A chicken

Shot on my trek into the Eastern Sierra this past June, while exploring the mill site of the Cardinal Gold Mine. I noticed these birds scratching around and took a few BORING snapshots of chickens, and THEN a lawn mower came by and blew all this grass into the scene - There's the shot. LUCKILY I had my camera already to my eye. Sadly the flying debris covered my lens and I had to retreat to the Photo Mobile to grab lens cleaning gear. BUT.... Got the shot..and the lens cleaned beautifully... HAPPY smile emoticon

Didn't have time to drive to my 'secret' location, when I noticed the spectacular lenticular clouds over MY mountain, and didn't want to miss the shot. Had to RUN into the studio, grab the gear, RUN up to my 2nd floor office, open the window, remove the screen, assemble camera/lens, (praying there was a memory card in camera & the battery had 'some' charge remaining), set up the tripod, test exposure, and then capture this moment - light was fading FAST. Another "Mountain Portrait".

Couldn't resist the exquisite LIGHT @ NIGHT - 11:11 pm - After 12+ inches of snow, the darkness revealed a frozen moment of wonderland. Tripod, remote shutter release, multi-colored function flashlight, one Weimaraner running on cue to activate motion detection lights, mother nature providing frozen rain accumulating on branches, micro-fiber lens cloth to wipe raindrops off lens, strategically locating camera under overhang - got the shot! - A little wet - lights flickering as ice ladened branches fall on power lines, editing, saving, lights flicker, uploaded!

Tuesday

Everyday we pass by things that we look at but actually don't take time to ... SEE.

My simple 3MP simple captured everyday stuff, exalting the stuff into objects of Art.

SATURDAY

Shooting Katy and Kris's Wedding in Oklahoma next Saturday. Went out to practice detail shots today and found this car show, (Thanks David). Met & chatted with some cool car guys/gals too. Old cars ROCK. What beautiful craftsmanship and detailing. Nice job on the restorations!
PS - Hey Puyallup Charger guy - buy a digital camera and sign up for my photo class!
Click the full screen icon in bottom right of video to watch it large! Enjoy!

(Oh and BTW - If you LOVE Animoto and want to subscribe, use my referral code and you get $5 off and I add 3 free months to my subscription !! WIN WIN. I LOVE this tool. Just click this link http://animoto.com/referrals/zgsyvxwb)

Sunday

Doing a few softbox lighting experiments in my studio and needed a model....

Guess who got LUCKY!!!!

Paying it Forward

I select several projects each year to volunteer my photography services and give back to my community.  This year, I had the opportunity and honor to photograph The Cuffs-n-Trucks Annual Golf Tourney which benefits the Sgt Justin Norton Scholarship Fund. Justin graduated from Rainier, WA High School in 2003, and served his country in the Army. Tragically, Justin was killed while on patrol near Bagdad in June 2006. One of his wishes was to have a scholarship fund set up in his name if he did not return. The annual tournament was established and to date more than 90 scholarships have been awarded to area high school seniors in his name. Check out Justin's website. www.justinnorton.net.

Natalie and I are not golfers (although I grew up in a family who were), so we researched "golf" before we went. Had no idea what a 'shotgun' start was and had never driven a golf cart. With cart loaded, we went off-roading to capture the day's action and try to get a shot of ALL 32 teams. A lot of FUN people out on the course that day! THANKS to ALL for being good sports with the photo team!

............AND the Thurston County Sheriffs were in rare form!

........AND Natalie logged enough miles to qualify for her golf cart driver's license.

Thursday

Today my two assistants, Natalie and Larisa, practiced with creative portraiture in crazy direct harsh streaming sunlight. Natalie and Larisa modeled for each other, and using my Canon 5D,with shutter speed dialed to max flash sync speed (1/250) to KILL the ambient (bright sunlight), and an added modified speedlight with a octobox softbox, positioned camera right, they were able to CAPTURE Dramatic MAGIC.

PS - (I'm glad I haven't sanded and painted my door yet!)

GOOD JOB GIRLS - YOU NAILED IT.  :-)

Wednesday

The Barbra Kates Photography "Mobile" Studio rolled out to beautiful Boston Harbor, WA today. We had a fabulous time photographing Marion Pollmann's Ceramics !!! Thanks to my awesome assistant Natalie. Thanks Marion! Check out Marion's ceramic art at www.marionpollmannceramics.com

2008 - this Mt Rainier image earned me acceptance into the National Geographic Stock division. It was a BIG DEAL! Capturing this shot was one of those lucky photographic moments when the planets were aligned -  I was in the right place at the right time with the right gear and the right light! Mother Nature and I were one.

Over the years I have submitted images to several stock agencies and REJECTED.

Not to take NO for an answer or sulk, I continued to click away. Perseverance paid off and a prestigious publication accepted my work.  I felt like I had arrived.

But then,

that was it.

Never heard a word or received any royalties from this image.

Feb 2011- returned from 9 life changing days at the WPPI (Wedding Portrait Photographers) international convention. After all day convention workshops, late evening travel, a one and half hour seemingly never-ending  drive home from Sea Tac, exhausted and on information overload, finally walked in my house at 11:55pm and was greeted by a huge stack of mail David had collected. I quickly un-interestingly scanned through the pile, opened an 8x10 orange envelope with a Nat Geo magazine inside and said, "Why are they sending me this, I didn't order it" and just thought someone had sent me a subscription. Jet lagged, I KNOW, I had only traveled in the same time zone, a short non-stop 2 hour flight for heavens sake......BUT... that is what 9 days of 6am-11pm of workshops, tradeshow, photography, gear, networking will do to your brain.

I put the magazine back in the pile, went to bed and then hit the road running the next morning. Five days later with a break in the action - eating lunch at my kitchen counter, the Nat Geo "America's National Parks" special edition magazine was staring at me from the pile. I picked it up and began casually flipping through it. Came to a two-page spread of MT Rainier, looked at the image, and thought, "Dang that looks just like my Mt Rainier shot. I didn't see any other photographers at my secret viewpoint that day." Read the almost invisible little blurb in the upper left hand corner and the even less visible Barbra Kates photo credit. WHAT? Had to grab my glasses to be sure it was my name. For a second or two, it didn't register in my brain that this WAS my image. After several moments, I emerged from the fog and yelled OMG. David thought something radically was wrong. We celebrated!

Photo Tip - Always have a box of 'stuff' that can be pulled out and put on at a moments notice. No need for any special studio lighting or flash - just plain old fluorescent, a little daylight squeezing thru a crack in the door, an ugly wrinkled sheet taped on the wall with blue duct tape, in a closet, and a great model and photographer able to get lucky grab shots. Oh Yeah Baby.  t-WOW you rock my world.

i LOVE this image. Very Monet-ish. Never underestimate the power of your iPhone camera, even if it is only 3.2 MP.  And always be ready for anything driving around Portland, OR at nite. Thanks Dave Pearsall for your acute observation skills!

I pass this scene daily, 

speeding on my way somewhere, 

usually, running late. 

The view is always different. 

Today, 

got lucky, had my gear, had time, at the decisive moment, got the shot, blessed. 

 

Wed. Jan. 26, 2011 4:15 - 5:15pm

I continue to be in LOVE with Mt Rainier. When moments like this show up, I drop whatever I am doing, grab the camera. telephoto lens and tripod and drive to my favorite viewpoint. Moments of silence, observing, waiting.  Mountain Portraits.

The Thanksgiving Show

Under direction of Nancy Hillman, "The Thanksgiving Show" 

gave area youth an opportunity to explore, express,  and celebrate their creativity. 

I was fortunate to have access to the Dress Rehearsal and document the production. 

Here are just a few of my favorite images.

RE-INVENTING

Welcome to My Re-Designed BLOG. With the ringing in of the 2011, my photography business is taking a new direction. Check back frequently to see new projects my studio has been blessed to be a part of.