Hidden Light Photography

A Website Update

2007-10-18T23:18:00.001-07:00

I have been able tonight to get to some easier problems and goals on my photo website and updates can now be seen. Click here to see and enjoy...

www.hiddenlightphotography.com

I mainly have added a new gallery, and a rotating home page. These aren't huge but seem so because of the work load with school I have been dealing with...so I am excited...

Included as well is a change of address on my blog for my photography site. It is at this address now...

www.hiddenlightphotography.com/blog

Enjoy!

Updates...

2007-09-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

I think it is about time, updates are now present on the main website. I have added about 50 additional pictures for people to view.

As well I will be changing the blog/news site to one that is actually on the www.HiddenLightPhotography.com website. That will mean that content will be searchable to me and not someone else...anyway. I guess that is a bit selfish, except that I enjoy the interface on the wordpress a lot more than on here. Oh well.

In the next few weeks I will be popping up on other stock agency sites. I have been submitting to two agency's lately and we will see how that turns out.

Enjoy! It is time for bed...

Not My First Time

2007-09-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well I have started to try and get better at B&W again for many reasons but mostly because I like it and I should be better at it...

Anyway things are looking okay in this photograph that I have posted below. It is a multiple image pano to start with. Then it didn't turn out to be the precise pano format but I quite prefer what I see her as far as format goes.

Then I thought to myself this morning that this was a picture that would be very nice as a B&W. I am retarded at this because I haven't done it in a while but here it turned out nicely with a bit of stumbling and playing around in photoshop.

I have decided as well that this will be Septembers print of the month. So let me know what you think...

Catching Up...

2007-09-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

In about 6 weeks I am going on a trip to Zion National Park. This is something that I really look forward to because of the amazing fall colors. So to be prepared for the beauty this year I decided that I needed to actually get to the editing of those pictures before I went again and potentially re shoot things that I already got.

Starting that process I have come across an image that has been one I really loved and thought about through the year. It is a classic picture of leaves on a pond, but this picture I took basically in the dark with an exposure of 2 minutes and things stayed sharp for me. It is nice when things work out in your favor!

More images will appear in the blog and on the website over the next few days. Stay tuned!

Back Again!

2007-09-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy! I have had a lot going on for the last while and still do but I am back to focusing (no pun intended) on photography.

I guess a basic run down of what has been happening is in order. In the last 6 weeks I have been almost finishing my scientific research for my masters degree, welcoming a second child into the world, and starting my most intense semester of graduate school yet. Overall not really a good reason to stop posting but I am now refocused, rescheduled and ready to go. I think that the biggest things that happened to myself and my family was welcoming our second child.

Well it was a girl and we named her Andrea Laura Williams. She is a beautiful person (looks aside, she sleeps all night!) and definetely lightens our lives.

She was born at 8 pounds and 4 ounces, and 21 inches long. Her body and heart are functing wonderfully. They were worried about her heart and kept her in intensive care for 5 days. That was a trial but she was getting great care overall. So things are going well. She just passed 33 days so I think that I was getting a bit lazy...that is why I feel bad!

Also in the last 6 weeks my trusty camera for the last 3 years finally gave out on me. It was a Canon 20d, which now isn't that much of a camera, but it made beautiful pictures while it shot! The shutter died on me after about 110,000 shots. That is pretty good. Everything else still is ready to go. I sold it to somebody that my brother new for parts because the $250 dollars to fix it and get going again was I decided best invested into a new model. I have been searching intently for my next camera and am still torn on what body I should go with not to mention what brand. Currently my mind is sold with Nikon bodies, and Canon Lenses...that doesn't work last time I checked. Oh well. I am still considering what direction will best suite my needs.

Besides that I am also working on the website and presentation. I am trying to get a good structure established and have been studying several options and playing with different things. It is definetely a journey to get a good site up on the web. I probably am making things quite difficult for myself by trying to get stock and fine art and all other needs met in one spot. Oh well, I think that I have discovered the best solution for me, I just hope that it is the best solution for me overall. I will soon make the jump to it if I can't find anything else that will meet my needs more adequately.

I am also working on adding images to external stock sites and this is like jumping through flaming hoops in and of itself. Overall I feel like it will pay off. That means that time and energy must be inputed to getting those images on those other sites. Time is limited and this is all happening part time because I am working on my Masters Degree pretty much full time as well. I am learning more and more about time management.

With that I am going to leave you with a picture for the day!

Habitat on Morro Rock

2007-07-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Photo made with a Canon 20d and 70-200 f2.8 lens

Another image from my trip to Morro Bay and Rock. I was honestly blown away with the oddity of Morro Rock just poking up out of no where. The wildlife loved it. This picture is showing the many varied gulls and other sea birds that use the rock for habitat for mating or whatever they have in mind.

As you circle around the rock it is amazing to see different ecosystems that are in place just around the corner. This was primarily gull nests and perches. The other side was dominated my Cormorants and an area in between is primarily habitat for sparrows from what I could see just considering the birds and not even mammals insects or whatever else may have been out there.

Understanding what life is doing and where they like to do their thing is key to getting great photographs, and the opportunity to make those photographs. Always be sure to so some research to understand better what is going on in the subjects life and you will be in a much better place to get the photos you want!

Have a great day and happy shooting...

Sunset Beach

2007-07-19T23:07:00.000-07:00

An amazing sunset on the harbor area of Morro Bay California. This day was amazing, the light, location and beauty of the say definetely came together in a perfect day. Days like this come only once in a while...today I got great shots with almost every click of the shutter. Days like this are what I live for.

I will soon be updating several hundered more shots that came from this week of shooting in California, so stay tuned!

Stock Photography

2007-07-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I have been working pretty hard lately on several aspects of Hidden Light Photography. I am pretty excited about these things to be sure. One of which is the website that plays home to my fine art prints, www.hiddenlightphotography.com. This is way exciting to see grow on an almost daily basis. I have finally gotten to the point that I can make small changes and improvements and actually see progress day to day. This for me is quite rewarding.

I am also working on my stock photography. This I have finally gotten a place that will host it and provide several of my other wants and needs in Photoshelter. you can find them at www.photoshelter.com, and my area at http://www.photoshelter.com/usr-show/U0000F95ePtOEY8M. They offer good back up capabilities, but even better easy search options and quick and painless gallery creation. They also have many other features that I look forward to use as well when I get to them. I really enjoy how it looks and feels. I will be there for a long while.

The news about the stock photography is that I will soon have my 1000th photo online. This is exciting but only the beginning to be sure. I still have around 20,000 photos at least that are waiting for attention. I have finally hammered out a work flow that is productive...not to use puns but it actually flows. I can now actually shoot and get work available and search able in a fast turn around.

Anyway that is what I have been working on lately in between research for my masters and doctors appointments with my wife for pregnancy. The next photo that I post will be #500!

July Print of the Month

2007-07-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Canon 20D, Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6

I have finally gotten the Print of the Month up for July of 2007. I am a bit later than I wanted as usual, but the site is growing daily and this was unfortunate to be left for a bit later than I wanted.

I wish I could fire my I.T. department but then I would have to look for work elsewhere so I am going to let myself go on this one again. Such is life.

This photograph is another from the Ruby Valley Project. I have been shooting and editing this project for years (shooting seriously for 9 months solid of that time). This project was both a lesson of focus and of love. I had to focus on one single place with so many huge areas of potential for months at a time. Before I left the valley in northern Nevada I had loved and hated the place on a roller coaster ride of artistic emotion so many times I can hardly count. Now that I am not living there for at least the moment I miss it dearly. I feel that I have not yet even tapped actual potential that may exist there after photographing for about 9 months.

Anyway enough rambling about the RVProject. It will soon be available as a monograph or set of monographs depending on what I end up with. I am currently working through about 20,000 images that have already gone through rough editing several times (removing obvious duds and keeping only keepers...) and now are being giving a final work through. I am excited to see how the project will shape itself. I think that I am currently headed for a three part monograph with maybe around 100 photos total, if I can narrow it down that much.

So the moral of this post is to edit after your shoot the same day, but also that projects really do often shape them selves into what they need and ought to be if they are given the time needed for the spirit and creativity present in the subject to show through.

Have a great day and have fun making photographs today!

2007-06-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

This is another of my favorites for the flower shoot last year. This particular one reminds me of a colorful watercolor painting that just glows with warmth. Some days shooting natural color like this you can't go wrong!

Blog Print Special!

2007-06-28T22:06:00.001-07:00

This picture as well as all others within this blog are available for sale. One print in the 11x14 size are available at half price ($60 rather than $125 for print only or $80 rather than $160 for print and double matt) to the first two people that order. This goes for all pictures in the blog posted now and in the future. The first two emails I recieve with a request for this or other prints will qualify and I will tell you how to complete your order and payment in the response. Order now to be one of the only ones to get the significant savings!

Three Wise Ones

2007-06-28T07:28:00.001-07:00

This is another shot from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, an amazing place!

2007-06-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

The spring time is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the patterns and beauty of nature that just blossoms around us. This is an image that I made in Salt Lake City at Temple Square. A place that is close to home that just blooms amazingly every spring for weeks. I try and go every year. This is from last spring when I was last there. Sadly this spring I was away, so I am consoling myself with work from last spring...

Wow!

2007-06-12T22:52:00.001-07:00

This was an amazing moment. We were up taking pictures in the hills (she was reading and I was photographing, we were both doing our own thing, together enjoying the outdoors) sitting on a rock overlooking the little valley that we were living in in northern Nevada and out of nowhere this sheep wlked up to my wife. The perspective is misleading. I was about 6 feet from my wife, and had to use a wide angle lense to get her and the Bighorn Sheep that was about 8 feet from her all in one frame. The sheep casually appraoched us, looked at us for about a minute (which seemed forever), and then casually walked away. All I can say is that this is inspiration for being out and shooting all the time. This was one time in at least 50 evening over last summer we spent doing things like this in the same area that we had a moment like this.

Wow!

Good times in the outdoors!

2007-06-12T22:44:00.001-07:00

This is one aspect of photography that my son enjoys, travel snacks. Fortunately his grandparents where with us and packing the goods that little boys will do about anything for, including climbing down from the picnic table climbing into the car and somehow finding the last Oreos that were hidden for future bribes.

My Website

2007-05-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally gotten my website out of my mind and onto the web. It is has only a few pictures so far and there are a few things that now I see them I will work on but she is finally on the web. Whew!

Coming soon will be the print of the month series offering fine art prints at a bargain compared to what I usually sell them for.

Here is the link,

www.hiddenlightphotography.com

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

A Wren Tale

2007-05-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

The above photograph is a shot of a Rock Wren. I give a big sigh of FINALLY. This was a bird that eluded me for a while both the day I photographed it but also in the search for getting a chance to photograph it. It has always been easy to find but getting a good look for a photograph has proved difficult until I got this guy. I found him and after only 20 minutes of working closer and hoping for him to show himself he actually came out. Everything went well for about 20 photographs. Then it realized that I was photographing it and he flew to cover.

I believe that birds think a camera especially with a big telephoto lense on it is going to kill them or shoot them or something especially dangerous is connected to a camera with a telephoto lense. Time and again in my bird photography they will let me walk up to them and get almost as close as I want but pull up the camera and they are gone. It is amazing but true. I have many times snuck up to a bird with my toddler in tow talking his little head off and screaming at the bird and only when I pull up the camera or simply adjust a nob if it is already pointed at it and it will fly away. Oh well, with practice this happens less and less. And luckily it doesn't happen every time.

The Summer Ahead and Behind

2007-04-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

This week was great. I spent most of the time I have had spare not shooting but editing photos from the past. This image below was one of the last images from Ruby Valley Nevada that I took while there. The clouds there are amazing. You can watch storms approaching from miles away and see the thunderstorm that will be the entertainment for the night. Hopefully more of these pictures will be coming as I get time to do more editing.

Canyon Snowstorm

2007-04-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

I was able over the last weekend to hike up a canyon in Provo Utah that I grew up near and hiking in. This time however I was blessed by a snowstorm. So I walked and photographed with my toddler son Zach. For both of us it was the right pace. I would photograph and he got to try and figure out what snow was and listen to the birds that were calling and not making themselves visible. It was a beautiful day, for more pictures go to my photoshelter Account and check them out http://www.photoshelter.com/usr-show?U_ID=U0000F95ePtOEY8M.

This is one of my many favorites…

A New Beginning

2007-03-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Well I have had a busy few months, but believe that I am finally back on track to get my workflow going. Here is another shot from my most recent trip to the Lower California coast that aimed at bird photography. Like almost all shots you will see posted here this is again one of my favorites, at least for today. The trip was wonderful. The weather was perfect and the birds were plentiful.

Alan C. Williams

2006-10-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here are some bird shots that I took this morning at the Henderson Bird Preserve, just out of Las Vegas. This morning was pretty neat because I was able to get two birds in the lense I have never quite been able to photograph. The first is a Green heron and second is the verdin. The preserve is proving to be a great place to photograph birds. I am treated with good shots each time I go. I hope you enjoy...

Alan C Williams

The change of the seasons...

2006-10-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hello all and welcome,

This is the first post that I am making for this blog and I am excited about making postings on a regular basis on what I am up to. Here is a picture or two from a recent trip.

These are both shots from a drive through the Alpine Loop. This is a drive that goes behind Mt. Timpanogous. It was a spectacular day, and the colors were tremendous, especially accented by a storm that let patches of light through all morning again and again. Worth the trouble of getting out of bed at my parents in law's house and driving for an hour through terrible weather that opened up perfectly for wonderful photography (I very much enjoy their home, I am a very blessed son in law). Look for quite a few more on my website in a day or so, and probably one for the Print of the Month for September as well.

Alan C Williams