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NATHAN OSMOND 08/22 by Jammin Jukebox Radio Show | Blog Talk Radio
Kenny Rogers knows when to walk away
concert photos by
Ray Tharaldson
all rights reserved
Writer Adam Fulton Arts
KENNY Rogers has been remembering things he had long forgotten. The country music giant is putting the final touches on his autobiography, due out in October, and there's a lot to get through when you've chalked up more than 50 years of performing and 120 million album sales, not to mention five marriages.
But the singer isn't expecting the book to ruffle any feathers.
"No - I said going into it that I'm not going to write anything anyone can challenge. That's not what I'm about," he says. The memoir charts his musical journey from his beginnings as the fourth of seven children in a poor Texas family to today.
''It stirs up certain emotions that you'd forgotten about. Particularly when your life has been as busy as mine - it's kind of hard to keep up with things," Rogers says brightly in a southern drawl.
"I must admit I enjoyed writing it. I enjoyed that process. I don't know that I'd want to do it again."
There's more than a little of that pleasure and pain in Rogers' experiences in a solo career that reached the heights of fame in the late 1970s and '80s through hits such as The Gambler, Lucille, Coward of the County and, with Dolly Parton, Islands In the Stream. He has had 24 No.1s.
"Once I started with Lucille [in 1977], it was like an indescribable career for anybody, so you have a look at that and say: how can you not have enjoyed that?" Rogers says. "But I have to tell ya: too much success is not good either. I'm at a great place right now where I sign enough autographs to satisfy my ego, but not so many that it invades my privacy."
In 2009, Rogers launched extensive touring under the anniversary banner: The First 50 Years. He still performs or records about 100 days annually. But turning 74 next week, with a much younger wife and twin eight-year-old boys at home in Atlanta, he expects his Australian concerts will be his last here.
"This is probably gonna be my last international tour,'' he says. It's because his family can't be with him. ''So I think when I come back … that's gonna be it. I'm gonna stay home then.
''I'll continue to tour the [United] States. I'd just like to be able to get home [more] so I can spend what I think is quality time with the boys … I really wanna be there for 'em instead of being gone all the time."
But, ''I don't want to go back and rehash things that I was honest about and paid the price for. I don't want to pay it again.''
Glen Campbell was to appear on a double bill with Rogers in Australia but cancelled because of health issues. For Rogers, ''All I want to say is that the sooner we find a cure for Alzheimer's, the sooner we will end a lot of disappointment and suffering.''
The evolution of country since both performers' early days sits easily with Rogers, who believes "there's not one right or one wrong country music - it's what country people will buy''.
''Now it's about youth, about growing up, the problems you have as a kid. … It's just a new place for country music to grow.''
But for him the era of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and George Jones captured country's essence.
''That's the era where you felt the pain. Now the pain has become so intellectual. It's not bad, it's not wrong, it's just where music is."
From his own canon, Rogers' favourites include The Gambler - "really a philosophy about life", says a man who doesn't consider himself a gambler, and doesn't drink - and the duet Islands In The Stream.
"With Dolly it's always wonderful. I don't see her. Everybody thinks we hang out, but she lives in Nashville and I live in Atlanta. So we talk when it's necessary but we don't talk on a regular basis, not because we don't want to, but we both have our own pyramids … But I love her with all my heart and she knows it.''
Kenny Rogers, with guest Troy Cassar-Daley, performs at the Palais Theatre on Thursday.
Estates ready 'holograms' of Elvis, Hendrix, Monroe and the Doors
The King may have left the building, but a virtually resurrected Elvis Presley will soon return to a concert venue near you.
With estates of deceased musical acts exploring the revenue possibilities of virtual live performances, the visual effects company that created the Tupac Shakur "hologram" seen at this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is leading the charge. The company, Digital Domain Media Group, recently signed an exclusive deal with Core Media Group (formerly CKx) to jointly produce a series of "virtual" Elvis likenesses for various entertainment projects.
Bing: See the Tupac 'hologram'
Digital Domain chairman/CEO John Textor says the virtual Elvis project will cost millions and is still in the early stages of development. Jack Soden, president/CEO of the Core Media division known as Elvis Presley Enterprises, sees massive potential for the Presley project. "We'll own these images," Soden says, adding that the concerts, which might range from traveling tours to residencies, would be unlike anything Elvis fans have previously witnessed.
"This is not repurposing old footage that the world has already seen," Digital Domain chief creative officer Ed Ulbrich says, referencing how the recent Tupac projection was also built from scratch. "We're making totally original and exclusive performances so that fans can have new experiences."
Also: Lisa Marie Presley backs Elvis hologram idea
The estates for other artists, including Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Marilyn Monroe, have also been considering the idea of holographic live performances following the Tupac projection's appearances with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at Coachella in April.
Jeff Jampol, who manages the Doors as well as the estates of Morrison, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Peter Tosh and Rick James, hopes to eventually create a multimedia experience featuring the band. The show might take place in either a tent or a freestanding building, with the walls pixilated like a large TV screen and utilizing lasers, lights, high-quality sound, vibrations, projected imagery and the 3-D figures, he says.
"We're trying to get to a point where 3-D characters will walk around," Jampol says, noting that he's been exploring the idea for about eight years with British music video/commercial director Jake Nava. "Hopefully, 'Jim Morrison' will be able to walk right up to you, look you in the eye, sing right at you and then turn around and walk away."
More: Marilyn Monroe hologram concert threatened by estate bosses
Janie Hendrix, the rock legend's sister and Experience Hendrix president/CEO, has been working with London-based company Musion Systems for about a year to create a virtual version of her late brother. "For us, of course, it's about keeping Jimi authentically correct," she says. "There are no absolutes at this point."
Plans for a virtual Monroe concert is also in the works. The upcoming 50th anniversary of her death in August brought word of a "live" concert by the late sex symbol from a firm called Digicon Media. However, the company's rep told The Hollywood Reporter it isn't working with Monroe's estate, since it already holds "certain copyrights" on the starlet's name and likeness.
Some concert promoters believe such virtual "live" performances from deceased acts could develop into a larger trend, but the concept would likely work best as cameos during a more contemporary show -- much like Tupac's "guest spot" at Coachella -- instead of prerecorded full-length concerts.
"There are plenty of opportunities to use it as an extra piece of entertainment," says Nederlander Concerts CEO Alex Hodges, who promotes concerts in California. "It has to be done creatively, and there are limitations to that before it wears people out."
Bluegrass pioneer Earl Scruggs dies at age 88
photo by Ray Tharaldson all rights reserved 2012
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — It may be impossible to overstate the importance of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music, his sound is instantly recognizable and as intrinsically wrapped in the tapestry of the genre as Johnny Cash’s baritone or Hank Williams‘ heartbreak.Mr. Scruggs died Wednesday morning at age 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
“It’s not just bluegrass, it’s American music,” bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. “There’s 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today’s country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound has probably always been there for them, and they don’t realize someone invented that three-finger roll style of playing. You hear it everywhere.”
Country music has transcended its regional roots, become a billion-dollar music and tourist enterprise, and evolved far beyond the classic sound Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys blasted out over the radio on “The Grand Ole Opry” on Dec. 8, 1945. Though he would eventually influence American culture in wide-ranging ways, Mr. Scruggs had no way of knowing this as he nervously prepared for his first show with Monroe. The 21-year-old Mr. Scruggs wasn’t sure how his new picking style would go over.
“I’d heard 'The Grand Ole Opry,' and there was tremendous excitement for me just to be on 'The Grand Ole Opry,'” Mr. Scruggs recalled during a 2010 interview at Ryman Auditorium, where that “big bang” moment occurred. “I just didn’t know if or how well I’d be accepted because there’d never been anybody to play banjo like me here. There was Stringbean and Grandpa Jones. Most of them were comedians.”
There was nothing jokey about the way Mr. Scruggs attacked his “fancy five-string banjo,” as Opry announcer George D. Hayes called it. In a performance broadcast to much of the country but unfortunately lost to history, he scorched the earth and instantly changed country music. With Monroe on mandolin and Flatt on guitar, the pace was a real jolt to attendees and radio listeners far away, and in some ways the speed and volume he laid down predicted the power of electric music.
Tut Taylor, a friend of the Scruggs family who heard that first performance on the radio in his Georgia home, called it an unbelievably raucous moment, “a lot like some of the rock ‘n’ roll things they had, you know. But this was a new sound. It was a pretty sound and a welcome sound.”
Mr. Scruggs‘ use of three fingers — in place of the limited clawhammer style once prevalent — elevated the banjo from a part of the rhythm section — or even a comedian’s prop — to a lead instrument that was as versatile as the guitar and far more flashy.
Country great Porter Wagoner probably summed up Mr. Scruggs‘ importance best of all: “I always felt like Earl was to the five-string banjo what Babe Ruth was to baseball. He is the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be.”
Mr. Scruggs‘ string-bending and lead runs became known worldwide as “the Scruggs picking style,” and the versatility it allowed helped popularize the banjo beyond the traditional bluegrass and country forms. Today the banjo can be found in almost any genre, largely because of the way Mr. Scruggs freed its players to experiment and find new space.
That was exactly what Ralph Stanley had in mind when he first heard Mr. Scruggs lay it down. A legendary banjo player in his own right, Mr. Stanley said in an interview last year that he was inspired by Mr. Scruggs when he first heard him over the radio after returning home from military service in Germany.
“I wasn’t doing any playing,” Mr. Stanley said. “When I got discharged, I began listening to Bill, and Earl was with him. I already had a banjo at that time, but of course I wanted to do the three-finger roll. I knew Earl was the best, but I didn’t want to sound like him. I wanted to do that style, but I wanted to sound the way I felt, and that’s what I tried to do.”
Dave Rawlings, a Nashville singer-songwriter and producer, said Mr. Scruggs remains every bit as influential and fresh seven decades later. He said it’s impossible to imagine nearly every guitar player mimicking Jimi Hendrix, but with Mr. Scruggs and the banjo, that’s the reality.
“The breadth and clarity of the instrument was increased so much,” he said. “He invented a style that now probably 75 percent of the people that play the banjo in the world play Scruggs-style banjo. And that’s a staggering thing to do, to play an instrument and change what everyone is doing.”
News of Mr. Scruggs‘ death quickly spread around the music world and over Twitter. Mr. Bentley and bluegrassers such as Sam Bush and Jon Randall Stewart celebrated him at the Tin Pan South gathering of songwriters in Nashville, and Eddie Stubbs dedicated the night to him on WSM, the home of “The Grand Ole Opry.” On the Internet, actor and accomplished banjo player Steve Martin called Mr. Scruggs, with whom he collaborated in 2001 on “Earl Scruggs and Friends,” ”the most important banjo player who ever lived.” Hank Williams Jr. sent prayers to the Scruggs family, and Charlie Daniels tweeted: “He meant a lot to me. Nobody will ever play a five string banjo like Earl.”
Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences said in a statement the four-time Grammy winner and lifetime achievement award recipient “leaves an indelible legacy that will be remembered for generations to come.”
Flowers were to be placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday.
Mr. Scruggs earned that star when he and Flatt weaved themselves into the fabric of American culture in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Flatt and Scruggs teamed as a bluegrass act after leaving Monroe from the late 1940s until breaking up in 1969 in a dispute over whether their music should experiment or stick to tradition. Flatt died in 1979.
They were best known for their 1949 recording “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” played in the 1967 movie “Bonnie and Clyde,” and “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” from “The Beverly Hillbillies,” the popular TV series that debuted in 1962. Jerry Scoggins did the singing. For many viewers, the endlessly hummable theme song was their first introduction to country music.
Flatt and Scruggs‘ popularity grew, and they even became a focal point of the folk music revival on college campuses. Mr. Scruggs‘ wife, Louise, was their manager and was credited with cannily guiding their career as well as boosting interest in country music.
Later, as rock ‘n’ roll threatened country music’s popularity, Flatt and Scruggs became symbols of traditional country music.
In the 1982 interview, Mr. Scruggs said “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” broadened the scope of bluegrass and country music “more than anything I can put my finger on. Both were hits in so many countries.”
After the breakup with Flatt, Mr. Scruggs used three of his sons in the Earl Scruggs Revue. The group played on bills with rock acts such as Steppenwolf and James Taylor. Sometimes they played festivals before 40,000 people.
Mr. Scruggs always will be remembered for his willingness to innovate, but he wasn’t always accepted for it. In “The Big Book of Bluegrass,” Mr. Scruggs discussed the breakup with Flatt and how his need to experiment drove a rift between them. Later in 1985, he and Flatt were inducted together into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“It wasn’t a bad feeling toward each other as much as it was that I felt I was depriving myself of something,” Mr. Scruggs said. “By that, I mean that I love bluegrass music, and I still like to play it, but I do like to mix in some other music for my own personal satisfaction, because if I don’t, I can get a little bogged down and a little depressed.”
In 2005, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry of works of unusual merit. The following year, the 1972 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” on which Mr. Scruggs was one of many famous guest performers, joined the list, too.
Mr. Scruggs was fairly active in the 2000s, returning to a limited touring schedule after frail health in the 1990s. In 1996, hes suffered a heart attack in the recovery room of a hospital shortly after hip-replacement surgery. He also was hospitalized late last year but seemed in good health during a few appearances with his sons in 2010 and 2011, though he had given up the banjo for the guitar by then.
Mr. Scruggs is survived by two sons, Gary and Randy. Louise Scruggs, his wife of 57 years, died in 2006. He often talked of her, recounting how their eyes had met while she watched him perform at the Ryman, and friends noted a sense of melancholy in Mr. Scruggs over his final years.
Mr. Bentley attended Mr. Scruggs‘ birthday party in January and had a chance to pick one more song in a circle with the legend. He even snapped a picture with his 3-year-old daughter, something he says he’ll cherish forever.
Mr. Scruggs was fairly active in the 2000s, returning to a limited touring schedule after frail health in the 1990s. In 1996, hes suffered a heart attack in the recovery room of a hospital shortly after hip-replacement surgery. He also was hospitalized late last year but seemed in good health during a few appearances with his sons in 2010 and 2011, though he had given up the banjo for the guitar by then.
Mr. Scruggs is survived by two sons, Gary and Randy. Louise Scruggs, his wife of 57 years, died in 2006. He often talked of her, recounting how their eyes had met while she watched him perform at the Ryman, and friends noted a sense of melancholy in Mr. Scruggs over his final years.
Mr. Bentley attended Mr. Scruggs‘ birthday party in January and had a chance to pick one more song in a circle with the legend. He even snapped a picture with his 3-year-old daughter, something he says he’ll cherish forever.
Solar storm's upside: Best places to see intense northern lights
By Mary Forgione Los Angeles Times Daily Travel
Travelers in Alaska, Canada, the northern Plains, parts of the Midwest and much of the West tonight (Thursday) may be treated to a northern lights display more intense than usual because of the powerful solar storm hitting the Earth's surface, according to science and weather reports.The geomagnetic storm reached Earth about 5:45 a.m. EST Thursday. Scientists say the initial storm has been weaker than expected but may intensify later today.
Northern lights trackers say tonight could bring a spectacular show to mid- and high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. AccuWeather.com says bright streaks were seen over the Great Lakes region Wednesday night.
And here's the forecast for Alaska from the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks: "Auroral activity will be high. Weather permitting, highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from Barrow to Bethel, Dillingham and Ketchikan, and visible low on the horizon from King Salmon."
The Weather Channel says about the aurora forecast: "There is near certainty that this solar storm will produce aurora across the northern latitudes and could produce them as far south as the mid-latitudes," particularly on Thursday night-Friday morning.
Outside the U.S., Spaceweather.com shows spectacular northern lights photographs taken Wednesday night from northern parts of Russia, the Sky Station at Abisko National Park in Sweden and parts of Finland.
For those who might be in the northern lights belt, here are some viewing tips from the Geophysical Institute:
"[A]void city lights, and acquire a clear view of the northern horizon. Dress warmly, and plan to watch the sky between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, although an active period can occur anytime during the dark hours. Active periods are about 30 minutes long, occurring every 2 hours."
Auroral photography: A guide to capturing the Northern Lights
By Ben Hattenbach
If you've ever been interested in aurora photography, now is a great time to get out there and give it a try. Here's why:
The activity of our sun (the cause of aurorae here on Earth) ebbs and flows in eleven year cycles. The peak of the current solar cycle - an apex of auroral activity - will occur around 2013.
Revolutionary improvements in imaging technology have been made since the last solar cycle. We have progressed from film to an age of digital image sensors which offer far greater sensitivity and resolution, along with real time feedback and less noise.
Our ability to predict the timing and intensity of aurorae has been enhanced considerably with the launch of the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory, the product of a collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA.
In the next few years we will enjoy sensational aurorae, advance notice of their arrival, and the equipment necessary to capture them as never before. Even armed with all of these advantages, however, the aurorae are not going to put themselves on your memory cards. That's something you'll have to do yourself, and it can be a struggle.
This article provides ten suggestions that, if followed, will improve your odds of emerging from that struggle with some exceptional imagery. This article consists of two pages - the first page deals with how to find an aurora and equip yourself to capture it properly, and page 2 will guide you through the remainder of the process, including camera settings, composition and advanced topics.
1. Know Your Subject
Let’s begin by getting to know the aurora. According to my friend, astrophysicist Dr. Henry Throop, the aurora was thought at one time to be caused by ices suspended high above the Earth’s coldest, darkest regions. We now know that the aurora is actually an electrical phenomenon, caused by interactions between the solar wind and the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The sun emits massless photons that we see as light, but also emits out a real, physical, tangible wind of particles which moves at several hundred kilometers per second.
When this wind reaches the Earth, it begins a process that ends by exciting gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere, eventually leading to the emission of light. And just as a true neon light only comes in one color (red), the colors of the aurora are limited too: green and red caused by oxygen, with the fainter blue and purple caused by nitrogen. Unlike the wispy shapes of the aurora, its colors are narrow and precise.
Just like stars, the aurora is present during the day and the night, though during the day it is overwhelmed by the brightness of the sky. As the sun sets, it starts to become visible, being brightest near midnight when the orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field and the solar wind cause it to be strongest. The aurora is seen mostly in a ring centered roughly around the poles, where the solar wind is focused most intensely by the Earth’s magnetic field.
If the Earth had no magnetic field, we’d still have an aurora, but it would be weaker and more flat across the sky: a dull glow seen in every direction. A planet like Jupiter with a stronger magnetic field has a comparably more intense aurora, while Mercury - having neither an atmosphere nor magnetic field - has no aurora at all.
A terrestrial wind passing across the continents creates an unsettled display of turbulence and eddies, which we see in the form of dynamic cloud patterns, vortices, weather, and storms. In much the same way, the solar wind crossing the Earth’s magnetic field makes visible to us the turbulence of space: the vortices and eddies of magnetic fields peel off and pass rapidly overhead.
Even though - like wind - the magnetic fields themselves are invisible to us, we can see it through its tracers: charged particles. As the aurora moves in the sky overhead, the ripples in it are like the wakes and eddies peeling off a boat as at travels up a rough river at night, working at times with, at time against, the current and forcing what’s there out of the way.
2. Timing Is Everything
Now that you know what you’re chasing, when should you expect to actually see your quarry? Sadly there is no easy answer to that question. Here are some notes to consider, as you prepare for the hunt:
Aurorae are caused by Earth-directed coronal mass ejections. Those ejections often come from solar flares associated with sunspots, or originate from coronal holes on the sun. The sun rotates around into an Earth-facing position roughly every 27 days, meaning that at least on a short term basis there is an element of a 27 day cycle to geoeffective emissions.
There is an annual cycle that results in disproportionately high numbers of aurorae in the weeks on either side of the spring and fall equinoxes.
There is an 11-year solar cycle (the 'Schwabe cycle') during which the activity of the sun rises and falls. The number of sunspots tends to track this cycle, resulting in prevalent aurorae around the peak of this cycle. Oddly enough, though, coronal holes are most common about three years after the sunspot maximum, resulting in large numbers of aurorae also appearing about three years after the peak of the Schwabe cycle.
There are also much longer solar cycles stacked on top of these shorter ones, including cycles with periods of 22 years (the 'Hale cycle'), 87 years (the 'Gleissberg cycle'), 210 years (the 'Suess cycle') and 2,300 years (the 'Hallstatt cycle'). Most of us won’t be around for more than a few of these, though, so there is little sense letting them drive our planning.
The weather on Earth is another important factor. If the sky is cloudy, it doesn't matter what's going on above the cloud layer - you won't see it. In much of the arctic, the skies tend to be clearer in late winter and early spring than in fall.
Ambient light is another critical issue. In the high arctic, excessive sunlight will overwhelm any aurorae during summer and the surrounding months. The moon is another source of ambient light that must be considered. A partial moon may helpfully illuminate the surrounding countryside, avoiding the “silhouette” effect common in aurora photographs. I usually prefer about a quarter to a half of a moon when I’m including landscape in a photograph and want it to be illuminated. Anything approaching a full moon, however, can make it quite difficult even to see, much less photograph, ordinary aurorae.
Fortunately, the modern auroral photographer can take advantage of a lot of 'real time' information and analysis of so-called 'space weather', freely available online. Resources I recommend include:
The most informative space weather related information on the net, in my view is www.spaceweather.com.
An alternative presentation of similar information is available from the Space Weather Prediction Center.
Good short-term auroral predictions for Alaska are available on the University of Alaska website.
iPhone and iPad applications 'LightTrac' and 'Darkness,' which provide location-based data regarding sun and moon rise/set.
Further information on solar cycles is available on Wikipedia.
3. Location, Location, Location
Photographers in search of exceptional aurora imagery will generally need to travel a significant distance. This is because aurorae form in oval rings that, roughly speaking, circle the magnetic north pole (the 'aurora borealis') and magnetic south pole (the 'aurora australis'). When observed from far away, these rings will appear as a faint glow on the horizon. When viewed from the arctic or antarctic, however, even an ordinary aurora will often appear directly overhead.
Overhead aurorae tend to be more photogenic, clearer and brighter because of reduced atmospheric interference, and will more effectively illuminate the foreground. Auroral displays over snow, for instance, will generally cause the snow to take on the coloration of the aurora. In comparison, when an aurora is low on the horizon, the foreground will often appear as a less-interesting silhouette.
In addition to finding a location remote from the equator, you’ll want to situate yourself far away from city lights, airports, and other sources of light pollution. To give you a quantitative sense of what this means, when photographing around Fairbanks, Alaska (population under 100,000, counting the surrounding boroughs), I prefer to be at least 30 to 40 miles out of town. The farther, the better. Even from 100 miles into the bush, my photos will occasionally still show a faint orange glow on the horizon.
Here are a few popular spots:
Central and Northern Alaska: Relatively easy access from most of the United States, via Fairbanks. Hundreds of miles of beautiful mountain scenery, with year-round road access. The best locations, in my opinion, are along the Dalton Highway north of Coldfoot.
Iceland: Astoundingly beautiful landscapes abound, and unfrozen water suitable for reflections is abundant, even in winter. Frequently overcast, but still one of the world’s most wonderful countries to visit. However, travel from most places outside of Europe can be time-consuming, and staying in Iceland can be very costly.
Yellowknife, Canada: Well-situated in the auroral belt, but most photos from Yellowknife seem to feature flat fields of snow with pine forests.
Greenland: At the time of writing Greenland is quite difficult to reach directly from the United States or most other countries, unless you’re a world-class swimmer. There's no road system, but Greenland is a superb place to snowshoe around in the dark, searching for aurorae. Greenland isn't for the faint of heart though - think twice before wandering around in the dark, searching for aurorae in a land filled with polar bears.
Tromsø, Norway: A very long trip from North America, not even counting the time required to find the 'ø' on your computer when booking the flight. This location offers picturesque mountains and water in which auroral reflections regularly appear, but you might struggle to completely exclude the glow of town and city lights from your photographs.
Antarctica: Exotic, and one of few locations where one can photograph the aurora while huddling for warmth with a colony of emperor penguins. Unfortunately, unless you’re a scientist overwintering at a research station, it’s virtually impossible to access the continent when aurora are most prevalent.
As I’m based on the west coast of the United States, northern Alaska has become my preferred location for aurora photography.
4. Gear Up For Battle
When photographers are asked how they managed to achieve a certain result, they will usually point to their own artistic proficiency, not the capability of their tools. 'It’s the photographer, not the camera,' is the common refrain. There are, of course, elements of artistry in aurora photography as well. However, the importance of good quality equipment cannot be overstated. Aurora photography does not require the most expensive kit available; it requires gear that can capture broad views, in low light, in cold weather. You will need:
A camera body that excels with clean high-ISO operation. There are a number of new bodies in recent years that meet these criteria well, and which have enabled revolutionary advances in the field of aurora photography. Weather-sealing is a definite plus, although not a necessity.
A wide, fast lens. On a full frame camera, a focal length of 24mm or less is desirable – but the wider, the better, in my experience. Ideally the lens will be able to shoot sharp pictures with minimal vignetting at a maximum aperture of f 2.8 or less, as you’ll want to keep your exposures short. All else being equal, your exposure will be inversely proportional to the square of your aperture, meaning that a lens at f 2.8 will need four times as long to capture an image as at f 1.4. Currently, my favorite lens for this purpose is Nikon’s AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f 2.8G ED.
A sturdy tripod, and a remote shutter release (or, at a pinch, your camera's self-timer function). Don’t bother leaving home without them. They’re essential for aurora photography. A robust ballhead is also extremely useful.
Gearing up for winter photography, at night, in the arctic, necessitates psychological preparation as well. If you want to get the most out of your journey, you’ll need to be prepared to be awake and working most of the night.
5. Brace Yourself For A Chilly Reception
Aurorae just don’t seem to enjoy the warmth of the tropics or the glow of the midnight sun during summer. You’ll need to play on their home turf, during the dark months. That means planning to spend hours on end, standing around outside at night, quite possibly in extreme cold, and probably a long way from home.
Clothing: be sure you’re dressed for the occasion. This is not a party you’ll want to attend in a mini-skirt. For winter aurora photography I’ve settled on a down-filled mountaineering suit (the Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero), winter boots rated to -40 degrees F (the Sorel Caribou Reserve), multiple pairs of long thermal underwear (Under Armour ColdGear Base 3.0, both top and bottom), and a wind-proof cap (by Mountain Hardwear).
For the hands, you’ll want gloves thick enough to keep you warm, but thin enough to allow you to operate your camera. Personally I prefer to forgo gloves and keep my hands in warm pockets between shots. Most of the time it works fine. If you’re averse to occasional frostbite, try a different approach.
Batteries: The temperatures of the far north take an enormous toll on battery life. My camera batteries last around 1,500 actuations in normal conditions, but in the arctic winter have become exhausted after as few as 25 frames. The conventional cold weather advice is to keep your battery warm by storing it in a jacket pocket while not in use, but that is not an adequate solution under extreme arctic conditions. I recommend bringing multiple batteries and a charger, and rotating the batteries through the charging station when they’re not in use. If your aurora photography will take you far from the nearest well-stocked camera store, consider also bringing backups for any other 'mission critical' elements of your system.
Tripods: Carbon fiber tripods are just wonderful. They’re light, and in cold weather can be carried without chilling your hands as much as metal would. In frigid temperatures, however, both the carbon fiber legs and the adhesive used to connect then to your tripod base can become brittle. Exerting substantial pressure on your tripod, particularly when its legs are buried in deep snow, can easily result in the amputation of a leg. If you’d prefer not to find yourself hundreds of miles from civilization, with only a 'dipod' for support, be particularly cautious when planting your gear in deep snow.
Cameras and lenses: As noted above, weather-sealing is preferable. In part, this is to help prevent condensation from forming inside your equipment, when you move from an exceptionally cold environment (e.g., shooting outside) to a much warmer space (e.g., into a heated car). Particularly for non-weather-sealed equipment, including most medium format cameras and lenses, it is essential that the cold-to-warm transition be made gradually. It only takes one misstep to generate trip-ending amounts of condensation inside your lenses or sensor. To help slow the transition, I transfer my equipment to a camera bag that has also been outside, and only after sealing the bag do I move the bag and its contents into a warmer space. The camera is then allowed to heat up, slowly and safely, within the bag. For even better protection, consider placing your equipment in an airtight enclosure, such as a Ziploc bag, during the thawing process.
Safety gear: If you’re headed to the far north during winter you should, of course, also read up on how to travel safely in cold, icy climates. When travelling in northern Alaska between November and March, I’ll usually bring extra fuel, chemical additives to prevent the fuel from freezing, an oversupply of food (including food that will be palatable when frozen), a cold weather sleeping bag (rated to -25 degrees F), jumper cables and a tow rope with which a vehicle could be rescued after sliding off of an icy road. My tow rope has paid for itself on multiple occasions.
Happy 80th Birthday, Johnny Cash!
photo's by Ray Tharaldson all rights reserved 2012
From picking cotton to help his impoverished, Depression-wracked family; to his exhausting tour schedule; to struggling with a serious drug addiction; to his songs about guns, murder, revenge, punishment and repentance—Johnny Cash was a troubled man who sought redemption through his music.
To commemorate what would be the county-music master’s 80th birthday on Feb. 26, several celebrations, projects and events are scheduled throughout the year. Cash’s boyhood home in Dyess, Ark. is being restored. Columbia/Legacy will release a series of archived recordings, starting with a collection of his gospel and spiritual songs from 1970s and ’80s called Bootleg IV: The Soul of Truth, which will be available in April. A Johnny Cash Museum is scheduled to open this summer in Nashville.
Johnny Cash was born to farmers in Kingsland, Ark. on Feb. 26, 1932. As the fourth of five children, he recalled in a 1969 TIME article that although his family was dirt poor, “I was never hungry a day in my life….at breakfast it was just fatback and biscuits—but that was plenty.” After high school, Cash worked at an auto plant in Pontiac, Mich. (where, as far as we know, he did not actually construct a car from stolen parts, as he later pretended to in his 1976 song “One Piece at a Time”). He joined the Air Force for a few years, and then in 1954 he married Vivian Liberto and the couple moved to Memphis.
Cash had always been musical—as a child he sang at the Dyess Central Baptist Church and he reportedly learned to play the guitar while in the Air Force —so when he moved to Memphis, he hooked up with two musicians, Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant, and auditioned for Sam Phillips at Sun Records. He recorded “Hey, Porter” and “Cry Cry Cry” for Phillips, the latter of which became his first hit, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard’s Top 20 in 1955. He followed it up with “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line,” which shot up to No. 1 and stayed there for 43 weeks. It would sell over two million copies. (Cash’s stint at Sun Records was relatively shortlived; he switched to Columbia in 1958 because the Phillips wouldn’t let him record gospel music).
Cash then embarked the grueling journey that all newly-successful musicians must endure: days and weeks and months of endless touring. By 1957, he was giving more than 200 shows a year (by some accounts, he may have played closer to 300). His marriage was faltering. He drank too much. He became addicted to amphetamines. He accidentally started a forest fire in California. He was arrested for smuggling pills into the U.S. from Mexico. In 1966, his wife filed for divorce. And yet still he released hit song after hit song: “Ring of Fire,” “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” “I Got Stripes.” Johnny Cash was troubled man, but not so troubled that he couldn’t turn his haunted words into song.
Cash toured with the Carter Family in the 1960s—and of course he would ultimately marry June Carter in 1968, after she helped him overcome his addiction and find his faith. The couple’s live recordings at Folsom Prison and San Quentin, in 1968 and 1969 respectively, are still two of the best concert albums ever released. They were married for 35 years, until her death in May 2003 from complications from heart surgery. Cash made it only four more months before joining her in September of the same year.
But this glossed over retelling of dates and events isn’t what’s important about Johnny Cash. The reason we remember him so fondly—and why we’re celebrating his birthday nine years after he passed—is the gift he had for music and the way he made us feel. Cash’s world-weary bass-baritone voice expressed a forlorn pain that, until we heard his songs, we didn’t even know we had. He gave a voice to the working man, the luckless, the outlaw, the convict—and to those of us who weren’t any of those things but who sometimes identified with them anyway.
“Well, we’re doing mighty fine, I do suppose / In our streak of lightnin’ cars and fancy clothes,” Cash once sang, “But just so we’re reminded of the ones who are held back / Up front there ought ‘a be a man in black.”
Thank you for being that man, Johnny Cash. Happy birthday.
Claire Suddath is a staff writer at TIME Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter at @clairesuddath or on Facebook.
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Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies
LOS ANGELES —
Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, has died. She was 48.
Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unclear.
At her peak in the 1980s and `90s, Houston the golden girl of the music industry and one of the world's best-selling artists.
Among her hits were "How Will I Know," "Saving All My Love for You" and "I Will Always Love You." She won multiple Grammys including album and record of the year.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies like "The Bodyguard."
But by the end of her career, drug use took its toll as her record sales plummeted and her voice became raspy and hoarse.
By Sharon Knolle
Whitney Houston's rep issued a shocked denial today to counter reports that the singer/actress has died
In a statement, her publicist, Nancy Seltzer, said, "I've just spoken to Whitney. She is perfectly fine and does not understand why, with everything going on in the world right now, they have to find new rumors to dig up. She is home in New Jersey with her family." Seltzer said people were calling the singer at home and sobbing, after apparently having heard reports of her death over the radio. According to the rumors, Houston had died of a drug overdose.
Fans and the media have speculated about Houston's health after her performance at Friday's Michael Jackson tribute concert at Madison Square Garden, where she appeared shockingly thin, even skeletal. The singer then bowed out of the second night of the concert without explanation, prompting heightened speculation about her health. Houston has long been rumored to have drug problems, and in Tuesday's edition of the New York Daily News — which was evidently published before horrific terrorist attacks brought the city to a standstill — Seltzer denied fresh reports that her celebrity client was on drugs.
"Whitney has been under stress due to family matters, and when she is under stress, she doesn't eat," Seltzer told the New York tab at the time.
Houston and her husband, singer Bobby Brown, have had a history of drug- and alcohol-related issues, including possession of marijuana charges for Houston in January 2000, which were later dismissed, and a 75-day stint in jail for Brown in 2000, after he violated his probation (stemming from 1996 drunken driving charges).
ABCNEWS.com's Buck Wolf contributed to this story.
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