Zoological Hijinks

We took a fun little trip to the San Diego Zoo a couple of weeks back. I hadn't been since I was 11 or 12, so much of the experience was entirely new. First course of action? Pith helmets. No self-respecting adventurer would be caught without one.

Tourist trap? Maybe. Stylish and sophisticated? You know it!

I've always been a lover of animals, but where I live in Las Vegas, the variety is a bit lacking. You can see only so many snakes and lizards before they all start to look the same. And, regardless of how often I try to replicate the mating call of the elusive mountain lion and shake raw meat above my head, they are not fooled into making contact. Probably for the best, all things considered.

Here was an opportunity to photograph so many beautiful creatures in one spot, AND retain all of my limbs in the process!

It helps if you imagine bongos being played throughout this blog post.

The eyes are very soulful. It's a little upsetting to see this one behind the cage.

This fella's practicing his upward dog. Well done.

And here we see the hyperactive panda.

As always, check out the full gallery to see all of the images from this trip!

Thanks for joining me! Now I'm off to take a nap...

Episode 2 - RAW vs JPEG is LIVE!

Check it out and let me know what you think! Tell your friends!

Waking up the Watchman

©2012 Matthew Arrington. Click for a larger version.

We just spent a wonderful weekend at Zion. For those who've never been there in the off-season, it's quite a different experience to the mobs of people in the summer. Many of the shops and restaurants in the neighboring town of Springdale are closed for the season. You can drive your own vehicle through the shuttle loop, which opens up many photo opportunities that would otherwise be less accessible. This is a view of The Watchman from the bridge over the Virgin River. A common view that I've seen countless times, but there was something special about this particular morning. The clouds finally broke off in the distance to cast some crisp sidelight on The Watchman. What caught my eye beyond all else, however, was the turquoise color of the water. Never have I see the river take on this color. You don't often see Zion in winter, especially during a mild winter with little to no snow, but there is a stark beauty here. 20 minutes later, the clouds filled the sky once more and greyed everything out. Timing is everything, truly.

Episode #1 is LIVE!

Here it is, the start of my new video series! This first episode takes you behind the scenes of what I do to improve my landscape images in post-processing. Let me know what you think in the comments section and tell me what you'd like to see next!

Duality

Click for a larger version.

Nothing draws me into a scene or composition more than stark contrast. It's what my eye seeks more often than any other element. How can one subject, such as the mountain above, be of such dual nature? Cold and frozen on one face, warm and golden on the other. I chose a symmetrical  composition to emphasize the difference here. I didn't have as long a lens as I would have liked, so much cropping was necessary to get the framing I wanted. This shot is a great example of a scene that comes alive in post-production. Shooting a camera in RAW format often doesn't capture the brilliant colors and contrast of the scene as the eye saw it. RAW files start out with such flatness and muddiness, so post-production (read: contrast, brightness, saturation, and levels adjustment) is necessary to bring the image back from the dead. Why do I shoot RAW vs JPEG? Because I get all of the data recorded of the scene and can decide for myself how to interpret it. When you shoot JPEG, you're losing information and many of the creative decisions are handed off to the camera. I'm kind of a control freak, so I definitely can't have that! I'll delve further into the differences between RAW and JPEG in an upcoming episode of my video series.