Transformations

Abandoned

2012-02-06T15:06:00.017-07:00

Film 6 X 6 Kodak Portra 160VC Below:

I’ve been itching to get out and do some photography of my own lately.

I remember coming back from a photo shoot in Tucson when we passed an interesting area about a half mile long. It’s on I-10, east of Eloy, AZ.

It’s very close to the road so you can’t miss it. All the buildings are abandoned awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Since we were on our way home, I thought I'd come back when I could.

A few weeks went buy when I finally took the afternoon off and drove down there. It’s 45 minutes south of here on the freeway, so not so bad for me.

I took a medium format film camera and a DSLR.

Things left behind, like old buildings are really cool to photograph but I got to tell you it kind of gives me the creeps. You’re out there exposed in an isolated area with your gear and it’s unsettling when someone drives up and say’s, you own the property? I reply, no just taken a break and they drive off. In many ways Arizona is still a territory. You never know who’s armed and why. So it's a good idea to be prepared.

When I look at these pictures I see each photograph as a time capsule recording the place as it stands now. For me, I’m pulling from my own memory or visual library so to imagine what this must have looked like with people working or guests checking in. Now it’s left to you to complete your own narrative.

Here are some of the pictures I thought were interesting.

Polaroid Type 55 Mishap

2011-12-10T06:38:00.004-07:00

Triathlete Portrait: I was looking through some of my older pictures when I came across this old 4 X 5 Polaroid I shot back in 2003. I can't remember what happened to this image but I thought from a creative view point is pretty interesting. It looks solarized and I have no idea how or why it happened.

Testing lights with a Titanic theme

2011-12-08T13:42:00.006-07:00

The painting reminds people of the Titanic's grand stairway and lobby. The light source is a strobe head pointed into a large umbrella.

Kona

2011-12-06T22:15:00.004-07:00

Something a little different.

This is our dog Kona sitting at the front window. She’s a female boxer pit bull mix. We got her a couple of years ago when she was two and half years old from Boxer love rescue. In spite of her scary muscular appearance she’s a very sweet dog. Their is one problem though, she hates the UPS truck and anyone that comes to the front door. Everyday she sits and looks out the front window waiting for the UPS truck to come by. If the UPS truck is on my block it’s "game on" and she goes absolutely nuts.

Polaroids Oak Creek, Arizona

2011-11-08T12:14:00.005-07:00

For these pictures the camera I used was a Polaroid 600SE which is a lot of fun to shoot. The lens is the 127mm f-4.7 which is the longer of the two lenses available for this camera. For me, this lens is a little long for landscape but conversely it's a great lens for portraits and general shooting. Here are a couple shots I took last week. I used a tripod and cable release with no filters.

To critique myself on these pictures I'm a little pissed at myself for putting in a lack luster effort. I concentrated much more on the digital images in the previous post. The top image the camera needs to tilted upward slightly to include the entire rock in the middle of the frame and in both images a stronger composition would have improved the end result.

Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona

2011-11-08T11:43:00.007-07:00

It’s certainly has been a while and for that I apologize. I’ve been extremely fortunate to be very busy with my commercial work this year which has put the fun photography on the back burner.

These pictures are of Oak Creek and the exposures range from 30 seconds to three minutes. The silky smooth water is an effect due to the long shutter speeds. A cable release is a good idea and a tripod is a necessity when shooting long exposures like this. I also used a neutral density filter to aid in the long exposures.

Scottsdale Preserve / Large Format

2011-07-10T17:55:00.005-07:00

From Phoenix take a short drive to North Scottsdale and you'll find a piece of State Trust land that is being considered by the City of Scottsdale to become an extension of the McDowell Mountain Preserve. There are quite a few interesting rock formation through out the landscape as well as evidence of American Indians. This cone shaped rock is one of those interesting locations.

This photograph was made with an Arca Swiss 8 X 10 inch view camera using a 155mm Schneider lens. The film was Illford HP-5, tray processed in PMK Pyro.

Dust Storm Video

2011-07-05T23:42:00.012-07:00

Check out the first Monsoon dust storm of the year. Phoenix, Arizona July 5, 2011 7:40pm.

A giant dust storm barrels into the Phoenix metro area. Visibility went from nice late afternoon light to absolutely darkness and zero visibility in a matter of two minutes. The weather folks reported the dust storm was 60 miles wide and 1500 to 3000 feet high.

Everybody's a Comedian

2011-06-16T20:21:00.005-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Tilt on the Road

2011-06-13T13:13:00.015-07:00

Tilt on the Road Gallery Cottonwood, Arizona. Digital

Old town Cottonwood, Arizona. Digital

Junk yard near Clarkdale, AZ. Digital

Railroad tie's piled up near the Clarkdale, AZ. train station.
This picture was made with a medium format camera using
Kodak Portra 160VC film.

Love the film but I wish I had a model to shoot. I'm starting to dislike being alone all the time when shooting pictures like this.

Small junk yard Clarkdale, AZ. This picture was made with a
medium format camera using Kodak Portra 160VC film.

Historic Clarkdale, Arizona is a couple of miles from Cottonwood.

I've been so busy with my commercial work that I haven't had time for my personal photography. I apologize, but I have to run with the work when it comes. Thank you for sticking with me.

I went to Cottonwood, Arizona over the weekend to support my friends at the Tilt Gallery. http://www.tiltgallery.com/. Since I’m represented by the Tilt, I want to support them however I can. The owners opened a new gallery in Cottonwood, Arizona called Tilt on the Road. The owners wanted to try something new outside of Phoenix. They now have a beautiful space on Main Street in Old Town historic Cottonwood. It's really pretty cool since some of the local wineries have opened wine tasting rooms and fine dinning restaurants are now opened for business. Historic Cottonwood is going through a rebirth and becoming a hip little town.

I got to Cottonwood a little early around 3pm and drove around to find some interesting places. I remember when I went to Northern Arizona University we used to swim in the Verde River in this area. It's a very quit historic community where time sort of stands still. These are just a few of the locations that I found interesting in the short time I was there.

Catherine

2011-05-17T15:46:00.004-07:00

Last week my friend and old neighbor Rodney called me up to tell me his daughter Catherine is graduating from high school. He asked me if I could shoot some pictures of her for her graduation invitations. Of course, I said yes. I used to live directly across the street from Rodney so we’ve had plenty of early morning coffee’s breaks together. He also is a contractor so he has bailed me out of plenty of household emergencies like burst pipes and so on. It was the least I could do for all he has done for me.

I think this is my favorite shot from the session. We started inside there home and did some formal portraits at the piano and then moved to the local park. Since the light was fleeting we really didn’t have a lot of time. We had to work pretty fast at this point.

What I like about this image is that she looks great ans she’s right on the edge of the fleeting sun light. I like how the grass and her arms are in shadow and her face is right on the edge of the light. For me, it made for a perfectly lit environmental portrait.

Ballerina

2011-05-04T15:16:00.006-07:00

This Sarah, a beautiful young lady and an aspiring ballerina who gave me the opportunity to photograph her a couple of weeks ago.

I'm a full-time commercial photographer here in Phoenix. As a commercial photographer I find myself taking a lot of portraits of business people. I really wanted to photograph a young person to add some diversity to my portfolio. I asked a friend of mine who is a dance teacher at a local high school if she new anyone that would be interested in a photo session with me. In return I traded for a signed model release and I provide a nice selection of prints. I got more then I could have wished for. This is one of our favorites.

Picturing Maricopa 2010

2011-03-18T16:32:00.003-07:00

Last year I was selected for a second time to represent the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust and take part in the photographic project called Picturing Maricopa 2010. I was honored and very fortunate to be selected in 2009 as well. To make the selections an outside selection committee was formed consisting of museum curators and a graphic designer. The final 15 professional photographers who were chosen live and work in the Phoenix Metro area. We were then paired with 15 nonprofit agencies who care for people of all needs.

The Trust publishes a quarterly magazine called notebook. I was excited to hear that my work is featured on the cover of this years magazine. It is a picture of Victor. Victor works in the paper shredding area of the TCH facility. He is a vivacious, and outwardly happy man who has serious needs both mental and physical.

Dawn Hawking Director of Development for The Centers of Habilitation (TCH) wrote the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust and me when she received her magazine in the mail. This is what she wrote:

I wanted to let you know that I just took the notebook to Victor to show him, and you made his day by putting him on the cover. His coworkers were standing around and are just as excited as he is. It was a great moment to experience. Thank you again.

News like this, just makes my day. If I can help people or bring light onto an issue through my photography there is no greater compliment.

Take a Minute to Reflect

2011-03-15T09:21:00.003-07:00

My thoughts and prayers go out the tens of thousands of people who have lost everything in Northern Japan.

Tumacacori National Park

2011-01-19T17:08:00.009-07:00

Nothing really, to comment on here. I'll just leave it to the pictures to do the talking. This is Tumacacori National Park. The images were shot with a medium format camera on black and white film. The film was hand processed by me and then scanned.

The Positive / Negative of Polaroid Type 55

2011-01-08T11:26:00.006-07:00

This is a series of landscape photographs I made using Polaroid Type 55. As you may know Polaroid is no longer in production. What this means to use, is that this film has gone the way of the dinosaur. It's now extinct except for those wise men and women who have the financial resources to stock pile the film when it's discontinuance was announced. The challenge with stock piling this film is when it gets old the developer / stabilizer built into the individual film packs dry out. This renders the film useless. I have a box and a half that I would like to shoot but I'm a little pessimistic if it's still good.

Polaroid Type 55, was extremely popular with photographer's in just about ever application from architecture, portraiture, fine art, landscape, editorial and commercial work. It was an alternative creative medium for photographers. Polaroid Type 55, added one more tool to the photographers tool box that helped make their images stand out.

Locally, in Arizona, ASU Regent Professor and fine art photographer Mark Klett used Polaroid Type 55 as his signature look. Google his name and check out his work when you have time. His list of articles, exhibits and achievements are extensive. His early works using Polaroid Type 55 helped make him an icon in the fine art world.

If you're not familiar with the 4 X 5 inch film it has two properties. A positive and a negative. It produced a positive image on a piece of 4 X 5 inch Polaroid paper. We're all familiar with a Polaroid positive but this film also produced a negative. So, when you took the picture you had both, a positive and a negative. With diligence you soaked the negative in Sodium Sulfite and rinsed the developer off of the film. What you ended up with was a fine grain 4 X 5 inch negative. You could then put the negative into an enlarger and make beautiful prints of any size. Today, most people scan but there are still people who love the analog way of wet printing in a darkroom.

This post shows one scene, the Polaroid Positive (left) next to the (scanned) negative on the right. The positive was a great way to proof your composition and exposure much like a LCD screen on the back of your DSLR camera of today.

The bottom image is traditional 4 X 5 inch black and white film processed then scanned on my scanner. In this case it's Kodak T-Max 100 4 X 5 negative film. This film is still in production and available at most professional camera stores.

Wupatki

2011-01-05T18:07:00.006-07:00

These are two images of Wupatki National Monument. I made these images in 1986 with a friend of mine from Flagstaff,Dave Nations. Dave and I, used to team up and photograph Northern Arizona when ever I was in his neck of the woods. At the time we were both avid participants in photographing everything we could.

On a sad note, I found out last week that Dave died at 51 years old. He suffered a serious brain injury from a fall. I'm shocked by this unfortunate turn of events and can't begin to put it into words. He was a complex and interesting man that will be missed.

Watson Lake / Peoples Valley, Arizona

2010-12-20T09:49:00.005-07:00

Watson Lake

Peoples Valley

Prior to my friends art opening in Prescott, Arizona I went to Watson Lake which is literally a few miles form downtown Prescott. It's an incredible place with giant outcroppings of granite rocks. I wanted to get a nice picture of the place but did have a couple of challenges. I've never photographed in this area so I was unfamiliar with the location. Navigating a good location is tough because the rocks are huge and you have climb all over the place to get a good vantage point.

To my surprise Watson Lake is a park were you have to pay to get in. I didn't see the two signs that said, "closed at sunset". After I found a descent spot and the light faded to dark, I headed out to find a ranger waiting for me at my truck. He was very nice and didn't right me a ticket. I couldn't believe the park closed at sunset. How about 30 minutes or an hour after sunset. Photographers want the after light. I have to remind myself from time to time, I'm not special just because I carry a camera. I had to promise, I would fallow the rules next time and he let me go with a smile.

The second image isn't magic light and I'm positive it would be great at a different time of the day. It's a roadside shot of an open pasture with horses, Peoples Valley.

The Back Way Home

2010-12-20T09:29:00.006-07:00

Peoples Valley

Off the road, State Rout 10, South of Skull Valley

Bar-B-Que, Peoples Valley

On my way back to Phoenix from Prescott, I drove the long way home through Skull Valley, Peoples Valley and Wickenburg. These are a few of the shots I made with my film camera along the way. Hyper clear images in the middle of the day. You have to embrace the harsh light and the contrast.

Dewey-Humbolt, Arizona

2010-12-18T17:26:00.005-07:00

I took a road trip to Prescott to visit artist friend Phill Timper who was have an art opening last week. These are a few frames I made on the way up. This is the little town just East of Prescott named Dewey-Humbolt, Az.

Looking Back

2010-12-18T17:02:00.003-07:00

On December 3, for First Friday art walk (Phoenix) I visited the Doris and John Norton Gallery inside The Phoenix Art Museum. The Gallery is dedicated to Photography and is in close collaboration with The Center For Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The Center is an archive and an academic research facility that houses thousands of photographs form over two hundred photographers ranging from the masters to contemporary works.

I went to the gallery to see the current show; Inspired Vision: by Brett Weston and Sonya Noskowiak. I have to tell you this is a great gallery and a diamond in the desert for the local photographic community.

While I was looking at the exhibit, I couldn’t help but to think about how fast digital has become the norm and that I was now looking at an archaic process. It was only 10 to 15 years ago that B & W printed on silver paper was still mainstream. It’s weird for me to be witness to a vanishing medium. The process is getting farther and farther away in my minds eye. The silver print has solidly become an alternative process much like the tin type, Collodium or Platinum Paladium.

Abstraction

2010-11-19T11:18:00.004-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to look at something for a while and interpret what you see. Like seeing a puppies head in the clouds or something like that.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Arizona

2010-11-18T18:42:00.005-07:00

I went to Boyce Thompson Arboretum Monday Nov. 15, for the first time in many years. I went with a friend Zak Saenz and we were hoping for a little Fall color to photograph. To our disappointment we were a couple of weeks early, so we decided to walk around and explore a little. There's a nice one and half mile walking path loop that is pretty cool. We ran into photographer Lindsey Johnson who likes to use the location for photographing couples. It's fun to talk about photography with new people in new places. Check out Zak and Lyndsey's links.

These are a few of the images I took while we were on our walk about. I knew there cliche but it's still fun to find things left behind by people.

Picturing Maricopa 2010

2010-11-04T16:04:00.018-07:00

Exhibit selection by Curatorial Advisory Committee

Exhibit selection by Curatorial Advisory Committee

Exhibit selection by Curatorial Advisory Committee

This years Picturing Maricopa Project 2010 funded by the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has come to a conclusion. This years project came to fruition with a free exhibit at the Burton Barr Library in downtown Phoenix. The exhibition will tour the Valley over the next year. If you have time please check it out. Here is a link the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust http://www.pipertrust.org/

"The Piper Trust has selected human services for the 2010 project that provide crisis care for vulnerable populations including respite care for families and caregivers".

The nonprofit I worked on was The Centers for Habilitation in Tempe http://www.tch-az.com/. For the exhibition I had to create an artist statement. This was my lede.

I was once told that the meaning of life is loving, caring, and sharing. I try to live up to these standards but so often I'm humbled by people who truly live their lives through these powerful words. This was the case at TCH.

I know by speaking to the photographers we all worked very hard in challenging conditions both physically and mentally. Some of the narratives are difficult subjects to photograph. The human condition can be sad one minute and rewarding the next. For more information about the photographers and the nonprofits we helped go to http://www.pipertrust.orgpicturingmaricopa2010.html

The Picturing Maricopa project aids nonprofit organization who traditionally don’t have money budgeted to hire commercial photographers. Through the financial support of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust the 15 non-profits organizations will reap the benefit that 15 professional photographers can provide. It’s our goal as professionals to help them communicate who they are and how they serve our communities.

The exhibit is a mix of photographs ranging in size from 8 X 10 to 30 X 40. All 15 photographers are represented in the show. We all have at least 2 prints some have up to 4 or five depending on themes.

EXHIBITION OPENING:  Oct. 26 to Dec. 6, 2010  Burton Barr Central Library  1221 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ.  2nd Floor Reading Room
 
This years Curatorial Advisory Committee who selected the 15 photographer’s and final print exhibition are:

Rebecca Senf  / Assistant Curator  Center for Creative Photography at University of Arizona  and Phoenix Museum of Art

Elizabeth (Betsy) Schneider  / Assistant Professor of Photography  ASU Herberger Institute School of Art

Eddie Shea  / Graphic Designer

A huge thank you goes out to the fine people at the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the Curatorial Advisory Committee and to Dawn Hocking who gave me incredible access at The Centers for Habilitation.

Small Victories and Short Steps

2010-11-01T19:17:00.003-07:00

To those that don't know this is my wife Lorie. To preface the post, I have to say I'm very proud of her. She's a 5 time Ironman finisher plus competed in the world championships in Kona, Hawaii 2009. This year she's been training for the Ford Arizona Ironman coming up mid Nov. 2010. All was going as scheduled until she decided to do a fun race in California, the Toyota Malibu Triathlon seven weeks ago. On the bike course she hit a pot hole that sent over the handle bars and onto the pavement. She broke her pelvis in four places including the sacrum. Fortunately no head injury or surgery but she's been confined to a walker for the past seven weeks.

Today was the first day she walked without the walker. She should fully recover but it's going to take months. For this years Ford Ironman race in Tempe, Arizona she wants to do the 2.4 mile swim course and then disqualify herself because she can't bike or run. She already paid the non refundable entry fee so she feels she should do it. She's a trooper but I I'm not to sure this is a good idea. The swim course can be battle zone with 2,000 people swimming over each other. But, I shouldn't be surprised she is a fighter and sitting on her butt isn't an option.

Both photo's were taken Friday morning. To no surprise the dogs name is Kona.

Desert Botanical Gardens, II

2010-10-28T21:39:00.009-07:00

The monarch butterfly garden and some local bee's feasting on the pollen. A couple of the Agave plant photo's are converted to black and white in the first post. Enjoy and I hope you find these a refreshing view of the obvious. Click on the photo for a larger version. Happy Halloween.

Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix

2010-10-27T23:32:00.006-07:00

Macro views of some very sharp defensive points.

Monday October 25, I was invited to go to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens by my friend Zak. In the past, I wasn't one you would find rooming around in a place like this but I have to admit I really enjoyed it. If you take your time and look around you'll find beautiful color, shapes and patterns in the plants. These are some of the Black and White images I liked. I will post some of the color soon.

Chiriaco Summit, California

2010-10-26T22:22:00.008-07:00

Over the years I've driven many times to Los Angeles, California on Interstate 10. It's 350 miles to my sister-in-laws front door. When you enter California there's a high desert community called Chiriaco Summit, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiriaco_Summit,_California. It's about 35 miles East of Indio and Palm Springs.

Beyond the General Patton Memorial Museum http://www.generalpattonmuseum.com/ and the Chiriaco Summit truck stop gas station there is this eerie forgotten community to the east that resembles a modern ghost town. I've driven by it dozens of times over the years and was always curious about its isolated emptiness and abandoned buildings. These are a few of the pictures I took while fulfilling my curiosity.

Addendum: I've been corrected by a blogger that the photo's I'm showing in this post are from Desert Center just East of Chiriaco Summit. For additional information about the area visit or call the Chiriaco visitors center. Here is a link to the center: http://chiriacosummit.com/information_center.php

Vulture Mine, Arizona. A Photographic Extravaganza

2010-08-23T20:25:00.025-07:00

Polaroid 600SE

Polaroid 600SE

Polaroid 600SE

All the photo's below are Canon 5 D Mark II DSLR.

Canon 5D Mark II 35mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens
Heidi Huber, Andy DeLisle and Me Me

Canon 5D Mark II, Electrical system. 50mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens / Power Station

Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens / Me Me the Cat

Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens / Me Me the Cat

Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens / Me Me the Cat

Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm Prime Lens / The School House

Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm Prime Lens / School House Swings

A photographic extravaganza with photographers Heidi Huber and Andy DeLisle. Click on there names to see there work.

The Vulture Mine is about 10 miles southwest of Wickenburg, Arizona. It's now a ghost town but at one time close to 3ooo people lived and worked in the area. This is what's left of the gold and silver mine community. We went Aug. 22 which means it was really hot. I even stirred up a rattle Mojave Rattle Snake that was resting comfortably under a creosote bush.

Arlington, Arizona

2010-08-08T13:09:00.005-07:00

Arca Swiss 8 X 10 Large Format Camera. Ilford HP 5

This is the Arlington, Arizona area. I shot this last fall but didn't scan it until today. Actually, I like it quite a bit.

The over all composition is fairly dynamic for a slightly above average landscape. The dark cliffs give the image depth as the mountains highlighted by the sun glow in the distance. The canal gives you a nice diagonal dimension that leads the eye up into the distant fields.

I hope you like as well. The original is an 8 X 10 inch negative hand processed and flat bed scanned. Sweet!

Wild Flower

2010-08-07T18:58:00.002-07:00

I got up this morning to fairly cool temperatures, clouds and a light rain. At last, a nice change from the relentless heat. My wife Lorie noticed one of our cactus blooming so I got the camera for a few snaps. I'm not a big flower guy but this was pretty cool. One of life's small wonders.

Lo-Lo-Mai Springs Cornville, AZ.

2010-08-05T11:59:00.002-07:00

The original negative is medium format (6 X 6 square). There were some compositional problems to the right side of the frame. To get around that, I shot it knowing I would crop it out later. Since, it's a fairly large negative I still have plenty of resolution to give me a nice final image.

Ordonez girls

2010-08-03T12:37:00.005-07:00

These are my little nieces form Santa Monica. They're so sweet and cute.

I have a small box full of expired film I use from time to time. I wanted to see if I would get some cool effects from the expired film. What I got was a just bad film and the resulting creative experiment forced me to spend a lot of time in Photoshop. Next time I'll have fresh film.

I have always loved medium format photography. It's square rather than rectangle for those that don't know. I like the openness of the frame. The subject can breath and I can include a little move environment. For me this format makes sense in my eye and mind.

These images are made with a Hasselblad 503 cx film camera with a 50mm lens. The digital version of my camera is the Hasselblad HD4 and is priced at $30,000.00. Just a bit out of my price range.

Santa Monica Pier, California

2010-08-02T07:57:00.010-07:00

Polaroid 600SE

Polaroid 600SE

Polaroid 600SE

Hasselblad 503 CX

Polaroid 600SE

Polaroid 600SE

I went to Santa Monica, Ca. last week to visit extended family. Since my sister in law lives so close to the beach, I was able to take an early morning walk to the pier. I wish I could spend more time working on these things but by the time I get comfortable with a place it always seems I have to be somewhere else.

I brought a Polaroid 600 SE and a Hasselblad 503CX film camera. No digital this time.

Morman Lake Northern Arizona

2010-08-01T20:45:00.006-07:00

Digital Canon Camera

Expired Kodak Portra 160 VC color film converted to B & W / Hasselblad

This is the Morman Lake area 25 miles southeast of Flagstaff. The summer monsoon clouds build up every afternoon in northern Arizona for a dramatic sky, lightning and rain.

The top photo is with a digital Canon Camera and the bottom one was with a Hasselblad and machine processed at a commercial lab.

Hand Processed

2010-08-01T20:08:00.003-07:00

Holga Camera / Ilford HP 5 / hand processed / PMK Pyro

Just for comparison this image was hand processed by me. The identical image in the below post was processed by a commercial lab. Look at the sky in both images. The uneven development is evident in the sky. The inconsistent density in the middle of the sky make the image look old and possible contaminated by bad chemistry. I'm not talking about the vignetting in the corners that's due to the camera and lens. My hand processed image (above) has a nice gradient that is consistent throughout the sky area. This image was taken with a $25 dollar plastic Holga camera and the one below was take with a $2,000.00 Hasselblad. Ouch!

Globe, Arizona

2010-08-01T10:20:00.010-07:00

An afternoon photo extravaganza to Globe, AZ. Fall 2009. This is Ilford HP 5 B & W film and all the above pictures were made with a Hasselblad camera.

A point to make and an observation. The photographs of the copper restaurant sign, the swimming pool, and the old hotel staircase were all processed by a commercial lab. The photo of Toru at the tee pee, and the church below were also developed by a commercial lab but those pictures were made with a plastic Holga camera. You can see the uneven tonality in the cloudless sky. That's due to poor development procedures. Every time I get lazy and I don't do my own processing the negatives come out liking like garbage. It's a reminder why I should always do my own B & W processing. I'll give them a little latitude because a cloudless sky is the ultimate test for uneven development. But, I have to say this is pretty bad. This time let's call it creative liberty. Ya that's it, I did on purpose.

Toru 50th

2010-08-01T10:04:00.005-07:00

It was Toru's 50th birthday and it was my duty to get Toru out of his house for half a day while his wife Donna and daughter Kiomi got the house ready for a surprise party. I told him we were on a photo mission and driving up to Canyon Lake to look around and eventually have lunch at Tortilla Flats Restaurant. On our way up I spotted at a little roadside gallery. Interestingly what caught my eye were the Tee pee's. I made this picture of Toru with a Holga Camera and expired B & W film.

We also stopped and took a look at the Superstition Mountains Church. When we got back Toru acted surprised but knew something was up when his family was feverishly cleaning the house just before we left.

Doble Steam Cars

2010-07-13T12:40:00.005-07:00

This is Stanley, Idaho and four extremely rare Doble steam cars from the 1920's. The picturesque Sawtooth Mountains made for a great backdrop for this photo shoot. At the time these were the last four operating Doble's in the United States. This was the first time all four were in the same place at the same time. The Doble steam engined car was a two seated coup that was built in the 1920 and went over 100mph on steam. The car sounds like a small train when the pressure is building, but when the pressure is up the car is almost silent. The Doble was the most expensive car in the world when it was manufactured. It was sold to royalty and the extremely wealthy. At the time of this photo shoot the cars were worth half a million each.

The original image was made on 4X5 transparency film.

Old Polaroids from McFalrane Toys

2010-07-13T11:41:00.012-07:00

This is an original 4X5 Fuji chrome

This is an original 4X5 Fuji chrome

Test Polaroid

Test Polaroid

Test Polaroid

Test Polaroid

These are 4X5 Polaroids and chromes I took during may stint as a freelancer Photographer working with Todd McFarlane Productions.

Yes, Tod is a regular guy. As far as the work he was pretty hands off. He let me do what ever I wanted just as long as I communicated my intention and it was done on a zero budget (props). I used to build sets with fabrics, flagstone, tinfoil and black garbage bags. Actually it looked pretty cool. He almost always approved.

It was hard work because I had to shoot the prototypes. In most cases the plastic toys weren't made yet so I had to photograph the original lost wax figures. They were shipped to Arizona from New Jersey where the sculpting was done. In most cases the paint was still wet or almost dry and the figures would get damaged in the overnight shipping. This would piss everyone off which eventually lead to going in-house. Before each shoot I would have to glue the figures together (arms, legs and accessories) because they came to me in pieces.

I would stay up all night shooting the figures and then ship them back to N.J. the next day. Almost always it was overnight deadline. Once the figures were photographed the figures would go to China for manufacturing. The pro-type were scary to work with because they were extremely fragile and valuable. The R & D that goes into each toy went into the thousands before it's finally approved by Todd. He is a perfectionist and wanted to create something that has never been done before and he did.

The Wedding Dress

2010-06-10T16:37:00.006-07:00

The Wedding Dress from Brad Armstrong on Vimeo.

This is a short audio slide show I created for my niece Kristi. She traveled from Chicago to Scottsdale to shop for the perfect wedding dress. In her quest she visited two bridal shops, Pricilla of Boston and Destiny Bridal. I was personally curious about this ritual so I decided to go and document her day.

Picturing Maricopa 2010

2010-06-09T16:52:00.003-07:00

A short update. I am honored to say for the second year in a row I was chosen to take part in the 2010 Picturing Maricopa Project http://www.pipertrust.org/PicturingMaricopa.html. The photographic project is funded by the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust.

Fifty-five professional photographers applied for this years photographic project. A selection committee evaluates the portfolios and selects fifteen finalist for the project.

We are then paired with 15 non-profit organizations throughout the Valley. By the way this is a paid assignment for those that might be wondering. It's in the public domain hence the number of applicants. We are paid a one day rate of $1500.00 by the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to provide images to the non-profits.

Last year, was it’s inaugural year were I was paired with Adelante Healthcare. http://www.adelantehealthcare.com/. You can see some of my work on their new website.

This year, I’m paired with The Centers for Habilitation www.tch-az.com .

I will be meeting TCH representatives next week to learn more about the centers and how I can contribute to there mission.

26blocks Exhibit Opens to the Public

2010-05-09T10:04:00.004-07:00

Click on the image for a larger version

Friday May 7, was the public opening of the 26 Blocks exhibit. http://www.26blocks.com/ I must say it was a great show and a superb turnout.

The After Hours Gallery opened at 6pm. The gallery was packed with people until Lorie and I left at 9:30pm. I would estimate 800 people walked through the doors to look at the work.

I have to apologize, I decided not to bring a camera. I new, I would be busy talking with friends and patrons viewing the work and I was right. In retrospect, I wish I had a picture of the show but I’m also glad I didn’t have to carry the camera all night.

I found the show extraordinary in that all 26 photographers and 26 writers interpreted their block in very different ways. As I said, in a previous post we had total creative liberty. Everyone took full advantage of that which made this project so interesting.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Rafael Navarro (sculture/Painter) http://www.26blocks.com/26-blocks/rafael-navarro/ He created 26 individual wooden blocks that in themselves were individually beautiful. His work added so much to the project. In a way it completed the project.

My contribution was a process that took about four weeks to finally developed into a final piece. We had block C. Writer Betty Webb http://www.bettywebb-mystery.com/ and I decided the Roosevelt Community Church http://www.rooseveltchurch.org/ would be our center of attention. I attended three Sunday service’s to get an impression of the building its surroundings and the people who attend.

My first attempt, at the 26blocks canvas ( 24“ X 36” ) was a colorful very graphic interpretation of the architectural elements of the church. I created a triptych that showed deep blue leaded glass from an exterior window. Also, from outside I had a swath of deep green grass and finally the dominate image was a huge chandelier photographed from directly underneath it. It was colorful, graphically powerful, but said nothing about the people who inhabit the space at this particular time.

I went back and a second time and continued to walk around and shoot. I had limited permission from an associate Pastor to photograph inside the church just before a service. At this time, I was unable to meet the Senior Pastor because he was out of town on personal business.

I didn’t want to create cliche pictures of people worshiping. You know the crying faces with hands up in the air shot. That’s a strong image but it’s all about the worshiping individual and not the place. I looked at the assignment more as documentarian respecting the space and the people equally. I tried to make a series that prioritized both.

My second attempt at the canvas was a diptych using a detail shot of a pipe organ and a young man handing out programs. Again it was cool, but it was dark, and it didn’t say much.

I decided to go the church in the middle of the week and introduce myself to Sr. Pastor Pierre. I explained the 26 blocks project and asked if I could make a portrait of him using an 8 X 10 inch view camera. He gracefully said yes, and we made an appointment to shoot the following Wednesday morning in the main sanctuary.

The shoot went very well and I new I had the content I needed to make what I felt was an important piece that fairly documented the people and the space.

My final canvas is a triptych. The dominate shot being a portrait of Pastor Vermon Pierre in the sanctuary. An exterior shot showing a local man passing by on his bicycle represented life outside the space. The third image is parishioners worshiping with the vintage chandelier also dominant in the frame. Again, reinforcing the importance of the space but also relative to the people occupying the space. Below the two images on the left side of the canvas, I added the word block C and below that the exact GPS coordinates of the space. So from an historical perspective there will never be any doubt were these images were made.

In review, the show revealed individual diversity and artistic interpretation of the individual blocks. A few photographers focused on people but the majority focused on the place. Many had blocks that had nothing on them. Just dirt! What do you do then? I felt lucky we had a visually rich block.

If you get a chance to go see the show please go the the 26blocks website. Find out were it is being exhibited currently. It will be at the After Hours Gallery until the end of May 2010. Visit the After Hours Gallery web site for more information. http://www.afterhoursgallery.com/, or the 26blocks website for future exhibit dates: http://www.26blocks.com.

26 Blocks

2010-04-25T17:20:00.006-07:00

This is Pastor Vermon Pierre of the Roosevelt Community Church. I photographed the Pastor for a project I’m involved in called 26 Blocks. For complete information on the project go to http://www.26blocks.com.

It’s a project where 26 of the Valley’s top professional photographers were paired with 26 of the Valleys best writers. There’s a sculpture involved and a team of people behind the scenes who helped put it together. Phoenix writer, Joey Robert Parks http://www.joeyrobertparks.com/ is the individual who created the project.

Each photographer os paired with a writer and we were given a block in downtown Phoenix to document. There are 26 preselected blocks in downtown Phoenix we are documenting. The ssignment was to be fulfilled by us from April 1, through April 31, 2010.

I was paired with novelist Betty Webb. http://www.bettywebb-mystery.com/bio.html. Betty and I worked together at the Tribune Newspaper many years ago. It was good to work with her once again.

We were given block C. That's roughly Roosevelt and 1st street in Phoenix. There’s a church on the corner so Betty and I decided the Roosevelt Community Church would be our focus.

We had total creative liberty to do what ever we wanted. The only rules were no more than 4 pictures and no more than 500 words.

At the end of the project, the photographers are given a canvas 24” by 36”. All images are to go on one canvas. My final project has three different pictures on it. I can’t reveal what my final piece looks like but Pastor Vermon is one element of it.

Corporate sponsor Artisan Colour, http://artisancolour.com/ is doing all the printing for the project. We were invited to an open house last week to tour the facility. It’s an incredible facility that has transitioned from film to digital very well.

During the party they had a large monitor set-up with a scrolling video of everyone's work. The variety of work is unique to each person and absolutely stunning.

There will be a 26 Blocks Gallery Exhibit and Opening May 7th at the After Hours Gallery in Phoenix. http://www.afterhoursgallery.com/index_26blocks.html

This is a great exhibit so please come if you’re in the area.

Photo Mission Feb. 2008

2010-04-18T19:10:00.007-07:00

Alabama Hills, California

Death Valley, California

Death Valley, California

My wife Lorie, was out of town visiting family in California so I decided to grab the camera, the dog and go for a photo trip. I took my sleeping bag in case we weren’t coming back that night.

My intention was to go to Flagstaff, which is about two and half hours away but I impulsively decided to go to Death Valley, California instead. I started the trip late in the afternoon so the dog and I ended up sleeping in the car at a truck stop north of Las Vegas. We woke up early in the morning to find Cody's water dish frozen solid. We had a quick breakfast and continued to Death Valley.

We weren’t far from the park, so I was thinking lets start by going to Zabriskie Point. I remembered Ansel Adams made a famous picture of the area that I would love to have made myself. It’s early light everything is looking really cool. I read all the signs, payed the park entry fee and I'm very close. I arrive, but to my surprise I’m a little aprehensive. Is this the place, I thought? There is a huge parking lot with tour buses and what seems to be hundreds of people. I parked and walked about twenty feet with Cody and there's a huge sign saying “NO DOGS” not even a leashed dog was permissible. I apologized to Cody and put him back into the car. Fortunately, it was winter so he was fine with the windows cracked. I fallowed the blacktop walkway which is the size of a small road for a couple hundred yards to the vista point. OMG! This is the place were Ansel Adams made his picture. I took it all in and looked out into Death Valley. Then, I began to look around to see the hundreds of people with happy snap camera’s clicking away like it’s a spring brake bikini contest.

As my chest began to pound, I asked myself do I or don’t I. I think for a moment and I make my decision! There's know way in hell I’m hauling an 8 X 10 inch view camera up here and setting it up in front of all these tourist. I swung my digital camera from around my neck and took a few happy snaps. I stayed there for about 10 minutes, then walked back to my car grumbling as more tour buses arrived.

I drove around for a while and went to another vista point called Dantes View to find even more people. After leaving there, I found a dirt road that went into an area called Twenty Mule Train Canyon. I spent most of the day in that area with Cody taking pictures. It was a beautiful day but it was like being on Mars. One of the strangest places I'd ever seen.

Once I left Death Valley, I decide to go to Lone Pine, California which is even further from home. I was chasing yet another Ansel Adams iconic landscape. The Alabama Hills with Mt. Whitney in the background. On the eastern slope of the Sierra Mountains the landscape is littered with hug boulders. It’s an oddly haunting landscape.

Hoping for less people and better photographic access Cody and I got a cheap room in a local motel. The next morning we got up early and turned the corner from the motel to a magnificent view of the Sierra’s. WOW! This is totally cool. I made a few turns and there’s no one anywhere. It seemed we had the entire place to ourselves. I found some cool spots and we spent most of the morning shooting and exploring. My only regret was there were no clouds. Clear blue sky. I wish, I had the storm clouds that so many other photographers have had but that's luck and it wasn’t with me on this trip. Maybe someday, I'll be able to return and spend a little more time in the area.

We left Lone Pine around 1pm and drove straight home. Cody and I got home around 10pm.

What did I learn? It seems to me that Ansel Adams didn’t wonder to far off the beaten path to make his iconic images and when visiting these parks it's amazing how many people are there.

Crested Saguaro

2010-04-16T19:18:00.002-07:00

This is one of my favorite images. It’s a photograph of a Crested Saguaro near the Salt River Recreation Area in the Tonto National Forest.

I made this picture with a Holga camera using Ilford HP5 black and white film rated at ISO 320. The Holga is a $25.00 dollar plastic camera. To most camera buffs the Holga is classified as a toy camera . The classic look of a Holga is the soft focus caused by the plastic lens, unpredictable light leaks and vignetting. My Holga, does fairly well with minimal light leaks. To some that might spoil the fun.

Some photographers use Holga Camera’s exclusively as an artistic tool for expressive work.

I always develop my black and white film by hand in my make shift bathroom / darkroom. If my memory serves me correctly, I developed the film in PMK Pyro which has become my developer of choice for the past 5 years.

A new beginning

2010-04-15T11:39:00.010-07:00

Recently, I voiced some frustration about the content of my blog with my friend and fellow blogger Heidi Huber http://heidihuberphotography.com/. Heidi is a very successful wedding photographer who has carved a niche with her documentary wedding style. After listening to me, Heidi gave me some constructive advices. She said, your blog needs to be more about what makes you unique. Show what you’re passionate about. Yes, you do editorial photojournalism but that’s your work. Show the other side of you.

I thought about it for a while and I have to agree. There is another side of me that has always gotten lost in my professional photography. Since my introduction into photography by my father, it’s foundations were cemented by Phoenix College Professor Allen Dutton (retired) http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa226.htm. Dutton, is a large format fine art / documentary photographer. He taught the fine art of exquisite photography. He introduced his students to portfolios of photographers who he new at the time. He taught us how to appreciate the content and subtle qualities of print making and the negative.

As a result of his influence, I have always had this quiet interest in large format landscape and portrait photography. In 1989, I bought my first large format view camera a used 8 X 10 Deardorff. It took me a few more years to get a couple of lenses but I was off and running quietly all by myself. When my newspaper photography job got to me, I would load up the gear and take a drive into the desert.

My drives were to clear my head of the fast paced burn out world of newspaper work. I call these trips photo missions. It’s a rediscovery of photography on it’s purest level. It didn’t matter if I photographed a shot-up discarded stove or a Saguaro cactus. The purpose was more about the process and not as much about the result.

If it’s always about making the next Moonrise over Hernandez by Ansel Adams http://www.anseladams.com/content/ansel_info/ansel_ancedotes.html I would never leave the house. We can always hope for the best but the elements have to come together at that precise time and when it does I’m usually not there.

So about Transformations the blog. From this day forward, I will be posting images that have relevance to me. Large format, medium format, Polaroids, 35 mm chrome and a few digital images. Most of my large format work is black and white. I will talk about the process and how I made the photographs. The reading might become a little technical and boring but again that's what I do.

I recently got an interesting Polaroid camera called a Polaroid 600SE http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_600/600_SE. This is a very cool old camera. I hope to be making some interesting pictures with it soon. I tested the camera this week and had some success. All the functions seems to work. I had a few issues but that is what makes Polaroid unpredictable and fun. The images are posted above.

So there you go. I hope you stick around.

Desert Mission Food Bank

2010-03-26T19:13:00.005-07:00

I was contacted by the Virgina G. Piper Charitable Trust to do some photography work for the non profit Desert Mission Food Bank. My work was in part with the Picturing Maricopa project of 2009. I made a few phone calls, introduced myself and scheduled a few photography assignments.

The Desert Mission Food Bank is basically a grocery store that supplies fresh food to those that can't afford it. What I found, was an incredible group of people who are committed to serve humanity on it's most basic level.

These are just some of the pictures.

Blessing of the Altar

2010-03-26T18:49:00.009-07:00

Roman Catholic High Mass and the Bishops blessing of the altar.

Bus Stop

2010-03-15T22:46:00.005-07:00

For some reason, I enjoy taking candid pictures from the the front seat of my car. I don't have to approach people and explain my intent. What a relief it is to just see and shoot! It's a little like shooting fish a barrel. I know that's a bit of a cop-out but I still enjoy it for its candid reality. Capturing society going about daily life is an interesting challenge for me. Just as long as the subjects are not recognizable, I have no problem with the drive by. For me, it's about the way people fit into the environment and there interaction with it.

This early morning image is at a North Phoenix bus stop. I saw this unidentified man with his bike and his back to sun. I think it was all the rectangles and the vertical elements that originally caught my eye. I don't always see the elements at first. But, I get a feeling that triggers a reaction in me to make the picture. It's often the case that I see the graphic strengths of the image in post production. Of course, I'm not always happy with what I shoot but I shoot it anyway and then I decide later to keep it or delete it.

Parking isn't free anymore

2010-03-01T12:31:00.002-07:00

Detail shot of the pay as you park box.

The head shot

2010-02-22T17:25:00.011-07:00

I've been into head shot's lately. What makes an interesting head shot is the expression and the light. When I have the time, I like to work on the lighting aspects of the head shot. I must say, I'm far from satisfied with these images. They're just the evolution of the process. I have figured out the traditional corporate head shot (above) but to take lighting a step further is a process of trail and error.

The top photograph is a traditional head shot that I made for a corporate client. I used four lights to achieve this shot. The other head shot is my brother-in-law Chris. His image was made using a three light set-up. I'm using a small Chimera soft box with a soft grid attached. The second and third lights are 7 inch reflectors with spot grids attached. The spot grids are 20 degree (back light) and a 10 degree (high and in front). It's a dramatic portrait but still is very basic at the core. I'm looking to raise the bar and this set-up isn't there yet.

Split Toning

2010-02-03T09:43:00.006-07:00

I've always been interested in gold toning and split toning of silver gelatin prints. When working in a wet darkroom the process is extensive, time consuming and hard to repeat. I wanted to see if I could come close in the digital darkroom. People with a lots of Photoshop experience would look at this and say "no sweat". For me its still a constant learning curve.

How, did I do this? I did a lot of tweaking but this is it in a nut shell. From the original color image, I went to Hue / Saturation clicked on colorize and selected sepia. I adjusted the sliders to my liking and clicked OK. Then, I imported it into Lightroom and continued to make adjustments with the split toning sliders. I then adjusted vibrancy, saturation, and clarity. I adjusted the tone curve to increase contrast and then vignetted with the lens correction tool and the post-crop tool. I exported the image out of Lightroom and re-opened it in Photoshop. I did further adjustments with levels and curves and did a little Smart sharpening and sized it for the web. That's about it. Through a little experimentation and clicking around you can create interesting and beautiful effects.

Allen

2010-02-02T19:18:00.004-07:00

Converting to black and white can be so cool sometimes. In Allens case, his skin is so rich with texture and tone I thought his portrait would look great in Black and White.

Biltmore swimsuit shoot

2010-01-26T08:48:00.003-07:00

Loving the scanner these days. I'm going to be posting images from my recent scans in the coming weeks.

Photography is a creative field that when I make a beautiful image it will always be beautiful to me. This is one of those images. The model is great! She is giving me long exaggerated lines that accentuate the curves of her body. She looks great without over doing it. Helping the overall image is the light that is relativley soft but bright enough giving me good contrast. If I could do all over, I might have moved the furniture in the background.

I made this photograph at the Biltmore Resort in Phoenix, using a Hasselblad C/M camera. I used a 150mm lens, shooting across the pool. It was a long throw, so I had to shoot-for-crop. A shoot-for-crop means, I didn't have a long enough lens to get in tight from across the pool so I had to shoot loose and crop to achieve the perspective I wanted. Sometimes you have to think on your feet and make it work with what you got.

Cody

2010-01-22T21:44:00.005-07:00

Cody, our bird dog. Actually he hunted chew toys better than wildlife.

OK. This month seems to be dog month.

Since, I created a post about Kona, I think it’s appropriate to give a little respect to her predecessor. We wouldn’t have Kona, if it weren't for Cody.

Cody, was our Yellow Lab of 12 and a half years. I made this picture of Cody in the Fall of 1996. Cody was a wonderful family dog and loving companion. Before, his first birthday he had corrective surgery for Hip Dysplasia. His hips were always a little weak compared to other dogs but he was a big, strong dog that had a good life as a result of the operation.

Cody, left us Jan. 7, 2009. Personally, it was a double barreled blast since three days earlier, I lost my job of 20 years due to lay-offs. The changes continue as life evolves around us but the companionship of a dog is unwavering and always complete.

Kona, our rescue dog.

2010-01-15T22:13:00.006-07:00

This is Kona, our new dog. About a month ago, Lorie and I adopted her from a group called Boxer Luv Rescue. She’s our first rescue dog. Boxer Luv Rescue gets their dog’s from all over the Valley. They rescued Kona from the Humane Society. According to her papers she is 2 years 9 months old. As a result of being bounced from place to place she is extremely insecure and scared to death when people come to the house. The weird thing is, she is a great at the dog park and on the leash, but when someone comes over it’s a different story. Run for hills!

What would Cesar Millan do?

Lorie and I, give her all the love we can and the space to settle in. I hope after a while she’ll realize this is a safe place for her and she isn’t going to be kicked out.

As far as a companionship goes she is one of the best dogs I have ever had. She’s loving, gentle, sticks by your side, listens, and isn’t annoying. Actually she's the perfect dog except for the skittishness. Only time will tell.

Rancher Rolf Flake

2010-01-13T10:13:00.004-07:00

This is Rolf Flake of Gilbert, Arizona. Rolf is a rancher, cowboy, author, poet, and singer.

I made this picture around 2pm in the afternoon when the was sun was pouring light onto his face and arms. I had a translucent scrim in my car that I attached to the eve of the porch. By doing that, I created shade making the light even and manageable. The light on his face is created from bounce light coming off the dirt parking area in front of the house.

RC Gorman Portrait

2010-01-12T00:31:00.004-07:00

This is the late internationally shown artist RC Gorman who died in 2005 at the age of 74. Gorman, a Native American born in Chinle, Arizona is a Navajo Indain. If you would like to read more about RC Gorman please visit this link: http://www.answers.com/topic/r-c-gorman

Sometimes it is easy to fall into making a cliche photograph when taking pictures of artists. You should try to see beyond the obvious and make an interesting photograph that reveals the individual's character and personality. The expected shot would be him sitting or standing among his paintings and lithographs on the wall. I made a few of those images and was bored stiff. I decided, to move in tight and get a detail shot of his face and eyes. I wanted an intimate look into this famous person's face. A photograph that reveals who he is. This is RC Gorman.

Wedding Jitters

2010-01-11T00:29:00.006-07:00

I posted this shoot on A Photo A Day list serve a few days ago and had a few interesting comments. Personally, I love this image. It's one of those rare opportunities where I captured this young woman's anxiety before her wedding. It's not often a photographer is present for such a private moment.

I’m trying out a Nikon 8000 scanner with VueScan software. This image is my first attempt scanning color film . I need to familiarize myself with the scanner software but considering the age of this image (1992) I’m pretty happy with the tonality. Very little toning was done to the image. Miner adjustments in curves, vibrancy and little sharpening. The original image was made on Kodak color negative film. I used a Hasselblad CM body, normal glass and a Norman 200B flash.

Caption:
While the wedding party was gathering in the sanctuary people became concerned the bride wasn’t emerging from the dressing room. When it became evident there was a problem, I went to check in with the bride. I found her on the couch crying and in the fetal position. After an intervention with friends and family she eventually got dressed and the wedding went on as planned.

Could this be you?

2010-01-06T18:26:00.003-07:00

A recent discussion with a friend motivated me to write an insightful narrative for you to ponder.

My friends, when it comes to your work life who is in control of your destiny?

When you first enter the job market as a young adult you'll find yourself working side-by-side with people of all ages. At first, you might consider them to be dinosaurs or maybe mentors or someone to learn from.

It has become clear to me that technology is moving so fast that many of these senior employees have fallen behind. What do you do with senior employees who have fallen behind? You can promote them to positions of incompetence or in today's environment lay them off. How many times have you seen this in your work place.

Being a curious person, I have to ask who’s at fault? The aforementioned senior employee is now at a point of incompetence and no longer has the knowledge base and / or the respect of other employees who have been raised in the digital age.

I bring this up because I think it is important to realize how the perceived dinosaur falls behind and how quickly this will become you if you’re not proactive.

Case in point. In my experience as a full-time staff photojournalist of 20 years, I never attended a workshop or seminar that could be duded “employee development.”

If I wanted to learn new technology or be involved in industry workshops, it was left to me to bear the full financial burden of the education that would benefit me and my employer. A typical seminar or workshop could cost as low as 800 and up to 2000 dollars depending on its location and time commitment.

Sadly, where I worked employee development fell to the wayside and was never a priority with corporate leadership. No motivation or reimbursement what so ever.

There was no way I could afford to go to workshops or do any other proactive industry development courses. So you can’t help but to fall farther and farther behind as the years pass and all while the parent company is expanding its brand by making multimillion dollar acquisitions.

While you make just enough to keep your family fed and fuel in your car, you’re losing money and making yourself less marketable with every year that passes. To compound the problem the company might buy a new computer system and not update the software. It’s great at first but after 5 plus years the system is so outdated modern software will no longer work on the machine.
It is at this point the overly confident intern comes in with his or hers state of the art laptop computer loaded with the newest software, new cameras and a basic understanding of just about everything relevant to your job. The only thing they lack is the experience. When the intern is working for practically free or in some cases totally free experience comes pretty fast.

As the technology you’re forced to use at work becomes old so does your worth. At least today you can turn to the internet and learn from users in the public domain who teach for free.

Next time you look at a senior employee and wonder why he is so disconnected, I wouldn’t judge but ask yourself could this be me in not so far off future.

Pocket Wizard Meet Up

2009-12-30T23:55:00.007-07:00

One Canon 580EXII flash into an umbrella. That's it!

As some of you may know, I have been testing and using the new Pocket Wizard TT1 and TT5 system now for several months. What has been consistent is the inconsistency of the system. When it works, it is truly great. But when it doesn't work, it makes you look like an idiot in front of your client.

Pocket Wizard has been sponsoring events all over the country to get photographers on board with this radio transmission system. They admit there has been problems since the launch but they've been pro-active working on solutions. Like all new technology there is a learning curve. Some of the problems could be user issues but that is limited compared to the larger issues of misfires, inconsistent bursts and limited range.

As of Dec. 19, the Pocket Wizard evangelist Mark Wallace has insured us to believe the problems are behind us. We now have a radio frequency noise eliminating sock to put over the flash unit, in addition to a noise insulated hot shoe adapter and new beta software for better up-to-date radio communication with the 5D Mark II and other new Canon Camera's.

I was only able to attend the last 40 minutes of the meet-up where I received the noise socks and a tech downloaded the latest beta software into my units. I was given instruction on the proper use of the new equipment and given tips on how to get the best out of the equipment.

The photograph above was shot at the event where there were several models available. I took about 100 frames. I had no misfires from a distance range of 6 feet to 80 feet using a 70 to 200 2.8 zoom lens on a 5D Mark II. I had very consistent frames but I did experience about 4 or 5 typical Canon full capacitor flash dumps. A flash dump blows out your subject by overexposing the image.

Compared to before, I can live with an occasional dump. As long as I have been using Canon gear (20 years) the flash units have always had the occasional full capacitor dump.

I used my Pocket Wizard units today for the first time on an assignment and they worked flawlessly. I hope this remains the case.

Man in the Window

2009-12-28T19:22:00.004-07:00

I was driving home from Tucson last week when I saw this shirtless man laying down in a window. After a double-take, I realized it was a Tattoo Parlor and he was getting a tattoo. I thought how strange. It felt sort of creepy to me. It seemed to me this street-side scene was some sort of human voyeuristic performance art. I just have to ask could you be this guy? I know, I couldn't.

University Of Arizona Nursing School Graduation

2009-12-28T19:10:00.009-07:00

I went to Tucson last week with the family to watch my niece Brittany graduate from the University of Arizona's Nursing School. It reminded me once again how fast time is flying by. It seems, I was watching her at High School swim meets just last year. Here is a few photo's from the event.

Nutcracker Dress Rehearsal

2009-12-28T18:59:00.010-07:00

I received a phone call from dance teacher Elizabeth Pease at Desert Vista High School a couple of weeks ago. Her boyfriend is a personal friend of the family that referred her to me. Her scheduled photographer had called her 3 hours before the dress-rehearsal to cancel. Needless to say she was in a panic. I said, "I would love to photograph the rehearsal for you." It was very little money but I enjoyed the dance and wanted to help the school since both of my sons graduated from there.

These are just a few of my favorites from the evening.

Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center

2009-12-28T18:14:00.009-07:00

Muhammad looked straight at me for quite a bit of time during a very crowded event that had all the Arizona media present. After a while, I wasn't sure if he was giving me a clean shot or if he wanted to knock my block off.

I made this photo of Muhammad and his wife Lonnie walking the halls of the new facility. The hallways are covered with historic photographs of Muhammad's incredible life.

During the Parkinson opening luncheon, Muhammad was presented a gift from promoters of the Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night.

Muhammad Ali was present during the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center and Movement Disorder Clinic at St. Joseph's Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute. This was a huge media event where I felt like I was back in my old environment again. It was competitive to navigate around all the people and fun to see Muhammad Ali for the first time.

If you would like to see more information about the center this link will take you directly to the center http://www.maprc.com/

Looking back to 2009

2009-12-28T18:12:00.003-07:00

It has been an interesting year and one of huge changes for myself and my family. As many of you already know my wife Lore and I both lost our jobs of 20 years and 14 years respectively. We have faced the challenges head on and have learned that 2009 wasn’t the end but only the beginning. I am proud to say neither of us ever applied for or collected unemployment of any kind.

I was sitting with my son Chris on Christmas Day and I said to him, "at 56 I still think my future is in front of me". He looked at me and said, "well of course it is". It would be easy to say my future was 20 years ago and that was my time to build and learn. You can’t sit on your hands in today's computer age. If you’re not evolving and pushing yourself today you will be left behind tomorrow.

I try! That is all I can do. No one is holding my hand and I haven't had a mentor in my life to encourage me. I have great friends that have helped me but my early years where very much alone. I encourage mentor-ship and have seen first hand how a positive mentor can help a person's growth and success. My path has always been a self-taught journey. In my wisdom, I would advise a person starting out in anything to seek out a mentor!

Being independent has been great. It’s challenging and very different than anything I have ever done over the past 20 plus years. As I write, I have the news on the TV in the other room, the dog at my feet, no one to bother me with petty corporate power struggles, and in house-fighting. How good is that? I love it! The hardest part of this is reminding myself to get out of the house periodically and not to work 14 hours a day.

I look forward to 2010.

Tempe Town Lake Ironman 2009

2009-11-23T09:41:00.013-07:00

On my way I saw this man standing inside this empty business space watching the Ironman.

Shannon well on her way to a 10:48 minute Finish WOW! Congratulations to you.

Runner and spectators under Mill Avenue bridge.

Runner and spectators under Mill Avenue bridge

Runner and spectators can get really close under Mill Avenue bridge

Young women in the light.

Lorie is the Energizer bunny. Funny someone would give her this hat.

Lorie and Evona cheering friends

Carl finishes in 10:47 . That is impressive. Congratulations.

Shannon center with all her best friends at the finisher area.

Master in Photography Joel Meyerowitz

2009-11-19T08:13:00.011-07:00

Cronkite School Photojournalism 351 and 451

This is New York City photographer Joel Meyerowitz. I was extremely fortunate to have Joel as a guest speaker tonight in my Photojournalism 451 class at Arizona State University's, Walter Cronkite School of Mass Communications and Journalism.

What an incredible treat to listen to a master. His photographic body of work spans 45 years. With 17 photographic books published, two Guggenheim Fellowships an NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) grant and many other rewards his appearance to our class was hugely significant.

His approach to his work and the clarity of thought is extraordinary. If you're familiar with his work or have listened to him speak you will understand what I mean. If you're not familiar with his work check out the links below.

He began his career as a street photographer in New York City were he earned the respect of curators, scholars and fellow photographers. More recently his documentation of ground zero. Meyerowitz spent 9 months documenting the aftermath with a large format 8 X 10 inch view camera. His photographs have been seen by over 4 million people all over the world.

His latest work is a documentary record of all New York City Parks creating an archive of New York City’s 29,000 acres of parkland. It is the first long term visual documentation of NYC parks since the 1930’s when they were photographed as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s WPA program. His book is titled Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks and is sold by Aperture. http://www.aperture.org/legacy.html

http://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/photography/index.html

http://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/M/meyerowitz/meyerowitz.html

http://www.in-public.com/JoelMeyerowitz

http://www.pdngallery.com/legends/meyerowitz/meyerowitz.jhtml

Enjoy!

Photo's from the big island of Hawaii

2009-11-12T18:42:00.014-07:00

MaryBeth walking on a black sand beach.

MaryBeth and Stephanie hanging loose as Jason and Chris body surf.

Stephanie and MaryBeth chatting it up as Chris enjoys life.

Lorie at a fruit stand.

MaryBeth receives a kiss from a random horse in a field.

Jason and Maybeth get their picture taken at South Point.

South Point, the Southern most tip of the United States.

Chris photographing from the mens room.

Lorie enjoys the wet worth of a volcanic steam vent.

After a very long day of supporting Lorie during the World Championship Ironman competition we all get back to our condo exhausted.

This is a selection of photo's that I thought were a little different then my usual vacation photos.

The old self-timer family portait.

2009-11-12T13:49:00.007-07:00

How many self-timer family portraits have I taken over the years? So many that everyone time I say "lets take a family portrait" everyone starts complaining in unison. Then I discovered lets have fun and act out for the photo. So here you go, a new way of doing something old. Act away.

Lorie Armstrong conquers the Ironman

2009-11-11T17:15:00.021-07:00

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Courtesy ASIPhoto

Many of the Photo's above are courtesy of Action Sports International, ASIPhoto. They had photographers all over the course making great pictures.
I have tried so many times to make good pictures of Lorie but honestly it is very difficult to be a fan and a photographer at the same time.

My wife Lorie of 30 years conquered the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii Oct 10, 2009. She finished 19th out of 30 women in her age group 55 to 59. The World Championships is a huge accomplishment and she definitely deserves my unabashed respect. She is truly amazing. Way to go kid.

East Valley Tribune annouces closure

2009-11-11T17:11:00.003-07:00

As many of you know my former employer The East Valley Tribune announced last week they are shutting the doors Dec. 31, 2009. The Tribune in one form or another has been in the East Valley since 1891.

I hear so many people speculating on why the industry is failing. Most people blame the internet. I just smile and nod my head. In a way everyone is right. The changes are a culmination of many events that have finally come to fruition. The loses are just too deep. Personally the news of the Tribune shutting down isn't a surprise but it still saddens me none the less.

Print exhibit

2009-10-03T18:31:00.003-07:00

The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has announced the Picturing Maricopa print exhibition. Their will be 40 prints from 15 Valley photographers. Should be a good show. Please support you Valley photographic community and attend.

Accident preparedness backback

2009-09-30T12:35:00.006-07:00

A lite humor feature!

Piper Selection Committee makes final selections for print exhibit

2009-09-23T00:10:00.010-07:00

The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust selection committee has made their final image selections for the upcoming Picturing Maricopa print exhibit. The photo's above will be my contribution to the exhibit. I will have two 11 X 14 prints for the exhibit. I know that seems hardly worth the effort but that was the deal up front. You either got three - 8 X 10's or two - 11 X 14 or one 16 X 20. Their are 15 photographers so their still will be a good selection of images to look at. The point of the project wasn't about us anyway it was about getting our non-profits usable professional level photography for their marketing and advertising use.

The Picturing Maricopa exhibit will be held in the Burton Barr Law Library at 1221 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ. October 27 from 3 to 5pm. Everyone is welcome. Look forward to seeing you there.

Farm family portrait Gila Bend, Arizona

2009-09-19T13:49:00.011-07:00

This is an environmental portrait of a family I photographed for the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Project "Picturing Maricopa".

When I get an assignment or pursue a portrait, I usually have all kinds of ideas rush through my head on how I want the final shot to look. So many times I want to make a picture that looks and feels a certain way. I want to render a representative portrait and at the same time develop a style that reflects me as a creative.

Sounds great but that's never how it ends up. My experiences have taught me to be flexible. I think all the ideas that run through my head are based on previous experience and books I have read throughout my photographic life.

How many times have I thought to myself, I will try a stark black and
white Mary Ellen Mark type portrait or a Richard Avedon white seamless portrait or a mega lit Jill Greenberg portrait. I guess this is normal and I accept that I have pre-visualized expectations. It's my visual library all coming to the surface. I love the quote by John Szarkowski "every photo is derived from a previous photo".

My point is with all this knowledge and photographic foundation my photographs never look like I originally thought they would. The preconceived ideas might work sometime but rarely. I always seem to make the best pictures when I keep myself out of the process.

The portrait above is a perfect example. This was to be a family portrait in front of the apartment in Gila Bend, Arizona. While I was making the 55 mile drive to Gila Bend my mind was running like a PBS Masters in Photography documentary. I was going to put my heart and soul and apply all my years of experience into this portrait. It was going be a signature image.

When I got there, I meet the husband and immediately talked to them about what I wanted to do. I explained my goals for their portrait and for the story I was working on. They were totally on board.

As I started to shoot it become clear within 10 seconds of shooting the little guy in the white cowboy hat wasn't on board. On this late August day it was 115 degrees outside and we are heading into PLAN B fast! Plan B and I are very familiar friends. The little guy wasn't going to let my pre-visualized master piece photo session take place. At least not on my terms.

Actually I should thank him when he is old enough to understand. As a result of him breaking up the formality of the portrait he made me shoot photojournalistically. I just kept shooting as the family portrait fell apart. As a result, I think I got a very interesting image that is far different from my original idea. I like the light and the disjointed feel and structure of the image. At this point its a real moment and not something contrived and forced.

2009-09-05T13:24:00.010-07:00

I just concluded a project called Picturing Maricopa paid for by the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. This is the cover page of a PDF portfolio I created for the project.

Below is the project in their words from the press release.

Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust is presenting a community photography project called Picturing Maricopa. Few nonprofit organizations have budgets that allow them to hire professional photographers. Yet, we know that quality photography is essential to “tell their stories” to clients, partners and potential donors.

Piper Trust has designed Picturing Maricopa to hire Valley professional photographers to photograph Maricopa County nonprofit organizations. We hope the project will showcase some of the most talented photographers in the Phoenix area. Piper Trust will hire a group of 15 local photographers, based on the recommendations of an advisory selection committee, and assign each to take photographs of one of 15 human service agencies sometime over the summer. The goal is to capture the essence of each organization’s mission through images.

At the conclusion of the project the Advisory Committee will make final selections of all the photographs turned in and a print exhibit will put on display. The time and location has yet to be determined.

Now is that cool or what!

I was matched up with the non-profit medical group called Clinica Adelante based in Surprise, AZ..

Clinica Adelante is a full-service medical group who serves out-lying and under-served areas of Maricopa County. I visited clinics in Buckeye, Sun City and Surprise. I also followed two families to their homes.

I hope to post more on the project as we get closer to the print exhibit.

Lake Powell, West Canyon Panoramic

2009-08-14T08:39:00.007-07:00

A night shot panoramic illuminated by the moon. I know it looks like daylight but trust me you can see the stars in the larger version. This is a panoramic of 5 images stitched together. Its about 180 degree from left to right. Click on it to make larger.

PS. To all of my 4 or 5 readers and followers. I own a boat. If anyone interested in wanting to take a photographic trip to Lake Powell all you have to do is pay me lots of money for gas, food and help with base camp. Large format or DSLR coaching and training is another story. I would love to go back on a photo mission. Late September and early October are great times to be there. Warm days, cool nights and the water temperature is in the low 70's. Lets plan a trip! :-)

Lake Powell landscape

2009-08-14T07:08:00.014-07:00

Sunset West Canyon, Lake Powell.

On one night the sunset was just right where this cliff turn deep saturated red. When all things come together the sunset at Lake Powell can be magnificent.

Rainbow Bridge National Monument. Most people don't realize this but the monument is a 50 mile boat ride up-lake from the Waweap Marina. Gas is very expensive at the marinas. Almost 5 bucks a gallon and the boats drink it a cold beer on a hot day.

A moon lit night after a little fishing.

A front rolls in that lasting almost two days. The national weather service issued wind advisories. We had wind gusts up to 45 mph.

Another sunset that didn't really pan-out, but was still nice none-the-less.

The next four images are shot at 10pm at night. The light is created by a full moon. Click on the pictures below and you can see the stars.

Moon light.

Moon Light.

Moon light.

The environment is so fragile there. Plant life struggles to live in the harsh environment.

This was not the kind of trip that I would call a photo-mission. It was primarily a family gathering. The objective was to visit family, relax and have fun. So, most of the photography I took was happy-snap in nature. Being the obsessive photographer that I am, I did manage to take a few pictures that I would like to share. Nothing great! Just cool pics of such a strange place at different times of the day and night.

Lake Powell & Family

2009-08-11T16:22:00.015-07:00

View from the back of the boat.

Houseboat bathing.

Trey

My nephew's family watches the sunset at Lake Powell.

Nephew's son Brett

Brett

Brett

My son Jason casting his line out.

Jason and his wife MaryBeth.

My son Christopher photographing Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Christopher and Stephanie at Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Jason and MaryBeth at Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Stephanie and MaryBeth walking to Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Nephew's son Tate

Tate hanging out with the big boys fishing.

Jason on the back of the houseboat.

Christopher throws the towel over his headafter a swim.

Stephanie and Christopher bust out some dance moves.

Left to right, Jason, MaryBeth, Lorie, Stephanie and Christopher on our way to Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

Lorie looking at the magnificent sandstone cliffs.

Nephew's son Tate.

Tate

Tate

I took an extended family vacation to Lake Powell last week with fourteen family members. We all rented a 60 foot houseboat. That sounds huge but it is actually pretty tight quarters for a group this size. These are some of the photographs from the trip. When I get the time to edit them I will post some night scenic shoots. They're interesting because they look like daylight photographs due to the full moon.

I'm back! Woo Hoo

2009-07-21T11:44:00.024-07:00

Sky Harbor Phoenix. View from my window as we were being pushed out.

The brown landscape I have become so familiar with. The black spot just below the wing is Ship Rock, New Mexico.

The Platte River as it meanders through Nebraska.

My father.

My mother.

Sitting and relaxing on a cool morning.

My father wearing vintage wireless glasses we found in the basement.

While on a short photo trip we spotted the ladders curling around huge gas tanks.

I always wanted to photograph this kind of hay bail.

We found this farm toward the end of the afternoon and decided to stay for the magic light.

Looking Southeast.

Looking Southwest

A different view.

Last light. There were clouds on the Western horizon which turned the light flat at the very end of the evening. This is about as radiant as it got.

My cousin Tom with his family. His daughter (right) who is a wonderful soul and is mentally challenged. It was a pleasure getting to know her what a sweet young lady.

Tom and his wife Barb.

Last week I took a trip to Nebraska to help my aging parents with some projects around the house. My parents who are 88 and 87 are in good health but the they don't have the strength and stamina to do the heavy work as much as they used to. Specifically cleaning out Three generations of stuff that has accumulated in the house. The clean up will take a few trips. The house is about 100 years old and was my father's parents' home. As a child, my father was raised in this house and my mother lived down the street. As adults they eventually moved to New York, where my sisters and I were born and raised.

My job was to help as much as I could. Everything had to go through my father before it when into the trash. It slowed the pace to a crawl but it's his life and our historical record. I respect my father greatly so how ever he wanted to do it was fine with me.

While I was there, my cousin Tom, his wife Barb, daughter Anna and I went on an afternoon drive into farm country to take photographs. Being from the desert, Nebraska is a contrast in color. From brown dirt and cactus to lush green plains in Two hours. The soft rolling hills and the giant trees run through the fields like veins. It is beautiful and at the same time foreign to me. With fresh eyes, it was like looking at a post card for the first time. The July humidity and abundant supply of bugs, spiders and everything flying was the only trade off I had to accept. Above is a selection of photographs from the trip.

Time off

2009-07-07T10:09:00.002-07:00

I will not be posting to my blog until July 17. I'm taking some vacation time to be with my family.

Picturing Maricopa

2009-07-01T17:45:00.004-07:00

Good news I have been selected to be one of 15 professional photographers in the Valley to work on a pretty cool project. This is the info:

The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust is presenting a community photography project called Picturing Maricopa. We hope you will consider participating. Few nonprofit organizations have budgets that allow them to hire professional photographers. Yet, we know that quality photography is essential to “tell their stories” to clients, partners and potential donors. Piper Trust has designed Picturing Maricopa to hire Valley professional photographers to photograph Maricopa County nonprofit organizations.

We hope the project will showcase some of the most talented photographers in the Phoenix area. Piper Trust will hire a group of 15 local photographers, based on the recommendations of an advisory selection committee, and assign each to take photographs of one of 15 human service agencies sometime over the summer. The goal is to capture the essence of each organization’s mission through images.

The project will culminate in a public exhibit where a selection of prints, chosen by the selection advisory committee in conjunction with the photographer, will be professionally mounted. After the exhibit, the prints will be given to the photographed organizations for display in their facilities.

How cool is this! Thanks to the Piper Trust this is a great opportunity to give to organizations that are serving humanity. I couldn't be more excited about this.

Wedding dress studio shoot

2009-06-26T08:06:00.006-07:00

These are some images from an afternoon shoot with model Alexis Carlee. Thanks to Alexis, Anna and my friend Zak for making this happen.

Anna Berman Model

2009-06-25T09:21:00.011-07:00

I had some fun last night hanging out with some photographers doing a model shoot for their portfolio's. I wasn't a scheduled shooter but I was there waiting for a chance to make some images of my own. This is Anna Berman a model from Tucson who was working with a group of photographers to improve their skills and possibly come away with new portfolio images.

I'm "coming out" so-to-speak and announcing that I have come to a conclusion that I am a photojournalist with a heavy slant toward fine art. Maybe you knew that already. dah! I like photography that challenges the imagination. In some cases I can produce it. In most I see it then shoot it.

The two photo above are just that. Of course the kitchen shot is produced but the sitting shot was made when Anna was waiting for her next shoot. In both cases they have a surreal feel that I am attracted too. I love the hunt.

Flagstaff Road Trip

2009-06-17T20:17:00.012-07:00

Then & Now from the exact same spot. The photo on the right I took in 1986. The photo on the left I took June 17, 2009. It is interesting to me to see how the paint has worn off the wall over the past 23 years. I was also surprised to see the weed on the bottom left is in both pictures. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

I went to Flagstaff today to assist photographer Dave Cruz http://www.davecruz.com/ He was assigned to shoot a nationally ranked cross country runner for a preps sports magazine cover.

After the shoot we walked around downtown and had lunch in Flagstaff. Since I went to NAU in the mid 70's and lived there for 3 1/2 years it is always nostalgic to visit.

Basic Photography

2009-06-10T08:00:00.009-07:00

Zak

We all have seen the corporate head shot that we as photographers might think "I don't shoot like that". I don't want to shoot like that.

Now that I'm out their every day trying to make a living in photography. I have sucked up "some" of my pride and I have come to the realization that at the end of the day income is a very good thing.

When I saw the classic corporate mug shot, I thought the good one's are shooting in a controlled environment like a studio. In the past, I always did location corporate head shots. I know I can do the corporate head shot but they didn't quite have the polish of the commercial studio's.

So I did a little test shooting yesterday. Instead of using big studio lights I decided to us two 580EX II flashes. I'm not going to give it all away but one on the backdrop and one on my face. After some trail and error and tweaking I finally got the classic shot that most organization would be happy with. If I had a choice I would prefer the environmental portrait but not all companies want to spend the money or commit the time for that type of portrait.

PS: I could use a pretty model.

Their's an Ap for that!

2009-06-10T07:30:00.005-07:00

From onOne! Remotely fire your Canon DSLR Camera through your iPhone or iPod Touch. I haven't purchased the Ap yet but it looks pretty cool. The Ap has all kinds of camera control capabilities through the iPhone. Holy crap! If your a gizmo geek it doesn't get any more exciting than this. Their are some short comings and conditions for it to work so make sure you understand it before purchasing. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=38

The newspaper and a cup of coffee

2009-06-07T18:59:00.007-07:00

Self portrait.

Last Friday I read an interesting Q & A on the "A Photo Editor" site.

http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2009/06/04/photographers-looking-for-agents-q-a-with-deborah-schwartz/

It was a Q & A with photographer rep. Deborah Schwartz. Interesting article but what caught my eye was what she said about her clients. Her photographers are people who do work that she personally likes. She can relate to their work.

She said, It's about getting out there for yourself and shooting what you love because you love doing it. Have a strong vision and have something to say that people want to hear.

I love that insight, although that's easier said than done. Isn't it.

I wanted to see for myself what her photographers work looked like so I went to her site and clicked over her clients portfolios. You may love it or hate but one thing is certain her photographers shoot a certain way and they stick to it throughout their portfolio. Their photography is consistent. I appreciate looking at work like this. I respect people who have a style and stick to it in spite of outside influences like editors, mentors, teachers, friends, and family who may or may not like or understand the work. Photography is so subjective! An editor might not understand your style or vision so they put the proverbial thumb on you and shape you into who they need you to be. I say Bull Shit! Own your work!

I know a lot of very experienced photographers and how many have truly original point of view. Lets say I know 30 photographers. I would say 3 or 4 have a strong style that makes them unique. Most are very good at what they do but is it uniquely original. In my opinion no. Those are rare birds indeed.

I believe I am a good photographer who has made some great images over the years that will withstand the test of time. But, I have really struggled getting out of the box and find that euphoric bliss called original creativity.

I think as a photographer your work evolves over the years. As your interests shift and visual maturity enlightens you can grow. But I think many people who are creative struggle with personal vision. I think we are influenced by so much that it is really hard to find your way.

For most of use we are not born with it. Many years ago back at NAU my track coach "Red" Haberlack said to me "Brad, you have come as far as your going to go on natural ability, it time to go to work". He was so right. A life lesson. I think the other 26 photographers I know have peaked with their own natural ability. I have to work really hard and I have an obsessive passion to do the best I can do and I still constantly struggle and question.

Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour

2009-06-02T14:29:00.031-07:00

Overview of the Williams Train Station and the Disney "A Christmas Carol" tour train.

The dance of life swirls in continuous motion while waiting on line.

Waiting on line to board the Promotional information train.

Inside the Disney promo train.

Tickets for the sneak preview.

This is our happy snap that is more about the people behind us.

All aboard!

Tickets please.

When the train departs you have to wave. Its fun!

Williams, AZ. Route 66

Red Corvette and a Chihuahua.

Red all over. Cafe 66 Williams, AZ.

Steve Reynolds entertains at Cafe 66.

Lorie

No words necessary.

In between work there are the moments when you get a wild hair and say lets go. My wife Lorie and I are totally impulsive. Planning trips is not our thing. So that is what we did last Sunday May 31. We drove to Williams, Arizona about 170 miles from Phoenix to see a Disney attraction. It is a train that is traveling to cities across America promoting a new 3D Movie staring Jim Carey. The movie is A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. Inside the train are multimedia LCD displays, costumes and narratives telling the viewers all about the new technology put into this film. After visiting the train we walked to the hotel right next to the station and watched a sneak peak of the 3D movie. The movie is scheduled to be released in November and it truly amazing.

After the festivities we walked into Williams to experience the local culture and had lunch. I was a long day but well worth it.

More testing!

2009-05-20T09:23:00.012-07:00

shutter speed 1/640 aperture f 4.0

shutter speed 1/1250 aperture f 2.8

shutter speed 1/640 aperture f-4

shutter speed 1/8000 aperture f 2.0

shutter speed 1/5000 aperture f 2.0

shutter speed 1/2500 aperture f 5.6

shutter speed 1/8000 aperture f 5.6

The photo's above are examples using the new Pocket Wizard TT1 and TT5 off camera flashes. The photo's of Dave are jpgs right out of the camera. No work was done to them at all. Zhenni (Jen) on the other hand are RAW files and have been retouched since this was a real shoot.

Have you noticed when you buy a new electronic device the instruction come in different languages. I think they do that so if you don't understand it in English maybe it will make better sense in Portuguese.

The new Pocket Wizard TT1 and TT5 transmitter and transceiver unites have been challenging me for some time. Much has been written about them but I think they are being returned as fast as they are being purchased. The common thread I hear is they're to complicated. When things don't work the way you expect them to you naturally turn to the DIRECTIONS. As I went through the 45 pages of techno jumbled word game. I'm still somewhat lost. The first page should say massive brain power is required and then in little print it should say once you understand the direction results may vary. But I'm always up for a challenge and I really want to understand these things and use them to their fullest capabilities.

I won't get into the flash RF (radio frequency) interference or the proposed anti-magnetic cloth shield you might want to buy to extend its range. Or tuning the head in the opposite direction so to reduce RF noise or using the off camera cord to separate the flash from the TT5 transmitter. These are all work around proposals by photographers trying to get them to work as they claim. Which in my opinion is absolute FBS! You shouldn't have to purchase anything! It's already supposed to do what it claims without buying a freaking Kryptonite shield. What happen to plug and play! OK enough of that!

As far its operation. Unpredictable and inconsistent results. It could be operator error and this is why I'm working this thing hard. When it works its wonderful and I really want it to work.

For those that don't know what I'm talking about. The premise is to be able to shoot multiple off camera speedlite flashes / radio controlled / E-TTL and have independent flash head ratio controls with use of a controller. Sounds great and it is.

This allows all kinds of creative tools which we didn't have before. For example; I made a portrait in the middle of the day not a cloud in the ski at ISO 100 the shutter speed was 1/8000 of a seconds and the aperture was f- 2.0 and the strobe light was perfect on the subjects face. The shallow depth of field was beautiful. In this shot the ski and background were underexposed slightly. Think about that f- 1.4 off camera E-TTL strobe capability. WOW! The same shot @ f-5.6 the sky was almost jet black and he subject was perfect again!

My problems come when I try to use ratio's and a softbox. As I would expect output through a softbox is difficult since I'm using limited flash. Therefore the box has to be close. But the ratio thing has got me scratching my head. The "instructions" recommend using an addition EXII flash on top of the TT1 transmitter as a master controller for the other flashes. I don't have three EXII flashes and I would hate to have put a $450.00 flash on the camera and use it as a controller. So I'm using the ST-E2 speedlight Transmitter as the controller. As per the "instruction" it is supposed to work but I haven't quite figured it out yet. I can get to work in some scenarios but not all. I'll keep you posted.

Mert and Deb

2009-05-05T10:57:00.015-07:00

My sister-in -law Debbie with her mother Mert

This Is Mert. Mert is my sister in laws mother who is now 87. Mert loves to have her smoke breaks. Fortunately for her she doesn't seem to have any health issues as a result of smoking most of her life. My in laws visited this weekend and as usual all I can think about is taking photographs. I wonder if it gets in the way sometimes?

I purchased the new Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 and Flex TT5 last Wednesday and wanted to run it through some tests. Since my family is tired of me photographing them I asked Mert to be my subject. She stepped up and we had fun. Good Ole Mert is a kind soul that still has a healthy sense of humor and tolerates younger people pretty well.

As far as the pictures go they weren't intended to go in the hall of fame just a test shoot in the back yard. While I screwing around with my equipment the rest of the family's went about their business in the back yard.

A friend of mine commented the photo's don't look light. They look like natural light. Maybe I balanced the light to evenly. I'm at a 2 to 1 ratio. That's highlight to shadow ratio. Maybe I should have tried a 4 to 1 ratio. Next time I will be more expressive. The Pocket Wizard mini TT1 and the Flex TT5 should be a plug and play unit. So far that isn't quite the case. Their seems to be some problem with them especially with distance. Inconsistent flashes or no flashes. Now there are a lot of variable why this could occur so I'm not throwing them under the bus yet. Although it does seems typical of manufacturers these days to sell their goods before they are perfected. I guess the sales helps pay for the R&D moving forward. Good thing is all I need to do is go to my computer for product updates which I upload directly into the TT1 & the TT5 software. Rumor is they are working on a few glitches. Isn't technology amazing!

I only have one TT1 and one TT5 at this time. I hoping to get a couple more TT5's so I can start using multiple lights more creatively. When Pocket Wizard gets the bugs out this will be great advancement for serious photographers who use lights. I know of a company who makes a product called Poppers. I have seen these used and they're very impressiveness.

For those of you that don't know about these systems what they will do is allow you to use multiple flashes / that are fired by radio frequency while in ETTL mode. The flash syn speeds go as high as you want or need. For example; the photo of Mert standing with people in the background was shot near sunset on an overcast evening using a small soft box. My shutter speed was 1/1250th of a second @ f-1.4. The photo of Debbie with her mother was shoot at 1/1000th of a second @ F 1.4. Both times the off camera radio triggered flash synched correctly with the camera. Very very cool.

The Pulitzer Prize

2009-04-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

Pulitzer Prize Winners

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/page/reasonable_doubt
Click on the link to go to the Tribune's site

Today was an incredible day! I was fortunate to be invited back to the East Valley Tribune to celebrate and pay respects to Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin who just won the Pulitzer Price for Local Reporting. This was the first Pulitzer for the East Valley Tribune in its 100-year history. They were awarded the prize for a five-part series called Reasonable Doubt. The project exposed how police protection suffered as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio focused his resources on combating illegal immigration.

It was truly a wonderful occasion but at the same time sadly ironic because so many people who were involved in the project no longer work there. But this was an occasion to celebrate. It was all smiles and hugs and pure celebration for Ryan and Paul winning the highest award in Journalism.

You’ve heard it when something is a success it’s everyone’s baby. Well, I can confirm that was the case at the Tribune Tuesday April 21, 2009. We even heard from an old Publisher Terry Horn on the speakerphone congratulating everyone. He was publisher for a few months early in 2008 before moving on to the troubled Orange County Register. Truthfully I don’t remember him having a presence during this project but he spoke like he was the main man. Honestly the current Publisher Julie Moreno was present and needs to tell alpha male Terry, I got this.

Everyone who had a hand in this project wanted to rub elbows with Ryan and Paul and share in their fantastic moment in the spotlight. Personally I couldn’t be happier for them. For me, I am honored to have worked with such passionate, dedicated professionals. I wish Ryan and Paul a great life and continued success.

Do trends endure the test of time?

2009-04-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

More question than answers.

Had a conversation a few days ago that I have been thinking about. I have talked about my lighting techniques in previous posts but this is a slightly different conversation.

Its about lighting! When to use lights and the lighting technique I have used over my career. Like so many things technique can be influenced by trends and the latest gadgets moving the medium forward i.e. the strobist and the on camera speed light flash systems. Amazing work is being done using little off-camera flashes. Yes, they are tied to a system but the flexibility is totally cool.

As a photographer are you influenced by trends? Have you ever lost sight of your identity or vision due to trends? Do you hold on to your ideals, techniques and style at the risk of looking dated?

I started learning lighting techniques in my home studio through trial-and-error. I took what I learned on the road later while working as a photojournalist. In the beginning my decision to use my lighting was predicated on if I found myself in bad light and reproduction. Some photojournalist refuse to use lights because of ethics and the influence on the overall scene. I lit many of my subjects but not all for same reason. As I sit here today I'm glad I did because it prepared me for the commercial work I do today.

I chose to use strobes primarily for reproduction. Since we were printing on newsprint I needed to provide pictures with good light and proper exposures. To this day I still use the same criteria when making the decision to use lights.

I try to keep it simple. One light most of the time. I have been told I use soft light. I guess that is true. As a former photojournalist I wanted my lighting to look natural. I wanted my light to blend in and give the appearance of window light. On my web site go to the portraits section to see examples. Almost all of these pictures are studio lit on location using a one light set-up and my so called "soft light" technique.

As I continue my walk-run through this profession. I see a trend that has been around now for a while. Its the high key over lit look. I appears there maybe up to 3 to 4 lights on a single person. Two very strong back lights rim the subject on both sides with a high key main light. Looks cool but it definitely isn't blending or looking like window light. These lighting techniques are not new just reemerging due to new technologies and the portability of speed lights.

My editorial comment! It seems to me that some of these over lit photographs are more about the photographer then the subject. These are new tools for photographers to use today and they do have a wow factor. They look cool and technically are very sexy witch makes me enter into the self-doubt thought process for myself.

I see it! I can't help but to think, do I need to evolve and change my techniques to stay current. Yes, this is a trend but will it endure the test of time? This is a test for me. Do I change, or do I stay the course?

I certainly don't want to look like everyone else but I can't help to question. Since I'm a creative person in a competitive environment I'm constantly questioning. Have I settle into a grove.

Have you crossed this path in your own work yet? Just a thought! Maybe, I need new lights?

Human Paint Brush

2009-04-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Painting with hair

iphone photos of a human paint brush and artist working

I went to Creative Connect last night in Scottsdale. It was held at the Zischke Studio. Mr Zischke, dipped a woman's hair into a bucket of black paint while she was suspended by her feet. He then swung her over large pieces of art paper while her hair was soaked in paint. He made sweeping shape and splatter on the paper with her wet hair as the paint brush. Interesting way to paint with out a doubt and fascinating to watch.

Keeping it real

2009-04-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

A black cat crossed the threshold today

I feel like shit today. I'm between sadness and anger. If I'm not sad, I'm angry. If I'm not angry, I'm sad.

I was talking to a friend earlier today when a cat walked past. I fired off a quick shot. I didn't think anything of it until now. It's a black cat! Now I'm not superstitious but this was ironic considering how I feel today. Hummm!

Now my wife

2009-04-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Our son Jason kisses Lorie after finishing the 2008 Tempe Town Lake Ford Ironman.

Sorry but this post isn't about photography or deep thought.

I just got off the phone with my wife Lorie. She called me to inform me she has been laid off today. If your new to my blog, I got laid off in January. My wife worked for Todd and Wanda McFarlane. Yes the famous comic book artist who is internationally know as movie producer, toy maker and so on.

She was there nanny for 9 years and then worked for their company TMP International for the past 3 1/2 or so years. Lorie would have given her life for the McFarlane family when she cared for their children. She loves them dearly and as do I. They have been very good to us over the years and we wish them good health and prosperity moving forward. We know this had to be a very difficult decision for them personally.

No blame just sadness! It's a shame what is happening to businesses across this country and around the world. So many people are being displaced from their homes and their lives uprooted or destroyed as a result of out of control global greed.

Lorie and I are 55. I thought according to the American Dream we would be secure in our jobs and we would be thinking about retirement in the next 5 to 10 years. We both had long term jobs, worked hard and tried to do everything right. From our experience over the past 3 months that doesn't equal security. Is this fate? There is the proverbial light that is supposed to be good, right? It seems you have to chase it because it isn't stationary.

As we get over the first few humps and (garage sales). This will present new challenges. I'm sure there is opportunity here. I have no doubt Lorie will thrive and people will benefit from her experience, work ethic and personality.

Food for thought

2009-04-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

A quote from the book, Photographs by John Szarkowski, "Every photograph is derived from a previous photograph." Szarkowski was the Director of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City form 1962-1991.

If this is the case. Where does creativity come from?

Brad Armstrong Photography . com launched

2009-04-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.bradarmstrongphotography.com/

It has been a long process with out a doubt but it is at a point now that I'm confident to announce the launch. Click on the link and check it. I would love to get some feedback. Feel free to leave your comments here or you can go to my contact page on the site and email me. Either way is good. I would be interested in a constructive critique. I still have some captioning to do and some other house keeping things. I might add a content box about my services as well. Thank you