A Simpler Life in Villanueva

As the name might suggest, a new village it isn’t.   Neither is it a place on the way to somewhere.  Off the beaten path, east of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Villanueva is a small community of less than 300, tucked along the Pecos River, in a valley cut between red sandstone hills. 

Villanueva is a quiet place.  It is also a friendly place, and yet a very simple place.  Mostly an agricultural area, this was a land where the beauty was in its authenticity.  A town with no pretenses, everything here had a purpose, a utility.  No frills here.

As the warm afternoon winds whistled gently through the trees, it was easy to feel like you were the only one in town.   Along the road you could see that some buildings and equipment had seen better days.  This tractor was a beautiful example, bright blue with the contrast of rusting red.  It's motionless state belied the work and productivity this ruggest machine must have accomplished during its life.  This place could grow on you.

Feel free to contact me at CostaMesaPhotography@gmail.com or check out my website gallery at http://costamesaphotography.com/

(metadata 1/750 sec at f/6.7 and ISO 200, focal length 70mm)

Yodelling Cowboy

If you haven’t been to Old Town in Albuquerque, New Mexico, then you’re missing out on a classic southwest experience.  The sights, sounds, and smells of the historic plaza surround you, from the mariachi band players, the wafting aromas of fresh tortillas and sopapillas from the local restaurants, to the vibrant reds of the drying chili ristras…this is New Mexico.

While visiting there last week, I was drawn to a western singer sitting on a stool with a guitar across his lap, and a can for collecting tips hanging from the headstock.  I'm not sure if it was his traditional attire, or his somewhat stark contrast to the native American Indian vendors around the plaza, but to be sure, his yodeling is what drew me in.

I asked if he'd mind if I took his picture, and without hesitation he welcomed me to do so.  I found myself shooting every angle, even changing lenses, but it was this final image that upon reflection evoked the great feeling I had in that moment.  This cowboy seemed larger than life, yet in the most simple way, he was life.  A man singing for his supper.

Feel free to contact me at CostaMesaPhotography@gmail.com or check out my website gallery at http://costamesaphotography.com/

(metadata 1/125 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 200, focal length 11mm)

Casa Rondena Winery

Nestled along the Rio Grande River in Albuquerque's North Valley are some of the oldest ranches in the southwest.  The transformation taking place in this increasingly valuable real estate market has resulted in the development of beautiful new estate homes intermixed with the old traditional farms.  Almost out of place, but in a beautiful way, is Casa Rondena Winery.

According to their website, Casa Rondena Winery was established in late 1995.  Their tasting room opened in 1997, followed by the winery building in 2004, and finally their barrel aging and storage facility in 2008.  Their grounds are quite beautiful, with an architecture inspired by traditional Spanish influences, but with a New Mexican flair. 

They make all their own wine on the premises, with grapes brought in from mostly southern New Mexico vineyards (in addition to some estate grown fruit).  Many of the visitors I saw appear to have been there before and were content to buy a glass of wine and enjoy the quiet shade of the rotunda. 
I tasted all of their wines and found that my favorite was their 1629 Founders Reserve, a Tempranillo/Syrah blend.

When you think of Albuquerque, you might not think of wine, but that could be changing...

Feel free to contact me at CostaMesaPhotography@gmail.com or check out my website gallery at http://costamesaphotography.com/

(metadata 1/750 sec at f/6.7 and ISO 200, focal length 105mm)

Manual Exposure Settings—the Art of HOW

Another snap of the shutter, another opportunity to exert control over your image capture...  How you composed the image determines WHAT will be seen, but it’s your combination of shutter and aperture (and to a lesser extent ISO) that controls HOW it will be seen.  You know all this already.  The point is, do you apply this knowledge before pressing the shutter?

You know that shutter speed generally dictates the amount of motion-freeze or motion-blur you allow in your image.  You also know that aperture choices generally dictates the depth of field, that is, what you allow to be in focus.  So, once again, before you press that shutter, HOW do you want your resulting image to appear?

The two images here of grape clusters demonstrate the result of different decisions being made prior to pressing the shutter.  Of the complete grape cluster, my desire was to be able to see the entire bunch of grapes clearly, and in focus.  Because of this, a fairly broad depth of field was desired.  By choosing an aperture of f/5.6, all grapes would be well within the depth of focus resulting in the desired outcome.  (The necessary shutter speed for proper exposure under this condition was 1/250 sec. with ISO at 200.  A focal length of 105mm was used.)

Conversely, the tight, almost macro image of the grapes was shot at a wide-open f/1.8 because of my desire to have focus only on the surface of a few select grapes, with the remainder of the grape cluster falling off into a gentle blur (an effect often referred to as “bokeh”).  (For this aperture setting, a shutter speed of 1/750 was needed, also at ISO 200.  A focal length of 35mm was used.)

With all the advantages that today's software gives the photographer in post-production (i.e. after the fact), it can’t make up for the important decisions you make as part of the initial capture.  Photography is thinking, not just reacting or snapping pictures.  That said, sometimes conditions are such that you don’t have the luxury of time to think, plan, or prepare for your shot, and that's ok—that’s when you need things like fully-automatic, aperture-priority, or shutter-priority.  But if you have the luxury of time, indulge yourself by also taking advantage of the luxury of manual settings in order to exert full control over HOW you want your image to look.

There Once Was a Girl and Some Ducks...A Post Production Journey

I was at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles a few months ago and had the opportunity to capture an image that was full of anticipation.  The scene developed rather quickly as a young girl hesitantly approached a group of ducks nestled on the ground next to a pond.

Barely having time to take up position and adjust the camera, I captured the moment just before she started to pet the closest duck.  This moment was full of excitement and tension and I couldn’t wait to get back and see the image on a larger screen.

In post production, one thing that I noticed that was dominating the image was the bright blue of the young girls dress.  This seemed like one of those times when a color image works against you because of color distraction, and so I decided to convert the image to black and white.

I liked what black and white did, but was never completely satisfied with the result.   I liked the image enough that I shared it with friends and with my local photography club.  The reaction was consistent…nobody liked the image.  The ducks were completely lost in the background.

So I went back to the drawing board.  I started with the full-color image, de-saturated the dress and worked more on the lighting and contrast of the ducks.  I was pretty happy and ran the result past those same friends of mine who had seen the black and white version.  Reaction was all favorable, but interestingly enough, another consistent response came out—the girl’s leg was now a distraction, and a tighter crop was recommended.  This response came from two friends who don’t know each other and live in different cities—I found their common observation interesting.  I didn’t see the leg as a problem, and in fact thought that its position helped convey the tentative approach the young girl was making.  I did see how the high contrast between her leg and the surrounding would draw the eye’s attention so I thought I’d try out their suggestion.

So, my final edit was the tighter crop, and you know what?  I like it, but I also like every other version of the image.  I think it was a strong image to begin with, and a stronger image with each post production improvement. 

My journey helped reinforce two points…1)  starting with a strong image IN CAMERA is really important, and 2)  don’t be afraid to get the opinions of your friends and be open to trying their suggestions.

Feel free to contact me at CostaMesaPhotography@gmail.com or check out my website gallery at http://costamesaphotography.com/

(metadata 1/180 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 320, focal length 105mm)

Aebleskiver? And you eat them??

Yep, and with powdered sugar and jam!  So I learned on my first trip to Solvang.  So close to Los Angeles, but continents away in terms of charm. 

The Santa Ines Mission was founded on September 17, 1804 and was named in honor of Saint Agnes, an early Christian martyr of the fourth century. The Spanish for Agnes is Inés, hence the name of the church; the American Yankees anglicized the spelling of the Spanish pronunciation and named the town Santa Ynez.  The Mission, which commands a superb view of the Santa Ynez River Valley and the Santa Ynez and San Rafael mountain ranges in the distance.

The community of Solvang was founded in 1911 and began as a dream of three Danish immigrants: Reverend Benedict Nordentoft, Reverend J. M. Gregersen, and Professor P. P. Hornsyld. In January, 1911 the Danish-American Colony corporation bought almost 10,000 acres of prime land in the Santa Ynez Valley, California. The new colony was named “Solvang” (meaning sunny field).   Early buyers, almost all Danish, came from California, the Midwest, and Denmark. 

In 1936, the 25th anniversary of Solvang’s founding, the people in Solvang decided to throw a party. The three-day celebration (June 5-7) included a torch-light procession, plays, pageants, a parade, folk dancing and singing, a concert, barbecue, and a street dance — and was a huge success. In 1937 Solvang put on another celebration and the tradition of Danish Days was born.  In January 1947, the Saturday Evening Post magazine published a feature article about the “spotless Danish village that blooms like a rose in California’s charming Santa Ynez Valley.”

Oh, the smell of fresh baked pastries… That’s one of the main attractions when walking the town square.  And Aebleskivers?  Well, they are traditional Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a sphere. Somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes crossed with a popover, æbleskiver are solid like a pancake but light and fluffy like a popover.  Oh, delicious!!

Check out my complete collection of Solvang-area photos (including some great wine country) at http://costamesaphotography.com/

And as always, if you have comments or suggestions, drop me a line....

(photo metadata:  1/500 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 100, focal length 45mm)

When Color Matters

I don’t profess to be an expert on color rendering.  You can stop reading now if you are hoping to delve into the science of how colors are captured on your camera’s sensor, differences between RGB and sRGB, monitor calibration, and the like… Much has been written about all of these topics, so I’d encourage you to seek out those technical resources if interested.

I had an “aha” moment recently when a friend of mine came to me with a request to shoot images of a fabric sample (more on the “aha” later).  My friend is in the business of providing natural fur products from the shearings of Angora goats for mohair and Alpacas.  The sheerings are then woven into a 100% cotton backing and then custom die provides for the variety of products their customers desire.  My friend’s challenge was having photographs on their website that looked like their actual products.

How naïve I was when I started… “Sure”, I said…this should be easy.  I’ll just shoot a few frames in the sun, and shoot a few in the shade—they can pick the one they want and voila, project done.  The problem was that when I got my images back into Lightroom, they all looked a bit different from each other—and when I compared the images to the sample in my hand, there were difference there too.  How could this be??

I know, white balance…you’re already ahead of me.  I knew this going into the shoots.  What I didn’t really appreciate is that the color of an object is different under different lighting, nevermind the photographic side of that discussion…just looking at the fabric in sun was different that looking at it in shade.  A red apple though will always look red to you…your brain will just tell you that the apple is red, regardless of the warmth or coolness of the lighting.  But which red is red?   Reminds me of the old joke of the accountant on an interview, who when posed with the question of what 2+2 was, responded, “what do you want it to be”?  THIS was the “aha” moment!  I realized that color perception is in the eye of the beholder, and that your brain adjusts to perceive things the way it EXPECTS to see them. 

So I took my photographic project to the next level and borrowed an 18% gray card from a friend.  Again, much could be written about this, but suffice it to say that I used the card to more accurately adjust the color temperature of my images when shot in sunlight and in shade with the hope of minimizing the ambiguity.  The adjustments I could make based on the gray card were a big help.  Instead of just going with my camera’s assessment that the “daylight” color temperature I shot in was 4650 degrees Kelvin, or guessing that it should be slightly warmer or cooler, the gray card helped me calibrate it more precisely.  My end results were quite good—by the definition of looking the same on screen as the sample in my hand.

For 99.9% of my photography, the preciseness of the color temperature rendering has not been important.  I’ve made adjustments and enhancements to my images when capturing, or in post production, and the results have been quite pleasing, and to my viewers, quite satisfactory.  It’s near impossible to you (or me) to look at one of my sunset images and determine if the shade or orange or pink in the sky is exactly what it was if standing there…and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter that much, because I’m not trying to convey that scientific precision…I’m trying to convey a story or an emotion through the art of photography.

But with my friend’s fabric, there is no story to be told…they want to show the color of their product that will show up on your doorstep.  My only question for you…is your doorstep typically in the sun or in the shade???

(photo metadata:  1/250 sec @ f/8, ISO 200, focal length 52mm)