning phase I am going through.
When I am not selecting black and white these days, color usually has a strong impact. I love the color in White Pine Camp and Spring Moon Light.
White Pine Camp Canon EOS IDS Mark III 300mm 1/30 sec f11 ISO 100 5 stitched images
Spring Moon Light Canon EOS IDS Mark III 100mm 1/8 sec f14 ISO 100
We'll see if the favorites to date will make the list for the year. Although summer has not been too productive for my tastes, year to date, I am way a head of previous years in capturing images that I like.
Light and Landscape Magazine www.lightandlandscapemagazine.com published my article titled A Clear Focus in their issue 12.
Spring Sprout PhaseOne IQ 180 300mm 1/60 sec f22 ISO 100 3 stitched images
I have enjoyed Light and Landscape Magazine. I have learned from reading the articles and studying the images. I like them all the more now! Take a look - they are a free electronic magazine that can be downloaded to your iPad or other mobile device from the iTunes app store.
Who likes to be told what to do or how to be? I don't. I want to learn from the wise and be free to decide what is best for me, and how I relate to those I love (ideally everyone).
July 4th Steve's House Minneapolis Hasselblad Stellar 10.4mm 2sec f3.5 ISO 200
Our Founding Fathers took huge risks for our independence. They moved forward with little strength to fight Great Britain, other than a great determination of one voice of thirteen United States to express unbelievably obvious, simple and lasting wisdom - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."
I strive to have the same great determination as the 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, to live my life by celebrating my freedom, and pursuing my happiness by realizing all I can be, connecting to all I desire and giving as I am able, with the knowledge of the rewards therefrom.
In my blog, Priorities Are Always Present June 20th, 2015, I describe my present struggle with the push-pull of living in Vermont versus Minnesota; it's a personal, family, maybe health issue that involves compromise and the need to consider balance with conflicting priorities. Like a lot of high priority issues, it is a struggle to decide which love priority overrides another; will the final decision dilute the love priorities and create resentment, or will it enhance the love priorities, breding more love? I'll let you know how it works out for me.
We will live in both Vermont and Minnesota, spreading our money and time resources a little thinner. I am excited about being involved with creating a natural light photo studio with separate nuclear family living units in Vermont, which will be designed to have more with less, and being close to family of origin, friends and familiar surroundings in Minnesota. The Senior apartments in Minnesota are out for now: we will look for a comfortable apartment in the Highland Park area of St. Paul, near Carondelet Village Senior Living Community, where we keep our options open being about 100 on the 5-8 year waiting list. There are a lot of moving parts to this decision, so I expect a twist and a turn as we move forward... with great determination.
White Pine Camp Canon EOS IDS Mark III 300mm 1/30 ISO 100 F11 5 stitched images at sunrise
Our 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, a Vermonter, spent summer time at White Pine Camp in Paul Smiths in up-state New York. Patty and I had the pleasure of sleeping in his bed in the President's cabin this weekend. The log bed is original. I think the mattress has been changed since his one term presidency ended in 1929!
You can't help learn a little about the former president while staying at this very remote and quiet camp; the camp was full and you hardly knew anyone else was there. There are large fieldstone fireplaces all over the place, including boat houses, bowling building, tennis courts, the great living room and, of course, each cabin. We must have used up a cord of wood during our two day stay. The summer, stone fireplace fires reminded us of good times gone by at Patty's family of origin northern Minnesota cabin on Gull lake.
Quiet Cal, as Coolidge was tagged, may have earned the label by spending too much time under the white pines, and fishing on Osgood Pond. He loved the camp and he loved to fish for brook trout. He was sometimes criticized as avoiding issues while persisting on catching enough trout to feed all his quests.
Osgood Pond; where the fish hide - Canon EOS IDS Mark III 285mm 1/250 sec F11 ISO 100
Coolidge wrote about persistence. He said: "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." What drives persistence and determination - Love, Passion, High Priority.
Anger is real. Hate is chosen. The Emanuel A.M.E. Church parishioners in Charleston chose love over hate after 9 of their parishioners were gunned down while praying for the souls of those possessing evil....like the madman who gunned them down, absorbed by hate.....for some fxxxxxx reason.
Hate begets hate. Love begets love. Thank you mighty parishioners of "The Church" in Charleston for showing the world the power of love. If only the world would follow your example - we would have a world of people filled with love, healing hurts and feeling wonderful connection to all humankind, with all the many differences to celebrate. God speed.
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