Just thinking about entering this international contest – and when visiting my registration area – I was surprised to see I had five of these recognitions from last year.

I had entered my Raptor portraits and Dogs in Water series.

I have no idea what it means to be given an Official Selection status.

My name is Ellen Bateman and I am a Year 12 Art Studio Practice student at St. Mary’s College in Tasmania, Australia.  The medium I have chosen to work in is photography, and my intent for my work this year is to focus on the abstraction of everyday objects and places, and especially the ways in which photographs can resemble paintings or drawings.  I intend to explore this through layering and blending photographs to achieve the desired result, as well as other techniques.  I have been inspired and captivated by your landscape works, and as part of an Active Investigation for our class I have chosen to research your photographs, processes and techniques. I would appreciate it if you could take the time to answer a few questions for me in order to assist with my investigation.

I answered her questions, and this is her report:

My investigation has enabled me to better understand the techniques and processes of Frank Grisdale, the Canadian landscape photographer.  Through email contact, I have been told by Mr. Grisdale that in order to generate ideas, he gets to know all the work out there by studying photography sites and blogs until he sees a style he likes.  He then will figure out the photographer’s technique and try his own version, changing it to fit his own style.  When planning a photo shoot, Mr. Grisdale will scout out a landscape and return to it repeatedly until the light and scene is perfect to generate the effect he desires.  His work overlaps painting and photography, with the photographs being reduced to simple aesthetic elements such as line, colour and composition, while reducing detail. His images have been described as being “in the realm of semi-abstracted impressionism,” (Edmonton Journal, 2008).  By using extended exposure times, layering shots and further processing, Mr. Grisdale’s landscapes become blurred and adopt a painterly feel.

This relates to my work in the way that I am focusing on the abstraction of everyday objects and places through layering and blending photographs.  Frank Grisdale’s images give the places an ethereal and enigmatic feel, and a distortion of reality, which is what I am focusing on in my work.

This is my ‘Grisdale-ian’ version of an original file by the fine art photographer Jane Fulton-Alt,

who put out a call for collaborative artists to take a shot at their own creative interpretation.

Click to enlarge. Go to the link above to see more of Jane’s work & blog.

Sky Geometry

This is a one minute video. It is based on a foundation image of a sunrise, and then I have gradually changed various shapes and tones of the original color. My intent is to add another four minutes of abstractions, using another 4 foundation images.

There is no sound.

I was in the UAE for the 3rd International Falconry Festival, as a guest of the sponsors. Highlight for me was spending two days in the weathering tents – where all the birds are kept quiet and shaded while the festival is on. I was the only photographer allowed access to the birds – I had a studio set up on the grass under a tent – with LED lights and white backgrounds. The handlers would bring me birds one by one, and I would shoot close ups of each one. The most beautiful bird was the Aplomado from Bolivia and Peru. It is a little falcon, but very fast and strikingly beautiful. It’s favorite prey is other small birds.

This  link takes you to a full page of the Nominees from the Wildlife Category.

Some great images! Below is my portrait of a young Golden eagle.

Guest book Amerika Haus 2011

The above links to the actual guest book from the Munich show this summer.

There are German and Spanish entries that I have had translated below.

As an artist, you create to not only express yourself, but also to communicate with others. So getting written responses to your communication from an audience – (all of whom are unrelated!), especially one so far away, is very gratifying. Particularly when no one said the work was ‘nice’ or ‘interesting’.

Please see the actual contributors names and handwriting in the link above. Below are the translated comments:

Guest Book Comments
From The Amerika Haus (Munich) Solo Show – Summer 2011

These pictures are familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Truly wonderful . Many thanks!

The perfect eye for a super photo. Incredibly beautiful….

Unusual and impressive colour variations   A special take on light and landscape….

I am deeply impressed   Beautifully reduced into colour elements. Dreamlike…

Very emotional. One can get lost in the details and let his soul go.

A cool volcano!

Full of beauty

Amazing creations….

Beautiful impressions

Absolutely Fantastic Pictures…

Superb and attracting!

Brilliant exhibition. My compliments!

The 5th Annual Awards for the International Color Awards Masters Cup were announced recently. There were literally thousands of entries from around the world.

One of my raptors portraits received a Nominee status for the Professionals Wildlife category, although I am not yet sure which image won. This is the second time I’ve made it to the Nominee level.

Someday…

I was interested to learn the technique I have long used is getting a following in Britain these days, and it has a name: ICM which stands for Intentional Camera Movement.

More here

Cowboy Trail Looking West

(click image to see large)