An Excuse to Play in the Water

I can't really believe it, but I've been at my current job as a graphic designer for nearly 14 years. Boy, how time flies. Prior to that I worked in the fly fishing industry, managing a fly shop, teaching fly tying, and hosting groups of anglers on trips to exotic fishing locations such as Christmas Island, Belize, and the Yucatan. I also did a lot of fly fishing for trout in Northern California. 

After you've caught and released your first 1,000 trout (or whatever number becomes enough), your focus shifts from the specific act of chasing fish to the enjoyment of the overall experience. The fishing mostly becomes a reason to get out of Dodge; we often described it as a ridiculously expensive excuse to go play in the water.

I gave up fly fishing years ago, but my fascination with moving water hasn't diminished in the least. I miss some aspects of the fishing experience, but it was always more about the rivers and the mountains than the catching. Now, landscape photography fulfills that need for me, which explains why water plays a central role in so many of my photographs. Chasing images gets me out of the house and back in touch with nature, and just like chasing trout, it gives me a perfect excuse to go play in the water.

Plants in Water

Photographers often refer to “seeing” and “vision” when discussing their work and the process of creating images. There's no doubt that what separates one photographer from another has little to do with equipment or technique, and almost everything to do with the ability to see a strong image amongst the nearly infinite number of viewpoints we experience every minute of every day. Sifting through this visual overload to ferret out meaningful compositions is the essence of photography.

The image “Plants in Water” is unusual when viewed in the context of my other work. I’m typically drawn to scenes that encompass a large depth of field from just in front of the camera out to the horizon and beyond. This particular image depicts a small group of plants reflected in a still pool of water. The perspective is close in and flat, and the image has an abstract quality. The genesis of the photo is interesting in that I walked right past the scene and it was my wife Michael who called me back and pointed out the image. Her vision, not mine, made this photograph. This also happens to be one of my most successful images in terms of both sales and positive feedback from viewers. She deserves the credit because it was her vision that made it possible. My only contribution was the mechanical process of focusing the lens, setting the exposure, and pressing the shutter.

California Fine Art

My mother, Marbo Barnard, has been a working artist most of my life. As she was building her career over the past 50 years, she'd bring us kids along to every type of art show imaginable, from cheesy shopping mall "art & craft" shows, to openings at the Crocker Museum and Sacramento Fine Arts Center. One of my favorite shows to attend was always the California Fine Arts exhibition at Cal Expo. For obvious reasons, going to the Fair for an art show was much more appealing to a rambunctious kid than sitting quietly through a long awards ceremony at the Crocker.

This year, the California Fine Arts competition at Cal Expo received 1,577 entries. Mediums accepted run the gamut from sculpture, to painting, digital art, photography, textiles, and many others. Of those 1,577 entries, 180 were chosen for inclusion in the exhibit. Mom and I were both thrilled to find out our pieces were accepted into the show this year. It's an honor to have my work accepted, and a privilege to share the experience with her.

California Fine Art
July 12 – July 28, 2013
California State Fair
Cal Expo, Expo Center Building 7, Sacramento, CA

Ebb and Flow

Approaching fine art landscape photography as a business (or at least as a serious avocation)  requires a surprising lack of focus and intensity. There's the waiting for the weather, there's the waiting for the light, there's balancing the pursuit of images with "real" work and family life, and then there's the schizophrenic nature of actually doing the work, which goes something like this: work in the field, market the work, wait, work in the field, market the work, print and frame like crazy, show the work, work in the field, wait, wait some more, and so on and so forth. There's an ebb and flow to it that requires a zen-like willingness to let the process unfold in its own time, something that doesn't necessarily come naturally to me.

Speaking of ebb and flow, I'm pretty excited about the River Show at Gallery 2110 coming in June 2014. It's an invitational with some of the top traditional/representational artists in Sacramento taking part. It's all very preliminary at this point, but names I've heard bandied about include Greg Kondos, Marbo Barnard, and Clark Mitchell, among others. To my wonder and delight, I've been asked to display a selection of my river photos in the upstairs gallery as a sideshow to the main event. More details will emerge as the year progresses, but in the meantime I have a great excuse to go play in rivers between now and next summer.