The making of.....

A photographer friend asked how I made the first shot of the coming to LA story. I had to make another one for my client Kristen Don and thought I would record it for your viewing pleasure. Most of the time I am a "get it right in camera" kind of guy but there are times when it just makes more sense to leave your self some photoshop work. The location for the highway with the view of the city was an hour away and I knew we were not going to fit it in into our schedule. Since I was building the image in photoshop anyway I made the city a little closer than it normally is. It took me about 45 minutes to complete the the final image but here you see it in super fast motion.

Making of from Carl Stevens on Vimeo.

Back to the Lakefont

Now that I'm back in Milwaukee I can get back to my lakefront waves project. These images were taken at Doctors Park, a park I remember going to as a child with my father. He would go down to the beach and make sculptures out of drift wood with his friends. I might try my hand at that on my next visit and photograph the results.

One More

Last night I was going over some of the images from my road trip that didn't make it to the blog. I managed to find one more to post. The mountain stream in this image is almost glowing. Most of my images are color but sometimes removing that color can add so much to the image. It was taken on my first drive through the Superstition Mountains of Arizona so I was thinking of "Superstitious Fog" as the title.

Coming to LA: a fashion story

I had the privilege of working with a talented fashion designer in Los Angeles last week. We came up with a fashion story about a girl who comes to Los Angeles and becomes a star. It's the same dream that everyone has when they come to Hollywood. The story fallows our protagonist as she hitchhikes to the city, finds her new home, reads some scripts, has a head shot done, and becomes famous. I love the first shot, downtown Los Angeles reminds me of the first shot of the emerald city at the edge of the poppy field in The Wizard of OZ.

The Road Home

The road home was full of long days in the car. It has been amazing being on the road these last two months. The rumble of the engine on my feet the feel of the rising sun on my back and a horizon begging to be found.

Los Angeles Stars

Los Angeles is one of the few places where the stars come out below you. Both literally and figuratively. Over the course of this trip I am realizing that the best part of being a photographer is you have to be there. A painter can put brush to canvas in a basement but photographers get to go to these locations and experience them first hand.

City of Angles from Carl Stevens on Vimeo.

Hollywood Land

Hollywood Sign from Carl Stevens on Vimeo.

I might be the tourist thing to do but I had to shoot the Hollywood Sign. It's hard to get a good view of the sign because you are not allowed to get close to it. I did manage to find an empty lot deep in the hollywood hills to shoot this time lapse. Los Angeles is a great town full of things to do and see. I will be back in LA in a week but for now it's off to the Grand Canyon.

Leaving Los Angeles

I spent most of the day on the road to Phoenix yesterday, making one stop in an amazing valley. The entire valley is covered with windmills of all types. It is a wonderful sight to be able to see green power being created and behind it the reason for its creation.

Ocean Waves

My journey in the most american of directions has brought me just about as far as I can go. I spent Friday walking the beach in along the city of angles to photograph Santa Monica and Venice Piers. These are the first in my series of wave images taken on the ocean.

Great Show.

Last night my tour of the south west took me to the Rhythm Room in Phoenix to hear Tony Lucca and Keaton Simons. It was the first show of their tour and a great first show at that. The two of them who normally play separately showed true humility by taking the stage together and not stepping into the headliner position individually. Click here and see if this great blues show is coming to a venue near you.

A day @ Liberty Wildlife

I spent the day at Liberty Wildlife getting the tour and taking some photos. I have never seen large birds so close, it was great. They let me release a small bird back into the wild. There will be more wildlife photos in coming weeks for sure.

Falling Water

These are the images of the mountain stream I mentioned in the last post. It was a challenge to climb down to the stream with all my camera equipment but even harder to climb back up. It was more than a 45 degree incline covered with loose rocks. Landscape photography lesson #52 is big rocks on the side of a mountain are not the most steady. Thankfully the large rocks I caused to fall were falling away from me and not on top of me.

Mountain Drive

I took another drive into the mountains this week with my camera. I found a great mountain stream that fell through a series of falls that was great. They will be in my next post.

Watch out for snakes.

I hiked into Lost Dutchman's State Park today. The park is on the west side of the Superstition Mountains and gets it's name from an old myth about a lost gold mine know as the lost dutchman's mine. This most famous of american lost mines is said to be cursed or protected by guardians keeping the gold safe for it's former Apache Tribe owners. Maybe it's the snakes this sign warn about that is keeping the mine hidden.

Right Time, Right Place.

My trip on Thursday to the Superstition Mountains was rained out. But on the way back to Phoenix I stopped by Lost Dutchman State Park to see this.

It's the trailing edge of the rain storm I had been in all day long. The sun was pouring through a single hole in the cloud spilling onto a cliff face. It only lasted for a minute and then it was gone.

More Time Lapse

I spent an entire day shooting time lapse photos in and around Phoenix last week. This shot was made while leaning against the 202 loop on a 45 degree angle. Proof that a tripod is good for something.

Downtown Phoenix from Carl Stevens on Vimeo.

Outside Phoenix

I spent Saturday driving around with my camera finding something to take a picture of. Three locations later I found this little spot just outside phoenix.

Big Red Rocks from Carl Stevens on Vimeo.

Monument Valley

Monument Valley Sunrise from Carl Stevens on Vimeo.

This valley is deserving of it's name. The shapes these huge rock structures take truly are monuments. This is the sunrise on the first day of this decade so I also make a time lapse of the occasion. When I drive back through the valley in March I am going to walk down and see some of the other rock features.

Overcast Skies

I drove through bad weather for most of the trip so I did not stop nearly as much as I would have liked. I had to skip the Grand Tetons because of overcast and they wouldn't even let me in Arches National Park. This landscape is some where between Jackson Hole and Salt Lake City. The sun was struggling to break through those clouds and bouncing of the red rock face behind me. I love the purple hue the clouds took on.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone was amazing, so amazing in fact that my camera could not take it and stopped working. It was that or the -21 weather we had that morning. I was able to take two photos but still had a great time. The rivers that run through the park never freeze because they are both fast moving and thermally active. Because of this they steam which freezes in the air and falls very slowly to the ground. The air literally sparkles because of these microscopic ice particles. A group of us took 10 snow mobiles 30 miles into the park to old faithful. It was one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. You have to go if you get a chance.