My note from the Universe

Every day I get notes from the Universe from www.tut.com .... this morning I had a particularly good one:

Would it be as much fun, Noah, if you never stopped laughing? If there were never any clouds? If you were never challenged? If you were never alone? If you never heard the whole truth when it hurt? If you always knew what would happen, what to do, and where to go?

Or would you be like, "Beam me down, Bro!"

Yep,
The Universe

:)

Published!

Woohoo! I recently got word that my work will be printed in an upcoming book entitled "1000 Handmade Greeting Cards". I learned about the Call for Entries from someone on poetic-pixels.com and immediately made my submission.

So just last night I finished the greeting cards and mailed them out today. Yay!

If you have handmade greeting cards and would like to be published in the book, follow this link. Hurry, the deadline is March 15th, 2008!

The Story behind the Picture - Week 4

Welcome to week 4! I know its strange that I've had this blog for at least three months and have only had 4 installments of this weekly story series; funny how time flies! Keep your eye out for more content in the coming months.

This photo is one of my personal favorites and best sellers. Believe it or not it was actually taken with my compact digital camera (Olympus Stylus 300 SW - $300 retail) when my photography was in its early stages. The camera works great still, and is actually waterproof up to 10 ft, with no special underwater housing to buy. Perfect for the Hawaiian lifestyle.

Anyways, back to the story. This photo is entitled "Malaekahana sunrise", named appropriately after the beautiful Friends at Malaekahana campground on the North Shore of Oahu. This peaceful place is surrounded by wind-swept trees and fine sand with s secluded beach that stretches for more than a mile. It even has its own separate island (called Goat Island) about 100 yards across the reef if you are daring enough to make the trip.

I had to improvise to take this shot, since I didn't have a DSLR yet, and no tripod, I placed it on a nearby picnic table to stabilize the camera to capture the incredible sunrise that morning. I unintentionally created some dynamic leading lines that lure the eye deeper into the photograph and really adds to the overall feeling of tranquility and peace that it evokes. The lines can almost be mistaken for shadows coming from the trees branches cast by the sun's bright early light.

This photo is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

The Story behind the Picture - Week 3

This photo is entitled "Timeless Napali" and was taken last August when my girlfriend Tess and I hiked the famous Napali coast on Kauai.

We hiked 11 miles on the Kalalau trail on the day this photo was taken. This is the most beautiful trail I have ever been on, and I recommend everyone does it at least once in their life, it's truly an amazing experience.
This is an image of Kalalau beach, at the end of the trail, with the sun setting behind the towering pali cliffs. Off to the right of this photo we camped underneath the cliffs in a huge cavern that we had all to ourselves. Once the sun set, we had an awesome view of the night sky above, blanketed with stars.

The photo itself is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image and was assembled from three different exposures of the same image, -2, 0, and +2. By using a program called Photomatix Pro, I combined these three exposures into one and adjusted the tonal range until it looked as close as possible to what my eyes saw when I took the photo. This can be alot of fun to play around with, because the original photo was overexposed in the sky, and underexposed on the cliffs, they were almost completely black. It can be challenging to find the right middle ground on high contrast images like this one, however once achieved it brings a great sense of satisfaction.

This photo is available for purchase on my website.

Hawaii's Photographer!

Woohoo! I recently landed a featured article in the local newspaper. Check it out here:

Star Bulletin Photography Article


Also, I just started up a new website dedicated to wedding and portrait photography in Hawaii. Since then I have landed a couple of portrait sessions as well as shooting alongside a good friend of mine, Jimmy Carson, who is an established hawaii wedding photographer. I have decided to make a career out of photography and I am on track to do so!

To learn more, please visit my website at http://www.noahjorr.com

One of my favorites...

Just wanted to share one of my old favorites, entitled "Illuminate". It was taken on the Nuuanu Judd trail near downtown Honolulu, where a beautiful hike leads through a huge patch of Norfolk Pines that were planted here in Hawaii in the early 1900s.

I got the correct exposure for this shot by metering off of the leaves above me, and then locking that exposure reading in manual. Then, just before I took the shot, I leaned a little bit to the left and up so the sun's rays were peeking through to give a feeling of warmth and growth, almost like the picture was taken at a viewpoint of a small plant growing towards the sky.

Meet the Artist!

Happy Friday everyone! Today I have the pleasure of kicking off my 'Meet the Artist' series with one of my personal favorites; Flanders Field Photography. Let's begin!

Your full name?
Jennifer Lee Flanders Estep

Have long have you been involved in photography?
Well, I've been taking pictures since childhood, but just got serious about photography as an artistic pursuit in the Spring of 2007.

Describe your first experience taking a photo you were REALLY proud of. What was the photo? How did you feel?
Two experiences come to mind...About ten years ago I took a picture of my brother, sister and three nieces standing in a hollowed out tree trunk on the Oregon Coast. They were in the midst of some make-believe scenario, and the combination of sheer joy on their faces and the beautiful background scenery would make anyone smile. It was just the most playful image!

The photo that made me begin to consider photography as a creative outlet was taken on the University of Washington campus about 3-1/2 years ago. My husband and I were walking with my parents, pushing our infant son in a stroller, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I took a shot of blossoms and branches against a gray sky that became the first photograph of my own that I matted and framed as a piece of art. I was very proud of it at the time. Now, not so much!

Where do you find your inspiration?
I am inspired by nature, details, and by the possibility of helping people see things in a different way. I have an engineering background, and a friend told me that she likes the "geometry" of my photos. I wasn't even aware of it, but I think that's a big aspect of my work as well.

What is your personal favorite photo?
Again I'm going to choose two...We have this Art Wolfe image in our dining room and I just love it! I think it got me thinking about nature as an abstract subject.http://www.artwolfe.com/cgi/shop/detail.cgi?r=DP010

This is my current favorite of mine. It's just a different way of looking at a tree than I've ever seen before.http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6915179

Anything else to add?
Thank you, Noah, for giving me an opportunity to spout off about a subject that has changed the way I look at the world!

You can visit Jennifer's shop by clicking here.