This flower is in a window in the Moorea dress shop near the Oceans31 Starbucks in Virginia Beach. I'm usually more attracted to the fashion things in the window but the flower caught my eye this day. The camera had an 85mm f1.2 lens on it, usually my tight people lens, but I could see the flower all soft front and back.
Another Under/Over image of the Dutch mermaid, Monique van Hooidunk at Slagbaai National Park on Bonaire. Bonaire is one of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) about 50 miles from Caracas, Venezuela.
This is the last "salt" day. You've seen the underside, the literal side (postcard/annual report side) and now, here's the artistic side.
Ocean water is let into the ponds, the water evaporates and leaves the salt. Earthmovers scoop it into piles and a long conveyor belt takes it out to the ship tied to the pier.
Week before last I was in 75 feet of water on the deep side of the Gargill Salt Pier on Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. This is the view looking up at one section of the pier where ships moor and load salt from the solar operation.
Cargill sells about 18 million tons of salt a year and is the world's largest marketer of salt products. Some of their salt is produced from solar operations and much of the highest quality solar salt is loaded here.
Salt production is interesting; if you want to know more, go here: http://www.cargillsalt.com/dc_salt_about_howmade.htm
Last week we were shooting twenty-one setups in an airport facility; everything from the reception area to the tarmac. We were in, around and under jets and propeller driven aircraft, working with staff and pilots, in freezing cold wind and warm jet wash.
Here, we're in one of the maintenance and repair facilities picturing a senior aircraft mechanic.
I usually find iguanas on a wall or stone basking in the sun.
Last week, when I spotted this one in a green bush with a clear visual path, I quickly got the shot while I had the opportunity.
I hesitate to talk about the beauty of a squid the day after a mermaid, but you have to admit, the translucent color of the squid in mid-water is pretty special.
Yesterday was a long day in Slagbaai National Park on Bonaire with young Dutch mermaid Monique van Hooidonk. She is the first with auburn hair and Mediterranean blue eyes.
Yesterday was the final parade of Carnival on Bonaire, one of the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Like Carnival around the world, it provides adults and children alike an excuse to dress up, paint up, dance, sing and parade. This child and mother were alongside the parade route, but obviously very much in the spirit of Carnival.
For other images, see: http://chriscrumley.com/Proofs080202_BonaireNACarnival.
I'm chuckling as I'm writing this and looking at the image. This is real. When a photographer goes on location and has to take everything needed because there are no photography rental businesses in most of the third world, this is what it looks like getting from the airport to the hotel. The problem worsens if he/she is also an underwater photographer; that means personal dive equipment plus coordinated underwater gear for the models.
Hey, I'm not complaining. It's just the nature of the beast. So, if you're in some far off airport and it's short of skycaps and you see a bunch of black cases stenciled with my name and there's no crew in sight, give me a hand, okay? Or, just offer to watch the stuff so I can go to the bathroom or look for a latte.
We were shooting food and drinks for a popular sports bar yesterday; this Blue Martini had lots of color. Like most of the shots during the day, this was a collaborative work by the art director, chef, food stylist, client, assistant, bartender and me. The collaboration and journey to making a picture is usually the experience we remember best.
This image and others were part of a job which included the cover of a real estate catalog. We shot it in the waning days of Summer. Now we're in the early part of the new year and the catalog is being released.
On 1/1/08, TSA banned Li-ion batteries in checked luggage and set limits on Li-ion batteries in carry-on. Photographers with $150 Li-ion batteries necessary to their work (notably camera bodies and laptops) became frantic.
An airline Captain described the policy as a solution looking for a problem.
On 2/2/08, TSA staff at ORF (Norfolk, VA), when asked where the container was for confiscated Li-ion batteries was, told me there had been so much backlash that the policy had been rescinded.
We are putting a collection of varied shape fishbowls with different underwater scenes on our stock photo sites. Here's one.
The underwater scenes are from around the world, shallow and deep, light and dark, playful and dangerous and..... well, you get the picture.
This seastar was resting in 2-3 feet of clear shallow water on a rippled sandy bottom at a remote beach. Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas Islands.