Photo of the Week

Hello Everyone!
Please join me for the closing reception at City Arts and the final Friday gallery walk in Wichita.

Thanks you all for your continuing support,
Dan

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GROUP EXHIBIT AT CITY ARTS IN WICHITA

Daniel W. Coburn – Black and White Landscape Photographs
Louis Copt – Oil and Watercolor Paintings
Phil Epp – Paintings
Justin Epp – Paintings
Sheldon Ganstrom – Ceramic Sculptures
Conrad Snyder – Ceramic Vessels

City Arts
Sept 5th – September 28th
Closing Reception – Friday, Sept 28th 6-8pm
225 W Lewis St
Wichita, KS 67202

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PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL W. COBURN TO BE USED FOR THE COVER OF A NEW BOOK BY RICHARD E. WOOD.

My image entitled “a time to feel small” will be used as the cover of new book being published by the University Press of Kansas.

Survival of Rural America: Small Victories and Bitter Harvest, by Richard E. Wood.

Drawing on what’s happening in selected Kansas farming communities, mostly found on the High Plains, Wood–a former reporter for the Rocky Mountain News–focuses on efforts to stabilize and even revive a steadily depopulating rural America through statewide, regional, and local initiatives. His views are guided by the belief that many rural communities are faced with the necessity to transform themselves to become more harmonious with their environments and therefore sustainable.

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BOOK RELEASE: ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK: REDISCOVERING PARADISE_ photographs by Daniel W. Coburn

My new book ships this week. Click the link below to preview the book in it’s entirety and order your copy today:

http://www.danielwcoburn.com/books.html

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PROMOTIONAL/INFORMATIONAL VIDEO POSTED ON YOUTUBE

I recently completed a short promotional/informational video and posted it on youtube.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyInPkdqdcw

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DANIEL W. COBURN SOLO EXHIBIT AT 12 12 GALLERY – RICHMOND VA

Between Earth and Sky – Photographs by Daniel W. Coburn
November 9th – December 16th, 2007
12 12 Gallery
12 East 12th Street
Richmond, Virginia 23224
(804) 233-9957

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LIMITED EDITION PRINTS AVAILABLE AT THESE FINE REGIONAL GALLERIES

Strecker-Nelson Gallery
406 1/2 Poyntz
Manhattan Kansas
785.537.2099
http://www.strecker-nelsongallery.com

Leopold Gallery
324 West 63rd Street
Kansas City, MO 64113
816.333.3111
http://www.leopoldgallery.com

SouthWind Gallery of Topeka
3074 SW 29th St # 1
Topeka, KS 66614
785.273.5994
http://www.southwindgalleryoftopeka.com

Trading Up – How I Became Inspired

Photograph: “Destination” by Daniel W. Coburn

A couple of years ago I read about a man who decided to trade a paper clip for a house. Kyle Macdonald started with one red paperclip on July 12, 2005 and 14 trades later on July 12th, 2006 he traded with the town of Kipling Saskatchewan for a house. He swapped his paper clip for a doorknob, and then for a stove, and then for a generator and eventually for a quaint little bungalo in Canada.

So this got me thinking… How could I apply this to something intangable? About this time my photography obsession was in full swing. I wanted to expose my work to the world. So… I decided to trade.

I began with something very simple. I joined a local photography organization called the Lawrence Photo Alliance. A year later, with the support of our membership, I was fortunate to become president of the LPA . During that first year I worked to develop my resume by entering scores of national juried exhibitions. My work was accepted into about 40% of those exhibits I entered. I also volunteered with other local organizations. When I found a story that was interesting, I took photos, wrote essays, and submitted them to local newspapers. A couple of those stories were published.

When I was confident enough with my resume, I approached my first gallery. I was ecstatic when they agreed to represent me. My work is currently represented in 3 regional galleries and I am still working.

My plan is to trade a small success, or several small successes, for an even larger one. While trading, I’ve managed to network and meet with some influential people in the art world. I am excited about the possibilities, and I’m looking forward to future swaps.

It hasn’t been easy, I’ve faced a lot of rejection, but I keep pressing on. Art is a luxury, and isn’t an easy sell. However, I am excited about the exposure and grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way.

The Camera, the Human Eye, and Total Recall

The Human Eye
The human eye is equivalent to a very basic camera lens. I’ve done a little research and from what I can tell the average human winker is about the equivalent of a 43mm lens on a 35mm camera. The maximum aperture of the human eye is about f/2.1 and the minimum about f/11. Like a camera lens projects an image onto film, our eyes deliver visual information to our brain upside-down.

The Human Brain
The human brain is a very elaborate piece of film and is superior in most ways to any type of light sensitive material currently made. After our brain re-interprets the visual image to appear right-side-up, it makes some pretty incredible adjustments. Our brain corrects imperfections and fills small voids in interpreted visual information that are sometimes caused by minor problems in the eye.

We can see highlight and shadow detail even under extreme lighting conditions. For example, when we look at a sunset, the sky and the foreground seem to be perfectly exposed. We can see the brilliance of light in the sky and we can see detail and color in the foreground. If this scene was photographed in a single exposure, traditional film would be unable to capture a similar dynamic range. Either the sky would be properly exposed and the foreground in silhouette, or the foreground would have correct exposure and the sky would be completely blown-out. Off camera lighting or the use of a split neutral density filter could be used to correct such a problem.

The Camera
Cameras have the amazing ability to freeze a moment in time. Granted, it is a moment out of context, but in it’s purest state a photograph/motion-picture is probably our most accurate form of visual documentation. While memories fade and events are reinterpreted through life experience, a photograph remains static and tangible.

A Method to our Madness?
Every sorority girl, high school student, and grandmother carries a camera these days. Whether its on their belt, in their purse, or part of their cell phone, people have cameras ready.

So why are we so eager to record the most mundane of moments? 15 years ago it would have been nearly impossile, and outrageously expensive, to document an entire lifetime on film. Today we are closer than ever and the digital revolution has opened new doors. We are limited only to storage capacity, which is becoming more and more affordable.

How far will the rabbit hole take us? When will we all start wearing portable/micro video cameras wherever we go? Will it be beneficial for us to have total recall? Could this information be used against us?