by Gary Gardiner | May 18, 2013
Mother and son at docks on Hoover Reservoir is My Final Photo for May 17, 2013
Today’s photo is slightly different than most I select for My Final Photo. At least it has a different treatment.
The scene is relatively ordinary. A mother helps her family lead their boat onto the trailer at a loading dock at Hoover Reservoir.
The unusual aspect is the brightly painted aluminum 1958 Starcraft with a 1959 Johnson 7-½ Sea Horse motor. The family has owned it for several summers but often have taken to the serene waters of Hoover in a pontoon boat.
As their son get older the pleasure of a water outing is more often towards the Starcraft. Even with the lowered engine limits on the lake, the family enjoys the speed and maneuverability of this boat.
This was the boat and motor of my youth. My father, a World War II veteran who revered life after war, built two houses. on Lake Hutchinson in central Florida. The first was nothing more than a foundation, concrete floor, a pedestal of block walls and old growth pine boards more like a work shed than a weekend retreat. No matter that the walls never kept our strong rain storms or hungry mosquitos.
A hand painted sign over the door named our weekend retreat “Jan’s Juke” after my mother. The family, especially my younger brother and sister, thought it a great name. My mother took it in stride despite the somewhat sinister and illegal operations of a “Juke joint” just over the county line where alcohol could be served.
The structure was later replaced with a normal lake house with bedrooms, a bathroom, screened front porch, and running water. Running water no longer meant running down to the lake with a bucket for water. The old house became storage for our summer supplies, still with the sign over the door.
iPhone version of the mid-century family
As I studied this family returning from their excursion I remembered my youth and the joy of family on the water.
Even as I shot the photos I knew I wanted to use a Photoshop plugin and smart layers to add a retro look as a visual reminder of those times. My father was an avid photographer shooting Kodachrome for the important moments so I ran the photo through onOne Perfect Effects for the grungy slide look and added a contrasty, warm color lookup table for the final color.
by Gary Gardiner | May 9, 2013
Honeycomb at the Cooper Road Farm – My Final Photo for May 9, 2013
There were many choices for today’s My Final Photo. From abortion protests and free hugs at Otterbein to new spring growth of an ever expanding carpet of poison ivy. Out of it all I chose the simplicity of a piece of honeycomb left for natural recycling at the hives at the Cooper Road farm.
Bee hives at Cooper Road Farm
Hay bales and barn at Cooper Road Farm
by Gary Gardiner | Apr 25, 2013
Soccer practice fields at Hoover Dam – My Final Photo for April 25, 2013
A steady flow of runners, walkers, athletes, bikers, and small kids led their parents on a trek across the dam at Hoover Reservoir while I waited for the afternoon clouds to part for just a few minutes at the right time.
Ten frame multiple exposure
There were many other photos to shoot while waiting for soccer practice to begin with the hope the clouds would then separate throwing a rim light across the freshly green trees and active youth on the fields beneath the dam.
The photo trek, on my bike, included a brief trip off the dam but most of the time for about two hours was traveling end-to-end on the dirt, asphalt, concrete, and steel span observing early shafts of light and the people and places it illuminated. Or failed to illuminate as often one end of the dam would be in shadow and the other in full sunlight making me wish I’d the ability to float over the scene to show the natural variety of light in such a small space.
Recumbent bike with slow shutter speed
Even later as the clouds began to thin and light more often fell across the plain below the dam I’d have to scamper to the shelter to get out of a brisk rain shower preceding the brightness.
The wait allowed, or forced, me to try a variety of techniques to shoot a unique photo from the dam. I’ve been there many times and am always looking for something even slightly different from before.
The soccer fields are a previous subject although I’d not shot them with the trees so early in their spring growth.
I used my D300 on the multiple exposure setting for a faux blurred motion photo of the water below the dam and the clouds above. Without a tripod I jammed the camera against a concrete post and a galvanized steel railing to keep it from moving between exposures.
The blurred recumbent bicycle is standard slow shutter speed choice.
There were more bikes, silhouettes from inside the shelter on the eastern end of the dam, overheads of people running along the roadway, more blurred action of cyclists and joggers, and a fisherman at the end of the day.
Not bad for two hours of bad weather.
by Gary Gardiner | Apr 4, 2013
Sailboat on Hoover Reservoir
When this sailor began the task of preparing his sailboat for its first water journey of the year the sun was bright in the cool sky and there was just enough wind to justify a late afternoon sail around the lower waters of Hoover Reservoir.
Working alone, this springtime sailor steadily assembled mast and lines and rudder and sail with great intent for only just a brief turn around the small lake formed by the man-made dam. Working against time and weather he fought the tangled lines and taut cables of a freshman voyage despite the sun disappearing behind the blanket of clouds casting a cold shadow across his endeavors.
As the temperature and wind dropped he completed the assembly and launched into a less than speedy trip across the lake, his first of the season.
Sailor with his sailboat on Hoover Reservoir
Of course, there’s a Hipstamatic Tintype Photo.
See more photos in The Gardiner Collection.
by Gary Gardiner | Apr 1, 2013
Pair of kayakers enjoy early spring trip at Hoover
Taking an afternoon trip across Hoover Reservoir wasn’t a fool’s chore for this pair of young kayakers who braved chill winds and choppy waters for their first outdoor adventure of the spring.
Despite temperatures barely above freezing and a brisk wind from the west, the pair completed one crossing with a round-about return near the bridge where they encountered headwinds that buffeted their single person kayaks just enough to make the return difficult.
Despite the hazards and cold breezes they discussed their next trip to the lake although both hoped it would be a little warmer next time.
Pair of kayakers enjoy early spring trip on Hoover Reservoir
And, the day wouldn’t be complete without an iPhone Hiopstamatic Tintype of the duo.
