Trees - Or I processed it myself

Late this past summer, I had the opportunity to spend some time in the Uintah mountains, with my family, and I while I don't consider myself much of landscape of nature photographer, there is a lot to be said the artistic quality of a grove of aspen trees. On top of that, I never really planned on posting any of these pics, until recently when I had the opportunity to process the two rolls of film myself. You read that right I processed the film myself, which was quiet a treat, considering that it was something that I hadn't done in more than 20 years. Although I could process my film at home, I am fortunate enough to live in a city there has a small co-op darkroom, at the Salt Lake Photo Collective.  There are even one or two other community darkrooms in the Salt Lake City area, including the one at the Salt Lake Art Center. 

And while the area I did these photographs in wasn't close to the river I was fishing that week, a lot of the places I fish are near aspens, and I think there are a lot of artistic qualities going on with with all of the lines they have and that are created in a large grove.  

I have been using Ilford HP5 film lately and processed the films in Ilford's Ilfosol S and I am not sure if it was the right developer for the HP5, because these came out rather flat, especially the two square ones, the light was flat that day too as I recall.

 Brian

All of this talk about trees kind of reminds me of a poem, one you may have read or heard before...

Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer

Published again

Back in August I was asked to do some photography for a local tenkara fly fishing guide company, Tenkara Guides LLC, for a story about them that would eventually be published in  a magazine that is being billed as, "the first print publication dedicated to tenkara in the world". I am pleased, honored and delighted to say that the magazine is finally published and I have four photographs that accompany the article written by John one of their guides and partners.
The magazine is published by Tenkara USA, and can be purchased HERE.
It's 112 pages and has articles, essays and interviews written by tenkara enthusiasts from around the world, many of which  I know personally or through Facebook and other websites.
I thought I'd post one of the four photographs from the article, as sort of a teaser, to see the others you'll have to buy the magazine...

 
This and  two of the other photographs in the article were shot using my 6x12 Holga Pan.

Brian

Portraits - Holga Style

Webster's defines "portrait" as a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person that usually only includes the person's head and shoulders.
I like to make portraits of people, people that I know or strangers that I find interesting; and while my portraits aren't the most formal I think they capture my subject in a very unique way.
For example, at a Veterans Day parade last month I happened upon a fellow Veteran who was playing the bagpipes.  I talked to him for a few moments and asked him if I could make a portrait of him.

Most of my portraits are of people that I know and have known for quite some time before I photograph them, which be usually make it pretty easy to make a good portrait of them. As in the case of my friend Jim, who I had worked closely with for nearly four years before I made this portrait of him.

Although it has been a few years since I made this portrait of my friend John, during a trip to Maine, I think this one is the funnest portrait I have eve made, I think it captures his slightly mischievous and playful nature. At the time I made this portrait of John, I had only known him a few days, but it was a very intense few days at a photography workshop where he was the instructor. 

 Then there are the people that I know very well, and who know me equally as well if not better, as in the case of my wife.  This is a portrait, that I think is probably the sexiest photograph I have made of her. I love the quality of light on this one as well as my subject.

You can check out more of my portraits in my aptly titled Flickr set, "Portraits" some of which were a part of an exhibit I was a part of back in 2007.

Brian

Rockin Cowboy...

Stetsons and Telecasters, not sure there is anything else to say...

Brian

Weather

I fished the Weber River recently and while I didn't catch any fish, I did manage to get this photograph that I feel captured the day well.  It was an early October day and we experienced a number of different types of weather from rain, to snow to seasonally warm temperatures to seasonally cold temperatures.

While I have fished the Weber before, I hadn't fished this particular section, so I enjoyed  fishing this new section.

Brian

More panos

I have been using my 6x12 HolgaPan camera a lot lately and so I thought I'd post a couple of more photographs from it.
These were both on the same six exposure roll, but were made about about a month apart on the Provo River.

And this one, which was done in early August..

I really like the format of this camera, I think the images I have done so for will make for a great next book.

Variation

When I first got my 6x12 Pan, one of the things I wanted to do was to continue with the double exposure "trout dreams" theme, so on a recent outing to my favorite river, I was able to make one such photograph.

I like it and am going to continue to explore this variation on the "trout dreams" theme. My next book might even be compromised entirely of photographs using the new camera.

In some ways I think this panoramic format is really more like my dreams, because when I close my eyes, my dreams tend to span across the inside of both of my eyes. 

When you dream, what do you dream about?
Brian

Trout Dreams - A Review

Looks like I have had my first ever review of my book, it comes from a fly fishing blog that you may or may not know The Uncommon Angler, it was written by a FaceBook friend and photographer Austin Green,.
He bought the book a month or so ago, and while I asked him to do it, I am pretty sure he would he would have done it had I not asked.
So without further ado, here is the first ever review of my book, Trout Dreams, as written by Austin Green.

Trout Dreams: A Book By Brian L. Schiele

Thanks again Austin!

Brian

Color

Unless you've followed my photography for more than the past five years or so, you'd probably think that I only shoot black and film.  If I could estimate the ratio of the number of rolls of black and white film I have shot  versus the number of rolls of color film I have shot over the course of my nearly 29 year photographic experience, I'd probably put it right around 50/50.  I have even shot some fishing stuff in color, it's just that the black and white seemed to be more successful.
On a recent occasion where my family and I took a little road trip I took at least three Holga cameras, the one that I actually used was trusty my red Holga, that I run color slide film in, Fujichrome 100 Velvia  to be precise. It's a great film that works very well in a Holga. 

I have made a few photographs like this one in the past, but I think this one is the most successful because of the warm light and the texture on the bottom of the pool.

I don't usually post photographs of my daughter, but this one is so cute I thought I'd post it, which was from the same roll of Velvia.

Next post will be more fishing!
Brian

And the winner is...

The "Random Number Generator" has randomly generated the number 40, which means that "DJ" is the winner.
So "DJ" please contact me and I can send you the book.  I don't know if you saw it n Facebook or not, but I decided to throw in a photograph that appears in the book as well.
If you know "DJ" please let him know.
Please contact me by using my email listed to the right and please do so within 10 days.  If I don't hear from you in that time, I will draw another person.
I am grateful for all of the comments that this giveaway received, and  wish I could give a book to everyone that entered, especially those of you who I actually know.
If any of you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book, you can purchase by checking out my Blurb store HERE. 

Brian

Win this book!

It's hard to believe, but June 2013 marks the 10 year anniversary of mtbbrian.com. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was learning HTML and DreamWeaver with my foot propped up in a cast, just a few weeks from my wedding day. My photography has changed and so has my site, but I am  happy to say that I am still married to the same woman I married 10 years ago.  You can see a few pics of my wife that I have taken over the past 10 years and other photographs by checking out The Internet Archives " Wayback Machine", by plugging in mtbbrian.com.
In celebration of this monumental occasion I thought I'd giveaway a signed  copy of my book, "Trout Dreams", the very one pictured below a 10"x8" standard landscape hardcover with dustcover.

"THE RULES"
*All you have to do is comment on this post  and you will be entered for the giveaway  The entry period begins today and ends at 11:59 PM MST on the 10th of June 2013. 
*Then on or about the 11th, I will pick a winner using the random number generator on random.org.
*If you must comment using the Anonymous,Open ID or Name/URL options, please leave a name and email so I know who you are are and how to contact you.
*You can share this post if you like, and please do, but the only way to enter this giveaway is to comment on this post.
*Due to shipping costs, I have to limit this giveaway to readers in the United States and Canada only.

If you aren't the lucky winner, and you still want a copy of the my book "Trout Dreams", you can check out my Blurb.com store and buy one.
Good Luck and thanks for entering!
Brian

New camera Holga 6x12 Pan, New Photographs

I got a new camera recently, a Holga 6x12 Panoramic Camera, as with all of my Holgas I had it modified by my friend Randy "The Holga Mods Guy". Make sure and check out his 6x12 page to see what my camera looks like,the "Holga Lens" one as he calls it, mine is pretty much like the red one pictured.
So naturally I had to go fishing to try it out..
I was fortunate to have some time away from work recently that allowed me to go fishing twice in one week, and far as fishing goes I was equally as fortunate to be able to go with two very different, two very experienced tenkara anglers, that I have befriended over the past couple of years.
My new camera's maiden voyage was on a small stream with my friend "Tenkara Elevated".

I had a couple of other photographs of him, but this one really captures the peacefulness of the urban spot we were fishing; and while I didn't catch any fish at this spot, I am happy to report that later in the day at another spot I did.  I am grateful that I was able to fish him, because I certainly learned a few things fishing him that day. 
Later in the week I took my new Holga 6x12 with another friend, ERiK, from Tenkara Guides LLC. a local guide service which was  one of  the first Tenkara USA Certified guide services.  They boys at Tenkara Guides are a great group, who are very community oriented  too, so check them out.
We went to a place I have driven by or ridden by on my mountain bike many times in my life, and I never thought I'd fish there, but was it a great place to fish, it was certainly the most technical place I have ever fished considering how small the stream was and how fast the water was moving down the narrow granite canyon. It was great fishing with ERiK, because I sure learned a lot from him too, I don't think I would have caught a trout had I not been with him.
The first place we stopped had some graffiti, on the remnants of what I'd call a man made ditch made of concrete and steel.  It was a cool place to fish for sure which made fora really cool photograph as well.

We continued to fish up the narrow canyon, and I eventually caught a fish and we later came upon this scene.

 
You can see the other photographs I made with my Holga 6x12 Pano, on my Flickr stream if you like, and if you like them leave a comment here and let me know.
All  in all I'd say that my first two outings with my new camera were pretty successful which has got me thinking  about ideas for my next book...

Trout Dreams, Take A Look..

I am pleased and delighted to announce that  my book, "Trout Dreams" is now available for purchase.
It is available in two sizes a Large Format  Landscape that measures 13"x11"and a smaller Standard Landscape which measures 10"x8". 

Trout Dreams by Brian L. Schiele | Make Your Own Book

Before I continue, I want tell you about a few things about the book.  It's 40 pages and contains 30 photographs, and I am grateful that I was able to call upon Bob White, to write the introduction for me.  For those of who don't know Bob, he is a painter, angler, guide and writer, whose paintings grace the walls of many private and corporate collections worldwide.  He writes a regular column for Fly Rod & Reel Magazine called "An Angle on Art", he even wrote about me in the Winter 2011 column.  Make sure and check out his site, "The Classic Sporting Art of Bob White".

Pricing varies depending on a few things, but the two main things are format and paper. I just received my own copy of the book and I ordered it with the "Premium Lustre" paper which adds less than $10 to the overall price, I think it is the best option for the money.  You can bring the price of the book down by using any of the various "promo codes" buy doing a search for "Blurb Promo Codes".  I have found "Retail Me Not" to be a useful site, you'll find many codes for such offers as free shipping and various percentages off the final price.

I'd also like to thank my wife and daughter for their support of my photography and this book, Cameron Mortenson and his fishing blog, The Fiberglass Manifesto who first wrote about my photography, and Aaron Otto for following suite. My friend Lee Kelley for his mad editing skills, and of course everyone I have ever fished with whether they are in the book or not.

You can get to my main bookstore page to see both formats here if you like too: Brian L. Schiele's Bookstore

Make sure and check back on June First for a chance to win a signed copy of the standard landscape version to commemorate 10 years of mtbbrian.com.
Thanks for reading and your support!
Brian

What The Font?

I am all but done with the book, and am now making the final tweaks that will polish the final layout.
I even went as far as to make up a small test version of the book and ordered it to see what it would look like, which caused me to make the above mentioned tweaks.  My biggest concern is what font to use for the cover, I have been more of keep it simple kind of font guy for anything I've ever done, but think this time I want to do something different, something that will catch potential readers eye and go well with the dreamy theme..
It's not easy picking a good font, with that I thought I'd put out there a few the fonts I like in hopes that you might help me pick a good font.

This first one I like, because it is bold and certain to catch the attention potential readers, it's called "Carbon Black"

Next one is I wasn't quite sure what I thought when it came up, it's called Engravers MT, but I do kind of like that it's two lines.

And then, a lovely font that when I first saw it, thought that it just might be on the one to go with, a font called Papyrus.

But then I came across this lovely font. which I think works well within the context of the "trout dreams" theme too, it's "Viner Hand ITC:

And lastly, I came across this font. called "Zemke Hand" which I like for the hand written quality.

And for an overall feel of what the cover will look like with the Viner Hand ITC Font:

See my dilemma? They are all great fonts and lend themselves well to the "trout dreams" theme..
Help me decide by commenting.
Thanks!
Brian

The book, it's coming along...

Just thought I'd put out another post about the status of my book.  

This is snippet is from the title page and I now have my own statement on the book written as well.   

 I am still on track for it to be published in June,  and I am looking forward to it be finished.  I have put a lot of work into this, and am optimistic about its success.

Hopefully before the book is completed and I officially announce it, I will post some new photographs, I have two rolls of film that are just about finished the next time I get out to the river.

This will probably be the last post about the book until I announce it and the giveaway for a copy in June.

Thanks for reading.

Brian

The Book, an update...

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a month since I have posted anything on the book, but I am still working on it and have made some great progress and have formulated a plan for its release.
The layout of it is complete, and I have been able to convince someone who is familiar with my photography and who has done so before, to write an introduction for me. (THANK YOU mystery writer!)
You'll have to wait and see who that will be.
My plan is to release it on June first, as a way of kicking off the 10 year anniversary of mtbbrian.com and will have a give away for a signed copy of it, so be ready for that. 
I am working towards having three editions that will be at different price points. The first version, will be a large format hardcover, which measures 13"x11", the second will be a smaller version of first measuring 10"x8" and the last will be a softcover version of the smaller hardcover.  While I don't know the exact prices on the finished books, Blurb is telling me to that I can expect them to run $62 to $24, which is based on type of book, and number of pages. I am trying to keep it to 40 pages, which will be about 32 photographs, which means I could very well do another book, and probably will at some point.
I will leave you with this, a screenshot of the entire dustcover from the hardcover edition.
What do  you think?
Brian

The Book, continued...

I have been continuing to experiment with different layouts for my "Trout Dreams" book and have come up with one for the diptychs and Holgaramas that I think will work.

I think this layout works a lot better than the previous layout I posted where I had a square photograph paired with a wide format diptych.   I am going to hold on to this layout for a while and see how I feel about it after I do more with the book.

My other layout challenge continues to elude me, which is by far the most important element of the book which is of course the cover.  In keeping with my camera choice I want to keep things simple, but I know I need to make somewhat of a visual impact at the same time. Since my original post the other other day I have come up with two more cover layouts.

I am thinking that this one is a bit too much like the inside of the book, so I don't think I'll go with this layout.

 

I think this one is a little better, but I am still not sure.

I was talking with a friend recently about this book, and over the course of the conversation she kept asking me, "Why?" Why do you want to do a book like this?". And I have given it more thought, and I want to do a book like this as continuation, or maybe a preliminary event to the exhibit I want of this body of work.  After all, exhibits are only up and seen for a few short weeks or so, but a book lives on and on..

I'd love to hear any thoughts, comments and suggestions, I have never done anything like this before.

Thanks,

Brian

Would you buy this book?

One of my biggest goals as a photographer and especially with the fly fishing photographs I have been doing for the past five years, is to have the work exhibited and to ultimately have a book.  While I am not in a place to be able to do an exhibit and with all of the many site that are available to self publish a book of your own, I thought I'd give t a try.
While I do that I thought I'd conduct a little market research and testing of various things that are involved with doing a book.
I have decided to use Blurb's "BookSmart" software for my book,  and I have been experimenting with layout and design and have come up with the following, so far anyway, for the cover.

I generally like white for matting, but in this case I think it is just too stark, which is why I came up with a second cover.

I think I like the grey better, but I think the photograph needs to be positioned a little better now that I look at it.
The hardest part I find when doing a book, is putting the photographs in order, I have been playing around with placing a photograph with a more broader view on the  right side of the page with a detail photograph on the right like this.

The placement of the square photographs is pretty easy, and initially I thought I'd stick with just the square photographs, but the diptychs and and "Holgarama's I have are a big part of what I feel makes these photographs unique in the context of fly fishing, so I am going to include them.  The trouble I am having is sizing them, they are just so wide that they don't fit on the page, even with the 13"xx11" format. I know I'll figure it out though!

So far this is what I have come up with as far as putting the diptychs and Holgaramas in the book.  I'd like to have them span both pages, but as I mentioned I am having trouble doing it, but I think this works.
Don't you?

There are other challenges too of course, like writing some of my own text, such as an artist statement and what text if any to put with the photographs, all of which will come in time as I do the layout of the book..

What I'd really like is to have someone well known in the fly fishing industry, blogosphere or even a photographer write a forward for it, that would be the ultimate. 

My biggest fear of course is that no one will buy the book, a common fear for all artists I know, but the old adage, "If you build it, they will come" keeps running through my mind while I stress over font types, layout and what not.
I know that self publishing is where the publishing industry is going, but I'd sure love to have a book done the traditional way.  If anyone out there who works in the publishing industry and likes what they see in my photography feel free to contact me.

All that being said, would you buy a book of my photography? I know that the few people who I know actually check out my blogsite and comment would, but if you like my photography and have never commented or are just checking out my site for the first time let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you on any aspect of this. 

Thanks,

Brian