I want to sit by a fire with whiskey and listen to the wind and the water and the voices of my friends.
I need a place to go.
A tall man with thin white hair stands in front of me. There is a problem with the barcode and the clerk is having trouble. I wait in line and stare at the pink flashlights and yellow double-ended screwdrivers and key rings and doo-dads and knick-knacks.
A cashier is at the next register.
She waves in my direction and says,
I’ll take the next in line.
Across the store a woman struggles to remove a forty-pound bag of sunflower seeds from a display claiming Red Hot Buys.
The sun is out and it’s windy and in the parking lot a woman has locked her keys in her car. I can tell by the way she shakes around and repeatedly pulls the door handle and looks through the window. She has a brown paper grocery bag cradled in her left arm and a pale-yellow shirt.
I am the next in line.
The man behind me steps around and walks quickly over. He is short and wearing a brown leather jacket.
I want to drive North. I wouldn’t mind seeing some snow. Maybe I should buy some chains. They probably sell chains here.
Sir?
I look.
Weren’t you the next in line?
I shrug. The man in the brown leather jacket doesn’t look up from his items.
In a few days it will be 2015. I like the number fifteen. Half of thirty. Thirty is a good number, too. I am not sure about forty-five, though. I have no relationship with that number.
The tall man with the thin white hair lifts a plastic bag from the counter and turns away. He takes small careful steps and pulls his collar up. The doors swoosh and a few leaves tumble in as he walks out.
The clerk smiles at me. She has very pale skin and light blue-green eyes and is very pretty but not Hot. I imagine she has a dog. Maybe a yellow lab. I look for hair on her blue sweater and see none.
I step forward and place on the counter two Hillman 3/8in X 5in wedge anchors, two 3/8in flat washers, a 3/8in masonry bit and a small brown envelop on which is written the cost of the anchors and washers.
She pulls the items toward her.
I feel the need to call someone. There is nobody at my house. I am struck by loneliness but it passes. I am hungry. What’s in my fridge? I wonder what time her shift ends. She looks like she is in college. Too young. When did that happen?
The woman with the sunflower seeds is now behind me. She pushes the bag forward along the laminate floor with her foot and types on her phone. Something smells like lemons.
The clerk picks up the envelop and types into the computer.
Did you find everything you needed today?
That’s a hell of a question. Everything? I don’t think so. And needed? Past tense? It’s not even noon.
I need food. I need a place to go. I need to call someone. I need to drive and split wood and pour a drink in a place that smells like pine and dirt and wet. I need a connection. I need movement. I need to hurry. I need to slow down. I need things I have never heard of and will never know. I need everything and nothing all at once.
The doors swoosh and the leaves dance and the woman with the brown paper grocery bag and pale-yellow shirt walks in. She looks around as she walks and her eyes fall on the short man with the brown leather jacket and she angles toward him. She stops at his shoulder and says he is never going to believe what she just did. He doesn’t look up.
I smile at the clerk.
Yes, I have everything. Thank you.
#BlackandWhitePhotoChallenge
For the last five days I have been taking part in the black and white photo challenge on Instagram.
It was an interesting process, pouring through Lightroom and looking for images that had the right feeling, the proper “gravity”, I suppose you could say. It was more difficult than I would have expected but I felt it was deserved. Anything worth doing, and all… Also, I found that listening to Raidohead’s album Hail To The Thief helped get me into the proper mindset. Sail to the Moon is an awesome auditory accompaniment to anything in grayscale.
The five:
Dads first fist bump.
When I think about my favorite BW images this one always comes to mind. Did a shoot for a buddy of mine after his son was born, and his wife Jayme had this idea. I smile every time I see it.
Wine Scientist
Day two takes us into the bowels of Maynard Keenan’s home laboratory. A hand on his OneoFoss analysis unit — which is used to obtain an infrared spectrum of absorption, emission, and photoconductivity of a sample of a solid, liquid, or gas, in this case a few drops of one of his wines — as he waits for the sample to finish testing. I find it interesting as I dig through my archives for this challenge that all the images that I am considering have already been processed into black and white. Is this because they already exist in a desaturated state and stand out amongst the color images? Any photo can be a black and white, but some want it right out of the camera, they need it, they yell from the screen, “this is not me, all this silly color! Remove this hindrance, this distraction from my being. Hark! My story must be told in grayscale.” I believe this to be true. Then again there is no better cure for color balance issues than just removing said color. Little from column A, little from column B, I suppose. Also, maybe I need to see a doctor about these voices.
Photonic Nightcap
Hex triplet – #FFF8E7
sRBG – (255, 248, 231)
CMYK – (0, 2.7, 9.6, 0)
This is the color of the universe. A while back a team of astronomers at Johns Hopkins University set about to determine the age of various galaxies and star systems. In 2002, published in The Astrophysical Journal their paper, “The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: Constraints on Cosmic Star Formation History from the Cosmic Spectrum” reported that after a survey of all light in the universe the calculated resulting color added up to be a “slightly beigeish white” and was subsequently named “Cosmic Latte”. Cosmic Latte. Delicious. Now, I know what you are thinking. “But Alex, this is the Black and White photo challenge, so whats with all the color talk?” Well, yeah. I thought about that. And you know what? Who cares. Life is in color and this stuff is interesting. Now, please, for your own health and the good of those around you — next time you have a chance get out and take a nice sip of the cosmic latte. Dr. Alex is writing you a prescription for mountain star gazing. It’s good for the soul. Getcha some of that old light, maybe capture a few photons, shake their hands. This light has been traveling for a long time, it would be rude not to say hello occasionally.
Night Shots
Participants of the Gunsite Pistol 250 course takes turns on the line practicing flashlight techniques in the cool high desert night. This was neat as a long exposure because the shooters did not fire all at once — One at a time from left to right they would draw, illuminate the target, take two shots then holster before turning off their light. So while watching the drill you only see small parts of the berm and a few targets at a time but when exposed for the whole line it gives you a look at the whole scene. A note about long exposures at night – the focal length of your lens determines how long you can expose before getting (noticing) star trails (movement of the earth causing the stars to become elongated and not neat little pinpoints of light.) This was taken with a 10.5mm fisheye which will allow 30 second exposures while keeping the stars neat and tidy.
Dropoff
The sargent leaned forward in his seat. The motion of the helicopter and the weight of the helmet made his head bob up and down as he spoke. “You see the river”, he pointed out the open door without looking. His low and gravelly voice made tinny through the headset. Outside the brown and yellow Texas landscape slid past cut by a winding snake of water the same color as the dirt. I nodded. “The border patrol use of force policy is a little different from ours.” He said, leaning back. “We can handle threat situations down here a little differently.” He repositioned his LaRue Tactical OBR 7.62 rifle between his legs, the suppressor down between his tan boots. The dull grey-blue metal looked cool in the desert heat and indifferent to the struggles of man. The drone of the engines changed pitch and slowed as we approached the LZ. I stared out across the Rio Bravo into the haze of Mexico.
-Alex in living color.
“Sweetheart, where is my phone?”
“Do you remember where you last had it?”
“Did you set it down when you put your sweater on?”
“I checked the truck like three times…”
“Maybe it’s over here, like when you went to pee or something?”
“If it would have fallen off a chair or something I would have heard it.”
“No, I already looked in the tent.”
It was in the tent.
D800, 10.5mm
25 sec at f/3.2, ISO 200
-Alex the digital sherlock.
Mountain Campanatomy.
-Alex who always wants to be there, no matter where it is.
Hawley, sans mystery.
It’s amazing (but completely understandable) how a lake without water — which in this particular case holds for me almost two decades of memories; a summer refuge and place of childhood discovery that I will always hold dear to my heart and has shaped a great deal of the man who I am today — just looks like a dirty, muddy dent.
They are draining it to fix the spillway, which I suppose is important. The lake is normally 280 acres, and the are supposedly taking it down under 30.
There are some upsides, though, as I now had the ability to casually wander the lake-bottom around some of my favorite fishing spots and give the finger to each and every rock, stump, and stick ever responsible for snagging my flies.
Silver linings, and all.
-Alex who may or may not have marked a few GPS spots, also.
Five Palms, one light.
Chef Nadia Aidi, Five Palms-Steak and Seafood, Tucson
Famous words and Ferry Flotillas
Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.
― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
The Men float
In their boats
Past creosotes¹ with totes and songs in their throats,
To the fishes
Their attention devotes,
To destinations remote
Better than any word wrote
Is the man in person taking note,
For the blues
It is a kick-ass antidote.
-Alex Landeen, Just Now On My Blog
¹I think creosote exist in Glenn Canyon.
Mr. Ben Smith also recounts these and other events.
-Alex who like Rapper Ice Cold pushes rhymes like weight.
Ferry Flotilla ’14 (a teaser)
Ben Smith, Scott Hotchkiss, Jason Jones, Marvin Chappman, Alex Landeen
AKA Blue Button-Ups and Cut-off Sleeve Awareness Week.
More to come on this…
-Alex who has to leave you again for a few days, (hence the preview) but will be back before you know it.
Daddy Mac & the Meatballs, AKA Dino from Tino’s
Sometimes you take a trip downtown.
Sometimes you eat some tasty treats.
Sometimes you have a few cocktails.
But only once does your friend have his opening night as a food truck operator.
Good stuff, Dino. Nice job.
Find these dudes with the glory of meatball subs, bacon and green chili mac n’cheese, chicken ceasar wraps and more behind The Flycatcher on 4th Ave. (used to be PLUSH)
-Alex who might have partook in most all the edible glory last evening and feels great about it.
The pro-selfie comes in handy…
…when you need a SWAT guy, and don’t have one in your pocket.
Business on top, party on bottom.
-Alex who secretly wants to be a tactical fashion model.
University of Arizona in Circular Panorama
Want to make your own? Just ask the goog.
-Alex who credits David Harvey, who passed away in 2012, for showing him this technique. He was a fantastic man, and a great photographer. RIP Dave.
Stormy Sunday
The service lady in the white jeep with the flashing lights pulled up slowly as I approached, a look of tired resignation on her face as she rolled down the wet window. Apparently she was expecting attitude and had had her fill already.
“Parks closing, please turn around and leave now.”
I smiled, “sounds good.”
If my happy compliance surprised her it didn’t show. The park closing at 6pm on Sundays was news to me, but also music to my ears. One of the two parking spaces on the outside of the gate was open and that was all I needed.
In my recent experience the peak is a madhouse on stormy evenings, but the limited parking outside the gate and the half-mile rainy uphill walk gave me sunny expectations of being left alone; the loud-ass car stereos cruisers and running/screaming/crying children having been locked out by the lovely annoyed lady in the white Jeep.
I did have to leave most of my crap behind, as I was now walking, but I think it turned out okay.
-Alex who occasionally likes to be left alone.
Things you don’t want to see
Knock, Knock…
No, it’s not the pizza guy.
Phoenix SWAT.
Nice dudes, unless you are a bad guy.
Don’t be a bad guy.
-Alex who is full of good advice.
The Perfect Storm (is somewhere else)
I know.
It’s been four days.
But it has been a potentially good looking four days, and I have little to show for it besides a dead truck battery, a indifferent millipede encounter, an angry rattlesnake encounter, and an absurdly intricate selfie (see above).
But there is always something on the horizon, even if that horizon is annoyingly far away and refuses to give you what you want.
Does this map look good?
I haven’t the slightest clue.
-Alex who thinks snakes should be happier.
Hooray Fireworks!
Fireworks show from Sentinal Peak, commonly known as “A” Mountain, for some reason.
Expanding Horizons
As I have said before, I don’t do a lot of landscape stuff.
It might be because I have little patience for mother nature. (Even though fishing can be exactly that, but the idea that next week, or tomorrow, or even ten minutes from the moment you leave may be ten times better makes me twitchy.)
It might be because I feel that besides having a good grasp on how your camera functions, this kind of thing is a lot about luck and being in the right place at the right time. (It is)
It might be because I have never found a flash bright enough to light a mountain range. (Most likely)
But seriously, I think there is something about relying solely on natural conditions for success that makes me weary. (Even though, again, this is pretty much exactly like fishing) I want more control, I want to be able to force the good photo, which is a problem. I don’t like driving around,
That being said, I had a friend move away during summer for work. She asked me to send her photos of the monsoon weather, as she is feeling a little homesick. So this season, I am going to commit to try to capture some good Tucson storm stuff, and in doing so perhaps polish this skillset in the process.
The image above is the result of the actions below. This was yesterday evening, and my first hurry-up-and-wait storm session of the season.
Fingers crossed.
-Alex who should probably buy an umbrella.
Take Your Speedlight to Work Day
I have a problem.
And I have a solution.
Unfortunately, the solution is part of the problem. This, however, usually turns out to be a good thing.
If you said I was a lighting photographer, I would probably agree. I don’t remember the last time I took my camera somewhere and didn’t at least bring a couple speedlights. I guess I just feel better having them around. Like a safety net. Or a crutch.
“But why, Alex, would you consider that a crutch?” you may be asking. Well, I occasionally think that automatically going to the use of artificial light for subjects may cause me to miss a better (subjective) and easier setup using only natural light. Also, it usually means a few more pounds of crap to carry around and while I appreciate the muscle toning, usually lighter is better.
Now, that aside, I think that the combination of natural and artificial light is one of my favorite things in the world. Potentially on par with bacon. And that’s saying something.
Where the technique shines is in examples like the one below from a few weeks ago.
You can see in the image on the right that the natural exposure on this guy makes the sky look pretty colorless, which sometimes is exactly what I want, but generally I like some color.
Adding one flash and exposing for the sky did the job, and gave me the photo I had in my mind.
Which makes me happy.
-Alex who likes being happy.
Billie Jean is Not My Quadcopter
But I do want one. So many things come to mind.
Iron Chef Tucson 2014 @ ISO6400
My father Jonathan, master MC.
A cocktail by the pool, a pulled pork slider, a walk-about the competition with a camera… not a bad event.
Congratulations to Chef John Hohn for the win.
-Alex who is a sucker for free deliciousness, and VIP tickets.
Six Days of Beaver Island – Day Six: The End of the Beginning
Well, that’s it, I suppose.
I leave you, dear reader, with my final thoughts on Beaver Island for the year 2014:
1) Next year I will boodle. On purpose. I may have partially boodled, depending on your definition, but next time it’s getting done right.
2) The mosquitoes are many, and frightening in a lizard-brain sort of way, but potentially impotent. Very little itching. Still I would highly recommend avoiding passing out in the woods. Or near the woods. Or outside at all for that matter. I think enough of them could carry you away never to be seen again, or to be found as a dry husk; like a big strip of bland pork jerky wearing a Howler Bros shirt and a pair of Keens.
3) The lady that makes the beaver pelt koozies is totally awesome, a professional, and will drink all your bourbon.
4) Next year I will rig and keep on hand a rod with a pike leader.
5) I maintain that the roast beef and horseradish wrap is the best boat lunch, but the ham wrap is a close second.
6) I also maintain that it was a good thing I didn’t ring the bell at the Stoney, but someday I will.
7) Lighthouses are neat. And seven is a good number to end on.
On this day I thank:
All who read, shared, and commented over the last five days. It has been a pleasure creating for you.
-Alex who is grateful.
That is all I have, as Mr. Gump said, to say about that.
Six Days of Beaver Island – Day five: The gear
Yesterday I received an email asking me what gear I carried around the island. I thank this person for having the decency to give me an idea of what to talk about here today.
I am not saying that in my excited state proclaiming six days (the length of island time) of unique material was silly (a little), but afterwards I started actually counting ideas based on the stuff I had shot, and I kept landing on five… So thanks for the assist, dear emailer.
This is what I brought in the boat:
1) Nikon and lightweight dry bag (orange thing underneath)
2) 80-200mm f2.8
3) Nikon with 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye (In my hand)
4) Radio triggers
5) Speedlight Grid
6) 17-55mm f2.8
7) Eight Rechargeable AA’s with charger, and extra camera batteries
8) Rocket Blower
9) PEC-PAD lintless wipes and Ziess electronic wipes
10) 85mm f2.8 PCE lens
11) Flash sync cable, radio trigger cables
12) Two Nikon speedlights
13) Dan
The case is a Pelican 1510, which is their carry-on case.
I would say that this kit is pretty much what I take on all my jobs, (with the exception of Dan). Sometimes I also take big lights, a battery pack and some light modifiers when I can justify it.
Something else that I should probably have is a set of ND filters and a gradient filter or two. I don’t do a lot of landscape stuff, so I have never justified the expense but I will buy them eventually. They make proper outdoor exposures much easier to accomplish in-camera.
I also really want a waterproof housing. But, you know…
John demonstrating carrying what it takes to get the good stuff.
One morning I stepped outside with my case and bags and John was standing next to me with his gear at his feet. Austin stepped up on the porch, looking at the two of us and said “Don’t you guys know how to pack light?”
Photographers? Not usually.
For today’s island tip:
I will say to not be afraid to take what you want, or leave what you don’t. I often struggle with what to take, usually wanting to take everything. Sometimes it has paid off, and sometimes it just means I carried a lot of stuff around all day for nothing. I am talking about camera stuff, but also other gear as well.
I often struggle with minimalism.
I would like to be the guy who arrives at the airport without a checked bag.
I would enjoy showing up at the boat and having someone say, “That’s all you are bringing?” and reply in the affirmative with a smile and without hesitation or secretly feeling like I should have.
I would like to wander out into the world with nothing but determination, spirit, and what’s in my pockets.
Unfortunately I have yet to find a pair of pants with that much carrying capacity.
-Alex who reminds you to stretch prior to any strenuous activity.
On this day we thank:
William Joseph
&
Simms
&
Montana Fly Co.