Fine Art from
Mike Dawson
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Thank you for viewing my images.
I became entranced with photography as an artistic medium over 25 years ago. I
originally started with photography as a way to capture images for my
paintings.
Soon I found myself spending more time shooting than painting. That led to
working for a studio and then managing a camera store with a public darkroom. I
dabbled with the 4x5's and 35mm and really got seriously back into the art 3
years ago with digital.
I find inspiration in the beauty of all of God's creations and specialize in
wildlife, landscape and inspirational images.
I now shoot mostly digital with a Canon 5D these days. You will find images for
most of the Western States as well as New Zealand and Australia and of course
our feathered and furry friends.
I have 10s of thousands of images to choose from. If you don't see what you are
looked for drop me a line at mldawson@aol.com
and I will upload whatever you might need.
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One other very important note on Mike's work.
Mike often uses proceeds from his image sales as a way to
His work has raised money for the Red Cross Hurricane Releif Fund as well as
Tsunami Releif.
Currently Mike is raising money to support the efforts of Innerchange a
Christian outreach program in inner city Minneapolis.
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A unique and special look at Nature by Mike Dawson
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From grand landscapes, to sea and oceanscapes, to the richness of nature, to
the changing of seasons. Mike Dawson's marvelous collection includes seascapes
overrun with fog, snowy, still, quiet mountain scenes, waterfalls, mirror
smooth lakes, and many well captured nature scenes, that are studies of light,
tone and mood.
Mikes work has been featured in : Magazines, greeting cards, calendars and fine
art posters. Several contest winners and numerous editors picks on betterphoto.com as well as a handful of editors picks
on NAturephotographers.net.
Framed fine art prints can be purchased at imagekind
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All these artistic photographs are not just "scapes". Each
photograph has some very subtle elements, so I call them The serenity that these images invoke, is truly spiritual.
I have the privilege of owning some of his art, an example would
be
Sunset Shower. Now that I own one of his photographs, I feel a
collection starting of this from Mike.
Photo:
Sunset In Paradise -- Just Another sunset in Paradise, complete with a
gnarled tree bathing in the incoming tides along the beach near Lahaina with
Kahaloowe in the distance.
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All Mike's photographs are very rich in emotional content, and it was not an
easy task to select one image over another, to place on this page.
If you are a photographer, you will recognize the techniques needed to "paint"
the most , the most , and the most
with ease.
I am not an artist, I just enjoy these "perfect moments," the atmosphere and
spirit of nature's most awe-inspiring subjects.
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The Grain -- Sandstone curves and lines contrasted against tumbleweed
blown into the confines of Antelope Canyon in Arizona.
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Colorful
Undertow -- An undertow creates some interesting waves patterns with
color added by the reflected sunlight of a new day in the Yakima River Canyon |
Left
On The Beach -- A pair of Brittle Stars left on the beach by the tides,
waiting for a wave.
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| Mike, You are talking
a lot about the Ocean, but not about people who make their living from it. Do
you feel that human nature is antagonistic to Nature?
I respect people who respect the land and
sea. I see no crime in making ones living working on the sea or land as long as
one respects the beauty of nature and the tries not to waste the beauty we have
been blessed to enjoy.
I think there needs to be a balance between human needs and protecting our
world.
I have no issue with hunting for food or farming the land but struggle with
those who destroy this beautiful land we live in without care or reason. For
example finding litter left of a beautiful beach that can often kill animals
bothers me greatly.
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I like best and I am glad to find a
lot of them in Mike's photographs.
Sweet and refreshing, vivacious and charming, blush and ambrosia - you name it.
The photograph on the left is one of my favorites in the series "Sunrise". For a
specific personal reason, I think of a painting done by my father.
I first found this ethereal palette in several of my father's paintings, then I
started to see them everywhere I looked.
It is hard to discover these colors in our daily "corporate" life. Take a deep
breath and look around.
Photo:
Pastel Seastacks -- The Twelve Apostles glowing with the pastel color
of sunrise. Part of the Great Ocean Road in Australia
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The magnificence of sunrise can be achieved only at a certain time of day, and
from very specific angles. Only a calm professional can achieve this correctly.
Very calm yellow and gold yellow takes my breath away every time I look at
these images.
, permanency and is evident in all of these images. You just want to
walk along a beach and pick up exotic shells one after another. Seems like
beautiful music washed up the shore. ..
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Just imagine having a framed set of these unique photographs hanging in your
business board room or giving one as a for their Birthday or Anniversary.
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Sunrise Reflected -- A bit of the golden light of sunrise reflecting off the waters of the Yakima River as it flows trhough the Canyon.
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Swallowed By The Tides -- The shipwreck of the S. S. Dicky on a Sunshine Coast Beach in Australia.
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Tied To The Past -- A cleat left from a jetty long since eroded and swept away by the tides on a South Maui Beach with the sacred island of Kahoolawe bathing in the light of the rising sun.
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"Your Oceans" are never violent and
threatening. Is it because you don't resonate with these types of photos, or do
you just prefer the particular feeling and calmness that comes with your images
presented here?
I would certainly be the first to say I have
a healthy respect for the power of nature and the sea itself. I do have some
images in my portfolio like "Making miracles" that I think demonstrate its
power.
I think the often comes
through in my images simply because of the need to use Maximum depth of field
in my style of work and the fact I am often taking these images at first of
last light necessitating longer exposures.
I find inspiration in "The Living Water" and often do try to portray the in my work. I can spend hours at sunset or
sunrise patrolling the coasts and beaches looking for the simple beauty one
finds in flowing water.
Maybe I am rephrasing my previous question,
but usually wind is a very important element for seascapes. Your seascapes are
very calm - is it because you are waiting for the right moment, or you prefer
them this way....
Actually with my style of work wind is often
my enemy.
I am constantly battling wind in trying to make my longer exposure work with
blurring moving wildflowers for example. Along the coast it is less of an issue
because rocks don't get blown about quite so much.
 I really find myself concentrating more on the beautiful light
that can .
I often try and consult tide tables as well as weather sites to determine when
and where is best to shoot on a particular day.
My lovely wife Sherry who graciously puts up with me chasing the light, often
tells people " we will hike or drive to be somewhere at sunrise and then can
shop midday only to rush somewhere else to catch sunset". She has certainly
been my inspiration actually encouraging me to go digital some 5 years back and
encouraging be to pursue my .
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The call of the waves is deep in our human psyche, but often forgotten, except
at vacation time.
Do not wait for the next short time off, or vacation, reward yourself today -
this along with the
right classical music will take you there in an instant.
Take a relaxing trip without ever leaving your home with these images.
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| Tidal
Fury -- A tide coming in quickly on Cobble Beach as the sun sets over
the Pacific Ocean
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Tidal Surge -- Lava rock off the South coast of Maui.
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Sunset
Shower -- A bit of salt spray generated by the waves crashing upon the
cliffs of Paparoa (Punakaiki) with the hint of sunset color in the spray
itself.
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Another of Mikes's collections contains .
I'll bet that one day, you will want to be lost up there and enjoy
the mountain's pristine clearness - just to refresh yourself after a long-long
working day.
Openness and scarcity, the death and promise of Spring - try to
"listen to the silence" of Mike's winterscapes, relax.
Photo: Alone With The Mountain -- A small fir tree covered in snow along with
Mt Rainier in the background.
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Mike, I know you travel a lot. How many
hidden away and often unfound by the usual visitor places, do you think there
are still existing on the Earth?
I am blessed to travel for work as well as
for pleasure and always try to research wherever I am going for . I would rather grab a quick sandwich and then hit the
trail when traveling than set down to nice dinner.
There is something about watching the sun set over the ocean that does wonder
for my soul. I also have been pleased to find that photography is quite a
worldwide brotherhood and quite often if I am traveling to an area I will get
offers to show me around from other photographers.
When I was down under this spring one of my photographer friends allowed me to
join him to judge an art show and then take in some sunset and sunrise shooting
of ruins in the South Australia desert. You can see some of his work here:http://http://www.vividadventures.com.au/.
If you ever want to explore the land down under this is the man who can help
you do it.
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Of course, there is no way I can leave out Mike's collections. I quoted the word "wildlife" for a reason.
The word "wild" doesn't work in Mike's case. Animals around Mike's camera don't
show the awareness of the .
Maybe, they are only a little bit curious about why Mike speaks their language
with a strange accent:)
Hang
In There -- A couple of Fruit Bats hanging from the roof of a cave.
"I capture wildlife as a side bet.
When ones spends as much time as I do outdoors then one will run across
wildlife. When that happens I do try and spend the time to capture the as much as possible.
I can spend hours watching them if they allow. Again, I think one has to learn
to respect wildlife and realize that sometimes to close can be dangerous. I
have only been scared once and that was when I encountered a grizzly bear on
the trail by myself. I was certainly glad when he decided I was scary and took
off."
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| A Pair Of Rams -- Two bighorn Rams searching for food
in the heavy snow of Winter
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Sealed With A Kiss -- A Sea Lion Mom checks
her youngster out after he comes in from playing in the surf.
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Treetop Napper -- A sleepy Koala naps while
hanging from a Gum Tree Branch.
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