Horses Help 1 November 2014

I went to another benefit dinner for Horses Help here in Phoenix on 1 November.  Horses Help uses horses as therapy for mentally challenged and injured people. 

Appearing at the benefit was Loop Rawlins.  Now he might look familiar to you if you’ve watched America’s Got Talent.  Although Loop didn’t win, he put on a great performance.  Loop, who is from Tucson, has appeared at Horses Help several times.  I had a chance to chat with him and I mentioned I didn’t think Horses Help could afford him any longer, but he said he’s pleased to do this event and it was great to see him again. Loop also had his son do some roping.

Also appearing was the Dina Preston Band, a local band that has travelled the world appearing at military bases with the USO.  They are also regulars at Horses Help.

Until My Next Adventure, 

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

See all of my photos from this adventure on Flickr or by clicking the Zenfolio slideshow below!

Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships

Westworld in Scottsdale was the scene of the 4^th Annual Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships.  Saturday 25 October in the Phoenix area and you’d think it would be in the 70s… but oh no, it was 95 degrees and incredibly sunny. 

This is, by all accounts, the biggest polo party in North America.  That’s what the experts told me. 

Polo might have been the centerpiece event, but there were more things going on at the same time!  Bentley’s, Ferrari’s, Fiat’s, and more.  A world food championship that reminded me of a kinder gentler “hells kitchen.”  Dog shows.  Models and fashion shows.  An art auction.  And of Heineken beer.  I actually found a type of Heineken I could enjoy called Heineken Light. 

My camera is a Canon 5D Mark III and I used two lenses: the Canon 24-105mm and for most of the shots of polo action I used the Canon 70-300mm.  For postprocessing I used Lightroom and MacPhun Focus2Pro, SnapHeal Pro, and Intensify Pro. 

Until My Next Adventure, 

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

See all of my photos from this adventure on Flickr or by clicking the Zenfolio slideshow below!

Turf Paradise Opening Day 18 October 2014

A lovely autumn day in Phoenix as Turf Paradise opens another racing season.  It was as crowded as I've ever seen it, but there was plenty of hot dogs, beer, and soft drinks for racing fans.  

I photographed and betted.  My normal perch is at the top of the grandstands.  I use a Canon 5D Mark III with a Canon 70-300mm lens.  

For post processing, I used Lightroom and this time made extensive use of MacPhun's ColorStrokes (to paint color back in on a black and white photo) and SnapHeal Pro (to eliminate distracting items from the background).  

Former PVCC Science Division Chair Dr. Hank Mancini provided betting tips.  We used "Docs" tip sheet along with one last hunch bet from yours truly on Dirty Diamond Jim to win (he did, at 16 to 1 odds!).

Until My Next Adventure, 

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

See all of my photos from this adventure on Flickr or by clicking the Zenfolio slideshow below!

Coyotes Rookies vs Kings Rookies 17 Sept 2014

The Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League are now the Arizona Coyotes along with new ownership.  Mid-September in the NHL means training camp and it was a great excuse to go to the Glendale Arena and see a free scrimmage between the Coyotes rookies and the L.A. Kings rookies.

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark III and today I only brought my Canon 70-300mm lens.  I set to 1/600^th of a second shutter priority (to freeze action) and auto ISO.  I shoot in RAW format, so I knew I could easily change the white balance inside Lightroom, which I ended up doing. 

I stayed through two periods, enough for a hot dog and beer and a few action shots.

Until My Next Adventure, 

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

See all of my photos from this adventure by clicking the Flickr slideshow below!

Created with flickr slideshow.

Concert Photography at Photoshop World

Something I do once a year for the last eight years has been to visit Photoshop World in Las Vegas, kind of a Disneyland for photographers, photoshoppers, and illustrators.  

This year, I also went to a pre-conference class, “Real World Concert Photography” with Alan Hess and Scott Diussa. 

I’ve photographed concerts in the past and now I want to know what I’ve been doing wrong all these years! 

My camera of choice is the Canon 5D Mark III and I used a Canon 24-105mm lens.  I wish I had my 70-200mm lens because there were times I wanted to zoom in on the drummer in the back, but I still got some usable shots of him. 

Much of what I heard reinforced what I already do.  I set ISO to 1600, NO FLASH (NEVER!), I start out at 1/200^th of a second shutter speed, and open up the aperture to the highest setting, which in my case was f/4.  Sometimes when the white light came up on the band, I had to increase my shutter speed, but for the most part those settings worked fine on manual.  I also used auto white balance.  Shooting in raw, I could correct for color temperature within Lightroom. 

Our group photographed a band called “Rebel Soul,” a southern rock band that appears in Las Vegas.  Joey is their lead singer.  They were incredibly cooperative.  Essentially, we had three songs to take photos.  Then Alan and Scott would take each band member and give advice along with suggesting things to the photographers, and then they did three more songs. 

Until My Next Adventure, 

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

See all of my photos from this adventure on Flickr 

North Rim of the Grand Canyon August 2014

View from the North Rim with Two Fires in the Background

What a pleasure it was to join the Arizona Highways Photo Workshops along with photographer/instructor Suzanne Mathia and tour leaders Ken Brown and Rick Jacobi to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. 

Two Young Navajo Dancers at the Lodge

We stayed at the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim, a very out of the way place.  If you want crowds and the canyon, go to the South Rim.  If you want peace and quiet, come to the North Rim.

Sunrise View of the Grand Canyon

Moonrise over the Grand Canyon 

We had a number of goals on this trip.  Take sunrise photos, sunset photos, photos of the moon rising, and edit in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  That’s the official title; most of us know it as Lightroom.  As a college professor, I wanted the experience of watching a day-to-day pro like Suzanne and listening to her teach Lightroom.  It was a good refresher of what I knew and gave me some different ways to teach the subject. 

I photographed with my Canon 5D Mark III, the Canon 24-105mm lens, a Tamron 2X extender, and a Manfrotto 190 tripod, essential for low light photography that gives the best chance at sharp photos with low (100, usually) ISO.

Navajo Bridge, on the way to the North Rim 

On the way to the North Rim, which takes about eight hours from Phoenix, I photographed Navajo Bridge. 

Inside the Canyon

We hit Bright Angel Point and Point Imperial at the Canyon.  To get the great morning light, what photographers call the “golden hour,” I got up at 3:30am to catch our van leaving at 4:30am.  In some of the shots, I caught the canyon during that pre-sunrise period called the “blue hour” which is only a few minutes, actually.  I did very little post processing to the blue hour photo of the canyon. 

Another View Inside the Canyon

On the last night of photographing, I was frustrated to find the moon hiding behind clouds.  So, I walked back to the van and put my equipment away.  Then I turned to see the huge moon peeking nicely out of the clouds. 

Buffalo

Just leaving the North Rim, we stopped to see a herd of buffalo.  They can run fast, but mostly just want to eat.  They grunt and produce a lot of, shall I say, waste material. 

 

Lee's Ferry

Coming back near Navajo Bridge is Lee’s Ferry.  I’ve included a photo of that entrance for boats on the Colorado River. 

Until My Next Adventure, 

See You On Down The Road!

Jim Patterson

See all of my photos from this adventure on Flickr or by clicking the Zenfolio slideshow below!