ed spadoni photography
"Your most valuable equipment is what's under your hat"
Meet Harry While visiting the Grand Canyon, we had the pleasure of meeting Harry. He has spent his life as a rancher, or as I prefer, a cowboy, working the ranches of the Southwest. The ranch he had worked at for the past 12 years had closed due to the economy and he now works at Grand Canyon Village. After chatting with Harry a while, I asked if he'd mind if I took his picture. He seemed surprised that anyone would want to do that, but said "Well sure, if you want to." I think this image captures the character of this man, and reflects the ruggedness of the geography and profession in which he has spent his life. We saw Harry again a few times during our visit, and he always gave us a warm smile and a friendly wave. Meeting Harry was one of the many highpoints of our trip.
Condors in the Canyon There are only 77 Condors in all of AZ and UT. These two magnificent creatures had been resting for a time on stone outcroppings in the Grand Canyon, (here's a shot: http://www.edspadoni.com/Photography/The-Great-American-Southwest/15384211_vL5AB#1029527750_Mmd5G-A-LB), before they decided to take wing. I shot this in shutter priority mode at 1/400 sec, f5.3 and panned. Cropped and sharpened slightly in PP.
The North End of Boston 1/31/2010 From Wikipedia: Boston's North End is the city's oldest residential community, where people have lived continuously since it was settled in the 1630s. Though small (⅓ mi²), the neighborhood has approximately 100 eating establishments, and a variety of tourist attractions. It is known as the city's Little Italy for its Italian-American population. The Old North Church (the white steeple seen in the center of this image), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. This phrase is related to Paul Revere's midnight ride, of April 18, 1775, which preceded the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the American Revolution.
3/14/2011 Three image HDR of the Lodge at Borderland State Park, from a photo walk Saturday morning. For more photos and some background on our photo walk, please visit http://wp.me/pasxa-9o. “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun.” William Shakespeare
Better late than never! 1/10/2011 Thank you for all the feedback on the portait of Harry yesterday. Many of you asked where I was on "self-portrait day"... Well here you go. My lovely wife took this at the brink of Little Colorado River Canyon, south of the Grand Canyon. I wore that vest almost everyday of our trip, despite my wife's pleadings to where something else, anything else.
2/8/2011 We came upon this enormous old tree (which I think is an oak) on Saturday. It was striking due to it's size, age and the way it seemed to reach into the white sky forever. Contrast boosted slightly. “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Abraham Lincoln
A bit of editing using an effect named "rotating mirror", which rendered both sides of the path almost identical. I think it's just a little ominous. POTD 4/20/2011 In 1956, fellow Smugger Prentis Drew and his parents embarked on a trip around the world. Their photos and tales of this unusual adventure, can be seen on our blog: http://wp.me/pasxa-km (CTRL Click for new window). Thanks!
Hoover Dam celebrated it's 75th anniversary in 2010. 1/11/2011 I was drawn to the art-deco facades, statues etc. that adorned the top of the dam. I made another version of this image in B&W that seems more appropriate to the era when the dam was built, and that's posted here: http://www.edspadoni.com/Photography/The-Great-American-Southwest/15384211_vL5AB#1152858674_cYDBT-M-LB Not sure which is better. What do you think? Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression, and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. Wikipedia