Sandhill Cranes in Southern Colorado

It's absolutely amazing to imagine how birds find their way through life. In this case, I'm talking about Sandhill Cranes, which migrate annually and spend weeks during their migration near Monte Vista Colorado.
          

Thousands of them stop at the nearby wildlife refuge just south of town to enjoy the marshes, ponds, wild grasses, and wide open spaces in the San Luis Valley (75 miles long!). They are a natural wonder to view and admire. And, for me, they make for great photo art subjects.

Here are some of my favorite images which I created in March of this year (2011). I wasn't just photographing birds; I was capturing their natural beauty, especially against such a great Colorado backdrop.

With Blanca Peak (over 14,000') in background.

Looking west from the San Luis Valley

 

                             It takes patience to wait for this type of courting display 

   

           In flight at sunrise, around 6:30 a.m.

If you go to Monte Vista next year during their annual Sandhill Crane Festival, make reservations early! It is definitely worth the drive, or flight. While you're there, take in the highest sand dunes in north America: The Great Sand Dunes, just a few miles northeast of Monte Vista.

Enjoy my photographic interpretations of the Sandhill Cranes.

Eli Vega, Photo Artist
www.elivega.net

I SEE SOMETHING™

People who know me well, who have attended my photography slide show presentations, or who have registered for my classes, understand that I am known for my I SEE SOMETHING™

I say it so much that it has become one of my trademarks. And it's true, when I go out "shooting" I always see something. But, it's not the same kind of seeing with which most people are familiar. I don't see with my eyes; I see with my imagination. I see something before I see it. It's kind of like that song says, "I knew I loved you before I met you." Okay, maybe it's not like that song....:-)

Here are just a couple of examples that illustrate what I'm talking about. I have other similar images on my website, but viewers don't know the story behind the images. But, for these two, I'm going to take you inside my head so you too can see what I see.

Imagine seeing several fully restored vintage tractors, all parked on this huge lot by a small two-lane highway. There are several makes and models, of different colors. And, they're for sale! "Tractors?" you say. "What tractor would be deserving of a photograph, unless it was for an assignment for some tractor or farming magazine?" Ah, but wait, grass hoppa, a tractor does have artistic value, if you see what I see.

I liked the combination of greens and reds. I was looking for an abstract. I could imagine what this extract might look like with very shallow depth of field (a wide f/stop). As I set my f/stop and manually and selectively focused, I saw this coming together. You see, it's not a picture of tractors; it's photo art that focuses on the art the tractors can create. It's there already, we just need to find it, i.e., create it.


I was strolling along one of my favorite places in Colorado--Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. On this particular day, I saw and studied one of several street performers, a small group of three guys singing and playing their guitars. They had a couple of back-up guitars which they had carefully placed behind them. In-between sets, I asked one of them if he would mind if I "took some pictures." He politely obliged. As I was photographing, I saw something that caught my eye-- a guitar lying on a bench, with a guitar case behind it. As I examined the developing scene in front of me, I started seeing with my imagination. They were no longer a guitar and a guitar case--I saw art. I began my experimentation with composition, depth of field, selective focusing, and a sense of creating a piece of art through my camera and lens. This is the result of what I saw.

Without a hint; without explanation of what went into this image, it takes awhile to see what you're seeing.

In both examples, there are several creative applications that serve as the foundation to "finding" these types of images. One of these applications is from my Eli's 5-Point Photo Art Model™  We need to detach ourselves from the symbols we have been programmed to see: "Tractors." "Guitar." "Guitar case." If we detach ourselves from the labels, we start seeing everything differently. Try it!

Eli Vega, Photo Artist
www.elivega.net

 

Snow Sculpture Championships: Breckenridge, Colorado 2011

This is my sixth year of photographing this phenomenal event. If you get a chance next year, I highly recommend it. The event draws international teams of artists. There is only one common denominator: All sculpture teams start with a 20-ton block of packed ice and snow, reaching a height twelve feet! From there, it's all individual creativity. It is absolutely amazing what the artists can create from a block of ice and snow. As Michelangelo once said, "I saw an angel in the block of marble and I just chiseled 'til I set him free."


I created several images of the event this past weekend, but only include a few here for your enjoyment.

These first two are from the snow sculpture "Freeze Frame" by the USA/Loveland, Colorado team. The sculpture faced in the direction of a clock tower in the town of Breckenridge. The design was that of a large 8"x10" camera. Inside the snow camera, the artists, true to the mechanics of such cameras, designed an inverted and upside down reflection of the clocks on the clock tower. Amazingly creative.

The spectators provide a good sense of scale.

 The backside of the camera was as if you could look inside the camera and see the inverted/upside down image.

"Marco" was by the USA team from Vermont. It is a sculpture of two boys in the water playing the game of Marco Polo. From this perspective, I took advantage of flare from the sun, which to me symbolized the boys having fun in the bright sunlight.

 

 "Medusa" was by the USA team from Wisconsin. How they managed so many smoothly curved areas throughout the large snow and ice area provided is beyond me!

"Mére De Nation" was by the Canadian/Quebec team.The stylized wedding dress "pays homage to the adventuresome young brides who crossed the Atlantic to marry the settlers of the St. Lawrence River Valley."

An added feature to this year's event was the addition of colored lights strategically placed and turned on at

twilight. It really added a nice touch to this sculpture, which was hollow inside.

"Spirits of the Aurora" was by the Canadian/Yukon team. It is based on the Aurora, or Northern Lights, which "are believed to be the torches held in the hands of Spirits seeking the souls of those who just died."It took second place this year.

After 2-3 hours of shooting, I took a much needed break. I went back to the event at twilight to continue my project. The inside of "Spirits of The Aurora" after the colored lights came on was a perfect opportunity to capture "the dead" in color.

And....drum roll please...............First place went to "Alebrije" (brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures) by the team from Mexico.  The caption read, "Eagle-Sun; Jaguar-Rain and Snake-Earth are all dual mythological beings in Mexican culture. United in an Alebrije, it has the capacity to give life on earth." 

So, did I get you interested in Breckenridge's annual Snow Sculpture Championships? They're held the last week in January. Check it out next year! www.gobreck.com  

Spring 4 1/2-Day Photo Workshop in The Great Smoky Mountains

Spring, believe it or not, is just 2-3 months away (depending on where you live). If you love photography, or photo art as I prefer to call it, I invite you to spend spring with me and David A. Dobbs (photographer out of Georgia) in the Great Smoky Mountains during a 4 1/2 day photography workshop. We will be covering both the technical and creative sides of photography through a series of workshop sessions, discussions, slide presentations, lots of in-the-field shooting, and a chance to receive feedback on your daily work from me and David.

If you're interested in learning more about this exciting, fun, and educational workshop, either:

1) Shoot me an e-mail and I will send you more information: vegaphotoart@gmail.com
OR
2) Visit David's website (www.dobbsphotography.com). He has more detail under "workshops."

I'll give you a preview: One of my workshops will be on Eli's 5-Point Photo Art Model™

I'll leave you with a photo tip: If you take the labels off, you will begin to "see" differently. Think about this, for example: If it wasn't a tree, what would it be? Hmmm? 

Happy shooting!

Eli Vega, Photo Artist
www.elivega.net

Entertainment on Pearl Street Mall--Boulder, Colorado

Boulder, Colorado, more specifically, Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, is one of my favorite places to visit in Colorado--I am only ten minutes away. Boulder reminds me, in many respects, of Luzern, Switzerland. Pearl Street Mall, which is a pedestrian Mall opened in 1977, reminds me of New Orleans in that, when the weather is accommodating, there are many street performers entertaining the passersby. It's decent protocol to tip them...:-)

Today, my good friend Jeff and I were strolling down Pearl Street Mall on a pleasant December day. As usual, we saw several street performers. But, the one that really caught my attention this time was young and talented Henry, playing the most unique instrument I have ever seen--the Diddley Bow. This instrument, I found out later, is said to have its roots in the deep south and is of African origin, probably from the Ghana coast. It is rarely seen outside the rural south. It is played on a flat board, with a glass bottle as a bridge and either a piece of metal or glass as the slide, sort of like on a steel guitar. The instrument has a significant historical role in Blues music. Other names for it are the "jitterbug" and the "one string."

Before I show you Henry doing his thing with his Diddly Bow, here is my good friend Jeff enjoying Pearl Street Mall.

 And, here I am thoroughly enjoying Pearl Street Mall, which is at the foothills of the Rockies (you can see them in the background). I love this place! Some of my best photo images I found along Pearl Street.

And here are a few of my photographic interpretations of young Henry entertaining the crowds. Henry said, "Cool." when I told him I wanted to add him to my blog........Enjoy.

                                             Check out the amplifier next to his feet.

How To Take Good Christmas Season Photographs

Christmas, whether you are Christian or not, is a very festive season, especially if you celebrate it in the spirit of giving--either of your time, energy, skills, experience, etc. Regardless of religious or spiritual beliefs, it feels good when we give. So, during this season, visit an ailing relative or friend; comfort someone in a difficult time in their life; stop and help a stranger stranded on the road with car problems; give to someone who cannot give.

Today, I give to you just a little bit of my experience and skills as a photo artist. I enjoy photographing Christmas-themed subjects. I have several, but here are a few I'd like to share with you.

 This is of the City/County building in Denver, Colorado. Exposure is fairly simple, since the scene has a good balance of darks and brights--all you need is a little bracketing, plus and minus, then fine tune later in PhotoShop if necessary. I superimposed the moon in-camera--it's important to keep it in proper perspective and not make it too big (I've seen that--yikes!). I made a slight parallel adjustment to the outside lines of the building in PS.

This is also in Denver--historic Union Station. I also adjusted the outside lines of the building with PS. If you want to get those nice blurred lines in the photo, wait until the light changes to get your shot--that way, you will photograph the cars in motion, thus the effect of blurred lines of color! Any exposure 10 seconds or longer will give you these results.

This creative design is across the street from the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Again, the exposure is fairly straight forward because of similar amounts of darks and brights. A lot of photographers, even those that consider themselves "professional," hate using tripods. I like it because it allows me to use lower ISOs (less noise/grain), use low shutter speeds (e.g., 10 sec.-1.5 minutes or more), AND fine-tune my compositions--it's hard to fine-tune compositions in PS! It's also difficult to fine-tune the correct f/stop (depth of field) in PS. My goal is to always get composition, depth of field, and exposure as good as possible in-camera, then do some fine-tuning in PS.

So, go out there and enjoy catching the colorful spirit of giving through your photography!

Enjoy, and have a great holiday season!

Eli Vega, Photo Artist
www.elivega.net

How To Take Great Winter Photos

Taking winter snowy shots can be tricky. Have you ever seen some great winter scenes, photographed them, just for them to turn out sort of grayish or bluish? Not to worry. It was 
your built-in camera meter just doing what it was designed to do--try to turn white (or black) objects as gray as it can.

This is not one of my photography classes I teach, so I'll just take a short cut and give you some quick tips (sorry, those of you with simple point and shoot cameras can e-mail me for some other options). First, assume that your meter will want to "gray down" that snow or ice scene. Now, are you ready for a counter-intuitive tip? Use your exposure compensation dial on your camera (you can find it in the index of your manual, or on the illustration at the front of your manual where it has arrows pointing to the features on top of your camera). Turn the dial so that you are overexposing, yes, overexposing the scene. Depending on how bright the scene is, and how much "whiteness" you see in the viewfinder, you will have to overexpose the scene by anywhere from 1-2 stops!!! What you're your actually achieving by doing so is getting a photo of white snow, which is what your eyes see.  

In this first example, taken in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, it was sooooo cold and the scene sooooo white that I overexposed the shot by 1 2/3 stops! As you can see, I got white.

In this second example, of the ski slopes (a Steamboat Springs image that appeared in a Colorado calendar), it wasn't as tricky. Why? Because there was more color, other than white, in the viewfinder. Therefore, the built-in meter didn't think it had to underexpose the scene as much in order for it to give me gray. Nonetheless, I still overexposed it a bit--to 2/3 of a stop overexposure.

 

So, unless you live in southernmost United States, go out there and experiment. You're going to amaze yourself this winter!!! Have fun.

Shoot me an e-mail anytime--I love to share my expertise, experiences, and approach to my photo art.

Eli Vega, Photo Artist
www.elivega.net
vegaphotoart@gmail.com