Sean Duggan Blog

The Windward Coast

Makapu Beach {Canon 5D]
April 1, 2009   Oahu, Hawaii
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another shot from my recent trip to Hawaii. This view is looking up the windward coast of Oahu. On the left is Makapu Beach with Manana Island (also known as Rabbit Island) on the right. This is a panorama made from two source exposures and assembled using the Photomerge feature in Photoshop CS4. I've been using Photomerge since it first came out in Photoshop CS and while that first version was a bit clunky at times and often prone to errors and awkward diagonal blending, with each new version it has gotten better and better. The Photomerge in Photoshop CS4 is a real pleasure to use.

Coming Up in a Week:

The Creative Eye: Digial Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials
Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 27  May 1

A Reminder of Tree-Lined Streets

St. Thomas, Nevada [Canon 5D]
March 5, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another view from my afternoon stroll through the ruins of St. Thomas.  Before it was completely flooded by Lake Mead all of the trees were cut down do they would not be a hazard for boaters. A few skeletal stumps remain. See my previous post for more detailed information on this location.

There Once Was a Town...

The Path of Shells [Canon 5D]
St. Thomas, Nevada  March 5, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

There once was a town in Nevada named St. Thomas. It was located in an arid valley near the Colorado River about an hour's drive (in a modern car) northeast of Las Vegas. The life span of this small town filled the years from 1865 to 1938. In the mid 1930s as nearby Hoover Dam neared completion, the U.S. Government purchased the town and it's residents began to slowly dismantle their homes, pack up their belongings and move away. In 1936 the dam was completed and water began to fill the valleys, canyons, and flood plains behind it, creating Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the United States. Two years later the rising waters had reached St. Thomas, gradually flooding the town, and on June 11, 1938 Hugh Lord, the last citizen, rowed away. Not long after, the town was completely covered by the waters of Lake Mead. It would eventually be submerged to a depth of 70 feet.

In the early years of this decade receding lake levels casued by years of severe drought and increased water useage by the nearby Las Vegas Valley began to reveal the ruins of St. Thomas. Today the town site is completely exposed, dry as bone and overgrown with thick stands of six foot high tamarisk brush. Narrow paths dotted with shells lead down into the former lake bed and every so often you come across the foundations of a home, a school, or a hotel. It is a strange and mysterious place, ruins from a not so distant 20th century, of a town sacrificed to the thirst and energy needs of an expanding population. In the coming days I will be posting a series of images from my visit to St. Thomas.

For the technically curious, the above image was processed mostly in Lightroom 2, with a little custom toning applied in Photoshop CS4.

National Park Service info on St. Thomas
Lake's Ghost Town Seen as a Warning  - Las Vegas Sun

Next Week in South Florida:
My next class on Selections, Masking & Creative Collage will begin on Monday, March 16, in Delray Beach, Florida There's still room if you want to sign up.

Selections, Masking and Creative Collage
Palm Beach Photographic Centre
March 16 - 19, 2009

I also have upcoming workshops n early April in Hawaii, mid April near Morro Bay, California, and late April/early May in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Check out my Workshops Schedule for more information.

Desert Highway

 
Desert Highway  [Canon 5D]
Valley of Fire, Nevada - March 5, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

I was in Las Vegas this past week at the PMA convention and trade show, leading a half-day hands-on Photoshop class on The Creative Digital Darkroom. On Thursday morning I headed out early to explore the Valley of Fire State Park, where the image above was taken (for the technically curious, this has had only minimal adjustments applied to it in Lightroom). More from the Valley of Fire and another very interesting nearby location in the days ahead.

Upcoming Workshops
And speaking of the days ahead, my next workshop in sunny South Florida is fast approaching and will start on Monday, March 16. There's still room if you want to sign up.  I'll be in another tropical location teaching three short classes in early April in Hawaii, and a third will be offered near Morro Bay, California in mid-April.  The beautiful and incredibly scenic Santa Fe, New Mexico will be the site of a digital photography and digital darkroom workshop in late April and early May. See below for dates, details and links to more information:

Selections, Masking and Creative Collage
Palm Beach Photographic Centre
March 16 - 19, 2009

**Early April Workshops in Hawaii:
Adobe Photoshop CS4: Restoration & Retouching Essentials
Adobe Photoshop CS4: Creative Digital Black & White
The Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop CS4
More Info

Secrets of the Mask: Selections & Masking in Photoshop CS4
Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging
April 18 - 19, 2009

The Creative Eye: Digital Photography & Digital Darkrom Essentials
Santa Fe Photographic Workshops
April 27 - May 1

 

The Sweet Light of Dawn

Meadow View Dawn  [Canon 5D]
January 7, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

This was taken not far from my house. I stopped to record the scene early one morning a few weeks ago as I left to head down to the San Francisco Bay Area for some consulting appointments. I posted this image now because tomorrow morning at zero dark thirty I am heading down to the airport for a 6am flight to Florida. Unfortunately for me, I am leaving much earlier than the time when this image was made and it will still be quite dark out.

I'll be in Delrey Beach for the week giving some presentations and leading some hands-on computer labs at FOTOfusion, the annual festival and conferrence on photography and digital imaging put on by the Palm Beach Photographic Centre. If you will be attending the conference, stop by one of my sessions and say hello!

The next workshop is on Feb 7th and 8th in Sacramento, California. The next edition of the newsletter is going out towards the end of this week.

Water on Leaves

Water on Leaves  [Canon 5D]
November 12, 2008
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another exploration of the morning droplets on the field of leaves behind our house.
Ah, the glories of autumn!

Coming this January in Sacramento:

Photoshop for Photographers: The Basics
January 17 - 18, 2009
More information about this class

Zero Visits the Canyon

ZeroImage Pinhole Camera on Location [Canon 5D]
Snake River Canyon, Southwest Idaho  Oct. 10, 2008
(click in the image for a larger version)

Taken last Friday at the Snake River canyon in southwest Idaho. Some months prior to this visit, I had envisioned this particular landscape, one that played a significant role in my younger years, as a location for an image in the Artifacts of an Uncertain Origin series of pinhole photographs. When a family visit took me up to Idaho last week, it was a great opportunity to realize the image I had imagined (the artifact is not visible in this shot of the camera in action). The atmosphere cooperated with cool, dramatic weather (and cool it was, too; quite chilly on the edge of the canyon and the clouds alternated between rain and snow flurries).

This is a blend of color and black and white interpretations of the original raw file. For those interested, I'll be teaching a workshop in early November on techniques for making the most of your black and white photography. See the link below for all the details.

Creative Digital Black and White
Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging
November 3 – 7, 2008
Los Osos, California

And Coming Up This Weekend...

Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop CS3
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, California
October 18 - 19. 2008

Binoculars

Binoculars [Canon 5D]
Southwest Idaho, October 10, 2008
(click in the image for a larger version)

I was in southwest Idaho for a few days recently and I made this image in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, home to one of the world's densest concentrations of nesting birds of prey. I spent my formative years in southwest Idaho and for several years was licensed by the state and federal fish and wildlife services to rehabilitate injured raptors, so this area has a special place in my personal history. The Snake River canyon (image of this coming tomorrow) is located just below the dark bluffs on the horizon.

All of the processing on this image, including the selective sepia toning, was done in Lightroom 2.0. It could also have been done entirely in Adobe Camera Raw 5.0 in Photoshop CS4, which shares the same raw processing controls as Lightroom 2. New features that were put to good use for this scene were the graduated filter to treat the sky and land areas differently, and the Adjustment Brush, which was used to add a slight sepia tone to the grasses and some exposure fine-tuning to just the sign.

If the black and white image is your preferred means of photographic expression, I invite you to join me in early November at the Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging on the beautiful central California coast for a week long workshop devoted to mastering digital black and white. This class will be a combination of photography in the field with digital SLRs and digital darkroom explorations in the excellent classroom facilities at the Lepp Institute. I have taught at many workshop venues around the country, and the digital classroom at the Lepp Institue is one of the best (and it is the only place I have ever taught at that has stadium seating to ensure that everyone has a great view of the screen). Click on the link below to learn more about this class and to sign up.

Creative Digital Black and White
Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging
November 3 – 7, 2008
Los Osos, California

And Coming Up This Weekend...

Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop CS3
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, California
October 18 - 19. 2008

Lake Megunticook at Day's End

Clearing Storm and Sunset  [Canon 5D]
Lake Megunticook, Maine  August 16, 2008
(click in the image for a larger version)

This was taken at a friend and former workshop student's house on the shores of Lake Megunticook near Camden, Maine. When I arrived the sky was dark with thunderclouds, the wind was restless and every so often a scattering of rain drops would shower us. It looked certain that the clouds would open up at any moment for a serious deluge and we were waiting to abandon the deck for the living room. But then the storm began to clear, and as it did the setting sun shone across the still waters of the lake, creating this beautiful scene.

The last time I had visited with Amy nearly a year ago, an amazing combination of a distant lightining storm, clear skies and a full moon over Penobscot Bay also enahnced the evening, as you can see in this image. Coincidentally, on this night at Lake Megunticook there was also a full moon, but it did not rise until later in the evening and in a different part of the sky.

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Upcoming Workshops

Secrets of the Mask:
Selections and Masking in Adobe Photoshop CS3
September 27 - 28, Santa Cruz, California

NAPP members and subscribers to my newsletter receive a special discount for this workshop.
Click here for more information about this class.

Creative Collage with Photoshop CS3
Viewpoint Photographic Art Center,
October 18 – 19, Sacramento, California
More Info About this Class

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Newsletter

The Septemeber issue of Creative Digital Darkroom News was sent out this morning. The featured tutorial is on using layers and Smart Filters to create sharpening test strips in Photoshop CS3. The next issue is due out in early October. You can subscribe using the form above left, or over at  my main web site.

Graffiti Banyan Mirror

Graffiti Banyan Mirror  [Canon 5D]
Honolulu, Hawai'i April 17, 2008
(click in the image to see a larger version)

Today's source image is the same as the previous post: the Graffiti Banyan tree in Honolulu. I cropped it slightly and then created a mirror image.

In the next issue of my newsletter, Creative Digital Darkroom News (due out towards the end of May), I will include a more detailed tutorial on creating image mirrors, as well as thoughts on the kindling they can provide for your creative kiln, so be sure to subscribe if you want to receive that. You can either use the form in the left column, or click on the newsletter title.

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Workshop News

My next major workshop takes place in mid-August along the New England coast at the world renown Maine Photographic Workshops. Real World Digital Photography I is the perfect class if you want to get a jump start on truly understanding the controls on your digital SLR, learning good exposure technique, shooting in raw, special exposure situations and making the most of your exposures back in the digital darkroom using Lightroom and Photoshop CS3. Click the class title to learn more about this class. A second level version of this class will be offered at the Maine Photographic Workshops Oct 5-11.