We kicked off DLWS Santa Fe with a trip to the Plaza. After going through camera settings with the group, everyone dispersed around town in search of “Santa Fe” images. The first thing that caught my eye was a cool sculpture against an adobe wall. The simply graphic nature of the sculpture made me think B&W but when I converted it in the digital darkroom it didn’t speak to me the way I thought it would so, I took the opacity down to 50% to let some of the color bleed through and then added some contrast to emphasize the shadows…
I ran into Mike from Dell and we began wandering down the street. I like shooting with others because we now have extra sets of eyes spotting things, seeing from each others perspective. A colorful balcony caught my eye and while I was composing a pigeon flew into the frame and landed on the window sill. That darn bird matched the blue of the trim…click… Back in the digital darkroom I used Topaz Adjust 4 to finish the image.
We didn’t get far before we found a “Santa Fe” doorway with red chili peppers hanging down on each side…
All too soon, it was time to head back to watch Joe’s lighting demo on the steps of the Basilica. While Joe was wowing the group with his prowess in lighting, I looked over to see Stephie with her scarf wrapped around her face to keep warm. The blue of her scarf brought out the blue of her eyes so I asked her to pose for a quick photo knowing I was going to make a pano out of the image to emphasize the eyes…
With a great start under our belts, we headed to a well earned breakfast and then back to the conference room to work our images. We have a special treat in store for this afternoon. Stay tuned!
Images captured with Nikon D3X, AF-S 24-70 (first & last image), AF-S 70-200mm VR II on Lexar Digital Media.
