Wanderin'

I set out today with out much of an aim and ended up in St. Joseph, Missouri. With all the flooding along the Missouri River, it's not exactly easy to get from Omaha to here. In fact, there isn't an open bridge across the river between Omaha and St. Joseph at the moment. Unfortunately, as I type this from a hotel room, there's a huge storm making its way through Omaha and southeast Nebraska into Iowa and Missouri. Rain is the last thing that the area needs at the moment.

It's only fitting that the weather didn't cooperate much at all today in a photographic sense. At first, everything was a uniform gray, but as the afternoon went on, the sun would appear and then disappear frequently. Without the sun illuminating the ground, the sky was much too bright to work with. And every time I tried to wait it out, the sun wouldn't peek through until I was back in the car and ready to move on.

The first photograph was taken just to the south of College Springs, Iowa. The second, of an old steel bridge over the swollen West Nishnabotna River, was taken between Malvern and Randolph, Iowa.

Also visited: Treynor, Silver City, Imogene, Shenandoah, Coin, Blanchard, Shambaugh and Braddyville, Iowa. Burlington Junction, Maryville, Bolckow, Rosendale, Rea, Whitesville, King City, Union Star, Helena, Rochester and Savannah, Missouri.

June

It's hard to believe June is already two-thirds over. Time has a way of really getting away from me.

I'm still at work photographing South Omaha. So far, it has been a bit of a struggle for me. The first camera had a wonky shutter and I keep forgetting to set the dial back to aperture priority on the second one. It's unbelievably frustrating to look down and suddenly realize you've shot half a roll of film at 1/60th of a second. Rather than admit defeat, I say a few impolite words in my head and go right back at it. I'm also finding the small area I've chosen to focus on to be more restrictive than I had imagined. In most cases, I just set out in the car and go for hours. This subject requires more thought and depth, more time spent walking and searching.

A few days ago, a friend asked me why I'm continuing to attempt something that I find to be so frustrating. I find that I need to work in a different way and develop new skills, no matter how much I want to go back to what I know best. It's the only way I can get better and evolve as an artist. So I press on.

I am sending four rolls of film off to Dwayne's in Parsons, Kansas tomorrow. New photographs soon, U.S. Mail and old Minolta camera willing.

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Also, don't forget that I'm posting three images of Nebraska to my Flickr account every day this month. I've enjoyed going back through all the images from ninety-three for what feels like the thousandth time. There's always something new to be found...

www.flickr.com/photos/josephvavak

Including the photograph of the sandhills and sky of Arthur County, Nebraska that is now on the front page of my website.

www.josephvavak.com

The other half...

I recently began posting photographs on a Flickr page, hoping to reach new people and join a wider community of photographers. I will be updating the page on a regular basis, so stop by periodically and see what's going on. There is a new Untitled series already posted that hasn't appeared on my website yet.

Over the next month, I will be displaying a second set of images of Nebraska. Entitled ninety-three and a half, the series features another 93 images that didn't make the cut for the finished product. I love many of these photographs as much as anything I've ever done, and I discovered many new images I hadn't given a second thought since the early days of my travels. There will be three photographs posted (most) every day in the month of June.

Without further adieu..

www.flickr.com/photos/josephvavak

Sunday details

Both images are from Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Happy (?) accidents

The aforementioned shutter problems lead to some interesting results. While I like the spontaneity of some of the mistakes, as illustrated above, I'm sending the camera in for repairs. I think I would get more and more frustrated as I saw more otherwise good photographs ruined.

South O

It took a little longer than I had expected, but the first two rolls of film of images from South Omaha are back from a photo lab in Texas. The good news is that the ol' Minolta works well for the most part, although the shutter appears to lag occasionally. Working from film scans will take some getting used to, but I like the results thus far.

For now, enjoy a few images from Sunday afternoon, May 8th.

ninety-three

Matej Vavak came to Nebraska in 1868 with his wife and five children, settling on a homestead in the hills of Saunders County near what would become the Czech village of Prague. The family first built a log cabin, then a house, and farmed the land for many years. Upon his death, Matej was buried with his wife in a small cemetery in the fields of the property, marked with a large stone carved in his native Bohemian language.

I didn’t come to Nebraska until 1995, the summer before my junior year of high school. My father grew up in Prague and my mother in east-central Iowa, but I was born in Indiana after they were married. By the time I became interested in art and photography, I had lived in Nebraska for roughly half of my life, much longer than my family had stayed in any one place while I was growing up. I realized that I only knew a very small portion of the state I called home and decided to embark on a photo project designed to change that.

On a warm June day in 2007, I began my exploration at the grave of Matej Vavak, still standing in the midst of a field of newly planted soy beans. It seemed like a fitting place to begin the journey. That first day, I crossed the Platte River at North Bend and drove US Highway 30 west to Grand Island.

ninety-three developed over the course of a few road trips to every corner of the state. At first, I didn't really know exactly what it was I was looking for. This was the best possible way I could have approached something like this. Without a concrete plan, I was able to let Nebraska dictate how the project would look and influence the way my photography was developing. I found out a lot about myself in the landscape, from the isolation of a single lane of asphalt through the sandhills to the tremendous sound of a short grass prairie moving in the wind. Even though the project is now finished, I find myself with a strong need to revisit these places, to continue exploring Nebraska.

In the end, the series consists of one photograph for every one of the state’s 93 counties. It’s an unusual portrait of the state I call home, a visual document recording all the details that I encountered along the way. I hope that people enjoy the photographs and find themselves inspired to get to know Nebraska a little better.

Selections from ninety-three were exhibited at Hot Shops Art Center in Omaha during May of 2010. I hope to show the entire series at some point and publish a book of the photographs.

A map of everywhere I visited during the making of ninety-three.

A new beginning...

It was almost a year ago that I found myself happily unemployed and toyed with creating a document of the South Omaha I had come to love since moving to this part of town. After a somewhat feeble attempt at starting the project, I put it on the back burner and continued to put a bit of polish on ninety-three instead. Today, I spent the afternoon photographing South Omaha once again, restarting what I hope will hold my attention and bring inspiration to me.

I have decided to shoot color film for the first time in a few years. Pictured above is the Minolta XD-5 SLR that I purchased a few weeks ago along with 35mm and 50mm lenses. It was manufactured in 1979, the same year I was born. The hope is that the older camera will seem less conspicuous than an all black, modern DSLR and people will be a little more comfortable around it.

As I worked with the Minolta today, I remembered why I like these simple manual focus cameras so much. The viewfinder is tremendous, the subject snaps in and out of focus smoothly as I turn the lens' focusing ring. It's a bit like driving a car with a manual transmission. The operator feels more connected with the machine, more involved in the process of taking a photograph. The XD-5 doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it feels solid and the lenses are wonderfully small and well-built.

After shooting with digital for so long, I found returning to film to be a bit of an adjustment. There's no confirmation as to whether you got everything right or if something went horribly wrong. Thirty-six exposures seems both small and large at the same time. The last frame can come up right in the middle of a burst of creativity. Or it waits off in the distance, taunting you to find enough potential subjects to finish the roll. I can't decide what is worse, wasting the last few frames or leaving a half-shot roll in the camera, anxious to see what magic you captured, unable to develop the film until it reaches its end.

Cross your fingers for me. I'll (hopefully) have some images later this week, thirty-year old camera permitting.

For the photo nerds in the audience who care about such things, I'm trying out Kodak's Ektar 100 film. It's supposed to be as close to transparency film as print film gets, with the least grain of any color film. This is actually the first time I've ever shot Kodak color film. All of my older projects were shot with the now defunct Fujifilm NPS 160 film.

A spring afternoon

May has snuck up on Nebraska, ushering in green grass and mighty thunderstorms, giving us all a chance to enjoy the fleeting days of spring. After my morning class, I was compelled by the towering clouds to stare at (and attempt to photograph) the afternoon sky in awe. In the end, I spent most of my time waiting for the sun to find its way out from between the clouds, watching the water of Lake Manawa with the retired old men who sit for hours alone staring at their fishing lines.

I sat on the banks of the Missouri for a time, just myself and the swirling motions of its current going by. The result of that activity is included above. It's a series of photographs of the same spot in the river, taken a few seconds apart.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone.

Camera recommendations

From time to time (or a little more often than that), I am asked by friends and family what camera they should purchase. As this question usually involves repeating myself repeatedly, I figured I'd put some of what I've learned in a handy blog entry.

This advice is by no means definitive. Every style of photography has different demands and different people use cameras in different ways. This list is intended for those who are buying a DSLR for the first time, for general photographic use, and want to get the best camera possible for their money.

As for point and shoot style digicams, I really don't have a recommendation any longer. There is so much sameness in every manufacturer's offerings. There are (not even) a handful of digicams aimed more towards a serious photographer, but they don't offer near the image quality or flexibility of even the lowest priced dslr.

Entry level: Pentax K-r
Surprise, eh? Pentax cameras are quite a bit harder to find in stores these days, but I think the K-r is the best blend of image quality and price that's currently available. The Pentax features the same tried-and-true sensor as the last generation Nikon D90 and D300, both of which are much more expensive cameras. This sensor gives the camera fantastic dynamic range and image quality that the competition at this price point doesn't have. Price? Around $550 on Amazon as I type this, or $650 as a two-lens kit.

Mid-level: Nikon D5100

This camera just hit the market in the last couple of weeks, but it's a great value for anyone who wants to try out video as well as still images. The D5100 features a handy rotating, swiveling screen that can be used at all sorts of interesting angles. It also utilizes the latest 16 megapixel sensor from Nikon / Sony, a sensor with more resolution and even better dynamic range than the previously mentioned 12 megapixel sensor. The opening price is around $899 with a kit lens but will be sure to drop over the course of the next few months.

Prosumer: Nikon D7000

I recently downsized to a Nikon D7000 after shooting larger Canon full-frame sensor cameras for much of the past four years. The D7000 features the same sensor as the D5100 in a more robust body with a brighter, larger viewfinder that shows 100% of what will end up in the captured image. So far, I've been very impressed with the camera, especially the sheer amount of dynamic range available in the raw files, and have really enjoyed carrying around a lot less weight than I used to with the full frame lenses and camera. The D7000 is just small enough without being too small. Since the camera is still in heavy demand, it's price is holding steady at around $1199 for the body only or $1499 for the kit with the surprisingly good 18-105mm lens.

Beyond that, I'm sure most people spending in the ballpark of $2000 will have a good idea of what they are looking for. Currently, it would seem that everyone is waiting for replacements of the models that are currently out. I still think the Canon 5D MkII is the best camera in the $2-3000 price range, but wouldn't mind trying out the Sony A850 or A900. The Nikon D700 may be able to take pictures in the dark, but I'd rather have more resolution if I'm going to spend the money to shoot full frame.

As for the recent crop of micro four-thirds cameras from Olympus and Panasonic, as well as Sony's NEX system, I have trouble really recommending them at this time. Micro four-thirds (other than the slighty larger Panasonic GH1 and GH2) suffers from lower quality sensors with reduced dynamic range that can make noise in the shadows a problem. Sony's NEX system has potential, but there are hardly any lenses available for it. It will be interesting to see what happens once companies like Nikon and Pentax release mirrorless cameras, as has been rumored of late.

I'd really like try out a Fujifilm X100, if anyone wants to loan me $1200 to buy one. Your support is much appreciated...

An anniversary

Downtown Omaha, from 16th and Jackson.

The First National Tower under construction.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the first day I picked up a camera and attempted to make photographs in an artistic sort of way. It was a fairly warm Easter Sunday and I was living in an apartment in downtown Omaha. I remember a homeless man preaching to me about Jesus as I walked down Jackson Street. And it was the day that Joey Ramone passed away.

I had just purchased a Sony digital camera on a whim. To be honest, I don't really remember why I felt I needed to spend $350 on something I really didn't have much use for at the time. It had a 1.3 megapixel sensor and the 64 mb (!) memory stick I purchased to go with the camera cost $130. Most of the photographs from those first few months are taken at awkward angles, something I must have felt gave the images a more authentically artistic bent. Most were taken in the camera's black and white mode, another important aspect of overly artsy photographs.

In those days, I was completely up in the air about where my life was headed. My first serious relationship had ended a year before and I was just about to go back to college in pursuit of a psychology degree. I ran a fairly popular punk music website and had vague dreams of starting a record label or opening a club. But, like most of the people I knew at the time, I just was sort of hanging around, hoping something would catch my eye.

Somehow, photography clicked with me. It was still quite some time before I found myself and really became interested in art, but the foundation was there early on. Ten years later, I feel like I'm still learning and improving, and I've actually gotten to the point where I can refer to myself as an artist with a straight face. I look forward to a lifetime of possibilities.

Below are a few more photographs from those first few months.

Boys Town

Gateway Arch. St. Louis, Missouri.

Downtown. Prague, Nebraska

Boys Town

A lazy Sunday afternoon

near Blencoe

With gas nearing $4 a gallon, my love of road trips is getting to be near as expensive as a drug habit. It's $50 to fill even the tank of my little Subaru. Despite that, I've been feeling restless again of late, and went out for a little bit of Sunday afternoon exploration. I spent some time photographing the north downtown section of Omaha and then took off into the Loess Hills of Iowa.

I fear there's nothing too exciting to report. It's definitely good to see some green growing again.

Blencoe

near Council Bluffs

Also visited: Crescent, Honey Creek, Modale, Mondamin and Onawa, Iowa.