So I was out and about this fine day after a rash of rain and wind storms that left some great clouds all over the valley.  Me being me I couldn’t resist, grabbed the cameras and was out the door for some fun and relaxation.

First on the drive today was a boat that I am pretty sure hasn’t seen water in a very long time.  Funny thing as I was shooting the theme from Gilligan’s Island started going through my head.  As you can see Spring is almost here (which sucks) but the flowers really are starting to look nice.  Not too many varieties have blossomed yet, but give it a week and I bet you there will be flowers on this blog.

This shot I have to say is one that I have been wanting for  a while but never went and shot it.  A couple of reason for that but after reading Mark’s posting the other day about Turning a Miss into a Make.  I didn’t want to miss the opportunity this time so I got out the big glass so i could take the shot, fearing that if I didn’t do it, sooner or later that truck would be going.

The Sun started to go behind more clouds giving the appearance of almost being sunset.  On my way back to the house I was looking in my Side view mirror (since that got me my shot for the Life at 50 project for this past week)  as saw this big backlit windmill spinning.  Finished in Silver Efex Pro for more dramatic look.

Good Times

Windmill and Boat Captured with 1D Mark IIN 70-200f2.8 on Lexar digital film

Truck Captured with 70-200f2.8 with 1.4X extender on Lexar digital film

If you went to Photoshop World in Vegas at the end of last year and made it to the Art of Digital Photography Panel you would have got to have seen the Master of Self Projects Joe Glyda do an amazing photo slide show based on just “looking up.”  Seeing what is above you because sometimes you are so busy looking straight ahead that you miss the world going on around you.

So while I was in New Mexico, I decided to take a bit of time and look down.  While I didn’t find as much as I would have liked I did find a few things that were fun to shoot.

First up with this old water meter cover that while it didn’t do anything for me in color worked created with a bit of Silver Efex Pro’s Holga filter added, with a few modifications of my own thrown in.

The 2nd, and slightly more odd is this old set of can opener keys from (at least what I can figure) is the remnants of an old sardine can that was laying on the porch floor boards of an old house.

So while I didn’t find much on my little self project in New Mexico I leave you with this thought.  Make sure you take time to really see what is going on around you in the world.  You may pass by the photo of a life time if you don’t stop and take a look around.  With our busy lives these days it isn’t always an easy thing to do, but I encourage you to try…

Images Captured with 1D Mark IIN 16-35f2.8 on Lexar digital film

OK, so I am blogging from a connection made possible by a Droid App that my good buddy Jarred Sutton called PDAnet.  So if you are without access to Wifi, Ethernet, etc..  I highly suggest checking it out if you have a Droid.

So anyhow down to what is going on.  Right now I am hanging out in New Mexico just enjoying the peace and quite and getting in as much shooting as possible before I head back to California.  I am in the town of Mesilla, NM and this place is packed with history and great locations to shoot.  I did a walk around the town 2 days ago ( hence the running behind part of the title) and filled up 26GB just photographing architecture, and the town folks.  It was a great time.  Here are a few from the photowalk I did.  There will hopefully be a few more post coming soon, so stay turned.

Found what was left of an adobe building with this barred window.  It was being used for storage now, but apparently it was used for a holding cell at one time.

Old picket fence out in front of one the the older adobe homes in the town.

The 2 shots above were my first rough attempts of shooting HDR images.  The top image was taken inside a local restaurant.  It was a door panel inside the building and I couldn’t pass it up.  The second was from a town on the way into Mesilla, called Hatch.  The church was bought an turned into a private residence, but they still let you photograph it.  Lots of fun with these 2 shots.

And finally, I found this little cowgirl near the town square.  Just loved the hat.

Hope everyone had a great new year’s and wish everyone a great 2010!!!

This leaf was in denial that winter had arrived and that it was time to let go and make way for the next stage in its journey.

Want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Let the journey into 2010 be a great one.

Image captured with 1D Mark IIN 70-200f2.8 on Lexar digital media

So I have finally had a chance to recover from a wild and crazy wedding shoot that went down over a 2 day period.  It was an absolute blast and even working with altitude sickness making my head want to explode.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I hope to soon be able to share some images from the wedding, but I want to give the couple time to go through all of them.  Final keeper count for the 2 days of shooting was well into the thousands.  Now that is not all individual images, but those were keepers plus in camera duplicates.

As a photographer shooting with digital film I always take in camera duplicates.  Back in the film days this was a common practice, and one that I was taught and will always do.  You never know if a shot might be corrupted during the writing process to the card.  Either by the camera having a glitch, battery dying, camera dropped, the list can go on.  So my advice, always take more than one shot if you can.  That’s the nuts and bolts of it.

Captured with 1 D Mark IIN 17-40f4 on Lexar digital film / Finished in Nik Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro