Light Rail Bridge

I have really been itching to do some dusk and night time long exposure photography lately so I decided to get my butt down to Tempe Beach Park and see what there was to photograph.

This shot was taken between the light rail bridge and the old train bridge with the shutter speed set at 30 seconds at ISO 100 at about f4.

I love the outcome of this shot! The cool thing about the light rail bridge is that the lights that you see along the bottom of the bridge change colors as the light rail approaches it with reds, blues, purples and greens.

I will for sure get back down there again soon to shoot a little more. Don't forget you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

The Old Church

One of the things I really enjoy photographing is old churches. This church is out by the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, AZ.

I am not exactly sure why I am drawn to old churches, maybe it has to do with the history a church tends to have when it comes to peoples lives. Many start off their lives with some sort of dedication as a family vows to raise their child in their faith, then the child once old enough to understand their family's faith gets baptized into that faith, many move on to getting married at their church then dedicating their child's life to their faith, and last the old church holds the remains of that persons life while others come in celebration of it.

I fear that many churches built today may not have such a history. People get tired of the old church and build new bigger and better churches to replace them while other churches fall into decay and are just torn down in order to provide more space for progress.

Last & First

Well this was my last shoot in 2009 and my first shoot in 2010. It was from the New Years Eve wedding of Dustin and Ashley and they wanted to celebrate their wedding while bringing in the New Year.

Of course everyone was tuckered out and only a hand full of the guests were left to help them bring it in but that's OK.

Me being the pro that I am stuck it out with them right till the end.

Photography Workshops of Arizona

One of the things I enjoy most about photography is teaching others how they can improve their own photography.

Photography Workshops of Arizona or PWAZ has had a great year and I have had some fantastic students throughout this year.

One of the things that I enjoy from these workshops is seeing the students filled with so much enthusiasm to learn as much as they can about photography.

My approach is direct and simple trying not to over complicate things but just to give my students tools that they can use right away. I remember one of my students telling me that she learned more in my two hour DSLR 101 class than she did in her eight week course at the local community college. That's what its all about.

As we wind down this year and look forward to 2010 I can not help but to be thankful for all the great people who I have met this past year and can only hope that next year will bring more of the same.

Be safe and hit the ground running in 2010!

http://www.PWAZ.info

Mr Lee Lee

The great thing about having pets is that when you get bored you have someone or something to pester.

After a week of dealing with a cold and being cooped up a little to much I decided to break out the 70-200 2.8 lens and chase the cats around the yard for awhile.

Mr Lee Lee here is one of our four cats and as you can see he is a Siamese and is just about the color of our dirt which he loves to roll around in when he gets the chance.

A cats life. Not so bad.

Salt River Canyon

One of the things I love to do is ride motorcycles. On a trip to a motorcycle rally in northern Arizona I rode through the Salt River Canyon. I told myself on the way back I was going to stop and take a few pictures.

It had rained the night before my return back to Chandler and the sky was still filled with these powerful clouds overshadowing the canyon below. It was a awesome sight and a great ride if you ever find yourself heading that way.