Following the beautiful pictures from our previous guestblogger, Jemma Lambert from shutterjunkie, I have the pleasure of introducing James Jordan and his excellent landscape pictures at Points Of Light. I am also particularly impressed with his creative efforts at “painting with light”: do take a look at his Still Life With Fire series in his October 2005 archives!
Picture title: Moonrise at Wind Point
Name: James Jordan
Location: Elgin, Illinois, USA
Website: Points of Light
Equipment: A Nikon FM10, Nikkor 35-70mm zoom, 135mm, and 70-210mm lenses and a multitude of filters.
About the image: Wind Point Lighthouse is located on Lake Michigan just south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of my favorite places to photograph and is only a two-hour trip by car from my home near Chicago. It’s a particular challenge photographing the moon behind a subject as it almost always is overexposed and requires some correction afterward in PhotoShop.
Your favorite subjects: Nature, scenics, including lighthouses, old barns, churches and cemeteries.
How did you start out in photography? My father was a photo enthusiast, and I got his old equipment whenever he updated his. Started with a Brownie at age five, graduated to a Pentax twin lens at age 12, then a Canon SLR in high school. I was a photographer for my high school newspaper and yearbook, but really became serious with it about 8 years ago.
Are there any special themes/ideas that you like to convey in your pictures? I’m drawn to landscapes with bold, saturated colors, such as those by Marc and David Muench. I try to seek out situations where I can make the most of color. Certain colors cause emotional responses in people and I always aim for an emotional response when I make a picture. Every so often, I succeed.
Apart from your own photoblog, are there any others that you would like to recommend here? Other than Eng Loy’s blog and Shutterjunkie, I enjoy Blue Hour and Swim Pig. There are a few others in my blogroll I visit regularly.
Who would you like to dedicate this entry to? My wife, who has traveled with me in search of good photos.
This photo paints an ideal “retiring” place for me. Great job on getting the moon in place and exposure! i’ve checked out your blog (jordan’s) and added it to my daily list. =)
suggestion: to get the moon in its full glory, try taking 2 photos, one to expose the moon and the other the landscape. Masking in PS is a great tool.
I love the picture of the lighthouse with the moon.
My wife fell in love with Lighthouse on a trip to Maine.
John