Spring break 2010 was a good one. I got to spend relaxing time with the Mother in Arizona. I came to the conclusion that Arizona is one of the most photogenic states I have been too along with Massachusetts and New York. I have never done a whole lot of desert photos, so I was really looking forward to shooting cacti. Cacti are super cool to photography, I had a lot of fun with that. Sunsets were pretty fantastic in Phoenix/Scottsdale and at the Grand Canyon. I really enjoyed that.
But I didn’t just shoot landscapes, I shot a little bit at a rail jam put on by Summit Northwest Ministries and that was a very good turn out. Everybody was having fun and it was all around a good time. I rode the whole rail jam and only got a few great photos but I had fun with that. I really love shooting rail jams. I like it a lot more than mountain shooting, why? It is a lot more social and a lot easier to ride and shoot. I don’t do a whole lot of mountain shooting, but when I do, I like to just dedicate the whole day to the photography and not the riding. Here are the jam photos:
It was after the jam that I went to Arizona so I thought that posting the trip photos after was an appropriate way to post. Something that I never got out to do was shoot a great desert photo, a photo with just nothing for miles except a tumble weed and curve of the earth. I really wish I could have gotten out to do that because I was excited to shoot desert photography. I guess the Rattle Snake danger was high up in the danger ratings so I didn’t feel like getting hit by a snake over spring break and ruining my trip. I hope to go out to the desert again in the near future. The Grand Canyon was a place that I hit also on the trip and WOW, the Canyon that is Grand is really GRAND. Haha. But I was trying to get some shots of the canyon that weren’t just normal Canyon shots because every nature photographer has been there and has probably gotten the same shots that I was going to get. So I really tried to make all the photos really my own and shoot a little different than other photographers. I had a lot of fun at the GC, and the crazy thing is that there was snow there. Weird huh? I got up really early one morning to shoot the sunrise, but it turned out to have too many clouds so I never got a great photo. Wasn’t worth getting up at five in the morning. There are a lot of photos but just take the time and view them please. Here are the rest of the shots:
I started noticing that a lot of my horizon lines are off, but what ever, I’ll live right?
Thanks for viewing!
-Steve
Stephen!
With your first few photographs I think you did a great job of capturing the event. My favorite part of them are the fact that they are really strong black and white images. You did a great job with taking them, position of the camera, expression… awesome mustaches.
Your other images, the one of Arizona, are great in themselves, you did a beautiful job. I guess it helps that Arizona its self is a beautiful place but you did a great job getting the composition, position, contrast, subject matter, and color perfect. Some of your photos are stronger than others, but they are all really good.
My favorite image… if I HAD to pick a favorite is the one with the building reflecting on the waterline. The lighting is amazing, the silhouette of the tree off to the side gives it character, and the whole picture just pulls together really well.
I also like the natural framing picture, the sky is so blue and the sides of the image are so dark. However, you might want to crop in a little bit on the board, the more boarder you have the more it starts to slowly take away from the image.
You did a great job Stephen, like I’ve already said, a thousand times… I tend to do that.
I look forward to the work you did at SkillsUSA and the Focus 208 project.
Keep up the amazing work.
-Sadii
sick steve lovin the night shot of that hotel place, not sure if its a hotel but it turned out sick
Great work. Great variety. The nighttime shot over the lake is beautiful. Great work on it especially.
Even I posted a longer comment than Twitchell…?
And he’s saying that we are getting lazy.