Tag Archives: colorado & utah

Cowboy James in Moab

November 6, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I had a little bit of landscape fatigue after four days at the Moab workshop, so for about 20 minutes I wandered over to the “ranch” next to the lodge where we were staying. I met James, who had worked there as a wrangler/outfitter most of his life. When James isn’t taking Japanese tourists on dude-ranch style outings along the Colorado River, he’s doing the real cowboy work of taking care of the horses. He never stood still, but I got some decent shots.

(Photo nerds: I used an off-camera flash on the ground in a small Lastolite softbox to get a little light up under that hat.)

Moab Photography Workshop

November 5, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

As this site surely implies, in the past year I’ve resumed one of my teen-years hobbies: photography. My skills may not have advanced much in the last 25 years, but the capabilities of modern cameras are indistinguishable from magic.

I was privileged to be a part of the last-ever Digital Landscape Workshop, led by a couple of famous photographers: Moose Peterson and Joe McNally. Google them — or take a look at www.moosepeterson.com or www.joemcnally.com. Those guys rock. And they really know their, uh, stuff. So for 15 hours a day, I tried to soak up as much as I could. As much as anything, I learned that I have much to learn. Here are some of my pictures from the workshop.

_JJC7052 Happy Couple on Double Arch Rocks.jpg

_JJC7088 Girl walking under double arch.jpg

Moose also has an aviation photography website: www.warbirdimages.com. Two other instructors (the longtime right-hand-men for Joe and Moose, respectively, have photography websites at www.drewgurian.com and www.chasingthelight.com.

A few friends from the workshop have their pictures online here, http://www.fifty-twopeople.blogspot.com/ (Dan) and here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/indyfan31/ (Fausto) and here http://www.dbpazianphotography.com/ (Barry). Here’s a picture Fausto took on the last day of the workshop. I’m sure he considers it the masterpiece of his lifetime — attributable primarily to the impromptu model.

Finally, here are “portraits” I took of Moose (with the moustache) and Joe (in glasses). They were kind enough to dedicate a good 20 seconds each to posing for these.

Hidden Canyon – Moab Mountain Biking

October 30, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I came to Moab primarily for a photo workshop (more to come on that), but of course I brought my mountain bike. It’s Moab, after all (mountain bike mecca). These are just pocket camera pictures — but sometimes equipment quality is less important than LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. This is a place called “Hidden Canyon.” It’s about a one hour mountain bike ride (over tons of slickrock!) off the road, not too far from the Canyonlands airport. Maybe someday I’ll get a ‘real’ camera up there.

IMG_0523 Bike on Ledge Hidden Canyon Moab.jpg

(Actually, one of these pics — with more trees — is from a trail near downtown Moab). And: (1) Yes, that’s my bike; (2) Yes, I took that picture of myself; (3) Yes, Mother, I know I probably shouldn’t be an hour’s ride into the wilderness by myself.

Camping at Squaw Lake

September 27, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I met my Dad in southern Colorado for a week of horseback riding and general goofing off. My brother-in-law Bill and a friend of his (Derald Glover) joined us for a camping trip to Squaw Lake. It rained and sleeted as we rode into the wilderness, but the weather cleared and we had a great time.

Oh: My dad is the one who looks like a cross between ME and a seventy-year-old version of the Marlboro man. The guy in the Colorado Rockies hat is Ted Dooley, a friend of my Dad’s who owns the outfitter where we got our horses for the ride into the mountains.

[Show slideshow]

Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race 2011

August 15, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

First, you should know that less than a year ago, neither I nor any of my friends rode mountain bikes. And you should know that the Leadville 100 is perhaps the most “epic” mountain bike race in the U.S. Lance Armstrong won it a couple of years back. It’s a 100 miles, and it starts at 10,000 ft. elevation. And when I tried to ride just a portion of the course, there was a five-mile stretch during which I crashed (hard) three separate times (to say nothing of the thin-air climbs up bumpy trails).

There’s a lottery to get in, and Shane and Ned wound up getting “slots” in this year’s race; for better or worse (almost certainly better), I didn’t. They trained like crazy, especially Ned, who spent about six consecutive weekends in Colorado (ask him about the oxygen tent over his bed in Houston – no kidding). They both rocked it! At least I got to tag along, drive the chase car and take pictures.

Oh: And it all took place on my birthday. So I got a nice present from the gang — a Payday (candybar). Long story.