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September 04, 2015
Hi like this photo I too do a lot of remember when so much is disappearing it's important to have photos of such structures etc ...
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Superior, Arizona, an old copper mining town. With Arizona, the climate tends to keep older buildings and items around for a long time, that gives me the benefit of having access to many locations that show our past history.Time
I took this photograph at 1:53pm on April 6, 2011. I love photographing history. The irony with this shot is that I did not process it until February 6th, 2015. Soon after taking this photograph, I had a series of 3 heart attacks in the next 6 month, and had forgotten about it, during the ensuing time. On Feb, 6th, 2015, I was involved in a 70 day art show in Scottsdale, Arizona. I needed to get back to photography and processing, I was burnt out on seeing people, so around midnight, I was looking through some of my older photographs and realized I had not processed one single image out of a wonderful day of shooting.Lighting
For me, this photograph would have been just "OK" if it did not have the ominous dark clouds. I tend to shoot allot of my work that shows older buildings and items, in the mid-day light, because it gives the photographs a more dramatic look. It does not always workout, but I have found that it often works for the style I am trying to achieve. I print my work on canvas, so dramatic light is essential.Equipment
This was taken with a Canon 60D, with a Tokina F/11-16mm lens. It was shot hand held.Inspiration
This set of houses, reminds me of a neighborhood I grew up in as a young kid. The siding, the small porches, the asphalt roofs. I imagine, my old neighborhood would have looked similar to this, if the town had lost 50% or more of it's population as Superior, AZ has over the last 30 years. I am motivated in capturing a preserving our past. So much has changed in just the 53 years that I have been alive, I want people to look at my work and see that I not only captured the here and now, but I have also reached back decades or centuries, and captured an preserved what life was like then. Without reference points of the past, it is hard to see the contrast of history and current life and appreciate the difference of time, for the good or bad.Editing
I shoot in RAW, so I used LightRoom for color correction and I also use Photomatix HDR. I use both programs to some extent on every shot I take. I like the question that I am often asked when I have had my photographs printed on canvas, "Are these photographs or paintings?"In my camera bag
I now carry a Canon Canon EOS 7D Mark II, I still have the Tokina f/11-16mm wide angle. I have added the monster Canon F2.8 / 70-200mm, and then I have the little nifty 50mm. I have stayed with the crop sensor, because of two reasons, I like the extra reach I get with the 1.6 multiplying factor, and I also shoot American Western Rodeos, so the added distance helps in an arena and the 10 fps are great for catching the action. I have not found the crop sensor to be a drawback with my scenic photography, and now with the great low light processing in the 7D M II, shooting in indoor arenas and at concerts, I have the best of both worlds, reach and low noise at low light.Feedback
I like a couple of quotes that I understand Ansel Adams said. The 1st is "You don't take a photograph, you make it." That includes simple things that most people in general do not think about, I scout out locations often, 2 or 3 times just looking for the subject matter and then when the conditions are right, I will go back and perhaps wait hours for the defining shot. I have 1 photograph, that I just got on January 1st, 2015, that I chased for 8 years, 2 hours and 5 minutes. I had taken a similar bad photograph 8 years earlier and spent the next 8 years, finding the right location and waiting for the right conditions. When the conditions where right, I waited 2 hours, for a 5 minute window of the perfect light. The second quote I like is “The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.” – Ansel Adams. Please take a moment to think about that quote. It also ties in well with this one, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” – Ansel Adams - Thank you, Jim Moon