“RNP the Blog”

It is safe to say that my head was stuck in the clouds on my last day in New Mexico. I was ready to hop on a plane and ride through the clouds back home to my family.

Not to mention the Santa Fe natives were obviously growing tired of me and my fashion choices:

Lonely streetlight:

High Desert Clouds:

Albuquerque Airport:

And finally “Home Sweet Snowy Home”:

All images taken with Hasselblad 500C.

Thanks for taking the journey with me…

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Along Highway 503…

Close to Stanley, New Mexico: Tree #1?

Or Tree #2?

My vote is #1 but I am not the best editor of my own work. The tree images are my favorite from the trip, with the Monument Valley series being a very close second. Is it strange to say some days I feel like the tree? Bending to the strong western winds but still not breaking.

All images taken with Hasselblad 500C.

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Leaving Chimayo…

Shadows on the Wall:

A truly sweet Ford:

Real Horse Power:

All images shot with Hasselblad 500C.

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Chimayo, New Mexico:

Rez Dog #2

Chimayo Bull:

Chimayo Jesus:

All images taken with Hasselblad 500C.

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On the road to Chimayo….

All images taken with a Hasselblad 500C

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Monument Valley:

All images shot with Hasselblad 500C.

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I was scheduled to spend last week in Santa Fe at a workshop but flight delays and emergency dental work threw those plans for a loop (the instructor’s teeth not mine). Thanks to a non-refundable hotel and a non-refundable flight I had some unexpected free time on my hands.

In the end it worked out for the best. I got to visit some areas of the southwest that I hadn’t made the time for even though I lived in Phoenix for close to seven years.

Thanks to my buddy Brandon Sullivan for roaming the desert southwest with me it was epic my friend.

I will post images from the journey over the next week…stay tuned.

Up first…”Rez Dog #1″

All images shot with Hasselblad 500C.

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Shot in January for “My Business Magazine” out of Chicago. My subject (the top half of the image) was Nancy Piper the owner of “Rolling Acres Memorial Garden for Pets” which is located in North Kansas City. As I have said previously it is amazing the places my camera has taken me.

Rolling Acres was a quiet and solemn place and Nancy was an accommodating subject. She graciously allowed me free rein of the facility. I had a vision of numerous animals roaming around the office and that is exactly what I found. I even incorporated them into a few of the images I shot with Nancy.

Rolling Acres is a full service facility, they even have a space for pet owners to hold a memorial service.

As usual I shot a few different setups to give the publication options as well as satisfy my own needs.

I shot a mixture of digital and film and it was interesting to see how the magazine showed a strong preference towards the images captured on film. The Hasselblad 500C still has some life in it. In fact the final image that ran was shot with the Hassy.

I worked solo on this assignment so no crew to give shout outs to but big thanks to Tiffany Mehnert for the assignment.

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One of my favorite things to do is to travel (with cameras in tow of course). Whether it is taking in an area’s unique geography or simply people watching for me it is a visual feast. When I started shooting seriously a few years ago I would take mostly scenic shots while I was traveling. The picture postcard decorative type of images that you would see in those motivational posters at the mall. Like many people I believed that a good photograph had to be pretty.

As I have grown as a photographer and I have spent more time studying the work of photographers like Paul Strand, Walker Evans, and Stephen Shore my tastes have changed. I don’t think I see the world any differently but before I created this pressure on myself to take pictures that other people would think were pretty and now I take pictures that I find interesting. I think that is an important step in the journey of a photographer going from what you think good photographs are to making your own photographs.

My wife and I took our family to San Diego recently and in between trips to the beach and general tourist activities (Legoland…check; SeaWorld…check) I squeezed in some shooting. One day at the beach I wondered around for an hour or so and when I returned my wife asked me what I had shot. I politely told her she probably wouldn’t get it. She didn’t like that answer so I told her I just took a picture of a pole. She paused for a second and looked me in the eye and said, “You were right…I don’t get it.”

And yes I can still shoot those scenic sunset shots. Feel free to add your own inspirational quote:

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