Welcome to Amacoco

It is spring break this week for our kids.  So of course that means they are bored.  As an effort to quiet the natives, Monday night we took them to the Mesa Arts Center (a favorite place to shoot portraits) to experience Amococo.

The family getting their zen on (click pic for a bigger size)

 What on earth is Amococo do you say?  Well it's hard to describe but imagine a giant inflatable maze that has been scuplted with influence of Islamic architecture, Archimedean solids and Gothic cathedrals (taken from the brochure).  In short it was way cool.

Top of one of the rooms (click pic for a bigger image)

 The lighting inside was crazy as you can see from my photos.  The whole experience is meant to be absorbed by both sound and light.  The volunteers explained at the entrance to wander around and then find a place to sit and relax.  Of course I wandered around and took pictures. I did eventually take a break and find a little cove to lean back against.  It was quite relaxing just staring up at the colors and listening to the "zen" music.  I wander if you can order these on Amazon?

A view of the many coves (click pic for a bigger size)

We finished out the night playing hide and seek.  Which mainly consisting of me hiding and the kids tracking me down. For those here in Phoenix I definitely recommend going to this if you have the time.  Admission is only $5 per person. 

A ghost is chasing us (click pic for a bigger size)

For those here in Phoenix interested in seeing this, here is the Mesa Arts Center link. And a liitle more info (and more cool pictures) on Amococo can be found here.

Until next time...

Vee Dub

This shot was taken on our Phoenix photo walk back in February. I'm pretty sure there were several of us that snapped this bug. The color on it was amazing. 

Fellow photog Mike Olbinski has a shot on his Flickr page that is a must see. He mentioned how special these cars are to him. I have to admit to that as well. 

My first car was a bright canary yellow '71 VW Bug. It had a 4 speed manual mated to 1.5L engine and was a beast to drive. I remember hitting 90mph one day going down a big hill back in Illinois. One of many "total lack of judgment" decisions from my youth. It is a wonder that little ol car didn't fly apart.

It was a forgiving car when it came to learning how to drive a stick. The clutch was generous and made for easy shifting. 

I paid a whopping $500 for it and drove for it about a year. I ended up selling it to a friend for that same $500. Not a bad deal. 

Seeing this one took me back to my crazy youth. Slug Bug!

Baby Charlotte

Switching gears this week.  I'd like to introduce you to a cutie named Charlotte.  She is the newest pride and joy of friends of ours.  As you can see the camera already loves her.

I love to mix up my photography subjects.  For one it keeps it interesting and two there is always something new to be learned.  Going from the rugged landscape of the Arizona desert to something as precious as this covers the rainbow in technique and fun.
Shooting landscapes here in AZ you are working with natural light.  Granted it is nice and golden but nonetheless you are in a partnership with Mother Nature.  You get what she gives you.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Shrewd she is.

Going into the studio there are no partnerships.  You are the master.  The studio strobes are there to serve the photographer.  It is their job to light the subject in the most flattering way. In some cases it is very easy, like Baby Charlotte.  And in some cases where you are going for a particular "mood" it can be challenging.  But therein lies the fun.  Forcing the light to your will.

For this shot of "Charlie" I was able to get away with one strobe and a reflector.  The strobe was set to camera left and the reflector off to camera right.  I believe Charlie's mother was right above the camera with words of encouragement for her young model.  As you see she took mom's advice to heart and struck a pose.

I can't say enough how fun shoots like these turn out.  You can not beat seeing that smile that comes across something as small and wonderful and capturing it for all time.  Very nice job Miss Charlotte.

Until next time.

Get the Shot

Last weekend started off with gray skies and a good chance of rain in the forecast.  Not exactly what I was hoping for as I had two outdoor portrait sessions slated.  The rain came as forecasted so the portrait sessions were rescheduled.  Of course this doesn't mean that picture taking is off limits, on the contrary it can deliver some awesome shots.  It just depends on what you are looking to capture.

For me I was amped up for outdoor portraits, not gray dull, and raining.  Normally I would just refocus and head out in search for a rainy day shot.  You can almost always get a good black & white shot on rainy days.  However, I was not feeling it so I decided this weekend would pass without a photo outing.  Parish the thought!

Sunday came with the hope of clearing skies. Around mid day the sky was beginning to tease me with hints of blue sky.  I was hoping by sunset I would get my wish of a blue sky packed with puffy clouds.  At 5pm those wishes came true.  I set off for Lost Dutchman State Park. Woohoo!

Upon arrival another fellow photo pulled into the parking lot.  Chikku is an amazing photographer and has the awards to back it up.  He's an avid landscape photographer so it was no surprise running into him.  Together we set out to get some brackets.   See Chikku's work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24884086@N05/

I quickly set up for my shot of the Superstition Mountains as I liked what I saw right away.  This was the first of about 30 images I took during the sunset hours.  Out of all 30 images the first one was my favorite hands down.  This is such a rarity for me as normally I tend to get more in the groove as the shoot goes on.  It is that feeling that makes you think each shot will be better than the next.  Sometimes that is true sometimes it is not.

Being an engineer by trade I tend to over analyze at times and miss the obvious.  In this case, the obvious was right in front me when I arrived.  The light was perfect, the clouds were there.  What more does one need? Get the shot! 

It proved to be a great reminder of the saying "seize the day".  In most shooting situations as this I would have normally taken some time to scout the area, figure where to setup, etc.  Had I done that, well I wouldn't be writing this. :)  Even Chikku made a comment about getting this shot early while he was busy setting up.

I count myself fortunate for getting this shot.  I also chalk some of it up to "success is where preparation meets opportunity".  Something I will be reminded of from here on out.

Until next time...

Our Dog

Meet Tootsie, our ugly dog.  I know what you are thinking, how can you say that?  Well, lets just call it like we see it.  One could argue she falls into the category of "she's so ugly she's cute".  But what does that really mean?  It means she is an ugly dog.

Of course as we all know, looks aren't everything.  Personality counts too.  Especially with this one.  She was a rescue dog, meaning that she was rescued the day she was supposed to be put down.  Maybe she should of been named Lucky.

Tootsie is a mix of two breeds, Afgan pincher and Border Terrier.  When it comes to energy she's 100% pure breed.  We can take her out on a 5 mile run and within an hour of that she is rested and ready to go again.  Which is a good thing since our kids never leave her alone.

Its been a few years since we have had a dog. When we lost our last one (had her for almost 17 years) we like to came unglued.  At the time I could not imagine getting another one and going through that all over again.  However as child growing up I always had a dog.   What fun times those were.  So feeling guilty about denying my kids those same moments, I reluctantly gave in and we got Tootsie back in December.

So here we are with our ugly dog.  Let the memories begin.

Until next time...

Tracks

This week we are back to shooting with the Canon.  I actually made it out of the house early one morning last week and headed for one of my favorite spots, Tempe Town Lake.  Of course there is some bias as it is close to work so I can either stop by on my way in or way home.  It does offer a variety of subjects to shoot...bridges, water, trains, light rails, people, boats, birds, you get the idea.

A few weeks back I posted some shots taken at dusk of the Mill Avenue Bridge.  I was quite pleased with those so I figured why not come back during the morning and see what could be captured.  My goal was to be here before sunrise but that didn't pan out.  I blame my alarm for not being loud enough.

With the sun up I knew I didn't have long with the golden light.  I snapped several of the train bridge from a low vantage point hoping the blue sky would provide nice contrast.  Those weren't bad but nothing to get excited about.  With no one around I decided to climb up on the train track and see what kind of perspective that would yield.  Using the "No Tres.." sign to pull myself up I made my way down the tracks.  I snapped a few brackets at various angles tilting the camera each time. Again those were ok, nothing great.

Finally, I noticed how smooth the track was and how I could see the bridge reflection on it.  Hmm.  I placed the camera right on the track and set the aperture wide open for a shallow depth of field.  Happy with that shot I made my back down to the truck. 

 

I will have to say this is probably #2 on my list of shots where I was a little nervous.  The first one being the fog shot in http://chrisfrailey.blogspot.com/2010/08/you-just-never-know.html.  The light rail track is near this one so every time the light rail approached I kept looking over my shoulder.  I didn't want to be that photographer you hear about on the news who got hit while standing in the middle of the track.

Until next time...

That Camera in Your Pocket

So lately I've been using my iPhone more and more for photography.  In the past I have always dismissed it as a viable source since you couldn't change lenses, play with the shutter or aperture.  However with all the recent applications (apps) that have come out, things have changed.  Creativity and minor adjustments can now be made within the phone to yield some pretty good results.  

Most of the photogs have heard the expression "the best camera is the one that's with you" as stated by the well known Seattle based photographer Chase Jarvis (www.chasejarvis.com).  I couldn't agree more.  The past few months I've been able to capture some decent shots with my iPhone that would of been missed entirely simply because I didn't have my "good" camera with me.

One thing I've come to appreciate with the iPhone camera is its limitations.  Huh? Did I miss something?  Like most things with limitations it forces you to find another way.  In this case I have to think about composition & lighting even more to get a useful shot.  This is great practice!  By not having additional features, I'm forced to think the shot through from beginning to end.  Granted I should be doing this every time, but with certain situations you can give yourself "extra room" with a DSLR.  You simply don't get this with a fixed focus camera.    

Practice, practice, practice.  The sure fire way to get better at something.  By having my phone with me nearly all the time, I am able to get that practice.   I also make sure I only use the apps on my phone to make corrections or enhancements (no going to Photoshop or Lightroom).  I'll have to admit it is actually fun using a few of the apps and isn't that what it is all about!  They don't have the power of Photoshop but they do offer some unique filters and such that allow you a great deal of creativity.

I encourage anyone with a newer smartphone to start using its camera if you are not.  And certainly try out some of the apps available (iTunes or the Android store).  One of my favorites for the iPhone is Camera+.  It offers quite a bit of options and is pretty affordable at $1.99. (Note, this is by no means a paid endorsement only a personal recommendation).

Until next time...