Photographic Grab Bag

No theme to this post.  Just an assortment of randomness that I’ve seen and documented.  There are good stories behind some of these images.  Here are few of them…

“The ottoman in the woods” – While walking the dog, I found this footstool in the middle of the woods.  It is a genuine Herman Miller ottoman.  These sell for $1,000 brand new.  How it got out to the woods is a mystery.  It was a total wreck.  The leather was pulled back from one side and the goose feathers that make up the cushion were coming out.  It’s still out there.

“Icicles” – These icicles were hanging from the awning outside our back door.  I grabbed my camera, took a couple of quick shots, turned to go back inside, and heard a “whoosh!”.  I turned back to see that all the snow had slid off the awning, taking all of the icicles with it.  Thirty seconds later and I would’ve missed the shot.

“Gravel road, starry blue sky” – There was a meteor shower one night.  I packed up my wife and gear and drove out into the country.  Parked on a deserted gravel road, set my camera on a tripod, aimed it south, and hoped for a few meteors.  There were two things working against me that night.  #1, there was a full moon(it was so bright, you could barely see any stars) #2, Lawrence has a lot of light pollution and being 5 miles outside of town wasn’t nearly far enough.  This shot was taken at 1:00am.  It was 8 minutes long.  It is blurry because the Moon was the light source and the Earth is turning during the 8 min. exposure.

“Bubble Blower” -  The story here isn’t very interesting.  Jenna and I were walking along the beach and I aimed my camera at her, without looking, and caught this image.  It’s one of those moments that I couldn’t set up again if I tried.  She looks really innocent, blowing that bubble.

Texas findings

Finally got around to making a long overdue post.  This blog has been neglected big time.  I’m blaming it on being trapped in the worst winter of my adult life.  I’ve been holed up just like the hibernating squirrels that are right outside my office window.  Yesterday, for the first day in almost a month, I felt the rejuvenating warm rays of the sun.  Kansas has been locked in a snowy cocoon for too long and I feel like busting out.

Back before the new Ice-Age came to Lawrence, I got to spend time in Texas with my family.  It was sunny and warm.  It felt good to be out again, with my camera.  These images were taken in and around Salado and Temple Texas.

Minneapolis – modernscapes

Went to Minneapolis with our friends Chris and Melissa(you two are instantly famous now that I’ve mentioned you guys in my blog).  Saw the Black Angels and the Raveonettes at First Avenue.  It was a superduper show.  Roamed the downtown for a day looking for “modernscapes”.  Here’s what I found…

Little trouble, Big Apple

Jenna and I traveled to New York awhile back and I’m going to sneak this blog post in between my Europe stuff.

What can I say about New York?  It’s a crazy place.  It’s amazing how many people are crammed into that small space.  I’ve been to a load of big cities, but none of them gave me quite the, “sweet Moses, there are people EVERYWHERE!” feeling like New York(Manhattan).  Even though my claustrophobia was kicked into high gear, we had a super fun time, saw neat things, ate good food….and then there was the weather.  The weather was fricken lousy for photographs.  I’m getting a little tired of overcast skies every time we travel!  It really feels like I’m jinxed sometimes.  The last several trips….GREY SKIES!  Yippee!  I’m not kidding about the weather, it was crap.

One highlight from the trip was getting harassed by a security guard for using a tripod.  Lincoln Center was across the street from our hotel and I decided to go out and do some night shots.  Lincoln Center has a cool fountain that is all nice and lit up.  I was setting up my tripod when a guard informed me that I could take a photo of the fountain without the tripod, but not with.(their reason is this : photographer w/tripod=”professional” and they’re afraid we’ll try to make money from the images)(which I do, thank you very much!)(I did get a good shot of the fountain, complete with embracing couple, bonus!)  I can understand why they’re paranoid in that city and I thought you could really feel it.   I had read before we left that it had gotten pretty tricky there for photographers.  well, they we right.  I felt eyes on me every day that I carried my camera.  Not a very pleasant feeling.  Regardless of those downsides to shooting there, I can’t wait to go back to hopefully make some images in the dang SUN!

“it’s not a tumor”…oh wait, it is.

These are my Grandparents.  They’re in their 80’s.  They’ve been married for over 60 years.  They are the sweetest, most kind, and coolest people that you could ever meet.  Ever. My Grandfather is a WWII veteran and he built houses with his own hands.  He’s a great man.  Yesterday, I found out that he has a very large tumor, pressing on his brain.  In a few days, doctors will try to remove it.  The outcome is uncertain.  I am hopeful for something positive.

I know this is supposed to be a blog about my photography and I consider this photo, one of the best I’ve ever taken.

Motherload pt.2

Whew, it’s been a while since my last post.  I really did plan on getting all of this done sooner.  Okay, so here’s another random set of images from our trip overseas.  The first few images are from Brighton, England and the last 5 were taken in Amsterdam.  I really like the one of the guy in the window watching the girl walking down the street.  The shot of the guy on the bike, who’s looking directly at the camera was a cool shot.  After I took that shot, I zoomed in on it and realized that his eye’s are perfectly sharp and he’s looking right at me.  It’s a little creepy.  I shot that from my hip and got really lucky.  More to come…

Europe 2009 (the motherload)

Okay, so it’s been awhile.  The Sweetlady and I got to go to England and beyond for two weeks.  We had a trip of a lifetime and words can’t describe the experience.  Hopefully I’ve recorded the experience thoroughly with my photographs.  I came back with approx. 1,225 images.(as usual, I feel like I didn’t shoot nearly enough)  Much was learned about myself and my work.  I learned that it is very difficult to create interesting, technically accurate images when you don’t stop for more than 3 minutes to look at the scene, read the light, find the lines, clean the lens, steady yourself, and then press the shutter release.  If I could go back, I would’ve slowed down, taken more time, looked longer, breathed slower, tried harder.  I had this overwhelming feeling that “I’ve got to record EVERYTHING!”  It was relentless and pressing.  Sometimes I wish I could’ve left my camera back in the hotel room and just enjoyed the day and the sights with Jenna but I couldn’t have lived with myself.  The guilt of not photographing what I saw would’ve eaten me up.  So there it is, the core and struggle of the photographer on “vacation” in a new and foreign land.  Ugh, it’s making me anxious just writing about it.

I learned that taking people photos is challenging and addictive.  I devised a technique where I could frame the shot with my camera at my waist and the indigenous person was none the wiser.  To them, I was fiddling with my camera buttons, when all the while I’m taking their portrait.  Sneaky huh?  Well, it paid off.  Some of my best images from this trip are of normal people being normal.

This blog is supposed to be all about photography, but please allow me to change the subject and get gushy for a minute…..   I saw many wondrous buildings, works of art, and curiously different cultures on this trip.  Each day was filled with new sights and experiences that blew my mind, and each day, as we were walking amidst all of this newness, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful my wife is and how much I love her.  Sorry, but it’s true.  Okay, so roll your eyes and get your groans out of the way…I’m sorry but this is my blog and I can get mushy if I want to!  Back to photography,…

I’m still trying to figure out how to post these images(there are A LOT).  I don’t know if I have the patience to complete all of them and then sort them into separate posts according to subject matter, so I’m just going to make a bunch of really huge posts.

Also, I’ve had people asking about purchasing prints of images that I post on here.  I wanted to put a shoping cart on here, but alas, I don’t know how.  So, if you want a genuine Brian Goodman print to place on your wall, send me an email letting me know which one and I’ll let you know what it costs.

Now on to the images…

Northwest findings – part II

i have a thing for phone booths.  i can’t help myself, i have to photograph them when i see them.  this one was on Lopez Island.  i love that it just had a normal phone in it.

the profile shot of the benches is on a ferry that i have been on twice in my life.  the first time was in 1984.  the decor hasn’t changed in the 25 years since i had been on it.  a floating time capsule full of vinyl.  i wonder if it will ever be updated.  i sure hope not.

The crowded Northwest.

spent 5 days in and around Seattle.  i got lucky with the weather, it was perfect for the first 3 days.  i really want to like Seattle, but…it depresses me there.  it’s a beautiful city, the people are nice enough, but there’s just something about that place…  maybe it’s the fact that every single square inch of land from East Seattle to the coast has been developed and everyone there is scratching and scraping to get their hands on their own tiny, overpriced piece of it.  maybe it’s watching people spend an hour trying to find a parking space, just to get back to their apartment.  maybe it’s that a normally priced “good” beer is not normally priced.  maybe it’s all of the weirdo homeless kids that make a living at panhandling.   it is a beautiful city though, loads of flowers, trees, water, fantastic architecture, but sheesh, the place seems so so overdone.  almost like living there IS your lifestyle.  there’s nothing else, just, “i live in Seattle and everyone knows how hard that is!”.  i don’t mean to be such a downer on Seattle.  people love it there.  i love visiting.

there were many bright sides to our visit to Seattle.  i got to see and spend time with my good friend Sean.(Sean rules and i miss him)  got to see one of my favorite bands of all time.(Voyager One- they rock)  got to drink quite a few reeealllly good craft beers.  got to spend the day with my sweet lady on an island.  got to wander, photographing while most people were working.  it was a sweet trip.

here is the first series of images from Seattle.

Umbra and Penumbra

The Umbra is the darkest part of the shadow.  The Penumbra is the part of a shadow in which only a portion of the body is obscuring the source of the light.

A shadow is the reverse projection of the object blocking the light.  Shadows were  thought to be a flicker of a life unable to end.