The Lucky Guy

• Nature Photography

I am without a doubt, the luckiest person in the world…next to you of course! To be able to spend so much time outdoors in amazing places like this one here from Northern Arizona, would make anyone feel like the luckiest person in the world.

To trek out here and find such amazing geology and then have a camera and tripod in hand allows me to record and relive this forever. My presence in this landscape takes my creative ‘self’ to a higher level of awareness. My adrenaline kicks in. It is so exciting! Is that what being ‘high on life is?’ If so, I am an addict!

I was excited about the leading lines and textures and shot it with a 5D and 16-35mm lens. Little processing was needed.

Photo of The Day: Canyon X in Arizona

• Nature Photography

This was an amazing location: Canyon X in Arizona. This location is on provate property and requires a giude and a group of us hired one.

I think this slot canyon is deeper than Antelope Canyon, but I am not sure. It seemed much darker and that could be due to different geological formations, but again, I am not sure.

It was tough to process and it went very blue at the bottom and warm at the top, so I added a B&W adjustment layer and dialed some color out and painted back in the warm colored slit.

Photo of The Day: Cracked Mud

• Nature Photography

I took an afternoon hike in the middle of the day, mostly for exercise since I was on the computer all day. I saw this cracked mud and had to shoot it.

I processed it in Photoshop and added contrast and a slight brown tone to exaggerate the colors.

Photo of The Day: Aspen Cams

• Nature Photography

It is said by many, and hard to argue, that we live in a surveillance state and world these days. Everywhere you go physically and virtually, you are being watched.

Well you can imagine my surprise when I discovered while photographing in the Colorado Rockies, that I was….YES….being watched.

I couldn’t believe it! In the middle of the forest all alone, and these eyes staring me down.

A Photographer in Paradise: Day 5

• travels

Roatan Honduras: So by mid-week we were slowing down due primarily to an abundance of Caribbean Rum and the weather was turning rather stormy. It didn’t matter because when it rains or pours and it is 82 degrees, well so what?

West End Beach

We fell for Cindy and her small curbside cafe and that great ‘Caribe’ accent she had; “Ya Know Mon?”

Cool Springs Arizona is Very Cool!

• Image Processing

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