Pictureline.com Giving Away Nikon D800 and Lowepro Gear

Yes, you knew the day would come when a nice camera store like pictureline would make a big move. Pictureline announced today that they would be giving away a free Nikon D800 and some extra goodies simply for liking their Facebook Page and signing up for their eNewsletter (which is pretty good, if I do say so myself, since I write for it).

Why do I endorse Pictureline? Simple. Real people who know real stuff about photography. Sure, you can get a better deal with a camera retailer online, but can you call them up and ask them why your Lightroom can’t export the way you want it to? Or why your camera reads ERR? The employees are committed and there for the long haul, so you can make friends with interesting people and in 10 years, most will still be there answering your questions about how you’ve upgraded to this and this camera and how you got your first publication. Ken, Leslie, Berkley, Marcus, Jens (of course) have been there since I stepped foot in the store in 2002. They are all still there and teaching me about new equipment. And they don’t get frustrated or tired of me…amazing.

Pictureline Giveaway for Nikon D800 and Lowepro Gear

So get on their Facebook Page, like it, and enter the contest on the left side panel!

OTHER ARTICLES

“Photographs of Sadhus-Old and New-Kathmandu, Nepal”
“Photography in the Amazon, Peru Region”
“Out in the Morning-Trailrunning”

Joel

joel@joeladdams.com

www.joeladdams.com

“Half Dome in Clouds” Yosemite National Park, California

"Half Dome in Clouds" Yosemite National Park © Joel Addams

There’s nothing quite like a black and white photograph, especially when it’s of an area that we are used to seeing in black and white, thanks to film photographer masters such as Ansel Adams.  The granite walls of Yosemite Valley get a lot of attention by local and international tourists as well as the photographers.   There are a few great things about winter in Yosemite: fewer crowds, a tasty helping of snow, and the atmospherics.  For black and white photography, I prefer some “extra” elements such as clouds or fog that give the image extra points of interest.

This photograph was one of my buried treasure images that I often bury in my archives, thinking I will come across it at the time of first editing.  Then I forget all about them until the time I dredge up the old (and what I thought was broken) traveling hard drive.  Ah yes, the old Jobo 80 GB hard drive that has made it to Peru twice, Nepal, and Egypt.  I thought you had died, you little piece of faux metal.  She revived the other day, quite miraculously, to say her goodbyes, and during those few minutes, I managed to retrieve the first Yosemite photographs that I had ever taken…complete with a few of Half Dome from the Ansel Adams bridge.  After having adjusted the exposure a bit and tweaking the curves and burning the edges (I like the way Michael Kenna does this in the darkroom), “Half Dome in Clouds” is now out.

I’ll just say it.  I’ll take a black and white image with good contrast any day.

OTHER BLACK AND WHITE AND YOSEMITE ARTICLES

“Breaking Storm” Yosemite National Park, California
New Portfolio: “International Portraits” in Black and White
Motorcycles – Photography of Motion

“Breaking Storm” Yosemite National Park, California

"Breaking Storm" Yosemite National Park, California. © Joel Addams

Yosemite National Park for me has always produced something.  Even when I wasn’t ready for it.  Winter is particularly rewarding in Yosemite as the storms come and go so fast and are so dramatic.  I am a sucker for mist, fog, and clouds, so its positioning in the Sierras gives it some lingering clouds when the storm breaks.  And when they break around sunset, you are in for a treat.  This was the second sunset I had caught in a three-day period, but this is the one that really kicked it in.  I used two Singh-Ray filters on this exposure, a 4-stop Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter and a 3-stop Soft-Step Graduated Neutral Density filter.

Canon 5D Mark II, f/11, 5.0 seconds.

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New Portfolio: “International Portraits” in Black and White

"Man at Screening Camp" Kathmandu, Nepal. © Joel Addams

Even though there are many, many countries left to visit, I began putting together a portfolio of black and white portraits that I have taken since 2006 from Peru, Nepal, Egypt, Morocco, and a few other countries.

When I first showed in an exhibit or two in 2006, one fellow participant looked at a framed 16 x 24″ print of a Hindu man reading in the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, and said, “Who’s gonna buy that?”  I thought the person missed the point entirely and quite obviously.  While this subject should be dedicated to a blog of its own, not all photographs are made for commercial purposes.  I firmly believe that the photographs that you need to take and like to take will find ways of doing things that you have not imagined.  Perhaps for some, they are the grounding in their lives that remind them that not all that glitters is gold and that their integrity as a photographer can be preserved in the images that they know resonates with them.

I feel that this is what black and white photography is for me and this is what international portraits do for me.  I hope you enjoy a new portfolio of black images of people from around the world.

"A Kiterunner" Kathmandu, Nepal. © Joel Addams

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Recently Published – Travel Channel Website

The Travel Channel Website recently picked up a couple of images from Europe through my distributor Aurora Photos.  The first was one of my all time favorites from Italy, “Manarola at Dusk” from Cinque Terre.  It is everything we all love from a Mediterranean city: bright colors, cool dusk light, and the sense of travel.   Several people have commented that they have tried to return to this spot and duplicate this image.  I will likely be teaching again in Italy in 2012 or 2013, so I would love to be able to show people some of the techniques of grabbing an image like this.

The second is an image that I took in 2009 at the Louvre in Paris, France.  I have a great relationship with Paris, as I was able to live there for a time in the 90′s.  I was wandering around after I had taught a workshop there and really enjoyed the light from the famous pyramid mixing with the ambient light of the sky.  A tripod is a must in this situation.

Check out the Travel Channel Website.  They do a great job of tempting us back out on the road and taking some photographs.

"Manarola at Dusk" featured on the Travel Channel Website © Joel Addams / Aurora Photos / Travel Channel

"The Louvre in Paris" featured on the Travel Channel Website © Joel Addams / Aurora Photos / Travel Channel

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Photography of Sadhus, New and Old – Kathmandu, Nepal

The strange lives of the wandering sadhus, some of the holy men of the hindu religion, have always been a touch baffling to me.  Maybe it’s the pail of rice, the pail made suspiciously the same from one sadhu to the next as if there were a “pail factory” somewhere in India importing the things.  Maybe it’s the body paint…the dreds…the ability to hold up 30 kilos with the ol’ you-know-what.  Whatever the reason, they photograph pretty well, and as they insist on a form of payment for the picture-taking, sure, why not shell out a whopping 40 cents per portrait?

So I just set up on one end of the Pashupatinath Temple (the holiest Hindu structure in Nepal) and gave them and myself what we all wanted…a free-for-all portrait session.  Backing me up was my trusty 17-year-old assistant Hunter from L.A.  (aka “The Biebs) whom I had wrangled from his vacation to give advice and carry my tripod.

Once you start offering 30 rupees per portrait, the word seems to miraculously travel through the Temple/holy man community as if they were all on twitter #sadhuportraits…they start coming to you.  Genious.  Here are a few of the selects. Enjoy.

"Sadhu I" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

"Sadhu II" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

"Sadhu III" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

"Sadhu Reading" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

"Sadhu IV" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

"Sadhu V" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

"Sadhu VI" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

"Sadhu VII" Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal. ©JoelAddams.com

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BTW:  some might disagree with the practice of something paying models, but in fact, this is the norm in developed countries as long as the end use is NOT journalism, which can have no payment to subjects.  As these were personal portraits, black and white prints for sale, I should have compensated them to a reasonable market value.

Travel Photography in the Amazon Region, Peru

Oddly, I have been to Peru twice and have never been to Macchu Picchu.  On both occasions, the groups I was photographing and assisting flew directly into Iquitos, a somewhat jungle-locked oasis of Inca Cola, pink dolphins, and lots of water.  On both occasions I was also served an extra helping of the Tahuayo River Basin, a great hideaway about one-hour’s boat ride from the city down the Amazon and then up a tributary (of which there are many).  There are some great lodges in the region, but this one was particularly awesome, as it was high on stilts and seemed like the true family Robinson experience.  The second time I was there we even slept in just a mosquito netted “family room” high up in the canopy…the jungle noises at night were off the hook.  If you’re looking for a crazy vacation, honeymoon, or travel destination off the beaten path, tell them I sent you.

The Amazon Region in Peru is like no other.  The pink dolphins, the jungle, the people.

"Monkey on the Amazon" Iquitos, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Girl in Tahuayo" Amazon River, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Boy Looking In" Amazon River, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Farmacia" Amazon River, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Biologist, Aid Worker, Amazon" Amazon River, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Girl in the Suburbs" Iquitos, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Worker, Iquitos" Iquitos, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Boy, Iquitos" Iquitos, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Unisex" Iquitos, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

"Boy, Beam of Light" Iquitos, Peru. ©JoelAddams.com

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Oversized Promo Posters – Antelope Canyon/Grand Teton/Hawaii

Over the last year, pictureline‘s retail stores in Salt Lake City and Draper, Utah have featured images of mine from Antelope Canyon, Grand Teton National Park, and Hawaii in oversized fashion.  They are made really to show off the talents of the Epson printers on which they are printed, up to an epic 96″ wide and 72″ tall.  The verticals are 72″ tall and 44″ wide.  I have to say that they also highlight the abilities of the Canon 5D Mark II and especially the glass in the professional Canon lenses (70 – 200 mm IS, 24 mm TS II).

They will be available for 100USD for a time (They also have a slightly conspicuous image of a Canon 5D Mark II image and a signature).  I envision them covering some serious wall space in homes, office spaces, industrial spaces.  Check them out.

"The Call of the Wild" Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming © JoelAddams.com (44" tall x 72" wide)

"Double Beam" Upper Antelope Canyon, Arizona. © JoelAddams.com (72" tall x 96" wide)

"Between Here and There" Upper Antelope Canyon, Arizona. © JoelAddams.com (72" x 44")

"Illumination" Upper Antelope Canyon, Arizona. © JoelAddams.com (72" x 44")

"Leaf, Oahu, Hawaii" © JoelAddams.com (44" tall x 72" wide)

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming © JoelAddams.com (44" high and 72" wide) and (72" high and 96" wide)

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“Evening Fog and Pier” Golden Gate Park, California

Just when you think you’ve cleaned out your edit from a trip, some old images pop up.  I was looking through images of California that I have taken over the past few years and found this one of a fairly cold December evening down by the water at Golden Gate Park.  The classy fog always adds an extra element. Check out the entire portfolio (prepped for CyberMonday 2011) here.

"Evening Fog and Pier" Golden Gate Park, California. @Joel Addams.com

 

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Black Friday – The West in Color on Sale

Sure, why not?  A little Black Friday event never hurt anyone especially since I waited to actually post this on the day itself.  I think 30% off anything in the Portfolio “The West in Color” is a reasonable one-day sale on the Internet, non?  The link is here.

Here are some samples…with a couple of new images from this year from Canyonlands and Antelope Canyon.   I’m sure there will be another sale on the Cyber Monday coming up, but now, get some in the West department.

"Island in the Sky" Buck Canyon Sunrise in Canyonlands, Utah. © Joel Addams.com

"Sunburst, Big Cottonwood Canyon" Utah © Joel Addams.com

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