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End of year - Merry Christmas!

user@domain.com — 2011-12-12T13:10:46-08:00

Confessions of a Photoshop user!

user@domain.com — 2011-07-16T10:43:45-07:00

This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for a recent show:

I’ve been shooting photographs for over 25 years. I’ve had my own dark rooms and I’ve worked in professional labs. I’ve printed color and black and white in chemical baths and large machines. In all these processes, where there was flexibility, I and every photographer took advantage of that flexibility to make the best image possible. Invariably I’m asked if I use Photoshop, or, better yet is when I hear one person justify to another at a show or gallery, my quality of work by saying I do all or this and that in Photoshop - as if with PS I can take a digital camera and do anything through the magic of PS and come up with the detail and saturation that I get from using large format film.

I do use Photoshop. Do I “manipulate” the images in PS? Well, I really try to get the images to look like the scene I saw and keep them as “real” as possible. At times that’s difficult: I usually shoot in inclement weather or in early / late light, sometimes almost no light. My exposures range from a good part of a second to many minutes, and, my film’s only rated to be accurate to 10 seconds. Beyond all that though, my film (Fuji Velvia 50) interprets what it sees, then my scanner (Imacon Flextight X5) interprets what’s in the film and creates a digital file, then my computer (Mac Pro :-) interprets that file and puts it on my monitor (Eizo Coloredge CG301W), which I then adjust to my liking before sending it off to my printer (Epson Stylus Pro 9900) that has a color profile for the paper I’m using (Hahnemuhle Bamboo). So, I try to keep the original look and feel of the real scene in mind, but, I work with what I have and I would be lying if I said I didn’t allow my preferences to guide me: “How much contrast was in that original scene?”, “Was the light that cold blue light, typical of afternoon shadows?” - I don’t recall exactly. I shoot for what could be seen as real and as faithful as possible to the original scene and to any pre-visualizations I had. My film is very sensitive (over saturates) greens and reds, so, if you compare my transparencies to the final prints, you’ll see I often tone down the saturation in those colors. I know I prefer the “warm” side of things but anything too distant from reality, well, just doesn’t look real.

It's extremely rare that I grab any area of the whole image and do anything to it - I don’t knock those who do, I just don’t do it often, at all. Anyway, my name’s John Hanses, and I use Photoshop...”

Almost show time!

user@domain.com — 2011-06-10T06:26:06-07:00

Pretty much working all waking hours getting ready for the show on Sunday @ RiskPress Gallery. Anxious to hang some new work. A couple images are favorites of mine that I just hadn’t printed. They’re both shot at dusk on different days. Exposures for Hwy 116 and West County #4 were 6 & 4 minutes respectively. Something about dusk on foliage that gives it a real presence!

Hope to see you at the show!

-John

Shop & Studio Moving!

user@domain.com — 2011-04-25T11:16:28-07:00

Moving to a new location in Cotati, CA! Was home of Zone Records. I’ll have a large space for all the digital work - scanning, printing, photo & video editing, and also an area for building custom frames, mounting, laminating, and so on. In addition to all that, I’ll have a small gallery with about 30’ or so of wall space. The gallery will be open by appointment only and for small receptions.

Will update everyone with photos of the new space when I get all settled in.

In the meantime, please check out my works in the galleries I have listed and please be sure to come by the grand opening of the Village Gallery on April 30th, and my reception there also on May 14th! Both events will be catered, formal, fun parties to view some great work and meet some good people in the East Bay. (Check out my “Current Galleries & Shows” for more info.

Joining another great gallery! - The Riverfront, in Petaluma.

user@domain.com — 2011-03-14T11:58:48-07:00

After a successful, juried show at the Riverfront Gallery in Petaluma, I was asked to join the group. Our first reception was March 12th. The owners, Lance Kuehne and Jerrie Jerné Morago, started the gallery in 2007. Both Lance and Jerrie are amazing photographers - very different from each other and myself. The Riverfront Gallery has been voted “Best Gallery in Sonoma County” at least 3 years by the Bohemian - we’ll soon see the results for 2010! Fingers Crossed x

In the short time I’ve been there they’ve had clients add two large pieces of my work to their collection. I have 5 of some of my best images there, framed in my personal eco-style frames. So, come check it out! There really are some amazing artists there!

New Gallery! The Village Gallery, in El Cerrito, CA

user@domain.com — 2011-03-08T22:30:14-08:00

Very happy to be included in the opening The Village Gallery, in El Cerrito! The buildings have been owned by the Canepa family for over 60 years, and now Mark Canepa, an artist best know for his paintings and metal art, is finishing a really amazing remodel with the help of Russell Morton, general manager. It’s a large place with many rooms and much character - from what looks like a fine tasting room to an indoor representation of patio scene. It may sound eclectic, and it may be to some degree, but it really has a earthy, cohesive feel - like a stroll through a village.

Russell Morton, the general manager, also owns Russell Jacade Events, a catering company for upscale events designed specifically for the client / event. His flair for design really shines in what he’s done at the Village! Russell attended the California Culinary Academy and has been a chef at many fine establishments, including the Four Seasons.

Assisting Russell is Marika Munkres. Marika graduated from California College of the Arts and will now be the main personality greeting the public there at the Village. Marika is very bright and personable so go in and say “hi”.

The Village has done a quick blurb on some of their new artists - “Welcome New Artists”. It looks like the Grand Opening will be April 30th, 2011! After that, I, along with a couple other artists, will be featured in another show there on May 14th. This event, probably like the grand opening, won’t spare any expenses on catering - They’ll be hiring Russell Jacade Events!

Process of a large-format, landscape photographer.

user@domain.com — 2011-01-27T14:09:55-08:00

I’ve been asked to give a talk at the Sebastopol Gallery on Feb 3rd at Sebastopol Gallery, at 6:30pm. I’ve only given a few talks. One that stands out, more for the venue than the talk, was in Sydney, Australia in 2006. That was an acceptance speech to a group of about 350 from 23 countries, for nominating me as the Artistic Ambassador for People to People’s 50th Anniversary World Conference. Though a humbling experience, it was brief.

For this talk I’ll go more into the process of producing an image - from loading film, scouting locations, shooting, scanning, how much/little I use Photoshop, to how I hand make my personal line of frames. I don’t intend to spend too much time or go into too much detail on the process, but it’s a common question I get, especially in regard to my use of Photoshop. My real challenge of the talk is to explain my challenge of how to capture and convey the sublime nature of a landscape. Frankly not sure to what depth I’ll try to explain this, or, for that matter how good a grasp I really have on it! I’ll write more on it later but an impetus for the whole thought process for me stemmed from viewing “Megaliths”, a book by Paul Caponigro. I was having a similar discussion with another photographer and his wife when he handed me the book without any real introduction. The book has rather simple, B&W images mainly of boulders in fields, as I remember. What was so stunning was the “feeling” they conveyed! It was like each image had a presence of spirit, each unique to the image. Since then, for the last 20 years or so, that has been my passion or goal - to understand the principals at work there, to apply those principals, and to convey them to others. I can’t say that I’ve completely succeeded, but, I’ve been told enough from people viewing my work in person that they have an intangible presence, more than what is in the picture. Hopefully my thoughts will form into a coherent discussion of this transcendental subject by the time I talk. If so, surely a blog it will make!

Image: Bennet Valley #2, February 2011.

Lost Coast

user@domain.com — 2011-01-01T00:46:09-08:00

Happy New Year!

Nice way to bring in the year by working with some images from a recent shoot! A couple weeks ago I spent some time on the Lost Coast, up above Fort Bragg. There was lots of rain the second day there. I do like to shoot in the rain but there was maybe a little much. I spent about 10 hrs driving muddy roads and taking pictures; Not sure what I liked better, the drive or the shooting. Anyway, everything was soaked!

Amazing land out there, all by yourself. There was hardly a soul on Hwy 1 once I got above Fort Bragg. Once I got onto to USAL road (stands for USA Lumber), and left the pavement, I saw one vehicle with people in it and two vehicles stuck and/or abandoned the 3 days I spent there.

I did run into some Elk while hiking along the cliffs. They’re big! I’ve run into plenty of deer and they never bothered me, but, these guys are big, and, they didn’t seem to think I was anything to worry about. When I first saw them they were blocking my only route. I thought about walking through them but decided I didn’t want to go that way anyway :-) However, after backtracking a bit, I went out onto a finger of the cliffs edge to get a shot looking up the coastline. While on the finger, the elk heard passed by and I didn’t think anything of it, till I continued backtracking to get back to the truck. I came over a hill, still on a narrow trail with a cliff on one side and thick brush on the other, and there they were again! There had to be 40 of them. As I passed through the heard I took a quick movie with my iPhone - love that thing!

The day I headed for home there was little rain. There was a some wind and haze but it really made for nice light. I ended up driving inland when I saw 10 Mile River, which lead me back into a valley that I fell in love with. I’ll definitely get back there soon. I have all the 4x5 film processed and scanned but have only finished a few - they’re the first few in the “Land” gallery.

Peace.