Cool Springs Arizona is Very Cool!

by Charlie Posted on May 8, 2013

During our winter wanderings through Arizona we discovered Cool Springs, Arizona along Route 66. From a photographic standpoint, this was a must-shoot location. It is now a vintage museum of memorabilia from the bygone era of Route 66 and interstate travel in general.

It is out in the desert and on the slopes of the Black Mountains and while we enjoyed a 85 degree day, this location is no doubt a harsh environment during hotter times of the years. Built in the mid-1920′s, the road was designated Route 66 in 1926 and as you head west from Cool Springs the road gets steep and windy.

You cant help but wonder what it must have been like to travel from Los Angeles to Chicago in August. Cars slogging up the hill in intense  heat and travelers thirsty and dehydrated. Cool Springs would have been a wonderful site.

I thought this was a perfect location for a light grunge HDR image. I did not like the distortion I got with my super wide, so I shot this with a 35mm, vertically, and in sections. I then did the HDR processing in Photomatix and finished by stitching the 6 image panels using Photomerge in Photoshop.

One thing you might find interesting is that this place was busy with people, yet you don’t see any. The way to deal with that is to setup your shot and frame it and as people walk through the picture, just keep shooting your bracketed exposures. The set that you might use when you are compositing is the set where the person was was in a different position. By shooting a whole bunch of each panel for the composite, the moving people are in different positions as they walk around and when you composite them in those different position they can vanish when you do your HDR. It takes some experimenting but it works. Continue reading →

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Indoor vs Outdoor Photography

by Charlie Posted on April 27, 2013

When somebody doesn’t know a lot about the work which goes into photography, they will often trivialise a photographer’s work and claim that what they do for a living and as a passion is not artistic, creative or even remotely difficult. This very same ignorance is the reason people wonder why the pictures they take outside, never equal the quality they casually produce indoors, or vis versa. The reason is, indoor and {outdoor photography} are two completely separate styles of photography, with their own rules and complications. Continue reading →

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Lighting and Colors and Shapes: Oh Yea!

by Charlie Posted on April 21, 2013

Just stopped into the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas for a quick look at Dale Chihuly’s amazing glass art in the hotels lobby.

WOW!

The art was totally awesome and I had to capture it on my iPhone. If you do not know who he is (where ya been?) you should learn more as this guy is the master of glass blowing. There was an awesome piece on PBS about him and how he works. Pure genius!

Me..I just captured his art on my phone and then played around on the computer and while I love what I captured, its Dales art! Here is his website.

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The Magic of Discovery

by Charlie Posted on April 19, 2013

I was on a walk, with camera in hand of course, when I discovered this door and entryway. It stands out very well and obviously I had to shoot it. I love the color contrasts that the painters chose. Everything snaps!

I tried various angles really skewing the lines and perspective and I like those, but keep coming back to this one-the first frame I shot.

This is the way of my ‘artists mind’ in that I like symmetrical and angles as they should be with everything in order. The skewed perspectives are cool and I will process those later, but am drawn to the straight looking down angle.

Maybe that will change later! Continue reading →

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Shooting in Sajuaro National Park

by Charlie Posted on April 13, 2013

Sajuaro National Park is a very cool place to photograph! A very diverse plant population, Native American petroglyphs, and beautiful desert light.

I passed through a few weeks ago and had about 2 afternoons to explore and photograph. The light was perfect and then it wasn’t. You know how it works: you want overcast and the sky is clear. You want clear skies and it’s overcast. No worries, there is no such thing as bad light, right!

In Sajuaro West, I was driving the road and hoping for blooming cactus but I was to early. I believe, at least this year, that mid_April to May will be the best time for blooming cactus. At least that is my guess.

The Ocotillo were doing well however, so I looked hard at those and I did find one blooming Hedgehog Cactus. As you can see it was overcast skies and I worked within the limits of that light. This image still has directional light or that back-lit feel and the image benefits from the softer contrast.

This is the Hedgehog Cactus that I found blooming, the only one. I was very happy to find this one blooming, anything blooming, but I have since found hillsides of them blooming (mtk). I shot it and was happy at the time, but in hindsight I am not that fond of all the clutter; the grasses and such. Continue reading →

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