Rock Art

Being in the Saguaro National Park in July is probably not the smartest time for a visit, but you can be certain you will have the place to yourself.  We were in Tucson Arizona this past summer and decided to revisit the Saguaro National Park.  It is a fascinating place that we have visited many times over the years. This was our first visit in the middle of summer and the heat was scorching.  The day we made the short hike to these petroglyphs it was 115*.  As I climb among the boulders in search of the petroglyphs I kept my eye open for rattlesnakes that most certainly were hiding in the rocks. Setting up a tripod and composing an image in the intense heat was exhausting.  I was able to spend about an hour before I felt the heat overwhelming me. After I made my last image I turned to step down over the rocks and had one roll out from under me. I went down head first and hit hard but somehow kept my camera held high and it never smashed into a rocks or the ground. Certainly the good lord was looking after me.  I had a pair of new glasses that flew off my head and went down into the deep pockets among the rocks. I sat up and dusted myself off and took inventory of my situation. I had some scrapes and marks on the tripod but not much more. I thought about my glasses down in the dark hole before me and decided that they could stay there.  Sometimes it is easy to forget where you are when making photographs or become affected by the elements you are working in. I was fortunate to not have broken a bone or damaged my equipment with this fall.  I used a 17~40 zoom lens with a polarizing filter when making this photograph.

http://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm
http://www.yelp.com/biz/saguaro-national-park-west-tucson

Garrapata Beach

    Sea Stack at Garrapata Beach

    Doud Creek at Garrapata Beach


Garrapata Beach is located north of Big Sur on route 1 of the California coast. It is a majestic place where the Pacific ocean crashes into the rocks and cliffs along the shoreline.  I photographed here a few times in my travels and have always come away with new and interesting photographs. These images were taken near the end of the day as the sun was setting.  The climb down to the ocean is not hard but can be a bit difficult getting out once it is dark.  Photographing in these locations can be hazardous and caution should be used when venturing into these areas.  I was told about rouge waves by a photographer friend of mine that lives in Monterey Ca. He cautioned me about a rare wave that comes ashore that is much bigger than all of the other waves coming in. I had a frightening experience with one just a few days later. I always place my camera bag and gear up high on the rocks as I walk with my tripod and camera to find the particular composition I am looking for. On one day I had setup my view camera and realized that I had left my filter in my camera bag and walked back to get it. As I was near my bag I heard a roar like a freight train coming and turned to see a large wave coming to shore. I raced to my camera and grabbed the tripod just as the wave broke around my knees. I was fortunate that I was able to get to my camera but even more fortunate that the wave didn't knock me over. I gained a new respect for photographing near the Pacific ocean and came away a bit shaken by the experienced.
These images were made with a Linhof view camera and Tmax100 film.  A 11x14 print was scanned for posting to the blog.

http://www.californiasbestbeaches.com/point_lobos/garrapata_beach.html

The Grottos

This abstract image is of the grottos ice cave located in Colorado just west of Independence Pass on Highway 82.  I was there for the first time in 1990 and made this image. While the image looks very abstract, it is closer to the actual representation of how the cave environment appears.  In making this image I knew that it would require a long exposure on Tri-x film as well as a fairly small aperture to insure a sharp plane of focus.  I used a Zone Vl view camera with a 90 mm lens.  I visited this cave in the fall time when there was very little water to deal with.  I would have to assume that other times of the year this location could be filled with water or ice.  I enjoy finding these locations where the light dances off the walls and is reflected back into the shadows giving a complete range of tones revealing detail in the highlights and shadows.  To handle this contrast range of the scene, I overexposed the negative and then under developed it to reduce the overall contrast range.  This image was scanned from a darkroom print and does not represent the true quality and luminance of the actual print.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5186868.pdf

Angel Wing

In the mid 80's through the early 90's I made several visits to the slot canyons in the four comers region of the Southwest.  My first few trips into the slots were magical.  At the time only a handful of  people were visiting these locations and I had the place pretty much to myself.  I made a return trip about ten years later and was surprised that the canyons had turned into a major tourist attraction.  The first trip I made into the canyon, I had my thirteen year old son with me and we hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck with a local Indian girl and her newborn.  I gave her a few dollars and she offered to return around 4 pm. to pick us up.
The most successful photographer to make photographs in the slot canyons is Bruce Barnbaum.  He is one of the first photographers to venture into the numerous slot canyons of the Southwest.  His work is spectacular and all of it done with a large format camera. Another great photographer that spent years photographing the Southwest was Eliot Porter.  His work with dye-transfer color is unmatched by any print process to date.  I made this image in Lower Antelope canyon in 1994 using a Linhof 4x5 view camera.  It is the last trip I made into the slots in that area. I continued to seek out new narrow canyon locations to photograph that were less visited.  Often times I would be hiking alone and venturing into these remote locations can be a risk.  I always tried to keep my enthusiasm in check as I start my early morning climb down into these canyons.  It is easy to lose track of the time and the distance hiked when in the canyons.  After a few fool hardy mistakes I developed a strategy of four hours hiked in equaled four hours back.  So in the winter months I would be making my return trip around 1 or 2 in the afternoon to be out before dark.  There is always the urge to see what is up and  around the next corner and to push it a little too far.  A few times I found myself struggling to find my exit out of the canyon in the dark.
The Southwest of the U.S. is a remote area of intense beauty.  It is easy to overlook the danger that can exist when exploring this region.  It is important to have a "get back to safety" plan in place before heading into the rugged canyons.

http://www.barnbaum.com/barnbaum/Home.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Porter

Dunes before sunrise

Being on the dunes at Mesquite Flats near Stovepipe Wells before sunrise can produce the opportunity for some interesting images. With the anticipation of the sunrise it is easy to overlook the soft light that exists in the first few minutes of daylight.  It is fun to photograph numerous times in a location and to come away with a different look. I also like the color version of this image because of the amount of blue light that is found in the shadows.  Often times the dunes will appear as orange but in this early morning light they can have an entirely different color cast. Death Valley is a place that I can never seem to get enough of. It is a rugged and empty land with a constant changing light. It is one place that can make several different looking images just by revisiting a location at different times of the day.

http://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/stovepipewells.htm

Edward Weston Pepper #30

                   Edward Weston Pepper #30

    Edward Weston Nude

This most influential photograph for me in my early days of photography was Edward Weston's Pepper #30. It was this image that showed me photography could be done as an art. I discovered my interest in photography in the 60's and at the time there were not many resources available to learn from. I would spend my free time at the public library reading all I could about photography and studying the works of the master photographers. One of the first photographers that I discovered was Edward Weston. I was struck how he could take very simple subject matter and transform them into sensual shapes and forms. His image of the pepper #30 had the biggest impact on me, and still does today. Weston described the way he photographed as "to see the thing itself".  I could relate to this simple yet powerful message represented in his work. I learned that the simplest interpretation of a subject is often the strongest statement. When I am composing a photograph I start by looking for distractful things I can eliminate from scene just by changing my position to help isolate the thing of interest. The other important thing I learned from Edward about composition was understanding the principle he describe as "form follows function" first used by Frank Lloyd Wright with regards to architecture. If you study these two photographs you can see how very simple the subject matter is, but how powerful the images are.  I believe it is important, espically for beginners, to study the work of great photographers to understand how photography can transform ordinary objects into works of art. 

Mexican Street Photographer

We came across a photographer in San Juan Del Rio, Mx. He was in the city jardin standing around near the water fountain hoping to take portraits of people visiting the park. His simple camera was an old battered polaroid that had a piece of cloth covering the bellows to keep the light out. It is how he makes his living and probably the only equipment he has. I spoke with him for a moment and asked to take his picture. I could tell he was uneasy seeing me with my modern digital camera. After walking away I realized I should have asked him to take our picture and paid him the price for his work. It would have been a simple thing to do and I regret not doing so. I am reminded of this every time I look at this picture.