Jake Peterson’s Blog

O this is just too much fun. For the first time in the many years that my folks have been trying to get me to go to Photoshop World, I’m finally here. Now they kept telling me it was going to be a different experience but i had no idea until i got here. The first thing big noticeable thing was everyone saying hello. It was easy, Dad had me by one hand introducing to everyone, here’s Jake. It was funny and exciting at the same time. Then there are the Precons, different shooting venues where you spend a day a learning about that particular area of photography. I went to the Real World Concert Photography mostly cuz i had never done it before! O and Scott Diussa is a good friend and was co instructing it with Allan Hess. Knew absolutely nothing about it.

It was completely different then any other subject i have photographed before. Between the settings, the composition and the general atmosphere of the other photographers. I’m used to waiting and watching the subject learning it’s habits over time, that’s just necessary in wildlife. Or even the quickness of aviation knowing the planes are coming around the pylons. But this! O know it’s all about moving around, getting the shot, the unpredictable nature of the players and the every changing light. It was intense, but a lot of fun. Only been here a day and I’m already learning.

Images captured with D3s, AF-S NIKKOR 70-200 VR 2.8, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Ah the junkyard, what a magical place filled the past memories of a lost age. It’s just a cove of images waiting to be picked through with a little time and patience. The great thing about junkyards is that every state not only has one, but each one seems to have it’s own unique type or some special variant. We went to Cisco which when we got there and looked around was apparently by the side of a road in the middle of nowhere. It was an appropriate, o let the fun begin!

It was a blue sky day with clouds on the horizon, plenty of time to skitter around. It was a unique town, funny thing was people live there still. There were these two objects that caught my attention more than most. The top is the back of an truck or tanker car i think. Well it had this needle and gauge on it that i found just interesting. The combination of it with the texture was like it was pointing at the years of degrading material as it went by. The bottom was an old soda machine that with a message in the bottom that was pointed out to me later. It showed more character than the Seven up machine, both were intriguing. Never can tell what you’ll find.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the storms can change around here. One minute it’s a blizzard roaring down a foot of snow and the next its sunny and warm. Yesterday we had a great big snow storm come through which was great for shooting but wouldn’t you know it the sun came out and most of it’s gone already down in the lower areas. Guess that means i’ll have to climb up into some higher spots this evening. O well the fly fishing is supposedly getting better.

Image captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

I was somewhat turned in two when i went to the ghost town this time. I thought that i would make a gallery about it afterward but something grabbed hold of me and i couldn’t the other day i just didn’t want to. Not sure why, considering the images were all there, maybe just second guessing myself again. Not sure even what to say here in this post. The back of this one train car always grabbed my attention with the wavy design in the wheel handle and then the faded wood of the back door. Here are some images of the history of the west. Maybe they’ll grab your attention as they have mine.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Well hopefully for someone somewhere the wheels are a turning, for it’s back to a another familiar place to try and find new images that i haven’t already taken a dozen times in the past. It seems to be a recurring theme of mine lately, doesn’t it. Good news though, the fresh snow added some interesting elements to play with in one of my favorite ghost towns, Nevada City of course and that let new images arise that i never would have noticed otherwise. Of course all the rabbit tracks had my attention but they weren’t as cooperative. Wagon wheels are a lot of fun to play with because they can break up any linear element with that great curve and the light going through the spokes makes just amazing shadows.

Now the hard part i found was capturing that romance and nostalga feel to the pre-tire era which was was the wagon wheel. Getting the right angle with the right background to capture that fleeting moment of where the wheel has been and where it still wants to go is very important. I love working with these kind of wheels, i can never find enough of them. There truly are just so many ways to go about shooting them that it’s hard to talk about just these two.

Images captured with D3, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

For years i have had the privelege to call Joe McNally a friend and even have the honor to work with him on occasion. He has yet again left me speechless.Thank you Joe

Everyday time seems to slip by a little faster in ways that we don’t seem to notice the day before. Little cracks in the floors and in the walls, the spare minutes we use to get a cup of coffee or the extra seconds spent on reading comics in the paper. How much time of how many lives have spent walking through this hallway in Fort Point? This dark, faded, old hallway that echoes with time but reveals not to us the shoe prints of its existence. My Dad keeps telling me not to count time that every second counted is a second wasted, i was thinking about that a lot at the end of the workshop.

Well here we are overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge for the last time at this event and with our friends. Yea i know kind of a sad thought but it’s the truth. Back at the room, we spend our last night tonight huddled together watching the progress of a weeks worth of work being shown on the big screen. We rise in celebration of each others achievement as we all have images we like, love and treasure and the memories and stories to go with them. As the images run out we shake hands and part ways leaving one last inevitable thing, break down and goodbyes. Never knew which was harder. Slowly the room empties and the stories of past events comes out, just a group thing. I know goodbye’s are coming when Mom starts crying, for good reason, we’re all family. The old faces smile and look one last time at each other before leaving.  Slowly they pass beyond the doorway till only one hand remains waving goodbye and then they’re gone. Now just the six of us and even that won’t last long.

It’s always hard saying goodbye at the end of these long breaks. Each time  it seems to get harder and harder. More is crammed into them so as to not waste time and yet by doing so it seems to just go by faster. I seemed to have particular trouble letting go this time around, my usual moodiness yesterday was replaced with a more sorrowful one, i kept getting choked up; saying goodbye to certain people was just that much harder. I came to the realization that it hurts more this time because of everyone that made it such a wonderful break more so then any break before this. My thanks go out to just a handful of those people; my brother Brent and Katt who play games with me, ski and basically act like a brother should, to my big Sis who, makes us all smile, because of her big heart continually tries to teach my stubborn ass new things and who i already start to miss, to Mom just for being there like you always are taking care of us, I’m sure things would be up in flames if you weren’t and Dad my mentor and shooting buddy thanks for the continuing faith, guidance and for sharing your adventures with me. Thank you all for making one hell of a start to this new year. As this goes up I’ll be rolling down the road, the light on my shoulders the wind guiding my tail. The Sierra’s behind me and the Rockies in front of me. Just another day of life.

Images captured with D3, plane D3s, 24-70 AF-S, 70-300 AF-S VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Last night we had the honor and privilege to be able to photograph the SFFD #34. Two trucks and a cliff and surf rescue truck. Along with the vehicles was the staff of hard working individuals that look out for the people here in the bay area. This type of shoot even with its unique setup is still not my style. I just can’t wrap my head around where to start. Maybe a few more workshops of listening to Joe’s stories will inspire me to get in the right direction. I instead helped out those that i could, setting up stands for Joe, holding flash’s for Dad, and anything else that came up. I found this Bell on the front of one of the trucks and it just stood out as an interesting B&W to me.

Image Captured with D3, 70-300 AF-S VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

As I’m sure you all realize by now, one of the best parts of the holidays is getting to together with friends and family. Jeff Cable and his family came up as they usually do around the holidays and of course Jeff wanted to go out shooting, which is good for Dad and me cause it gets us out of the house and gives us a chance to explore the Sierra’s some more. Dad of course knowing the Sierra’s so well already recommended we head down to Law’s Train Museum which I had not been to in years. One of the really cool things about the museum is that we can go into the buildings and see some of the authentic gear and items from the 1800′s.

The first building that we went into had a number of odds and ends mostly cause it was a general store at one point. There were two pairs of shoes in the store that caught my interest, the baby shoes up top and the boots on the bottom.  One of the issues that presented itself at the start was we were shooting inside with very little light. There was enough to get sharp images but everything had a dull tint to it that i didn’t like. So by switching white balance from auto, which i normally shoot at, to cloudy the temperatures warmed up and a more warm look was exposed. The shoes themselves were more intriguing to me because of the story that they told. How many kids wore those shoes and walked the streets of this ghost town before they even knew where they were. How much mud and sweat went into these work boats as they went through their daily routine. As i looked at these shoes i wondered what other stories they held and how our shoes will be measured once behind glass.

Images captured with D3, 70-300 AF-S VR, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film

Well this last post about the junkyard contains more of my favorite junkyard objects, the headlights and taillights. These two metal devices make awesome elements. The great thing is every car there has a different style to them so there are lots to choose from. For me it’s choosing the ones that have the something interesting about them. Like the top one has pieces of metal covering the light that the others don’t.

This one is way cool because it still looks like it is producing light on the fender beneath it. Plus the reflection in the metal ring cover is just great.

Lastly, another Ford truck. This one spoke out to me due its simple repetition of shapes. One light in front of another light surrounded by squares and straight lines. Linear mixed with curvature. It is these simple yet important elements that make a good photograph. Everytime i go to that side of the road, big junkyard, i find more of these elements speaking out to me and I encourage all of you reading to do the same. Simple places for big improvements overall keeping our minds sharp.

Images captured with D3, 70-300AF-Svr, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film