The Reveal

I wish I could tell you that I saw this while I was shooting in the field. I also wish I could tell you that I saw it when I got home and went through my images on my computer over 3 years ago. And I wish I could say that I saw it in the 10+ times that I’ve gone back through that folder of images since then. Nope.

Actually, a month ago, I saw this golden heart, while in meditation. It wasn’t until I was going through unprocessed images a couple of weeks ago that I finally saw it. I stopped dead in my tracks and immediately remembered the vision I’d had. Apparently, I wasn’t able to see it until I was meant to. I don’t understand how I could have missed something so amazing for so long. Funny how that works sometimes.

Spinning Around NY

You and I are on a special journey together, uncontrollably spinning our way through the universe.

We have no idea where we’re going, when we’ll get there, or why we’re going at all.

At least, we have each other on this journey, if nothing else.

When I forget that, I can feel alone and overwhelmed.

Untethered, I drift between stability and chaos.

Bouncing aimlessly between the two.

Then, you grab me and hold tight.

Until I return to solid ground.

My rock.

(This is my first, half-assed attempt at star trails with my Nikon. It was the end of a long day, plus it was chilly out. The next one will be better.)

All Is Full Of Love

All is full of love by Bjork has been in my head for a couple of days now. I don’t really know why, since I haven’t listened to it in a while. I think it was a reminder to be aware of all the love around me. Not just from people, but also in nature. 

On yesterday’s hike to some waterfalls, I spotted this fleeting heart. I say fleeting because the leaf below the snow only looked like a heart because of how the snow was melting. It stopped me in my tracks, because it felt like it was meant for me to find. I’m sure I’m not the only weirdo that has those experiences haha.

At any rate, I found love in CT this past week. Love from wonderful friends and love from nature. Both have rejuvenated my spirit ❤. I hope today you will remember that love is all around you. 

Here are the Bjork lyrics and song if you’re interested. 

You’ll be given love

You’ll be taken care of

You’ll be given love

You have to trust it
Maybe not from the sources

You have poured yours

Maybe not from the directions

You are staring at
Twist your head around

It’s all around you

All is full of love

All around you
All is full of love

You just ain’t receiving

All is full of love

Your phone is off the hook

All is full of love

Your doors are all shut

All is full of love!

The video

Icy Abstract

I’ve been to Quabbin Reservoir one time in the fall, a few years ago. We thought it would be fun to go scout/shoot it with some ice. Unfortunately, it’s warming up around New England, and most of the ice was gone, but there were lots of interesting formations on the shore. 

Being a Cali boy, I’d never seen anything like it before. I could have stayed out there shooting abstracts for another hour, but we had limited time and had more stuff to scout. So much to see and so little time! 

When I get back to Maine, in a couple days, I’ll go through all my Nikon shots of the ice, so for now you get to enjoy this iPhone version. Shot with the default camera app and edited with Snapseed. 

Shooting Frozen Falls

This past weekend, I kind of surprised Shannon on her birthday, when a friend of hers suggested I come down for a few days. We’ve had too much fun and it’s almost time for me to go back to work in Maine. I couldn’t come all the way down here without us going on a photo adventure or two, though!
Be sure to go show her blog some love (Shannon’s blog) and remind her that she has one still 😛. I think we both got some awesome shots of this spot, so keep an eye out for those. This iPhone shot is more of a behind the scenes type of deal. I’ll post some cool iPhone abstracts of some ice soon. 

Happy Feb 14th

A flower falls, even though we love it. 

-Dogen

I hate to be that guy, but I’ve never been a fan of this holiday. Probably because I spent too many of them alone. Shrug. 

I’ll probably be spending the day eating junk food and doing something artsy to express myself. 

I hope you have someone special to share it with. Don’t forget to spread the love and let your single friends know you love and appreciate them too. 

This hyacinth was shot with ProShot and edited with Snapseed and iColorama. Then I used artista Impresso for the painterly look. 

Seeing Beauty

Photography has given me a lot over the years. One of the biggest gifts has been the ability to see beauty. It really is everywhere, if you choose to see it. 

It’s been a trying month for me, which makes it easy to view the world through a negative lens. Recognizing that that’s what I’ve been doing made it possible for me to choose to change my lens and see the beauty again. 

While visiting my cousin, across the water from Boston, I went for a walk on the beach. It’s not your typical beach. Think rocky, muddy, bits of trash laying around, and plenty of glass (most of it was smooth from the waves.) What im saying is it would be easy to focus on the negative qualities of this beach. Instead, I paid attention to the light. 

I thought I would shoot the skyline at sunset, but the light lit up some trees that line the beach,  in an amazing way, and they demanded to be photographed. The color was so intense on the trees that I decided black and white was the way to go for an Ansel Adams type edit. 

Shot with the default camera app and edited with Snapseed and Mextures. 

Mist Connections

Last night, Shannon and I were goofing off, as per usual, and we thought it would be funny to title her image “Mist Connections” and then write up a craigslist missed connections ad for the castle. She challenged me to write the love note, so I did. It turned out to be a really fun creative writing exercise. It was good to get the creative love juices flowing again.

Go check out her post to read the ad I wrote.

For those of you who ever spent time on Craigslist laughing at the frequently ridiculous posts, this blog is for you. 😉 One of the alternate titles for this shot is: “Mist Connections” Your soft shadow drew me in. Your rough, indomitable exterior held my attention, for what felt like years, as I carefully […]

via The Colossus :: England — SeeingSpotsPhoto.com

Dapper Pony

I went for a walk around the farm, while it was snowing, the other day. I thought I was going to shoot the fresh snow on the trees, but some areas were too icy to risk walking through. Instead, my girlfriend and I took photos of some of the 40 horses on the farm. This was one of my favorite outfits.

Shot with ProShot using an Iphone 7. Edited with Snapseed, Mextures, and VSCO.

Upgraded To The 7

Deeeeeep sigh.

Somehow life got in the way of this blog, and creativity in general.

Work. Relationship. Exploring. Work. And did I mention work?

My life has been much busier in Maine than it ever was on the west coast. Thats probably a good thing, but its gotten in the way of my creative time. I have quite the backlog of Nikon images, which made me want to stop shooting for a while. I even stopped doing much with my iPhone 5s. Honestly, cutting back on the iPhone was more about it being on its last legs. The battery was barely hanging on by a thread. The colder weather here was draining it within minutes 😦

Luckily, there was a great deal that popped up at the right time, and I got myself the iPhone 7, which I never intended to get. What a huge jump in technology it is from the 5s to the 7. I’m loving the camera and the video, along with the processing speed. I feel a renewed sense of wonder with my phone and I can’t wait to see what creative things I do with it 🙂

Here are a couple of images from my first time taking it out to play.

The light was pretty cool. I only wish you could also see the snow falling in the light as the wind knocked it down from the trees.

This is what passes for a trail in Maine…

Marshall Point Lighthouse (Nikon)

Shannon and I stopped at this lighthouse on our lighthouse adventure day. This seems like the obvious composition to me, but it works so well. I tried other angles, but it just doesn’t have the same visual impact as this one.

After we took our shots, we decided to film a segment on focus stacking for our photography students. We explained how to approach a scene like this, and how to get everything in focus from front to back.

If you think you want to learn about advanced techniques such as focus stacking, you may want to join us over at the Light & Landscape members area, where we are teaching photography to over 20 students right now. I don’t even want to announce the price here because its ridiculously low at half off for the first month with a money back satisfaction guarantee. If you want more details, you can contact me at d.pasillas@yahoo.com or Shannon at seespotsphoto@yahoo.com

On The Inside

Its whats on the inside that counts. The outside of this house, and the lot, both looked cool. You’d never would have guessed there was turmoil on the inside.

I checked out several vacant homes this weekend. This old doctor’s house was the most interesting. It was big and the layout was cool. For whatever reason, its just sitting in decay now. Its not even for sale. Its a shame too because the lot is awesome.

Shot with the default camera app. Edited with Snapseed and Mextures.

Eagle Lake

I’m out at Eagle Lake, just south of the Canadian border, for the 4th. Our friends have a house right on the water, so this is the view we have to put up with for a few days 😛

I shot this with the default camera app and did one small adjustment in icolorama. I mostly achieved the look I wanted in camera by having the sun just out of frame. 

Creative Struggles (Nikon)

Lately, I’ve been struggling with my photography. I’ve felt like I was doing the same thing over and over (creating pretty landscapes,) and not really getting anywhere.

When I moved to this small town in Maine, my girlfriend introduced me to a photographer friend of hers. This woman is relatively new to photography, and mainly is interested in surreal portraiture. That means she is always coming up with concepts and thinking about compositing and textures.

There was a time where I used to do composites and let my creativity run wild. Meeting this woman has helped reignite that part of me that wants to play and experiment with my photography and editing.

I created a couple of pieces yesterday. One, which I don’t love, but my girlfriend does, and this one, which I like more.

This shot is made up of a fall photo from New Hampshire from a few years back, and the bride is from a wedding I shot about 5 years ago. 5 years??? Is that really possible?

This was a simpler edit than you’d think. I made my adjustments in LR and then imported the 2 images into PS. I got the bride where I wanted, did some dodging and burning on her, and created a subtle shadow beneath her. Then, I used Topaz Impression 2 to create the painterly image. I decided I wasn’t completely satisfied with the lighting in the image, so I then used Mextures on my iPhone to totally change the atmosphere and mood. I think it came out pretty good 🙂

Come On In, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

There is a 2nd house down the road that looks vacant. When I opened the screen door to look inside, there was a sign with some peeling wallpaper covering part of it. I wanted to see what it said, so I lifted the wallpaper up.

“Come on in, everything else has gone wrong”

And that summed up the vibe of this place. I walked right back out. What I did see in that room was chaos. There were old car batteries strewn about, and piles of garbage. I’d love to explore this place some more, but the musty smell and the unwelcoming vibe make me hesitant.

I find these abandoned properties in Maine to be super interesting. They’re like museums for the people that used to live there. You can try to piece together a picture of who they were, or are, by finding interesting things in each room.

If I find enough of these properties to shoot, I can definitely see myself putting together a story for Stellar. Btw, are any of you using Stellar? I haven’t really been on there since they featured a few of my stories around the new year.

Shot this with my iPhone. Edited in Snapseed, Mextures, and Stackables.