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By Beverly Houwing
Adobe Certified Instructor and wildlife photographer, Beverly Houwing, has been traveling from a very young age and became interested in photography as a teenager. She makes frequent trips to Africa to document the beauty and uniqueness of the landscape and wildlife primarily in southern and eastern Africa. She also captures the picturesque locations in California, where she lives, when not traveling internationally.
Her work has been shown at the G2 Gallery in Venice, California as well as used to promote conservation and eco-tourism by various organizations. This collection of images was taken in Los Angeles, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Kenya & Namibia.
Dead Vlei, located in Sossusvlei, Namibia is one of the most other-worldly places to visit. A large petrified mud flat with dozens of parched, dead trees creates a bizarre landscape surrounded by towering red sand dunes. This picture was taken just as the sun rose illuminating the sand behind the trees while the ground is still in shadow.
Joshua Tree Star Trails captures the movement of the stars as the earth rotates for a couple of hours. The challenge of taking this picture was to create a good composition and focus in the dark, since new moon is the best time to take night sky and star trail photos. Getting the north star at the tip of the branches was the main focus of this composition. Light from the nearby towns of Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley creates a soft, warm glow in the distance and accentuate the other trees along the horizon.
This is another light painting photograph taken at the Rhyolite ghost town outside Death Valley National Park. It was a clear night at new moon so the stars and milky way were very visible. This was the town bank, now ruins of the three-story masonry building. I photographed it with a wide angle lens to get the height of the structure as well as lots of the sky and stars above. During the exposure I had one person light the front of the bank with a pink flashlight while myself and another person lit the side and back portion of the building with a green flashlight and headlamp. The fun thing about light painting is that no two pictures ever come out the same and when you have a group you can get far more creative with different people participating in the composition.
Namaqua Chameleon - this very pregnant chameleon was wandering the dunes in the Namib desert extremely slowly, so she was easy to follow. When she spotted some grubs on the sand I got down to ground level and switched my camera to high speed drive & fast shutter speed. I waited for both of her eyes to look forward, which is a sure sign she was ready to snag the grub with her long tongue. I was lucky that one of the frames got her tongue completely extended.
Praying Mantis was taken in the LA area in the gardens of a college. I liked the carefree pose and the "blown back" look of her antennae. This was a day when I decided on doing only macro photography. There were many insects and spiders there and great opportunities for getting very detailed images of creatures you normally don't even know are around you - but you really have to look.
Caracal at Sunset is one of my favorite photos from my Namibia trip since everything fell into place just at the right moment. I had been photographing the cat with the sunlight on him as he was climbing around on the dead tree. Just as the sun was about the set, he went to the end of the branch and stood there looking out, creating this amazing silhouette against the clear sky.
Kolmanskop - is a ghost town in the Namib desert. This place is an oddly picturesque example of the desert sands' reclaiming this once-thriving town, which was abandoned almost 60 years ago. There is building after building with sand that has blown in and poured into them. This image shows the early morning sunlight illuminating the sand which has piled up through the hallway and doors of this house.
Light Painted Car was photographed just outside Death Valley National Park. This wrecked shell of an Impala was an interesting subject to photograph, so our group came back at night which was clear and moonless to photograph it with the milky way above. Red light sticks and head lamps were used to create the "molten" interior look. During the 25 second exposure a flashlight was used to illuminate the exterior of the car.
Beverly currently has some of her photos in the Wilderness Photo Competition sponsored by B&H Photo. The images are being judged by a panel of photographers and there is also a "people's choice" vote for the most popular. Check out her submissions and vote for your favorite. Voting ends on January 14th. You can also visit her website here.
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Lee Majors - A Seasoned Veteran Reinvents Himself
By Brian Taylor
Lee Majors plays The Figure in Nicholas Gyeney’s Matt’s Chance. I spoke to Lee in between shots for his latest appearance on the TV show Raising Hope.
Lee Majors is best known for The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy, and The Big Valley; and has been in the business now for 50 years. He began his career as a “cowboy actor” (as he called it) and has continued to work steadily throughout the years and is lately more interested to continually push himself to explore new characters and new genres. He spoke about appreciating the opportunity he has now to play very different characters in projects throughout the years. He is thankful to have worked in many different genres, and being able to push the envelope rather than stay locked in on one role for a long stretch anymore.
In this darkly comedic film about love, revenge, and human nature, Matt’s Chance, Majors serves as Matt’s (Edward Furlong) barber and inadvertent therapist of sorts, and we later discover he has an agenda. He listens to Furlong plot revenge against his fiancée and her new lover after walking in on them in his bed the evening of his birthday. Majors’ character provides Furlong’s character “the opportunity to have one redeeming quality and encourages him to turn his life around.”
The film also includes an array of characters including an eccentric pawn-shop owner played by none other than Gary Busey, and an aging stripper played by Margot Kidder.
Majors had nothing but praises for Gyeney and the experience he had while shooting Matt’s Chance. “Nick is a very talented director . . . I received the script and initially thought, ‘This was not my thing. It’s not in my zone.’ It was such a dark, violent, and tragic comedy, but then it grew on me, and now after watching the film, I was really drawn in, and it holds my attention. Each character had their own journey that makes the film progress, and it really held my attention.”
He also had nothing but positive things to say about working with Furlong. “Eddie did a great job. He’s a great talent, he’s a hard worker, and it was great to work with him.”
When asked if he had any advice for rising actors, Majors responded, “Keep your nose clean, and study your craft. Know your lines, and be nice to everyone as you hopefully move up, because you may see them on the way down, too . . . don’t give up. . . . Pound your agent on the head if you have to in order to get auditions . . . Auditions are not bad; everyone has to do them.”
He encouraged continually working at your art, studying, and doing whatever you need to in order to get your talent out, and striving to meet anyone who could hire you one day.
When asked if he has noticed any changes to his life or process as an actor through the years, Majors noted that technology has been a major factor. “Sure the films nowadays look amazing, but the process is a lot different how you make them. When I first started out in the 60s and 70s, the director could not see what he shot until he got it in the editing room. You’d shoot a scene, and the director would then turn to the cameraperson, and he’d nod his head and you would move on. Now, you shoot a scene, and with the amazing advancements, everyone gathers around over in a tent somewhere to watch the take and then discuss it, and then maybe you’ll shoot it again, or maybe you’ll move on. That intimacy is now gone between the actor, the director, and the camera operator. Honestly, it seems like it’s a big waste of time and everyone has an opinion, but it seems to be the style that’s here for now.”
When asked what career path he would have pursued if he hadn’t become an actor, Majors quickly responded, “Coaching football.” He said he would have been content coaching college-level football. He attended Indiana University on a football scholarship, but was sidelined after an injury and later turned down an offer to play in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals. Majors’ passion and love for football was evident, but did not outweigh his thankfulness for the career and life he carved for himself throughout the past half century.
Majors appeared to be a warm-hearted gentleman with a strong work ethic, curious to try new things and continually push the envelope. He also was thankful for his longevity in the business and for the opportunities he has had throughout the years. He noted his willingness to reinvent himself as the secret to his success. “In the beginning I was type cast as the cowboy actor, but now I am able to do lots of different kinds of projects and various types of characters, and I love it.” He also went on to say, “When I go to the movies, I want to leave with the feeling that I watched something really good progress. . . . I am not interested in the franchise action films. Once you’ve made something like that and know how it’s done, it’s really not that interesting to me to watch.” He also seemed to be uninterested in the recent zombie craze.
Matt’s Chance will have a theatrical release opening on Christmas Day and is sure to provide moviegoers with an alternative to mainstream offerings.
Click here to read Brian's interview with the director, Nick Gyeney
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The Brit, The Boxer and the Lost Boy
An Interview with Actor, John Campbell Mac
By Bridget Brady
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- Written by Super User
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Lee Majors - A Seasoned Veteran Reinvents Himself
By Brian Taylor
Lee Majors plays The Figure in Nicholas Gyeney’s Matt’s Chance. I spoke to Lee in between shots for his latest appearance on the TV show Raising Hope.
Lee Majors is best known for The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy, and The Big Valley; and has been in the business now for 50 years. He began his career as a “cowboy actor” (as he called it) and has continued to work steadily throughout the years and is lately more interested to continually push himself to explore new characters and new genres. He spoke about appreciating the opportunity he has now to play very different characters in projects throughout the years. He is thankful to have worked in many different genres, and being able to push the envelope rather than stay locked in on one role for a long stretch anymore.
In this darkly comedic film about love, revenge, and human nature, Matt’s Chance, Majors serves as Matt’s (Edward Furlong) barber and inadvertent therapist of sorts, and we later discover he has an agenda. He listens to Furlong plot revenge against his fiancée and her new lover after walking in on them in his bed the evening of his birthday. Majors’ character provides Furlong’s character “the opportunity to have one redeeming quality and encourages him to turn his life around.”
The film also includes an array of characters including an eccentric pawn-shop owner played by none other than Gary Busey, and an aging stripper played by Margot Kidder.
Majors had nothing but praises for Gyeney and the experience he had while shooting Matt’s Chance. “Nick is a very talented director . . . I received the script and initially thought, ‘This was not my thing. It’s not in my zone.’ It was such a dark, violent, and tragic comedy, but then it grew on me, and now after watching the film, I was really drawn in, and it holds my attention. Each character had their own journey that makes the film progress, and it really held my attention.”
He also had nothing but positive things to say about working with Furlong. “Eddie did a great job. He’s a great talent, he’s a hard worker, and it was great to work with him.”
When asked if he had any advice for rising actors, Majors responded, “Keep your nose clean, and study your craft. Know your lines, and be nice to everyone as you hopefully move up, because you may see them on the way down, too . . . don’t give up. . . . Pound your agent on the head if you have to in order to get auditions . . . Auditions are not bad; everyone has to do them.”
He encouraged continually working at your art, studying, and doing whatever you need to in order to get your talent out, and striving to meet anyone who could hire you one day.
When asked if he has noticed any changes to his life or process as an actor through the years, Majors noted that technology has been a major factor. “Sure the films nowadays look amazing, but the process is a lot different how you make them. When I first started out in the 60s and 70s, the director could not see what he shot until he got it in the editing room. You’d shoot a scene, and the director would then turn to the cameraperson, and he’d nod his head and you would move on. Now, you shoot a scene, and with the amazing advancements, everyone gathers around over in a tent somewhere to watch the take and then discuss it, and then maybe you’ll shoot it again, or maybe you’ll move on. That intimacy is now gone between the actor, the director, and the camera operator. Honestly, it seems like it’s a big waste of time and everyone has an opinion, but it seems to be the style that’s here for now.”
When asked what career path he would have pursued if he hadn’t become an actor, Majors quickly responded, “Coaching football.” He said he would have been content coaching college-level football. He attended Indiana University on a football scholarship, but was sidelined after an injury and later turned down an offer to play in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals. Majors’ passion and love for football was evident, but did not outweigh his thankfulness for the career and life he carved for himself throughout the past half century.
Majors appeared to be a warm-hearted gentleman with a strong work ethic, curious to try new things and continually push the envelope. He also was thankful for his longevity in the business and for the opportunities he has had throughout the years. He noted his willingness to reinvent himself as the secret to his success. “In the beginning I was type cast as the cowboy actor, but now I am able to do lots of different kinds of projects and various types of characters, and I love it.” He also went on to say, “When I go to the movies, I want to leave with the feeling that I watched something really good progress. . . . I am not interested in the franchise action films. Once you’ve made something like that and know how it’s done, it’s really not that interesting to me to watch.” He also seemed to be uninterested in the recent zombie craze.
Matt’s Chance will have a theatrical release opening on Christmas Day and is sure to provide moviegoers with an alternative to mainstream offerings.
Click here to read Brian's interview with the director, Nick Gyeney
