Still Life...

Been messing around in the studio with some flowers. Pretty fun...the little details. Here are a few from a recent arrangement we had pass our way.

Road Trip.

My wife and I hit the road for 10 days in December for a few reasons.

1. To get out of Dodge.

2. We had a little baby shower in California.

3. To see a few corners of the Southwest.

Keeping #3 in mind, I packed the cameras. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, since I'm always in a hurry on my cross-country drives, priding myself in my efficiency once I get to my destination. Example: Tallahassee, FL to Riverside, CA in two, yes two days, flying solo. I don't like to pull over, and take it all in. But, this trip, we made time.

We got a late jump on Saturday's return, and unfortunately made it to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon just after dark...bummer. I had big plans in the area, swinging by a few other parks before returning home on Sunday evening. No harm, though. We grabbed a pizza and a hotel, and hunkered down for the big day ahead.

6am...alarm. Cold as hell. We piled into the car, and drove into the park, pre-dawn.

The sun popped over the horizon, and the red canyon walls glowed with intensity, of course, you'll have to imagine it, because these are black and white shots.

Next stop, a few hours through Navajo land was Monument Valley, just before sunset. The monoliths spiking from the valley floor are breathtaking. Wish we would have had more time, but at least we pulled over a few times to capture it all. Enjoy...

Breckenridge Dew Tour.

Snowboard contests are tough to shoot. There are banners everywhere, TV cameras, and a lot of riff raff. It's different with a "unique" medium. I've never shot action with 4x5, so this was a first go. Marginal shutter speeds and slow lenses are interesting to work with, but re-thinking things never hurts. Here are a few shots from the event.

Still life.

Black and white isn't my forté, but when you simplify things, well, it's more simple. Out of sheer boredom and a recent kick to put some "artwork" on the walls around here, I borrowed the neighbor's orchid to work with for a bit...since ours is dead.

4x5 put to use.

Although it's just for fun, I've been getting into shooting big sheets of film...maybe because it is just for fun. Anyway, even though it's been done a thousand times, and has become cliché with the medium, grain mills here in the midwest are incredible to photograph. Under coats of paint, partially burned off by the baking sun, chipped away by driving summer hail storms and cracked by the dry winter, each mill is unique.

This summer, while exploring eastern Colorado and the southwest corner of Nebraska on some of the area's scenic backroads amidst sweeping corn fields, where every town can be identified on the horizon by its towering grain mills.

This photo was taken late on a hot summer evening in Lorenzo, CO, in the middle of a drive that swung through Sterling, CO, with a stop in Lorenzo, on the Colorado/Nebraska border, with a population of zero. Then, up to Sydney, Nebraska, and finally back West, through Eaton, CO, via CO 85 South (top photo).

FILM.

Like most photographers who have been shooting for a while, I learned the ropes on film. It wasn't until five or so years ago that I started shooting digital, and ever since, haven't turned back to film...until recently. In college, the 4x5 was my favorite tool. It was the clarity, control and technical advantages that the format had over the other two options at the time. 35 was so user-friendly, but didn't hold up to the quality I wanted. Medium format was clumsy, and not enough of an advantage over 35...if you ask me. So, 4x5 has always been an interest of mine.

This spring, I happened to come across a deal on a field camera posted on Craigslist that I couldn't refuse. Two lenses from KEH.com later, and we're back at it...stoked.

Thanks to my buddy Steve Jones for the photo.