6000 Sunrises

I caught a portion of a television commercial the other night while I was cooking dinner, something that was said caused me to really think about what I do.

Whispers

The voice-over stated at the age of retirement the average person will see another 6,000 sunrises.

In The Moment

I love sunrise as a photographer, with the sun low in the sky the light must pass through the greatest amount of atmosphere which creates the golden hue we see. And my own theory is that at dawn the air is cleaner then in the evening, so the light is cleaner also.

All In My Head

6,000 sunrises does seem like a lot, until you begin counting them. This morning has passed so just by writing this blog I am now down to 5,999. Take away days of cloud cover and days of rain, subtract days when other matters take precedence over shooting. Subtract days of illness or injury and days that get cancelled or rescheduled for one reason or another and pull out days for editing. Remove all the days I cannot be out there shooting and how many are left?

Aware, Awake & Alive

Over the past few years I suppose I've witnessed my share and many times had the great fortune of having a camera with me, but when I look forward at what's to come, where I want to be and what I wish to accomplish, I think I need a little bit more then 6,000.

One Good Woman

This television advertisement started a discussion among seniors on Yahoo Answers and no doubt something similar inside companies selling retirement plans. One thing for certain it got me thinking, about my work and what it takes, about chasing a dream and sharing it, and about that time I can no longer do what I love.

Desert Sun

"To learn the magic of light, get up before sunrise...and watch." ~Ted Grant

Zanck Eiffel

The art of Zanck19 and my photography, Zanck is an amazing photo manipulation and retouch artist based in France. Isn't this the magic of the Internet when you can meet and collaborate with people anywhere in the world! More of Zanck's work can be found on his dA portfolio here and on his dA pages here.

Together

The image above is from an incredible day out in Lucerne Valley with 3 of the most amazing people I know, Pearl, NevaehLleh, Conundra and I somehow managed to all get together on the same day and shoot in the high desert, this image is from an abandoned ranch that Pearl & I found on a previous photo shoot.

Beware My Dream

This photo comes from my most recent shoot with Madrid which was our first ever shoot together and there are sure to be more, she is a phenomenal person and amazingly talented.

One Eye Dodge (Pinup Car)

This image comes from the day Pearl & I worked at the Flying F Ranch, this old Dodge truck was perfect for a David Winge styled Pinup!

Silver Screen (I See You)

Believe it or not Zanuck never saw this image of Pearl in color, as I never posted but a black & white version, the depth of this image at full size is amazing.

Views Of Heaven (Wait Until)

Both of these images come from a shoot at the Salton Sea and the first ones Zanck did using my photos, ironically Pearl and I had been discussing using wings and at one point even brought some with us as a prop, but never used them.

Still Harbor (Fake Natural)

"You become things, you become an atmosphere, and if you become it, which means you incorporate it within you, you can also give it back. You can put this feeling into a picture. A painter can do it. And a musician can do it and I think a photographer can do that too and that I would call the dreaming with open eyes." ~Ernst Haas

The Calling

I am THRILLED to share that I have an image chosen to be included in "Unclothed, Exposing the art nude" at the StutzArtSpace in Indianapolis, IN November 4-23

The Calling

 

Ironically this image came from what was supposed to be a desert sunrise shoot, but once we got up there we encountered rain, dark skies and more rain, which in the end didn't matter too much because when you work in nature you have to be ready to just use what you find and go with it.

Believe

 Meggy and I have worked together numerous times since June, 2008, she's even more excellent when you encounter the unexpected.

Highway Blues

A true artist's model, amazing and talented. Meggy can take an idea, grasp it and go with it, she surprises me with her ability to convey my message.

Shine On

Be Thou The Rainbow

We'll be shooting more in the future for certain.

I've Got A Dream

Meggy is an exceptional model and as a person she's all heart and I'm so jazzed that one of our images was chosen from all the entries, she represents my vision in my work. And as an added bonus she's awesome!

No One To Blame

"Human gesture and expression are the essence of photography. It's not about lights or fast lenses and fast film. It's the ability to capture a moment in time. To capture the spirit of someone in that magic box is wonderful. It's what I fell in love with as a kid." ~John Shearer

Photo courtesy of GroovaciousK

Madrid

2 years in the waiting

Raining Sunshine

I've waited to work with Madrid since I happened upon her DeviantArt pages almost 2 years ago, in that time we've scheduled at least three photo shoots that got canceled due to varying circumstances beyond our control. Then this past Saturday we finally got together for a trip to the desert.

Don't Talk To Me

I guess we know most people through their work when you don't get the chance to meet face to face or discuss world politics, all you have is the impression their work gives you. The impression I got from her work was that of someone who liked diversity as well as loved modeling, a story teller with a strong love of art and as it turned out, all true.

Recipe For Disaster

I met Madrid much like I meet many of the people I work with, picking her up at home in the wee hours of the morning, in front of a long drive to the middle of nowhere. Not surprisingly after a short while the conversation seemed to go into continuous mode, turns out we knew many of the same people and I think things like this can carry over into the shooting part of a photo shoot with positive effect.

Double Cross

Saturday shooting with Madrid was fantastic, the day was amazing, fun and worth the wait.

Poolside

"Part of it has to do with the discipline of being actively receptive. At the core of this receptivity is a process that might be called soft eyes. It is a physical sensation. You are not looking for something. You are open, receptive. At some point you are in front of something that you cannot ignore." ~Henry Wessel

Film

Film isn't dead, it just smells funny. A cute twist on a Frank Zappa quote.

Pearl at the dry lake bed

Pearl loves film, and several times while we were out shooting the topic of film photography has come up and we've talked about shooting large and medium format. Growing up I used many different cameras and films, my dad was a photo bug and so we had medium format cameras and Polaroid cameras, I remember buying several inexpensive cameras when I was in school, eventually getting a 35mm once I got older. When a friend and fellow photographer posted several images he had just done on film, well that was the last straw and I did some online shopping for film cameras and film.

Pearl in the high desert

The first purchase was a used Minolta 35mm Maxxum, amazing how if you look you can find great deals on used equipment that is in pristine condition, I then ordered a wide angle Holga pinhole camera. A few weeks later out on a shoot with Pearl I borrowed her Holga 120N, I loved the images so I got one too, it's the camera I used for the first three images in this blog.

Pearl desert morning

The only processing in the Holga images was to increase the contrast and add a color filter. 

Pearl on the mesa

I've thought about working with a medium format camera again so I started doing some research, because of the desert areas and conditions I work in I figured a view camera would be too difficult and frustrating, so I narrowed my search to cameras designed for the field. I found a used Pentax 67 online at B&H photo, it came with the 105mm lens and had the Pentax Prism light metering. I still need to find a prime lens for it but so far so good, the last 3 images in the blog were shot with this Pentax.

Pearl on the playa

In the past few photo shoots I've used half a dozen different cameras including my phone! (Thank goodness Pearl has patience with me reloading cameras and experimenting with settings). I am very pleased with these images, I'm getting much more comfortable back on manual settings and shooting film has caused me to see a bit differently, possibly even widened my field of view (however I still look at the back of the camera after the shot for the preview that is no longer there).

"If you use film you can't see it, so you need to feel it." ~Hervé Lewis

Lester Dale Mine

So much to say and so little time, so the blog posts have been delayed.

Miss Direction

These are from a recent trip out to the Lester Dale mine, above is a behind the scenes photo of Brooke (Rebelflowers Photography) working with Pearl, Brooke is not so easy to spot so I like to call it Miss Direction. Below is another photo of Brooke shooting Pearl, half the day and the woman just would not get out of my way! LOL, we had just an awesome time up there.

Brooke and Pearl

Here is one Brooke took of me setting up a shot. (Courtesy RF Photography)

Shooting Pearl

Here I am with Pearl at the Silver Reef Mine which is just down the road from Lester Dale. (Courtesy RF Photography)

Pearl took this one of Brooke and I with RocksAnne, are these beginning to look like vacation pictures? It's a treat for me as typically out on a shoot it's only myself and a model.

The Lester Dale gold mine was active until around 1952, it is located along the northern side of the San Bernardino mountains facing Johnson Valley. There are several buildings here and at some point the whole area got pretty well trashed by party animals, but in the last few years people have been coming out here and cleaning the place up, painting over the graffiti and removing the garbage.

Fame

 

Brooke did the research that discovered this location, when she told me about it I knew we had to go, the best and worst about photography in remote desert locations are the conditions and the conditions. Regardless it was another awesome adventure with super great people.

The Illusion Of Light

"When people ask what equipment I use ........ I tell them my eyes!" ~Steve Denby

Flying F Ranch

Photographer Ken McFarland Art model Pearl Pardo and myself had the awesome pleasure of shooting at Flying F Ranch this last Sunday, and what an amazing day!

The ranch is in a very beautiful portion of the Lucerne Valley, about 2 hours northeast of Orange County in an part of the high desert I visit quite often on photo shoots. And for good reason as this is a breathtaking area and many of my best images have come from the surrounding hills, the open areas and nearby dry lake bed.

Behind the scenes Ken working with Samir & Pearl using the western plain as a backdrop.

Samir & John

John and his wife Natalie are amazing, if you know me than you know what I mean when I say they are Good People. They are also horse people, Samir is a rescue that has been at the ranch a few years now and John volunteers to run the local horse ambulance. Flying F Ranch welcomes groups of special needs kids, they will also transport animals to schools for the kids, the ranch hosts many other animals besides horses and just being here is an incredible experience.

Argo, Pearl & Sugar

There is truly something special out here, for me it just doesn't get any better, the magic feeling at daybreak is surreal, the entire area is what I like to call 'target rich', point your camera in any direction and you'll know what I mean. I honestly can't wait to return. If you want to capture the feeling of the western desert I cannot recommend this location highly enough, bring your camera and your imagination.

Delilah

I cannot extend enough thanks to the entire crew at Flying F Ranch, they literally went out of their way to provide me with the opportunity for amazing images. Feel free to contact John via email at flyingfranch1@yahoo.com or call them at 714-404-4582. They would be happy to arrange a tour of the ranch, tell 'em David Winge sent you.

Argo & Pearl

"The Earth is Art, The Photographer is only a Witness." ~Yann Arthus-bertrand