caffeinated photographers magazine, issue 2 (august 2012)

August 2012, Issue 2

FEATURE STORY:MARINA CANO, CAPTURING BEAUTY

Caffeinated Photographers was founded in Dipolog City, Philippines on November 4, 2011 by Mario Dandi Romano and Paulina Uy with the active participation and support of Camellia Alferez, Miracle Romano, and Rose Alferez. Caffeinated Photographers was initially just a temporary moniker for the group that was inspired by their shared love for coffee and photography.

They were soon joined by Travis W. Forbear and Ralph Nordstrom from the United States, Jacques Chevalier from Belgium, Gio Tarantini, Francesco Cosi, and Francesco Gola from Italy, Frank Lassak and Stefan Hefele from Ger-many, Hengki Koentjoro from Indonesia, Alexey Trofimov from Russia, André Torrès and Emmanuel Dautriche from France, and Lars van de Goor from the Netherlands – the original five Caffeinated Photographers and these twelve Honorary Caffeinated Photographers make up the core group.

The name was an instant hit with the fans and the Official Caffeinated Photographers page eventually spawned a Facebook group that now has thousands of members. What started as an informal gathering of friends over espres-so after sunrise and sunset photo shoots quickly developed into a group with almost 5,000 members worldwide.

CAFFEINATED PHOTOGRAPHERS MAGAZINEISSUE 2Editor and Publisher: Mario Dandi RomanoAssistant Editor: Miracle RomanoEmail: [email protected]: www.facebook.com/CaffeinatedPhotographers

Cover Photo:Watusis by Marina Cano

Join us for a daily dose of Coffee, Photography, Art, Music, Literature, Travel, Food, and Adventure!

500px:http://500px.com/CaffeinatedPhotographersFotoblur:http://www.fotoblur.com/people/caffeinatedphotographers

Nine Months of Caffeination / August 2012

Images published in the Caffeinated Photographers Magazine are the sole property of the contributing photographers and are copyrighted material. No image may be reproduced with-out the express written permission of its owner.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronic or mechanical without the prior written consent of the publisher.

© 2012 Caffeinated Photographers

CONTENTS...

6-10Voice of the Violin Series by Mario Dandi Romano

12-17Feature Story: Marina Cano, Capturing Beauty

20-23Mario Dandi Romano

24-27Travis W Forbear

28-31Lars Van de Goor

32-35Hengki Koentjoro

36-39Frank Lassak

40-43Stefan Hefele

44-47Giò Tarantini

48-51Emmanuel Dautriche

52-55Francesco Cosi

56-59André Torrès

60-63Ralph Nordstrom

64-67Francesco Gola

68-71Jacques Chevalier

72-75Alexey Trofimov

76Rosalio “Didi” Romano

77Lester Uy Ong

78Paulina Uy

79Camellia Alferez

80Miracle Romano

81Rose Alferez

82-83The Present by Jerry Downs

85Caffeinated in Every Continent Project

86-87Caffeinated in Every Continent:Discover Jökulsárlón – Iceland by Robert Ben

89-91Approaching Photography through Musicby Ralph Nordstrom

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VOICE OF THE VIOLIN

© MARIO DANDI ROMANOBucana Park and Resort 2012

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” - Sergei Rachmaninov

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MARINA CANOCapturing Beauty

FEATURE STORY

Two giraffes necking at sunset in the Kenyan landscapes. The dust and the flying birds add a little touch of mystery to the atmosphere.

Marina Cano is a landscape and wildlife Spanish photographer, based in Cantabria, in the North of Spain. Her pas-sion for photography was ignited the first time she picked up a camera. Her father was an amateur photographer and his love for it was passed down to her. At the age of 16, she started shooting wildlife simply because it was readily available to her. Marina says that she was fortunate in that she has the biggest wildlife park in Europe right on her doorstep. Cabárceno Park is just 20 minutes from her hometown of Santander in Cantabria, Spain, and it houses more than 100 different species, all free to roam in huge open spaces. She love shooting there; it is her favourite place outside of Africa to photograph wildlife. In 2009 she published a large format book, it’s an intimate portrait of the Cabarceno stunning wildlife.

In the past year she had an exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, and another one about wildlife and biodiversity in Sevilla, Spain, with the collaboration of Steve Bloom and Jane Goodall.

Her photographs have been published around the world and she has won international awards. She has a special commitment with the planet and the threatened wildlife and her hope is that her work can touch peoples’ hearts.

“Photographers usually say that they “capture” images, but for me the opposite is true, animals have captured me.”

~Mario Dandi Romano: Hello Marina, thank you for making time for us. Please tell our readers a bit about yourself.

Marina Cano: Hello. My name is Marina Cano. I am a landscape and wildlife Spanish photographer, based in Cantabria, in the North of Spain.

MARINA CANO, Capturing BeautyThe Interview

MDDR: Where did you study to be a photographer?

MC: I’m self taught. Which means I’ve studied from the street, the books, the exhibitions, the nature, through the experience. But I also had the best teacher, my father was an amateur photographer and his love for it passed down to me.

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A couple of lynx, boreal, with some cattle egrets flying at sunset to the roost in the background. Taken in Cabarceno, Cantabria, Spain - the biggest wildlife park in Europe.

MDDR: How important do you think is professional guidance in photography?

MC: If you can have it, go for it. When I started it was very difficult to get access to one. Nowadays the inter-net brings you thousand different ways to have prof-fesional guidance. It’s always enriching.

MDDR: What is the best advice you have ever been given that has made you a better photographer?

MC: Be patient. In the long term everything arrives.

MDDR: What do you love most about being a photog-rapher?

MC: Everything is great about being a photographer. I love traveling and I can forget about the world when I take pictures. People’s feedback and support is re-warding too. I like the whole process, from the mo-ment you prepare to travel or take pictures, until you see your images published in a book or magazine.

MDDR: Tell us some of your experiences when you were starting out as a professional photographer.

MC: I feel I’m always starting. There is no difference. I have more experience as a photographer, but I think there is nothing special to be a professional beyond the hard work.

MDDR: What is your creative process like? How do you find inspiration?

MC: I love everything about Nature, landscape, ani-mals, everything wild, where you can’t see the human hand. Nature brings a whole universe of inspiration through his own beauty, the beauty of its creatures.

MDDR: How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph? Do you plan every step or is it always spontaneous?

MC: Sometimes I plan exactly what I want, and I can wait for hours, days or months. It depends on the light I want or the season I’m looking for. Other times it looks like the pictures are waiting for you to arrive. I love the unexpected surprises.

MDDR: What fascinates you in the places that you shoot?

MC: Nature is a gift for me. To be close to wildlife makes me feel instantly in peace. I feel completely relaxed, you don’t need to demonstrate anything. The last moving moment I remember was just ob-serving a couple of lynx, and suddenly a flock of star-lings flew above us, breaking the silence scene with their wings sounds.

MDDR: Of all the photos you’ve taken, which one is your favorite?

MC: It’s really difficult to choose one. Most of them are like daugthers or sons, impossbile to choose a favourite one. But I know the feeling, the excit-ment when you are in front of a great picture, there is something that jump in my stomach. The better the picture the bigger excitment.

MDDR: Which photographer inspires you? How does he/she inspire you?

MC: My favourite photographers that inspire me to reach further heights in my work are the South Af-rican Steve Bloom for his breathtaking images, the Spanish Miguel Lasa because of his amazing birds and his touching white bears, Gregory Colbert be-cause of the magic around his work, and Nick Brandt because I feel very close to his esthetic.

MDDR: What equipment and software do you use?

MC: I have two cameras: Canon Eos 1D Mark IV and Mark III. A 16-35mm for landscapes; 300mm 2.8 and 100-400mm for wildlife. I use Mac.

Elephants under the rain in Kenya. Old Style Safari.

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MDDR: What piece of advice would you pass on to someone just getting started in photography?

MC: First learn. To improve you have first to learn. So, see thousands of many different photographers’ pictures. This way you’ll know what works for you and what does not. Then, look at them carefully and you’ll discover how to get something similar. Try, and try, and try again... and again. The next step, once you dominate the technique, is look for your own style, the thing that makes your stomach jump.

MDDR: What is your philosophy when it comes to post-processing?

MC: I have to say that I love working with Photoshop. It’s a great tool if you know how to use it. Sometimes I work a lot on my pictures, and others really nothing. Wildlife photography can be a document of nature, or it can be art. There are moments when both came together; others that the artist can work with.

MDDR: What other things do you do in your life aside from photography?

MC: Interesting question. Photography is the one of the most important things in my life, but I love the beach, go for a walk, the good food, I love classical music, literature, art, being with friends, family, I love teaching, I love love.

MDDR: What future plans do you have? Are there any projects that you would like to accomplish?

MC: I would love to take pictures of white bears in Alas-ka, whales in Southafrica, although I’ve been there it was not time for whales. I also run photo workshops and safaris all year round in Spain and in Africa. I am also currently working on a new resource website for enthusiast nature and wildlife photographers, called Fotare; as well as writing a new book and planning an exhibition in London for next year. It certainly keeps me busy! Wildlife truly captivates me and i’ll be happy for as long as i can continue to witness and capture its beauty.

MARINA CANOCapturing Beauty

Taken in Kenya, Amboseli National Park last May. Sunrise over Africa and its two great symbols: Kilimanjaro and elephant. This image has been the front cover of National Geographic Traveller magazine last November.

“Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.” - Vincent van Gogh

Join us for a daily dose of Coffee, Photography, Art, Music, Literature, Travel, Food, and Adventure!

Official Page: www.facebook.com/CaffeinatedPhotographersFB Group: www.facebook.com/groups/caffeinatedphotographers

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Mario Dandi RomanoI was born in Dumaguete City, Philippines but I spent my child-hood in Dipolog City in a house full of art and music. For me, life started when my mom taught me to read at the age of three. I was insatiable – I read and read for hours and cried when my mom told me the lights had to be turned off at night. I finished reading the whole Bible by the time I was 7, by eight I read the unabridged versions of Huckleberry Finn, Oliver Twist, Moll Flanders, The Three Musketeers, Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur and other classics – by 10 I was reading novels by Norman Mailer and John Steinbeck along with heavy classics. While reading these books I always used to picture each scene in my mind – I imagined how each scene would have looked if someone had taken a photo at that time. Because of this, I didn’t pay much attention to my dad’s black and white photos – he used to print all his photos in his darkroom when my sister and I were around 7 and 8 years old and even though I found the process quite interesting I was more taken with colored photos. It wasn’t until years later that I fully appreciated the art in black and white photography.

Even though I took up Computer Engineering and studied classical piano from the age of 7, I ended up doing something quite different – I work as a freelance Graphics/Logo Designer and Consultant although I teach piano in my spare time.

If anyone were to ask me to describe myself I would say that I’m a hybrid. A cross between the nerdy type and the sporty type, the serious type and the goofy type, the mature and the immature, a bookworm and a computer gamer, serious and happy-go-lucky, level-headed and hot-headed, hopeful and yet a bit of a cynic, an introvert and an extrovert, an idealist and a romantic but also pragmatic, a realist...an oxymoron? - maybe, but not an ox and a moron.

“Life is like a piano...What you get out of it depends on how you play it.”

“You will never be alone, you hear so deepa sound when autumn comes. Yellow

pulls across the hills and thrums,or in the silence after lightning before it says

its names — and then the clouds’ wide-mouthedapologies. You were aimed from birth:

you will never be alone. Rainwill come, a gutter filled, an Amazon,

long aisles — you never heard so deep a sound,moss on rock, and years. You turn your head –that’s what the silence meant: you’re not alone.

The whole wide world pours down.”

- William Stafford

© MARIO DANDI ROMANOBucana Park and Resort

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© MARIO DANDI ROMANODipolog City, Philippines

“I walked beside the evening sea and dreamed a dream that could not be; the waves that plunged along the shore said only: “Dreamer, dream no more!” - George William Curtis

“I’d imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn’t

be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.” - Hugo Cabret

Travis W Forbear“When I was a kid I always thought I’d grow up to be a film director. I loved movies, they are filled with so many beautiful images, places, and stories - I wanted to create like that.

While taking film classes in college, I had a professor who showed us the film “La Jetee” ( h t t p : / / v i d e o . g o o g l e . c o m / v i d e o p l a y ? d o cid=4536409644066983943. )Its story is told mostly with still images. I fell in love with the idea of still images to tell stories. Soon after I purchased my first 35mm camera, and started to learn everything I could about photography. I bought my wife a digital camera in 2004, but I wasn’t sold on the idea. I loved film way to much. I finally bought a digital body in 2008, but it took almost a year of shooting and some playing in Photoshop elements 5 to convince me of the true power of digital imaging.

I do miss film, but digital opened so many doors for my creativity. Once I upgraded to Photoshop CS4 the floodgates opened and I haven’t looked back.

Inspiration comes from all over. I love the outdoors, I love to hike, to explore, and just get lost for a few hours. I love macro photography, especially super macro, there’s just something about seeing a subject beyond the normal closeness.

I’m inspired by other photographers’ work, but I seldom shoot what I see others making. I might see a pattern, a color, a texture, or some other part of a photograph and think I want to do something with that. I love colors and textures to create moods. It’s kind of like seeing in monochrome, it takes practice, but eventually you see a subject and tell yourself “that would look so cool with a stone texture or a scratched film plate overlay”.

I’ve been told my work is moody, sometimes it’s full of color and light, while other times it’s filled with a surreal darkness. I just create with what I see and inspires me through my daily learning. I spend a lot of time learn-ing new techniques, perfecting and honing my skills. No matter what I create, I always feel there’s some-thing around the corner that will be better. That’s what keeps me learning and shooting. I think I’ll always be a student, that’s where I feel the most creative.”

http://teedubbaus.blogspot.com/

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© Travis W Forbear

“Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have

crossed the mountain.”

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Lars Van de GoorI was born in 1964 in The Netherlands, in a houseboat, next to a farm, located between lakes and meadows. My first passion was music, the latest photography and editing – in a way, I am still composing.

In 2007 I bought my first camera, a few months later I placed my very first pictures on the internet. Four years later, in 2010, I was nominated as a finalist in the 2010 Hasselblad masters Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the world of photography.At first, I photographed everything primarily in the vi-cinity of Amsterdam. Soon, I rediscovered the beauty of nature – especially trees and forests. There’s noth-ing better than being alone in the woods early in the morning and nothing more beautiful than seeing the sunlight breaking through the canopy of trees.

By the enthusiastic reaction to my photos, I was en-couraged to show the best of nature. I also started ex-perimenting with photo editing to enhance the magic that I experienced. I love working with colors and light, but it always starts with a good image. Although tech-nology is important, I believe that the composition and emotion of an image is the most important.

A few years ago, when someone saw my pictures he said, “You’re not a photographer, you’re an artist! And voila, now everything was possible, I did not feel lim-ited by technology, knowledge, labels, etc. By working just a bit more on the extreme side of colors without creating kitsch, a kind of surreal effect arises, it is fa-miliar and yet it isn’t…like being awake in a dream.

I was already experimenting with this when I saw the works of the famous Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, “Curse of the Golden Flower” and “House of Flying Daggers”. His sense of color is unprecedented. His images give me an itchy feeling and that’s what it’s all about for me – I must also be able to feel!

http://www.facebook.com/LarsvandeGoorhttp://www.larsvandegoor.com/http://500px.com/larsvandegoor

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Hengki KoentjoroI was born in March 24, 1963 in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, and I acquired my knowledge of Multimedia Production at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, USA. I majored in Video Production with a minor in Fine Art of Photography and graduated in 1991.

Photography is not just a way of expressing my inner-most soul but also a way of creating a window to the world where through my pictures the unseen and the un-spoken can be grasped. Driven by the desire to explore the mystical beauty of nature, I develop my sense and sensibility through the elements of fine art photography. My freedom of expression is reflected more in the elabo-ration and exploration of black and white.

Photography can never be separated from the aspects of making the common things unusual, welcoming the unexpected, indulging and embracing ourselves with the joy of photography – as well as believing that anything is possible.

I live in Jakarta, Indonesia with my wife and three chil-dren.

http://www.facebook.com/hengki.koentjoro http://www.facebook.com/Hengki24 http://www.facebook.com/koentjoro24 http://500px.com/hengki24

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© Hengki Koentjoro

Frank LassakMy name is Frank Lassak and I am a photographer/jour-nalist. I run Efacts Photography which was founded in 2009. Works mainly focus on people, street, fashion, edi-torial or conceptual scenes – along with documentaries, travel and stage photography as additional fields.

My works have been featured in various magazines throughout Europe such as “Vogue”, “Capital”, and “Opel Magazine” and have been shown in galleries in Berlin and Vienna.

I draw my creative energy from a long-lasting passion for movies (mostly independent), dramatic theater, contem-porary dance and street art. This amalgamation of influ-ences brings about a rather unique visual language.

When I was 8, my father let me take pictures with Voigtlän-der Bessamatic camera for the first time – a fully manual model. Ever since that time, I’ve been addicted to shoot-ing analog, with films of various kinds.

Digital photography only became relevant for me because clients demanded speed – and it was only in 2009 that I upgraded my equipment but at the same time “keeping the faith” with my vintage Contax and Minolta cameras. After all, it’s not the hardware that decides the quality of a picture – it’s the ability of the photographer to decide what’s in the frame.

http://www.facebook.com/efactsphotohttp://efactsphotography.fotograf.de/

“Welcome, Hannah!”

This image is part of the series “Youborn”, a mockumentary project that will be shown at an art exhibition in Vienna at the end of the year.

Highlighting the social tendency to make public intimate moment as that of childbirth through the extensive use of media and communication devices, the series illustrates and criticizes a phenomenon that tends to render meaning-less the sacred moment of giving birth to a child.

A complex composition, a work that freezes the postures of the characters, sending the user a feeling of stillness. The viewer’s attention is drawn to the woman, who crouches on the floor of a café, after she has “done her work”. The whole process takes place in a public place, with a man - maybe the father of the child? - making a video of the event. Random bystanders, such as the man reading his newspaper, are looking curiously, whereas a waitress rushes to the scene, trying to be as helpful as possible.

At first glance, everything seems to revolve around the woman and the child - a handmade doll, crafted by mask maker Janine Drost -, but then the viewer eventually discovers the normality that dominates the room. Still, the com-position is “a fiction in the fiction”, where every place seems to become a stage, where reality is represented in an almost morbid way - everything goes through that communication channel that enables the viewer to see it as if it were an Orwellian fiction, where everything is monitored and made public.

To design and create a concept as complex as this highlights the artist’s great ability to build a frame where all the subjects through figurative language are assigned to the image to communicate a message of complaint.

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© Frank Lassak

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Stefan HefeleFor me photography is not just a means to an end – it is like a “second” mother tongue. It is a language in which I can visually write and express my view of things because as everyone knows, pictures often say more than a thousand words. I try to put all my heart and soul into the process to get a perfect re-sult. Besides my wife and my family, I have found in photography a refreshing and unparalleled enthusi-asm. My Landscape Photography is influenced by my panoramic wide-angle style so I always try to lead the viewer into as much depth as possible into the subject.

My first significant contact with the art of photogra-phy was when I was in Australia – more or less by accident, I became fascinated with what a photograph represents when I was traveling through the red con-tinent. After school, I stood at a crossroads in my life and I spontaneously decided to train as a commercial photographer.

Today, a few years later, I have not really settled on a specific photographic area. In addition to landscape photography, I am also into architectural photography and commercial photography.

However, no other activity combines creativity, nature, art, movement, and travel for me as much as land-scape photography. I continue to see it as a privilege to be able to pursue this profession and I hope to find many more of the beautiful designs that our planet has to offer and share them with you.

http://www.artwork-pictures.dehttp://500px.com/artworkpictureshttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Stefan-Hefele-Pho-tography-Artwork-Pictures/148550418515870

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Giò TarantiniI am a self-taught photographer based in Bassano del Grappa, in the northern part of Italy. I cover a wide and varied range of subjects – from portraiture, wedding, sport, reportage, to wildlife and landscape.

I enjoy the finer things in life, the ones that really matter to me – my family, my friends, a good book, a glass of wine, or a good meal with the right person.

I discovered my passion for photography so late – or maybe photography discovered me to help me in this time of my life. To give you a glimpse of how I think of photography there is a line from Richard Avedon that I really feel is “mine” – “If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve ne-glected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.”

Now I will let my photos do the talking.

http://www.giotarantini.com/http://www.facebook.com/GioTarantiniPhotographyhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/giotarantini/

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Emmanuel DautricheMy name is Emmanuel Dautriche and I’m 30, I live in Franche-Comté in France. I’ve been an “autodidact” pho-tographer for 7 years. I fell in love with photography from exploring again and again, immortalizing the lights be-came a goal for me. My favorite vistas are the mountains - especially the Alps. I love water in all it’s states and especially the many waterfalls not far from my home in Jura. I live in a mountainous region and the fall and cold winter here, really inspires me. I love the beautiful ambi-ance, the stealthy light – strong contrasts as during my last trip to Scotland. I am attracted by the Northern Lights and the extreme latitudes. Photographers who inspire me are photographers like Marc Adamus, Patrick DiFruscia, and French photographers like Xavier Jamonet and Al-exandre Deschaumes although my world is very differ-ent from the latter. Recently I integrated my work with a nature photographer in a site named Horizons Naturels – we have a common vision of nature and its beauty.

http://www.emmanueldautriche.com/http://www.horizons-naturels.com/

http://500px.com/EmmanuelDautrichehttp://www.facebook.com/emmanuel.dautriche.photographies

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emmanuel-Dautriche-Photogra-phies-/214803075221360

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© Emmanuel Dautriche

Francesco CosiMy name is Francesco Cosi. I live in Italy in a little town near Florence. Since the end of 2006 I started having a passion for photography landscapes and nature in gen-eral.

My photographic approach is to think about our life - how very often it slips away in such a frenetic world: but if we are able to stop and take a walk in the countryside, listening to the rythmes and the emotions which nature can generate in ourselves, we’ll be able to rediscover lost emotions and new sensations, captured in a sunset or sunrise.

The images which I suggest are the result of particular place and atmospheres of our Italy; more than this, they are the the product of my mental and visual flights be-sides long walks.

This is the way to conceive my passion for photographs.In post–production I control the exposure and the con-trast with level and curves and I make use of dodge/burn tool to improve the depth of the shot, trying to emphasize what was in my mind before starting the photographic session. In this way I try to obtain the best result while I’ m shooting.

My absolute favorite photographers are David Noton, Charlie Waite and many others .

Have a good vision and see you soon.All the best,Francesco Cosi

http://www.jimmycost.com/http://www.facebook.com/FrancescoCosiLandscapesPhotography

http://500px.com/FrancescoCosi

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© Francesco Cosi

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André TorrèsI was an English senior lecturer by profession and have been a keen photographer by avocation. I live in Angers and Sète, France, but started using a camera in the south of the country when I was 5. The blurred pictures of that period had little to do with artistry. I began attending eve-ning classes in 1978 at a local photographic society.

I took up black and white photography, then transparen-cies and colour processing. I spent long moments in my dark room improving my technique mostly by trial and er-ror giving a try at whatever idea I could think of.

I tend to go in for a more aesthetic research of pictorial images rather than a mere recording of instants.

I am currently a member of a number of local, national and international photo associations and have been ap-pointed as PSA’s Director of European Study Groups. I usually participate in the photo salons with PSA, Fiap, ISF or national patronages either as a regular entrant or as a judge which enables me to see inspiring and emulat-ing real works of art. I thus gained a number of distinc-tions i.e. M.fiap, Edisf, Efpf5… and am a star exhibitor with Psa.

In conclusion, I am fascinated by all aspects of the pho-tographic media including both old processing methods and digital ones for instance. I tend to refuse any sectar-ian opinion or attitude in art. Any attempt is worth consid-ering. Lastly, I must admit I do photography rather self-ishly for first and foremost for my own pleasure.

http://andretorres.photography.com/http://www.facebook.com/torresandre1

Ralph NordstromPhotography is my passion. I guess I’m not so unique in that regard. I love to be alone in the desert before sunrise and experience the gentle breeze that always greets the day just before the sun majestically rises into the heavens. That timid announcement of such a royal entrance is one of the many wonders to be found on our beautiful Mother Earth.

But for me photography is more than a passion. It is a journey, a journey of self-discovery. Sometimes I wonder if my pho-tography is an escape from the tortured world we live in. But looking deep inside, I understand that it is a rebellion not an escape. I choose to seek out what’s right with the world. And I choose to engage the land and share the wonder I find there.

The journey continues; the passion grows. What’s waiting at the next sunrise?

http://www.facebook.com/RalphNordstromPhotographyhttp://ralphnordstromphotography.com/

Francesco GolaMy name is Francesco, I’m 31 and I grew up in a town called Stradella, in the north of Italy. Unfortunately my job brought me far from my home, and now I live in the beautiful town of Lerici, in Liguria.

Photography is not my primary occupation - I can’t say exactly when everything started. I have to say that I love to understand how the things works, and this was probably the reason I was so curious with the Canon AT-1 of my father. I studied every single manual of photography I found and then I asked him to lend it to me for my holidays…Love at first sight.

My job let me travel quite often even if I don’t have much free time for myself. But I noticed that the time spent on photogra-phy could turn me in a totally different mood, despite a really bad day. It’s really difficult to explain, but when I’m out with my camera I’m able to think of nothing: job, love, life, troubles…everything disappears. So I got used to spending my free time in this parallel world, and I can’t stop now.

I love Long Exposures, because it represents the parallel world I see. In a Long Exposure you don’t freeze just a moment, but an entire period of time. You can transform your picture in an hourglass, and this is really amazing for me.

There is something beyond what your eyes can see, and I try to reveal it.

Photography is a source of inspiration that allows me to re-veal the relationship between the outside world of Nature and the inside world of dreams, thoughts, emotions, desires and wishes.

Photography allows me to express myself - mental and emo-tional stimulation mixed with idea and vision and shape it into an art form.

http://www.francescogola.net/

http://www.facebook.com/FrancescoGolaPhotography

Jacques ChevalierI’m a “hobby photographer” and more or less self-taught. I took my first photo when I was about 10 years old with my father’s Exacta. He taught me the basic rules of com-position, light-metering – ASA/DIN-value and DOF rules in combination with the f-values and shutter speed. My first camera was an Agfa ISO-Rapid (I was 12 when I got it). I liked taking “street shots” because observing people is very interesting for me and I loved playing the “journal-ist”, posting my photos in the school newspaper.

Between ages 21 and 35, I played with Chinon and Zeiss-Ikon and concentrated more on nature and por-traits, weddings, etc. I was then inspired by the photos and photographic style of the 50s and “Bilitis” using (way too much) the Cokin filter.

For about 15 years I took “zero” shots – my work (teach-ing) and my main hobby (old electronics) were taking all my attention.

Then I discovered Flickr and André Govia – I was “photo-triggered” again. This time into URBEX photography and editing – but I couldn’t compete with the other photog-raphers who had “heavy” digital cameras, editing tech-niques, with access to all sorts of sites. But I discovered many new possibilities with digital photography.

I like “poetic shots” – shots with (some) feeling. For me, the subject is sometimes not the most important – the “moment” is. I also like “well-balanced” shots with nice expressions. I also like to experiment (HDR, etc) – the possibilities are endless especially with Photoshop.

Photography for me is “freezing time” – once a shot is taken it belongs to the past.

Probably, my schooling (Masters in History, French and Latin) are emphasizing this starting point to “Take a Shot”!

Alexey TrofimovI was born in 1970 in the city of Bratsk. This town is situ-ated on the Great Siberian Angara River, 600 km north of Lake Baikal. This is a very beautiful place, with a severe and majestic nature. In winter, a lot of snow and cold. Summer is short, but hot.

Photography takes a lot of my time, but it is not my prima-ry occupation. I am the owner of a consulting company, I’m fond of rafting, sports, traveling by car, and I have a daughter and a son.

In 2012I had a personal exhibition. I plan to have more shows in the near future.

I travel a lot in Siberia and the Altai Mountains. The very nature of my inspiration - and there are always new forms and subjects, even in familiar and frequented places.

Most of all I love to shoot landscapes. Especially around dawn. This makes it possible not only to enjoy the beauty of nature, but also to bring their thoughts in order.

I recently made a test trip to Beijing. This was a recon-naissance trip for the fall in which I plan to shoot in Beijing and the Great Wall.

In August, ten days to the north of Lake Baikal, in the Barguzin reserve.

I wish you good luck, beautiful light and shadows!

http://elbarto.artphoto.pro/http://www.facebook.com/PhotoGraphAlex

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Paulina UyI’m from the Philippines and I was raised in the small city of Dipo-log. After graduating secondary school, I resided in Cebu City and I only visit Dipolog a few times each year.

My passion for photography started when I was 15 and my par-ents gave me a digital camera. I brought along my camera any-where and anytime; and whenever my photos got printed, my parents encouraged me and told me how beautiful they were and that I had the eye of a photographer.

However, in college, I took up Computer Engineering – but I stopped after 7 semesters, realizing that it wasn’t my passion. Thinking of another course to take up and considering my dad’s application for immigration to Canada for our whole family, I de-cided to take up and pursue photography. I am currently studying under the New York Institute of Photography’s distance learning program (The Complete Course in Professional Photography), learning more and more things to hone my skills. Now with a digi-tal SLR (Canon EOS 450D) in hand I mostly do landscape pho-tography. I also enjoy shooting macros both for fun and for the love of exploring minute things we don’t normally see in our daily lives.

I dream of becoming a wedding photographer in the future. Other fields of photography I would like to be involved with are pho-tojournalism and wildlife photography. Speaking of photojournal-ism, I’m all set to pursue this field of photography this coming September in Canada. I can’t wait!

Camellia AlferezI am currently living in Dipolog City, my birthplace. I took up Accountancy and I work as a Copywriter. For as long as I can remember I have loved sports - especially Table Tennis. It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I also ended up being a Head Coach in Table Tennis.

I also love music, I love to travel, and I also love playing Darts, and Badminton.

Photography is one of my main passions and I love learn-ing new techniques to enhance my knowledge of the craft. I look forward to another year of coffee and photography!

Miracle RomanoThere are many ways to describe oneself. There are many, but the same self-indulgent prattle. Anyway, let us indulge...

If I were to reveal myself in technical terms, I would sim-ply relay what my birth certificate warrants; that my real name is Miracle Romano and that I was brought forth into this world in 1984 (a rather significant year in literature).

If I were to do so philosophically, I’d ask you, dear reader, “What is Self?” and I shall be conveniently released from the necessity to supply an answer.

If I were allowed to borrow the words of sages and poets, I would quote Plato and say, “I know not how I may seem to others, but to myself I am but a small child wandering upon the vast shores of knowledge,every now and then finding a small bright pebble to content myself with.” Or I may usurp a most befitting line from Walt Whitman and declare that “each part and tag of me is a miracle.”

I may also speak as a musician and maintain that I am one who lives life as a musical process. Indeed, there are many ways, and yet I feel that through the following titles, I am able to successfully summarize what I per-ceive myself to be: A Little Girl, a Woman, a Daughter of God, a Sister, a Free Spirit, a Page-Turner (whether they be book pages, music pages, or life’s pages), a Kape-Writer, a Polybibliogamist, a Traveling Minstrel, among other fancied things.

Rose AlferezI grew up in Dipolog City, Philippines. I spent my col-lege years in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, where I studied Psychology and Secondary Education at Silli-man University. For almost 9 years, I taught Psychology in the tertiary level in Dipolog and Dumaguete City. With my interest in understanding human behavior, both the common and the uncommon, I wish to finish my master’s degree in Special Education.

Presently, I work as a freelance Online Copy Editor and as a Consultant for Leadership and Life Skills trainings in nongovernment units. With this kind of work that leaves me more leisure time, I am able to engage in my interest in photography.

I got my inspiration for most of my photos from my fellow Caffeinated Photographers. My work varies from people and emotions to playful subjects and colors. I would say that I need to work on my perspective and develop a vi-sion to get great photos.

I agree with the quote that “if you want to get better in photography, you better start shooting and get to know the gear you have.”

THE PRESENTFinding Myself in the Middle of NowHere.

by Jerry Downs

Download it free here: http://www.thepresentis.it/

I’ve made the 1,400 mile trip between San Francisco and Boulder, Colorado nearly 100 times over the last 40 years. The book is a compilation of some of my fa-vorite images and adventures through the wide open spaces of the American West.

The book is a photographic novel way of looking at the world. It contains lots of information about photogra-phy. I’m happy to teach people everything I know. But, and more importantly, The Present is about what pho-tography has taught me. It’s my gift to the world about using photography as a medium for self-discovery.

So far, more than 6,000 people have downloaded a free copy of my eBook. I decided to make it free one night after I had received the final edit. It was the same kind of epiphany that comes to me in the middle of the night after driving all day. I asked myself why I had spent the last three years writing it and what I hoped to gain by publishing it. What did I have to gain from any fame and fortune? The purpose for fame and fortune is to be happy, right? So, I decided to go straight for the happiness and forgo all the effort of creating a physical book. It is, after all, called The Present. I have a certain following and I’m sure I could have sold hundreds of copies, but this way thousands of people get to see, read and give The Present as their own gift to a friend. That makes me very happy.

Here are a few excerpts and images to give you a feel for the road that I traveled to bring myself to the pres-ent.

“When I remember that I am making up my picture of the world from my own lines of thought, life itself becomes the ultimate creative act.”Pg. 46, The Present

http://www.jerrydownsphoto.com

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place...

I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

- Elliott Erwitt

http://www.facebook.com/CaffeinatedPhotographersInternational

Due to the diverse and “international” nature of the Caffeinated Photographers Facebook Group, the admins de-cided to organize a new project that would build on this partnership and further enhance communication and coop-eration between our members from all over the world.

The Caffeinated in Every Continent Project was launched on June 2012 and it currently has registered members from more than 30 countries. We are currently in the process of building a database that will only be accessible to our registered members. In the near future, we will also compile all the material provided by our volunteers about their respective areas and publish it in PDF form for easy downloading.

This project will give our members free access to information about great places for photography in areas that they may be traveling in. It also allows members to meet up, coordinate photo walks, etc. should they find themselves in the same area. Other useful information about hotels, restaurants, tourist sites, hospitals in specific areas are also made available to our members.

You may now register for the Caffeinated Photographers Program for free (http://www.facebook.com/Caffeinated-PhotographersInternational). Please “Like” the page then click on the “Message” option in the new page and send the following details:

Name:City and Country:Email Address:Phone Number (Optional for now):Additional Details: (“Volunteer” or “Member”)

NOTE: In “Additional Details” please indicate if you are registering as a “Volunteer” or simply as a “Member”.

These are the main differences between being a volunteer or member:Registering as a “Volunteer” means you will be appointed as a contact person/coordinator for your area/city - mem-bers who visit your place will have the option of contacting you for photo shoots, or information about areas that are great for photo shoots, tourist spots, hotels, restaurants, etc. - any information that would help a Caffeinated Photog-rapher traveling in that area. You will have all the benefits of being a member but with added responsibilities. This will be strictly voluntary and all members are under no obligation to meet up with a fellow member should they have more pressing things to attend to – all meet ups will be at the sole discretion of the “coordinator” in that specific area.

Registering as a “Member” will allow you to see the list of available contact persons in each area when you travel there but you won’t be added as a “coordinator” in your area.

Discover Jökulsárlón – Icelandby Robert Ben (Iceland Volunteer)

The land of boiling mud pools, spurting geysers, glaciers and waterfalls is an adventure, an inspiration for pho-tographers and artists. Jökulsárlón ( also referred as The Glacier-Lagoon ) is the most popular attraction in Iceland, situated in on the south east coast of Iceland, is a deep lake clustered with floating icebergs.

* Situated at the head of Breiðamerkurjökull, it evolved into a lagoon after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake (over 200m deep ) has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the Icelandic glaciers. The lagoon now stands 1.5 kilometres away from the ocean’s edge and covers an area of about 18 km.

* The lagoon can be seen along Route 1 between Höfn and Skaftafell. The icebergs that calve from the glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. While floating, only about one tenth mass of an iceberg is seen above the water surface. These icebergs are seen in two shades, one type in milky white, while the other type is in bright blue colour, which is an interplay of light and ice crystals. Along the coastal road drive to the Jökulsárlón, apart from the mountains adding to the scenic surroundings, the villages seen are the Selfoss, Vik and Kirkjubæjarklaustur. Among other attractions are Skógarfoss waterfall and Skaftafell, the latter one belonging to Vat-najökull National Park.

* The lagoon is filled with fishes (herring, trout, salmon and other fishes and krill.), Seals ,large numbers of sea birds like arctic terns.

* Breiðamerkursandur (the large sand deposits in the area) is the main habitat of the skua (Stercorariidae). During the summer season the skuas, which are big seagulls have their nests on the lake’s shores. The skuas, fat and dark in colour with white wings, are said to be aggressive “pirate of the seas”, which harass other birds (as big as gannets) to have a free meal. They also kill and eat smaller birds like the puffins. They are not afraid of human beings and also do not tolerate human beings close to its nests.

The premiere of the James Bond movie A View to a Kill marked the start of commercial boat tours on the Glacier lagoon.

The popularity of the lagoon has been further boosted by the TV coverage provided live from Jökulsárlón Lagoon on the American TV program Good Morning America (American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network) in southeast Iceland. Jökulsárlón has been a setting for some Hollywood movies as Die Another Day, Tomb Raider and Batman Begins, in addition to the reality-TV series Amazing Race.

“Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.”

– Imogen Cunningham

Approaching Photography Through Music

by Ralph Nordstrom

I have a passion for photography. And I also have a passion for, and background in, music. I studied piano and pipe organ in my earlier years and have always loved classical music. So it’s no big surprise that sooner or later I would compare photography and music.

And while my musical experience doesn’t extend very far beyond classical music and my experience with photogra-phy doesn’t extend much beyond landscape photography, the comparisons of music and photography that I want to pursue here cover all genres of both of these art forms.

These two have a lot in common - photography and music. At the risk of perhaps stating the obvious, they are both art forms which allow for virtually unlimited creative expression of the artist.

We take it for granted today that photography can be a fine art. But that’s not always been the case. The Pictorialism movement from around 1885 to 1915 championed by Alfred Stieglitz held that photography on its own was little more than very accurate documentation. To rise to the status of art photographers had to employ the techniques used by painters. As a result their photographs were usually soft, they were toned with sepia and other tints and often had subdued contrast. They employed techniques in the field and darkroom to achieve these results.

In the United States in the late 1920s and 1930s a rebellious band of Western photographers (Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, William Van Dyke and others) formed Group f/64 whose foundation manifesto is what we take for granted today – that photography

could stand on its own as fine art. Prior to forming the group, Adams dabbled in Pictorialism but found it unsatisfying. He and the other group members adopted a philosophy, if you will, embodied in the group’s name - that photographs that were sharp and possessed dramatic con-trast and strong compositions could indeed be fine art. When the young Ansel Adams presented his portfolio to the great Alfred Stieglitz in his gal-lery in New York, Stieglitz agreed and immediately arranged for a show of Adams’ work.

Both art forms – music and photography – are powerful modes of creative ex-pression through which the masters of each medium give us keen insights into the human condition and reflect the values and philosophies of their times.

An interesting way to think about the artists in both art forms is there are cre-ators and interpreters. It’s very clear in music that the creators are the compos-ers that write the scores. Out of their passions, turmoil, inspiration, despair, loves, pride, fears and virtually every other conceivable emotion emerge the completed works that enlighten and enrich our lives.

The interpreters are the musicians who perform the works of the great compos-ers. Also from them come new insights into the musical works themselves, in-terpretations layered on top of the composer’s intensions that add the perform-ers’ perceptions and experiences making each performance a unique and often enlightening experience. Creation and interpretation come together in jazzwhich takes familiar melodies and weaves probing improvisations that so dramatically reveal the soul of the artist.

If you think about it, photography also has its creators and inter-preters. Photographers like Minor White create images that are pure and wonderful imagination, not resembling at all the depic-tion of reality that many expect from photography but rather a fas-cinating inner reality. And you should see what Picasso did with a camera during his cubist period. As a landscape photographer I consider myself an interpreter. I take what the Creator provides - the streams and mountains, the weather, the light - and from that make photographs that expresses my feelings and emotions, my responses to what inspires me. In my photographs I attempt to communicate not what the camera sees but what I see.

I think studio photographers are also both creators and interpreters. Where landscape photographers work with the light they have, studio photographers create their own light, whether it’s for a portrait or a product shot.

There is a common thread through all of this talk about creation and interpretation and that is communication. All artists have something they want to say, something within themselves that wants to be let out. It may be more evident in music but it’s just as true of photography. And to communicate there must be a vocabulary.

In music the composers, the creators, have melodies, major and minor keys, harmonies, counterpoint and many more ‘words’ in their vocabu-laries. The performers, the interpreters, have tempi, phrasing, dynamics and more to make the works their own.

Photographers also have their vocabularies of light, composition, expo-sure, focus, and all the magical things that can be done to an image in the ‘darkroom.’ We are especially fortunate today to have a ‘digital dark-room’ that contains such powerful tools as Lightroom and Photoshop. We can do in minutes what the masters of the film age required hours and even days to accomplish.

But communication doesn’t just spring from the soul of the artist. In the early stages of developing our art we are consumed with mastering the medium itself. Musicians must build a foundation of techniques that gives them the dexterity to express themselves in their performances. Musical performance is very physical.

Photographers must also build a foundation of techniques. Over time we want our cameras to become second nature, something we don’t think

about. Then we are not distracted with the details of exposure, fo-cus and the countless other things there are to think about but can concentrate on trying to capture what we are experiencing – what inspires us, what we are connecting with, what we have to say. And as our digital darkroom techniques grow we learn what we are able to say in the final image, we gain the ability to previsualize.

Accomplished musicians spend countless hours practicing. And they’re not only practicing the pieces they’re learn-ing to perform; they are practicing scales, arpeggios and drills, all of which builds the foundation upon which their stunning performances stand. And they practice every day.

We photographers can emulate musicians. The more frequently we use our cameras the more they become sec-ond nature to us. Point and shoot and smart phone cameras are excellent for this. We can take them everywhere we go and when something catches our eye we can try to capture it. But even without a camera we can train our eye to seek out compositions and become sensitive to ever-changing light no matter where we are or what we’re doing.

A friend asked me once if the quality of the camera is an important factor in creating great photographs. We know that it’s the photographer, not the camera that makes compelling images. But there’s an example in music that I think also applies to photography. Antonio Stradivari created the finest violin of all times, the Stradivarius. Put a Stradivarius in the hands of a beginning violin student and you don’t have much.

Put a practice violin in the hands of a world class concert violinist and it will sound great. But pair up a Stradivarius in the hands of a concert violinist and you have wonderful, incompa-rable music. Likewise, a great camera in the hands of a novice photographer doesn’t guar-antee great photographs. But put a great camera in the hands of an accomplished photogra-pher and they can take their photography to newer heights.

There is one more comparison I would like to draw. Serious musicians usually have an awareness of the musical history of their genre. In classical music composers and performers stand on hundreds of years of history. Even contemporary genres have evolved from scores of years or perhaps centuries of history. Today’s musical artists stand on the shoulders of those that came before.

I may be wrong but I don’t get the same impression about photographers. Not only do we have more than a hun-dred of years of history that brought us to where we are today, but many of the techniques and principles of paint-ing apply to our photographs. And painting has centuries of discovery, tradition and history. I would encourage all photographers who desire to grow as artists to not only hone their craft but become informed of the rich tradition we have in both photography and the long history of painting.

We are fortunate to be photographers. We are fortunate when photography becomes a lens through which we see the world in new, inspiring, surprising and exciting ways. We are fortunate when we put ourselves in beautiful places, chasing fantastic light. We are fortunate when we are able to express ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, our world view, through our photographs. And we are fortunate when we can share them with others and, more importantly, when they touch and enrich others.

We are also fortunate that Mario and Paulina have brought us all together in this diverse, fascinating and talented community of Caffeinated Photographers.

caffeinated photographers magazine, issue 2 (august 2012)

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