Tag Archives: southwest

Drama In The Desert

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DramaIntheDesert8Saguaro cactus Arizona                      click to enlarge

This is one of those old pictures of the desert with its Saguaro cactus I dug out of my archives because I realized I hadn’t been there in years and it is time to go back and update my portfolio. The Saguaro cactus hang out in southwestern Arizona and Mexico and are fond of sun, adequate but infrequent moisture, and nature. They like to stand in one place for very long periods of time and are impatient with chain saws or people who dig them up for yard décor. I believe that they are predominantly Gemini, Cancers or the occasional Sagittarius, although the one on the right is definitely a Taurus.

I was on a road trip to see an old friend when I stopped to see these two specimens standing along the road. I was interested in them for several reasons. One of those reasons was I was lost and wondered if they were edible. They’re not. Another was to marvel at how well they fit into the scenery, it’s as if they were native to it.

The Saguaro have many uses, from being a friend to the Indians who first dwelt here, and providing condos and town homes for small birds and other creatures, to being a tourist magnet which generates mucho dinero, which is Spanish for, a ‘huge freaking amount of money’ for the local economy. They are also used as a geographic waypoint establishing ones position on the earth as being in the Southwest portion of the United States. This is handy if you’re not sure what your position is on the earth. With this knowledge in hand you can figure out where someplace else is and go there.

Having rejuvenated my interest in Saguaros I now fully intend to revisit them and update their current conditions. I know they’re off this dirt road that you turn on just past that stand where they sell Indian jewelry and you go like maybe 18-19 miles until you’re absolutely certain you don’t know where you are and they’ll be right there on the left. See you there.

Chiaroscuro

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Chiaroscuro0661Canyonlands                                                                 click to enlarge

Chiaroscuro in the canyons. Chiaroscuro is one of those words artists like to throw around to show how much they know about art and you don’t, and like French cooking, Vichyssoise is still a soup made from leeks, onions, potatoes, chicken stock, and cream despite how you pronounce it. As soon as you know the definition the mystery goes away, snotty waiter or not. Chiaroscuro in its simplest definition just means light/dark, in Italian anyway. And when it comes to art, who you gonna believe, the guy down the street or an Italian like Caravaggio. I’m betting on Caravaggio.

This Chiaroscuro is an effect that drew me at an early age to appreciate art. I didn’t know why but I knew I liked the look of those dark spaces with the central light-filled areas glowing with colors of gold and silver and Ivory reflecting from helmets and swords or fancy chandeliers. And other colors such as the deep, deep reds of velvet and the glow of porcelain colored skin were a fascination that has held up through the years and affects my work on a constant basis.

The southwest seems to have been created with the definition of Chiaroscuro in mind. The spring and fall when the light is changing, especially during the morning and evening hours, is spectacular at worst and overwhelmingly, breathtakingly beautiful at best. Can you imagine the type of paintings we would have if Rembrandt had been able to visit the southwest. How about “The Night Watch” only using warriors from the Chiricahua Apaches in their full war regalia against the deep rich colors of the canyon walls. It makes me want to paint.

My eye is drawn to the interplay of light and dark constantly as it was when I was just a child figuring out what I liked about this art stuff and the canyons provide me with endless subject matter. Only now I can create my own Chiaroscuro images in the click of a shutter and I do.

Thrills In Adventureland

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ThrillsInAdventureland382click to enlarge

It had been a long arduous trip through the back country weaving our way carefully over every obstacle in our way. Our trusty old truck, the “Enola Gay” had taken us places very few people had dared to go with the exception of the road building crews, the occasional school bus, UPS, the Swan’s truck and the maintenance crews that maintained this goat track. We felt that we were traversing virgin ground. There was very little sign that anyone had been through  here in ages, Oh there was the usual abandoned Wal-Mart shopping cart, some post modern graffiti on the benches at the bus stops, but generally there was a feeling of abandonment and disuse that was palpable. You felt alone, like anything could happen.

In the continual quest for new images this photographer has been in some pretty hair-raising places where my personal safety felt totally at risk, but none so blatantly scary as this lonely road through this uncharted wilderness. Many times I’ve had to choose between safety and getting the shot. The choice has always been very clear, get the hell out of there, you can always get another picture. This day was no exception.

This had seemed like an opportune spot for getting some shots of rocks, maybe a cliff face or two, a vista maybe and although this particular area didn’t look all that promising my dad used to say “If you find yourself in hot water, take a bath.” so the photo shoot began. It was then that there was this sudden, incredibly loud noise like the mountain had split apart or erupted or just decided to give these puny little human interlopers a smack in the neck and the entire world seemed to stand still for a moment.

There was a rushing sound of little stones making bigger stones roll down the cliff, gathering momentum and encouraging others to join in until a huge mass of stones, rocks, dust and energy slammed down onto the roadway in a cacophony of destruction. It wasn’t this rock however, this one had been here for weeks and was in no danger of going anywhere. No, the rock slide I just described happened somewhere else entirely. I don’t have any idea where. It just wasn’t here. But it could have been. See that’s the dangerous part. If we had been in that very spot a couple of thousand years ago that could have landed right on us. I’m still breathing a sigh of relief.

Now I didn’t tell you this story to scare you or make you apprehensive about our safety. It was just to let you know the lengths that this photographer will go to get you the fresh spectacular images you’ve come to expect here at BigShotsNow.com. There is no risk too great that I can’t walk away from and get you another incredible picture taken in a safer place instead. I enter into this danger willingly because you’re worth it. Thanks for giving me a reason to do this dangerous job.

Ambassador from Sirius the Dog Star

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Ambassador4677

click to enlarge

We have gotten tons of letters here at the Institute of Regained Knowledge or IRK as it is affectionately called by our many readers who don’t like to read long names, asking “Why don’t you ever post anything about the ‘Power Centers of the Southwest’ and their role in the aid and assistance of intergalactic transport?” Well it’s funny you should ask because we were going to do just that very thing.

It is a little known fact that IRK  with its COWGFLOP ( Checking Out Weird Guys From Other Low-rent Places) scientific research division has long been involved with and assisted in the various programs by the Government and serious civilian organizations that reach out, assist, promote and monitor travel among the different folks in the Galaxy. We have on our staff several researchers that regularly speak to individuals in different star systems not to mention different dimensions who are much more advanced in their mode of travel than we are and are just looking for a fun place to go on their vacation. Mostly its Vegas but occasionally they want to see the sights. We’ve been accused of being little more than an intergalactic travel agency but we refute such accusations with really vehement denials. After all we have to protect our phony baloney jobs somehow, I mean we  conduct serious research here and will not be slandered.

One of our particularly gifted Adepts or ‘far reaching talkers’ as we prefer to call them regularly communicates with the Ambassador from Sirius, the Dog Star, and they have gotten to be quite good friends, having toured the Mall of America and other cool places together.

What you see above is the actual act of the Ambassador from the star Sirius nearly completing his trans-teleportation using one of the countries most top-secret power center locations. Its sort of like an interdimensional bus stop for the galaxies travelers. Unfortunately due to strict regulations and restrictions set up by our government, the one that’s here to help you, we can not legally divulge its name or location. We can tell you however that it is very near, within a few feet actually, of Upper Antelope Canyon which is just outside of Page, Arizona and is open to the public year round for a small nominal fee. Also any attempt to publish or make money off the exploitation of our galactic friends will result in huge fines, jail time and dismemberment, so we’re pretty darn careful not to do that for sure. Since all you can see is the beginning of his tail starting to become visible from the ‘beaming down’ part of the sequence we feel safe in displaying that much of the process. Plus we haven’t used his name which is unpronounceable in our tongue but  sounds a lot like the answer to that riddle when you ask a dog “What does sand paper feel like?” Or “What’s on top of a house?” We can’t get any more specific than that, see rules and penalties above, but we can say that our interpreter says it means “DownBoy”.

As stated previously we normally do not disclose any facts or itinerary’s regarding our travelers for security reasons but this one fact was leaked by person or persons unknown. (See WickiLeaks entry dated July 12th 2013) The Ambassador is here to spend their national holiday ‘Finding the Golden Bone’ by touring the largest Dog Park in the United States, “DogWood” near Jacksonville, Florida. This place is the DisneyWorld and every other major theme park rolled into one for those of the canine persuasion and the only one of its kind in the whole mapped Cosmos. We are very proud of our American entrepreneurial spirit. We can only hope that the Ambassador has an amazing time and brings back many more of his hairy brethren in the future. We Stand To make a Killing if this takes off, I mean we look forward to promoting good fellowship and intergalactic peace in the future for all species-kind. Happy traveling.

How To Find Color

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MuleyPoint0735-0750click to enlarge

Lots of people come up to me and say “Hey! Mr. Photographer, how do I find color?” Well that’s an easy question to answer when you are a trained, professional, color-finding photographer such as I am. But of course there are tricks, just like in any profession demanding skill, intelligence and extraordinary luck, there are things that make Finding Color easier.

First clean your glasses if you wear any, if you don’t, then blink. This prepares your eyes for the act of seeing color. Next and this is important, come to America. That’s right. Many people think you have to go on cruises, or fly to exotic places in a plane, or even sneak over borders on foot with all your worldly possessions on your back, but you don’t have to take those extreme steps to find color. Simply come to America. If, by some incredible stroke of luck, you are already here, stay here. You’re where you need to be.

Many people are under the mistaken belief that color exists everywhere. Don’t you believe it. There are huge parts of the world where there is simply no color whatsoever. Czechoslovakia for instance, the Balkans, Russia, everywhere in Russia except for a small area around St. Petersburg, I know this to be absolutely true because every movie I have ever seen about those places had no color in them, none, the people were grey, there is just no color there. All of South America unless you like green, Antarctica unless you like white, The middle east unless you like tan, the jails in Tijuana unless you like drunk-tank pink, I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.

The next step is a little trickier. Come to the Southwest. The Southwest is a huge area that is sort of down in the bottom left corner of America, you can tell when you’re in the Southwest because when you look around you’ll see – Color, huge amounts of it. It completely covers all of the scenery available. In fact there is not one place in the entire Southwest that is not stuffed to the gills with color. If you’re color-phobic, and I don’t even know how that is possible, then you need to go back to Czechoslovakia. I’m sorry but that’s how it is.

To see the very maximum of color that your brain will let you process in one sitting you have to go to places like the photo above. It’s simple to get to, just drive up Moki-Dugway, turn left a little, go around those big rocks and you’re there. Muley Point. Simple. Walk over to the edge and look, color, every single one, as far as the eye can see. [Warning: Beginners, and those who have kept their eyes closed for long periods of time, people from any of the places mentioned above where there is no color should approach Muley point with caution. A companion that has seen color before should accompany them in case they become so overwhelmed that they fall and need to be lightly restrained. You may wish to practice a little before attempting to view Muley Point in person so find a photograph of a colorful spot, the one above is a good example and look at it for a few minutes each day until you no longer black out. Also see the free Forest Service handout for “Foreign Visitors Seeing Color For the First Time!” with the directions for, Stick your wallet in their mouth so they don’t bite their tongue off, p.2 at the bottom.]

Now I have shared every bit of wisdom I have in the art of finding color the rest is up to you. Come to America and look. I’ll be the one with the cool sunglasses and the big camera.

ManySheep

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SandIsland3915click to enlarge

One of the things you notice about petroglyphs after you see a few of them is their sameness. This is not a bad thing, but there seems to have been an accepted way for their artists to portray the subject matter regardless of the geographical location. That has always seemed odd to me. Did they have an art school where young stone drawing artists were sent to learn the proper way to draw Bighorn Sheep and then returned home to their tribe to chronicle the information in the proscribed way ? The subjects are all approximately the same physical size on the rock, you never see close-ups of a Bighorn sheep’s head for instance or any variation for that matter, yet these images may be several hundred miles apart, a really significant distance when you consider they walked everywhere and a ten mile jaunt would be huge distance to travel for the average inhabitant to make unless they were relocating. It might be the origin of a guild system where the resident artist took a young apprentice under their tutelage and soundly drilled the basics into them so there wouldn’t be any variation and the information from the image would then be available to anyone seeing it. None of this three-legged sheep with one horn business to confuse the viewer. But even if this happened why didn’t different schools of art develop. That would be a natural condition. One guy who drew the legs a little longer than his teacher so that eventually you would have the long legged Bighorn school of art group and then a form of regional art, but this never seemed to have happened. I know that in Japan the art of Ukiyo-e or wood block printing was taught in this way, a guild system, and the young students were shown the proper way to draw just one line that would be the start of a face or hand, no deviation, do it exactly as shown or you ran the risk of getting your rice bowl broken and you heaved out into the street. Unfortunately I don’t have the answers but I think it’s high time we perfected this time travel thing so that we could go back and get some of these mysteries solved. Deep thoughts, I know, and its a Monday too. In the meantime, questions or not, I can enjoy the beauty of these ancient images for what they are, and share them with you.