Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Journey To Vertigo


Finding new compositions can definitely be challenging especially in places that are shot by so many photographers. I thought I would share a way that may help you with your search for something new as it helped me. This can start with your current images right on your computer. I shot an image titled Technicolor about five years ago now and always loved the image, in fact it has become fairly well known around here as it is now running on the cover of the Experience Sedona magazine for the third straight year! Well about two and a half years ago while I was looking at the image I began to realize that there was a lot of very interesting landscape features within the image and decided that there had to be another completely different shot somewhere within the boundaries of this composition, and I don't mean by merely cropping the image, I mean by actually traveling by foot into a location that is part of the this image. So I set out to where I believe there was something new to photograph and there it was, a very special and also different composition within Technicolor that I had taken years before. Once I found what I thought was a potential composition I started to go through what are my steps in creating a new edition. There was a trip in just average lighting to get a few sheets of film exposed with different focal lengths of lenses plus slight variations on the angles and proportions. Then I would process them put them and put them on my light table and analyze what I had done to see what the right thing to do was for the final shot. Once I had settled on the shot and the lens required to capture it, now began the search for the right conditions, this entailed a series of trips to see the light develop at sunrise and sunset. Then after deciding on sunset it needed something else for that finishing touch, and with most shots that include sky, this was clouds. I got lucky on this image it only took me about four trips to capture the magic.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Death Valley Photo Workshop


Next month is the Death Valley, Alabama Foothills workshop. 2/10-2/12, 2011

675.00 This workshop is put on by the Sedona Arts Center (928) 282-3809

Join us for a photo adventure on the planet of Death Valley, Ca. Improve your composition and technicals skills photography at the Mesquite Dunes, Zabriske Pt, Race Track, Artist Palette, Bad Water, and more then we'll head over to Lone Pine for more photography at the Alabama Foothills where Mt Whitney of the Eastern Sierras a is framed under the iconic Mobius Arch.

Contact me for more info.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

The Ever Changing Light


Happy New Year,



A lot of us are traveling all over the country or even all over the world seeing new places and new things but also trying to improve our photography skills along the way. I hear from people all the time, how lucky I am to live in the southwest and to have all these amazing photo opportunities around me within a short reach of my home and as I may agree with them yes, I also believe if you take a look around where you live there probably are some great places to photograph not far from where you live. The southwest is just not the only place in the country with great state parks or even great national parks, Acadia N.P. for example is a place far from me that looks abosultely fabulous, how about the Great Smokey Mountains another amazing looking location that I have not been to yet. While we should keep seeing new places and new things I believe one of the best opportunities to improve our photography is to return to those locations that are within our reach in doing this we can gain all kinds of valuable knowledge about weather, light conditions at different times of the day, or even different times of the year. For example I have hiked into the Narrows in Zion N. P. six or seven times over the course of about the same number of years and every time I would shift the time I would enter the canyon in hopes of seeing something different or under different conditions that would completely change the look of the composition. On a trip this last Sept. with some friends and after trying different times such as early morning, late day, mid day, etc. etc. I decided to shift my time again and enter late morning. At a point not far up, walking on those slippery rocks through the water, I turned around to look for my friends, I seem to walk fast, I saw the conditions in the photo here......something I have never seen before, an incredible display of color and light that is nothing close to what I had seen in this very specific location on all other trips into the canyon. Revisit the beautiful places that are close to your home, it is where you have the best opportunity to learn about the ever changing light.