I forgot......

I wasn't heading out to get away from humanity. If I was, a National Park is the wrong place to do it.

I don't know exactly what I was heading out for; navel gazing, rolling down some new roads or maybe finding a dramatic landscape to shoot.

I'm batting a thousand.

Oh yeah, I shot (shut it, you know what I mean) a baby moose with mamma.

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Update from the road

Drive for a full day at work then, nine more hours on the first day of vacation.

 I had only reached Kayenta when I could see clouds moving around Monument Valley. I had a feeling that there might be some good light jumping off. After nourishment in the form of a Navajo Taco ( I only eat half unless I want to head into a coma), I bolted. As you can see from this early edit, I got my reward as well.

Chase the light, the rest of the journey takes care of itself.

More from the road to come.....

Ciao Bella,

Dano

A bus-man's holiday?

 

Ok. To be fair there will be some cameras involved.

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Vacation

A good vacation drives me crazy getting ready for it, and leaves me wanting a few days off when it's done.

Here's a link to Chase Jarvis live. 90 minutes that may inflame you...

http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/live/

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Dropbox and The Face of a Storm

Sometimes I've got nothing. But, I can't settle for that.

Then I remember; This blog should be about more that celebrating my art, my business and my goofy mind. It ought to be about giving away as well. Today I will offer both the practical and the esoteric.

So here's the practical: dropbox.com

Click on the link and open a free dropbox account. It will make your lifer easier. If you have an account you know. All you do is upload your files, tell dropbox who you want to share them with and they can go get them at their leisure. Very cool.

And now the esoteric: thefaceofastorm.com

The is the third remarkable facet of the work of Milwaukee Wedding and Boudoir Photography Goddess: Jennifer Brindley.

Her sever weather images are ASTOUNDING! Her photographs have been featured in Nat Geo and Cable news. She serves us up a great reminder: whatever we happen to be doing with our art and creativity, don't forget to do something with it that stirs your spirit.

I'm off to work and getting ready for vaca starting Friday! Woot!

Ciao Bella,

Dano

*sighs*

Glory light on the Peaks.

Now, what the hell am I supposed to add to that.

How about this: I saw the clouds as I left my home. I knew I would be in for a show and I would be crossing town over Cedar Avenue.

I wasn't disappointed.

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Gruen Associates Flagstaff Engagement Photography: Jacque and Andy

JacQue, Andy and I go back a little ways.

We've been involved in a number of creative pursuits and they are among the principles at Studio 204.

It's monsoon season here in Flagstaff and my only disappointment for the day was a lack of rain. I was secretly hoping to go full "Notebook" for this engagement session.

Alas, I'll have to settle for simple awesomeness!

 

Congratulations you two! I can't wait for the Wedding!

Ciao Bella,

Dano!

I can be a closed-minded curmudgeon.

Several days ago I posted an image: "Virgin River Pano".  My friend (a photographer I greatly admire) Matt Beaty suggested that dropping a "better" sky would be cool. I immediately said no. This image was a great representation of a number of classical artistic concepts as well as an accurate depiction of the moment in time. Where's the journalistic integrity?

This is a debate that has dogged digital photography since the first time someone put their buddies head on Marylin Monroe's body.

Fact: Painters have been doing it consciously and subconsciously since the beginning of time.

Fact: It's not an evil of Photoshop. I could do it in the chemical darkroom I keep in my home.

Here's the image again:

I'm going to play with altering/adding/dropping in the sky.

I'm going to make a hi res copy available to Matt and anyone else via dropbox who would like to play too.

This is NOT a competition. Ansel Adams was well known for his belief that Taking the picture was like composing a song. Making a print was the performance. It will be fun to see a few interpretations (or maybe disheartening to see a completely apathetic response. whatever) of the same song.

Shooting JacQue and Andy this weekend. Yayy!!!

Comment with your email if you want this via dropbox.

Dropbox is taking a while to upload. May be ready this afternoon.

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Zion Wrap

 Angie, shooting Matt.

Matt, durpa,durpa,doo.

John goes contemplative.

 Sea Level Sucks. Period.

 People. Get an atmosphere.


Seep Spring Garden #1

Seep Spring Garden #2

 Matt, sequential.

The eyes never actually open, do they?

When in doubt PINKIES out.

And one badass cow.

 The most expensive photo I've ever created.

It's been suggested that I drop in a "Better" sky. No. This was the real moment.


Ciao Bella,

Dano

Roseanna and John; Starting a new tradition

Sometimes it's just best to let the pictures speak for themselves.

Rosanna and John, Thanks for having me along......

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Just one thing.....

To make the business grow.

Meet with client for product presentation. One thing today, one thing tomorrow.

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Zion 2012. It's a tvC gig.

Any trip with the visual Collective (capitalization intentional) is most easily summed up by saying simply, "It's a tvC gig."

Some are workshop intensive. Some have been fueled by adult fermented beverages. Some have resulted in us being chased out of secret government facilities (let's not go into that here).

This years trip to Zion was no exception. I was in a pretty introspective place. I haven't liked much that I've done recently. My focus was on landscapes. Big ones. Intense ones. I needed to touch a little of my core.

Here's my first three images:

 Above is "Backdoor." As in, "This is what was right out of the backdoor of our campsite."
I processed the same raw image twice. once for the sky, then for the landscape. When I combined them I decided to put the sky as the top layer and reveal the landscape underneath. That was then converted to B/W in Silver Fx 2 from Nik software.

 This one is called, Complete Immersion. As in, my 85 mm f1.8 lens is now completely immersed in a bowl of rice because it went swimming to get this shot. 50 mm lens, ISO 100, 1/8th 0r 1/3rd at f22, Slight dodging, burning and sharpening in Photoshop.

And finally "Virgin River Pano". This is a 6 image panoramic combined in HUGIN. It's free. It works. You should get this. The composition was bugging me so I cropped it to a square. Some levels, contrast and sharpening. That's it.

Zion is a remarkable place. More-so because of great company and minimal contact with law enforcement personnel.

I had to get these out there for now. I'm sure there are more to follow. As for now, I has a tired.

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Off to Zion National Park this weekend!

Goal: Staying out of my own way.

Method: Staying in the moment.

Just going to make it a point to create, wander and vice-versa. Now to just get through the bus driving shift.

Oh, and pack.

Ciao Bella,

Dano

Blogging from the break room.

The scariest part of shooting commercially is this: I don't get to be an artist. I have to be a craftsman. The work must at some point be finished.

Pending weekend shenanigans.

Very excited for this weekends trip with the visual Collective.

Here's a random sampling from the Death Valley/Colorado River Trip.

All for now,

Ciao Bella,

Dano