Arizona Treks

This weekend turned into another disappointment because of inaccurate weather forecasts.  I was planning to spend one day waiting for light and another hiking in the Superstitions to get a good view of Weavers Needle.  But alas, because of the forecast of high winds on saturday (which never happened) we did not do the hike, postponed it until today.  Now it appears it will be raining most of the day and after the rain last night I do not with to be climbing around on the bedrock so no hike today.  But I may still be able to go to Lost Dutchman State Park and find some nice weather and light.  Maybe do a short hike there as well.

So the series on Quality of Light will start with a couple of bold contrast photos that I think worked.  Both of these were shot before I ever started thinking about bold contrast in the manner that I think of it today.  Both were pre-visualized to have strong contrast.  The top photo is gears in a machine at Saguaro Ranch Park.  The midday sun was shining directly on the machine with strong shadows.  There is no shadow detail and in this scan, no texture however in the print there is a little texture in the shadows.  But the highlights are there and the strong shadows which gives this a stark, almost harsh appearance which was the intention.    The shadows are small enough that the lack of detail is not distracting but large enough to be a significant part of the overall composition. 

The photo below is similar in that it was shot as a strong contrast scene to communicate the barren, harsh nature of the place, but was shot before I began thinking in the same lines as today.  Once again, detail is lost in the shadows and some of the highlights only have texture.  Strong and bold but those areas are small enough that it works, at least it works for me.  It says what I intended it to say and I find it visually pleasing.