Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles

Ah, fortune smiled on me.  A friend offered to cover my shift today so I could catch up on rest.  Thanks so much Caitlin! 

Spared from 7 days of continuous work, I took a much needed day of real rest.  First thing to do….extra sleep.  I slept until 7:30, which is not my standard by any means.  Over 10 hours of continuous uninterrupted sleep.

Here at the Airstream Chronicles we’re big fans of sleep.  It’s a great activity.  Ok, sure, it’s not an “activity”, but I still dig it in a big way!  So, hooray for sleep!

After getting up this morning I did very little.  A quick stop by Sadira’s for the morning to see about uploading some massive files.  Alas, her network connection’s upload is not much faster than mine.  Pretty shocking since she’s using the local cable provider.  You’d think they’d do a better job.

The Airstream got a proper cleaning again this morning.  Heck, I even swept my porch rug off.  Of course it’s covered in junk again already.  Maybe I’ll sweep again tomorrow morning.

After letting myself flop and unwind for a while I gave my friend Tony a call.  He’d mentioned taking a few photos today if I was up for it.  I decided we could spend a little while taking some photos, so long as I returned at a reasonable time.  Needed a nap you know.

Watching the clouds build throughout the morning I had a specific spot in mind for today’s little photo jaunt.  Williamson Valley Rd.  I’ve been there before, but during the winter.  This time would be very different.  Monsoonal clouds, bright blue skies, dried out fields, the works.  My hope was for a few interesting photos.  Glad to say, I got them!

As we headed along Williamson Valley Tony remarked he’d never been that far along the road.  It’s funny how many of my friends who are long time residents of the area haven’t explored very far.  Glad that I keep looking around.  That way I can show my friends what’s in their back yards.

After a good ride, a photo shoot in the hot sun, and even a wild dust devil that left Tony and I covering out cameras, we headed back toward town.  I decided I had a little more energy, and wanted to shoot from the western side of Granite Mountain.  For locals, Iron Spring road, and toward Skull Valley!

Getting out to Tonto Road I decided to go a little further and hit the Skull Valley corner store.  Gatorade.  It’s hot out you know…..

No new photos of the Skull Valley store were taken.  Sure, I like the store and it looks cool and all but I’ve got plenty of photos of the place.  Maybe another time.

We wrapped up our trip with a few photos on Tonto Rd.  I took a walk up a freaky rock and realized part way up that it was a class 5 climb.  Tony stayed at the bottom and observed, “That’s a bit much to get up.”

Tony was right.  Interesting getting down.  Tripod, camera connected, and a long way down.

Overall, we had a good afternoon.  We kept it short, and I got home with plenty of time to nap.  And the big plus, some new photos!

Not much else to write on unless you want to know the nap details. It was nice.  Pillows, blackout shades, blankets, you know……2 hours of nap time in total.  Add that to the 10 hours of sleeping and you get a much happier guy in an Airstream!

Actually, I’m always learning.  Aren’t you?  Of course you are.  Well, at least if you’re still engaged in the world you’re most likely learning.

In my case, I feel like I’m learning a lot lately.  How many photography books have I read in the past few months?  More than 10….and I re-read them……often.  Ah, retention is everything.

Lately I’m learning a lot about balancing way too much to do.  Heck, I used to be this busy but only for one company.  Now I’m balancing my regular job with lots of extras.  The extras aren’t the big deal….work has gotten busier for me personally.  But when you combine it with many outside demands it gets downright exhausting.  Honestly, I feel like I live at work lately…..hmmm….they need to put a bed somewhere so I can nap. 

I’ll survive.  It’s better than being bored.

This morning I’m trying to learn a little more.  See, over the weekend I was contacted by a local business owner looking to utilize some of my photography for his company.  Very flattering indeed!  But now that the flattering part has registered I’ve realized I need to figure out more.

What the heck should I charge for the rights to shots for a business?

Ian knows about selling prints.  Sadira and Dina have some ideas on this type of stuff.  But really, I need to do some major reading.  Sure, I use Dreamstime for my stock stuff, but if you haven’t noticed I’ve uploaded NO new stuff to Dreamstime.  I don’t want to give away some of the new super cool stuff.

So, it looks like more reading is in my future.  Ah, I’m sure that will be relaxing! 

Oh, and a final note on this business stuff.  Another business in town is looking for several more large format shots from the gallery.  Apparently they want to hang them around their business.  Things are going pretty good on the photo front!

On to other thoughts…….

Monsoons are starting up.  Working all weekend has been “painful”.  I head outside and see the major clouds building, watch lightening strikes in the distance and I grumble to myself….”I need my camera and I want to be on that hill there!”  Ah well, hopefully I won’t miss all the amazing scenes.

Last night after work I shot a few photos of the monsoonal clouds breaking up over the Dells.  The sun lit these clouds in a pretty cool way.  I was shooting south, the sun was setting to the west (it usually sets in the west).

Of course, this shot is an HDR.  Actually, it’s just a blending.  No tone mapping, nothing wild.  Just 3 shots blended to achieve the effect.  Nice and mild, but it really shows you exactly what things looked like when I returned home.

I need more time to just wander and take photos…….just saying.

Yesterday I totally skipped the blog altogether.  Just plain tired.  And I had a few errands to get done in the face of this week.  Groceries, laundry, walking a wedding shoot site, hitting the gallery quickly, and then trying to feel a little relaxed.  Yup, no blog.

This will be a 7 day work week starting today.  So don’t expect any amazing photos during the week.  But there’s an outside chance I’ll make the effort in the evenings.  We’ve had some amazing clouds the past few days and it’s clear the monsoonal pattern is setting up.  Wish I wasn’t stuck inside all week, I’m sure I’ll be missing out on some cool images.

Completely different line of thinking now……

It’s struck me that readers might think I no longer take regular photos.  That’s just not true, and several recent shots posted aren’t HDRs, they’re just normal.  But still, I thought you’d like to see there are other things to photography beyond stretching scenes re-layered into an HDR shot.

For instance, this photo of Charlie…….

Charlie recently registered a complaint that he wasn’t mentioned on the posting about “opening night” last week.  He was absolutely correct.  Many names didn’t get into the blog when telling about the gallery opening for me.  Sorry all.  Also, many faces didn’t make the blog either.  I was a little wrapped up in speaking with many people regarding the shots.

To make up for the oversight with Charlie I decided his name should make the blog, along with a photo of him.

As you can see, this is not an HDR shot.  Further, I had done no enhancing of the photo in Photoshop.  Honestly I’d like to dim the surroundings around Charlie and brighten just his portion of the photo.  It would be easy enough.

It’s at this point you should say to yourself,  “This is not a Photoshopped shot.  That guy is clearly carrying a purse.”  You’d be correct in this observation, and knowing the photo is altered in no way, you might have some questions for Charlie……..

As you can see, I do take other photos beyond HDR.  The example I’ve set forth is a purse carrying guy at a T-Ball game, watching his step-son play on a warm Arizona evening.  See, I’m more than a one trick pony.  So is Charlie……..

P.S.   Happy Birthday Charlie……..there, you’ve gotten your blog exposure now……am I re-invited to the party??? 

Also, from the same evening I shot this photo.  Nikko playing T-Ball.  He was a little off from the catch, but the kid sure made a great effort that night.

I do have to wonder, maybe he was distracted by Charlie and the purse along the sidelines.  Just saying….. 

So, there you have it.  I’ve been taking more photos, and they’re not just HDR.  Alternative living for instance, sports, etc.  You should see my recent chuckwalla photos.  Maybe I’ll post those this week! 

Things have gone so fast that I haven’t been able to put all of my ducks in a row.  I’m working on it.  And progress is being made.

Before the gallery show I’d started building a new website for my photography.  I’ve linked to it, and I’m sure you know about it.  Pretty cool setup.  It shows slide shows of shots I’ve taken.  But I hadn’t collected up the photos I wanted to sell on it.  And the slide show makes it a little hard to pick through prints.

So…..yesterday I started working on a static gallery page with Photoshop Lightroom.  The big issue wasn’t page design.  It was much simpler.  Naming the darned photos.  If you haven’t noticed, I never name my shots.  Good grief, naming photos.  Really, come on.  It’s a picture of the Dells, or a picture of a window…..call it what you like.

Well, I can’t do that now.  Ian had 3 different prints in the gallery called “Granite Dells.”  Hard to track what is what.  So I needed to sit down and name the prints.  I did that yesterday and started figuring out templates.  None of them match my current websites.  But that will change.  I’ll customize it in time….just not right now! 

So, the new “Select Prints” page is up.  In total 39 prints are currently available.  There’s an e-mail link on the page as well if you’d like to ask about getting a print.  All will be available for purchase through Ian’s Gallery.  Now you’ll know the name of the shot so you can actually get the right one. 

Hopefully tomorrow’s post will be less business and more fun.  I’ve got the day off, I’ve caught up on prints that Ian needed, and I think I’ll take a nap.  I’ll try to fill it all in tomorrow.  In the meantime check out the select prints.  You might not have seen all of them! 

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks here.  If you’ve been reading along you already know that.  Fortunately I think it will calm down shortly.

After work I went directly to Ian’s Gallery last night.  We had some custom prints that needed to be addressed, and I had questions for Ian.  Nailing prices down, framing costs, etc.  Glad to say we had the time to figure everything out and I’ve got a handle on what’s going on with my photos.  Ah, an easy moment. 

In total, 9 of my prints were sold.  Half were custom requests.  According to Ian that’s not a bad start for a first timer in a gallery.  I’m thinking it was a good start too.

We set out to only offer 1 limited edition print.  You might remember the Courthouse photo taken at night.  That was the initial limited edition.  1 of 100 was sold Saturday (glad you like it Dan).  2 of 100 should be up in the gallery today.

Due to several requests we ended up selling 3 limited edition prints.  The Courthouse, the Firehouse Plaza, and my favorite Tree.  All three are 1 of 100.  The Courthouse will remain an 8×10 print, the other two are 8×12’s.  8×12’s are the size I prefer due to the format I shoot in.

So, here’s the rundown on limited edition framed and signed prints that I’ll be selling (in case you’re interested). 

• 8×12 Limited Edition Framed & Signed:  100 of each of these will be sold.  $125 each.
• 12×18 Limited Edition Framed & Signed:  100 of each of these will be sold.  $250 each.
• 20×30 Limited Edition Framed & Signed:  50 of each of these will be sold.  $500 each.

I’ll continue doing 5×7’s as well.  They’ll be signed and framed, but not a numbered series.  Those run $50 each, and that works well.  Folks really liked them. 

In addition to framed stuff I’ll be selling just the prints as well.  If you want a poster print to do with as you like, you can get one!  :)  Frame it how you see fit…..  Here’s the breakdown on those, just as an FYI.

• 5×7 Print - $20
• 8×12 Print - $50
• 12×18 Print - $100
• 16×24 Print - $150
• 20×30 Print - $225

Well, there’s all the information of how we’ve nailed it down.  Prices can change down the road due to demand, inflation, change in commodity prices, or hyper-inflation.  :)  I think all the issues listed there are highly probable, don’t you??? 

So, now I’m done announcing the “business” stuff.  And now that it’s settled I’m feeling pretty good about it.  Want to know some of the fun stuff now???

I placed an order to MPix.com the other day for the custom prints.  I can’t print larger than 8.5×11 here as I’ve got a small portable printer (it totally rocks).  Since I was ordering a few 8×12’s I decided to try out some additional sizes.  I did a 12×18 and a 20×30 of my Tree print.  All the prints came in yesterday (overnighted), and I’m beyond thrilled with MPix.  So glad Scott Kelby mentioned them on his blog.  I’ll be using them for everything now.

Ian and I opened the giant box from MPix and I tried to figure out why the box was so big.  I forgot that I’d requested a 20×30.  Thought the 12×18 was it, along with the other smaller ones.  So it was a nice surprise to see the super large format shot.  I had it printed on their Kodak Metallic Paper just for giggles.  All I can say is WOW!

We both stared at the large print for a while.  Ian asked what I intended to do with it.  I really didn’t have a plan, I’d just wanted to see the result.  Seeing the result he insisted we frame both the 12×18 and 20×30.  He also told me I need more wall space, and a gallery eventually.  That’s way down the road and not on my radar screen, but it was a nice compliment!

Ian also said one more interesting thing that I thought was a joke last week.  Looking at the large format Tree he said, “This is why you can’t photograph any of the spots I’ve painted.  You’ll outsell me.”  Now, Ian has amazing paintings.  Really they’re just too cool.  I don’t think I’d outsell him.  But looking at the large format print on the metallic paper…….guess I won’t get to shoot the same canyons he’s painted! 

I wish I could share the final results of the prints, but I really can’t.  You’ve got to see the print on the metallic paper.  If you think the shots are neat on the web site you’ll be floored by the actual prints!

Oh, and I kept an 8×12 for myself on the metallic paper.  It’s way to cool.  Guess I’ll stick it up on a wall in the Airstream soon!

Last night I read the latest report on the Crown King fire.  It had expanded to 2400 acres.  That’s a pretty big fire!

This morning I woke up around 4:30.  The trailer was shaking in the wind.  And there was something more.  The loud clatter of rain on my roof.  It wasn’t a light rain, it was a hard rain!  Hard enough to wake me.

With the rains and the wind the sky is looking gorgeous once more!  Wow, talk about a fast change.

Concerning moments in the wee hours…..

When I woke up there was another issue.  My air conditioner was not functioning well.  It’s happened once before, and I don’t think it’s the AC.  Instead I think it’s the fluctuating power supply here.  Most parks seem to have the same issue.

I’ll tell you, issues in your RV become super concerning when you’re a full timer.  I had quite the time falling back to sleep as I pondered the future of the AC.  It is summer here, and it gets hot.  Can’t live comfortably without it.

Fortunately after leaving it off for an hour, then turning it back on, the AC is now running at full capacity.  Actually, it seems to be blowing colder air……..weird.

At some point I’ll need a service person to take a look at it.  Gotta find some time for that one!

Yesterday was another busy day. Tom wanted to see Sedona, so Sedona was where we spent the day! Hey, give the guests what they want.

We headed up early, and before 9:30 we had arrived at Cathedral. The skies were pretty hazy, and my thought was a nice hike out of the sun and close to water. Sure enough, it was a great pick!

The hike near Cathedral is a short one. There weren’t many people parked at the lot yet, so we had a somewhat private hike along the water. Tom enjoyed the walk and the scene, and Sadira also enjoyed the trail. Glad everyone was happy with the hike.

We reached a wonderful opening where rock stacks met up with the water, and where people come to sit and take in nature. A few folks were swimming nearby, so I moved a short distance up the river, broke the camera out, and crossed the river. At the time, the skies were less hazy, and cool clouds began forming.

It was a great morning. Way too hot though! That’s the other reason I picked a hike near water.

By the way, I waded out into the water several times for photos. Really the photos were an excuse…..I should have gone swimming, the water was perfect!!!

By mid-afternoon we made our way to Jerome. I wasn’t feeling too well. Busy for the past few weeks, over excited over the show, and finally winding down & crashing…..that’s what I figured at first.

After food at the Haunted Hamburger we made our way over Mingus Mountain, and that’s where I discovered what was really bothering me.

FIRE!

There’s an uncontrolled fire near Crown King, AZ. A lost hiker started a signal fire. Signal fires in a dry desert are not a great idea. Last night slurry bomber after slurry bomber flew over head, confirming signal fires are a very bad idea.

This morning there is no open sky. No blue anywhere. No puffy clouds. Just a dark haze everywhere and a heavy smell of wood smoke. The HEPA is running, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. My head is pounding, and I hope they get this one under control soon. It’s a bad one for sure!

So, with the smoke haze I thought I’d give you a few blue sky photos from yesterday. Might be a while before we see more blue skies……..

Ah yes, yesterday is finished.  Maybe I’ll stop feeling so dang tired! 

In the category of long day, yesterday rates very high.  The morning was spent roaming the Promised Land with Tom & Josh.  Good company, a good walk, and some major changes in the canyon.

We made our way in and the sun was already at work heating things up for us.  Pretty warm early on.  And it got warmer the longer we stayed.  That’s one of those fun features of the sun folks sometimes forget!

I wanted to reshoot part of the canyon with my new wide angle lens.  I was very excited as we entered the canyon, but the excitement faded fast.  Most of the areas with water in the canyon were bone dry.  I’m sure the tadpoles were even less excited than I was.

The spot where I wanted to shoot turned out to be as dry as the rest of the canyon.  A small pocket of water remained, and a lot of aquatic life was crammed in.  The photo I was looking for didn’t exist at the moment.

Monsoons are on their way.  Hopefully the little fish in the Promised Land can hang in a few more days.

We cut out of the canyon early and headed out to Perkinsville.  Another visit to the “Cabin.”  I think Josh and Tom both enjoyed the spot and the ride out!  Good day, good day!

And now on to what you wanted to read about…..I know why you’re here for this post……but I had to do the whole suspense thing you know! 

Last night the show at the gallery went off wonderfully!  Seriously, I couldn’t have hope for better!  I think Ian enjoyed the evening too, and enjoyed showing his latest works!

Tom and I arrived at 4:45.  I brought my laptop hoping to access a higher speed network.  No luck on my part.  Ian couldn’t remember his wireless router’s password.  Ah well, I’ll have to borrow somebody’s network to load more than a Gig of photography to my large format printer’s site……  I’ll figure that out later.

Right at 5 people really started showing up.  My former neighbors Bill & Shari were the first to pop in.  From that point forward it was a constant stream of folks.  I spent the better part of the evening chatting with people who came, and occasionally I got to sneak away to take 5 away from the gallery.

The evening went well, and Ian was happy with the count of signatures on the guest book.  His one year anniversary went pretty well!  And I noticed from time to time that he was wrapping up a print of two, and they weren’t always mine.  :)  So it went well for both of us.

It’s at this point I’d like to note that Ian stored his roll of bubble wrap in the gallery’s rest room for the evening.  Running out of room and all.  But when visiting the facilities I felt extremely safe with all that bubble wrap near by…….  Just saying. 

Several of my prints went off the wall pretty early in the show.  The center piece was already spoken for, and it got picked up by the end of the night.  A few holes dotted throughout my framed works.  Pretty cool.

The coolest part was the number of custom orders.  Folks liked the prints, but they wanted them larger….much larger.  We’ve got several request for custom sizes of my favorite tree (you know the one).  In addition, we’ve got a request for a very large gallery wrapped print of another shot from the tree series.  By large I mean bigger than 4 foot wide.  Ah, large.

Well, there’s the wrap.  A lot more went on, but I’m getting ready for a ride up to Sedona for the day.  Gotta finish packing the Versa.  The show was great, I did better than I expected, and tomorrow I’ve got to get cracking on what I believe is 4 or 5 custom orders that need to be filled this week.

Oh, and I’ll be letting you know about print availability online at the end of the week.  Just find me a super high speed connection for a night and I’ll be set!

Tom made it in this afternoon.  He popped by my office right before 3, and we headed to the Dells shortly after.

This is Tom’s first visit to Arizona ever.  I think he’s still soaking it all in.  I’ll give you the report next week on his take on Prescott.

After a quick stop at the Airstream for some food we headed into town.  I had a few other prints to show Ian quickly.  Not stuff for the show, but I thought he’d like a look.  In fact, he did and put the two “stand out” prints on display.  Not framed or matted, but put on a stand out board.  Pretty cool.  I’d had them made by MPix.com just to give the service a whirl.  Basically they’re two “one of a kind” prints.

After our gallery visit I started showing Tom around town.  Sadira joined us as we walked Whiskey Row and looked into other galleries and bars.  Busy night on the Row!  Lots of people out enjoying a nice evening.

While walking my phone went off a few times and I ignored it.  Finally it rang again and I decided to pick it up.  Ian was on the other end.  Even though the “show” starts tomorrow he was hanging prints tonight.  A few folks wandered through the gallery, saw one of my stand outs that I’d just brought in, and wanted to know how much it would cost for a larger version framed.

Glad I brought those two in to show Ian…… 

So, we’ve already pre-sold some shots, had a special order for another, and we had a great number of interested folks walking through the gallery tonight.  WOW!

I mean that WOW!  Really, it’s a huge WOW, a huge compliment, and it’s kind of fun.  The buyers wanted to meet me and ask about a larger print, so we returned to the gallery.  They were very excited!  I’m excited now too.  Complete strangers getting a kick out of some of my new stuff!  I can’t wait to share some of the things that I’m holding in reserve!  :)  Like I said, HUGE compliment.

So, pre-show we’ve got several prints sold, and a special order.  I’ve got to get cracking on some large format orders from MPIX tonight.

Tomorrow I’ll be heading out to the Promised Land with Tom & Josh.  A few more pics with the wide angle lens….just for giggles.  No rest for the weary!

Tom isn’t here.  He was supposed to be though.  He’s somewhere at the moment, but not in Arizona.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Tom.  He was writing from Orlando International Airport.  He was writing after the departure time of his flight.

See, Tom got on his plane, and then he sat there forever.  Apparently electrical problems occurred.  Hmmm…..that’s what I like to hear when I get on a plane, don’t you?

After being stuck on the tarmac for a while the plane was moved back to the terminal.  Everyone got off the plane, and that’s where the fun begins.  No alternate flights.  Flights to Texas with no promise of connecting flights.  The travel equivalent of the word “maybe.”

So, in the end Tom and I talked at about 9 a.m. PST.  I was running into my insurance company to add the Versa to my policy and Tom was calling from Orlando International.  He would not be arriving, and he described all of the fun!

This morning I received another e-mail from Tom.  He was writing from Atlanta’s airport, and he’s on the way!  So, we’ll get the special “guest appearance” of Tom on the Airstream Chronicles once more!