Feb 19, 2014 | B&W Photography, Landscape Photography
What does Costner’s Wyatt Earp, City Slickers, 310 to Yuma and Cowboys & Aliens all have in common? They were all shot in part at Plaza Blanka. I’ve seen those white rock cliffs and often wondered if the location was only good for Hollywood. So finding that Plaza Blanca is not far from Santa Fe, we decided to see if we could find it and check it out for ourselves. Now, it is not easy to find unless you know the key, and that’s to find the pizzeria on 284 where you make the turn into the hills. The first day we went looking for it, we ended up in Taos which turned out great. But not wanting to fail, we looked for it the second day and had success finding it.
We arrived at the cliffs a bit early for the light but just at the right time for B&W photography. What’s the difference? Well, the light was still a little on the hard side. That’s to say the shadows were still pretty black. Now I honestly thought the white rock would bounce a whole more light around than they did. But not an issue, I just went into B&W mode. That’s using the contrast to bring out more texture, character in the rock. Now you might recognize this as the final fight scene from Cowboys & Aliens except the space ship is missing.
Keep in mind, we were all just cruising, photography was just a fun side note to the laughs and wonders we were enjoying. So I went on the walk light with just the Df / 18-35AFS and no filters. One of the amazing things was, there was literally no sign Hollywood had ever been on location here. We traveled extensively through Alabama Hills where you can finds signs of Hollywood 50yrs after the film was shot, but not a thing here. In fact, we had the place all to ourselves except for the Ravens that were performing overhead for us.
Key to making this all work is understanding that the highlights would be really bright, the shadows really dark and you arrange the elements in the frame accordingly. If there were NO clouds, there would have been NO photography. But such was not the case so they could be incorporated into the photos. With this understanding, shooting with the Df with its six stop range, the finishing was pretty simple. In ACR, the Shadow slider went to the right, the Highlight slider to the left and the White slider either way depending on the image. Because of the texture in the cliffs, I used Clarity a little more than I normally do. Then in Photoshop, I use Nik Silver Efex for the B&W conversion. It was a great start and as the light headed into the west, it just got better. mtc
Feb 18, 2014 | Landscape Photography
I love a photo challenge! Scott for his Exposure project wanted to go back to a locale he had shot some seven years ago called Jackalope. I’m not really a street shooter and I’m really not a “pottery” street shooter but Scott was so excited, there was no way I couldn’t dive in. Now Jackalope is not just a pottery barn, no way! There are glass blowers and windmills, juniper furniture and wagons. I went with just the Df, 35f1.8AFS to go light, very narrow DoF and take advantage of the 35mms ability to focus very close so I could get in tight. There are hours and hours and hours of photography at this locale. There is no doubt that in this “shoot out” Scott walked away with the best images. But I … we had a great time and that’s truly what photography is all about.
Feb 18, 2014 | Landscape Photography
Sharon & I were able to go on a Valentine weekend getaway to Santa Fe, NM and had the great fortunate of spending it with our dear friends the Kelby’s, Scott & Kalebra. Now, photography was not the priority but you know, we worked a little in. I have to admit, I found it very difficult to shoot with all the laughing. It’s a bitch to get a sharp image!
After an amazing breakfast, we hit the streets to simply cruise, look and enjoy. Of course, there were cameras on the stroll, in my case the Df, 35f1.8AFS and 58f1.4AFS and nobody recognized me because I was walking around with the camera on a strap! After checking out the very cool Monroe Gallery, sampling candied ginger and Starbucks, we headed up to Canyon St to check out the galleries there. It’s a really cool street Scott had walked before but was new to the rest of us. The motorcycle above is from the plaza area of Santa Fe but these other two are from Canyon.
I really got into this “bust” that we came across. Now I thought about putting something in the photo for scale, but it would have taken away from the subject. But to give you some idea, each piece is bigger than your basic brick with the overall piece about five feet tall. Then we were encouraged to head down this one alley where a painter was at work. The very talented and finished eye of Kalebra pointed out the tools on the table. Now what she does with her trusty iPhone is really cool, I so enjoy watching her, the smile with every click is priceless! And then there is Scott who kept us all in stitches (and some great images, check it out here on his Exposure)! There’s a whole lot more, this is a good start to the fun.
Feb 14, 2014 | B&W Photography
Out cruisin with my Valentine this morning and the Df / 35AFS and came upon this cool work of art. The only thing on this that is from an actual motorcycle are the rims. Everything else are common household items to that make it look like a motorcycle. I just thought it was really cool looking. The image is right out of the camera other than running through OnOne Perfect B&W with a touch of its Glow.
Feb 13, 2014 | B&W Photography
Yeap, B&H put the new 35f1.8AFS in my hands PDQ and I like! Sharp lens especially at f/1.8. Autofocusing – fast and responsive. Really sick MFD with outstanding corner to corner performance. Physically small and compact, slightly odd fitler size but for the price, it’s a screamer. First impressions … blows away my old 35f2!
As far as these photos go, top one is looking north and the bottom one is driving 45 miles north and looking south on the same clouds. Finishing was a simple single click using Nik Silver Efex Pro.
Feb 12, 2014 | Wildlife Photography
It was a gorgeous, sunny, winter’s morning with a thin layer of new snow on the ground. The scream from downstairs had me flying out of my chair at my desk and racing down. I get down to see Sharon pointing franticly out the front window and the first thing I thought was, Bobcat! Chipmunk … Chipmunk! Why all the excitement over a chipmunk? It’s the beginning of February and we normally don’t see them out of hibernation until the middle of April. And that wasn’t the only one, we saw another one today and that is really blowing our minds. And it doesn’t stop there.
We have Band-tailed Pigeons in the feeders as well starting a week ago. We normally don’t have them until mid to late summer! They like it warm and dry … warm and dry and it’s February they’re in the Sierra! And if that weren’t enough, our normal winter main resident, the Clark’s Nutcracker is absent. They should be pounding our suet right now to feed their young and we don’t have a one! Now we keep records to watch the patterns over the years but what we’ve been seeing doesn’t fit any pattern of our decades here. It will be very interesting how it all plays out. The challenge now is to get the shots of these “spring’ critters in the snow. Making the common, uncommon ….
