The Perfect Photograph-Who Decides?

Every photographer knows the feeling. You are sorting through your images after a trip looking for that one shot that had you excited when you tripped the shutter. And there it is and it still excites you. The color is right. The composition is the way you wanted it. You’re sure you have a winner.

That is the way I felt about this photograph I made in Logan Canyon last spring. We had spent the night in Bridger Campground in the lower canyon. It had rained off and on all night and was still overcast in the morning. As I sat drinking my first cup of coffee, I started looking around to see if there was a photograph to be made. I noticed the light sparkling on the wet trees and the subtle changes in color in the layers of leaves receding into the distance. I took my time, put the camera on the tripod and shot five different compositions.

When I selected a portfolio of images from the trip, I included one of the Logan Canyon trees. In fact, it was the first image that I printed and I was sure it fit with the rest of the portfolio.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was preparing for the portfolio reviews at the Palm Springs Photo Fest. I asked Barbara to give me her honest opinion and she suggested that I might think again about including that photograph. Being stubborn, I left it in.

Sure enough, the first reviewer (a magazine editor) picked out the Logan Canyon photo and set it aside with the comment that it didn’t fit with the rest of the work. So I left it out for the next three reviews, also with magazine editors.

My last review was with a museum director and I decided to put the print back in for his review. To my surprise and delight, he picked it out as one of his favorites.

What I have come to understand from this experience is that the context and background of the viewer influences his or her reaction to a photograph in unpredictable ways. That is why we value the opinions of photo editors and museum curators. But in the end, it is up to us as artists to define and defend our unique vision.

Professional Development, Growth and Learning at the Palm Springs Photo Fest

I am at the Palm Springs Photo Festival for a week of portfolio reviews, seminars and conversations with other photographers. My participation was made possible by a professional development grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. I came here to show my photographs of US Route 89 to magazine editors who might be interested in our story. So far, the input from reviewers has been very positive and their advice has been valuable in moving to the next level.

What I didn’t expect and has been a pleasant surprise has been the interaction with other photographers, two in particular.

I first saw Stephen Strom’s work in two shows at Tohono Chul Park in Tucson and was immediately struck by the abstract beauty of his landscapes. His photographs are pastel renditions of the textures of the earth. If find them to be such beautiful objects that I don’t feel as if I need to know where they were shot the way I do with most landscape photographs. So I was thrilled to met Steve and his wife, Karen, shortly after I arrived in Palm Springs and to be able to sit down and look at many of his exquisite prints. Take and look at the portfolios on the Stephen E. Strom website.

Karen Strom is also a photographer and her collaged works incorporating Steve’s photos are fascinating. Visit Karen Strom’s website for a different take on reality.

The second photographer that I met on Sunday evening is one the faculty of the Photo Fest. We struck up a conversation about following one’s passion when creating a body of work. That conversation has now stretched out over several meetings. The photographer is Arno Rafael Minkkinen. His work is about as different from mine as you can get. It is conceptual self-portraiture that is at once very mysterious and emotionally compelling. Take a look at Arno’s website to see what I mean.

Photographers and artists in general do their work in solitude, generating images from the heart. Putting them out into the world almost feels dangerous as if they might die of a terrible disease. Coming to Palm Springs has allowed me to show my portfolio in relative safety and to get gentle feedback. I am looking forward to more interaction with the many talented people here and expect to be back at work on the US Route 89 project with renewed vigor and insight.

Butterflies and a Digital Dilemna

Last Saturday, son Mathew and I visited the Tucson Botanical Gardens for the first time. I knew there was a Tucson Botanical Gardens, but didn’t know where it was. As it turns out, I’d been by it a number of times, but simply didn’t notice it. For one thing, the sign isn’t very conspicuous. For another, it’s in such a busy and developed area it’s hard to believe anything could grow amongst all the concrete and traffic.

It was well worth the trip. This tiny pocket of beauty was voted America’s Best Secret Garden by Reader’s Digest. It covers only 5 1/2 acres, but is full of interesting themed gardens. It was originally a home, back in the 1920′s. Some of the original buildings were made from adobe on site. We had fun meandering about. A few plants realized it was almost Spring, and were beginning to flower or show signs of life. I’m guessing in a few weeks the gardens will be spectacular.

We spent quite a bit of time in the Butterfly Exhibit. Here’s what I discovered. It was pretty crowded (with people). Almost everyone there was on the hunt–for great butterfly photographs. I got into the spirit of things, despite having a hunch that my photos weren’t going to be so great. Off I went, round and round the enclosure with the camera in front of my eyes, clicking away. Once I’d had my fill of shooting the butterflies, we exited this magical place.

But not before being brushed off with a feather duster by a volunteer, in order to ensure that there weren’t any potential escapees.

What I learned was that my experience was totally different than Mathew’s. He simply wandered about and stood still, taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the butterflies drifting about. I departed, feeling like I’d been in some sort of competition. I missed out on some of the magic due to my digital focus. When I got home and looked at my shots they were as expected–disappointing.

It makes me wonder about people and their cameras and how having that distraction affects their experiences? I say leave the photographing to the professionals. Let them do the work so that the rest of us can enjoy the experience.

Grand Teton Panoramas

The first time I saw the Grand Tetons was in 1998. That was before the US Route 89 project was born. We arrived on a July aftermoon with the naive idea that we would find a campsite in the national park which of course was full. After consulting a map, we found a wonderful campground in the Gros Ventre mountains on the east side of Jackson Hole. From a clearing near the campground, I had a view of the entire Teton Mountain range. I made this photograph early in the morning just as the sun was hitting the top of the peaks. The light was perfectly balanced so that the shadowed foreground is filled with detail and the color on the clouds is not washed out.

Ten years later we returned to Grand Teton National Park. It was the maiden voyage on US Route 89 for our teardrop trailer and this time we found camping in the park at Signal Mountain on Jackson Lake. Once again I was up at dawn to capture the rising sun on the peaks.

These two photographs represent the change in photographic technology that has occurred in the decade that separates them. The top image was shot on medium format film with a Fuji 617 panoramic camera. The bottom image was shot with a Canon digital camera. Eight frames were stitched together to create the final panoramic view.

Panoramic Photograph of the Week-Tumacacori Mission

The sanctuary in the ruins of the Franciscan mission church in Tumacacori National Historical Park

I don’t often make vertical panoramic photographs but sometimes the subject demands it. I had tried shooting this scene with my widest angle lens (17mm) but it did not capture all of the domed ceiling. Just for the heck of it I shot four horizontal frames, from straight up to straight ahead. It wasn’t until months later when I was editing a new gallery of Tumacacori National  Historical Park shots, that I noticed the four frames. I wasn’t sure how well they would match up since I hadn’t been using a tripod but I went ahead and ran photomerge in Photoshop. I think the resulting image gives a good sense of the space.

I have selected my favorites and created a gallery of Tumacacori National Historical Park photographs and put them on my new photography website. Have a look and post your comments below.

Panoramic Photograph of the Week-Spiral Petroglyph

From now until early summer is the best time to visit Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona. The weather is pleasant with warm days and cool evenings. Cactus will be blooming and wildflowers may appear depending on the amount of rainfall. The majestic saguaro begins putting out flowers in April and peaks around Mother’s Day.

Saguaro National Park is divided into two districts, the Rincon Mountain District on the east side and the Tucson Mountain District on the west. The Signal Hill Picnic Area where this photograph was made is in the Tucson Mountain District. From the parking lot, there is a short trail to the overlook where the rocks are covered with petroglyphs. Pecked into the rocks over a thousand years ago, these mysterious symbols were left for us to puzzle over by the Hohokum people. No one knows for sure the meaning of these markings; perhaps they guide travelers or are clan symbols or mark astronomical events. The most visible petroglyph is the spiral on the rock pointing up in the center of the panoramic view from Signal Hill.

Technical Note: The panorama was photographed with a Canon 5D Mark II using a 45mm tilt-shift lens. I made three exposures, one with the lens centered, one shifted to the left and one shifted to the right. The three frames were then merged in Photoshop to create the final image.

What makes life so fine on Route 89?—Larry Schnebly

Larry Schnebly is the grandson of Sedona Schnebly for whom the town of Sedona was named. He is also a member of the US Route 89 Appreciation Society. Larry emaied me a couple of months ago and I arranged to record an interview. I knew he would have some great US 89 and 89A stories to tell and I wasn’t disappointed. I have added the edited video to our YouTube channel along with our other “What makes life so fine on Route 89?” interviews. I hope you enjoy listening to Larry’s stories as much as I enjoyed recording them.



Vegetable Crate Labels

The connection between US Route 89 and commercial graphic art ephemera may seem tenuous at first. But we can learn an important piece of the history of highway 89 from the lowly vegetable crate label.

In the early 20th century, agriculture was an important part of the economy of central Arizona thanks in large part to subsidized water from the Salt River Project. Close to what is now downtown Phoenix were hundreds of acres of carrots and lettuce and other row crops. When the crops were picked they were trucked to packing sheds next to the railroad tracks. One of the largest packing and shipping points was along Grand Avenue/US Route 89.

Of course, with the urbanization of the Salt River Valley and the development of the Interstate Highway system, agriculture was pushed further out and the packing sheds closed.

Thanks to our friend, John Medley, we can get a glimpse of that era through his collection of vegetable crate labels. These labels were affixed to the standard wooden crate used to ship vegetables to the auction houses back east. They were designed to draw attention to the particular grower and the quality of that company’s produce. They were also intended to distinguish Arizona grown vegetables from rival brands in California. Thus Arizona growers often feature western themes and the saguaro cactus especially.

We have just added a special portfolio of vegetable crate labels to the Apache Junction to Wickenburg Road Trip Guide. Here is one of my favorites from Isabell-Hartner Ranches in Phoenix. The image is of a mission bell with rows of vegetables at the foot of a mountain range seen through the arch. I love the play on words on the Isabell name. These guys had a sense of humor.

I hope you enjoy this portfolio and this little excursion into the rich history to be found along US Route 89.

US Route 89 Project Included in Best of ASMP

Every year the American Society of Media Photographers asks its members to submit their most interesting photography projects for inclusion in the Best of ASMP. From the couple of hundred submissions they pick twenty which illustrate the quality and diversity of photography done by the membership. I am honored that my work on the US Route 89 was included in the 2010 Best of ASMP.

After being selected, each photographer answers a series of questions that detail the project and other aspects of the photographer’s work. The Society publishes a couple of images and excerpts from the questionnaire in the ASMP Bulletin. The full set of photographs and the complete interview are on the ASMP website.

I found the process of answering the questions challenging. I had to think about the project in the context of what it means to me as a photographer. I also needed to elaborate on the technical and logistical problems that have been part of the project. For instance, the following Q&A made me articulate some thoughts on my approach to landscape photography.

ASMP: What is unique about your style and approach or what sets you and your work apart from other photographers?

JC: My landscape photographs have been called “painterly” and are sometimes mistaken for paintings. I believe this is because my photographs are about color and texture rather than line. Early in my career, I was challenged by a black and white photographer who maintained that landscape could only be conveyed by light and shadow. Since then I have looked for images that are dependent on color and texture for their meaning.

As a Life Member of ASMP, I am very honored by the recognition of my peers. Click here to read the full interview on the ASMP website.

Glow 2010

The full moon of September was a couple weeks ago. To celebrate the event, we attended Glow, a multimedia extravaganza at the Triangle L Ranch in our home town of Oracle, Arizona. The event features illuminated sculpture, light projections, installations and a gallery exhibit in the 1890′s adobe barn. Local bands perform amid revelers wearing glow in the dark ornaments and costumes. To give you a taste of what Glow is like, here is a short video. Hope to see you at next years Glow.

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