Sean Duggan Blog

Memorial

 
Memorial  [Canon 5D]
June 14, 2009  Monhegan Island, Maine

This is very close to the tugboat shipwreck that was featured in the previous post. As with that image, this is also an HDR composite. Unlike the other file, however, which was made using 6 exposures from a tripod-mounted camera, this shot was made from 3 hand held exposures created using the camera's Auto Exposure Bracketing feature. As long as the shutter speeds are not too slow, for some shots this can be a viable alternative to using a tripod for HDR. The initial HDR blend was made in Photoshop CS4 and then the 32-bit HDR file was opened into Photomatix to create the final HDR blend. Some additional color "seasoning" was also applied in Photoshop. You can see the three source frames below.

It was raining lightly for the entire time of my visit to the island and I was constantly wiping rain drops off the front of the camera lens. For this shot, a drop was present on the lens and it reveals its presence in the form of a blurred area in the middle of the foreground rock and the clump of grass behind it. I may inspect other exposures of this scene to see if I have a shot with sharp detail of that part of the rock and grass that I can use to cover up the blurred area. The grass doesn't bother me so much, since that looks a little like motion blur from the wind, which is acceptable to me, but the blurred area on the rock is a bit annoying. Whether or not such a fix is viable will depend on a number of factors. If I do give it a try, I'll let you know how it turned out and how I did it.

Workshop News

My upcoming Creative Digital Darkroom workshop in Connecticut has fallen victim to the lagging economy and has been canceled due to low enrollment. Workshop enrollments have been consistently low for most of the year so far and this is a new venue so while it is disappointing, considering the current economic climate, it is not surprising.

I will be spending the rest of the summer on a family vacation, teaching my online class for the Academy of Art University and working on other projects and my next scheduled workshop will be in early October. It will be in Maine again and is a follow-up to the Real World Digital Photography class I just finished:

Real World Digital Photography II
October 4 - 10, 2009, Maine Media Workshops
Click here for More Info

There are already some sign-ups so if you are interested, please inquire about registration soon. October is a beautiful time of year in Maine. The trees are turning color and there is a wonderful crispness to the air.

Following that, I'll be in southern New Mexico in early November for a 4-day workshop on creative collage techniques in Adobe Photoshop CS4:

Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop
November 5 - 8, 2009, Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops
Click here for more info

Wreck of the D.T. Sheridan

The Wreck of the D.T. Sheridan  [Canon 5D]
June 14, 2009  Monhegan Island, Maine
(click in the image for a larger version)

This was taken a few days ago on Monhegan Island in Maine. It is an HDR blend of six source images. It was a thoroughly wet day when I was there and it rained consistently for my entire visit. Fortunately it was a light rain and not a downpour, but I was quite soaked by the end of the day. In addition to photographing the wreck with my Canon 5D I also made a few exposures with my Zeromage 6x9 pinhole camera.

The D.T. Sheridan was a tugboat that ran aground here in 1948. The wreck is broken into two distinct sections (the stern is in the foreground of this image) and is quite a ways above the current high water line so it either wrecked during a very high tide in a strong storm or over the past sixty plus years, storms have pushed the wreckage farther up the rocks. You can see a photo of it shortly after it ran aground, as well one of it in better days here.

Modern Cowboy

Alternative Transportation  [Canon 5D]
Santa Fe, New Mexico  May 1, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

On the final day of my Santa Fe workshop last month I was driving out Cerrillos Avenue to pick up some supplies for my drive south when I saw this cowboy and his dog riding into town. At first I continued on my way, which was in the opposite direction, but after stopping to photograph an old motel sign, I realized that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So I turned around and headed back until I caught up with the cowboy. I drove some ways ahead, found a spot to park my car and then waited until he arrived at my position. I followed him on foot for a bit, taking photos as he passed by new backgrounds. As he approached the gas station I saw the scene as a perfect juxtaposition of the old and the new, as well as a subtle commentary on our dependence on gasoline and the rising cost of fossil fuels.

Here's anotehr view of him and his faithful dog crossing an intersection:

I am in Maine at the moment and will be here for a few more days. Images from this trip will begin to appear on the blog in the next couple of days.

Upcoming Workshop in Connecticut

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

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).