Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona

It’s certainly has been a while and for that I apologize. I’ve been extremely fortunate to be very busy with my commercial work this year which has put the fun photography on the back burner.

These pictures are of Oak Creek and the exposures range from 30 seconds to three minutes. The silky smooth water is an effect due to the long shutter speeds. A cable release is a good idea and a tripod is a necessity when shooting long exposures like this. I also used a neutral density filter to aid in the long exposures.

Scottsdale Preserve / Large Format

From Phoenix take a short drive to North Scottsdale and you'll find a piece of State Trust land that is being considered by the City of Scottsdale to become an extension of the McDowell Mountain Preserve. There are quite a few interesting rock formation through out the landscape as well as evidence of American Indians. This cone shaped rock is one of those interesting locations.

This photograph was made with an Arca Swiss 8 X 10 inch view camera using a 155mm Schneider lens. The film was Illford HP-5, tray processed in PMK Pyro.

Dust Storm Video

Check out the first Monsoon dust storm of the year. Phoenix, Arizona July 5, 2011 7:40pm.

A giant dust storm barrels into the Phoenix metro area. Visibility went from nice late afternoon light to absolutely darkness and zero visibility in a matter of two minutes. The weather folks reported the dust storm was 60 miles wide and 1500 to 3000 feet high.

Everybody's a Comedian

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Tilt on the Road

Tilt on the Road Gallery Cottonwood, Arizona. Digital


Old town Cottonwood, Arizona. Digital


Junk yard near Clarkdale, AZ. Digital


Railroad tie's piled up near the Clarkdale, AZ. train station.
This picture was made with a medium format camera using
Kodak Portra 160VC film.


Love the film but I wish I had a model to shoot. I'm starting to dislike being alone all the time when shooting pictures like this.


Small junk yard Clarkdale, AZ. This picture was made with a
medium format camera using Kodak Portra 160VC film.


Historic Clarkdale, Arizona is a couple of miles from Cottonwood.


I've been so busy with my commercial work that I haven't had time for my personal photography. I apologize, but I have to run with the work when it comes. Thank you for sticking with me.

I went to Cottonwood, Arizona over the weekend to support my friends at the Tilt Gallery. http://www.tiltgallery.com/. Since I’m represented by the Tilt, I want to support them however I can. The owners opened a new gallery in Cottonwood, Arizona called Tilt on the Road. The owners wanted to try something new outside of Phoenix. They now have a beautiful space on Main Street in Old Town historic Cottonwood. It's really pretty cool since some of the local wineries have opened wine tasting rooms and fine dinning restaurants are now opened for business. Historic Cottonwood is going through a rebirth and becoming a hip little town.

I got to Cottonwood a little early around 3pm and drove around to find some interesting places. I remember when I went to Northern Arizona University we used to swim in the Verde River in this area. It's a very quit historic community where time sort of stands still. These are just a few of the locations that I found interesting in the short time I was there.

Catherine

Last week my friend and old neighbor Rodney called me up to tell me his daughter Catherine is graduating from high school. He asked me if I could shoot some pictures of her for her graduation invitations. Of course, I said yes. I used to live directly across the street from Rodney so we’ve had plenty of early morning coffee’s breaks together. He also is a contractor so he has bailed me out of plenty of household emergencies like burst pipes and so on. It was the least I could do for all he has done for me.

I think this is my favorite shot from the session. We started inside there home and did some formal portraits at the piano and then moved to the local park. Since the light was fleeting we really didn’t have a lot of time. We had to work pretty fast at this point.

What I like about this image is that she looks great ans she’s right on the edge of the fleeting sun light. I like how the grass and her arms are in shadow and her face is right on the edge of the light. For me, it made for a perfectly lit environmental portrait.

Ballerina

This Sarah, a beautiful young lady and an aspiring ballerina who gave me the opportunity to photograph her a couple of weeks ago.

I'm a full-time commercial photographer here in Phoenix. As a commercial photographer I find myself taking a lot of portraits of business people. I really wanted to photograph a young person to add some diversity to my portfolio. I asked a friend of mine who is a dance teacher at a local high school if she new anyone that would be interested in a photo session with me. In return I traded for a signed model release and I provide a nice selection of prints. I got more then I could have wished for. This is one of our favorites.