Reminiscing....

Reminiscing....

I wonder what one is to do when they become disenfranchised with their camera maker?

Minolta, where are thou? You were such a great legend, a great maker, an icon in the photography world....come back, for I miss you, I miss the days of affordable lenses, true dedication, and cameras that actually advanced the future.

These new cameras that just came out that has your mount, is not what I have known nor loved the last almost 20 years. A chocolate and copper colored DSLR? I did not get myself into a whole new definition of the word "Fashion Photography" by purchasing your cameras.

I don't want to switch systems, I just want my Minolta back, where the motto "Now you don't have to buy expensive lenses to have them stabilized" was a sales cry. Instead, we now have 70-200mm f2.8 lenses that cost more than a Canon IS lens of the same focal length.

Please come back Minolta, many of us miss you....terribly.....
---John



Technorati Tags: Minolta, camera, photography, nature, sony

A Snowy & Surreal Monday

I wake up, put the coffee on, let the dog on, and what do I see out my front window? This below! You know, sometimes you just know when it's going to be an interesting day...and it seems this could be one of them! Naturally I went for the camera fast as I could!

Of Days Gone Past....

The Vintage Retro Signage of Denver's East Colfax Avenue

I am still working on processing images from this shoot but here is one I thought you all might enjoy. There really is a "Lost America" kind of look and feel to Denver's Colfax avenue, a lot which I really feel should be preserved, but sadly, is slowly disappearing...it has been suggested that I at some point publish a book showcasing my retro photography, and I have given it some serious thought, and yes, I suppose in the future I will do that, why not I figure.

It is amazing how one's trained eye becomes so much more aware of immediate surroundings isn't it? I imagine most folks just pass these old signs and the architecture which they represent on by, never thinking twice....
---John

Got Snow?

Got Snow?
Originally uploaded by jdebordphoto

Got Snow?

We sure do in Denver today, a full on Blizzard! I just took this a little bit ago. Snow, finally, it has been in the 80's lately, so this is a nice relief.

Now my German Shepherd Klaus wants to talk and say a few things, so I will let him;

"I don't know how Johnny let's me get in these situations....I sit here with all this snow falling on my damn face, while he holds the ball above something you guys call a damn camera, just so he can take these photos of me. I am starting to think I am nuts! But, I love the snow, I get excited when I first wake up in the morning and see it outside, and become very hyper and must go out and play RIGHT AWAY! I love to romp in it, jump in it, bury my ball and chew bones in it! I love this damn stuff! " Ok Klaus, that is good, settle down, I know you are excited, we will go back out and play some more in just a few minutes, any longer and you will be blogging in the description here! lol
---John

How The Time Does Fly

Ahhh how time flies!
In the last coup0le of months I have been busy, as in VERY busy....sorry I have been afk on here for awhile now. Been shooting a lot, became a Gallery Manager for Photography>Animals, Plants & Nature on deviantART (my account is here) joined twitter here and have been shooting like a madman!

  One of the things that I have accomplished though as a GM for deviantART is being able to bring in some of the VERY BEST in the Nature Photography world, and interviewing them. Recently I have had the opportunity to interview two very huge infleunces on my work, Guy Tal & Judd Patterson. (click links to read the interviews)

  I also have been shooting quite a lot lately, always processing photos, the never ending story huh? Anyways, onwards and upwards as I say!


Magpie captured in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park on New Years Day.

Insane amount of gear

Insane amount of gear
Originally uploaded by Benjamin Humphrey

I think I just basically drooled all over my damn keyboard!

Recent Works

DA: Winter Approaches.... by =kkart

Winter Approaches....

Captured along Trailridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado...I believe looking towards Storm Mountain....(how fitting a mountain name, huh? )

At an elevation of close to 12,000 feet high when I shot this (as you can see I am actually above the tree line here) this scene was majestic, eerie, solemn, stoic, and downright ominous. It was cold, the wind whipping by me at over 40MPH at times, and basically with no surrounding shelter to cut the wind back, except the backside of my car, it was enough to make my eyes water something like a faucet! Now here is the eerie part....and I have never seen this outside of Colorado...

At times the wind would stop it's outflow from the approaching winter storm, and you would hear the rumble of thunder....this is an effect we call "Thunder Snows" here in Colorado, in essence, a thunderstorm but also a snow storm, and yes, lighting is a regular occurance, and all things considered, when THAT started happening, and I was teh tallest object on the Alpine Tundra, my keester got back in the car faster than you can say "BBQ'd Johnny at 12,000 feet! All you can eat!"

The Alpine Tundra is an incredible place, very fragile, and is frozen usually more than 8 months of the year. It is as though time stands still up here, but at the same time, in spite of it's beauty, it also carries a real danger with it!

Processed in HDR
Singh-Ray CPL
Hoya UV


DA: The Dawn Of Paradise .... by kkart

The Dawn of Paradise

Shot yesterday morning at Lake Estes in Estes Park, Colorado....this was just quite a scene to behold! Sure, I froze my hands off (steel tripods aren't know to conduct heat real well lol ) and had to keep running back to the car to thaw out my fingers. But what a time! It has been awhile since I have done any real long exposure work, and I have been meaning to get back at it...on this I used an ND4 and my CPL, taken on my Minolta 18-70 DT lens. The light and color was changing ever so fast, it seemed like every passing second it was different...and this was the first shot out of about 75 I took, later the sky would turn totally orange along with the water,....those are yet to come. It was sheer serenity I tell ya!