I’ve Never Been Lost In The Wilderness…
October 6th, 2011
That’s Kat and Brooke at South Coyote Buttes…a place that is about as truly wilderness as anyplace left in this country. It’s every bit as beautiful as the famous Wave, which is in North Coyote Buttes. But the Wave is much more easy to get to, and so popular now that permits to visit it as almost impossible to get. The day we went to South Coyote Buttes there were 50 people at the lottery for the 10 permits available for the Wave. But we were able to just walk into the ranger station the day before and get our permits to visit the South area.
But, it is hard to get to. The 4WD road to the trailhead is a bit of a challenge with deep sand almost all the way…and all up hill. But we made it with no problems…didn’t get stuck at all. And I was prepared with recovery gear to get us unstuck if that had happened.
So we spent most of the day wandering around in the amazing rock formations of this area. There are no real trails, certainly none that are maintained. You just wander wherever you are inclined to go. There’s plenty to see. There was one group of people that arrived shortly after us with a guide, but they didn’t stay long. And toward the end of the day another guy showed up to hike around a bit. Other than that we had the place all to ourselves. And it’s a huge place.
When it came time to head back, as thunderheads were forming and we could see lightning striking off to the southwest, we started walking back to the trail head. I had taken a compass bearing when we headed out from the parking area and it was pretty simple. The trail head is due south from the area. So we walked south for a while on what appeared to be a long-abandoned road. We started down a steep hill, all the while thinking, “I don’t remember climbing this hill on the way in.” But we knew we were headed in the right direction and figured we would hit the road eventually and follow it back to the car. And, besides, I really didn’t want to climb back up that hill.
Well, after about a mile I had to admit that we were off track and the best solution was to retrace our steps and see where we had gone wrong. But that meant going up that damn hill. And, trust me, this hill was an ass-kicker. Plus we were at around 5,000 feet of elevation…no small matter for a flatlander like me. It was gruesome. I had to stop to get my breath every 10-20 feet, it seemed. I’m talking serious agony here.
But we made it up the hill. And, continuing along the old track we had followed, there, off to the right, was the car. We had walked right by it, maybe 30 yards to the side, and somehow not seen it.
This reminded me of one of my favorite quotes attributed to Daniel Boone. I don’t know if he actually said it or not, and don’t really care…it’s good enough that he should have said. According to the story someone asked him if he had ever been lost in the wilderness. He replied that he had never been lost. He had been bewildered once for three days, though.
So we were back in the rented RAV4 and started the drive back down the mountain on the road of deep sand as we watched the thunderstorms move in and rain drops fell on the windshield. All the time I kept picturing the sign that was way back, 30 miles away, at the start of the road. It said, “Road Impassable When Wet.” There’s a reason they call this area the “slickrock” area. Get that red rock wet and you can have a hard time even standing on it, it’s so slick. A car, even a jeep, will just slide off the road.
But, there’s another thing about thunderstorms out in that desert. The air is really, really dry. Often there will be a huge rainstorm, but most of the rain will evaporate again on the way down and never actually reach the ground. We were fortunate and didn’t end up having to spend the night in the car in the desert…the road never got wet enough to be a problem. After about an hour and a half of driving…to cover about 30 miles…we were back out on the main highway and our desert wilderness shoot was at an end.
The next day we headed down the road to Las Vegas, where we are now. Of course, issues with the truck continued with the muffler separating from the exhaust pipe out in the desert. Made for a loud drive on into the city, but we made it. Yesterday I found a good independent muffler shop and they did a quick, inexpensive weld job and all is ok with the exhaust system again. That did require me to cancel the shoot I had scheduled for dawn at a spot out by Lake Mead, though. So I’m pretty much done shooting on this trip. Tomorrow we head on to LA where I’ll visit my daughter and her fiance and meet a bunch of my LA friends. Then next week I turn the truck to the east and see how soon I can get back to Ohio.
Road Trip Travails
October 3rd, 2011
As my readers know, this trip has not been the smoothest. After the deer damage was repaired problems continued in the form of, shall we say, less than wonderful motel rooms. But the trade-off for all that was in the places we went. I have a ton of new photos to share, but I’m just way too tired from today’s hiking and climbing in slot canyons to write about it all now. So just enjoy these two photos of Kat (above) and Brooke (below)taken today in Buckskin Gultch.
I’ll get to posting more soon, but we are up before dawn tomorrow to take a long rough ride to South Coyote Buttes…
Why Am I Here?
September 27th, 2011
Now on our third day stranded in Alliance. Why would anyone ever come to Alliance, you might ask? Well, there’s only one reason…Carhenge.
I first visited Carhenge shortly after it was created in 1987. I was on a motorcycle trip with my best friend, Ken. We stopped and spent the night in a tent right at Carhenge and did photos throughout the night…and endured a rainstorm as well. Ken got the photos he was after, and if you’ve seen photos of Carhenge, they might well have been Ken’s. But I got a different photo in my head and have wanted to create it for all those years. That’s why we were on our way to Alliance when the deer decided to change our plans.
We are still stuck waiting for the truck to be repaired. It’s sounding like we may be here another night. But I rented a car so we could get around and this morning before dawn we drove outside town to Carhenge and I finally was able to make the photo that I had imagined all those years ago.
This is a quick and dirty edit on the laptop from the jpegs. When I get home I’ll be able to do a cleaner job on the big computer and working from the RAW files. But this one holds up well enough for the web. To get a better view you’ll need to click on it, and then click on it again when it comes up in the second window…some quirk in this blog software makes you do that…the second click will give you a view that fills your screen so you can see it better.
Thanks to Brooke and Kat for making this photo finally become a reality.
Oh Deer!
September 25th, 2011
I’m on my trip out west. Things have not been going all that well. I’ve been reminded of a couple old sayings that I often heard when I worked for the Air Force:
“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
and
“Flexibility is the key to air power.”
I started out Thursday by driving to Minneapolis to meet up with Brooke and Kat. Well, that was the plan, anyway. Everything was going along fine until the alternator in my truck failed in rural Wisconsin. But it worked out. Flexibility and luck were with me. I happened to pull off the interstate at an exit where there was an excellent mechanic just a half mile from the exit. He was about to close up for the day when I pulled in. He stayed late and located an alternator that could be delivered in the morning. I found a motel of sorts attached to the back of a gas station nearby and spent the night. I arranged for my friend Stephen in Minneapolis to pick up Kat at the airport the next morning. The next morning the biggest delay was just waiting for the new alternator to arrive. Soon it was installed and all was well with the truck. Here’s the truck parked in front of my mechanic/savior’s shop Craig’s Auto Repair Shop, aka the C.A.R. Shop. I’d tell you his full name and address, but there’s a little problem keeping me from being able to do that right at this moment:
I arrived in Minneapolis, had lunch with Kat and Stephen as we had planned, then went to dinner with Brooke and her boyfriend, Matt. The next morning we were all off on our trip. The first day’s drive was long and uneventful. It was Kat’s first trip out west, so the views of the plains were entertaining for her.
We spent the night in a small town in Nebraska. The plan was to get up before dawn and make a short drive to Carhenge to do photos there at sun rise. But a deer in the road had other ideas for our day. Yes, for the second time on one of my trips I hit a deer with my truck. The last time, on a trip to Glacier National Park, I was able to finish the trip without making any repairs, although there was quite a bit of work required after I got home. Not so this time. Since we were out in the middle of nowhere and the truck was running fine, or seemed to be, I decided to drive on to Alliance. But after a few miles the engine overheated. The deer had put a hole in the radiator. Not something we could avoid taking care of immediately, obviously. So, a call to AAA…great folks, great service…they found a towing place and repair shop in Alliance. About an hour later Wayne loaded the truck onto his car hauler and drove us to a motel in Alliance. That was this morning. He hopes to find a radiator and replace my busted one and have us on the road again tomorrow sometime. That’s why I can’t tell you the address of the Wisconsin car shop…that’s in the glovebox of the truck off at the repair shop.
Here’s what the truck looked like after this close encounter of the deer kind. It doesn’t look all that bad from a distance, but if you look close through the missing part of the grill you can see some of the damage to the radiator:
So we are just passing the time in Alliance…five miles from Carhenge, but no way to get there to take photos. We considered walking, but decided against it. Whenever the truck is fixed we’ll just stop by and do some photos on our way out of town. This delay may cause us to alter a few plans for the next couple days of the trip, but we should be back on schedule after that…unless something else happens. My new saying: “The key to a successful photo trip is flexibility.”
Meanwhile I saw this while walking around Alliance. I thought it made a moderatly interesting photo:
More Muscles
September 21st, 2011
Here are a couple more photos from my shoot with Artistic Physique and Fitness 101. These are a couple of amazing body builders who also happen to be very nice people and excellent models. And not the least bit shy, which is always an advantage when doing nudes.
This shoot was a lot of fun for all of us. AP and I had been talking about setting it up for some time and it finally worked out. All I had to do was set up the lights and turn the two of them loose to see what poses they could come up with.
I’m spending today packing. Tomorrow morning I head out for a long photo expedition with two of my all-time favorite models. Stay tuned for news and photos from along the way.
One more of AP and Fitness before I go:
Triangles
September 18th, 2011
Life’s pretty busy, as usual. I’m getting ready to leave on this year’s major photo trip. If all goes well you’ll see photos and updates along the way between now and the middle of October. Stand by for details.
But meanwhile, I’m way behind on posting the things I’ve been shooting. A lot of that has to do with getting ready for this trip. But I’m going to try to catch up over the next week or two before I start having things from the trip to post.
To start off, I’ll be posting a few from a great studio shoot with a couple fantastic models. I’ve worked quite a bit with Artistic Physique. She’s beautiful, talented and a world-class body builder on top of all that. She came to the studio a while back with a friend from the world of body builders, Fitness 101. The two of them did some great work together. Here’s the first sample. I’ll be posting a few more from this shoot.
As Light As Air
September 14th, 2011
That’s what you think must be the case when you see dancers like these in action. I took this photo in New York City several years ago. I was studying dance photography with Lois Greenfield at her studio there. She brought in some of the best dancers in the world for us to work with. But you can see that in this photo.
Lois has added this photo to her collection of student work on her website. She just e-mailed me to let me know, so I thought I’d share the news here. Lois does workshops at her studio from time to time, so if you’d like to photograph the best dancers in the world while learning from the best dance photographer in the world, this is how you can do it.
Thank you, Lois. And thanks to the amazing dancers: Dario Vaccaro, Miguel Quinones and Colleen T. Sullivan.
Ten Years
September 11th, 2011
Yes, it’s been ten years since everything changed. But you know that because there has been way too much about it in the “news.” I don’t want to add to that cacophony. But it does warrant a mention.
I was working for the Air Force on that day, at a major command headquarters. I spent that night in an underground command post helping coordinate the Air Force response around the country. I’ll never forget the events of that day or that night of worry, fear and confusion as we tried to figure out what had happened and who had done it.
And I’ll never forgive those in positions of trust who have exploited the events of that day to further their own political and personal agendas.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Instant Julie and a PhotoShop Rant
September 9th, 2011
Like pretty much everyone else who has been doing photography for any amount of time, I’ve worked from time to time with Polaroid instant materials. “Back in the day” I used Polaroids to check lighting and exposure when working with strobe lighting in the studio. The digital equipment we use these days has completely eliminated the need for that. I also used Polaroids for fun. I have several cameras that can take several different kinds of Polaroid film. But Polaroid film is pretty much a thing of the past. Yes, I know about the Impossible Project…but in general its products are just impossibly expensive.
But Fuji has come to the rescue of those of us who like to play with instant cameras, but don’t want to spend our entire photo budget on the film. So I bought one of the new Fuji instant cameras, which I tend to refer to as a Fujiroid. I drag it around and play with it every once in a while. I’m still getting the hang of the new camera and the new film, both of which are very different from what Polaroid gave us. But the Fujiroid is fun.
So, when I was shooting the lovely Julie Max in NYC last month, I pulled out the Fujiroid and shot up a couple packs of film. We were both pretty happy with the result.
Now for the rant. If you aren’t a photo geek you may want to stop reading now. But don’t miss the third Fujiroid at the end of the post.
I’m really, really pissed at Adobe. I feel insulted and abused by them. I’m using PhotoShop CS4 for a lot of my editing. That’s one version older than the current version of PhotoShop. But Adobe has completely stopped supporting CS4. I think that is a totally unreasonable thing for a software company to do. I don’t buy every new version of any software when it comes out. I always skip at least one generation. The updates are just too expensive to shell out that kind of money every time the company decides to put out a new version. I think every other version is a reasonable compromise that keeps me up to date enough for the limited kind of work I do on my photos. And every other software I use continues to be supported by their makers well beyond a single generation.
But not so for Adobe. The trouble started when I bought my D7000 in January. No support for the RAW files in CS4. What would it take for Adobe to simply update CS4 for the new cameras that come out…at least back a generation or two from their current version? Really, I don’t think that’s unreasonable to expect. At the cost of their software I think Adobe owes that kind of support to their customers. Not doing so is disrespectful and abusive of the customers who they depend on to keep buying their products.
And the trouble continues. After I installed the drivers for my new Epson 4900 printer I discovered a new PhotoShop problem. CS4 now, in what appears to be a random pattern, will sometimes refuse to print a file. Not to the new printer, not to the old printer, not to anything. It just puts up an error message saying there are no printers installed. My other programs don’t have any issues with the new printer and I can print with no problem at all from ACDSee. In fact, the best results I’m getting so far with the 4900 are by using ACDSee to send the files to the printer. But with PhotoShop now and then I’ll get that error message. If I get the message for one file in a folder, I’ll get it for all the files in that same folder. And, even if I move the files, or resave them, to a different folder, I still get the message. But another file from a different folder will print just fine.
A little hunting around on the PhotoShop help forums informed me that this is a known bug. And it also let me see that Adobe has no interest in fixing it. Their attitude toward the many photographers out there still using CS4 seems to be, “Fuck You…buy the new program or go to hell.”
So, I’ve found some work-arounds that let me get past this bug…but they take a bunch of time and are a pain in the ass. It’s much simpler to just print from ACDSee. By the way, ACDSee always continues support for several older versions of their program…and when they are going to stop support they send out a notification to everyone who has a registered copy of the version they are going to stop supporting, so you know where you stand. Is that really too much to ask, Adobe?
Now, we all know that PhotoShop is the best thing out there for editing photos. Of course, there’s Lightroom, but I don’t really care for it…tried it and didn’t like it. I’ve used ACDSee for many years, starting way back when I first went digital. I like their program…it works well for what I need and they treat their customers with respect. Not like Adobe.
So now I’m so mad that I’m thinking about trying to find a good alternative to PhotoShop. ACDSee’s photo editing functions don’t quite get me what I need. I like working in layers and doing my corrections on a series of layers that can be adjusted individually. Is there something else out there that will give me that ability and not cost more than one arm or leg? I’ll be looking around. I was planning to buy CS6…but I’m reconsidering now.
Ok, enough of that. Here’s another Fujiroid of Julie to make us all feel better. Isn’t she beautiful?
Theda in the Basement
September 6th, 2011
Here’s another of Theda in the sub-basement. For some reason she didn’t want to lay down back in there. I can never figure out why my models are sometimes hesitant to do the things I ask them to do. But we got some good shots anyway. Actually, Theda is always great to work with and a real pro when it comes to doing what it takes to make a photo work. And, after all, shooting in a dirty location was her idea.
I’m sitting at home today waiting for the truck to deliver my new Epson 4900. The driver just called and said he was about 45 minutes away, so the wait is going to be a short one. That will give me the afternoon to set it up. I can’t go out to get any paper to try it out because my truck is still at my mechanic’s being prepped for the upcoming trip. I’m supposed to get it this afternoon too…so I’ll soon have wheels again. The first thing I’ll do after I get the truck is make a run to the local photo place to pick up a pack of paper so I can play with the new printer…and I’ll also make a stop at Lowes to pick up a thermocouple…our water heater quit last night, so no hot water for baths this morning. It’s just the thermocouple…but I don’t have a way to go buy one until the truck is finished. Thermocouples don’t seem to be made the way they used to be…seems like they only last about three or four years now…but years ago it was unusual to have to replace one after 10 years. I just hope Lowes is still carrying them…last time I went looking for one…about three years ago…there were just a couple stashed in little boxes and almost impossible to find.
