Matt Suess: Blog

Photographing a Double Rainbow in Santa Fe

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 23:41:37 GMT

Earlier this week Christine Hauber and I moved our RV's to a new spot for the summer in south Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is a huge dirt lot on private property.

There were times it was actually difficult to see my truck during this dust storm.

It is windy, and dusty and dirty!

The first day here after spending all day moving we finally had a chance to sit down. Not 5 minutes later we got hit with a big dust storm. I measured a peak wind speed of 34mph. So much for the carpets we laid out - they were almost buried in dirt.

Double Rainbow just south of downtown Santa Fe
(Click on photo to view larger and to purchase prints)

But the view can be simply amazing!

The last few days we have had a few late afternoon storms roll by and with it there was some absolutely incredible light.

I only had moments to photograph while the light was at its most intense. No time to grab a tripod, I carefully braced the camera on the top of Christine's car and fired away - right outside our RV's. Talk about having the light come to you!

In the photo above I had to keep wiping my lens in-between frames as it was sprinkling at the time I photographed it.

"A Horse Stable Under the Rainbow"
Santa Fe, NM
(Click on photo to view larger and to purchase prints)

After I photographed the entire double rainbow I then focused on the horse stable. It was photographed with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens, hand-brased on the top of a car, with a shutter speed of 0.5 seconds. It was the only sharp image I had with the horses visible, and the lighting was perfect.

I will gladly sacrifice all of the dirt and wind for this amazing light! Would you?

"Lassos Paired" How I photographed and edited this image from Texas

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 01:36:31 GMT

In April Christine Hauber and I had the opportunity (Thanks Kathy!!) to photograph on a private ranch in the heart of the Texas Hill Country for a couple hours and that is where I photographed my newest release titled, "Lassos Paired".

"Lassos Paired"

Texas Hill Country
(Click on photo to view larger and to purchase prints)

We arrived in the dark a little before sunrise and the weather was not being very cooperative as it was windy and raining. So we waited a while in the barn as the sky lightened from sunrise and we looked at the radar on my iPad to confirm that the morning's shoot was going to be a washout.

When the weather isn't cooperating, trips like these basically end up as scouting trips to plan for something in the future. Before we headed out scouting the property I paused to photograph this pair of lassos hanging on horseshoe hooks inside the barn.

The only light I had was a little bit of ambient light coming in from outside the barn as well as light from one lightbulb inside the barn. I put my camera on my tripod and started taking exposure readings. This was photographed at ISO 200 at f10 with a shutter speed of 8 seconds.

In the photo above we are looking at the RAW file as-is with no adjustments made inside of Capture One Pro (what I replaced Lightroom with). This is exactly how the camera captured it, but far from the vision I had with this image. This was going to need quite a bit of work to get the look I was after.

If you look closely you can notice the top of the photo is a little warmer due to the light from the overhead lightbulb. You can also see the outside ambiant light filtering in from the lower right hand side. I am not concerned about this as I will be converting it soon to sepia and we won't notice the different light sources any more.

The photo above shows some of the adjustments I made to the RAW file inside of Capture One. It was converted into a slightly toned black and white image. The photo was cropped and then exported just like this from Capture One. On to the next step.

I next brought the image into Silver Efex Pro 2 where I converted the image into a warm sepia color. This gave me the foundation I needed to start completing the look for this image.

Next up was a stop in onOne's Perfect Photo Suite to start bringing this image to life and give it some energy. Using a combination of a few different effects in Perfect Effects brought me to just about where I needed to be with this image. (Note there is a FREE, basic version of Perfect Effects you can download and use that comes with over 70 effects.)

I finished the image with a layers adjustment and some dodging and burning in Photoshop - something that I also could have accomplished in Perfect Photo Suite.

After all of those steps I arrived at the photo I had in mind when I first photographed it. Scroll back up this post to the original and final versions again to view the big difference between how the camera captured the image and what I had in mind for it. A perfect example of how boring a straight out-of-camera, non-enhanced photo can look compared to a fully enhanced one.

Try onOne's Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 FREE for 30 days!! They make great photo enhancing software that I personally use in my fine art photography.

OnOne Software updates Perfect Photo Suite to version 7.5

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:53:45 GMT

Yesterday OnOne Software released the 7.5 update to their Perfect Photo Suite. The update is free for all Suite 7.x owners including the Premium Edition, the Lightroom & Aperture Edition, as well as their Standard Edition.

The 7.5 update includes a new Quick View Browser, refinements to the Perfect Brush, and compatibility for Lightroom 5.

The Quick View Browser is a welcome addition. With it we can now browse photos and effects in a full-screen gallery view. No more looking at tiny thumbnail images when looking for photos on the harddrive or seeing what effects look like before applying them.

The new browser while viewing in the Perfect Layers module.

While in the Perfect Effects module, click on the new icon to the right of the effect you want to see to view effects in a full-screen gallery view as seen below using an example from the Vintage effects.

In addition to the new Browser, refinements to the Perfect Brush make this tool even more impressive. For starters the brush size of Perfect Brush was increased from 500 pixels to 2500 pixels.

But the most impressive feature of Perfect Brush is that it can now automatically detect and protect edges using color sampling. This makes quick work out of replacing, say, the sky in a background.

To explain how this works better, lets take a look at a photograph of an old truck in Wyoming photographed with a boring clear blue sky.

When I photographed this I did not have the good fortune of having an interesting sky. I like the composition of the truck and barn, but this photo needs something in the sky to give more interest.

What I would like to do is add some clouds to the background. While working in the Layers module I selected "Extras" and then looked for an appropriate cloud pattern from the Background choices I had in the Extras folder.

Clicking on a cloud photo I liked added it to a new layer. I quickly resized the cloud layer to overlap the sky in my original photo.

Once I had the placement correct I then moved the cloud layer below the original photo layer. This will allow me to paint in the clouds to the original photo.

Using the Masking Brush tool I then started painting in the cloud layer, staying clear of the trees, the horizon, and the barn. I stopped short of the barn and trees because if I didn't, the cloud layer would erase the tree. What I need to do now is use the Perfect Brush to complete the addition of the cloud background.

FIrst click on the Perfect Brush checkbox to select it.

Then, start painting near your edge and hold the Command key on a Mac or Control key on a Windows and continue painting up to the edges of the barn, the trees, etc. The Perfect Brush works by sampling the color underneath the center of it. While holding down the Command/Control key while painting, the Perfect Brush uses the color sample from the moment you hold the Command/Control key, allowing you to paint in the cloud background right up to the edges of the barn, the horizon, in addition to in-between branches and leaves of the tree.

The Perfect Brush in action, keeping the edges of the barn clean.

The Perfect Brush takes care of complicated layer masks and does this for you automatically and extremely accurately, assuming that the color you are sampling from is different enough from the edges you wish to protect.

Here is a view of the layer mask that Perfect Brush created - pretty impressive especially with the tree.

Once I was happy with the addition of the cloud background I then used Perfect Effects for some further enhancing and Perfect Resize to increase the size of the image.

"Wyoming Truck & Clouds"
A Suess Original One-of-a-Kind Print

OnOne's Perfect Photo Suite comes in three versions depending on your workflow, and as of right now for a limited time if you own any Nik Software plugin you can purchase the entire Suite for the half-off price of $149.95.

Try onOne's Perfect Photo Suite 7.5 FREE for 30 days!! They make great photo enhancing software that I personally use in my fine art photography.

Other photo companies look for attention on heals of Adobe move to subscriptions

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:53:53 GMT

On the heals of Adobe's announcement that they are moving all of their CS programs including Photoshop to CC versions that require a monthly subscription to be paid to continue to run the software and angering most photographers at the same time, other less known photo companies are starting to see the light and are trying to get noticed and let photographers know there is life without Adobe.

Adobe is still maintaining a stance that subscriptions are the only way they are moving forward despite polls and petitions wishing they would reconsider, yet they did try to reassure photographers who use Lightroom that it will continue as a stand-alone non-subscription program. According to Adobe Product Manager Tom Hogarty during a google+ hangout, "Basically we have no plans to make Lightroom subscription-only at any point in the future. We have plans to make Lightroom available in its current form pretty much indefinitely...we don't plan on adding any Creative Cloud specific features that you would only get if you were a subscriber to Creative Cloud."

This does go against what Adobe VP of Creative Solutions WInston Hendrickson said in an interview last week where he said, "We don't have plans to make Lightroom a subscription-only option but we do envision added functionality for CC members using Lightroom." Depending on whom you believe at Adobe there will either not be any CC specific features for Lightroom, or there will be added functionally for Lightroom for those using CC.

Adobe has taken some serious hits to its credibility in the last 10 days and many photographers, including myself, do not have the same level of trust or comfort with the company and are looking at alternatives.

Other photo software companies are starting to make it known that they offer great photo enhancement packages without subscription-only offerings.

Corel offers their professional-level graphics package CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 as a box purchase, electronic download, through volume license or by subscription in addition to other upgrade offerings. Unfortunately they are Windows only and are only now possibly contemplating a Mac version.

(photo credit Corel)

In fact, Corel has just announced a great offer trying to lure Adobe customers. According to Gerard Metrailer, the Sr. Director, Product Management, Graphics for Corel Corporation, "I’m happy to announce a special offer for CS4, CS5 and CS6 customers around the world (some restrictions apply). From now until August 30th, 2013, owners of eligible Adobe products can purchase a wide range of Corel products at the upgrade price, including CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6, Painter 12, PaintShop Pro X5, PaintShop Pro Ultimate X5, Photo & Video Suite X5, VideoStudio Pro X6, VideoStudio Ultimate X6 and AfterShot Pro." Here is the entire announcement.

OnOne Software, makers of Photo Suite 7 which works as a plugin inside Photoshop and Elements AND works as a stand-alone program as well without the need for Photoshop and Lightroom, has said they, "Will never require you to rent your software, and you can rest assured that, when you buy onOne Software products, you own them forever."

And Phase One, which makes the excellent RAW converter and image management program Capture One, has mentioned on twitter, "Come for the transparent price model, stay for the raw conversion and image quality!"

Capture One is a program I was using to process my RAW files from the early 2000's till around 2007 when Lightroom 1.0 appeared on the scene. The benefit at the time for Lightroom and why I switched to it was the ability to easily manage and organize all of one's photographs. With Capture One Pro 7 Phase One has included the biggest missing part of their software and now features a database feature to store, organize, and process all of your images.

The quality of RAW conversions from Capture One has always been stellar and I am now moving my Lightroom database over to Capture One. Expect more articles soon on how to switch from Lightroom as well as benefits and any drawbacks too.

Reminder last Texas art festival for me is this weekend

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:29:53 GMT

Just a reminder that this weekend will be my last showing in Texas for 2013. You can find me in Allen, TX which is just north of Dallas. Here are the details:

May 10-12, 2013

Fridayd 3-6pm, Saturday 10-6pm, Sunday noon - 6pm

Allen Arts Alliance Arts Festival

Allen, TX

Join me on my return to the Allen Arts Alliance Arts Festival at Watters Creek in Allen, Texas.

Click for directions.

Adobe changes to subscription-only for Photoshop, angers photo community

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:43:41 GMT

In case you missed the big news of the week in the photography community, Adobe on Monday announced that they will stop offering boxed versions of their software, including Photoshop, and all future releases will be available on a subscription basis. They are ending their Creative Suite CS product line and replacing it with a Creative Cloud CC offering.

Gone are the days of purchasing stand-alone versions of the software as well as paying for upgrades every 18 months or so. Replacing it are monthly subscription fees. Depending on how many of Adobe products you use, and how often you upgrade, this can at least financially seem like a good or a bad deal.

This CC policy effects the newest version of Photoshop that everyone was expecting to be CS7. The soon to be released Lightroom 5 will not be effected right away and will be available both in CC and stand alone versions. However I have read that the CC version of Lightroom will eventually have features not offered in the stand-alone version.

For me personally I only use Photoshop and Lightroom and I am not very pleased with this sudden change of course. I am not even using CS6 and am still on CS5. Myself, like many photographers, usually end up skipping an upgrade here and there because, to be quite honest, sometimes the upgrades are not all that worth it. This is probably part of the reason Adobe is switching to a subscription model - to get constant revenue from everyone instead of revenue in big batches when updates come out.

If you are like me and don't update every release, the subscription plan will cost us more money.

If you are only interested in subscribing to Photoshop and own version CS3 or later and subscribe before July 31st you will be charged a special rate of $9.99 a month for the first year with a 1 year contract. If you subscribe after July 31st it is $19.99 - again with a 1 year contract.

Adobe typically upgraded Photoshop every 18 months, and their last upgrade cost $199. If you subscribe for $19.99 a month, over the course of 18 months you will end up paying $359.82 - a $160.82 increase over the course of 18 months. If you subscribe before July 31 for $9.99 a month you will end up paying $179.82 - slightly less than the upgrade price. Note that this is only for Photoshop and as far as I can tell, the Lightroom CC version will be extra.

To sum it up - if you already own Photoshop and get stuck on the $19.99 a month plan, you will be paying more than you did before. If you get in at the $9.99 per month plan before July 31 and always upgraded before when the next version came out, you will pay slightly less than you did for the 1 year contract. I am still not clear as to what happens when your year is up as to wether you can continue on paying $9.99 a month or you will be forced to pay $19.99 per month. My guess is that after the 1 year contract Adobe can do whatever it wants to.

Outside of cost there are other reasons why I don't like this plan. If you stop your subscription you can not use the software. Photoshop will phone-home every 30 days to check your subscription status. Don't pay, and you can't use the software anymore. Nor would you be able to open any Photoshop propriety files on your computer - a very dangerous proposal. This is the same for all of the programs in the CC suite.

A much better plan Adobe easily could have implemented would be to subscribe monthly for updates, and if you decide not to continue your subscription you could continue to use the software minus the updates, allowing you to continue working on your files. What it appears is that Adobe wants to get you hooked and maintain a constant revenue stream from its users.

There are other problems with this model. What incentive do they have to constantly innovate when they are already getting large sums of cash each month? In the old model they had to make upgrades compelling for us to buy (which wasn't always the case). Now locked into a monthly payment they can take a step back and count the dollars rolling in by pushing little updates here and there.

And how much more can they innovate? Digital photography has progressed so far already, is there much more room in the future for ground-breaking ways to enhance our photos?

As for CS6 - Adobe said it is currently still available for purchase for now (although I can not now find how to purchase it online at their site), but it will not be supported anymore. Photoshop Elements is not part of the CC suite and it is assumed at this point that it will still be produced as a stand-alone - but for how long?

Adobe and Photoshop have long been industry leaders. I have been using Photoshop since it came out, and I am not happy with this new policy. They have a monopoly and it appears they are now flexing their muscles despite the wishes of its photographer customers. The first post of this on dpreview.com brought almost 1700 comments in 24hrs - almost all not in support of this. A poll started yesterday shows that 60.2% of 4,732 votes do not like this because of repeatedly having to pay for access. Even Microsoft is surprised at Adobe and said they will continue to offer packaged software for the foreseeable future.

My hope is that other photography companies will see this as an opportunity and really start to innovate and compete more directly with Adobe and Photoshop. Just because Photoshop is the big goliath in the photo world doesn't mean it is the only player. There are a number of decent alternatives already and I expect those to get better. I will soon start mentioning them in the near future.

So what do you think? Are you in favor of this subscription/rental model? Do you plan on subscribing? Is it a good or bad value for your photography business or hobby? Sound off in the comments below.

Special of the Month for May 2013

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Wed, 01 May 2013 06:00:00 GMT

Special of the Month for May 2013

For the entire month of May you can invest in one of my 24" x 36" fine art giclee canvas pieces for just $820 - a $175 savings from my regular price of $995.

Select your favorite photo(s) from my Fine Art Photography Gallery to be printed onto a museum-grade canvas which is then coated with a glossy UV blocking coating and stretched onto your choice of 1.5" or 2.5" wide wooden stretcher bars.

Also enjoy free worldwide shipping with your order!

This special is good towards any photo in my Fine Art Photography Gallery (excluding my Suess Originals).

*Find out how the photo will look on your wall before ordering! Click here for more info.

To order you can call me at 480-818-9566 or easily place your order safe and securely online by following these simple instructions:

Click on "Buy" then "Select Product"

Choose the category "Special Offers" then follow the onscreen instructions.

Delivery times can range from 7-10 days. Photos in this Edition are digitally signed & numbered and shipped direct from my lab to you insured with a tracking number.

Updated show schedule with art festivals in TX coming up

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:52:30 GMT

I have started to update my summer exhibition schedule. This summer I will be showing and selling my fine art photography in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.

Last summer at the Utah Arts Festival which I will be returning to this summer.

If you are in the area I'd love to see you at one of these art festivals to show you first hand how fantastic my aluminum photographs look and for us to talk about which pieces would look great for your home and/or office. I can also answer any questions you have and sign you up for one of my upcoming photo workshops.

Coming up next are art festivals in the Dallas, TX area the first 2 weekends in May. See my exhibition schedule here and be sure to check back often as more festivals wil soon be added to it.

Show me your bare walls

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:24:58 GMT

Show me your bare walls to see what I can do to make your room more beautiful and enjoyable with my fine art photography!

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"
Pablo Picasso

Everyone needs art in their lives. As George Bernard Shaw once said, "Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable."

Many of us have bare walls just waiting for that perfect photograph to bring pleasure into your home or office. Or perhaps there is something already hanging on the wall as a placeholder, waiting for the perfect artwork to replace it.

Well the wait is over. Transform that bare wall into a gorgeous presentation that will be the envy of all who see it.

Email me a photograph of your bare wall and I will email you back a size accurate rendition of how your favorite photo(s) of mine will look on your wall. There is absolutely no cost or obligation for this free service!

Sometimes investing in artwork can be challenging. Will the size be big enough? Does the artwork match the couch? Should I get one large photograph to fill a huge wall space or will a photo cluster be more dramatic looking?

"A picture is a poem without words."
Horace

Take the guesswork out of the equation and let me show you exactly how my photography will look in your room or office.

Just follow these simple instructions:

1) Make sure the room is bright. Try taking the photo during the day, with the lights on.

2) If at all possible photograph the wall straight-on and not from an angle.

3) Attach a standard white 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper on the wall where you want the artwork to go. This gives me a size reference I can use to size the artwork accurately.

4) When photographing stand far enough back to see the floor and ceiling if possible.

5) By using your smartphone's camera you can then quickly email me the photograph.

6) In your email let me know which photo(s) you are interested in, if you are looking for just one photo or a photo cluster, and approx. what size you were thinking of.

7) Email me the photo and I'll send it back to you with a size accurate rendition of how the photo will look on your wall.

Once I receive your email I will superimpose the photo(s) you are considering and email it back to you with pricing and any creative suggestions I may have to give you the perfect look for your room.

When one photo just won't do a photo cluster like this can certainly bring attention to almost any room!

"What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit."
John Updike

"Retired Boot" - Texas Hill Country

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:49:55 GMT

This boot may have been made for walking but now in retirement it is adorning a wooden fence pole with barbed wire in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.

"Retired Boots" - Texas Hill Country
Did you notice the spider's web going from the tip of the boot to the barbed wire fence?

There were actually numerous boots along this particular fence. I spent a while looking for the perfect boot with the perfect background. Once I found it I set up my 300mm f2.8 lens on my tripod across the street for a tight shot with limited depth of field.

Which boot to choose from...

Careful framing and focusing allowed me to keep the entire fence and boot in perfect focus and shooting at f8 allowed me to reduce the background to a pleasing blur allowing the fence and boot to stand out even more.

A partially cloudy day helped with the light, providing a pleasingly bright but soft light to allow the colors of the boot and flowers to shine through.

Shooting from across the street

The final photograph is a result of a 3-photo HDR image that was processed with Lightroom 5, Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro 2 and Photoshop.

Learn more about my stunning HD Aluminum photographs

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:41:55 GMT

If you have seen my fine art photography in person within the last year and a half you already know first-hand how stunning my photography looks printed as one of my HD Aluminum Masterpiece Editions.

The 3-dimensional look, the clarity, and sharpness are honestly unequalled in any other print form. My collectors know that by ordering aluminum prints of my photography they are receiving the absolute best and most impressive way to view, display, and enjoy my artwork. In fact one of the favorite aspects my collectors love about their aluminum photographs is that they are so bright and clear they almost appear to be backlit.

The fine folks at ImageWizards were recently featured on a news program. Take a look inside the company that prints my aluminum pieces for you in this short video to see the care that is involved in creating these incredibly lifelike photographs.

Special savings on learning photography now till end of April

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:27:16 GMT

Now through the end of April you can save money on my field workshops and online photography classes.

Save 10% on my 3 remaining Photography Workshops!

Spaces are filling up for photo workshops in:

Cape Cod, Massachusetts Photo Workshop - Friday, September 13, 2013 - Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Click on above photo for more info on this workshop.

Santa Fe, New Mexico Photo Workshop - Friday, September 27, 2013 - Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Click on above photo for more info on this workshop.

Zion National Park in Utah Photo Workshop - Friday, November 8, 2013 - Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Click on above photo for more info on this workshop.

Register now before the classes fill up as each workshop is extremely limited in class size. Contact me at 480-818-956 or email me to reserve your seat.

In addition save 20% on my first online photography course, "Turn your Blah photos into Wow photos" using the Photoshop / Photoshop Elements / Lightroom / Aperture plugin Viveza 2 from Nik Software. Use this link here to take advantage of this special offer.

On the road again

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:12:59 GMT

It is that time of the year again when I leave Arizona and head to my summer "home" in Santa Fe, NM. Actually when you are a full-time RV'er like me, home is wherever you park the RV and this will be my second summer parking it at a fellow artist's home there.

I left hot Scottsdale on Saturday and did the 530 mile drive in 2 days. But the stay was short lived. Two days later I was hitting the road again, this time with colleague Christine Hauber. I have 3 upcoming art festivals in Texas and she has one in Oklahoma and it made sense to travel together during the 5 weeks.

Snow - really?!?!

We left Santa Fe Wednesday morning following a huge cold front that produced snow flurries when we were leaving - a drastic difference from the upper 80's that Scottsdale was having just the other day. An uneventful 428 miles later we were overnighting in a truck stop parking lot in Snyder, TX.

Looks like a good place to pull in for the night.

Thursday's 309 miles to San Antonio unfortunately wasn't as uneventful as the previous day.

About 120 miles outside San Antonio on some single-lane road in limited cell coverage, all of a sudden we heard a loud noise. It sounded like someone was launching a bottle rocket firecracker right next to us. We both kind of ducked, and a moment later we heard it again. Were we under attack??

By the time I heard it a third time I knew it was coming from my engine. There wasn't a great place to pull over so I had to make do and stopped right alongside the road. After throwing a couple safety cones on the ground behind us I got under the hood to find the problem.

Here we go again...

It was a hole in the intercooler hose coming out of my turbo - phew - nothing major. A generous amount of duck tape and we were back on the road. On Monday I can pick up the $200 part and officially fix the problem - duck tape will only get you so far...

On Friday I set up for an art festival this weekend just north of San Antonio. I haven't had a chance yet to update my exhibition schedule, but here is a link for directions to the show if you are in the San Antonio, Texas area this weekend. It is at the Village at Stone Oak. My other 2 shows are just north of Dallas and I will have that updated on my exhibition schedule next week.

The early photographer gets the shot

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:00:56 GMT

We've all heard the popular phrase, "The early bird gets the worm."

I'd like to enhance that phrase with, "The early photographer gets the shot."

As we all know, usually the best light for photography is in the early morning around sunrise and the late evening around sunset. This magical time is called the "Golden Hour" for a reason - the sun is low on the horizon providing a softer, warmer light that creates long shadows and photographs with lots of depth.

The other month online friend Scott Wyden Kivowitz from New Jersey contacted me. He was going to be in Phoenix and wanted to know if I wanted to get together with him and a couple other photogs to go out shooting in the Superstition Mountains area of Apache Junction, Arizona.

Never one to pass up good company while photographing I took a day off from my studio at the Arizona Fine Art Expo to meet up with Scott, Nicholas Pappagallo Jr from the Phoenix Valley and Levi Sim from Utah.

We decided to meet at 8am at the Elvis Memorial Chapel at the Superstition Mountains - a little bit late for the magical "Golden Hour". I watched the sunrise from my car as I was driving the hour to meet them and arrived at our meetup location about a half-hour early.

My arrival timing was perfect. As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed the sun just starting to come up over the mountains in the background. I instantly grabbed my camera and tripod and looked for a dramatic composition.

"Cholla Sunrise at the Elvis Chapel" - Superstition Mountains, Arizona

I quickly found it. The sun was still low in the horizon and was just above the Superstition Mountains as I placed my camera and tripod in front of some beautiful cholla cactus that was glowing from the backlighting.

Because the tonal range in this composition was so large and couldn't be properly photographed with one exposure I ended up creating a 3-exposure HDR image. The final image was created using Lightroom, Photoshop, and various plugins from Nik Software including HDR Efex Pro 2, Viveza 2, and Color Efex Pro 4. A couple photo textures from FlyPaper Textures were also used to give interest and excitement to the sky.

Above are the 3 original images used to create the final photograph as viewed in Lightroom.

I photographed this scene for only a few minutes, instantly knowing I had something to work with later in my digital darkroom. While walking back to my car with a nice smile on my face I received a text from Scott - they were running a little late and would show up in another 15 minutes or so.

I didn't tell them what they missed when they arrived, figuring they would find out soon enough when I got around to working on this image ;) We had a great day shooting together and I photographed a few more scenes I was pretty happy about - but nothing with the light I had at the chapel those first few moments early in the day.

The early photographer gets the shot.

From left, Matt, Levi, Scott, and Nicholas at the base of the Superstition Mountains.

2 more weekends at expo

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:16:56 GMT

There are only two weekends left to view and purchase my fine art photography at the 10 week Arizona Fine Art Expo in North Scottsdale. This will be your last chance to see me and my artwork in Arizona this year until late fall.

We are located 5 miles north of the 101 along Scottsdale Rd at JoMax and are open daily 10-6 and our last day is Sunday, March 24th.

If you are in town this Saturday, March 16 you are invited to our final Garden Party from 4pm-7pm. Print out this post for free admission during the Garden Party.

Hope to see you there!

Home Sweet Home - Superstition Mountains - Arizona

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:42:21 GMT

I found this old western room near the Superstition Mountains in Arizona.

Full of texture and detail, I processed this 3-photo HDR image using Lightroom, Photoshop, HDR Efex Pro 2, Topaz Adjust, and Silver Efex Pro 2 software. The HDR process really helped bring out all of the gritty detail, and Silver Efex Pro was used to give this photo an old, timeless look.

Chromatic Enchantment - Zion National Park - the Narrows

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 21:06:27 GMT

"Chromatic Enchantment"
Zion National Park, Utah

Water Temp: mid 40’s

Air Temp: slightly colder than the water

Hiking all day in the river for 8 miles with a depth at times above my waist, trying not to fall in the water and risk hypothermia & the loss of my camera gear, and keeping an eye out above for the occasional falling icicles to photograph such beauty: Priceless

Photographed at Zion National Park in Utah in the Virgin River at the Narrows.

I was in full-weather gear while hiking that day. A wetsuit and lots of layers kept me relatively warm.

Dear Santa all I want for Christmas is a real camera

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:27:46 GMT

Dear Santa… all I want for Christmas is a real camera.

Well that and lots of Dallas Cowboys merchandise apparently, and Godzilla.

That is according to a Dear Santa letter of mine from 1978 when I was 8 years old. The camera request is number 5. My mother Joyce just came across the letter and emailed me a photo of it. She says I did in fact get a camera that year - probably something like a Kodak 110 camera if I recall correctly.

A few years later when I was around 12 years old I was processing my own film and making my own prints in a b&w darkroom.

And now I am in the midst of a 23+ year career as a professional photographer. My mom has always wanted to take responsibility for that and here is the proof she long sought after ;) Thanks mom and dad!!

Sunrise at the Tetons - Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:26:07 GMT

Last summer I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming exhibiting in an art festival and I had the opportunity to photograph in part of Grand Teton National Park for the first time ever.

Wow - what a landscape!!

I might just get the chance to spend more time there again this summer.

"Sunrise at the Tetons"
Grand Teton National Park, WY

I finally had the time to start working on this photo last week. It is a 3-photo HDR image that was processed with Lightroom, Photoshop, and the following plugins by Nik Software: HDR Efex Pro 2, Viveza 2, and Color Efex Pro 4

Sonoran Desert Sunset

matt@mattsuess.com (Matt Suess) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:18:10 GMT

For three months out of the year from January to March I exhibit at a 10 week art exhibit in North Scottsdale called the Arizona Fine Art Expo.

I have been there for 7 years now, and over the course of perhaps the last 5 years I have been photographing this majestic saguaro cactus located on the property. After many, many failed attempts, I finally got the dramatic photograph I have been looking for from this location.

"Sonoran Desert Sunset"
Arizona

The other day we had a mostly cloudy day in the valley. When walking to my RV after the close of the day I noted a break in the clouds on the horizon. Sunset was a half an hour away and it looked like the opportunity I was looking for.

I grabbed my tripod and waited just a bit for the sun to get down to the horizon and the sky just exploded with color and texture.

Taking a break from photographing "Sonoran Desert Sunset"

For the photogs out there, this is a 3-photo HDR image processed using Lightroom, Photoshop, and plugins from Nik Software including HDR Efex Pro 2, Viveza 2, and Color Efex Pro 4.