Project 365 - Week 24 "Coldwater Springs Park"

Hello again. I'm super excited about this weeks post for several reasons. First off, I'm happy that I'm caught up and posting as I should be. Its tough juggling so many things at once, but I think I'm getting there. The second reason is that I had a lot of fun this week. I was kind of inspired by Gavin Hoey's 15 minute photo challenges. He's a photographer in the UK who is amazing and really has a great handle on Photoshop as well. In a nutshell, he picks locations and gives himself one lens and 15 minutes to see what he can come up with. I liked the thought process on this as it challenges you to 1: work outside, both literally and in reference to your comfort zone and 2: its a great way to push yourself to see a little more artistically. To get an idea of what he does, check out his most recent 15 minute challenge at an aviation museum (http://gavtrain.com/).

So from his idea, I decided to use this as a way to try my hand at a few new things. I've been wanting to photograph at a neighborhood park down the street from us and took this opportunity to do so. I had a blast crawling all over the playground equipment looking for things to photograph, I felt a bit like a kid again. It wasn't just the work with the camera that was fun either. I wanted to experiment with Photoshop to see what I could do to my photos to maybe add a little extra punch to them. I did a lot of touching up such as B&W conversions, split toning, desaturation and hue adjustments, color specific curves adjustments, multiple exposures, and more. It was a lot of time, but the pay off was that I learned a lot as well. Well, I hope that you enjoy this weeks selections. Until next time.

Day 162 - Twisted

Day 163 - Sometimes You Have to Let Things Slide

Day 164 - Prehistoric Ribs

Day 165 - The Nuts and Bolts of the Operation

Day 166 - Holding Me Up

Day 167 - At the Helm

Day 168 - Alley-Oop

Project 365 - Week 22 & 23 "Chevelle"

Alrighty. Here we are, officially caught up in the world of Project 365. This is not only the last of the marathon. but is one in and of itself. This post covers the last two weeks for a whopping fourteen photos. The idea that I had for this collective theme was my fathers Chevelle. I love classic cars for their designs, they evoke much more visually than most modern cars, it doesn't hurt either that this particular car is one of my favorite shades of blue. Using nothing but a single off camera flash I lit all of these photos. It was fun trying out different angles and seeing how I could get the highlights and shadows to work effectively given the curves and lines of the car.

This project was also something of some creative lighting in that for all of the photos (the first is an exception), there was no backdrop only the absence of light to create the black background. This added another layer of creativeness, in that to create the black background, I had to have the flash more in front of the camera pointed at me, ultimately limiting my choices in lighting, as I could not light from where the camera was or anywhere from the sides.

Now the real challenge was the first photo. There was still no backdrop, but instead I used 5+ photos to ultimately give me this single shot. I fired off four separate photos (later blended in Photoshop), in which I lighted the hood and entire length of the car. I then took three other shots in which I back lit the car, highlighting the edges and created a background devoid of light. Once in Photoshop all of the images were blended to create a fully lit car while still maintaining a black background. I'm extremely excited about this shot, as I have been wanting to take it for some time now. Thanks to some work in Photoshop I was able to capture in my fathers garage, what usually requires a studio, with backdrops and several large studio lights; with nothing more than a single off camera flash.

A big thanks must be given to my wife, who as always, was a tremendous help in her aid with the lighting. This shoot would have taken most of a day if done by myself.

Day 148 - Chevelle

Day 149 - Chevelle Detail #1

Day 150 - Chevelle Detail #2

Day 151 - Chevelle Detail #3

Day 152 - Chevelle Detail #4

Day 153 - Chevelle Detail #5

Day 154 - Chevelle Detail #6

Day 155 - Chevelle Detail #7

Day 156 - Chevelle Detail #8

Day 157 - Chevelle Detail #9

Day 158 - Chevelle Detail #10

Day 159 - Chevelle Detail #11

Day 160 - Chevelle Detail #12

Day 161 - Chevelle Detail #13

Project 365 - Week 21 "Grey Hawk Community"

Here is my second post of my catch up series for 365. Just last week, I was asked by my sister, who works for Grey Hawk Community in Scottsdale (http://www.grayhawkcommunity.org/), to photograph their office space and snap some shots from around the community. It was nice break to get back to shooting some interiors. I've always enjoyed photographing architectural spaces, so this was a treat for me. I'd really love to get the chance to photograph some of the homes in the community as there are some amazing ones.

Another side of the task, was to take some photos from around the community. I opted for taking more artistic shots, especially so that residents wouldn't look at them and know outright, that it was their home in the photo. The first photo was my favorite of these community shots while the remaining six are from the office space. I hope that you enjoy.

Day 141 - Who's Pot Could This Be

Day 142 - Office Entrance

Day 143 - Map Room

Day 144 - Conference Room

Day 145 - Lounge Room

Day 146 - Lounge Room 2

Day 147 - Rental Space

Project 365 - Week 20 "Capoeira"

Hello again. I have to apologize for my delay in 365 posts. This past couple of weeks has found me back logged in photography. But over the next several days I will be updating with posts to get us all caught up.

A couple of weeks ago, I had posted about a West Valley Arts Council event that was held in Surprise, AZ. I posted several photos of the Quetzal Guerrero portion of the event, but only teased about the Capoeira portion. For those that are unknown to Capoeira here is a brief excerpt from Wikipedia on the martial art:

"Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, music, and dance. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly kicks and quick leg sweeps, with some ground and aerial acrobatics, knee and headbutts."

Berimbau

The show was put on by Group Axe Capoeira located here in the valley and based out of Chandler. The group was amazing and performed amazingly well. If given the chance it is definitely recommended that you see one of their demonstrations. As you can see from the photos, it is not just a martial arts demonstration but one of music as well. I personally enjoyed the martial art aspect as I have practiced other arts myself, but have always enjoyed the rhythmic moves, fluidity and dance aspect of Capoeira.

Drums

To photograph the performance I used my 70-300mm telephoto and shot in JPG which is a rarity for me as I usually shoot in RAW. The reason for this is that with such fast movement and constant changes, I had my camera set to its fastest drive mode. This allowed me to capture several photos all in 1 second. By shooting in JPG, my camera could handle the mass of photos entering it as well as store tons more than RAW, as JPGs are considerably smaller in size. The first photo line is for one such moment (the move looks to be a reverse 540 kick). The remainder of the photos are simply stills from such scenes, ranging from single performers to dual performers, "sparring."

Day 134 - Aerial #1

Day 135 - Ground #1

Day 136 - Sparring #1

Day 137 - Aerial #2

Day 138 - Aerial #3

Day 139 - Sparring #2

Day 140 - Sparring #3

Choose Wisely

Last week I posted a couple of photos and asked your opinion on which was the better of the two. It looks like you were on the same page as I was, because the photo that I submitted to the local paper was the same one that you chose. One comment really nailed it on the head as to my thoughts on the photo, " I like how it looks. Very sweet, like he loves his violin and is happy to be playing. It shows a relationship between the two." Thanks Renee. Anyways, here it is.

Now for this week I have another pair of photos. Same rules apply. I'm curious to know what your favorite of the two is. Leave your choice and any comments/thoughts that you have.

Quetzal Guerrero and The Warriors

Quetzal Guerrero & The Warriors

This weekend my wife and I made our way out to the concert and exhibition put on by the West Valley Arts Council. The exhibition was the of Group Axe Capoeira based here in Phoenix (yes, I got photos of this as well) while the concert was that of Quetzal Guerrero and The Warriors. It was a very well done event for both groups and we had a blast.

I was especially excited that I got to try my hand at some concert photography. It was a rather small event, but it still gave me some experience and I got to learn from both my achievements and mistakes. It was a beautiful day and the lighting was awesome. Being mid winter, the sun was already low which, added to the late afternoon light, was perfect for lighting the stage.

I am happy with the photos that I got, but could not choose my favorite between the two below of Guerrero playing his violin. So as a little involvement from you, I'm asking that you leave a comment as to which of the two is your favorite: #1 or #2. I will then announce the winner next week. I hope you all enjoy the photos.

Guerrero #1


Guerrero #2

Project 365 - Week 19 "Mystery Box: Part 2"

Hey there everyone. The holidays are done and my backlog of photos will commence once again to pour forth. To recap, the last weekly series was a set of surprises, literally. Given a "mystery box," I was to photograph whatever items that I wished of the selection inside the box. Needless to say, it was a huge hit. Since everyone loved it and there was still more treasure to be found in the box, I decided to conclude the series with a second week.

So here we are. What follows are items that were originally found in the box, nothing was added. I hope that you enjoy.

Day 127 - Pebble in the Sky

Day 128 - Sand Dunes

Day 129 - MBSL

Day 130 - Not Going Anywhere for a While?

Day 131 - Oh, Snap!

Day 132 - Optics of the Fiber

Day 133 - No Longer a Mystery