After changing travel plans and back for about 3 times Ive finally set my course back to California for the Summer. I will be tracing the remnants of historic US Route 66 from Rolla, MO to San Bernardino, CA. Its a trip Ive always wanted to do, focusing on the small towns, abandoned buildings, and kitschy tourist traps that make up the Mother Road.

Im excited and honored that the publication I am interning for this summer is having me contribute some freelance images from Route 66 to a story they are working on. I’m living the dream here folks. I have 7 days carte blanche to spend as much or as little time as I please on the road, stopping without worry. I have no hotel reservations or itinerary. There are a few destinations in mind, like the Grand Canyon, Winslow AZ, Supai, AZ, and Petrified Forest. Ill probably camp for a night or two along the way to shoot at night once the moon goes down a bit.

The picture with this post shows my standard road-trip kit that rides up front with me. I’ve got my bailout bag with cash, Passport, Global Entry Pass, spare set of keys, International Driver’s License pen+notepad, and RFID shield/EMF blocker. Some standard items like an old-school iPod for tunes, polarized sunglasses, 2 types of chapstick, wallet with petty cash, compact LED light for unloading the car at night, Suunto Core Altimeter/barometer/comapss/sunrise watch (handy for figuring out sunrise and sunset in places without reception and when moving and changing time zones quickly), Fuji X-Pro 1 Rangefinder +35mm 1.4 lens, and of course my lucky travel beads from Asia.

The open road awaits.

I am shooting the story in Black and Wihte because I want to focus on the intensity and discipline required to prepare for a bodybuilding competition. There is concentration required mentally and physically. The lighting in the gym is also poor, so black and white was a natural route to go. I felt it was beneficial to keep the portraits consistent as well.

This is also the first time Ive shot the D4 in a studio setting. Needless to say its fantastically detailed and base ISO is insanely sharp, actually too sharp.

Well, I took that to heart, and so far, I’ve made two images as a direct result of having a camera on me. The first was driving to pick up a package at the UPS Depot here in in Columbia this evening, and the second is of skaters in an abandoned shopping mall in Palm Springs I snapped on my way to dinner at the Hyatt during the festival. Neither image is of portfolio quality, isn’t a story, and certainly is no prize winner.

However, they are decent and interesting images that would be good for a gallery section of a website, stockimages, or feature/enterprise images. Perhaps you’d consider them street photos, I don’t know. The point is having a real camera made all the difference. Both images were made with the new Nikon D4 as I was running around between tasks in the day. With a camera you can make an image in an industrial section of town while juggling errands and meetings. You just have to be prepared. There’s a certain elan one needs to have when they dedicate themselves to a life of image making, and that is – you’re always “on,” looking to make a picture. I don’t mean constantly run around with a camera up to your eye, but passively be aware of your surroundings and possible moments.

I understand you can’t carry a brick with you at all times, and some places its not appropriate. Thats why I am an advocate of owning even the crappiest point and shoot camera. You can get a decent one on eBay for $20 in working condition. Have your phone charged. We are often running around at rush hour (imagine that!), when the light is glowing and images are at their most interesting. It behooves us as image makers to have an image making device on us to capture moments that arise.

-Stuart

Skaters – Teenagers head up stairs in a parking lot adjacent to an abandoned shopping mall in Palm Springs, CA. The abandoned mall sits directly across from the Palm Springs Museum of Art.  

Landscape of trucks – United Parcel Service trucks sit idle after the day’s deliveries are finished at the UPS depot off Vandiver Rd in Columbia, MIssouri. April 9th, 2012. 

http://nikonrumors.com/2012/02/06/nikon-d800-announcement.aspx/

PDF Brochure here:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/pdf/d800_28p.pdf

1.

The first image is of actor Christopher Walken. The subject is very close to the viewer and there is no makeup. It has kind of a dark feel and the blacks seem to be very black. The lighting on Walken’s face looks high key, minus the white background. It is obvious that the image is lit, but how it was made and to what extent I do not know. Looks like it was studio strobes at the very least. The color is probably moderately toned but it is not over-saturated, most likely contrast, levels, blacks, local burn and dodge/etc.

Found here:

http://blog.ashleysimko.com/post/34585725/this-enormous-portrait-of-christopher-walken-hangs

By: Martin Schoeller

2. The second image is a fantastic environmental portrait that is all about simple geometric form and color. First and foremost, the images is about a yellow blob in front of a blue background. On closer inspection, it is a background of sailboat masts and a man in the front with a fishing overcoat on. The color is excellent and it was probably lit with speed lights on location. The lighting appears to be a bit harsh for my taste and maybe a larger or umbrella or soft box may have been used. It also looks like it was a cloudy day or there were strobes powerful enough to overpower the sun, since the image has a dark, ominous feeling.

Finally, the image is almost a hybrid standard portrait/environmental portrait. It is shot as a 3/4 shot, without much background information, but the fisherman’s coat and the limited background provide enough information to also make it an environment portrait.

Found Here:

http://photoadventuresofc.blogspot.com/2011/11/environmental-portraits.html

By: Kevin Cruff

The route I took was I-70 to US 40, exiting at Midway Truckstop, and taking 40 through Old Franklin, approaching Boonville from the North.

See the Missouri page in my Places Gallery for an extended set of images from Boone County, including some abandoned homesteads I’ve been exploring.

Above: A selected few images from my recent work, below in my post I have linked to the full galleries.

It’s been a busy six weeks. I’ve been on half a dozen separate trips, as many shoots, all while balancing the holidays and heading back to Missouri to work with POYi. Seasonal illness laid me down for over a week, which added to the backlog of posting.

In December I published my Southwest Chief story, chronicling 48 hours on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief from Kansas City to Los Angeles. Rail travel in the United States is a shadow of its former self, with lower ridership outside of the New England corridor. Amtrak uses freight rails today in the American West and the ride is bumpy and slow. You don’t go on the train for the efficiency, – it’s all about the experience. Meeting fellow passengers, etc., is what makes the difference.

Once in California I headed up to Death Valley and the Southern Nevada desert for a few days to camp and spend time in the National Park. With moderate winter temperature and a new Moon, the night photography was excellent and it was great to get off the grid for a while.

I continued to work on meeting with sources for my Salton Sea thesis project, which is slated for completed and exhibition in Fall of 2013, stay tuned. When in Imperial County I stopped by Salvation Mountain of Into the Wild fame and sadly learned that Leonard Knight is in a nursing home and probably won’t be returning to the mountain. You can see my images from the day, the full story, and some older portraits in my Salvation Mountain gallery.

After Death Valley I worked with the Catalina Island Conservancy for a day on the island photographing a chartered Jeep Tour, with proceeds funding various Conservancy operations. I spotted and photographed a Catalina Island Fox, an endangered subspecies that the Conservancy is now saving. A beautiful day in a rugged and remote place to be sure. I look forward to working with the CIC in the future on additional work promoting their mission in such a wonderful place. I posted a gallery of images that are more landscape than promotional edits.

Keep an eye out for images with the Nikon 24mm 3.5 PC-E lens. It’s a fantastic tool for making panoramas and getting landscapes sharp from a few feet to infinity. It certainly proved its worth in Joshua tree and beyond. Once the weather warms up in Central Missouri I look forward to producing a landscape series with it around the Missouri River and Boone County.

Also, make sure to take a look at the gallery section of the site, under Places. I am now up to about 25 galleries I places Ive visited and explored over the years. The destinations are domestic and international, and are a mixture of journalism and travel/landscape photography. Some of the galleries are still under construction and will be populated as I finish migrating my 4 Terabytes of archives. It is crazy to think that I was 14 when I got my first digital camera, and I am 23 now. Technically, thats almost a decade of photographing! Whew, and its just beginning.

In the mean time, my colleagues and I are hunkered down processing entries for POYi, or Pictures of the Year International. We have about 1,500 entrants, and were going through each an every image to make sure they are within contest guidelines. This year Hipstamatic is reigning as the new entry, after New York Times Photographer Damon Winters won an award last year for his candid iPhone-tography of soldiers in Iraq. Ill be honest and say the iPhone imagery this year are all copycats that don’t meet the bar. That’s just my opinion though, stay tuned to the Reynolds Journalism Institute in Mid-February for what the judges think.