Shutter Mike Photography

I came across the Faded & Blurred site via a Tweet – gotta love Twitter.  It is sort of Facebook, Flickr, forum, blog, tutorial, social media, Twitter for photographers all rolled into one.  I  just joined but so far the layout is great and it looks like it has the potential to be a fantastic resource for photographers as well as an exciting new online photography community.  Building a community of fellow photographers around you is one of the best ways to improve your skills.  So resources like Faded & Blurred are well worth joining and participating in.

Check out the site for yourself but here is just a taste of what you will find:

Community projects

Gear Reviews

Photography Forums

Tutorials

There are many Christmas light displays, both public and private, in the Phoenix area.  Some of those are stand out opportunities to capture some Christmas spirit with your camera.  As Christmas fast approaches there is still time to get out and see and photograph some of these beautiful displays.  Here are some of the more colorful and well done displays around the valley.

1. Mill Ave – The APS Fantasy of Lights displays 1000’s of lights in the Mill Ave. District in Tempe.  The combination of the historic buildings and the bustling atmosphere of Mill Ave. with the Christmas lights make for some ideal photograph opportunities.  With a tripod and proper exposure settings you should be able to create some great holiday images.
2. Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa – The Biltmore’s Christmas decorations are very classic which is appropriate for this classic Frank Lloyd Wright influenced historic resort.  From the enormous live tree towering over the hotel to the collection of ginger bread houses these Christmas decorations and the architecture and furnishings of the resort make for a great setting for photography.

3. LDS Temple – Mesa, AZ – The Mormon Temple in Mesa does a fantastic job of stringing up the Christmas lights.  The large temple complex is decorated with traditional Christmas lights and biblical scenes.  Set against the backdrop of the monolithic stone temple this makes for a chance to capture some beautiful images.  Be sure to take the time to explore the details of the temple grounds; particularly the reflecting pools that bring a very different perspective to the building and Christmas lights.

4. McCormick Railroad Park – Scottsdale, AZ – The McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale drapes most every surface of the trains in Christmas lights.  There is also a carousal and miniature trains on display which both make great subjects for holiday images.

5. Desert Botanical Garden – Los Noches de Las Luminarias – I wrote about the garden’s holiday display in the past and the garden generally makes most of my top photography lists for Phoenix.  This display is much more of a traditional Southwest Christmas than the flashy bright lights of the others.  But it is ideal for exploring with your camera and capturing some brilliant images.

After reviewing the over 200,000 entries to the 2009 National Geographic International Photography Contest the judges have selected the winners in three categories, People, Places and Nature.  The winner’s gallery is now live on the National Geographic site and features the international winners and honorable mentions along with judges comments.  There is also a separate viewer’s choice gallery.

This winner’s and viewer’s choice galleries as well as the galleries of non-wining entries highlight some very talented photographers.  It is inspiring to see what other photographers are capturing around the world and worth browsing through the galleries.  Congratulations to all the winners.

Vulture City is the remnants of a gold mine town in the Arizona desert from the late 1800’s.  As far as ghost towns go, Vulture City is rather well preserved.  It is privately owned which helps keep people from looting whatever remains of its buildings.  But at the same time the owner charges admission to tour the 1/2 dozen or so remaining buildings and has taken some “artistic” liberties by staging things a bit and adding back in some “artifacts” to keep the tourists happy.  Nevertheless, the photographic opportunities are plentiful.  There are old mining equipment, adobe and wood buildings and a multitude of paraphernalia scattered about.  With some careful composing and taking time to explore and see you are sure to walk away with some great images.

Time is almost up!  If you are one of the last minute procrastinator shoppers and you have a photographer on your Christmas list this year, you are in luck.  Here are a few gift options for photographers that you will not even need to leave your computer to buy or pay extra for express shipping.

1. Flickr Pro Account – Flickr is one of the most widely used photo sharing sites on the Internet.  It is especially popular among amateur photographers.  They can post their images and share them with fellow photographers for feedback.  It has a strong amateur photographer community as well being popular with the casual snap shot takers.  For most people the free version of the Flickr account will suffice.  But for the avid amateur who has a lot of photos to share the free version is probably too limiting.  So the Gift of Flickr is perfect.  Flickr makes it easy for you to buy a year subscription to a Pro account for $24.95 and even provides a gift card for you to print.  And no need to fight your way through the mall on Christmas Eve.
2. Mozy Online File Backup – There is one thing every digital photographer needs and that is BACKUP.  Burning CDs can become tiresome and you still need to store them somewhere safe.  One of the best online storage services I have come across is Mozy.  For $4.95 a month you get unlimited storage space to keep a  backup of all your digital images perfectly safe.  You will have to get a little creative with the gift giving on this one as I was not able to find a “gift program” from Mozy.  But it is something every amateur photographer needs and will be grateful for.
3. Magazine Subscriptions – Yes, I know this is the digital age and print magazines are considered passe by some.  But I am not the only who still loves thumbing through and reading an actual physical magazine.  And there are some great photography magazines out there.  For under $20 you can get some of the most popular photography magazines sent right to the photographer on your list for a year.  They will be reminded of your generosity 12 more times in the coming year.  Sounds like a win-win situation!
4. Photo.net Membership – You may not be familiar with photo.net, but chances are the photographer in your life is.  Photo.net is part Flickr – but geared to the professional and serious amateur photographer rather than the casual online photo sharer – and part all encompassing photography resource.  It is designed for critiques of member work – a critical step in improving one’s work – as well as sharing information and ideas with fellow photographers.  You can easily give a 1 year membership for $25 and set the photographer on your Christmas on their way to being part of a great online photography community.
5. Gift Cards – Yes, this is the old stand by “last minute gift.”  But hey, they work and are more popular now than ever.   One all-purpose gift card that any photographer can use to find something they are sure to like is the amazon.com gift card. I think the general rule is that if Amazon doesn’t have it, it doesn’t exist or at least you don’t need it.  With a huge selection of photography books as well as accessories for most every camera a gift card to the online superstore can go a long way.

So stop procrastinating and take advantage of some of these great last minute Christmas gifts for the amateur photographer on your list.

This image took some work both in the camera and in Photoshop with post-processing.  I was working without a tripod – because I left it in the car – so it took several shots to get a steady properly exposed image.  I was using my 50 mm f/1.7 prime lens and getting both the lit hotel in the background and the tree int he foreground to come out right was not easy.  But a little adjusting in Photoshop using adjustment layers to get the brightness and contrast right for both the foreground and background independently seems to have done the trick.

The Arizona Biltmore does an amazing job of decorating at Christmas.  From this huge tree out front to some very detailed and large gingerbread houses in the lobby the whole hotel is decked out for Christmas.  Throw in the fact that the architecture is influenced by the Frank Lloyd Wright style and I am in photography heaven.

“Art” is a very subjective word.  Urban graffiti on an alley wall is considered anything from a crime to artistic expression.  This wall is much less ordinary and far more noticeable with the addition of this artist’s touch.