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Lensculture Posts BSG’s Niagara from Thousands of Worldwide Images
Niagara, Barry Steven Greff
is one of the largest destinations for curated, contemporary photography from around the world. Will Coldwell, writing in The Independent in 2013, described LensCulture as one of the ten best photography websites, calling it a “definitive resource for anyone who wants to keep up with the latest trends and debates in contemporary photography.”[4] Critic Sean O’Hagan, writing in The Guardian in 2012, listed it among the eight best photography websites or online publications, calling it “one of the most authoritative and wide-ranging sites.”[5]
Barry Steven Greff’s Niagara has been selected by Lenscultures’ editors to be featured in their Black & White Photography Awards 2019 Competition Gallery, visible to everyone who visits the website. “The Competition Gallery is a highly curated group of images selected by our editors to showcase only the best photos from entrants who are creating very strong work among our global community of photographers. This is an impressive accomplishment considering we get thousands of submissions from 160 countries.”
Usually a Straight Shooter, Sometimes, my Imagination Runs Wild.
Fantasy Island, Many Locations, Over Many Years
I am primarily a straight shooter, I try to capture what I see. There is often some type of post-production required, but again, with my subjects being natural, I try to keep them that way.
Every once in a while, I have been known to create something that I saw, but only in my mind’s eye. Case in point, Fantasy Island. A composite image of various portions of many different images I have created that come together in an M.C. Escher..esque type fantasy. Taken over many years in places from Niagara Falls to Carlsbad, California, an Oregon lake to a waterfall in Boulder, Colorado and many more. Following the image around, water flows down then up again, there is a full moon, yet lightning strikes in the distance. Horseback riders on a Washington State beach, mystic lake boaters and even a Roseate Spoonbill from the Florida Everglades flying across the scene.
Taken together, this an example of how the overly creative side of my mind works. The black and white helps produce the seamless nature of the composition, the rest of it, I can’t really explain…it just happens.
New Bern and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Pre-Hurricane
Lightning, OBX, North Carolina, 2005
Thinking about all those in the path of Hurricane Florence, the Outer Banks (known locally as OBX), New Bern and much of the rest of the states of North and South Carolina.
While staying in the historic city of New Bern, a two and a half hour road trip north to the Outer Banks resulted in the image above. Having forgotten my tripod in New Bern, I rested my camera on a towel on the railing of the hotel room’s terrace during a lightning storm and timed the opening of the shutter just right to capture the largest strike I have ever seen. It shook the building and the composition of the bolt and the lifeguard stand in the flowing sea oats made the image.
These are images of the Tryon Palace and New Bern Grand Marina, North Carolina, created in 2005. These are images from beautiful New Bern which is now already under water because it is located at the confluence of the Neuse and the Trent rivers. It is a historic city much of which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the buildings, residences, stores and churches date back to the early eighteenth century.
The Governor’s Palace, New Bern (also known as Tryon Palace, above), served as the capital of North Carolina from 1770 until the state government relocated to Raleigh in 1792. George Washington actually slept in New Bern. Visiting the room in which he stayed, was an eerie and historically moving experience.
Here’s hoping that both survive the Hurricane and can re-build as soon as possible.
Granite Flow on a Rainy Day
Another black and white image of water flowing downward over and around hard granite rock in the beautiful state of Colorado. Although I usually stay away from even the slightest political
Granite Flow, Boulder, Colorado 2008
reference in my photography, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to achieve considering the way things are going, which certainly wouldn’t be described as smooth.
Notwithstanding, in my work I always try to concentrate on the natural beauty that has (so far) survived all that has occurred around it. This image was created on a rainy day, just outside the classic Colorado city of Boulder. The muted sky allows for the tripod mounted camera’s shutter to remain open long enough to slow down the motion of the water and the rain emphasizes the sharp detail of the granite rock.
Here’s to hoping things around us flow more smoothly going forward… although as I hear myself write it, I recognize just how hard it will be to achieve.
Flowing Downward / Rocky Mountains
A classic black and white image of a mighty river flowing downward in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Downward Flow, Colorado 2010
After a particularly snowy winter, the melting runoff created a powerful flow down river. Captured using a tripod from a bridge over the river, the slow shutter speed caught the motion of the rushing water as it made its way around boulders and fallen trees.
BSG’s “Niagara” Recognized in Photo +, PDN’s 2016 EXPOSURE Awards
This week I am honored to have my image “Niagara” chosen as the winner in the “Natural Forces” category in Photo+, Photo District News’ (PDN’s) sixth annual EXPOSURE Photograhy Awards. Billed as a “global celebration of photography,” it truly was as winners of other categories hailed from: INDIA, LONDON, BANGLADESH, SAMOA, SOUTH KOREA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, BRAZIL,
Niagara, 2006
JAPAN, ITALY, BAVARIA, HUNGARY, NORWAY, FRANCE, PUERTO RICO, RUSSIA and PORTUGAL.
To see the other honored images visit: EXPOSURE Awards
As always, I greatly appreciate the recognition.
U. S. National Park Service Celebrates 100 Years Today
On August 25, 2016, the U. S. National Park Service turns 100 years old. By the Act of March 1, 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming “as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” and placed it
River of Fallen Trees, Yellowstone National Park, 2010
“under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior.” The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. initially, these parks were run by various government agencies so No single agency provided unified management of the varied federal parklands. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service http://www.nps.gov, a federal bureau in the Department of the Interior
Bison, King of the Mountain, Yellowstone National Park, WY 2010
responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established.
Over the years I have had the privilege of visiting several of these jewels. Yellowstone has so much diversity to offer. Its variety and abundance of wildlife; steaming, colorful, prismatic springs and gushing geysers to name a few. The Visitor Center at Old Faithful actually has a clock on the wall that notifies visitors of eruption times within a few minutes either way. Now… there’s an App for that….assuming you can get service in the Park, you can time your visits to make sure you capture an eruption.
So, Happy 100th to the National Park Service. Here’s wishing it many more centennials of protecting these magnificent, natural wonders. Here’s also hoping they are still around to be enjoyed by our children and our children’s children. For this folks… is Mother Nature at her absolute finest.
