John Sexton.com - Newsletter

Greetings,

It is hard to imagine that Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Time just seems to fly by more and more quickly. The past year has been a busy one for Anne and me. In a few days it will be exactly one year since I had my partial knee replacement. I am glad to say that the procedure, and considerable physical therapy, has proven to be a good investment. My new "bionic" knee is working fine. During a photography trip to Yosemite Anne and I undertook a 9.2 mile round trip day hike. The starting elevation was 9,700 feet and our destination was at 10,500 feet. We had not done a lot of hiking earlier in the year, and this trek - complete with camera packs and tripods - was exhausting, but invigorating! My new knee performed flawlessly - much better than my other "natural" worn out knee!

Last month we had a great workshop with Charlie Cramer at Mono Lake. We are looking forward to the 2013 offering of this very popular annual event next year. I am please to announce the 2013 and early 2014 workshop schedule below. Along with the Mono Lake workshop Charlie and I will again be offering our Luminous Print workshop in Carmel Valley in 2013 and 2014. Naturally we continue to offer the venerable Expressive Black and White Print workshops. 2013 marks the thirtieth anniversary of this workshop.

In July I had the great privilege and honor to present a brand new lecture, Inspired by Excellence to more than 800 Apple employees. It was an amazing experience. The audience was extremely enthusiastic and responsive. The venue was spectacular, and the audiovisual team and their hardware provided the best digital projection I have ever experienced for my own images - along with Ansel's photographs. The high-resolution images (which required me to re-work all of the digital files for this presentation) looked terrific at more than twelve feet tall on the screen. At a reception following my presentation I had the pleasure to meet a number of the attendees, and visit with them. It was a long, but incredibly rewarding, afternoon I will never forget. At the risk of using an overused term... the entire experience was awesome!

Looking ahead to next year I am honored to be presenting lectures, seminars, and keynote addresses in Yosemite, Dallas, Texas, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, and even right here at home on the Monterey Peninsula. Initial details on some of these events are included below. In addition, Anne and I are thrilled that we will be having two joint exhibitions of our photographs. The first is at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite this spring, and in September at the Sun to Moon Gallery in Dallas, Texas. Again, there are more details about the exhibitions, and related events below. To celebrate our forthcoming two-person exhibitions we are both offering Special Collectors Edition prints at discounted prices. Be sure to look for the special discount code in the information below to save even more. In addition, if you are an American Express cardholder you can register your card for the Small Business Saturday event to save even more if you make a purchase from our online store this Saturday, November 24th.You must register your American Express card before Saturday the 24th.

Anne and I feel we have much to be thankful for in our lives. We wish you, along with your family and friends a wonderful Holiday season ahead. We send special thoughts to those readers that may have been impacted by the super storm Sandy, or may have family or friends that have suffered losses from the storm.

Wishing you the very best,

John

ORIGINAL PRINTS BY JOHN AND ANNE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT DISCOUNTED PRICE
USING SPECIAL COUPON

In 2013 Anne and I will be exhibiting together for the first time. Details of our two joint exhibitions are included below in this newsletter. To celebrate the upcoming events we have decided to each offer a new Special Collector's Edition print at a greatly reduced price. I will be offering the image, Merced River, Happy Isles, and the image Anne has chosen is a Limited Edition print, Trees in Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley.

The special discounted price for my open edition print is $700 a 30% savings from the normal retail price of $1,000. Anne's prints retail for $450, and she is also offering a 30% discount on a new Limited Edition print – the discounted price is $315. To receive a further discount of 10% on these prints enter the coupon code 'WHITE' (without the quotation marks), and your price will be $630 for, Merced River, Happy Isles, and $283 for, Trees in Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley. The special 10% discount applies to all items at the online store and is good through December 15, 2012. For shipping details please see below.

Ceiling House, Colorado Plateau by John
Sexton

Merced River, Happy Isles, Yosemite Valley, California
©1973 John Sexton. All rights reserved.

To learn more about the print, Merced River, Happy Isles, or to place an order, follow this link:
http://ventanaeditions.stores.yahoo.net/trblsnlied.html

Ceiling House, Colorado Plateau by John
Sexton

Trees in Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley, California
©2011 Anne Larsen. All rights reserved.

To learn more about the print, Trees in Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley or to place an order, follow this link:
http://ventanaeditions.stores.yahoo.net/anlaorliedpr.html

In June of 1973 - nearly forty years ago - I attended the two-week Ansel Adams workshop in Yosemite. This image, Merced River, Happy Isles, was made during that workshop. I was inspired to apply for the workshop after seeing the exhibition Master Photographers: Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock and Edward Weston at the Pasadena Museum of Art (now the Norton Simon Museum) as part of a photography class I was enrolled in at Cypress College.

Seeing original prints by these three great photographers was a life changing experience for me at the ripe old age of nineteen. I had seen reproductions of some of the well know images by Adams and Weston, but I am embarrassed to admit I was not familiar with Wynn Bullock's imagery. His images of long exposures of moving water had an impact on me. In the notes I made that day at the Museum I wrote this about Wynn's photographs, "... strange effect of extremely slow shutter speeds on ocean gives striking mist effect."

My classmate John Charles Woods and I decided that we would apply for Ansel's Yosemite workshop scheduled a few months later, and we were both accepted. I had borrowed a 4x5 from school and a tripod from a good friend. I did have my own light meter... it was built into my 35mm Minolta SRT-101 camera. Far from perfect, but it was what I had.

Early one evening during the workshop John Woods and I headed off to one of my favorite places in Yosemite Valley - Happy Isles. Inspired by Wynn Bullock's photographs I decided to experiment with a long exposure of the Merced River. I did not own a neutral density filter. In fact the only filters I had were for my 35mm camera. I deduced that I could simulate a neutral density filter by combining filters of the additive primary colors - red, green, and blue. I had a red filter and a green filter, but the only blue filter I owned was a Wratten 80A filter designed for color photography. I screwed the filters together, and carefully held this less than optically perfect assembly over the lens during the 15-second exposure I had calculated. Amazingly, when I processed the negative the exposure was good, and the image was sharp. One effect that I have never been able to duplicate was how this combination of filters lightened the trees in the background. I still enjoy this image after nearly four decades, and I am pleased to offer it for your consideration.

The print size for this image is approximately 8-7/8 x 10-3/16", and is mounted vertically and overmatted on 16 x 20" 100% rag museum board.

You can see this image and place a secure online order for this print at the Ventana Editions web store:
http://ventanaeditions.stores.yahoo.net/trblsnlied.html

Here is Anne's recollection of making her image:

The image I have chosen is a Limited Edition of Trees in Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley, which I made in February 2011. John and I went to Yosemite to attend a photography opening at the Ansel Adams Gallery for our friends Mark Citret and Ray McSavaney. It was raining when we got to the Valley, but there was snow in the forecast and boy did it snow. We ended up spending four days in Yosemite Valley photographing. We were camping and every morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. We would plow ourselves out of the campground in our trusty 4x4 van and we would start our explorations for possible photographs. It was so beautiful.

Normally I work with my 4x5 view camera, but this particular late afternoon at El Capitan Meadow it was snowing so heavily with big wet snowflakes that I decided to use my Hasselblad. The camera was wrapped in a large Ziploc bag, with a cutout for the lens. I took one meter reading, set the aperture and shutter speed accordingly, and went out in the blowing snow. Once the roll of film was exposed, I would return to the van, reload the film magazine, check the exposure with my spotmeter, and rush back out looking for more images.

The Image Trees in Snowstorm, Yosemite Valley, is approximately 6-1/2 x 6-3/8". Personally printed by me, processed to current archival standards, signed, numbered, mounted, and matted to 14 x 17" on 100% rag museum board. This print is offered in a Limited Edition of 75 numbered silver gelatin prints, plus 10 artist proofs. When the edition is sold out no further prints will be made for sale in any size.

You can see this image and place a secure online order for this print at the Ventana Editions web store:
http://ventanaeditions.stores.yahoo.net/anlaorliedpr.html

Prints will begin shipping on December 3. If you would like to receive your print in time for the Holidays, please be sure to let us know at the time of the order. It would probably be a good idea to follow up with an email. We will make every effort to ship prints out in time for Holiday gift giving to those who need them. All of the prints ordered will be shipped no later than February 28, 2013.

All the prints are carefully prepared and packaged in specially designed protective shipping boxes, and shipped fully insured via UPS ground. If you have any questions about the prints, please feel free to contact Anne at 831-659-3130, or email: info@johnsexon.com. Our office hours are Monday through Thursday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, Pacific Time.

2013-2014 JOHN SEXTON PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

I am pleased to announce my new workshop schedule for 2013 through early 2014. One of the most gratifying aspects of my nearly forty years of teaching workshops is the number of friends I have made over the years. It makes me feel good to see people who have been pursuing their passion for photography for decades making great progress along the way. Recently I received a note from one such photographer. I was humbled and honored that they felt I had contributed in some small way to their success in photography.

We are happy to again offer three sessions of The Expressive Black and Print workshop, which has been offered with multiple sessions every year for the past thirty years and still has great interest!

You can download a complete PDF brochure here.

By popular demand we are also offering the Fine Tuning the Expressive Print workshop, April 9-14, 2013. The Fine Tuning workshop is open only to those people who have taken The Expressive Black and White Print workshop, or a handful of other printing workshops listed in the downloadable workshop brochure. This session of the workshop is full, but those who have attended one of the prerequisite workshops are invited to apply to the waiting list. No deposit is necessary.If you are not enrolled in the 2013 Fine Tuning workshop, you will be among the first to know about future offerings.

A number of you have been waiting for the official announcement of the Mono Lake and Eastern Sierra: Exploring Autumn Light workshop for 2013. This very popular workshop will be held October 13-18, 2013. We have a waiting list of people who were not able to get into the 2012 session, so this workshop will likely fill up quickly. If you are interested, please apply for the workshop as soon as possible.

Charlie and I are also doing another session of our popular The Luminous Print: A Synthesis of Traditional and Digital workshop, March 17-22, 2014. For those that don't want to wait that long, and feel lucky, the March 18-23, 2013 workshop is filled, but please feel free to apply for the waiting list (no deposit is required). We will let you know if there is a last minute cancellation.

Again, to learn more about the workshops, or to apply, please visit my web site www.johnsexton.com where you can download the complete workshop brochure and application form.

2013 EXHIBTIONS, LECTURES, SEMINARS, AND KEYNOTES

2013 is already shaping up to be a busy year for Anne and me. We are both already working in the darkroom completing ongoing projects, and printing for our two joint exhibitions.

We look forward to seeing some old friends, and making some new ones, if you are able to attend one of the events listed below. In addition, it's always a good idea to check our schedule at my web site as things are changing all of the time.

JOHN AND ANNE EXHIBITION
THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA
Exhibition Dates: April 18 through May 29, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11, 2013 - 3:00 to 5:00 pm
Lecture by John Sexton - Yosemite Lodge at the Falls - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - 8:30 pm

www.anseladams.com

I am proud to say that I have been continually represented by The Ansel Adams Gallery since 1980 - longer than any other artist other than Ansel himself! Over the past three decades I have been privileged to have had a number of one-person exhibitions at the Gallery. I am very pleased that the very first exhibition that Anne and I will be sharing will take place next spring in Yosemite Valley - where we WERE married!

There will be an opening reception, followed by an outdoor lecture at the nearby Yosemite Lodge Amphitheater that same evening. It should be a fun time, and I hope to see some of you in Yosemite. It's a great excuse to make a photography trip to the Valley... but who needs an excuse to visit such a beautiful place at a time of year when the waterfalls are roaring and the dogwoods are in bloom?

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
PHOTO MONCTON INTERNATIONAL
MOCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA
May 30 to June 2, 2013

http://photoyqm.com

I am thrilled to be the keynote speaker at Photo Moncton International: a four-day conference showcasing photography seminars, presentations, workshops, as well as a trade show. My keynote presentation will be on Saturday, June 1st. I am looking forward to this event and the opportunity to spend time with attendees and other presenters. Anne and I have never been to this part of Canada, and are very excited to experience the Canadian Maritimes for the first time.

The organizers are still working on this large, and complex, event. The web page should go live around the first of the year. I will post additional details in a future newsletter, and the web site also has a link to the Photo Moncton International Facebook page, which will have regular updates.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
BIOCOMM 2013
ASILOMAR STATE PARK
PACIFIC GROVE, CALIFORNIA
June 17-21, 2013

I have been invited to be the Maria Ikenberg Lindberg Keynote speaker for BIOCOMM 2013. BIOCOMM is the annual meeting of the BioCommunications Association. The BioCommunications Association, or BCA, is an international professional association of people working in the biological communications field. This event is ONLY open to registered conference attendees.
http://www.bca.org/annual_meeting/annual_meeting.html

CREATIVE DIGITAL TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THE MONTEREY PENINSULA
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY MONTEREY BAY
COURSE DATES: July 15 - 28, 2013
JOHN'S PUBLIC LECTURE: July 16, 2013 - 7:00 pm
JOHN'S CLASSES AS PART OF THE WORKSHOP: July 16 and 17, 2013

http://www.csusummerarts.org/courses2013

I am pleased to be involved with the 2013 Summer Arts program at nearby California State University Monterey Bay. The faculty, that includes well-known photographers and instructors Rick Sammon and Nevada Wier, along with Michael Jones from West Coast Imaging and Professor Mark Larson, will provide excellent information and inspiration for those attending the session. I will be spending two days with participants, and presenting an evening lecture that is open to the public. Workshop participants will have an opportunity to learn creative seeing and photography techniques, along with insights into photography careers. In addition, participants will develop Photoshop skills for fine-art inkjet printing and print two large fine-art images for the public culmination exhibit.

For more information about the course contact Professor Mark Larson at mark.larson@humboldt.edu or 707-826-5925.

JOHN AND ANNE EXHIBITION
SUN TO MOON GALLERY
DALLAS, TEXAS
Exhibition Dates: September 5 - October 12, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 7, 2013 - 5:00 to 8:00 pm

www.suntomoon.com

Anne and I are very pleased to be having another two-person exhibition at the Sun to Moon Gallery in Dallas, Texas. The show will run from September 5 through October 12, 2013. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, September 7 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. In addition we are planning a possible one-day workshop and public lecture sometime between September 5th and 8th. Anne and I visited the gallery last May, and it is a great display space. Sun to Moon represents a number of our longtime friends including Charles Cramer, Dan Burkholder, Jeff Conley, Scot Miller, Alan Ross, and Keith Walklet - among others. We are looking forward to sharing our images with our many friends from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and making lots of new friends that weekend. Mark you calendars now, and we will share more details as the events draw closer.

THE SPACE SHUTTLE: END OF AN AMAZING ERA

Endeavour, Aft View

As many readers know, I undertook a personal photographic project to photograph NASA's Space Shuttle program nearly twenty years ago. That body of work - made over 7 years - is included in my book Places of Power: The Aesthetics of Technology.

It took nearly three years to get permission for the access I desired to the Shuttle, and its related systems. I made 13 trips to the Kennedy Space Center, along with numerous trips to the Palmdale, California facility where all of the orbiters were built. I have said many times that when I was photographing one of the orbiters in the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC I arguably had the world's most expensive prop to photograph, and had the thrill of working in one of the world's largest studios.

On September 21, 2012, when the orbiter Endeavour landed at Los Angeles International Airport it marked the last time a Space Shuttle would ever be airborne. It also marked the end of an important era in human space flight, and in the technological undertakings of human kind. Some of you may have been fortunate to see Endeavour's last "low and slow: multi-day flight across the USA. Unfortunately, Anne and I were in the Yosemite high country on a photographic trip the day that Endeavour flew over the Monterey Peninsula on the way to Los Angeles - its final destination.

For your possible enjoyment I have included below some links to web sites with amazing videos of that final flight, virtual reality images of the flight deck of Endeavour, as well as cool images and information about the Space Shuttle program and the amazing accomplishments of the only fleet of reusable manned space vehicles. Godspeed Space Shuttle!

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/09/endeavours-last-flight/100374

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TnCumH1mL4&feature=related

http://www.launchphotography.com/Endeavour_Flight_Deck.html

http://www.space.com/17695-space-shuttle-endeavour-surprising-facts.html

http://framework.latimes.com/2012/10/15/time-lapse-video-space-shuttle-endeavours-trek-across-l-a