“JIM! What’s new with your photography?"

I heard that so often this last month I thought it was time to update the ole blog.

I went to another Photoshop World in Las Vegas the first week of September.  Lots and lots of classes from great instructors on everything having to do with photography and Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.  One of the fun things I did was attend the APC Artistic Photo Canvas “walkshop” of Fremont Street in Las Vegas, dedicated to HDR or High Dynamic Range photography.  Photographer Brian Matiash was the host.  It’s the kind of photography you’ve seen that reminds you of “grunge” for the lack of a better word.  That was a fun activity that took us out into the earthier Fremont area of Las Vegas.  About thirty photographers with tripods all walking through taking photos.  The easiest explanation I have is you take several photos of the same thing with slightly different exposure settings, then combine in the new Adobe Photoshop CS5. 

AND, of course, the fall for me means more Arizona Wildcats football.  So far, we are four and zero.  Given where we’ve been in the past, we cannot afford to look past any opponent.  The PAC-10 seems especially strong this year so the next eight games will be quite challenging.  The season is a third over and the Cats have beaten Iowa at home and came from behind to beat a very good California Golden Bears team.  I think we all needed a break this past week; the players needed to heal, the coaches needed to re-evaluate and recuperate, and the fans.. well we need to take a deep breath and get ready for the rest of the season. 

Since I live in Phoenix, many of the locals here will ask me what I think about that outfit in Tempe.  Frankly, I don’t think about them.  Not until it is time to think about them.  I’m worried about my own guys. 

A few of the fun things so far this season include the football game versus The Citadel that we watched from a Super Suite at Arizona Stadium.  It was a fund raiser for the scholarship I dedicated to my parents, Doc and Ann Patterson, and goes to a Paradise Valley Community College graduate who transfers to the University of Arizona.  I’m proud to say we collected close to $5,000. 

Hey, I have to put in a plug to join the Arizona Alumni Association, as one of the newest members of the alumni association board.  Just tell them Jim Patterson sent you.  And you can join even if you didn’t graduate from Arizona.  Most of my tailgate pals did exactly that. 

Hockey season in Phoenix starts on 16 October against the hated Detroit Red Wings (I can say that, muchachos, because I grew up a Red Wings fan... now, not so much).  So I should have hockey photos soon.

Shut up and shoot, as the great photographer Paul Mobley once told me!

Jim Patterson

http://JamesGordonPatterson.com