Sean Duggan Blog

Look Beyond the Obvious

Water Fountain [Canon 5D]
Chimayo, New Mexico  April 30, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

On the fourth day of the New Mexico Creative Eye class, after spending the first half of the day in the digital lab working on our images, the class took an afternoon trip to Chimayo. This is a town that is famous for it's small church, the Santurario de Chimayo. The church is renowned for the healing properties of the soil at the site.

Though the church itself is very picturesque in the classic Southwestern New Mexico style, as is the small graveyard nearby, the most interesting image I made that day was of a simple water fountain and its shadow on the wall of the church courtyard. This may be due to the fact that I have visited Chimayo several times in the past and was already primed to look beyond the obvious, but it brings to mind something I have noticed about how we relate photographically to the places we visit.

When we travel to scenic and well known locations, a common expectation is that the most significant images we will make there will be of the "main attractions" (for want of a better word). But I have found that images of simple details, or unexpected ordinary scenes, are more likely to be the visually meaningful and significant photographs made at such locations. The key is to be open to this idea and to practice looking beyond the obvious. By all means go ahead and take the shot of The Church. or The Ruins, or whatever happens to be the primary draw of a given location. You'll see more clearly once you have that out of your system and be more open to finding new and different images where you least expect them.

Coming up June 7 — 13 is my Real World Digital Photography 1 Workshop at the Maine Media Workshops. There's still some room in this class. Click the title for more info.

After that I have a Creative Digital Darkoom Workshop in Connecticut (early July), A Real World Digital Photography II class in Maine (early October), and a Photoshop Creative Collage class in southern New Mexico (early November).

Riding in Front

Motorcycle Headstone [Canon 5D]
Madrid, New Mexico  April 29, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

The 3rd day of the Santa Fe Creative Eye class was spent in the digital lab, using Lightroom to sort through all the photos we had taken the day before at Ghost Ranch. In addition to learning how to organize photos, apply keywords and filter images searches based on a variety of different criteria, we also delved into the Lightroom Develop module and explored the many ways to use that program to improve and enhance digital photographs.

The photo above was taken after class that day on a location scouting trip I made to the cemetery in Madrid, New Mexico. Along with many old graves with simple (and in some cases, very weathered and falling apart) wooden crosses or headstones, the Madrid graveyard also has many very unique and ecclectic markers that reflect the creative and irreverent nature of the town and many of its inhabitants. The motorcycle-themed grave marker in the image above was inscribed on the opposite side with "Riding in Front". The photo was taken just minutes before the sun slipped behind the distant hills. Minor adjustments were made in Lightroom.

If you're interested in spending a creative week in a beuatiful location improving your digital photography and digital darkroom skills, I have an upcoming class that is very similar in content to this New Mexico workshop: Real World Digital Photography 1 will be offered at the Maine Media Workshops June 7 to 13. Click the class title for more information.

Other Upcoming Workshops:

The Creative Digital Darkroom
July 6 — 11, 2009
CT Media/Photography Institue
Farmington, Connecticut

Real World Digital Photography 2
October 4 — 11, 2009
Maine Media Workshops
Rockport, Maine

The Creative Collage with Photoshop CS4
November 5 — 11, 2009
Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops
Mesilla, New Mexico

On the Edge at Ghost Ranch

Photographing Chimney Rock  [Canon 5D]
April 28, 2009  Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
(click in the image for a larger version)

On the second day of the New Mexico Creative Eye workshop, the class spent most of the day exploring the area around Abiquiu, with our final stop being Ghost Ranch. This where Georgia O'Keefe lived for many years and created some of her most famous paintings. Today, Ghost Ranch is an education and retreat center. The photo above shows Mark, one of the class participants, perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking Chimney Rock. The hike from the parking lot to here took about and hour and a half and the view from the top was splendid.

There's still room in my upcoming Maine workshop (June 7 — 13). Other classes are coming soon in Connecticut (early July) and southern New Mexico (early November).

Rail Runner Express

The Rail Runner Express  [Canon 5D]
Santa Fe, New Mexico •  April 27 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

The first day of the Creative Eye workshop was spent going over some fundamentals of photography with digital SLRs. The first part of the day was in the digital lab and for the afternoon we went into Santa Fe to work on controlling exposure in a variety of situations. After a short stop at the Plaza downtown we headed over to the Santa Fe Depot. The old observation car that was featured a few posts previous to this one is located there (in fact it is pictured above at the far left of this photo).

Since the last time I visited here a new train service between Albuquerque and Santa Fe has been launched: The New Mexico Rail Runner Express. Apart from being a very convenient way to get back and forth between these two major New Mexico cities, it's also one of the more stylish trains I have seen in a long while. Kudos to the designer who came up with that great paint job! The image above is a hand held panorama made from three separate frames (you can see the original frames below). The panorama was launched from within Lightroom and then finished in Photoshop CS4 (there was a minor alignment glitch that had to be addressed manually with a custom patch layer).

In addition to my next workshop, Real World Digital Photography I, which is coming up June 7 — 13 at the Maine Media Workshops, I also want to let you know of a few other workshops coming up this summer and fall.

The Creative Digital Darkroom
July 5 — 11, 2009
CT Media/Photography Institute, Farmington, Connecticut

Real World Digital Photography II (a follow-up to the June class)
October 4 — 10, 2009
Maine Media Workshops

The Creative Collage with Photoshop CS4
November 5 — 8, 2009
Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops, Mesilla, New Mexico

Mesilla is in the south, right next to to Las Cruces and only an hour away from El Paso, Texas. It is also only an hour's drive from White Sands National Monument (where I spent a couple of days towards the end of my recent trip...pictures from there coming in the days ahead). If you have ever wanted to visit this amazing place, then combining it with a creative Photoshop workshop might be a good opportunity to make it happen.

The Road to Cerrillos

The Road to Cerrillos  [Canon 5D]
April 26, 2009, New Mexico

Here's another shot from the drive up the Turquoise Trail from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. The clouds and late afternoon light had a good vibe going on. Most of the adjustments were made in Lightroom. You can see a before and after view below:

Next Workshop....(there's still room!)

Real World Digital Photography I
Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, Maine
June 7 — 13, 2009  Click Here for More Info

Madame Fortune Teller

Fortune Teller  [Canon 5D]
New Mexico  April 26, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

From the 'Famous Last Words" Division...

In my previous post, written the day before I left for Santa Fe, I wrote:
"My aim is to try and post an image each day of the workshop (Monday through Friday), but sometimes during a workshop week the days are very full and we'll see how successful I am at keeping to that goal."

Well, since it has been twelve days since that last post, obviously the answer is not very successful at all! A typical workshop week is full from morning until night and that's one of the things that makes them such a great, creative experience.  And a full workshop week, combined with some other pressing deadlines I had to attend to, left a noticeable energy deficit in the evenings and little time for blog updates. Perhaps if I had consulted with Madame Fortune Teller above (more on her later), she would have foretold this.

Still, it was a worthwhile goal. And one I shall still try for on my next week long workshop in Maine next month. And speaking of that workshop...

Real World Digital Photography I
Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, Maine
June 7 — 13, 2009  Click Here for More Info

There's still some room left in this class, one that I have been teaching at the Maine Media Workshops for the past 4 years. We'll spend five and a half days in beautiful coastal Maine exploring how to get the most from your digital SLRs and how to make your images look great in the digital darkroom. Camera work on field trips to nearby scenic locations will be balanced with time in the digital lab learning workflow, image management and creative development techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop. Click the link above to learn more about this class and feel free to contact me if you need additional information. The Maine Media Workshops is a great place to immerse yourself in photography and creative imaging. I always look forward to going back to Maine!

Meanwhile, in New Mexico...

The workshop in Santa Fe was a great success and I enjoyed getting to know everyone in class and sharing 5 days of creativity and photography with them. The glorious scenery of northern New Mexico provided a wonderful backdrop for our activities. For the next week or so, I will re-visit my 10 days in New Mexico and post a few photos from each day of the trip.

My first afternoon in New Mexico was spent driving from Albuquerque to Santa Fe along Highway 14, also known as the "Turquoise Trail". Along the way I spotted a sign that pointed to a place called Tinkertown. This sounded intriguing so I turned off and a mile or so down a side road I came to a small, privately owned museum that houses the life work of Ross Ward, who spent years carving, painting and tinkering to create an amazing folk art collection of thousands of figures that people entire small towns, a big top circus and more. In describing his prodigious accomplishment, Ross noted, "I did all this while you were watching TV".

(click in any of the images below to see a larger version)

One of the intricate western town scenes at Tinkertown.

The building that is Tinkertown is a whimsical construction with walls made from thousands of discarded bottles of all shapes and sizes. A winding path leads through the small, but jam-packed museum with new discoveries awaiting you in each room. In addition to the many carvings made by Mr. Ward, there are collections of other curios and artifacts, including an impressive array of vintage wedding figurines, old toys, a boat that sailed around the world and Madam Fortune Teller above.

If you are passing through this area of New Mexico, Tinkertown is not far from Albuquerque and well worth a stop. I spent an enjoyable hour here perusing the vast collection and I can definitely agree with the saying painted on some of the metal sculpture that soars above the place:
"Live Life as the Pursuit of Happiness".

You can find out more information at the Tinkertown web site.