"Peace." A fun, multiple-exposure photograph! "Peace" note cards are available here. Behind the lens. There are only two people and two dogs in this image. The red coat is me (John), the blue coat is Tracy (my better half), and our dogs are Abbey (the blonde) and Jodie (the redhead). Our neighbor has a deck overlooking the lake, so Tracy stood on the deck and directed me while I practiced my penmanship with a snow shovel on the frozen lake. I think the letters look better than my handwriting. Click here to see a video showing how we created the letters. Click here to read a detailed explination of how we created this image.

Original photographs of horses and sheep -- and two kids playing on a frozen lake.

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JohnAshleyFineArt > "Sanctuary."

The Montana Horse Sanctuary, near Simms, is a non-profit which helps in-crisis horses and horse owners. Learn more at www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "A Soft Eye."

Happy, a young mare, enjoys a peaceful moment at Montana Horse Sanctuary in Simms, Montana. The Sanctuary is a non-profit that shelters and assists in-crisis horses and their owners. To learn more, visit www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org.

"A Soft Eye" note cards available here.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Yee-haa!"

Isaac is a four-year-old paint who found his "forever" home thanks to the Montana Horse Sanctuary near Simms, Montana. The Sanctuary is a non-profit which helps in-crisis horses and horse owners. Learn more at www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org.

Note cards available here.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Dancer."

Although not a “rescued” horse, Dancer provides therapy to Montana Horse Sanctuary horses through play and friendship. The Sanctuary is a non-profit that shelters and assists in-crisis horses and their owners. To learn more, visit www.MontanaHorseSanctuary.org.

"Dancer" note cards available here.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Peaceful Lamb."

A young lamb rests peacefully in a bed of straw, under the nurturing care of its mother. ("Peaceful Lamb" note cards available here.)

Behind the lens.

Everyone responds to this photograph with a universal, "Aaaaaaw!" This is a good example of how camera angle influences how we respond to an image.

I created this intimate image of a ewe and her lamb by getting down at eye level (and crawling around in some interesting-smelling straw). How boring would it look if I'd photographed the very same scene from a standing position?

Boiled down to basics, photographing people and animals from above makes them look relatively smaller and weaker. Photographing from below makes the very same subject look bigger and stronger. But we feel the strongest connection when we are looking at the subject eye-to-eye. Call it, "The Aaaaaw Effect."

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Burning the Midnight Oil."

A full moon floats past the memories of the old Blasdel Barn, in northwest Montana. The barn has witnessed moonrises since 1909, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Moon images were taken at three-minute intervals between 8:51 pm & 1:22 am.

Behind the lens

How do you tell the story -- in one single frame -- of a lady who has withstood the rigors of 100-plus years? Since 1909, the Blasdel Barn south of Kalispell has stood quietly over the thankless days and nights of hard work. Now in retirement, this grand old dame continues to weather gracefully on the National Register of Historic Places.

My goal was to imply, to gesture towards, the barn's proud past without hiding or apologizing for her current wrinkles and peeling makeup. Your eye is drawn to the warm glow that radiates from within, hinting at the work that started at sunrise and sometimes continued into the night. The full moon rises at sunset and slowly crawls halfway across the night sky, and still her heart glows inside. Some work is never really finished -- it just passes from one day to the next, from one generation to another.

I started her multiple-exposure photograph at 8:51 PM on the warm, cloudless night of August 24th. Camera on a tripod, I photographed the moon at three-minute intervals until 1:22 AM. Then we sat together in the dark for two hours, until the moon moved over far enough to drape her west (right) wall and roof with cool, blue light. During a 30-second exposure for the cool moonlight, I used a flashlight to "paint" warm light inside. A second, brief light painting on the north (left) wall contrasts the cool moonlight and gives depth to her aging frame.

The result? A timeless portrait of a proud lady -- a lady as beautiful in her years as in her youth, more than a century ago.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Peace."

A fun, multiple-exposure photograph! "Peace" note cards are available here.

Behind the lens.

There are only two people and two dogs in this image. The red coat is me (John), the blue coat is Tracy (my better half), and our dogs are Abbey (the blonde) and Jodie (the redhead). Our neighbor has a deck overlooking the lake, so Tracy stood on the deck and directed me while I practiced my penmanship with a snow shovel on the frozen lake. I think the letters look better than my handwriting.

Click here to see a video showing how we created the letters.

Click here to read a detailed explination of how we created this image.

"Peace."

A fun, multiple-exposure photograph! "Peace" note cards are available here.

Behind the lens.

There are only two people and two dogs in this image. The red coat is me (John), the blue coat is Tracy (my better half), and our dogs are Abbey (the blonde) and Jodie (the redhead). Our neighbor has a deck overlooking the lake, so Tracy stood on the deck and directed me while I practiced my penmanship with a snow shovel on the frozen lake. I think the letters look better than my handwriting.

Click here to see a video showing how we created the letters.

Click here to read a detailed explination of how we created this image.

gallery pages: 1

< Prev 7 of 7 Next >

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