As the year winds down there's a tendency to review and reflect - and anticipate with great excitement the upcoming year. The beginning of a new year has always been especially welcomed. Not prone to unrealistic, over enthusiastic expectations, but instead new goals. Fresh starts. Soon we'll travel back to Chicago to visit family. After having done this drive for 30+ years now it's easy to understand those who grow weary of it. For us [...]
At the end of the day it’s light that’s the star. Great light can turn nearly any ordinary scene into something extraordinary. Those days I’m fortunate enough to be out in that wonderful, glorious autumn light with a camera are good days indeed. Making photographs is as much about the process as it is about the final image.
I'm excited to announce a new project - well, less "new" in terms of topic - but more "new" in terms of focused effort. The project is called Terra Firma, and I suppose like so many of my other "projects," I've really been working on this one for a long time. First Light at Rock Cut, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Terra Firma is a landscape collection on johnbcrane.com (please click here to [...]
For the past 10 years now the city of Fort Collins, Colorado has sponsored, in conjunction with Bohemian Nights Music, the New West Fest; essentially a birthday party for the city and fall jamboree for Northern Colorado, focusing heavily on live music. The scale of the event is difficult to grasp. The city blocks off the core of famous Old Town and people wander freely with children, strollers, the occasional huge stuffed animal won at a carnival [...]
Memphis has been the subject of many a discussion between my son and I for a few years now. We love road trips and just being in the car together, so when ever we're hunting for a just barely out of reach, crazy destination to spontaneously shoot off to in the middle of the night (from Colorado) - Memphis has been a part of that discussion. Alas, common sense has prevailed and Memphis had remained [...]
I've been going through some old images for re-scan and really missing Kodachrome lately. I've also noticed how many more vertical images I made before the computer became the standard for viewing. Vertical images were desirable for publication covers. With 35mm film and a good reproduction they were the norm. These days, with the computer's horizontal aspect ratio dictating how most people view photographs, it seems vertical images are made less - which is another [...]
Allenspark, Colorado is nestled snugly just below Colorado's Indian Peaks Wilderness. Each year Allenspark celebrates July 4th with a short but festive parade down the main street. In years past my eyes have been focused upward, searching the skies above for the real Fourth of July photograph. This year I chose instead to focus on what’s right in front of me. Attending the Allenspark Fourth of July parade has become an annual [...]
I've devoted considerable thought over the past few years as to why we as people make photographs and frankly have come up blank. I don't think I could explain to someone why I make photographs other than the simple truth; it pleases me to do so. It's fun to read the plethora of great essays by others, from the famous to the unknown, presenting wonderful theories and insights. I think I've finally concluded however that I'm [...]
Pine (Bluffs), Wyoming lay at the extreme south-eastern corner of the state, a stone’s throw from Nebraska along the Old Lincoln Highway and I-80. My visit to Pine was late in the year with my dog Henry. Over the course of several months we’d seen Henry begin to slow and knew he’d begun his journey home. Not wanting to miss any opportunities with him I took the Jeep this trip, knowing he’s more comfortable than in [...]
The Little Snake River Valley sits along the Colorado/Wyoming state line and follows the Little Snake River as it tumbles out of the western flank of Colorado's Park Range. The Little Snake is a tributary of the larger Yampa River, meandering westward in and out of Colorado and Wyoming then gradually makes its way south west to hook up with the Yampa west of Maybell and very close to Dinosaur National Park. Perhaps one of the best kept secrets in the state and home to several enormous ranches, Little Snake country is pure Colorado and way, way off the beaten path.
