Sean Duggan Blog

A Light at Land's End

Marshall Point Light [Diana Camera]
Port Clyde, Maine...June 28, 2007
(click in the image for a larger version)

Where the Lighthouse Keeper Lived

Lighthouse Keeper's House  [Diana Camera]
Marshall Point Light, Port Clyde, Maine
June 28, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)

Capt'n Lee

Capt'n Lee  [Diana Camera]
Port Clyde, Maine
June 28, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)

Metal Shop

Metal Shop  [Diana Camera]
Maine...June 28, 2007
(click in the image for a larger version)

The Metal Shop is just down the road from the Domestic Science building shown in the previous post.

Domestic Science

Domestic Science  [Diana Camera]
Maine...June 28, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)

We interrupt our program of New Mexico images to bring you some Diana camera photographs from Maine. More New Mexico scenes are scheduled for next week.

Places like this are so perfect for toy cameras.

Blue Doors

Blue Doors  [Canon 5D]
Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico
August 5, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)

In an unplanned bit of photo blog serendipity, I realized as I was preparing this image that it was sequentially the next image I took after the photo in the previous post  ("Window Sand"). This image of the blue doors was taken 33 seconds later.

Window Sand

Window Sand  [Canon 5D]
Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico
August 5, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)

Alexander the Great

Alexander  [Canon 5D]
Acoma, New Mexico  August 5, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)

This image was taken in the same location as yesterday's photo of the wishing stones. Alexander (the Great), our guide for the tour of the Acoma Pueblo, is climbing down from the mesa using the traditional route used by his people before steps were carved into the cliff wall just below him (and in some tricky places, steps have been added with concrete).

Alexander gave one of the most interesting, informative and intelligent tours I have ever been on. If you ever go to visit the Acoma Pueblo, see if you can get on one of his tours. Thanks Alexander!

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Upcoming Workshop

If you're interested in taking a week long workshop to explore digital SLR photography, Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom, then consider joining me on the coast of Maine for my Real World Digital Photography II class at the Maine Photographic Workshops, September 23 – 29. Click the link to learn more about the class or to register. Last I heard there were four spaces left.

Wishing Stones

Wishing Stones  [Canon 5D]
Acoma, New Mexico  August 5, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)

On our final full day in New Mexico, we visited the Acoma Pueblo. This is an amazing place, located atop a rocky mesa in the midst of a stunning high desert landscape a little over an hour's drive west of Albuquerque. The Acoma pueblo, or "Sky City" is widely believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America. Scholars and archaeologists have dated the settlement back to about 950 A.D. My wife and I visited this place in 1989 and this was our first time back since then.

At the end of the guided tour you can take the mini bus back down to the visitor center or walk down a narrow and at times very steep rocky pathway that leads down through the cliff walls of the mesa to the desert floor. As we stopped to rest in the shade on the way down I noticed that most of the recessed areas in the cliff walls were filled with small rocks. A few minutes later, our excellent guide Alexander came along, climbing down a cleft in the rock wall (the original way to get down) instead of the more conventional stone and concrete steps that have been added in places to make the way easier for the average visitor to Acoma.

He told us that these recessed areas in the cliff were for "wishing stones". The object is to make a wish and throw a small rock and try to get it to stay in the hollowed out alcoves in the cliff wall. If the rock stays then your wish is granted (or, at least, has a much better chance of coming true). The higher and more inaccessible the recess is on the cliff wall, the bigger the wish. Both my wife and I managed to get a stone to land in the hole on the right in the photo above.

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Upcoming Workshop

If you're interested in taking a week long workshop to explore digital SLR photography, Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom, then consider joining me on the coast of Maine for my Real World Digital Photography II class at the Maine Photographic Workshops, September 23 – 29. Click the link to learn more about the class or to register. Last I heard there were four spaces left.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Mount Doom  [Canon 5D]
August 6, 2007
(click in the larger to see it larger)

Flying home from New Mexico a couple of days ago under stormy skies, I remarked to my brother-in-law (visiting from Germany...his first trip to America) that the stark and desolate landscape below looked a bit like Mordor in Lord of the Rings. Of course, once that seed was planted in my mind, I had to follow it through to its logical conclusion...

Photographing out of plane windows is never ideal. Even if you get lucky and are seated next to a clean window that is not all scratched up, the lighting is frequently not the best and shooting through multiple layers of glass and plexiglass means the focus of the image is often not quite as sharp as you would like. But whenever I fly over the Southwest, I am invariably drawn to making images out the window. The landscapes are so vast and rugged and desolate than they compel me to record them. And since I know that a little bit of contrast boosting and other Photoshop techniques can go a long way, I am never deterred by flat or otherwise murky shooting conditions. I may not end up with a pristine aerial photo with great sharpness and rich color saturation, but I can capture some good source material from which I can make something else. Just as a potter can create beautiful ceramic art with a good lump of clay, or a woodworker can transform a simple piece of wood into a delicate carving, I often view the initial image as raw material for further creative explorations.

The original shot of this image was flat and lifeless, but all the elements were already there, waiting to be be transformed. I have included the original, unaltered shot below, followed by a version with a slight increase in contrast, just to illustrate how powerful contrast can be in rescuing a seemingly boring image.

The original raw capture of a New Mexico landscape.

The original raw capture after a slight increase in contrast.

I also used another photo in the same series for the cloud layer at the top of the final image:

Most of the interpretive transformations come from the conversion to black and white, as well as a significant increase in contrast and lots of selective dodging, burning and toning with adjustment layers. To really do an image of Mount Doom justice, however, one needs an impressive volcano. This was achieved by making a copy layer of just the mountain on the left and using Photoshop's transform command to change its shape and make it larger and taller. A layer mask was used to blend the volcano with the rest of the landscape. As a final touch, a plume of smoke was added to complete the photographic homage to the land of Mordor.

Images such as these are digital doodles for me. I love the challenges they present and I enjoy figuring out ways to create the image I have imagined. They are a good way to play in Photoshop, and often through playing around, you find new ways of doing things that can be applied to other images. The power of play in the creative process is significant and should be indulged whenever possible.

More New Mexico images (sans Middle Earth references)  coming in the days ahead.

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Digital Photography Class this Weekend:

If you live near the San Francisco Bay Area, I'll be teaching a 2-day class called Real World Digital Photography at UCSC Extension in Cupertino this weekend (Aug. 11, 12). The first day covers essential digital photography concepts and working with your digital SLR. In the afternoon we go out to a nearby location to practice exposure techniques. The second day is spent in the digital lab going over essential digital darkroom skills for photographers. Click the class title to go to the class page at the UCSC Extension web site. There's still some room in this class.