Apache Lake is a series of four lakes on the Arizona Salt River that are the result of damming the river for power generation and flood control.  So although it may not be entirely “natural,” in the sense that man had a significant role in its formation, it is still a beautiful spot in a beautiful state.

On of my favorite places to photograph nature and wildlife, birds in particular, is the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, Arizona.  I have spent quite a few early mornings there with camera in hand.  The Preserve is supported by the Riparian Institute which has the mission to:

To promote awareness and appreciation of Arizona’s ecology and natural history, particularly desert and riparian environments, through:
–  education and recreation programs for a diversity of visitors, and
–  research and development of strategies to reserve and protect these unique environments

As with most organizations such as this fund raising to support the mission is critical.  The Riparian Institute is no different and they are holding a Feathered Friends Festival to raise both funds and awareness as well as provide a day of fun for the community.  The festival is on Saturday, March 27th and starts with bird walks at 8 am and runs through 2 pm.  Along with exhibits, activities for kids and live music they will be holding a fund raising raffle.  Which is where I come in.  One of my prints taken in the Preserve will be part of the raffle to support this great cause.  So be sure to head out to Gilbert, at Guadalupe and Greenfield on Saturday to support the Riparian Institute  and the environment it protects.

Even the ordinary and sometimes “trash” can end up being a great photo subject.  This can was tossed aside into the desert at some point and nature just worked around it as it rusted in place.

Adobe products are probably some of the most widely used image editing software by both amateur and professional photographers. I recently upgraded from CS2 to CS4 and the vast improvements from one to the other were impressive.  But software technology advances quickly and that only means there are much better things to come.  Adobe recently gave a sneak peak of a feature that will be in the next version, PhotoShop CS5.  Content Aware Fill is a remarkable bit of technology.  In its simplest terms, it takes the spot healing brush and the clone stamp tools to a whole new level.  The Content Aware Fill tool uses data from the area surrounding your selection (content) to smart fill in and match the selected area resulting in near perfect corrections in your photograph.  Based on the demo video released from Adobe it does an amazing job of it.  Will this feature alone force me to upgrade again so soon?  Adobe PhotoShop CS5 is slated to be released in just a few weeks on April 12, 2010.

Thanks to Matt at Awesome Toy Blog for passing on the news about PhotoShop.

First for a disclaimer; I am in no way condoning taking photographs in places where you see one of these signs.  However, as we see more and more stories in the news (or at least in photography news) about photographer’s rights it is interesting to see the photography of those who do defy the signs.

Strictly No Photography is a collection of photographs taken in places such as museum, churches, concerts and government facilities where photography is forbidden by signs such as this.  They state their mission as: “To organize the world’s forbidden visual information and make it universally accessible and useful.”  As a bit of further defiance, there is also a gallery of “no photography” signs.

Roosevelt Dam in Arizona

Roosevelt Dam holds back the Salt River between Globe and Phoenix and was completed in 1911.  Roosevelt Lake is the reservoir that was created as a result of the dam.  With the abundance of rain Arizona has had this winter  the water levels in the lake have been high.  You can see in the lower center of the photo the water that is being released from the lake to flow back down stream.

Case Logic’s SLRC-6 SLR Camera Holster Case

I think I am up to 4 camera bags now and am either becoming a collector or obsessive.   I wrote about my Lowepro Fastpack 250 a while back and still love this bag.  But for some shooting situations it is a bit big and all the equipment it can carry is not necessary.  But at the same time my Tamrac Zoom 16 Camera Bag does not hold much more than the camera with a lens attached so it can be a bit small for slightly longer excursions.  So in a Goldilocks sort of way, for photography trips that require more than just one lens but don’t require the whole arsenal of equipment, I have found a middle of the road bag that is a very good fit for many outings.   The Case Logic SLRC-6 SLR Camera Holster Case is a medium size sling bag measuring about 10 x 6.5 x 18 inches and weighing just over a pound.  This bag has several great features aside from its ideal size.  Here are some of my favorite features of the Case Logic Sling Camera bag:

1. The Sling – This was an ingenious invention that allows for quick and easy access to your camera without ever having to take the bag off your shoulder.
2. Flexible Configuration – I haven’t counted but the padded Velcro dividers in each compartment make for countless possible configurations.  You can move them around to make separate compartments for each of your accessories from lenses to flashes.  My only complaint about these is that the Velcro sticks very easily to all the bag’s surfaces.  So as you are reconfiguring it takes some maneuvering to get it just right.
3. Compartments – With six compartments (some hidden within others) this bag has more space than it looks like it would offer.  The aforementioned dividers turn those 6 into many more giving you a secure spot for just about everything.  I have managed to get 3 lenses in addition to the one on the camera, a teleconverter and a flash unit fit very nicely and then filled in the rest of the space with my smaller accessories.
4. The Price – At under $40 this bag is a bargain.

This is a detail of an old board on the gate of a cattle holding pen that has long since been abandoned in the Arizona desert.  I shot the image in color and with a few simple Photoshop steps I was able to convert it to a black and white image.  I felt the image was more effective in black and white and the detail of the wood grain and the knot was more dramatic this way.

I have stacks of Popular Photography and it is by far one of the best photography magazines around.  Even if you do not read it cover-to-cover it is a great resource to keep on hand and refer back to for tips and tricks as well as a buying guide.  Now you can get a full year’s subscription or renew your current subscription for only $4.00.   At the risk of sounding like an infomercial; “that is only 33 cents an issue!”  But wait, there’s more!  Add on a second year for only $4.00 more!  this great deal is through discountmags.com when you use the coupon code 6976.  I’m not sure how long this deal is going to last so make sure you take advantage before it expires.

UPDATE: This promo code has expired.  But the code J20 will get you 20% off your order.  Not quite a $4 per year subscription, but still a good deal for Popular Photography.

The hunt for wildflowers in the desert is on.  With heavier than usual rains this winter the promise of a bumper crop of desert wildflowers has been enticing for photographers.  The various wildflower spotting sites have had reports coming in from all over Arizona of sightings of everything from Mexican Poppies to Lupine and Globemallow.  I headed east of Phoenix this past weekend along the Apache trail and although there were not carpets of wildflowers covering the landscape they are starting to pop up mostly along the roadsides.  I would anticipate in another couple of weeks we are going to see some spectacular displays far beyond the medians.

I am by no means an expert on identifying wildflowers but with the help of a guide like National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region I think I have come pretty close to getting the flowers I saw identified.  Please let me know if I have gotten any wrong.  The flower to the left is the Desert Chia (Salvia columbariae).  It almost looks like it is two flowers in one with the smaller blue flowers attached to the larger deep purple ball of spines.

Coulter’s Globemallow