A Holga master and a Tenkara master go fishing...

I recently had the pleasure of meeting, fishing with and getting a little instruction from Daniel Galhardo, the founder of Tenkara USA.  If you've never heard of Tenkara, it's a form of fly fishing that originated in Japan a few centuries ago, it's very simple, in that all you use is a fly rod and line.  In many ways I think it has some similarities with toy camera photography in that it is primarily about the challenge of using a simple tool to obtain amazing results.

Dan was in the Salt Lake area doing an informal workshop and demo of tenkara fishing and his Tenkara rods, through a local fly fishing shop, Western Rivers Fly Fishing.  I have had fished once with one of these simple fly rods once before, but wanted to know more, so I went and took my Holgas along.   As see it, there is a connection between what I do with my photography and tenkara fishing.  The rods that Dan produce I think are really comparable to Holgas, they are made of a composite material and telescoping, which puts them somewhere in between a bamboo stick and a more contemporary fly rod, comparable to a Holga where you could put them somewhere in between a pinhole camera and your average digital SLR camera.

The technique you use while fishing with a tenkara rod is slightly different than what you do when fishing with a more contemporary fly rod, in that it's all in the wrist, and how you grip the rod is a little different too.

The sign of a great master, is that the master is able to teach the subject to any and all skill levels, and while the fly fishing ability of the group I was with was above average, Dan was certainly generous with his time and knowledge and got around to all of making sure that we all had a good technique.

 

 I really like the idea of tenkara fishing because it is so simple and minimalistic, while most of in the class carried our big backpacks with all of various gear, Dan didn't carry all that much, in his small hip bag. 

I enjoyed the day I had with Dan and the others, so much so I'd like to get a tenkara rod, perhaps if you took at look at my Etsy Shop, so that I might be able to buy one sooner rather than later.

Thanks for reading!

Living with if for a while...

I don't know what your editing process is, but when I look at a newly processed roll of film, I go with my gut, I look at the roll and I can quickly pick out the negatives I am going to print. There are usually others though that stick in my head after that initial look that I will have to live with for a while before I do anything with it.
This photograph was one of those negatives, if you look at the previous post (Salmo Trutta), that was the  negative I picked upon my initial look, and was the one I picked when I looked at the roll again, but this one, of the same trout has stuck in my head since then.

 

I am not sure which photograph I like more, or which is the better of the two; judging by the comments I have  received on Flickr on both photographs there is no clear choice.

So what do you think? Was my original choice the better one or was the one that I have been living with all these months the better photograph? Or shall I go out and photograph more fish, this was the first trout I have actually photographed after all. 

Please be specific, and give an honest critique of both photographs.

Thanks as always for reading, I look forward to hearing your thought about the photographs.

Brian

Memories of My Mom...

I thought I'd do something a little different, and post something  about my mom.
My mom died recently after a hard fought battle with cancer that lasted 16 years. During her more than 61 years on this world she did a lot of great things and I thought I'd touch on a few of them.  My mom was probably the most patriotic person I know, she loved our country and loved serving it too, when she was 31 years old she decided to join the military, the Air National Guard more specifically.  I was 10 at the time she went to air force basic training, and I was very proud of her when she graduated, it made being away from her all that time well worth it. Even though I was in the Air Guard for 11 years I always enjoyed having lunch with her and my dad on "drill weekend", we would often call each other "sergeant mom" or "sergeant son". She retired form the guard a few years ago after serving for 20 years.

My mom also played the violin, something she had done for a good part of her life, growing up she played in both the junior youth symphony and the youth symphony of the local school district. Later in life, before she had been diagnosed with cancer she was an original member of a local community symphony where she played for many years until the cancer prevented her from playing any longer.  I had always wanted to photograph her playing the violin, and I did so in what I recall was one of her last seasons with the the community symphony. 

The summer of 2007 my mom's cancer started to win the battle, a battle that she had faced head on with unwavering determination and a smile of optimism.  During that summer "The Story Corps Project" visited our area, so I took her there to record her story.

 I interviewed my mom for about an hour as I recall, and while most her life was pretty well known to me, I did learn a few new things about my mom too.

These are just a few of the memories I have of my mom, thanks for taking the time to read them and where ever you are mom thanks for being you... I LOVE YOU!

Channeling Rich, while photographing Rocky's Fly...

As I have previously mentioned, I enjoy "social networking", it has given me the opportunity to meet people I wouldn't have met otherwise, even if it is only virtually.  One such person, was a guy named Rich Schaaff, who like me is into fly fishing and photography, and was one of those people I really wished I could meet in person, unfortunately, I never got that chance, because Rich died suddenly last fall.  While I haven't really thought about him all that much since, it was on the occasion that I met one of my virtual friends who and also actually known Rich that I thought about him while we talked.
At the Wasatch Fly Fishing Expo, I met Rocky Maley, who has known Rich for several years, and has had Rich photograph a lot of his incredible flies for his website and more. After we initially talked and Rocky had a chance to look at my photography he came back with a couple of his flies, one of which I took and Brett Colvin, one of the other photographers I was displaying my photography with, took the other.
Before I photographed Rocky's fly, I took at look at Rich's "Art of the Fly" page, for some inspiration, many of the flies on this page are Rocky's.
As I was photographing Rocky's fly, I kept thinking of or perhaps "channeling" Rich, becasue I have struggled a little with doing these "macro" photographs with my Holga, so I think it helped, because I got it the first time.
Because these types of flies are bigger than the trout flies I am accustomed to I thought I would do something really different than just the usual square Holga photograph, so I did a "macro Holgarama".

I have talked to Rocky about it, while he gets what I was trying to do, he is a little confused by it, but he also said that the technique could grow on him.  I did a square version of the fly too, which Rocky really liked. 

 In talking to Rocky about it, and he said he would send a few more flies down.

I have posted this on a few photography and fly fishing forums and there no real consensus on which is the better photograph, so what do you think. Which is the better photograph and why?

Thanks for reading and hopefully taking the time to comment.
Brian

I am on Etsy now..

I thought I'd set up a shop on Etsy in an attempt to sell some of my photography.  I only have one listing at the moment, so please come and check it out..

Brian L. Schiele (mtbbrian)

Thanks!
Brian

Salmo Trutta...

I have known for a while that in order for this project to be successful I need to have some photographs of and with fish in them, but it's challenging sometimes to put my fly rod down and just be there as a photographer.
So on my last outing, I really made an effort to do that and was able to come away with a photograph of a nice MP brown trout that my buddy James had landed.

I have some macro photographs of some flies on this roll that I will post shortly. I hope you like this photograph there will be more photographs of and with fish to come.

Brian

 

In the darkroom....

I spent the day printing in the darkroom today, it was the first time I had done so in quiet some time; it's a part of photography that I enjoy almost as most as going out with my camera.  While I don't have a darkroom of my own, I am grateful enough to know someone who does, and I must say Robert Hall's darkroom is one of the nicest darkroom's I have ever worked in.
Even though I have been wanting to print for some time, the big reason I did so today was because of the email I got earlier this week from another photographer and fellow angler Jason Morrison.  In his email Jason asked if I'd be interested in showing my photography along side his in the display space he had recently gotten at the up coming Wasatch Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo, without hesitation I said yes.  

I decided upon 10 different negatives that I would make five photographs to for  the expo, eight of which would have to be printed in the darkroom, and the remaining two I will print on the computer.

       

Robert is a gracious host, everything was set up by the time I got to his home so all I had to do was pull out my negatives and away I went. 

 

I got into the groove quickly despite having been in the darkroom last about a year ago, so I was able to figure out what I needed to do each negative without wasting a lot of time or paper. 

I am not quite sure which is more magical, doing all of the dodging, burning and other adjustments as I create the photograph or watching it all appear as the paper bathes in the developer. 

 

Before too long one completed print become two, then three, and so on... 

 

 Next thing I knew I was done with the first set of five photographs and moved on to the next set.  I love to see how a test print becomes a final print, the whole process really is magical.

 

From test print to final print. 

Before too long I had a print washer full of prints that had been archivally processed and washed and need to be emptied for the next cycle.

Not a bad way to spend to spend some time in the dark, wouldn't you say...

 

Despite having a goal of completing eight sets of five prints I was only able to complete seven in the seven hours I was printing today, so needless to say I am pleased with the work I did today.  

The prints from today's darkroom session will be available for sale at the Wasatch Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo April 1-2, so please come by and by one or two.

 

Thanks again for the use of your wonderful darkroom Robert!