Visit to San Xavier del Bac Mission

A few weeks ago I took a day trip to Tucson, AZ for work, and had a few hours to kill before my flight back home.  Each time I visit a new place I haven't been (I'd been to Tucson before, but as a kid before I got into photography), I do a search for the local attractions and photographic places of interest.  The San Xavier del Bac Mission is one of the oldest missions in the United States, founded in 1692.  Besides being old, it was beautiful in all the images I saw, so I knew I had to go if I got a chance!

The mission did not disappoint.  I spent a little over an hour exploring, and I got lucky with some dramatic skies.  The light outside wasn't great, but I got a few shots and then went inside, where the craftmanship is amazing.  Every wall is covered with carved statues, frescos, and intricate woodwork, and the dome had some beautiful artwork painted on it.

Next to the mission is a small hill with a cross atop it and some monuments or altars to various saints and such.  I headed up the hill to get a vantage point of the mission from above (the image at the top of the page) and decided it was time to head back to the car.  That is when the sun came out, and the light on the mission and hill were just what a photographer hopes for.

I spent another 20 minutes taking many of the same shots I already had taken when I first got to the mission, taking advantage of the golden light coming through the clouds.

Below is a set of bracketed exposures I took of the mission, hoping to combine the three shots (-2, 0, +2 EV) into an HDR later.

I use Nik software's HDR Efex Pro for all my HDR's.  I combined the 3 exposures above into one HDR file.

Looks pretty good, but I wasn't happy with the tonal balance throughout, and thought this image needed a little more work.  I brought it into photoshop, where I used layer masks and adjustment layers to adjust where needed.  Finally, I added a Nik Color Efex Pro filter, "glamour glow", to the image stack, one of my favorite filters to apply.  I love the softness it adds while still keeping the edge softness.  The final image is below:

I highly recommend a trip to the mission for anyone, not just photographers.

Happy Shooting!

My favorite photography blogs and websites

As with any hobby or craft, photography requires one to constantly learn and explore the latest techniques, news, and happenings going on in the industry and among our peers.  I have a daily ritual of checking up with a handful of blogs and websites to keep up to date and learn as much as I can to grow as a photographer.  There are so many great photographers out there, and it seems like all of them are happy to share their tips and techniques in an effort to boost the overall quality of all involved.

Below are my favorite blogs that I follow, some daily, some less frequently.  Take some time to explore the links and learn something new or be in awe of the work that is being done!

www.scottkelby.com - One of the most popular photographers around today.  He posts daily, covering everything from photo shoots, to photoshop, to gear, and more.
www.digitalprotalk.com - The blog of outstanding wedding photographer David Ziser.  Again, daily posts with a focus on wedding photography but also lots of info on the photography business and software as well.
http://landscapephotographymagazine.com/ - This site has some of the best landscape photography around.  They put out a monthly online magazine, completely free, and have a large collection of old articles and issues.
http://www.pixiq.com/ - Updated daily with new articles covering gear, how-to's, photographer's rights, and more.
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/ - A huge community with lots of contributors covering everything photography.
http://photofocus.com/ - blog of photographer Scott Bourne.
http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com/blog/ - A particular favorite of mine, the blog of Michael Clark, a New Mexico based adventure sports photographer.
http://www.dgrin.com/ - I originally found dgrin after signing on with smugmug to host my website.  Dgrin is smugmug's community forums, but even if you aren't part of smugmug there is a wealth of information here.
http://flashflavor.com/ - Another impressive blog from some amazing wedding photographers, based in Mexico.
http://terrywhite.com/techblog/ - Terry White is an Adobe employee and photographer.  He covers a wide range of topics including Adobe software, photography, Apple, and general technology news.
http://strobist.blogspot.com/ - For those serious about learning how to use flash (and I'm not talking about your compact camera or pop-up flash), this is the bible.
http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/ - Joe McNally is another flash guy, and all around legendary photographer as well.
www.500px.com - The go to place to be blown away by photography, this has replaced flickr as the pro's image sharing site.
http://www.diyphotography.net/ - A wealth of information on everything DIY in photography.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/ - Photo essays with amazing work on the latest stories in the news.

Enjoy!  If you have a favorite blog that is photography or tech related, please let me know in the comments below, I love finding new sites!

Happy Shooting!

Best of 2011

2011 was a busy one for me. The first half of the year I was busy planning a wedding, then after the wedding and honeymoon it seemed like the rest of the year just flew by. Photographically, I had a great year. I got to do things on my photographic bucket list (Costa Rica, trash the dress, NM abandoned state pen) and explored many new techniques and subjects such as TTD, lightning, and astrophotography. It was a great year!

Below are my favorite 10 images from 2011.

INTERCHANGE - The Big I in Albuquerque, with the Sandia mountains in the background.  This is probably my favorite image of the year, and one of my favorite of all time.

Stiletto - My wife's Christian Louboutin wedding shoes and engagement ring.  Terah loved these shoes, so we had a photo shoot for them before they got all scuffed up.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to take an after shot, the shoes broke right before the wedding and then were lost/stolen.

Secluded Sunset - Guanacaste, Costa Rica.  Like many photographers (or people in general), I've taken a bunch of sunset shots, but this one was special.  It wasn't just the amazing display of colors.  This was on our honeymoon, so seeing this image reminds me of our great trip and the sunset we got to share together.

Jackpot - Lightning over the Sandia Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, NM.  I took several trips outside during the summer to photograph the lightning storms.  This was by far the most intense storm, I shot this from the back cargo hold of my car to avoid getting out in the elements.

Electric Milky Way - Lightning storms in the distance are dwarfed by the Milky Way near Chilili, NM.

Hideout - My beautiful wife Terah on our trash the dress trip in the Gilman Tunnels near Jemez, NM.  We both had a blast doing this TTD session!

Serenity - Terah at the base of a small waterfall in the Jemez mountains.  I couldn't choose just one from the TTD session.

The Chamber - The gas chamber at the abandoned New Mexico state penitentiary. A little dark, I know, but the opportunity to shoot at the abandoned prison is a rare treat.  I guess it's a photographer's thing, shooting old, abandoned, worn out places, like we are hoping to catch a ghost on camera or something.

Miner's Sunset - at Calico, CA.  This ghost town was a silver boom town in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  The investors in the mining company spent more money setting up the mines and the town than they ever mined out of the mountain.  Makes for a great sunset setting.

Brushed Beach - Looking East towards the Sea of Cortez near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  I used a 9 stop neutral density filter for this shot, which allowed me to slow the shutter speed down and blur the waves crashing on the beach.

 Happy shooting!

Starting a blog - what to expect!

The grounds of the beautiful Dreams Los Cabo

I've been practicing photography since high school and seriously as a hobby/part time job for 5 years now.  I routinely post and share images on flickr, 500px, google plus, and facebook, but I decided it is finally time to start my own blog!  This blog is a place to have in-depth discussion about my photography experiences and to create a central location where friends, family, and photography enthusiasts can go to read my blog and explore my website and galleries.

So here it is!  You can navigate to other parts of my website on the top right.  I will also post some of my favorite blogs and websites that I follow on a regular basis in the sidebar to the right.  Please feel free to leave comments, I welcome any feedback for my site, blog posts, etc.  Also, please take a moment to vote in the poll to give me a feel for the type of content you would like to see.

Here is an image from the Pima Air & Space museum in Tucson, Arizona to kick-off my blog!  Look forward to new posts twice a week, my Best of 2011 Images are coming soon!

Beechcraft UC-45J Expeditor, converted to B&W in Nik Silver Efex Pro

I'm excited for this new adventure of blogging!  For those so inclined, please share a link to my new blog on facebook, twitter, or email with anyone you think might enjoy.  Also, if you aren't already a fan of my facebook page, go like http://www.facebook.com/Beckmannimages.  Thanks!