The Text Only Gallery is provided to contain any information from the site which may be inaccessible to anyone.
It is organized by sections of the gallery:
"Sun Web" is the image of dew drops on a spiders web with a setting sun in the background.
"Phoenix Lake" is a photograph of a misty, wooded lake at sunrise.
"Grass Blade" is a close up of water drops on a blade of grass and the reflections within them.
"Golden Shore"is a photograph of breaking waves along a rugged coastline with gulls flying in golden light.
There is additionally and image of a dragonfly covered in dew on a piece of straw.
About Ernest Braun:
Ernie Braun has been a professional photographer in Marin County, California for more than 45 years. For many of those years ErnieÍs main interest has been environmental photography. He first strayed into the photographic realm of the shoreline, tide pool, stream bank, and mountain meadow in the early 1960s. Since then he has been a dedicated advocate of the natural world. "I continue to explore the concept of moving in close and getting to know living things intimately," he says. ErnieÍs philosophy, and his love of nature, shines through in his teaching. This is part of the inspiration that has drawn students to his lectures and motivates them in he field. Ernie teaches photography in the Point Reyes Field Seminar program, and is an honorary member of the Marin Photography club, where he is a frequent judge and instructor. Students have enjoyed learning in many of ErnieÍs favorite places photographing some of his favorite subjects: Point Reyes, Crane Flat meadow, the bristle cone pines of the White Mountains, and Point Lobos. Ernie is acknowledged nationally as a pioneer in selective focus and macro images of nature. His accomplishments include an AIA Architectural Gold Medal, 1st Prize in the Life Magazine Professional Photographic Contest, six published books and dozens of exhibits at museums and galleries including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the De Young Museum and Time-Life Gallery in New York. His work has been published in Life, Look, Audubon, Outdoor Photographer, Modern Photographer, Oceans, and many others. To learn more about Ernest Braun and to see more examples of his work, visit his web site at www.ernestbraun.com.
Flowers 1
Photographer: Pamela J
"Evening Glory" is a close up of a purple flower.
Quote: Another thing that Ernie shared…and taught, is his lust for life. Those who view Ernie’s photography may not know that the beauty he captures is what the man is. I hope all who see this exhibit will understand, better, the man and his interpretation of life.
B. E. "Bud" Bradley
Photographer: Roger Hanes
"Lady Lily" is a close up of a Cala Lily with a deep blue sky.
Quote: Ernie has led me to re-envision the "rules" of photography. I learned to break any and all of those rules at some point in the creative process. Through the use of selective focus, painterly effects, color splotching with circles of confusion I have found a whole new world of expression.
Roger Hanes
Photographer: Phil Lindsay
"Shooting Star" is a close up of a purple shooting star flower.
Quote: "Simplify", "Simplify", "Simplify", - that was Ernie’s instruction. Not so simple to "Simplify", but I finally got it!! I discovered that it was OK to set aside my razor sharp details and let nature provide swirls of soft color abstractions. … I discovered it was OK to get down and close in order to explore the inner details of the flowers. The high magnification of microphotography may even make it difficult for the viewer to determine the type of wildflower, but that’s OK if the viewer is rewarded with a new vision.
Phil Lindsay
Photographer: Kay Damgaard
"Magenta Beauty" is an abstract extreme close up of a purple flower with a green background.
Quote: I didn't know what I was doing but Ernie had given us the basics so I gathered myself together and looked through the lens at the most beautiful sight. This was a plant I had barely noticed in the past, but that morning I spent three hours never moving from my crouched position. Even the slightest movement of the camera produced another spectacular view…
Kay Damgaard
Photographer: Jane Derry
"Datura" is an abstract close up of a cream colored datura flower.
Quote: I may not have continued photographing nature if Ernie hadn't been so encouraging. His own images are magic and in his classes he shares his way of seeing with the technical information necessary. I have learned much from him.
Jane Deery
Flowers 2
Photographer: JoAnn Burchfiel
"Marrow Family Flower" is a close up of a pink flower.
Quote: Ernie Braun taught me that photography is a personal connection between what you see and how you feel about it: to let your inner self be the guide on a journey through everything from choosing your subject to creating your final composition: Stretch the rules and stretch your self!
JoAnn Burchfiel
Photographer: Maria Geczy
"Fall Colors — Trees and Water" is photograph of a stream bank with brilliant changing colors in the trees.
Quote: I was totally without guidance and without inspiration — until I met Ernie. He seemed to be doing just what I was dreaming about, capturing beauty in nature, from the greatest vistas down to a single grass blade.
Maria Geczy
Photographer: Bud Bradley
"Foxtail Up Close and Personal" is close up of a foxtail.
Quote: Ernie actually taught me how to see…not just metaphorically, but literally. I can no longer just take a walk. Now, I have to look inside everything and see how it relates to everything around it. His prodding to "go even further inside" has led me to discover worlds within worlds. His "Wet Belly" theory of photography has helped me look into the microscopic realities of nature’s structure. In the past I either took them for granted or just ignored their existence.
B. E. "Bud" Bradley
Photographer: Irene Hightower
"Autumn Leaves" is close up of leaves changing color on a branch.
Quote: From his own photographs and from his classes, I have learned what wonderful images a creative, sensitive person can create. He sees beauty all around him and is able to capture it on film.
Irene Hightower
Photographer: Tom Frazier
"Magical Stream" is close up of horsetails growing out of moving water with reflecting golden sunrise..
Quote: As I studied with him, I realized that there were more than exposure, composition and shutter speeds. There was also the need to convey a feeling, a mood or other personal insight about the subject. Only when the final photograph demonstrated this quality would it be successful. A photograph perfect in every detail but lacking that tiny detail would be destined for a life of mediocrity.
Tom Frazier
Flowers 3
Photographer: Robert McFarland
"Iris" is an extreme close up of the inside of a purple iris.
Quote: He inspires you to look longer, deeper, differently, creatively, to mold a composition from what is there that is unique, moving, and sometimes beautiful.
Robert McFarland
Photographer: Mary Macey Butler
"Poppy" is a close up of a California Poppy.
Quote: He has a unique and wonderful way of seeing, and he has always encouraged the development of this in his students. He recognizes that his students might have a way of seeing that is different from his and he stimulates this, and works with the student on their way of seeing…
Mary Macey Butler
Photographer: Susan Stoddard
"Sunflower" is an abstract extreme close up of the edge of a Sunflower petal in oranges and magentas.
Quote: I'd never imagined photography could be like this. There was an Iris, very close and very soft. Beautiful color. Only bits in focus -- a line, a sensual curve. There was such lightness, such pure beauty. It was like painting on film, only more because of the luminosity of the projected image. I watched and just enjoyed it. I could feel an excitement, and adrenaline, and joy. Just to see this! Then we looked at the Meadow. Another way to photograph flowers, not so close this time. And again, just parts in focus. I'd been following rules that said to try for the most "depth of field." But here, there was one flower, or one part of the meadow, and everything else became soft and painterly. Sometimes the view was through the grasses, and it was like seeing through rippled glass. Sometimes out-of-focus flowers made soft blotches of color.
Susan Stoddard
Photographer: Henriette Brasseur
"Poppy Passion" is a composite image of close up images of California Poppies..
Quote: From Ernie I have learned the following:
To develop my own sense of style
To appreciate the intrinsic nature of color, light, lines and shapes
To listen to my inner feelings and emotions
Henriette Brasseur
Photographer: Irene Hightower
"Wild Iris" is an extreme close up of a purple iris with greens in the background.
Quote: What I've learned from Ernie Braun isn't a list of photographic do’s or don’ts and gadgets to buy. Rather, it's the heartfelt idea of awareness balanced in a framework of simplicity. He encourages you to think about and choose the elements to include in a photograph, blow up the photo in your mind as big as it possibly could be, and then simplify.
Sue Stull
Flowers 4
Photographer: Marco Torres
"Autumn Palette" is a close up of autumn leaves on the forest floor.
Quote: Ernie has taught me how filling a frame, composition, frame of reference, and especially subtleties of light and color help to translate the infinite images, patterns, and moments of nature. Even when I don’t photograph, I've learned to view the shapes and images of nature with a better awareness and enjoyment.
Marco Torres
Photographer: Reid Thaler
"Bud K." is a close up of a red flower with a black background.
Quote: One of Ernie’s greatest teaching attributes is his passion for encouraging students to discover their unique photographic expression, and imbue that vision with a wonder of the natural world…Ernie, while a long-accomplished master at the craft of photography, continues to rejuvenate the spirit of his students by approaching photography with a Zen-like, or beginner’s mind — seeing everything as fresh for the first time.
Reid J. Thaler
Photographer: Scott Peck
"Iris #7" is an abstract close up of a purple iris with oranges in the.
Quote: I said long ago that Ernie is the Obie Wan Kanobi of photography. Just being in his presence has you "feeling the force" and when your photography seems stale, that presence suddenly has you seeing and shooting with new inspiration and insight…
Scott Peck
Photographer: Kay Damgaard
"The Edge" is an abstract close up of an edge of a flower’s petal in oranges and reds.
Quote: I think the single most important gift from Ernie has been encouragement — a wonderful sense of freedom to move in, move in, move in with my macro lens and discover realms of design unimagined from a "normal" perspective…
Lydia Rosen
Photographer: Al Fisk
"Poppies" is a close up of two California Poppies.
Quote: He always sees the wonderful beauty in nature, but what he taught me was to strive to portray in my photograph of that beauty the mood, the emotion it engendered in me. If I could translate that mood to a neutral observer through my photograph, I had accomplished what Ernie taught me.
Al Fisk
Shores 1
Photographer: Philo Holland
"Black Necked Stilt" is a photograph of a black necked stilt foraging in shallow water.
Photographer: Bobbi Chamberlain
"Bat Star" is an image of a red sea star and kelp.
Quote: As children we begin to see the world close to the ground, where we make our first discoveries of natural wonders. For grown-ups, Ernie Braun has told his photography students, "Seeing with a camera is the best way I have found to get close to the earth again."
Bill Duddleson
Photographer: Joe Heath
"Sea Star Trio" is an image of three sea stars and kelp.
Quote: It’s always rewarding and inspirational to explore the photographic realms he shares with us. His encouragement to see things in new and unique ways, to probe the tiniest of nature’s offerings, and his love of moving water keep me coming back to ask "How did you do that, Ernie?"
Joe Heath
Photographer: Ann Rivo
"Sea Foam" is a close up of a feather on a beach.
Quote: The most important thing I learned from my classes with Ernie is the notion of making a photograph rather than taking one.
Ann Rivo
Photographer: Susan Stoddard
"Weston Beach" is the close up of convoluted patterns in wet sand and rock in blues.
Quote: "For me, there is one weekend that is the "watershed" in my photographic development. That was a weekend in April, 1992, when I took a "Wildflower Photography" class sponsored by Point Reyes Field Seminars. The instructor was Ernest Braun."
"Wildflower Photography" was a class that put me on a different path. I saw an art that I needed to create; I felt something spiritual in the flowers and the selective focus."
"Thank you, Ernie for the awakening. And all the support and friendship since. You are in all my images."
Susan Stoddard
Shores 2
Photographer: Peggy Jacobson
"Feather" is an extreme close up of a gray feather.
Quote: …he opened my eyes, my mind, and my technical way of working on macro photography and in particular, selective focus in which one can work on getting to the heart of natural form. I make many mistakes (that is, miss takes) but know that with persistence I can achieve and record the image in my mind’s eye. It is Ernie who has given me much confidence to trust my vision and my ability to share it with others.
Peggy Jacobson
Photographer: Walter Rowson
"Pelican, Galapagos Islands" is a profile of a pelican standing with waves breaking in the blurred background.
Quote: Once one shares Ernie’s vision of the world his own world becomes an infinitely varied and richer place.
Walter Rowson
Photographer: Rena Lynn Moore
"Red Sea Star Emerging" is an image of a sea star in a shallow tide pool.
Quote: What Ernie’s images and instruction brought out in me was the desire to try. I liked the feelings I had looking at his images and listening to his philosophies, and that led to the desire for me to try to create my own images that would bring the same feelings.
Scott Golden
Photographer: Frank Pemnington
"Pt. Reyes Anemone" is an abstract, digitally altered, colorful image of a sea anemone.
Quote: No Quote
Photographer: Philo Holland
"Ghost Tree" is a silhouette of a bare tree and a rugged coastline.
Quote: Ernie Braun has Taught me to see, not as an observer but as a participant; to feel, not the physical but the passion of the moment; and to glorify in the wonders of nature.
Philo Holland
Photographer: Elizabeth Saucier
"Feather at Limantour Beach" is a close up of a small feather on sand.
Quote: Studying the macro world of photography with Ernie has opened many creative doors for me. I now have an up close and personal appreciation for petals, leaves, moss, pebbles, sand, and bark, just to name a few.
Elizabeth Saucier
Photographer: John Farley
"Kelp 1" is a close up of kelp.
Quote: Ernie’s love for the outdoors is also apparent in his writing and his enthusiasm as a teacher. Through his books and prints and the many students he has inspired, Ernie has created a powerful positive influence on the environmental movement.
John Farley
Photographer: Inka Benton
"Beach" is an image of intricate patterns in the sand and of foamy sea water.
Quote: Ernie has taught me about the impact of a single raindrop. He’s taught me about the simplicity of images and the complexity of images. He’s taught me to think about what I am photographing, to be aware of what I am seeing.
Denise Stone
Inhabitants 1
Photographer: Tom Felts
"Burrowing Owl on Fence" is an image of an owl parched on a strand of barbed wire with blue sky in the background.
Quote: I first came under Ernie’s watchful eye at point Lobos some years ago. I have returned to those days, and others like them, to guide me back into pre-visualization of the unique possibilities inherent in every image subject that interests me. In that way, Ernie Braun became a guiding influence present every day in my photography.
Tom Felts
Photographer: Laura House
"Long Eared Owl" is an image of an owl looking directly towards the viewer.
Quote: Ernie’s unique vision is given generously to all of his students with encouragement in reminders: "Move in closer", "Simplify", "Isolate and relate", "Pre-visualize", and "Have fun experimenting". Ernie creates a safe environment for each student to find a new direction in his/her photography.
When Ernie told us to "open-up", he intended to direct his students to "open-up" the f-stop on their lens to change the depth of field for selective focus, but I also heard "open-up" my mind to new creativity and experimentation.
Laura House
Photographer: Bonnie Harrigan
"Black Necked Stilt and Young" is a profile of two black necked stilts.
Quote: Ernie’s workshops are always inspirational because he breaks some rules sometimes and this has freed me…He’s a patient and gentle teacher who says "try it" instead of "that won’t work". I have finally learned to follow his motto of "pre-visualization". I can do it now and it does make a difference!
Bonnie Harrigan
Photographer: Todd Heapy
"Key Westion" is a close up profile of a snowy egret with a blue sky background.
Quote: Whether he meant to or not, I believe Ernie impacted my photography most by making me realize that an image seemingly simple in design, concept, and execution can result in a layered and complex reaction from the viewer that can consist of wonder, awe, interest, and curiosity. I saw it in his images and I approach many of mine with that same thought in mind.
Todd Heapy
Photographer: Sarah Puyens
No Title Given. This is and image of a small butterfly clinging to a stalk of brown grass.
Quote: As a teacher, Ernie’s fierce independence encouraged me to take risks, defy the rules, follow my instincts. As an artist, the magic of his work with it’s simple beauty stated with an unerring sense of composition inspires me over and over again. And, as a compassionate human being, his patience, support and encouragement knows no bounds…
Sarah Puyans
Photographer: Klaus Beyer
"Pacific Tree Frog on Poppy" is an image of a green frog sitting on the petal of an orange poppy.
Quote: Not only has Ernie introduced me to some of the greatest places that this planet has to offer, but he has also taught me how to look at and appreciate those places. He has shared his intimate knowledge on how to photograph the plants and animals that call the beaches, tidepools, forests, deserts and mountains home.
Klaus J. Beyer
Photographer: Henriette Brasseur
"Rainy Day Shelter" is an image of a tiny butterfly within a orange and yellow flower.
Quote: Photographically to be able to convey to the viewer what I feel inside is the ultimate for me. And from Ernie’s teachings I’m able to capture the intensity of my emotions in whatever image moves me when the shutter is released.
Henriette Brasseur
Photographer: Bill Duddleson
"In the Magical Meadow" is an image of a butterfly on a small blade of grass.
Quote: When I think of Ernie working with a group of new students along the golden shore of Point Reyes, or in a High Sierra meadow, or on a hillside in his beloved Marin, I can imagine him saying, and demonstrating, in his own words and in his own way, what was once said (I have read) on an old headstone in England’s Lake District:
The wonder of the world,
The beauty and the power,
the shapes of things,
Their colours, lights and shades —
These I saw.
Look ye also while life lasts."
Bill Duddleson
Landscapes 1
Photographer: John Webb
"Spring in the Vineyards" is an image of rows of grape vines and mustard flowers growing in between.
Quote: No Quote Given
Photographer: Al Fisk
"Reflection of Yosemite Falls" is a reflection in rippled water.
Quote: No Quote Given
Landscapes 2
Photographer: Joan Rosen
"Utah Lace" is a photograph of unique rock formations in Bryce Canyon.
Quote: Ernie is a teacher of far more than photography. He surrounds us with values of honesty, generosity and simplicity. He guides us towards conveying the feeling of our natural world, never bogging down in technical drivel. He enabled me by chanting "Pre-visualize!" He encouraged me by saying: "If you only get one really good photograph, the week is a success."
Joan Rosen
Photographer:
"White Sands Sunset" is a photograph of sand dunes at sunset in blues and purples.
Quote: Ernie’s nonjudgmental approach to teaching photography and sharing his expertise has provided the perfect environment to experience the beauty and wonder of nature through the eye of a camera. His support and continual encouragement to go beyond the ordinary and develop one’s own way of seeing has been an incredible gift.
Margaret Beyer
Photographer: Tom Frazier
"Death Valley Sunrise" is a photograph of hazy sand dunes at sunrise in yellow and oranges.
Quote: No Quote Given
Photographer: Joe Heath
"Death Valley Footprints" is an image of footprints in sand dunes under a clear blue sky.
Quote: Ernie Braun has a wonderful way of looking at the world, not only through a camera lens but also his attitude about life. His delight in nature is infectious, and he has led me to a new appreciation of the wonder and beauty that surrounds us.
Michelle Eaton
Photographer: Jim Nassikas
"First Bloom" is an image of a blooming Saguaro cactus.
Quote: He showed us that success in photography is the sum of a lot of little things correctly done. No gimmicks, no novelties, no tricks!
Jim and Helen Nassikas
Website by: Jeff Pflueger