Tag Archives: landscapes

Moab Photography Workshop

November 5, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

_JJC7440 Mesa Arch with sunburst

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.

_JJC7175 Peter at DLWS Moab.jpgc70-JJC6860 Broken Arch Signpost 2.jpg_JJC6911 rocks under double arch.jpg_JJC7052 Happy Couple on Double Arch Rocks.jpgc51-JJC6884 SDune Arch No moon 2.jpg_JJC7088 Girl walking under double arch.jpg_JJC7440 Mesa Arch with sunburst.jpgc99-JJC6837 Arches SDune 1.jpg_JJC7425.jpgc21-_JJC6730.JPGc52-_JJC6671.JPGc68-_JJC6710.JPGc96-_JJC6653.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.

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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.

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Hidden Canyon – Moab Mountain Biking

October 30, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

IMG_0523 Bike on Ledge Hidden Canyon Moab

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.

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(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.

Colorado Multisport Week

July 19, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

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Ned’s spending a couple of weeks in Colorado — mostly riding bikes and training for the Leadville race in August.  I joined him for about five days.  Day 1 we hiked Bear Mountain near Boulder (and saw a mother bear with 2 cubs at a distance of about 40-50 yards).  Seeing a mother bear up that close sure is thought-provoking; it made me think:  “I wonder if I can outrun Ned in an all-out short sprint?”  Day 2 we rafted the Arkansas River near Royal Gorge.  The rest of the days we mostly scouted and mountain-biked part of the course of the Leadville 100, and even did a kayak tour of Lake Dillon on the way back to the airport.

Royal Gorge is a suspension bridge about 1000 ft above the Colorado River.  Ned was dubious as we approached — scoffing a bit that so much touristy enterprise had sprung up around something that, he said, “frankly doesn’t seem like it’s all that impressive.”  Ha.  About five minutes later, as we actually drove onto the bridge, he stopped the car dead in its tracks — voice nervously giddy and spewing expletives.  Suffice it to say that he was impressed.  This was the funniest moment of the trip.

Forgive some of the mediocre photography — this is mostly pocket camera stuff.

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Spain 2011 – Barcelona & Ibiza

June 6, 2011 by Jeff C | Comments Off

I jumped the gun a little.  On the first official day of my retirement, I was actually already in Spain.  A friend of mine is living in Barcelona, so I spent a few days there, and then a long weekend in Ibiza.  (It turns out that Ibiza is an island in the Mediterranean, a hundred miles or so south of Barcelona).

The best picture from Barcelona is one I didn’t have the nerve to take.  Nudity is legal (and not uncommonl) on Barcelona beaches.  (No, I did not — thanks for asking.)  One day, just off the side of the busy beachside boardwalk lay an older, fairly-heavy, very-tanned Spanish gentleman, sleeping buck naked with his head resting on his own artificial leg (which he had removed, apparently for use as a pillow).  I didn’t have the nerve to go over there and take a picture.  So…no Barcelona beach pictures.

The first several pictures below are actually at Montserrat — a hilltop monastery outside Barcelona.  Then there are a couple at the relatively modern and decidedly odd Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona — designed by the architect Gaudi, after whom was coined the word “gaudy,” for reasons the cathedral makes apparent.  The pretty beach is Ibiza.  

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Laughlin, NV with Ricochet

April 7, 2011 by Jeff C | 2 Comments

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I got to fly out to Laughlin, NV to spend a week with Ricochet, the country band (of “Her Daddy’s Money” fame) led by two of my Vian, OK childhood buddies, Greg Cook and Heath Wright.  Laughlin is a small casino town an hour outside Vegas in the pointy south tip of Nevada.  They had a six-day gig at Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort and Casino, which has apparently stood on that site for 50+ years.  Entering the place is a trip to the 1970s, but it was lots of fun.  We met Don Laughlin himself, and even hung out with his grandson (who works there as a pit boss).

Part of Ricochet’s deal was to sing the Star Spangled Banner at the Laughlin River Stampede (rodeo) each day, so I got to see a high-quality PRCA rodeo with VIP I’m-with-the-band access.  One day I took Greg and Heath aboard N3738R for a flying tour over Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Monument Valley.  It was truly great to spend a week with dear “old” friends (let’s just say that Greg is (a) “a little older” than me, and (b) a two-time grandpa).

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