Now with that said the secondary and tertiary reasons are not far behind the primary reason. Those being, quality and price. There are very skilled roasters on the planet within shipping range whose coffee I greatly appreciate and, on occasion purchase for the joy of comparison.

About quality: great coffee starts with the harvest and drying process. Most, if not all, of this occurs in monetarily poor parts of our planet, as I’m sure you are well aware. It’s also important to note, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world. For this reason, there is a long history of corruption. Without getting too much into the details, (see the book titled, The History of Coffee, and How it Transformed Our World) it’s this corruption and greed that drives the greatest percent of coffee sales in the world.

Farmers, by and large, are not paid full value for their product because consumers don’t respect coffee as a fine food. Coffee is equally, if not more, complex in flavor compared to wine. However, it, obviously, does not demand the price (thankfully). For this reason brokers drive a hard bargain, paying the bare minimum to farmers in a effort to maximize their gains (hence the greed and corruption). The down side to this equation is poor quality green coffee. To minimize the mustiness (off flavor) of the inferior beans, commercial roasters over bake their product, imparting more roast character than origin character. Ever wonder why French Roast is so widely known and touted as the preferred roast?

We can get more into roasting when you come over, but for now, coffee passes through two distinct phases during the roast cycle, first crack (sounds like pop corn popping) and second crack (sounds like sharp snaps, fire crackling). Anything beyond the second crack begins to impart roast character. The longer you roast into second crack, FullCity+, Vienna, French/burnt the less origin character is left in the coffee. Suffice it to say, with good quality green coffee I can roast my beans to “City” and enjoy all the flavors of the season in a given region while looking out at Mount Diablo before a ride. This apposed to slamming a sugar laden cup of “joe” because I need the caffeine.

About price: obviously, there’s a substantial savings to be had by roasting your own beans. If you order in bulk with a friend you can get the cost per pound of green coffee down to an average of $5.50 /lb. It took me less than six months to pay off my roaster. I go through about 10oz of green coffee per week. Depending on your consumption habits, you might pay off your machine in more or less time.

More important is the price paid to the grower. You’ve no doubt heard of the fair trade agreement made by sellers and buyers. Well, this, like the organic movement, has its roots in good intentions. Over time, greed has crept into this label. As a result, there is less fair trade going on than one would expect. Sweet Maria’s believes whole heartily in paying farmers a fair price for their goods. As a result, they have established their own label for “fair trade” calling it FarmGate. Tom goes straight to the farmer, paying him or her full wholesale value for their goods. For this reason, my cost of green beans is much higher than what many others might pay for green coffee. I am happy to pay it simply because I can.

I purchased my machine three years ago and have never looked back. I have personal communication with Tom at Sweet Maria’s and Joe Behm, the manufacturer of the coffee roasting machine. Not because we are personal friends, but because they are both small business owners and remain a part of their company and therefore their customer relationships.

Sweet Maria’s caries the Behmor. Last I checked, if purchased through them, you also receive a sample pack of nine varieties of coffee (hence the “sweet” deal aspect in the name).

As for coffee extraction preference, yes I prefer espresso for its rich creamy boldness. But also use full-emersion methods like French Press and The Clever Coffee Dripper to brew my coffee too.

In this image, I am shooting from the base of a hill as the crowds pass by my camera. I sat and waited for the right moment, when the kites, the crowds and the clouds were in alignment.

A new project idea about daily intake (or consumption). I am not sure how do describe the work yet. I am fascinated by the catalog these images become. Contained within a single image are my personal activities, ritual and sustenance. When I am gone these recordings will remain.

Like any new project, the work needs fresh air. I need to give it space to breath, to live and to take on a life of it’s own. This body of work is no different than any other body of work. So starts the process of refinement. This process is one of exploration and discovery. I need to work through all the struggles that come along with defining the meaning of the work and how it fits within the larger context of my images, the world and photography.

It was a good day to fly a kite so we ventured on over to the Art & Wind Festival in San Romon. Crowds gathered to watch the professional Kites Men showcase their aerobatics and precision flight choreography.

I absolutely love this image. So now what? I often ask myself this question. What should I do with the image once I’ve created it? Do I print it large and add it to my portfolio of one-off images? One thing is for certain, even if I only capture one great image during an outing such as this, I am satisfied.

What do you do with your images after you make them?

View the complete The Natural World Gallery here »

When work sells it brings excitement to both the creator and the collector. Featured below are the comments by the later about work from the former.

In answer to your question as to how the art makes me feel upon seeing it, what I have found is that my initial feelings for the artwork, however valid they were at the time, have changed now that I have had sufficient time to appreciate the entire scope of the work. Certainly, I was first drawn to the double entendre title, the weathered contours of the rock, and the three-dimensional quality of the two-dimensional picture. In fact, for this particular subject, I think that black and white is the medium of choice, since all of the components of the picture (with the exception of the two hikers and cable) are millions of years old. Even Kodachrome, now extinct, would have been too new a choice to adequately capture the timeless essence of the subject matter.

At the present time, two months post-unveiling, I enjoy the completely different interpretations which are possible when the image is viewed from afar or close-up. From a distance, it appears as a highly detailed picture of a rock, a macro view of a relatively small subject. Upon closer inspection however, with the recognition of the two hikers, the immensity of the backdrop becomes readily apparent; the relative insignificance (certainly in size) of the two people pictured is overwhelmingly obvious.

As with other pictures my wife and I have purchased, the image has to convey (which scale and perspective does) qualities which make the viewer ponder life’s profound questions of epistomology… or maybe I just wanted a picture of Greg Phipps to grace my hallway!

In truth, the only scaling I have personally done in Yosemite Valley was when the elevator at the Ahwahnee was crowded, and I was forced to walk up two (yes, I know!) whole flights of stairs to my room.

[Furthermore] Great art, like great literature, and great wine (Trefethen), all serve to lift people up, elevating them to places previously not thought possible. For a brief moment, or perhaps a more extended period of time, everyday concerns are put on hold, as people are forced to stop, slow down, and appreciate the work before them (as well as good run-on sentences). Perhaps it evokes a pleasant memory, bringing a smile to a person’s face. Perhaps it transports them to a place they would like to visit someday. Perhaps it does nothing more than convey a sense of beauty, simplicity, or complexity that had been lacking in someone’s life. In any event, there is enjoyment that is derived from viewing art, and that particular enjoyment cannot be replicated by other means. Nothing else forces us to think about the human condition as much as art does. In ultimate ironic fashion, art classes are often the first ones cut in times of budget restraints, when, as it turns out, we need them most.

-John Gowey

NOTE: Most digital cameras have a sensor that is smaller than the surface of 35mm film. So the size labeled on the side of a lens is not accurate. If your camera’s sensor is smaller as previously stated you will need to calculate the focal length using your camera’s focal length multiplier (FLM). In the case of my camera, the Canon 20D, I have a FLM of 1.6, in this case 35mm x 1.6 = 56mm. But in the case of my Canon 5D Mark II this lens needs a brother and sister, hens the reason for my 50mm 1.4 and 70-200mm 2.8 L Series

When buying your lens it is important to note this distinction. The down side of FLM is that you have to buy even wider angle lenses to achieve wide angle shots. The upside is that you gain length with less, in other words 200mm lens on this type of camera is actually 320mm (200mm x 1.6 = 320mm).

It can be said, the lens makes the camera versus the other way around. My suggestion is look for used equipment if you can’t afford to buy new, but don’t sacrifice quality. I’d hate to see you spend $500 on a lens of poor quality when a used lens could have out perform and only cost you a couple of hundred dollars more.

~ John

I have recently produced a new series of work titled, Ornamental, and it’s just that, decorative. Or is it more? I could and have conjured up a statement for the work but does that change what the work is?

This series explores notions of the intangible. What defines an object’s physical form? What constitutes a line? An edge?

The essence of form is a struggle between perceived solidity and the insoluble ethereality of matter, these images dwell within the space between.

I think it does. Introducing a statement to the work provides handles upon which viewers place their grasp. However, the statement must maintain an article of truth/convincibility before a viewer will take hold. If the statement lacks this connection, the work is better off without it. Otherwise, a statement drags the work down with it, destroying any chance of viewer involvement.

Learn “How to Write An Artist Statement.”

~ John Trefethen

Perhaps there’s something special right here at JohnTrefethen. Click around and let me know which prints you’d like by placing an order. Merry Christmas and happy holidays friends.

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The two friends sat to me in the comfort of their own home. By shooting in a place familiar to them, Greg and Mingus were able to relax and enjoy the sitting. Below are my results.

Photography’s great difficulty lies in the necessary coincidence of the sitter’s revealment, the photographer’s realization, the camera’s readiness. But when these elements do coincide, portraits in any other medium, sculpture or painting, are cold dead things in comparison. In the very overcoming of the mechanical difficulties which would seem to restrict the camera, and does if one is not aware, and turns these apparent barriers to advantage, lies its tremendous strength. For when the perfect spontaneous union is consummated, a human document, the very bones of life are bared.

~ Eward Weston

click an image to see it full size

Inspiration comes to us in the the most unexpected places. It was during a visit to the coast with Thea on a rainy day in November that I happened upon the work of Ruth Silverman. Her photographs of nests–empty and set on a subtle background of gray caught my attention. The work, Little Homemakers, spoke to my desire of beauty and it left me wanting more. I could not spend enough time looking at the delicate and open narrative of the images.

The empty nests–once home to a family of birds now on display as framed photographs, bound to the wall of a home-design shop, struck me as simple in their presentation yet complex in their definition. It is this type of work I fall in love with, want to be surrounded by, want to consume it as if to swallow it in, making it part of me. The work, fresh and crisp, chilling to the bone as a winter morning ride, arrested my gaze and left me desiring and longing for more.

The empty nests are a reference to hard work, generations of knowledge, apprenticeships and protection. Home to a family of birds who have matured to an age of flight, have abandoned their dwellings for a journey and a life full of risk and adventure.

The nests symbolize the cycle of life to which all are bound. Like the lives that hatched within these bundles of carefully placed twigs, hope is born anew, with it comes passion and a renewed sense of purpose. Full of life, inspired by the nature of creativity and ready to fly, I share this birth of an idea about our inherent connection to all life and the adventures of the birds who left their homes for Ruth Silverman to photograph and I to see. Thank you.