Will's Photography Ramblings

Maine Media Workshops

2008-11-14T10:11:00.022-05:00

Welcome,

I am here with a long last post. This post is a collection of photos I took in September during my photography workshop in Maine. The workshop I took was taught by Elizabeth Cecil and was entitled Vision and Discovery. The workshop was a foundation workshop in black and white focusing on seeing your subject in new ways.

Day 1: Spaces-Spend the afternoon photographing spaces, capturing the corner of a room, photographing a farmyard, backyard or porch.

Under the arch into the garden

Where you lose things

Up towards the light

the Space in between the church

the Guest book

Reflection of a bumper

Boat gunwale

Water under a bridge

A thingamabob store

the Camden Public Library

Reflections on water

A Park Bench

Day 2: The Portrait-We are concerned with exploring ways to photograph people: friends, strangers, groups of people, even ourselves. (After spending most of the afternoon trying to find people, we found Michael Woodruff and his dogs.)

Michael Woodruff with his dogs

Michael Woodruff (A fellow accosted by three photographers on the street of Camden Maine)

Wendell Hannah (A character of Liberty Tool)
(Actually shot on day 4 while working on objects)

Day 3: The Landscape-We worked on rural and urban landscapes, photographing seascapes and horizons to create three-dimensionality with the foreground, middle-ground and background. (We took a day trip to Acadia National Park)

A nice day on the beach

Hikers

Foreground, Middle ground and Background

Gulls

Framed View of the Mountains

Reeds and rocks

View of Bubble Pond

Mountains over Bubble Pond

Pebble

Lake view

View from the top of Cadillac Mountain

View from the top of Cadillac Mountain 2

Day 4: Objects-We photograph things, an object's integrity, essence and its place as defined by the space around it. (We spent the afternoon at Liberty Tool which is a antique/tool/junk store. Five floors of stuff to check out.)

Stanley wood planes

An object light study

16 mm threading die

Hand braces on pegs

Hand braces

Twist bit drills

Tool drawers (Read the labels)

Still life with stemware

Old wire egg basket

Self Portrait (Shot is the bathroom of my room. )

Day 5: The Emotional Photograph-This assignment is to produce a single, complex photograph which expresses an emotion, concept or idea. (I did a set of two.)

What emotion does this invoke for you?

Check out the gallery of our final show. Here

A Long Last Post.

2008-05-06T13:45:00.008-04:00

Hello folks,
It has been a while since I posted. Things have changed since my last post. The lawn is raked, I have been out playing kayak frisbee (you don't throw the kayak) and summer is here. For your viewing pleasure today we have a selection of images and short stories about them.

After a long five months of winter we had almost a week of 80 degree highs, in April. Due to the heat the flowers got a little confused, the Crocuses and the Daffodils started to bloom at the same time. A weird start to the spring I thought.

On the 6th on May I finally got around to exploring the old falling down mill near my house. The mill is perched on the edge of the stream that runs through town, the mill looks to have been used up until the mid 1990's. but not as a mill. It looks to me that the mill was run on steam to drive belt driven saws, lathes, planes and drill presses. As you walked around the inside you get this eery feeling knowing that it was once a busy work place and now it threatens to fall down with every step. These photos are of the door of what I gather to be the boiler.

Also on the stream is a stone dam for the old mill. The rest of these images are from that mill dam, the product of a sunny afternoon.

Inverted Leaves
(I often see an over exposed shot when I am processing and like it inversed)

Releaf

Glass Rock

Where the Red Fern Grows

Well that's what I have to offer today. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed capturing them. If anyone feels like it please give me your critique of these and any of my work. It helps me see them differently and hopefully gives me new ideas. Enjoy the sunny warmth of spring!
~will

Spring is not yet here.

2008-03-19T12:48:00.008-04:00

How ready I am for spring.
Winter is nice, but it gets old after a few months. My post this week is photos from my two trips to North Hampton Massachusetts.

The week before last I went down on Friday to Contradance in Greenfield. On Saturday morning Sarah made me Blueberry Scones for breakfast and then I headed off to NoHo to sing at the Shapenote Convention. There where a few hundred people there, people came from as far away as the UK as well as from all over the US and Canada.

Here is a quick shot of the room.

This is the book we sing from.

I sang for three hours on Saturday afternoon then I went back to Sarah's and made myself dinner (Lightly breaded Sea Scallops, Rice Pilaf and steamed Broccoli). I danced in Greenfield again Saturday night to Tidal Wave. After the dance I went out to the diner with Anna, Neil, Aaron and Merli.

Sunday afternoon I went back to the Shapenote Covention and then went over to the Smith College Bulb Show (one of the main reasons for my trip to NoHo) only to find it was closing in ten minutes.

So... I went down to NoHo the next weekend, this time with Del and Rosie. We danced friday night (friday Merli, friday) and stayed over with Kippy. In the morning we headed to NoHo and the Bulb Show. We spent about four hours at the Bulb Show.

Rosie and Del ready to leave after being there for about three and a half hours.

We then headed back up to Greenfield, killed another four hours, ate Chinese food for dinner and went dancing. At the start of the evening I was so out of it, it was like I had forgotten how to dance (or think). But then I started to groove to the music and dance more into the floor and it all came back. I re-met and enjoyed dancing with a girl I had met at flurry named Merve. Alas she has a very lucky fiance. Well enough of me bemoaning my single state. I hope to see you all soon.

Be well,
~will

Photos from the Past

2008-02-22T11:37:00.008-05:00

I was going through the pile of papers on my desk and found this photo. I thought I should do a post of old photos and other art.

This photo was taken at my godfather, Brown's wedding.
The cutie is my twin sister. We are about seven in this photo.

c. 1995
This was one of the first photos I ever took,
it was taken at Camp Sangamon in Pittsford Vt.
The guy in the photo led biking trips, my first introduction to Mountain Biking.

c.1995
This is another photo from Summer Camp.

c.1997
This is me in my Mountain Bike racing days.
The photo was taken by my sister.

2000
I took this photo during the production by NCCT of Once Upon A Mattress.
I was Chorus Member.

2001
Me and the rest of Green Mountain Morris Men at Neffa.

2002
Me on the top of Mount Mansfield.

c.2002
Me on a hike up Spruce Peak.A cd cover for a copy of Ozomatli's Don't Mess with the Dragon.

An artistic photo of my friend using Photoshop.

An aged photo of a friend using Photoshop.

A photo collage for a mix cd.

A photo collage of Pansys from my mom's greenhouse.

I hope you get a kick out of some of these looks back at my life and art.
It is fun for me to think about those days again. I am off to more paperwork and housekeeping. It's snowing outside and I am listening to NPR, what could be better.
More soon,
~will

A Snowy Walk in the Woods

2008-02-21T19:51:00.004-05:00

Howdy Folks,
After a long time away from this blog I am back with a few new photos from my walk today.
I went for a snowshoe hike this afternoon to Holt's Ledge in Lyme NH. The trail starts near the Dartmouth Ski Way and follows the Appalachian Trail to the top.

The Way Up.

Afternoon Light through the Trees

in Light of the Hemlock

The Top.

the View from the Top

A Rock on top

The Way Down.

Ski the View Back

the Sleeping Giant

It was a lovely day for a hike with my camera.
I do say this post has more photos then words, ahh well maybe next time I'll tell more about life and music.
~will

P.S. Make sure to look back over the next few weeks as I am planning a few photo trips.

Shameless Advertising

2007-12-09T15:03:00.000-05:00

I have decided to start selling prints, cards and posters of my photography. If you like any images you see on this blog and would like to buy a print or poster of the image email me at will.cleland(at)gmail(dot)com.

Look for a December post soon.
Enjoy the white holidays,
~will

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-24T13:08:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving in my family means lots of cooking eating and
as a lot of you know I love cooking and I love cooking even more when I get to cook with my twin sister.

Here is our Thanksgiving Menu.

Snacks:

Pumpkin Bread (a moist semi sweet loaf cake),
Carrot Sticks (from my mom's organic farm)
Dried Sweetened Sour Cherries (from the COOP)
Chevre (From Vt Butter & Cheese Co. formed into a ball and rolled in fresh ground black pepper and dried oregano from my mom's farm)
Carr's Water Crackers (from the COOP as well)
Apple Cider (pressed at Ciderfest in Oct)
Toasted Spiced Almonds (whole almonds toasted with salt, sugar, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and beaten egg whites. The almonds come out toasted with spicy crunchy bits on them. This is my sisters recipe, definitely something to add to the cooking brain files)

Dinner:

Turkey (a heritage bourbon red grown on my moms farm)
Stuffing (bread cubes, apple, celery, onion, butter and harvest blend (a family herb mix)
Mashed Potatoes (purple potatoes from my mom's farm, butter, cream, salt & pepper)
Gravy (the drippings from the bird to make a cream sauce)
Yeast Rolls (mom's specialty melt in your mouth rolls)
Stuffed Delicata Squash (baked delicata squash stuffed with rice, pine nuts, caramelized onions, canned pears (from my dad's old place) and shaved parmesan cheese.)
Creamed Onions (onions from my mom's farm in a cream sauce),
Naked Broccoli (from mom's farm),
Cranberry Orange Relish (my recipe)
Sparkling Apple and Pear Juice (from the COOP).

Dessert:

Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
two Apple Pies
Lemon Squares.

Are you full yet?

In other news I am the proud parent of a new camera and two new lenses.
I got a Nikon D200 Digital SLR, a Nikon 12-24mm f4 Zoom lens and a Nikon 24-85mm f2.8-4 Zoom lens.

Here are some photos taken with the new toys from the last week or so.

Water in Motion in Royalton Vt.

Rain drops on a leaf in Burlington Vt

Afternoon Light in W. Fairlee Vt.

Ripples in Burlington Vt.

Last Sunday my sister, my mother and I took a a photography walk around Mom's farm. The idea of the walk was mostly to teach my mother to use the camera I gave her, It is her first digital camera and she is lost when it comes to even the simplest aspects of the camera.

Thats all for now. See you on the dance floor soon,
~will

A few of my favorite photos.

2007-11-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

Welcome to November.
This post is a collection of some of my favorite photos. I have been having fun lately with macro photography and water. I really like the way the light catches and refracts through water drops. Most of the rest of the photos are just things that caught my eye. Ok so the Halloween shots don't fit into either of those categories, they are just fun.
Enjoy,

~will

These shots are from my yard just after a light rain.

I like to call this photo Hard Knock Plant. I took this through a window at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth.

These flowers where at the Tunbridge Worlds Fair. It's one of mom's favorites.

This is a macro shot of a tiny flower in my yard. The flower is the size of dime.

This photo was taken at Middlebury College. Can you figure out the layers?

This is a house I saw on the walk to work in Burlington last week.

This is an artsy photo of a nasturtium from a planter used in my sisters wedding.

This photo was taken in my mom's house of frost on a window.

These photos are from a little Halloween fun.

Ciderfest 2007

2007-10-25T17:40:00.000-04:00

Hello Friends,
Today on the menu we have a visit to Ciderfest 2007.

Ciderfest is a gathering of friends in Strafford Vt on Columbus day weekend. The gathering was started around 2000 by my good friends Mat and Ethan as a chance to catch up and hang out with old and new friends. The organizers Mat, Ethan, Allison and a few other folks start on Thursday with setup of the outdoor cooking area, building of the dance floor and preparing the cider press. Mid day on Friday more people start to show up and by the end of the weekend there have been maybe as many as 150 people coming and going.

During the weekend there is: contra dancing, a tango workshop, waltzing and more to the music of the Ciderfest Band.

The cooking and eating of good food from the Ciderfest Kitchen.

Good ol' hangout time around the campfire, with a good game, or jamming with friends.

There are also a few other things we have on the schedule.

Apple cider pressing
Apple fritters during the Saturday evening contra dance
The Sunday morning hike and group photo
The Ultimate Frisbee game and the dip in the pond after
Enjoy a beautiful fall weekend with friends

Well friends that's all for now, I'll see you all soon.
~will

P.S. Katura, I made a well liked Chocolate Stout Cake. Which said to wisk the cocoa into the Stout, why??

Working with the Merce Cunningham Dance Co.

2007-10-08T22:34:00.000-04:00

Good Monday to you all,
As some of you know I work doing lighting, sound and technical support for theater and this week I was working on a performance by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College. Merce Cunningham started choreographing modern dance in the early forty's and is considered by some to be greatest living modern Dance choreographer. It was great to see him working with the dancers and sitting offstage during the performances in his wheelchair. He is now 88, but the love of dance is still very much alive in him. At points he would lift himself up off his wheelchair and dance a little with a smile on his face.

The dancers where AGMA Union and under their contract there wasn't any photography allowed so I only got a few photos and I didn't take any of dancers in a way that they could be recognized.

Backstage during the show.

Backstage during the show as well.

One more backstage shot.

I was playing around with my camera and light (I seem to do that a lot) and used a string of blue rope lights that where used to light the up stage crossover to make this image.

Blue rope light aka "Ethereal Blue"

This shot is of the boom lights. Boom lights are lights mounted horizontally on vertical pipes on the sides of the stage used to light the sides of the dancers. Usually there are three lights on a pipe one at about shin hight, one around four feet and one around six to nine feet. The shins are used to light only the dancers and are cut off the floor, it makes the dancers appear to float in space, the Mids help to define the shape of the body and give it depth and the Head Highs do much the same as the Mids but with a different effect because they are pointing down to as much as a thirty degree angle.

Inversed boom lights.

After seeing the dancing in this show I can't wait to get out and dance soon.
I hope you all got a chance to enjoy the wonderful weather we had this past week, high eighty's and bright sun, fall colors... Good stuff. I was stuck in the theater for most of it, but I did get a little sun yesterday at Ciderfest. More about Ciderfest soon. Enjoy life,
~will

Gile Mountain

2007-10-06T15:48:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone,
It's been a busy couple of weeks of both work and photography. I have for you today a set of photos from a hike I did up Gile Mountain two weeks ago. I spent the afternoon strolling up the mountain looking for hidden gems where the light fell. I got to the top and climbed the old fire tower and spent the three hours till sunset eating my picnic dinner and playing with light. The sunset was at 7:57 with a series of bursts of color, some of which you see below. My god-father Brown, his wife Cyn and my brother Del joined me in the tower just after sunset and we hung out talking till it was dark. We then made our way down the mountain by flashlight and the sounds of night things.

That's all for now, enjoy!
~will

The trail on the way up Gile Mountain.

One of the jems in the afternoon light.

Birches on the trail.

Ferns lining the trail.

Fungus on a tree.

Maple leaves turning red.

As the sun was setting.

Just after the sun set.

About fifteen minutes after sunset.

Tunbridge Worlds Fair

2007-09-18T11:58:00.001-04:00

For the two sisters who missed the ritual of the Tunbridge fair.

The Tunbridge Worlds Fair, September 13th - 16th 2007.
I went to the fair on Thursday (Ag day) when it was a little quieter, more of the local farmers and backwoods types it seems. On Thursdays they have the pony pulls, starting early in the day with the under 1400 lbs class at 10:30, then at 2 it's the 1401 - 1800 class and rapping it up in the evening at 7 is the free for all pull. I always like to see the free for all class, it was my dad's favorite class of the pony pulls because you really get to see the spirit of the ponies and the quality of the drivers. The ponies pull a stone boat in teams of two, if they pull the boat 6 feet or more they move on to the next round. Every round they add more weight to the boat and by the end the boat weighs about 6200 lbs. It is amazing to see these small ponies and drivers move a 6200 lb sled 6 feet. Here is a photo of one of the teams pulling. (it is very dark in the pulling arena and I didn't have a tripod so count this as a snapshot.)

Besides the pony pulls I have a few more important things I always do at the fair. I walk through the Floral Hall where the vegetables are judged then I head over to the livestock barns to see the dairy cows, oxen with backs higher then my head and the usual assortment of pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits and birds of all sorts.
Here is a shot that I always see at the fair looking back down the old midway from the Floral Hall

This is a standard Tunbridge Fair photo of the 4H kids with their dairy cows.

There is also Nelsons Fudge, it used to be in Floral Hall but now it's in a Commercial building inside the Racetrack. Nelson's Fudge is a time honored tradition in my family, my sisters and I have been getting their fudge at the fair for as long as I can remember. There are so many things about this fair that I strongly associate with the fall. I head back towards the Sugarhouse, across the racetrack (I have to wait behind the rope while the Trotting Horses go by.) and up to Antique Hill. Walking up the hill past The Sugarhouse towards Antique Hill I saw this shot.

Antique Hill is a large knoll overlooking the rest of the fairgrounds, it is setup to look like a little town with a Civil War encampment, a blacksmith, a printer, a one room schoolhouse, a barn filled with old farming equipment and a log cabin with antiques and displays about life in the olden days. The whole thing is sort of like a little living history exhibit. This photo is of my mom's good friend Sue, she is a living history expert and works every year on Antique Hill in the Log Cabin.

This is a shot of the Country Store exhibit in the log cabin.

After hanging out at the fair all afternoon and evening with my mom it's time to head home. On the way out I saw the lights from the rides and like a moth to a flame I was drawn, here's what came of it.

Wow, a long post for you. I miss having my sisters around. They are both off in cities with foreign names, hopefully enjoying life.
~will

My First Post.

2007-09-18T00:05:00.000-04:00

Two Saturdays ago I woke up at 5am and headed out to hike Mt Cardigan. I was at the trail head by 7am and to the top by 8:30am. On the top it was cool, gray and blowing fog.

I had planed on taking some photos of the nearly 360 degree view from the top to make a panorama, but that idea looked like that wasn't going to happen. The wind on the top was amazing, it was just me the mountain and nature. I spent an hour or so on the top enjoying nature and taking photographs of the beauty that one can find even on a cool breezy morning at 3000 feet.

I waited on the top in hopes that the cloud cover would break and I could get in some shots of the view, but alas the weather was not in my favor so I headed down the mountain.
I got back to my car, did some stretches and then headed off to the Norwich Farmers Market. Down off in the valley it was a foggy early September morning and the farmers market was buzzing with the regulars. As I walked around the market I found this little display.

That's all for now. I'll be back soon,
~will

Here we go!

2007-09-17T19:18:00.000-04:00

Well here we go. I am starting this blog for three main reasons.
The first: To help keep my friends and family up to date about what I am doing and enjoying.
The second: To have a place to share my photos and the music I am listening to.
The third: To work on my writing while doing the first two.

Please comment and tell me what you think.