Summer is Amazing

My cameras set up shooting time-lapse video at Lake Cushman, Olympic National Park, Washington State, USA

… in Washington. I have a back injury and a full-time job, so it’s really hard for me to get out, but I cannot live with that so I try to get out anyway. Luckily we live near the coolest place in the whole entire world, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Lake Cushman is the closest entry to the Olympic National Park to where we live, so it’s a great way to get epic shots without having to bring the camper or take time off work. Summer is slow at work, so I can get out and make art!

I’m doing some time-lapse video now, fascinating how you can fold time with pixels. I love to watch the reality TV shows on Discovery, National Geographic and Animal Planet about Alaska, those shows use a LOT of time-lapse video as filler between “people” shots. Actually now there are a couple of reality shows on Discovery and NatGeo that are filmed right here in the Olympic Peninsula, one of them right here in my town… so I want to supply great b-roll to use for that 🙂

Of course in my spare time I’m also drawing and have been doing that instead of updating my blog, oops. Drawing is great to occupy my time when I can’t get outside. I’d rather be outside. But I love drawing. And making socks. But I digress. I’m going to try to catch up a bit with a few images that are new to my collection, and a bit about each.

The Olympic National Park sign, near Lake Cushman, Hoodsport, Washington, USA.

I shot some time lapse with my GoPro and a couple clips with my Canon DSLR, each camera’s clips have their own personality. The GoPro has a wide lens and requires a fix in the video editor to get it straight, but it’s a great little kick-ass camera that’s tough enough to go anywhere.

Underwater in the Skokomish River

Time Lapse of Lake Cushman looking south from near the entrance to the Park

Storm Brewing near the Lake

Even my cellphone got a great shot! The sun was amazing that day.

The jumping rock at Lake Cushman, Olympic National Park, Washington State, USA

These clips are available for commercial licensing in my portfolios on Pond5, Shutterstock, Fotolia/Adobe Stock, DepositPhotos and 123RF. I’ll link them soon, I wanted to get this up now though 😉

Take care and Godspeed.

Stacey

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Shutterstock Dominates! I Heart Stock Art!

Business Insider writes about how Shutterstock Images has struck a deal with Penske Media Corporation (PMC) to market Variety Magazine’s photographers’ images to Shutterstock’s library. How cool is THAT!  We work hard and have a great work ethic, and I sincerely believe the company is run well and deserves the high praise.

I live and breathe stock art! The proliferation of information and equipment to receive said information has blown this little hobby of mine up into a real force in the world… visuals make more of an impact than the written word in many cases, especially when dealing with masses, less “informed” masses that respond to pictures before they read a headline or article. There is power in images.  You can say a lot in images, messages that evoke a visceral response, an instinctual reaction. This can and is used for good, and for malevolent purposes.  We see all types of artwork, more than you can imagine (I know that because every day something comes in that really pushes the envelope, and I’ve been at this a long time… amazing how creative and resourceful people can be, to dance around laws, rules and guidelines, to try to submit fringe, malevolent or downright malicious imagery).

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Lake Cushman

We bought a motorhome and of course couldn’t WAIT to get it out on the road. No planning, let’s just hit the road. Living in the Puget Sound, there is always something to see.

We had been out to the Olympic Peninsula several times in the last seven years that I have lived in Washington. We’d seen Port Angeles, Sequim (pronounced “Squim,” you know), Elhwa River, Lake Mills, and its old now-dismantled dam, and even drove out to Crescent Lake and Forks. So we decided to go out that way, for our maiden voyage of our new-old rig.

Cushman Dam Sign

We settled on Lake Cushman, a best-kept-secret type place, situated on the southern edge of the Olympic National Forest, a few miles north of Hoodsport on the 101 (north of Olympia on the west side of the Puget Sound and Hood Canal). It was late when we got up there, we set up camping and crashed after the long day. The next day it was still foggy and cool, not set up too well for photographs, but I got a few anyway.

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Drive-By Shooting

We bought a motorhome because the blessed appropriations organ of our federal government demands that I spend my money in a way that they deem appropriate, so we are writing off our trips to get photographs and ideas for illustrations (and to attend Mark’s highly successful poker tournaments).

Our new motorhome.

Mark likes to drive fast, I like to shoot, so this creates the perfect environment for Drive-By Shooting. Some of these were actually shot out of the window of a moving vehicle, others were hand-held-jump-out-of-the-running rig-and-catch-the-shot type images. Read More ->

What’s the Point?

The point is, to show you from whence I come. I have an opinion and in my short natural life I have found that my opinions, just like yours, are interesting, so why not share them?  However most of my expression is visual… so I’ll share my pictures and drawings as well as my commentary on them, and on life.

I’ve had various websites and social media outlets over the years with a permeating sense of boredom, invasiveness, pointlessness, and of course exposure, so I have invariably given them up. You know what I’m talking about, I’m sure. I’m about truth, watch out, I’ll tell it like it is. Social media sucks, there, I said it! (h/t Mark Levin)

However I do have a domain and something to say, so why not say it here?

I would love it if you can comment and share your opinions on my words and my images.