Sunday, February 22, 2004

 If you ever drive to San Diego from the East, I highly recommend the I-8 route from Yuma to the Ocean. I crossed the mountains yesterday in a heavy rain headed East.  They are so different from Colorado (or other 'normal' mountains) and are difficult to describe except to say the huge boulders everywhere are the norm with limited vegetation. They are dramatic and seemingly nearly impassable.

Here in Phoenix we  begin our 4 1/2 day photography course. There about 24 people (mostly retired) who will start with me tomorrow with instruction from one of the Arizona highway photographers Jeff Kida. Most of us here  do digital cameras. The two guys I sat next to tonight at the orientation had been shooting for over 50 years (come to think of it, so have I). They started with the classic Exactas they had procured in Germany.

Rain is forecast for the entire week. That should make it interesting. I hope we have some sunshine for our visit to McDonald Ranch tomorrow and especially for our day in Sedona on Tuesday!  There will be snow in the mountains which could make for some great backdrops

Monday, February 23

It took most of the day for this normally arid valley to dry out, but finally later this afternoon we were able to fan out across the McDonald ranch to test our photographic skills.

We had spent the morning raptly absorbing knowledge from Jeff Kida who is our resident guru.   He is engaging and wonderfully experienced.  He has been a photojournalist for Arizona Highways, The AP, UPI, LIFE Magazine, and some State newspapers. 

The experience level in the class ranges from "How do you take the lens cap off?" to some really talented and experienced folks.  Over half have digital cameras, while others are shooting both slide and print film. 

I learned a great deal already today,  although I did find that  out of the 93 shots that I took this evening, I can pick out maybe only a dozen worth saving! Good exposure (find that neutral grey spot in the scene,) great lighting, steady hand, great focus, and thoughtful composition are of course all parts of the photographic stew.  Did I say sharp?  A shaky shot is worthless.

I had a good time and look forward to Sedona tomorrow.

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