Photography – Riveted

What We Do When We’re Home

Laura Domela — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 00:03:16 +0000

We love being out on the water aboard Airship, spending months at a time exploring all the nooks and crannies between Puget Sound and Glacier Bay, but there are definitely some things we miss while we’re gone. So while we’re in town, we’re doing all of those things in a big way: lots of visiting with family and friends, working out every day, getting rid of stuff, and eating ALL of the fresh produce!

I’ve also been visiting my studio, which means serious quality time with my printer.

I’ve made over a hundred archival eight by ten prints of some of images I’ve taken over the past couple years. Here are a few of them:

SE Alaska Landscapes: Flynn Cove (L) Reid Glacier (R)

SE Alaska Wildlife: Pack Creek Brown Bears (L) Loud Eagle in Hoonah (R)

B.C. Landscapes: Desolation Sound (L) Princess Louisa (R)

Fishing Nets, Hoonah AK

Rocks with barnacles, Sucia Island, WA

Boats and Boatyards: Port Townsend (L) Anacortes (R)

Florence, Italy street scenes

Seeing my work on the computer is cool, but it’s way more satisfying to hold a print in my hand. Perhaps if we had a bigger boat I might bring my printer along on our travels so I could work more on the water, but it’s kind of nice to keep the printing projects for home. Plus, I have a feeling the printer and papers I use are best kept away from the salt air.

We’ll be back on Airship in the next couple weeks…fingers crossed we get some better weather this time and can actually go out cruising!

Flotilla to Alaska | Update from Sitka

Laura Domela — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 07:18:54 +0000

Well, the last thirty days have flown by. We could not have asked for a better group of competent, fun, interesting participants. We made some incredible new friends on this adventure, and we’re thankful to have had no mechanical issues at all. We arrived in Sitka on June 19th and have spent the past couple days sightseeing, doing chores, and eating out. This group still wants to keep hanging out together, after 30 days of togetherness. How great is that??

Tomorrow we’ll leave Sitka and all boats (minus Sam on Safe Harbour, who has a flight to catch out of Juneau in a few days) will continue on together back out Peril Strait to Appleton Cove. From there two boats will head south and two will continue on with us as we head north up toward Hoonah and Icy Strait, and then around to Juneau eventually.

If you haven’t been following but want to catch up on the flotilla’s daily posts, head over to Slowboat and see what we’ve been up to.

In the meantime, here are a few visual highlights since we last posted from Ketchikan:

Petersburg

LeConte Glacier

Le Conte Glacier seals

Le Conte Glacier

Kayaking at LeConte Glacier

Kayaking at LeConte Glacier (bottom of the photo)

The glacier ice cocktail bar, after a day at Le Conte Glacier

Heading up Chatham Strait

So many humpbacks in Frederick Sound

…including this one we had to stop for! Whoa!

Anchored in Cannery Cove, Pybus Bay – on Admiralty Island

Pybus Bay/Cannery Cove anchorage

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Pybus Bay/Cannery Cove anchorage

Mama brown bear on the hillside while cubs play in the snow near the waterfall (Pybus Bay)

Brown bear on shore, Red Bluff Bay, Baranof Island

Kevin fishing for trout, just above the falls at Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island

Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island

Rafted two deep at Warm Springs Bay, Baranof Island

Warm Springs Bay dock, from the drone

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Warm Springs Bay dock and falls

Takatz Bay anchorage

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Takatz Bay anchorage

Takatz Bay anchorage (we love this place!)

Takatz Bay, Baranof Island

Coming through Peril Strait

Deep Bay anchorage

The Safe Harbour/Airship raft, Deep Bay

Sunset at Deep Bay

The flotilla coming through Sergius Narrows on our way to Sitka

Eliason Harbor, Sitka

Thompson Harbor, Sitka

Walking home from dinner, Sitka

Sitka sun (for another minute)

Wires, with a raven on top

Here’s how far we’ve come:
Roche Harbor, WA to Sitka Alaska, flotilla total: 30 days, 1,061.6 nautical miles, 145 hours 37 minutes underway

Turn Island Textures and New Camera Gear

Laura Domela — Fri, 19 May 2017 17:19:41 +0000

I’ve got all new camera gear this year. I traded my Nikons (my D7100 travel camera and my D700 studio camera) for two Fuji X-T2 bodies and a variety of Fuji lenses, and I upgraded my little Fuji X100S to a Fuji X100F. So far, I’m extremely pleased with ALL OF IT. I had three photo shoots at my Portland studio before we left and the quality of the RAW files seemed loads better than from my Nikon D700, needing very little post processing work compared to what the Nikon files needed. We even shot a (4K!) video in the studio using both X-T2s for dual camera angles of an actor discussing his role in a Portland Playhouse production of The Language Archive.

Anyway, I’m very happy with the new gear.

Yesterday evening from Airship, Turn Island trees and water texture at sunset:

For those of you who might want to geek out on the camera stuff (like me), here’s what I’ve got:

Two Fuji X-T2 bodies (one black, one silver, including vertical grip that holds two additional batteries), one Fuji X100F (with fixed 23mm lens). Fuji lenses: 10-24mm f4 OIS (image stabilization), 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 WR OIS (weather resistant and with image stabilization), 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 WR OIS (not shown because it’s huge and wouldn’t fit in this photo). I also have a 35mm f1.4 and a 56mm f1.2 but left the primes at home, since I have the range covered with zooms and for landscape/nature/stuff from a boat I figured I could carry a few less camera things and get by.

So there you have it!

Reflection Totems

Laura Domela — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 00:56:36 +0000

I took a bunch of these shoreline reflection photos at Klewnuggit Bay and at Farrant Island Lagoon, both anchorages off of Grenville Channel in BC. I call ’em “Reflection Totems.” They might be a little bit much all together (they’re quite detailed) but probably only one at time will fit on your computer screen.

What I Do When I’m Home

Laura Domela — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 18:42:32 +0000

One of the things I can't take with me when we're traveling is my Portland photography studio, so when we're back home for a few weeks this usually means scheduling photo shoots. I do have a compact, portable setup for doing location work, but nothing beats my nice big studio space for ease of use.

Just for something different, I thought I'd share a few photos from a couple of recent studio shoots!

This is my incredibly talented friend Storm Large (yes, that's her real name). She is an amazing singer, and you can learn more about her here and listen to her here (scroll down and watch/listen to her version of "I've Got You Under My Skin" … it's SO GOOD!) I've been shooting her publicity photos for over ten years now, but we still manage to come up with new things in the studio each time.

(Storm's hair by Tuesday Teal.)

There are several more shots of Storm on my web portfolio here if you want to see more.

These next few are of Lily and Maya. They're both super-talented young ladies and we did an all-out editorial model photo shoot last month…for fun mainly, but also to add some different looks to their portfolios.

Hair by Tuesday Teal. Makeup by Lydia Anderson

Anyway, just thought I'd share a little of my professional home life with you guys. We'll be heading back to the boat this weekend, so more on that front in the very near future!

Sunset in Ketchikan

Laura Domela — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 12:45:25 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

That is straight outta the camera, no filters whatsoever. Incredible, isn't it? I couldn't make this sunset look real in Photoshop no matter how hard I tried. It was spectacular. Sure glad those cruise ships left!

This is our view (same direction) this morning:

The cruise ship spot on the left (other side of that structure) doesn't have today's cruise ship in it yet, but it wouldn't be much different than a wall of fog even it was there. (There are four ships scheduled in port today. Four!)

Here are a few supporting photos for last night's sunset:

Today we're heading to Foggy Bay (an overnight stop before going the rest of the way to Prince Rupert tomorrow).Foggy Bay is 30ish miles from Ketchikan, and Prince Rupert is another 50 or so from Foggy Bay. We did the trip in one long day on the way up, but it'll be nice to break it up this time.

The forecast for Dixon Entrance (today and tomorrow) is for 1 meter seas, and winds (varying directions) from 5 t0 15 kts. Sounds like a great weather window. Now if this fog will just burn off so we can better see all those dang logs in the water!

Day 7 – Quadcopter Video of Pierre’s Echo Bay

Laura Domela — Sun, 24 May 2015 03:40:00 +0000

Kevin made another quadcopter video! Hope you like it, Pierre!

Travel Camera Upgrade

Laura Domela — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 14:06:26 +0000

Since 2007 I've been using a Nikon D300 with an 18-200mm VR lens as my travel camera. I've got a D700 in my studio with a variety of fixed lenses, and I love that camera, but something like the D300 with one good, versatile lens seems perfect for travel…no changing lenses, and quick on the draw. Lately though, I've been noticing that the images from my Fuji x100s are way better images than the ones coming from my D300. (The Fuji is wonderful for general travel, but it has a fixed lens so it isn't ideal for capturing whales in the distance or sea lions tearing apart a salmon 200 yards away).

We decided that a new camera was pretty high on the list of upgrades/things to get before going up the Inside Passage to Alaska in May. So, meet the new travel camera:

I went with a Nikon D7100 and an 18-300mm VR lens (100 more mms than my previous lens!!). I'll be selling my D300 and 18-200 VR lens now (that's the rule, camera in, camera out).

So far, I'm very impressed with my new setup. Can't wait to try it out on some sea life!

Filet-O-Fish® and Portrait Photography

Laura Domela — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 03:17:38 +0000

Yesterday on our way to pick up some groceries in Port Townsend, we walked past a McDonald’s. In the window was a large poster advertising the Filet-O-Fish® sandwich, two bucks on Fridays. Admittedly, I’m not the target demographic for McDonald's (at all), but I was mesmerized by this photograph.

I said to Kevin “Could that food look ANY more processed!? The plastic bun, the machine-cut square of fish, the crayon-orange cheese, the marshmallow tartar sauce with perfectly placed pickle bits….”

“You know It took a photographer, a huge team of food stylists and art directors (and likely an enormous budget) to make that Filet-O-Fish® photo happen.”

As an advertisement, this felt like a total fail. I couldn’t imagine a Filet-O-Fish® looking any less appetizing than it did on this poster in the window of its maker. I assumed that the photography/money/art/food styling team would have instead aimed for creating an image depicting…well, something more appealing, organic, delicious, and less processed, plastic, precise.

On the other hand, as an editorial photo (or art!), this photograph of the Filet-O-Fish® sandwich was PERFECT. The factory-fabricated Filet-O-Fish® in this photo looks exactly like what it is. The photographer had somehow managed to even amplify the synthetic reality of the Filet-O-Fish®. You can almost picture the factory workers in white bunny suits extruding perfectly square fish filets from gleaming stainless steel industrial machinery.

It’s like when I take a portrait of a cool character with an interesting vibe and I’m able to show a heap of his personality in my zillionth of a second shutter click and subsequent print. This Filet-O-Fish® photograph oozes its processed personality perfectly.

I decided if I were the photographer, I’d be super proud of getting it “just right.”

As a professional portrait photographer, my philosophy centers on connecting with my subjects by creating a comfortable, casual environment where they feel open and at ease. I want to listen to their stories and study their mannerisms. I’d rather focus in on capturing a person’s unique characteristics than take a “pretty” or “flattering” photo that has no personality.

A few years ago I was hired to create a portrait of the (now defrocked) pastor/leader of the Mars Hill Church for the cover of a magazine. We were invited by his PR guy to attend (and photograph) his hour-long sermon before photographing him in the “green room” of his Bellevue, Washington megachurch. The original plan had been to set up in the green room during his first sermon, and then meet for his portrait quickly between his two sermons (my preference, since I was not so keen on the whole megachurch thing), so this was a bit of a departure.

His sermon began (picture spotlights and giant TV screens and a rock band opening act) and we found him to be a very engaging and charismatic speaker, but he preached values that I find highly offensive (misogyny, bigotry, and intolerance), and hearing him encourage this way of thinking so eloquently and persuasively to a stadium full of mostly young people was very disturbing.

After the sermon we set up in his green room and I felt pretty nervous as we waited for him to arrive. I find it so important to connect with the subjects I photograph, but I felt less than enthusiastic about trying to connect with this one. Turns out he was not a “connect with you” kind of guy anyway, at least not for the 15 minutes I spent with him. He was detached, dismissive, and not engaged at all (perhaps because I was a woman). There were about 20 people in the smallish room (including his whole family) and it was far too crowded and lively for me to do much but try to get the best “surface” shot of him as fast as I could (and by "surface" I mean "good photograph of this guy, but without having the normal photographer/subject rapport that I usually can cultivate during a shoot").

Back in the studio as I was editing down the work, there was one photo that stood out to me. It might not have been the most flattering portrait of him, but it felt by far the most honest. It accurately represented how he “felt” to me in person. He had a bit of a smirk. He was making was eye contact, but there didn’t seem to be any real connection with the viewer. His expression felt kinda like a shrug. This shot was definitely my favorite and felt the most genuine to me, so I submitted it to the magazine’s art director along with the other shots I thought were probably more flattering.

Guess which photo the magazine put on the cover? The Filet-O-Fish®!

Patos Island Aerial Video

Laura Domela — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:40:01 +0000

Ta-da! Kevin's finished aerial video from around Patos Island (watch in HD if you can):

Shot with an FPV Quadcopter. Filmed with GoPro Hero 3+ aboard a Team Black Sheep Discovery Pro quadcopter. Launched from a Nordic Tug 34 anchored in Active Cove at Patos Island Marine State Park, WA.

The music is Isaac Albéniz: "Suite Española No. 1, Op. 47: Asturias" played by Ivan Kalcina.

More about the quadcopter here if you're interested.