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| 'Tour de Flambouron' - 1986 snake |
the fine art of bowhunting
Smith & Bresson Club
Smith & Bresson Club - I was inspired to create the Smith & Bresson Club for photography by the Pope and Young Club, which is for bowhunters. There are certain requirements, which a bow kill needs to satisfy in order to qualify for acceptance in the Pope and Young Club. The criteria to be accepted in the Smith & Bresson club will be based on my own subjective view of my work, which I will score. In short, those photographs that are part of this club will be my best work and those pieces, which would be part of an exhibition. Any photos that meet this criteria, will be marked by a small skull icon. To view the documentary THE BLUE WHITETAIL, go to the following website; http//:filmfreeway.com/873363 or click on the Smith & Bresson logo above.
April 30, 2012
April 29, 2012
Jackson Pollock, Willem DeKooning
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| 'Willem DeKooning' - 1978 snake |
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| 'Jackson Pollock' - 1979 snake |
Pollock &
DeKooning. As a senior in high school, I was still learning about photographic
composition. I really didn’t know anything about abstract or symmetrical forms,
outside of the concepts of leading lines and contrast that my teacher spoke
about. I certainly didn’t know of the masters of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson
Pollock or Willem DeKooning (though I did see Pollock’s work ‘Lavender Mist’, which for some reason I hated,
in a kid’s game called Masterpiece).
In spite of the early experience, Pollock and DeKooning became my 2 favorite painters
and I see now, how some of my nature shots resemble their work.
I have learned, through photographing with a full, 35mm
frame, that there is a lot of ‘noise’ in the rectangle of the viewfinder. Your
eye must constantly look for the composition to appear in the frame. Similarly,
a bowhunter looks through the maze of branches, briars and bushes to find a
perfectly camouflaged deer, always carefully concentrating on its chest, to
send an arrow through the vital organs for a quick, humane kill.
Just as one can look at Pollock’s compositions and find the
harmony within the lines, so does a bowhunter look through the abstract lines
of nature to find the harmony in the shape of a whitetail.
April 28, 2012
April 27, 2012
April 26, 2012
April 25, 2012
April 24, 2012
Father & Son & Daughter
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| 'Father & Son' - 1986 snake |
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| 'Father & Daughter' - 1986 snake |
Ground Blind. The location for my ground blind had been very
productive. In a short period of time, I
harvested two mature whitetail bucks and two yearlings (a doe and a spike horn
buck).
April 23, 2012
April 22, 2012
April 21, 2012
April 20, 2012
Bill Cunningham, Salzburg
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| 'Bill Cunningham, Salzburg' - 1981 snake |
Bill Cunningham, the Bowhunter. This photograph is my homage to Bill Cunningham,
the premiere street fashion photographer of the New York Times. Cunningham isn’t just any
fashion photographer. He is arguably, the originator of the genre of
documenting street fashion. This
photograph was taken in Austria in 1981. I saw a pretty, well-dressed, young
woman with a wicker basket and a motorcycle helmet, through the reflection of a glass
door. I knew nothing of Bill Cunningham at the time ( I just learned of him in 2011
when I saw the documentary Bill Cunningham, New York ) but now, when I see this
photograph, I think of his work.
From what I know of Bill Cunningham, I think that he
probably could have been a great bowhunter. If you are familiar with his qualities and the way he
approaches his work, then you know what I mean. For one thing, he is obsessed
with his craft. He is very detail conscious, refusing to let anything escape
his eye. He also has tremendous
integrity, both as a photographer and a human being. Integrity is key to being
a bowhunter. While there are rules of fair chase, in the end, only the hunter
and God, will ever know if a deer is killed within the confines of those rules
or if it was poached.
Had Bill Cunningham pursued bowhunting instead of
photography, I’ve no doubt he would have become one of the legendary icons of
the sport, such as Fred Bear. His daily passion for going out to photograph,
perfectly mirrors the obsession that hunting greats had for going into the
woods in the pursuit of game.
April 19, 2012
April 18, 2012
April 17, 2012
April 16, 2012
April 15, 2012
April 14, 2012
April 13, 2012
April 12, 2012
April 11, 2012
Stormy Gulls
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| 'Stormy Gulls' - 2011 snake |
Mistakes, Part 2. Despite their best efforts, bowhunters are constantly making mistakes. This is probably the main reason whitetails usually win the battle in the end. My 2011 hunting season came and went without a single kill due, in no small part, to the numerous mistakes I committed. Where to begin? For starters, I purchased new equipment, to update 20 year old equipment. In the middle of the season, I discarded my new release aid for my old one…which set my anchor point off…which caused me to miss a Pope and Young buck at only 9 yards away. Not a smart move.
Photographers make mistakes too and the results can be just as heartbreaking. I never allow anyone to process my black and white film. Recently, I had a friend, process 5 rolls of my film. All were fine, except one roll which looked as though it wasn’t agitated correctly. Fortunately, the best shot on the roll is actually better with the defect than it would have been without. In that case, things turned out well and I am grateful to my friend for all the help. I only wish my hunting mistake had provided me with a trophy deer and that delicious venison. No such luck.
April 10, 2012
April 9, 2012
April 8, 2012
F-1 Beams, Barn
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| 'F-1 Beams' - 1977 snake |
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| 'F-1 Barn' - 1977 snake |
Canon F-1. My first 35 mm camera was a Canon F-1 with a 50mm FD1.4 lens. At the time it was Canon’s top-of-the-line camera and the last fully mechanical camera the company made. But the Canon F-1 was not how I got my start in photography. That distinction belongs to a Kodak Pocket Instamatic. So how did I make the leap?
As a junior in high school, I had my hands full with egg-head honors classes while also wrestling on the varsity team, so I decided to take photography as an ‘easy’ elective. My first assignment for the photography class was to shoot a roll of black and white film. All I could scrounge up was that Instamatic. Even so, my teacher really liked the shots I took with that little camera and on that encouragement, I decided to buy a 35mm camera. My friend (whose name I will kindly not mention) offered to sell me a brand new, ‘hot’ Canon F-1, with a price way too good to pass up. With the Canon in hand, my father took me into the city of Rochester, and then out to the countryside, so I could shoot a roll of 24 frames. The barn shots and Xerox Tower are the best shots edited from the roll.
April 7, 2012
Arrow Head
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| 'Arrow Head' - 1977 snake |
Arrow Head. This shot of Xerox Tower was taken with my first 35mm camera and my first roll of film. I was not a bowhunter then and I knew nothing about full frame, 35mm shooting. Still, I can’t help but think of this shot as a foreshadowing of things to come because it looks a lot like a hunting broadhead.
April 6, 2012
A Group of Does
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| 'A Group of Does' - 1986 snake |
Does. Bowhunting a mature whitetail buck (4 1/2 years or older) is very difficult. Hunters have to contend with seemingly endless numbers of factors. For instance, we have to determine when, this mostly nocturnal creature, might show itself during legal hunting hours, which you probably already figured out, are not during the night. Hunting does can be just as difficult, often for other reasons. Does usually travel in bunches of 2-5 while bucks are solitary during the hunting season. A bowhunter must be still and stealthy in their ability to draw and aim the bow, all while trying to avert the attention of those numerous eyes, ears and noses. If a hunter is spotted by a doe, the pattern is often the same; a snort and quick bolt leaving nothing for the hunter but frustration…and a view of the white tails, disappearing into the woods. I know the pattern because it’s happened to me, all too often.
April 5, 2012
April 4, 2012
April 3, 2012
April 2, 2012
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