Watson Lake / Peoples Valley, Arizona

Watson Lake


Peoples Valley

Prior to my friends art opening in Prescott, Arizona I went to Watson Lake which is literally a few miles form downtown Prescott. It's an incredible place with giant outcroppings of granite rocks. I wanted to get a nice picture of the place but did have a couple of challenges. I've never photographed in this area so I was unfamiliar with the location. Navigating a good location is tough because the rocks are huge and you have climb all over the place to get a good vantage point.

To my surprise Watson Lake is a park were you have to pay to get in. I didn't see the two signs that said, "closed at sunset". After I found a descent spot and the light faded to dark, I headed out to find a ranger waiting for me at my truck. He was very nice and didn't right me a ticket. I couldn't believe the park closed at sunset. How about 30 minutes or an hour after sunset. Photographers want the after light. I have to remind myself from time to time, I'm not special just because I carry a camera. I had to promise, I would fallow the rules next time and he let me go with a smile.

The second image isn't magic light and I'm positive it would be great at a different time of the day. It's a roadside shot of an open pasture with horses, Peoples Valley.

The Back Way Home

Peoples Valley


Off the road, State Rout 10, South of Skull Valley


Bar-B-Que, Peoples Valley


On my way back to Phoenix from Prescott, I drove the long way home through Skull Valley, Peoples Valley and Wickenburg. These are a few of the shots I made with my film camera along the way. Hyper clear images in the middle of the day. You have to embrace the harsh light and the contrast.

Dewey-Humbolt, Arizona

I took a road trip to Prescott to visit artist friend Phill Timper who was have an art opening last week. These are a few frames I made on the way up. This is the little town just East of Prescott named Dewey-Humbolt, Az.

Looking Back

On December 3, for First Friday art walk (Phoenix) I visited the Doris and John Norton Gallery inside The Phoenix Art Museum. The Gallery is dedicated to Photography and is in close collaboration with The Center For Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The Center is an archive and an academic research facility that houses thousands of photographs form over two hundred photographers ranging from the masters to contemporary works.

I went to the gallery to see the current show; Inspired Vision: by Brett Weston and Sonya Noskowiak. I have to tell you this is a great gallery and a diamond in the desert for the local photographic community.

While I was looking at the exhibit, I couldn’t help but to think about how fast digital has become the norm and that I was now looking at an archaic process. It was only 10 to 15 years ago that B & W printed on silver paper was still mainstream. It’s weird for me to be witness to a vanishing medium. The process is getting farther and farther away in my minds eye. The silver print has solidly become an alternative process much like the tin type, Collodium or Platinum Paladium.

Abstraction

Sometimes it's fun to look at something for a while and interpret what you see. Like seeing a puppies head in the clouds or something like that.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Arizona

I went to Boyce Thompson Arboretum Monday Nov. 15, for the first time in many years. I went with a friend Zak Saenz and we were hoping for a little Fall color to photograph. To our disappointment we were a couple of weeks early, so we decided to walk around and explore a little. There's a nice one and half mile walking path loop that is pretty cool. We ran into photographer Lindsey Johnson who likes to use the location for photographing couples. It's fun to talk about photography with new people in new places. Check out Zak and Lyndsey's links.

These are a few of the images I took while we were on our walk about. I knew there cliche but it's still fun to find things left behind by people.

Picturing Maricopa 2010

Exhibit selection by Curatorial Advisory Committee


Exhibit selection by Curatorial Advisory Committee


Exhibit selection by Curatorial Advisory Committee

























This years Picturing Maricopa Project 2010 funded by the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has come to a conclusion. This years project came to fruition with a free exhibit at the Burton Barr Library in downtown Phoenix. The exhibition will tour the Valley over the next year. If you have time please check it out. Here is a link the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust http://www.pipertrust.org/

"The Piper Trust has selected human services for the 2010 project that provide crisis care for vulnerable populations including respite care for families and caregivers".

The nonprofit I worked on was The Centers for Habilitation in Tempe http://www.tch-az.com/. For the exhibition I had to create an artist statement. This was my lede.

I was once told that the meaning of life is loving, caring, and sharing. I try to live up to these standards but so often I'm humbled by people who truly live their lives through these powerful words. This was the case at TCH.

I know by speaking to the photographers we all worked very hard in challenging conditions both physically and mentally. Some of the narratives are difficult subjects to photograph. The human condition can be sad one minute and rewarding the next. For more information about the photographers and the nonprofits we helped go to http://www.pipertrust.orgpicturingmaricopa2010.html

The Picturing Maricopa project aids nonprofit organization who traditionally don’t have money budgeted to hire commercial photographers. Through the financial support of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust the 15 non-profits organizations will reap the benefit that 15 professional photographers can provide. It’s our goal as professionals to help them communicate who they are and how they serve our communities.

The exhibit is a mix of photographs ranging in size from 8 X 10 to 30 X 40. All 15 photographers are represented in the show. We all have at least 2 prints some have up to 4 or five depending on themes.


EXHIBITION OPENING: 
Oct. 26 to Dec. 6, 2010
 Burton Barr Central Library 
1221 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ. 
2nd Floor Reading Room


This years Curatorial Advisory Committee who selected the 15 photographer’s and final print exhibition are:

Rebecca Senf
 / Assistant Curator 
Center for Creative Photography at University of Arizona 
and Phoenix Museum of Art

Elizabeth (Betsy) Schneider
 / Assistant Professor of Photography
 ASU Herberger Institute School of Art

Eddie Shea 
/ Graphic Designer

A huge thank you goes out to the fine people at the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the Curatorial Advisory Committee and to Dawn Hocking who gave me incredible access at The Centers for Habilitation.

Small Victories and Short Steps

To those that don't know this is my wife Lorie. To preface the post, I have to say I'm very proud of her. She's a 5 time Ironman finisher plus competed in the world championships in Kona, Hawaii 2009. This year she's been training for the Ford Arizona Ironman coming up mid Nov. 2010. All was going as scheduled until she decided to do a fun race in California, the Toyota Malibu Triathlon seven weeks ago. On the bike course she hit a pot hole that sent over the handle bars and onto the pavement. She broke her pelvis in four places including the sacrum. Fortunately no head injury or surgery but she's been confined to a walker for the past seven weeks.

Today was the first day she walked without the walker. She should fully recover but it's going to take months. For this years Ford Ironman race in Tempe, Arizona she wants to do the 2.4 mile swim course and then disqualify herself because she can't bike or run. She already paid the non refundable entry fee so she feels she should do it. She's a trooper but I I'm not to sure this is a good idea. The swim course can be battle zone with 2,000 people swimming over each other. But, I shouldn't be surprised she is a fighter and sitting on her butt isn't an option.

Both photo's were taken Friday morning. To no surprise the dogs name is Kona.

Desert Botanical Gardens, II

The monarch butterfly garden and some local bee's feasting on the pollen. A couple of the Agave plant photo's are converted to black and white in the first post. Enjoy and I hope you find these a refreshing view of the obvious. Click on the photo for a larger version. Happy Halloween.

Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix

Macro views of some very sharp defensive points.

Monday October 25, I was invited to go to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens by my friend Zak. In the past, I wasn't one you would find rooming around in a place like this but I have to admit I really enjoyed it. If you take your time and look around you'll find beautiful color, shapes and patterns in the plants. These are some of the Black and White images I liked. I will post some of the color soon.

Desert Center, California

Over the years I've driven many times to Los Angeles, California on Interstate 10. It's 350 miles to my sister-in-laws front door. When you enter California there's a high desert community called Chiriaco Summit, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiriaco_Summit,_California. It's about 35 miles East of Indio and Palm Springs.

Beyond the General Patton Memorial Museum http://www.generalpattonmuseum.com/ and the Chiriaco Summit truck stop gas station there is this eerie forgotten community to the east that resembles a modern ghost town. I've driven by it dozens of times over the years and was always curious about its isolated emptiness and abandoned buildings. These are a few of the pictures I took while fulfilling my curiosity.

Addendum: I've been corrected by a blogger that the photo's I'm showing in this post are from Desert Center just East of Chiriaco Summit. For additional information about the area visit or call the Chiriaco visitors center. Here is a link to the center: http://chiriacosummit.com/information_center.php

Vulture Mine, Arizona. A Photographic Extravaganza

Polaroid 600SE


Polaroid 600SE


Polaroid 600SE

All the photo's below are Canon 5 D Mark II DSLR.

Canon 5D Mark II 35mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens
Heidi Huber, Andy DeLisle and Me Me


Canon 5D Mark II, Electrical system. 50mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens / Power Station


Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens / Me Me the Cat


Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens / Me Me the Cat


Canon 5D Mark II 50mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens


Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm Prime Lens / Me Me the Cat


Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm Prime Lens / The School House


Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm Prime Lens / School House Swings

A photographic extravaganza with photographers Heidi Huber and Andy DeLisle. Click on there names to see there work.

The Vulture Mine is about 10 miles southwest of Wickenburg, Arizona. It's now a ghost town but at one time close to 3ooo people lived and worked in the area. This is what's left of the gold and silver mine community. We went Aug. 22 which means it was really hot. I even stirred up a rattle Mojave Rattle Snake that was resting comfortably under a creosote bush.