This blog has moved...

After some deliberation, I've moved this blog to the WordPress blog sites.

You can find it here.

Thanks for coming by, and I look forward to seeing you at my new blog!

Lincoln

The Cowboy Cave Rules!!!

You know how you see all those signs in stores regarding Man Caves?  There are signs that just say "Man Cave" or there are those signs that come up with "Man Cave Rules."

Those signs are great and the rules are often pretty funny.

Well... I got to thinking about all that and noticed there weren't any signs about man caves for those of the cowboy persuasion.  It seems they just think city and suburban dwellers have man caves.

As a result, I created the perfect sign for the "Cowboy Cave Rules."  10 rules for every Cowboy Cave are all together now in one spot!  LOL!  I hope you have as much fun looking at this as I did making it.

Have a great day and God bless!

Lincoln
Lincoln Rogers Gallery at Fine Art America
Official Lincoln Rogers Facebook Page
Follow Lincoln Rogers on Twitter!
Lincoln Rogers' website

The Greatest Generation

I have a connection with "The Greatest Generation."  My father and father-in-law both fought in World War II.  As a result, their sacrificial efforts to stand against a real evil in the world, as well as stand FOR the values of the great republic of the United States, continues to inspire me.

In response to that inspiration, I created a photography-based work in tribute to the spirit of "The Greatest Generation," and as a call to carry on their legacy in our own lives.

It can be found on Fine Art America.  It is titled "The Old Flagpole Still Stands."

Here is the link: The Old Flagpole Still Stands - By Lincoln Rogers

 

Have a great day and God bless.

Lincoln

Okay... ONE MORE!!!

Here is a link to prints of Rodeo related artwork available at Fine Art America!!!

Gotta love being able to find artwork related to the west.

God bless and have a great day.

Lincoln

Cowboy Canvas Prints, too!

I posted a link before that gave a link to Western Canvas Prints available at Fine Art America.

There are also Cowboy Canvas Prints available, as well!!!  Check it out!

Have a great day and God bless,

Lincoln

Western Canvas Prints

Check out the Western Canvas PrintsWestern Canvas Prints available through Fine Art America.  There is some great work by a lot of artists, there.  Okay... mine are there, as well!!!  :o)

Have a great day.

Lincoln

Limited Time Promotional Offer for Butterfly On A Lantana - Stretched Canvas

This is s Limited Time Promotion for a discount deal on a stretched canvas print of one of my pieces of photography on Fine Art America!

Linted Time Stretched Canvas Promotion of Butterfly On A Lantana

Promotional Offer Ends On October 15 at 11:00 pm.

Have a great day and God bless,

Lincoln

Colorado-based Reining Trainer and Competitor, Shane Brown

I wrote a profile piece for The Fence Post magazine on Colorado horseman and reiner Shane Brown.  You can read the article here - http://www.thefencepost.com/news/7998046-113/brown-reining-horse-horses

I also created a video to pair with the story that includes video clips, some photos and a portion of my interview with Shane when I talked with him and took photos at his Elbert, CO facilities.

You can also find a few more photos of Shane in action from my Official Lincoln Rogers Writing and Photography Page -Lincoln's Shane Brown Photo Album on Facebook

I hope you enjoy this closer look at Colorado horseman Shane Brown.  He was great to interview, photograph and spend time getting to know.

God bless!

Lincoln Rogers
https://www.facebook.com/LincolnRogers.Writer.Photographer
Lincoln's Fine Art Photography
www.lincolnrogers.com

Color Commentary!

Life is full of color.

Colors impact us each and every day.  They cause us to stop and stare, they tempt us to smell or taste, and they even lure us to buy.  From sunrises and sunsets to lush greens on a fairway or even the dizzying array of hues at a local farmers market, they are rich part of the joy of life.

It's no wonder that color (or even the lack of it in black and white) is a huge part of the visual arts.

As a result, let's take a look at colorful images that attract the eye, as well as the use of framing the color to make the image more appealing.  Again, I'll use my photography since I know the guy who owns the copyrights!

Here's one that has the rich and powerful color of red.  Red catches the eye easily and makes anything seem more attractive.  Just ask the women out on the town in the red dresses or the men buying the red sports cars!  Red is such a powerful color that it pairs well with black for a dramatic feel.  Using a dark background made the tomatoes stand out and create a more dramatic scene for a photo of tomatoes being washed in the sink, don't you think?  In this case, I KNOW you want to have some pasta right... about... NOW!

From a single potent color, we come to a nature photo with an array of colors.  The green, orange, yellow and the hues in between create a pleasing image for the eyes.  This amount of rich green practically screams nature, as well as clean.  Our eyes enjoy greens like this.  It must be part of the reason why golf courses are considered so beautiful, as well as why forests and fields draw many of us to hike and camp in their midst.  Framing the main image of the colorful butterfly and flower with an expanse of green causes the eye to center on the butterfly itself, rather than be distracted to the sides of the photograph.  It's fair to say we like green.  We even like it in our wallets...

The next image has a lot of blue in it, along with other hues.  Blue is such a natural color.  Those primary colors seem to be eye catchers, don't they?  Here, you can see I framed the blue with bursts of color on either side with the Aspen trees in autumn.  Framing with color like this doesn't necessarily distract from the main object, it complements the overall photograph.  So don't worry... it's okay to feel blue!

Remember to experiment in your photography by using color for framing and/or frame the color in your shots.  

Have a great Labor Day weekend and God bless.

Lincoln Rogers

Popular Aussie horse sport of Campdrafting comes to the U.S.!!!

This past weekend I had the privilege of watching the first ever sanctioned Australian-style Campdrafting competition on U.S. soil.  And it was right here in my (nearly) backyard of small town Kiowa, CO!

Campdrafting is a hugely popular horse sport in Australia, with 5 events per weekend and the larger events hosting 800-900 riders.  Top-ranked Campdrafting competitors and horse trainers Pete Comiskey and Steven Hart flew in all the way from Australia to teach a Campdrafting clinic and help supervise the first ever sanctioned event in the states.  They were great guys and my wife and I had a good time interviewing them during the competition.

I covered the event for The Fence Post magazine and the story and photos will be out in next week's edition (Sept. 02 edition).  It should also run online on the Fence Post's website and they will be featuring a video I created from the event, as well.  The video contains photography, video clips and audio interviews I was able to get during the competition on Sunday August 25, 2013.

You can aleady see photos from the event I have posted on my official Facebook page.
Here are two photos as samples - the first is of Australians Steven Hart and Pete Comiskey.  The second is local resident Sunni Valencia competing in Sunday's event. 

If you are interested in what Campdrafting is and what it is all about, you can find out all sorts of information from the following websites:
U.S. National Campdraft Association
Australian Campdraft Association
Wikipedia's Entry on Campdrafting
Wikihow.com's entry on Campdrafting - with tips 

If you love horses and horse events that involve cattle, you'll love learning about Campdrafting.

Take care, God bless, and have a great day.

Lincoln Rogers
https://www.facebook.com/LincolnRogers.Writer.Photographer
http://lincoln-rogers.artistwebsites.com/
http://www.lincolnrogers.com/

What is it about old stuff?

There seems to be something inherently "photographic" about old things, historic places, vintage memorabilia, etc.  I don't know if it is the nostalgia they create or maybe it is because items/places that have been around a long time just have a more interesting character to them that photographs better.

Whatever the reason, here is some of the "old stuff" I have loved capturing with my lens. 

What old stuff do you love?  I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great day.

Lincoln Rogers

Light and Shadow

In my last post, I talked about the importance of light to photography and a bit about how to use it.

But what if there isn't much light in a situation?  Can quality photographs be made in those circumstances?

Sure.  If you think outside the box, you can change your perception of what you are "looking for" and try to take photos of what you have available instead.

- I'll provide two examples using different situations -

The following photo is of one of our dogs when it was just a pup.  There wasn't a lot of light at this particular moment and I didn't care to use a flash, since I didn't want to disturb the little fella while he was trying to sleep.  So I got down on the floor and put myself at an angle to best use a narrow shaft of light that covered a portion of his body.  The angle you choose from any available light can make a huge difference in how the light works for your photo.  Knowing there wasn't enough light to fill the room or even his little frame on the floor, I decided to go ahead and use what I could.  I consciously dialed the ISO on my digital camera to a low setting (ISO 100).  In lower light situations, that setting tends to deepen shadows and can even create a black background behind a subject.  I was near him, so using an f-stop or aperture of 6.3 would create a pleasing shallow depth of field on his head (focus point is sharp while the rest is nicely blurred or out of focus).  I clicked the shutter at 1/320th of a second and the following came out:

 

The black background and deep shadow around him create a more dramatic image than just a puppy sleeping.  There is some mood here and maybe even some emotion.  It's not necessary to get hung up on not having as much light as you want.  If you don't have it, then create a different type of capture instead.

Another type of situation is the low light action shot.  That can be very tricky, but figuring out what kind of light you DO have at your disposal will make all the difference in the world.  The following shot was taken at a horse competition, a western freestyle reining event, to be precise.  It was an indoor event and some of the performers choose to have the arena lights off and compete with only spotlights.  When I saw it happening, I was able to prop myself against a railing and slow my shutter speed down to 1/250th of a second while I panned with my lens (followed the movement's direction with my lens).  I believe I was at a higher ISO 2500 because it was so dark.  As a result of slowing the shutter speed and panning with the action, I was able to pick up the spotlight illuminating the edges of the dark-colored horse and the rider in a formal black suit.  Being satisfied with capturing some light, instead of giving up because there "wasn't enough light," allowed me to capture the following image:

It has become one of my favorite captures, and it was because I kept shooting and tried different settings to make it work rather than giving up on that ride because there was insufficient light.

Like I said in my previous post, it is all about the light.  The difference is, how creative do you want to be in chasing that light?

Have a good one and keep shooting.

Lincoln Rogers

http://lincoln-rogers.artistwebsites.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LincolnRogers.Writer.Photographer

Using the Light in Your Photography

After seeing some of my photography, people sometimes ask about the camera equipment I am using.  I only state this, because there seems to be a misconception, of sorts, that if there is a nice photograph, then the photographer must have had expensive equipment to which most people don't have access.

I want to disagree, to a point, with that assessment.  I understand that expensive equipment can certainly help with creating a stunning image, but usually those stunners come from a photographer with many years of experience in their rear-view mirror and the ability to get the most out of their equipment, no matter what it is.

The single most important element of a great photograph is not the content, but the light.  Excellent use of light (even with average photographic equipment) can turn an ordinary, everyday item into an extraordinary image.

I'm not saying my photos are extraordinary, but since I know the photographer and have easy access to them (ha!), I will use a few as examples.

The following was an ordinary stretch of mature grass along a country road.  Nothing special, it was just grass, after all.  What made it stand out at the time, however, was the sunset light hitting the heads of grass from behind.  The effect turned everyday grass that most people would mow into a beautiful moment.  As a result, I got down on my knees and shot this image.  Choosing the angle that shows off the light helps make an image pop, as well.

More everyday items that I found outside an antique shop in Texas were these doorknobs on a wood plank.

Doorknobs as art?  You bet... if the light is good.  This was another near sunset time of day.  Photographers call the time of day near sunrise and again near sunset the "golden hour," for its warm tones and soft light.  I like it for the nice shadows it creates, as well.

A third example is a couple of Poppy flowers.

Flowers can be found nearly everywhere, including a relative's backyard, like these.  What makes them stand out is the contrast of light and shadow.  If I remember correctly, this was in late morning and the background of the garden was in deep shade from a nearby tree.  Seeing the sunlight hit these flowers and the shadow of the background made me want to take this photo.


All three of these photos required no special equipment.  There was no flash used, no reflectors, no special filters on the lens - just me walking around with my camera looking for an opportunity.

In other words, look for the light and bring you camera!!!   You just might surprise yourself.

Have a good one.

Lincoln Rogers
Official Lincoln Rogers Writing and Photography Page on Facebook
Lincoln's Fine Art America Website
Lincoln's Website

Pikes Peak in Autumn

Pikes Peak in Autumn - By Lincoln Rogers

Here's some more Cowboy-related photography that can be found at Fine Art America, my work included of course!

cowboy photos

Go have a look see and see what's available!

Have a good one!

Lincoln 

Daydream of a Horse

Here's a slideshow of some of my photography available for sale as fine art.

Gallery of Western Photography and Artwork

Now that I've started offering my photography for sale as fine art prints, canvases, greeting cards, etc., I wanted to provide a link to a Fine Art America gallery where you can find all kinds of western related photography and artwork, including mine.

western prints

Take a look and see what you think.

Have a good one.

Lincoln

I know, I know... it's been forever since I updated my blog.  Okay, it's been about five years, but who's counting!

During that time, I've been busy setting up my Official Lincoln Rogers Writing & Photography Facebook page and linking most of my new and current photography and writing there.  I figured I needed another good outlet for those posts and decided to fire this blog up once more!  (cue the applause, here)

One of the main reasons for kicking this back in gear is to let you know I now have some of my photography available for sale as fine art prints.  You can purchase them as prints, on canvas, acrylic, framed and matted, etc. from my gallery at Fine Art America.  I'll be posting updates here regarding new photography that is available for sale.


I'm excited about this new venture and hope you find photos you enjoy.  Let me know some of your favorites, will you?