Portrait Garden in Mid-Summer

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Mark Turner

Turner Photographics portrait garden, as seen from our second-story bedroom window.

I spent several hours on this overcast Sunday at the end of the long Fourth of July weekend photographing our garden at its mid-summer peak.

Natalie and I have been enjoying watching the garden unfold with the seasons. It’s our first year at our Wynn Road home, and the garden was established by previous owners. We’re told that everyone who has lived here since the early 1960s has been an avid gardener. There’s evidence of long-term gardening.

We’ll certainly make changes and additions in the coming years, but for now we’re mostly just doing a little editing and enjoying what we find. Some of the perennials are assertive and are crowding other plants, so there’s going to be some shovel pruning in our future.

For now, come along and enjoy our garden with us in this video slideshow. It runs about 6 1/2 minutes. Click the Full Screen icon in the lower right corner for best viewing enjoyment.

If you’d like to visit in person, give us a call to arrange a time.

Closing In

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Mark Turner

Thursday, July 3

The flooring crew from Morris Floors and Interiors finished laying the oak hardwood floor on Tuesday afternoon. Having a finished floor really changes the look and feeling of all the rooms. We’re getting down to the detail work now. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Red Elderberry

Posted on July, 2014 by Mark Turner

I watched our native red elderberries go through their spring progression back in March and April. They’re one of the first shrubs to start unfurling their leaves, beginning in mid-March. Now that summer is here, they’re covered in bright red fruit. There are some big patches of elderberries beside I-5 where they’re easy to spot (and identify) even at 70 mph. Of course, they’re easier to learn at a more leisurely pace in your backyard or along a quiet trail.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have two species of elderberry. More common on the west side of the Cascades is the red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa var. racemosa). It is native to much of North America, according to USDA Plants Database. The other is blue elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea), which grows throughout western North America. Both species of elderberry have similar cultivation requirements, as does another species found in eastern North America. Continue reading →

Digital Photo Tip: Think Triangles

Posted on July, 2014 by Mark Turner

Triangular composition in group of Tulip Poplars — Strong triangular composition in group of Tulip Poplar trees.

There’s a lot of power in the humble triangle. Just as it brings strength to all kinds of mechanical structures, the triangle makes your photographs stronger, too.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re photographing your family, a sweeping landscape, something abstract, flowers, or anything else. Look for ways to incorporate one or more triangles into your composition. Continue reading →

Oak and Stucco

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Mark Turner

Studio exterior — Outside of the studio with the final coat of stucco and a big pile of flooring boxes out front.

Monday, June 30

It’s been a busy day at the studio, with a big crew from Morris Floors and Interiors working all day to install the oak flooring and Mark Sager from Sager’s Stucco and Plastering applying the finishing texture coat of stucco on the outside walls.

Since I don’t work in construction, it’s always fascinating to see the specialized tools that various tradesmen use in their jobs. I used to live next to a highly rated foundation repair company in Houston TX and I miss seeing those big specialized trucks, maybe I should of made different career path choice. Continue reading →

Light and Color

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Mark Turner

Camera room after painting, with boxes of oak flooring stacked in center. The walls are neutral gray so reflected light won’t add color casts to photos made in the space.

Saturday, June 28

The inside of the studio is starting to look like finished space. It’s amazing what the application of a few gallons of paint will do. Natalie and I spent four days last weekend painting the interior walls. We applied seven gallons of primer, let it dry overnight, and then rolled on the top coat. I spent a lot of time going up and down a stepladder and the scaffolding in the high-ceiling part of the camera room. To reach the highest points I had to place a two-foot platform on top of the highest scaffold platform. It was pretty secure, but still took a while for me to gain confidence to stand up there with nothing to hold onto and a paintbrush or roller in my hand. To top it off, I was painting white on white in poor light so it was hard to see where I’d been and where I still needed to paint. And since heat rises, it was hot up there. Continue reading →

Smooth Stuff

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Mark Turner

Tyson smooths joint compound around ceiling light fixture in the camera room.

Tuesday, June 17

The big job in the last week has been finishing the drywall work. Once the A-1 Builders crew had all the pieces in place they brought in a specialist to finish all the joints. Tyson worked several days to get the walls and ceiling nice and smooth. First, a layer of “hot mud” to fill all the big cracks and joints. Then he taped the seams, with another layer of mud (a.k.a. joint compound). A little light sanding. Then another layer of mud. Then a little more light sanding. Each layer had to dry overnight, so they brought in an electric furnace and lots of fans to move the drying process along.

By this morning the drywall work was nearly done. The photo above shows some of the last work, finishing the edges around one of the recessed ceiling light boxes. Those boxes will ultimately have fluorescent fixtures that will be the work lights in the camera room. They’re built so the plexiglass lens will be essentially flush with the ceiling. Continue reading →

Shaping Up

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Mark Turner

Matt screws ceiling drywall panel into place John Geff Encino California Turner Photographic Studio, Bellingham, WA. © 2014 Mark Turner” width=”622″ height=”422″ />
Matt screws a ceiling sheetrock panel into place in the camera room. Notice the plywood blocking along the walls to hang background rollers and track for muslin backdrops.

Tuesday, June 10

The studio is starting to look like it has real rooms, with walls and ceilings. It’s a far cry from what we started with back in April.

We passed the electrical, plumbing, and framing inspections and then the insulation crew came in and did their thing. They placed thick fiberglass batts between the studs on the first floor and in parts of the attic. Where they couldn’t reach to place batts, they drilled holes and blew in cellulose insulation, packing the second story wall cavities. I’m not sure what the actual R-values are for all the spaces, but we’ve put in as much insulation as will fit and the county building inspector approved the work when it was done. Continue reading →

Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest Released

Posted on June, 2014 by Mark Turner

It’s been a long journey but my latest book, Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest, should be in your favorite bookstore this week. You can also order autographed copies directly from me. Ellen Kuhlmann wrote the text and I photographed all but a few of the 568 species of mostly native trees and shrubs in the book.

I began thinking about the tree book back in 2009 and began photographing a few species that year and in 2010. Ellen and I signed a contract with the publisher, Timber Press, in 2010 and then we began working on it in earnest. I spent all of the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons traveling throughout the northwest to find and photograph the plants. We delivered the manuscript and photos to Timber in 2013. It always amazes me how much time is required to edit, design, and print a book like this. Ellen and I received our first author’s sample copies about a month ago and we’re pleased with the final result. Continue reading →

Digital Photo Tip: Be a Caption Queen

Posted on June, 2014 by Mark Turner

Chances are you’re going on a vacation somewhere this summer and you’re going to take a whole bunch of pictures. You’re going to want to savor those memories in the years to come. That means you need to caption your photos and file them where you can find them again. I wrote about digital filing systems back in November 2011 when I wrote “Where’s My Stuff?” This month I’ll address captioning.

Edna Turner) — I made this portrait of my Grandmama Turner in our garden in 1962 when I was 8 years old. My dad wrote the caption on the bottom of the print before it went into an album.

My mother was a captioning queen. She was super organized and diligent about writing names, dates, and locations on the margins or back of prints or on the edges of slide mounts. My dad, who taught me the basics of photography, was also pretty good about captioning his pictures. I’ve also been diligent about captioning my photos, since if I can’t find it I can’t sell it. Continue reading →

360-671-6851 • info@turnerphotographics.com

Blog Archives