Jorgensen Photography

Sunflower

2008-10-27T09:59:00.001-07:00

Taken on our apple picking trip a few weeks ago.

More Dog Park

2008-10-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

Met this little guy at the dog park last week.

Dog Park

2008-10-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

My new favorite thing in life is the Ithaca Dog Park. I'm pretty sure it didn't exist last year, but if it did I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't know about it sooner. It's just a big open (fenced in) space for dogs, but taking Skua down there is a lot of fun. More so than say...homework. Plus its only a short drive from my apartment so we get to go out there at least a few times a week. It's good for Sku, it's good for me, and it seems like its good for everyone else. I know Papa won't like to read it, but having this park makes me want/realistically believe I can handle another dog. Don't worry, I won't even think about getting one until next fall. But next fall is probably the best time for me to get one, I have more time at home at school than I will when I have to get a job. And Papa, if you're feeling left out, that offer to train you a little canine pal for Christmas still stands.

Study Abroad

2008-09-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

On Monday afternoon I submitted my applications to study abroad in the spring. First choice destination: Zanzibar. The program is field study based and focused on coastal ecology so if I get accepted I'll be learning about the rare red colobus monkey on land and diving with dolphins in the Indian Ocean. Best of all, while all of you are struggling to stay positive in some freezing winter weather, I'll be studying. Doesn't sound that exciting? I'll be studying from this beach.

Przewalski's Horse

2008-08-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

On the scale of things that really annoy me, this horse is right up at the top of the list. Not because of the horse itself, I love the horses, but because I have never heard anyone pronounce its name correctly. I even had a course last semester at Cornell with "highly respected" professor who couldn't even manage to do it. So here's the correct way for all of you. The Przewalski's (Shuh-vall-skee...I know that's not even close to the correct phonetic spelling, but you get the idea) Horse, or takhi, is the only remaining truly wild horse on earth. Mustangs, brumbies and such are actually just feral horses, not wild. This horse is one of the many reasons I'd like to visit Mongolia before I die.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-08-06T05:54:00.001-07:00

It's the big 21 folks.

A little break from the cats

2008-08-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time to give anyone who actually checks this blog a bit of a rest on the big cat pics. There are more, but its easy to overdo it. So here's a nice change of pace from my trip to the Minnesota Zoo. This odd looking ungulate is the Sichuan takin, a close (and very rare) relative of the musk ox and the mountain goat.

Shazam

2008-07-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Shazam is another of the more spectacular cats at the sanctuary, he is a black leopard (not to be confused with the black jaguar I posted earlier). He was a very high stress cat when he came to the sanctuary, but Trista (the head keeper) has put in a lot of work with him since he showed up. It has definitely payed off; he's still a pretty high stress cat, but the bond he and Trista have is pretty impressive. He was very tough to shoot, black things can be difficult to focus on.

2008-07-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

Close Up

2008-07-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

Titan again, but this time I tried to capture some of his personality, and the emotions surrounding his previous life and rescue, by focusing just on the eye region. This turned out as one of two photos that I think really capture the essence of the sanctuary, you can almost sense some of the abuse and sadness in his past, but you also recognize that those problems really are in the past for him. Like he's finally found some peace.

2008-07-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

2008-07-14T16:08:00.001-07:00

Titan

2008-07-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

This is Titan again. There will be a lot of him popping up around here soon. Not much more to say than I already did on the other one of him posted already.

Not all the cats were big

2008-07-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is one of many servals in residence at the sanctuary. They're very popular as pets because of their smaller size (round about 3 feet long) and the fact that serval kittens (like most kittens) are pretty damn cute. Like all the other wildcats, the cuteness fades. While the adult cats are still beautiful, they turn out to be much more than the owner bargained for: they can be very aggressive towards humans and other pets, and they are difficult to control (able to jump about 9 feet in the air). So, needless to say, they end up in places like the Wildcat Sanctuary which is a much better home (still not as good as the wild).

Mix It Up

2008-07-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

In the interest of not putting all the tiger photos together, here's something a little bit different. This is Diablo Guapo (Handsome Devil), the sanctuary's black jaguar. This is probably the photo that recieved the most time as far as editing is concerned, it took a while to remove fencing and other unnecessary noise from the background, and some more to get the effect just right. I like the two dimensional effect of this one, it hardly seems like a photograph at all.

Sorry it has been so long

2008-06-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

Its been a hectic and photo free few months since my last post. I can't even remember everything that has happened to keep me from regular entries here but here's a taste: broken computer, frequent travel, lack of material, internship...that's a few that make me feel less bad about my lack of production. But I now have more free time than I know what to do with (the internship ended a bit sooner than I thought it might) and I have some stuff worth posting so keep an eye out. Here's the first of several photos I worked up for The Wildcat Sanctuary. This is Titan, my favorite cat by a long shot and one of the many things I regret having to give up. I think we can all agree that he's pretty damn photogenic. He and another tiger, Lily, ended up coming to the sanctuary after their owner was killed by another tiger. He has put on some 200 pounds since he arrived and I believe he is now hovering around 500 (despite losing all four canine teeth), I think he certainly earns the big cat title. My absolute favorite times at the sanctuary were walking near his enclosure and being greeted with chuffing (a deep, throaty rumble that tigers use as a greeting). It was also fun watching him stalk the other interns when they weren't paying attention near his fence. He's one of the many reasons I want to keep doing what I can to help the sanctuary out even after I am gone.

Now You All Know a Published Photographer

2008-03-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Raptor

By Matthew Jorgensen

Well, if you were wondering why it has been so long between posts this is the reason. I haven't been getting out to shoot anything new recently because I've been working on putting a book of my photography together. I'd suggest you all go out and buy it, but then what would I give you all for your birthdays? I guess you could get your friends to buy though. I will hopefully be seeing the final product on my doorstep in a few days so I'll let you all know how it turns out. Thanks to Marty for putting me onto the website that got this started (and finished I suppose).

The Wildcat Sanctuary

2008-03-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Let me just preface this by saying that this is not my photograph. Then let me follow up by saying that I may have some like this by the end of the summer. I have officially been offered an animal care internship at The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, MN for the summer. So that means I will definitely not be in Wyoming much at all during the break. I still have to hear from the Denver Zoo as to whether or not I have the option of working there, but I'm not sure if I should wait to find out. I don't know if I even get an interview there until the 15th. Thoughts? I'm really not sure what I should do, but it's looking like MN has a good chance at being my final destination. That means Lindsay will at least be getting some visits on my days off, (and possibly a third dog for a few months?...)

Snow Day

2008-02-27T12:31:00.000-08:00

We got a lot of snow in Ithaca last night and today, and Skua finally got to go out and enjoy it off of her leash this afternoon. Of course she wore herself out and is now asleep on my bed, but she has more fun in snow than any dog I know.

Harris' Hawk

2008-02-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

This is Ike, a Harris' Hawk. Native to the American Southwest...I'm not really feeling like writing anything so just enjoy the photo.

Weird...more birds

2008-02-17T19:23:00.001-08:00

The combination of some new models and a beautiful Saturday morning didn't leave me with much of a choice. I had to shoot some more at the raptor center. This handsome gentleman is the juvenile northern harrier that we got early on last semester. I know he has a stupid monkey face, but don't hold that against him.

TUVU

2008-02-15T13:12:00.001-08:00

So this semester I switched birds at the raptor center. Eleanor is helping one of the newer hand feeders get the hang of things, and I have the lovely assignment of working with the beautiful young boy you see here. He's a turkey vulture, probably just in his second year of life. I think he's at the center due to multiple wing and leg injuries that were probably inflicted by a car. When he showed up he was a wild bird, no previous contact with humans. Things are going very well: he's getting used to me, allowing me to approach him, and eating off of my glove. The most impressive part is that I've only been working with him for a few weeks so if we can continue to progress at this rate he will be a great bird for education. I wish this was a testament to my skill with the birds, but I'm sure it has more to do with his personality (particularly his curiosity) than anything I'm doing. He still doesn't have a name, so any suggestions on that front would be most welcome. Please no plays on any nasty vulture habits (like vomiting). I refuse to call him Chuck or Ralph.

Lincoln Park Zoo

2008-01-23T06:38:00.000-08:00

On the way home from break I stayed for a few days in Chicago with Marty. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo one day, it was getting dark and really tough to shoot, but I managed to get a few workable photographs. This is one of them-a European white crane.

Warhol Option 1

2007-11-28T16:02:00.000-08:00

So here is one style I could use with the whole Warhol theme Christmas card...option two is on its way.

Sacre Bleu

2007-11-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

So over the weekend I had a funny idea for the Christmas card. What if I just inserted all the family members into a famous work of art? At least I think that would be entertaining for people to receive.

Thank You

2007-10-21T14:22:00.001-07:00

Well this photo may look familiar, that shouldn't be surprising since I've had it up before. I did change it around a bit this time though, but its a long story. Last Wed. was a last minute cleanup of the center before trustees would come out for tours the next day. Eleanor was out on her perch while we were cleaning to get some fresh air. I had to run to campus for to pick up some people who didn't have cars, came back and started cleaning again. After a while I glanced out the window and saw that her perch was empty and she was nowhere to be seen. I panicked of course, but Kate (the student in charge of most things) was calm enough to organize an impromptu search party. Apparently this wasn't Eleanor's first escape. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and we couldn't see much so after a couple hours of fruitless searching we called it a night and made plans to meet the next morning to continue looking. At six the next morning I woke up and headed to the center where we looked for three hours or so without a sign of her anywhere. I was heading back to my car to take off my sweatshirt and was talking briefly with another girl helping look when we spotted her in a tree. It took some doing but we got her down and netted. I got some talons in the finger but it was worth it. Plus it wasn't nearly as many puncture wounds as this Sat morning, but that's a different story. This project is my thank you to the people who helped me look for her, since they're all seniors or juniors I thought it would be a good way to remember the center and the great escape artist.

Rough Week

2007-10-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well it was a bit of a rough week for me last week. Starting on Saturday I sprained my ankle, Monday I crashed on the skateboard, Tuesday I burned my hand with hot oil making fried chicken, Thursday I had to go to the dentist and later that afternoon had to bushwack through a bunch of thorns to try and retrieve a fishing lure. I thought you all might like to see the most photogenic of my injuries.

Me and the Bird

2007-09-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

This is me and Eleanor, the red-tailed hawk I've been working with at the raptor center. The photo itself isn't really that great, but that's because it wasn't me taking it. I put in some other pictures below this one to show her in a bit more majestic way. There's not much to say since we've only been working for a week and a half, but I'll keep you all updated.

2007-09-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Eleanor 2

2007-09-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

Eleanor 1

2007-09-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

More High Contrast

2007-09-13T19:08:00.001-07:00

Maybe its just a phase, but it seems like a lot of the stuff I'm doing lately is high contrast B&W.

Nebraska

2007-09-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

On my trip across the country I had planned on taking all sorts of photos of interesting places along the road. Turns out its a lot more difficult to just pull over and take pictures on a six lane interstate so the few pictures I got were on the rural highways of Nebraska and Iowa.

2007-09-07T14:02:00.001-07:00

Just some more flowers from the mountain. They lent themselves well to a high contrast finish.

Back from the Summer

2007-09-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm finally back on top of things after getting settled in at school and I've got some new photos to put up (finally). This is of a flower I found up on the mountain by the cabin while I was at home. It's obviously been tweaked a little bit but I think it ended up with a pretty cool effect.

Part III

2007-05-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

This is part III of the flowers I shot today...there are plenty more but this is all I've finalized so far. This one is probably my favorite though, I think the color scheme is great and the framing worked out well. I didn't even need to crop the piece. Very simple, but I think its effective.

Pat II

2007-05-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

Part two of the flower series.

Some New Stuff

2007-05-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

Well I finally motivated myself to go outside today and take some new photos. The crab apple trees are all in bloom here so its not a bad time to leave the ol' dorm room. Unfortunately about halfway through my little jaunt it started to get cloudy and since I only had my big lens along with me it was a little tough to get my shutter speed high enough to actually take sharp-ish photos. I know I should spread these out through the week, but from the looks of it I will probably be studying for most of my free time. Might as well just post a few now.

Portrait Practice

2007-05-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

Just trying some new stuff out. This one actually took me a while to get right. Mostly removing the original background from the photo of me. Hope you like it. I'd even think about taking some suggestions on this one.

Sorry It's Been So Long

2007-05-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well, It's probably been so long since my last post that no one really checks this regularly, but a combination of tons of schoolwork and a computer that's not running very well at the moment didn't leave me with much leeway to do any work. This is just a fun little experiment I'm working on with photoshop mostly as practice, but occasionally I come up with something interesting. Here's me and the dogs on the famous Arctic Expedition with my old friend Admiral Robert Peary.

Skua-The Classical Period

2007-04-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

Well I'm running out of photographs to do stuff to again, but I thought this one of Skua looked decent with a little work and a watercolor finish. I was thinking about how I can't wait for summer so I have plenty of time to work on photos, but then I realized that the computer with photoshop is going to be in storage all the way across the country...Oh well, we'll figure something out.

Ummmm....

2007-04-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

There's really not much I can say about this one that the photo can't say for itself...things have changed since I came back after spring break.

battle of the titans

2007-03-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

I just thought this one was pretty cool as I was going over what I'd shot during the break. I didn't have to do much editing on it at all, just a little bump with some saturation and a slight change to the contrast. I really like the way the point of action at Skua's throat is the focal point, the eye is drawn to it as the sharpest point of the photo. The blur makes the action seem that much more intense.

Finally

2007-03-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I recieved at least one complaint while I was home that I hadn't posted anything on here
for a while. My only explanation is this: I didn't have anything to post. I hadn't shot anything new in a long while. But I got some stuff to work with over spring break and I guess we'll see how it goes. This photo is of a new member of the family I met a couple days ago. Tucker is a little sweetheart to people, but I'm sure the other dogs would disagree. Anyhow, this is my work for the day and there should be more coming soon.

Pauline

2007-03-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

Alright, this may actually be the last of the raptor pics. I know, I know...you all want more but if the decent weather holds out tomorrow I'm going to make myself get out and shoot something new. This is a bird that has already shown up at least once so far, but I thought it would be interesting to produce a finalized picture of her along with the raptor program stamp. If you look hard at the stamp in the lower left corner you should be able to see that this is the photo from which it originates.

Turns Out That Wasn't the End

2007-02-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I found some more of these photos to work on this weekend. Not much new to say about them except that the instant I sell one I'm quitting school haha.

Last in Line

2007-02-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well, this is probably the last of this round of photos focused on the raptors. This final one is the female red tail hawk. I haven't done much work with her, but I did put her outside on the day I took the photos. If anyone who reads this would like a print of any of these photos just let me know, I'm testing out an online printing company tomorrow after I finish this hellatious round of tests with one of my smaller photos of the eagle-owl to see how well it works. If I'm happy with the results, I can get you most of the photos in almost any size up to about 60" which seems like it should serve just about anyone's needs. Those are about $60 to print though (we can discuss prices that would make me a profit haha), so if you aren't a Jorgensen Photography fanatic (I don't know that any of those exist) there are smaller ones for quite a bit less. So yeah, let me know if you want one mailed to you and I'll try my best to get it done.

Red Tail Part III

2007-02-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is the last of the red tailed hawk photos and nearing the end of my recent series of bird photos. I don't know what I'll find to take pictures of next, but I seriously doubt they'll turn out as well as these. I'm currently searching for a good place to get large scale prints made (like 30"x50" or so, maybe a bit smaller.) If anyone wants to buy one just let me know.

Red Tail Part II

2007-02-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

Well I doubt anyone even looks at these anymore, but I'm still hard at work with the photos. This is another photo of the red-tailed hawk.

Red Tail

2007-02-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

This is one of our red-tailed hawks, the species responsible for pretty much all those majestic eagle sounds in movies. I have actually had the chance to hear this one vocalize from only a few feet away and it was pretty amazing. Well, as you can probably see I won't be running out of bird shots soon (and I can't think of anything else I can shoot that will come out as nice) so get used to it haha.

Barred Owl

2007-02-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

This lovely lady is one of a pair of barred owls in residence at the center. They are universally beloved because of their tolerant personalities. Not much to say about the photo, just wanted to post something today and thought she was pretty good subject. Hope you like it.

Goshawk Hybrid

2007-02-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

This is Paula, one of the sweeter birds at the center, she's a mix between a northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) and a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Her plumage makes for a great black and white. You may notice that she's actually been in all three of these bird photos...she was my model for the raptor center stamp (yeah, I made that too...don't know if I mentioned it).

2007-02-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

This of course is a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) is the largest of the American owls and another interesting character at the center. I haven't ever had to directly deal with the eagle owl, but I'm sure this guy gives him a run for his money...but I feel like we've bonded anyway. I don't really have much to add to the last post but I hope you like this one too.

Back on Top

2007-02-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

The next couple photos I'm posting are easily the best I've ever taken of any animal...I'm honestly more proud of these than I have been of pretty much anything I've done in a long time. Everything in these photos I created, including the raptor program seal in the corner (I'm sure the photo that came from will be posted soon enough). I have copies of these without the text or stamp, but since the aviaries are where I took these shots I figure I can give them a little credit and maybe get some of these published. This particular bird is a Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo), the largest species of owl in the world (body length of 24 - 29 inches, a wingspan of 5 - 6 feet, and weighs 3 1/2 - 9 pounds), and I think its obvious why I photographed him. His eyes really are that color...and he's generally quite a bit more ornery than he looks. He's one of three birds that requires a full arm glove to handle, the others are our eagles. Hope you like it and I hope Dr. Parks Likes it.

Even Jesus Loves Brazil.

2007-02-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I've just been messing around with some of the photos I took in the cemetery before I came back to school after Christmas break. I tried several different looks before I came out with this one, and I'm not quite sure how much I like it. Originally the background was the Brazilian flag and it meshed in nicely, but I thought it would stand out a little better in white. I was right, but I wasted a lot of time lining things up just to delete it in the end. I also would have curved the yellow portion a bit more. I am, however, very pleased with the globe. The stars aren't exactly right, but I think it works out well enough. That's about all for today; if I haven't mentioned it before now...someone should be paying me for this stuff.

Back to my Roots

2007-01-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

I've been fooling around in photoshop for a few weeks now and I think I've come up with some decent stuff, but I don't think its a good idea to forget where you come from so I'm coming back to my beginnings as a photographer. I started out using an old film camera and focused mostly on black and white film. There just seems to be something about the medium that enhances mood, and often the impact of the subject. At least in my opinion, much of the time the removal of color is equivalent to the removal of distraction. It allows a greater focus not only on shape and texture but on the symbolism behind the subject. I really need to get back to work on things that will get me a grade but I wanted to put this up during my break. Enjoy.

New Ads

2007-01-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

Just finished work on another ad for the business that won't ever sell anything. Hope you like it...yeah, I do a lot of stuff with my dog.

Business Card

2007-01-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

Well since 50% of the people who read this requested that I post the ol' business card I thought it might not be a bad idea. Let me know if you need to give me money to do this...yeah, I'm talking to you again South Africa.

New Beginnings

2007-01-29T11:58:00.000-08:00

This is the first of my posts, hope there will eventually be more than just my sisters reading this but for now that's good enough...as long as they choose to commission some huge projects. Either them or, as you may be able to see to the left, some country with a burgeoning tourism market. The original photo for this one isn't mine, but it took me quite a while to rework it to this point. Especially since I have about that same amount of time in experience with photoshop. I'm sure no one reading this knows what a gannet looks like but they certainly don't look like this. I reworked it with the colors of the South African flag and I'm pretty happy about how it came out. I think the white is a bit understated but since I decided on a white background I didn't want to lose the chance to lose some of the more vibrant colors. I tried out using the South African flag as a background but it didn't work as well as I'd hoped. Maybe when I'm a little bit better at this it won't be a problem, but at this point the white was a better choice. I certainly appreciate the work it takes to do some of the more commercial photography and editing but it was a lot of fun. Give me some feedback.