Dusty western streets lined with aged buildings hinting very strongly at a bygone time.
Characters in period dress move through the streets as if they’ve returned home from the present day. That was the Arizona PPA Fall Fest this year organized by AZPPA and headed up by board member Bruce Roscoe of Alayna Photography. Bruce created a calendar with this great bunch of actors and arranged to share their talents during this event. There were five instructors, ten actors and thirty-five photographers in action, learning, sharing and generally having a good time.
I gotta tell you if you live in Arizona, are a photographer and not a member of Arizona PPA you are missing out on education, networking and building lifelong friendships with those of a like mind.
But, I digress just a bit. Here’s an image created after the sun sank (sunk?) below the horizon of the ‘haunted church’ done at the end of the street.
This was ‘Filo’ one of the actors posing during a light painting exercise held at the end of the day. Lumix GH4 with a 12-35mm f2.8 lens was mounted on a tripod and a series of bracketed exposures was made of the church scene followed by Filo being lit in various positions. Images were then striped together to have our actor studying up on his ethereal image inside.
If you are not in Arizona there is probably a Professional Photographers of America Affiliated group not too far away from you. You can check the list. I travel around the country and have spoken to many of these groups and I can tel you that the education acquired from being a member and participating as a volunteer can help you grow your photography business.
Lots of photographers suggest that they can get all the photo education they need from the web and online tutorials. I beg to differ there’s no beating live in person education and if you are not already a member of one of these organizations I encourage you to at least visit for one or two meetings. You be glad you did!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – The event was help at Canyon Creek Ranch and should you find yourself in central Arizona it’s a place you might want to check out!
I went down to authorville today to find a quote for this Sunday. John Steinbeck. You may have heard of him. He wrote over twenty-five books. Some of them pretty well known! He also penned this quote and I think it speaks volumes to something we photographers need to spend time thinking upon.
“In art the subject upon which you concentrate is unimportant; it is only the quality of your concentration that counts.” John Steinbeck
Spend some time with this thought.
OK. Welcome back and here are some ideas from me.
We photographers take a shit-pot (please excuse my french) of images and find ourselves disappointed that we don’t have a really strong body of work. I feel it has to do with the ease of being able to make a picture these days and the ease of being able to share them, And, the lack of time and energy we spend on creating any single image. I see many photos posted receiving comments like ‘Fantastic!’ ‘Beautiful!’ And one of my favorites, ‘Amazing!!’
When in reality the image is nothing more than an OK snapshot.
I feel the best images I have been able to create are the ones that have involved planning, thinking, and yes, some serious concentration. I hadn’t realized it quite so clearly before. Thanks Mr Steinbeck for bringing a little clarity to my thinking and my art!
I’m a fan of some of Georgia O’Keeffe’s art and with her inspiration I am using multiple images and this cow skull on the fence that I photographed at the last Arizona Professional Photographers all day event where I was teaching at a Western set town called Canyon Creek Ranch… (should you ever be in the area it’s a fun place to visit with history, jeep rides, horseback riding and more)
Inspired by O’keeffe
I call this process Photo-Synthesis whereby I use multiple images and blend them together to create something that I believe is greater than the sum of the parts.texture on the fence was created with two leaf images and a sheet metal image using differing Blend Modes in Adobe Photoshop.
This image is part of my ‘play to learn’ time. ‘Play to learn time’ is important for growing your skills and stretching vision.
What have you done lately to push your skills to another level??
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – If you would like to have me come speak to your local photography group or set up one on one lessons let me know…
If you follow Trey Ratcliff you probably already heard about the brand new MacPhun plugin/app AURORA HDR. Well I can’t wait to try it out when it becomes available for download tomorrow but here is a sneak peek video by Trey show you some possibilities…
Trey Ratcliff image using aurora HDR software
Trey’s Vid.
If you are looking to learn more about the HDR software click below.
More images from the Sky Ranch Lodge photo shoot in Sedona, Arizona. If you would like to see details about the shoot and additional images you can check them out here.
King Fireplace room.
Pillow & headboard treatment detail.
Kitchenette and fireplace room.
reat property with wonderful grounds and spectacular views. Coming to Sedona? Check it out…
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
Best embroidery ever. Give Queensboro a try, get a $20 instant credit to get started by clicking on the logo! They specialize in great quality custom logo apparel and promotional products with the best customer service.
Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
