Hwhup The Deans List? The Jason Dean here, bringing an end to the Weekend like it was the 2026 Detroit Pistons playoff run. Full of ups and downs with some highlights, but the end was anticlimactic and if you’re honest with yourself you didn’t exactly bring your ‘A’ game.

Anyways. Let’s get into it.

New Art in my own space

Here’s what I’ve been cooking up in the lab 😎

Taking a break from Portland this week. Not because I am tired of it or because I am out of images- far from both! But here at The Weekender, it’s my party and I have the ability to cry should I so choose.

This photo was taken last December at the Black Rocks. I’ve talked about this before, but one of my favorite ways to shoot the waves is in portrait orientation with the focus point set on the rocks ahead of the wave so that the wave is blurred in the background. It’s a way to subvert expectations and make the waves more mysterious. After all, monsters are always the scariest before we see them.

This was a fun one to play around with. It’s a Lower Harbor ice shot with some heavy tone curve manipulation. I don’t know at what point Adobe Lightroom added this to Classic, but you can do separate tone curves for different masks. I figured, what the heck, let’s see what happens when we make one part of an image the inverse of the other part.

This is 100% the kind of thing I’m going to be doing more of in the future, FYI.

A simple photograph of the shallow waters from a December trip to Wetmore Landing with Myles. You may notice that this is in 2×1 orientation, the unofficial orientation of Korey Bartos of the Light Overtime podcast. This orientation, once eschewed by yours truly for a more conventional 16×9 (editors note: I have no idea if that is actually more conventional), has quickly climbed the ranks to be a Top 3 orientation for me behind 4×3 and 1×1. It’s quite cinematic and I love the impact it has on photos!

The really REALLY astute among you might notice this B&W photograph has juuuuuuust a hint of color. I did some light experimenting with color grading. Unlike the last experiment, I’m not sure if this is the kind of thing that I’ll be doing much of in the future but I do want to play around with it as another tool in the creative tool kit.

Or is it toolkit?

Waves are Words Artist Reception

I’m so blessed by how the reception went. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and checked out my work. So many kind words, I can’t thank you enough! And HUGE thanks to those who were so moved to buy my work! I’m humbled and honored that you would choose to spend your hard-earned money to own something that I created❣

I just…I just don’t have enough words right now. Here’s a photo of me smiling instead.

There is still just about a week left to see the show! 🙂

Terrestrial Poems Kickstarter update

Last week, I shared that I am collaborating with JJ Brinski on the Kickstarter for his upcoming poetry book, Terrestrial Poems. It will be a book of poetry about the beauty, wonder, and awe of the natural world around us, which happens to align very nicely with the images that I create (and now that I think of it, may be why he approached me to collab? 🤯).

The campaign is off to a strong start, and there are still two weeks left to contribute! And if you contribute at the Gitche Gumee tier, you’ll get a ton of cool rewards including the Jason Dean “Seasons” photo pack, featuring four 5×7 photos of mine, including this one:

What season do you think this is from? I’ll give you a hint- it’s not fall.

Sault Area Arts Center Artist’s Choice Exhibit

A couple of weeks ago, I shared that I will be taking part in the Artist’s Choice Exhibit (I incorrectly attributed it to the month of April; oops! 😬) through the Sault Area Art Center. The two images that will be on display there are below. Thanks again to the fine folks at the Art Center for including my work in this show!

Waves are Wednesdays Preview

Behold: the wave photo I’ll be sharing this week on socials for Waves are Wednesdays.

I have a lot to be thankful for, and after a day like yesterday it’s quite apparent that one of the things that I am most blessed by is the number of people in my life that are supportive of the work that I create. Thank you so much!!!

Next week’s The Weekender will be the 100 Day Project retrospective and I can’t wait! I hope every one has a safe and happy Memorial Day tomorrow 🙂 Thank you to the brave men and women who have given their lives to serve and protect our country and taught us how to sacrifice for the good of others. May we take their lessons to heart and apply them to our own lives!

See you around,

Jason