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
So Ray, Jeff, and Mark have been posting some amazing portraits over the past couple of weeks, and I just couldn’t help but take Ray’s advice and hop on the bandwagon with a quick image I shot the other day. As well from Ray’s post I got to check out Sabrina Henry’s site, amazing work, go check it out.
This could almost fall into the Life at 50 project since it was taken with my 20D and the 50f1.8, but I thought it looked better over here.
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
Some more from this past weekend up in the Sierras. I turned my attention from the water for a bit to the great trees surrounding the stream.
The light range was getting pretty extreme even for the Split Grad to bring the range of light back down into the cameras range so I went a a quick blast of HDR to get the shot. I added a bit of Tonal Contrast, and then a quick trip into Silver Efex to finish it off.
This shot was taken before before the range of light went too far out of range using a .9 and .6 Split grad Neutral Density filter stacked I was able to bring the sky back in just enough for the shot. Finished in Silver Efex Pro.
Top Image Captured with 1D Mark IIN 70-200f2.8 on Lexar digital film
Bottom Image Captured with 1D Mark IIN 16-35f2.8 on Lexar digital film
One of the off the beaten path adventures that I took lead me to a quite little ghost with no tourists in it called Lake Valley. When I rolled up the gates were getting ready to close, but the caretakers were incredibly nice and let me hang out for a while. Lake Valley has an interesting history that goes back a long time (1887) when there was a population in the town of 4000+ people. It hit it off originally as a Silver mining town but then Manganese was discovered an they mined it there right up through WWII. At this time it is in the process of being part of an archaeological study, so there were a lot of neat things just laying around that you might not often see.
First up the Cattle Rustler’s house. Funny thing about this shot. The brick work in the foreground was part of what was left of the town jailhouse. Funny story behind it is this. Even though cattle rustling was illegal in those times the rustler never saw the inside of the jailhouse, because he was the source of fresh meat in the town. What’s that old saying “you don’t bite the hand that feeds you?”
Some of the old water storage tanks that supplied the town with water and supported the mines.
Back of the Cattle Rustler’s house with doors that have almost blending into the walls.
Ok, so this may not be the quintessential ghost town shot with lazy-e-boy barcaloungers, but for some reason I had to take this shot. One of the care takers was telling me the story of this abandoned house and it was pretty amazing. Not because of the house, but its former owner. Not to go into a long story but the owner lived hear for close to 94 years is memory server me, and came to the camp when he was 2 and was a valuable source of information about the town and its going on.
Lake Valley is well off the path only getting about 1000 visitors a year. So if you are in the area look it up and stop by. The place is great and the caretakers are very nice and are fountains of information.
Captured with 1D Mark IIN 16-35 f2.8 II on Lexar digital media
