The Eyes of a Naturalist featuring photography by Tom Arbour and Mike Heisey

I've been extremely busy working on something, and now, I can finally make the announcement.  I was asked to participate in a two person photography exhibit entitled "Eyes of a Naturalist" at the Peggy McConnell Arts center here in Worthington beginning at the end of April.  I am SUPER PUMPED about this exciting opportunity.  I welcome you all to come take a look at my passion for the last few years- documenting Ohio's natural world.  And thank you to everyone who has inspired me as a naturalist, an artist, and a person- you are why I'm here doing what I'm doing.

Tom

New Film in an Old Camera

If you haven't heard, the Impossible Project is making new film for old polaroid cameras.  This shot is taken with the PX 100 silver shade "first flush" black and white film with a 1970's era polaroid SX-70 Sonar camera that I purchased at Ohio Thrift for 6 bucks.

The sound of the camera booting up again after who knows how many years was just so cool.

For this image, I dialed in as much "black" on the camera's exposure adjustment as I could.

Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico

Look out on the horizon, on the right hand side of the image, and you'll see Desecheo Island, a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge.  The island was "discovered" by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage of 1499-1494.  I took this image from the shores of Rincon, Puerto Rico.

A Gray Day

A rare gray day in Rincon, Puerto Rico.

The Villa Cofresi

When we went to Puerto Rico, I was expecting bright, sunny blue skies that I could photograph all day long.  But when we arrived, the weather quickly turned gray.  It isn't gray often in Puerto Rico, but for almost three days, it was more gray than sunny.  On this morning, after being so frustrated with NOT being able to photograph the images I had envisioned, I finally just let my imagination wander.  Why not work with what I had?  Cloudy days can be fantastic for black and white images.  So with my camera still set to capture images in RAW mode, I switched my picture settings to black and white with a sepia tone, and then fired away.  The images that appeared on the back of my screen were wonderful sepia throwbacks to a different era.  And the Villa Cofresi looks like it was built sometime in the 1930's.  It just has that classic look. 

Tom

Ballena Reserve, Guanica, Puerto Rico

Yep, the water was that blue!

Tom

Olentangy Rapids

The Olentangy River, Worthington, Ohio. February 1, 2010.