Shutter Mike Photography

The Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden is hosting an exhibit entitled Allan Houser: Tradition to Abstraction featuring the large scale sculptures of Allan Houser.  Houser is considered one of the best-known American artists of the 20th century and is often referred to as the “father” of American Indian sculpture.  The exhibit features 18 of Houser’s sculptures that, as the title implies, range from very traditional Native American themed pieces to much more abstract works.

Here are some of the pieces currently on display at the Garden.  The exhibit is a collaboration between the Desert Botanical Garden and the Heard Museum and runs through May 30, 2010.

The Punch Card Building

I have posted images of the Phoenix Financial Center building in central Phoenix in a past post on Mid-Century Modern Architecture in Phoenix.  But I am a big believer in re-photographing subjects a second and third and fourth time.  Hopefully your skills as a photographer have improved and you have learned something new that can be applied to the subject since you last shot it.  A return visit is also sure to provide a new perspective.  You always tend to look at something in a new way the second time around.  Finally, the conditions such as lighting, weather, and surroundings are sure to change from visit to visit and can often result in a completely different image.  So never cross a site or subject off the list as “done.”  It may be a something totally new on a repeat visit.

These are some additional photos I shot at Vulture Mine near Wickenburg, AZ.  They are details of the various pieces of mining equipment scattered around this Arizona ghost town.  Using a more shallow depth of field in some images allowed me to draw the viewers attention to a particular part of the subject or to blur out a distracting background.  This lends itself well to close up detail shots such as these.

f/2.8 – 1/20 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 50 mm

I took this photo on my first visit to the Heard Museum in Phoenix.  The Heard is one of the nation’s top Native American arts and culture museums.  The grounds of the museum feature patios, gardens, open space and sculptures to explore.  There is also a cafe, gift shop and library in addition to the gallery space that feature some very impressive collections of Native America art.

Vulture City is near Wickenburg, AZ (about 90 miles west of Phoenix).  It was a gold and silver mining town in the late 1800’s with about 200 residents at it’s peak.  T0day it is privately owned and run as a tourist attraction.  For ghost town lovers that is both good and bad.  The buildings that remain are in relative good repair.  But in order to keep people interested things have been modified a bit to make it look more authentic.  “Props” have been added here and there.  But over all it is pretty authentic and worth poking around with camera in hand.

Vulture City Assay Office

Vulture City

Vulture City Detail

Fall comes late in Phoenix.  This ground level view is of the lawn at the Heard Museum where leaves just recently began falling from the trees.