I am spending the next 4 days in sunny Las Vegas for Photoshop World. Can’t wait to see all the new training on CS5 and hear some of the new instructors. I am particualarly interested in Zack Arias and Jay Maisel‘s workshops. Scott Kelby is also teaching a new course on designing with type that should be really interesting.

I am also pretty interested in seeing the new demo for the Nik HRD plugin.

Tomorrow is my pre-conference day with Joe McNally and Moose Peterson for the Photo Safari at Vally of Fire State Park. I will post some new images over the next few days from that shoot.

Here are a few images from my arrival today in Las Vegas.

Nikon D300s 70-300mm Lexar Media

This first image is taken just outside the Mandalay Bay. I love the long diagonal of light as it moves you from left to right juxtaposed against the arches. Great light in the middle of day, used the golden windows reflection to get feel of the late afternoon light.

Nikon D300s 70-300mm Lexar Media

There is something about the abandoned hotel, the church in the background, the seedy feel of the motel on the strip next to such huge hotels.

Nikon D300s 70-300mm Lexar Media

What is more American than great light and a flag. What caught my eye for this shot was the backlighting on the palm trees and the bright white stripes on the American flag. A great reflection in the windows too.

Indulge your PHOTOLUST on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at the Photo Center NW 5th Annual Benefit Auction.

Whether you’re a passionate collector, art advocate or photography enthusiast, come share your common obsession with Photo Center NW at our 5th Annual Benefit Auction, PHOTOLUST. Together, you’ll clink glasses and savor delicious hors d’oeuvres as you admire over 75 original prints donated by top professionals and emerging artists.

Get your reservations to attend at photolust.pcnw.org

• A day shouldn’t go by where you do not take a photo
• The best photographs are images that surprise in imagination and inspire the next image.
• Photography what you love and love what you photograph. Even if no one else understands your relationship.
• I have 9 cameras and not once have they ever photographed anything from being in storage.
• I have always be told that photography is about light, but I also think it is about warmth, cold, hot, taste, smell and texture. Kodak may have created smellable paper, but if an image can make me taste a cup of coffee it is one hell of an image.
• I missed one of my favorite sunsets trying to find the right ND filter for my camera. I wish my DSLR was a point and shoot. Oh wait…I get it you still need to point and shoot.
• I love looking at photo books. Where else can you find such a place as the world someone else lives in.
• I miss Forte Warmtone Paper.
• On any given day with my 8×10 camera I get to take 6-8 shots (on a good day). I usually get 1-2 keepers. When I shoot my SLR cameras I shoot hundreds of images. I usually get 1-2 keepers. While the results may be the same, the experience of shooting is not the same. I sure do love the variety.
• Funny how the more I shoot the better I think my images get.

PCNW Long shot is April 30-May 1. A 24 hours shooting marathon and gallery show. Great chance to get out and shoot no matter where  you are.

DETAILS: This spring, Photo Center NW invites you to take part in the Second Annual LONG SHOT event, a 24-hour community-wide photo marathon on May Day (6pm Friday, April 30-6pm Saturday, May 1 to be precise!). Individuals and teams will hit the streets to photograph a theme, cause, community, or subject of their choice.

• Shoot during all or part of the 24 hour period
• Venture out on your own, join a team, or keep in touch with other photographers at meet-up points throughout the 24 hours
• This event is open to ALL levels and anyone who wants to participate!

WHY: The basic premise of Long Shot is to celebrate photography and community and to seek pledges for your participation in the event. Long Shot is a way to support you as a photographer and artist, build community, raise awareness for a cause (if you choose), and to raise money for the Photo Center to continue to offer education and outreach programs.

HOW:

REGISTER

• Seek out family, friends, coworkers, and anyone else to PLEDGE any amount that they can for your participation in the Long Shot event. You can ask for an hourly pledge (i.e. $1.00 for every hour you shoot) or you can ask for a flat rate (i.e. $24.00 no matter how many hours you participate).
• SHOOT during the 24 hour period! You may begin the event with ateam from here on Capitol Hill in Seattle, or start shooting from wherever they might be in the world.
• SUBMIT your photos for EXHIBITION
• INVITE everyone you know to the LONG SHOT EXHIBITION and celebration on Friday June 4 to purchase photographs from the shoot. All proceeds benefit Photo Center NW.

All participants who submit work will have photograph displayed in the exhibition! These will be sold throughout the evening as a fundraiser in support of the Photo Center!

http://insupportofpcnw.wordpress.com/about/

This past week I had to take down my gallery show. It was a strange punctuation on the experience. The show was titled Immersion: Experienced Spaces and it was a series of images done in platinum and palladium using an 8×10 view camera. The project took about 12 months to complete and was in the gallery for 6 weeks. For 6 weeks, I was able to drive down 12th Ave and see my work in the window. I could ask friends to go see the work, send out invitations to openings, and enjoy the conversations about the work that developed over the course of the show. Then I had to pack up the show and make way for the new artists that are showing next.

It was a surreal experience. For months I worked until I had a show that I was happy with hanging in the gallery. For weeks, people got to see a glimpse of what I see when I see the world around me. And then in a compressed 6 weeks, I took images down from the walls and put them in their bubble wrap for the journey home.

The images now sit in a stack on the kitchen table. I imagine that they are tired and need rest so I let them sleep. They worked so hard over the past six weeks acting as beacons on white walls to tell people about me. I imagine that after the prior 6 months of editing and reshooting and criticism of who they are and how they ranked against their peers wasn’t that easy on them either. But never once did they complain–they only provided their unconditional support. At least that is the story I tell myself about the work sitting on the table while I figure out what what story they need to tell next.

After all, that is why we show our work as photographers. It is to tell our stories. Images are more than just a collection of chemicals, ink or light on a screen, they are a statement of who we are and what we are about as people. We create our work so that it can reach out and make us part of a larger community and still provide an internal sanctuary of our passions, hopes and dreams.