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Digital Desert Gallery - by Jeff Alu
NOTE: this exhibit appeared in October 2000. Click here to visit the current showcase.
All other
exhibits: Click
here to access
Trimetro
Convergence
Dark
Fantasy
Giant
Rocks
Africa
Battlefield
Fork
in the Mud
Mounds
Pinnacles
Ocean
Waves
Bird
Mess
Step
Down
Mud
Pot
Five
Poles
Long
Dune
Snowcapped
Mountain
Angel
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El Mirage Dry Lake, CA
I've
always been very proud of this picture, not so much
for the photo itself, but for the find. I was
driving my jeep around this dry lake, hoping for a
decent photo op. Then I noticed what I
thought were ATC riders in the distance. As I
got closer, I noticed they were pylons, and closer
still pylons that were hiding huge cracks (actually
small "rivers") in the dry lake bed.
Obviously the pylons were to keep riders from
colliding with the cracks, which could be
disastrous. I was amazed at the simplicity of
these scenes, and the combination of nature and man
in a very unique way. I took about 50 shots,
and returned sometime later to take 50 more.
On my third trip, a very stormy day, I was shocked
to find that the scene had changed somewhat, which
can be seen
here.
I
Guess the pylons weren't doing the trick!
Mormon Rocks, CA
Every so often the elements of nature seem to come
together and present themselves in a way which
says, "You don't want to miss this one". For me,
this was one of those times. The clouds are
what caught my eye, and if it wasn't for them, I
would not have taken the shot. The way that
they seemed to be converging with the shape of the
rock, was too inviting. I thought it might
be interesting to add a bird to the picture, so I
tried on a few different trips to catch a bird
flying through this scene, with no luck. I
did catch one about 1000 feet to the south, but
when I combined it into the image, I felt the bird
detracted from it. I've taken this picture a
few times without the clouds, at different times of
the day, but none of them come close to the impact
level of this one.
Obsidian Butte, Southern Salton Sea, CA
This was taken on a very stormy day, and the
original raw pic turned out hideous: dark and
underexposed. I decided to try to resurrect
it via dodging and burning in Photoshop. I
totally burned out the hills Silhouette style, the
bottoms of the clouds, most of the water, then
added the bright reflection in the water in front
of the hill. I liked the idea of taking a
real place and transforming it into something
else. It also reminds me of a black and white
version of "Pirates of the Caribbean", so I thought
"Dark Fantasy" was an appropriate name.
Giant Rock, Spy Mountain, CA
Giant Rock is supposedly the largest free-standing
boulder in the world. Ayes Rock is not free
standing, it is partially (or mostly) buried.
I had just completed a hike/climb of Spy Mountain,
which is just to the right of these rocks. It
was a surreal hike, with the sounds of explosions
and delayed mushroom clouds in the distance from
nearby Naval Weapons Test Center. It was
extremely hot, and after my hike, as I approached
Giant Rock from the other side, I noticed something
strange. Was I dazed from the heat? Was
that huge chunk of broken off rock lying underneath
Giant Rock there on my last trip to this
place? No, it wasn't. Since my last
trip, a large piece had broken off, which you can
see and read about
here.
Can't imagine what the sound of this thing falling
off must have been like. Wish I could have
been there...
Near
Apple Valley, CA
Every so often, only color will do. I
was driving around looking for new photo "stuff"
and came across a large field of dead and abandoned
trees. They looked incredibly sad, and
diseased. This particular area of the
field reminded me of a few pictures I've seen of
Africa, and this in combination with the suffering
and bareness of the trees themselves suggested the
name. I think color works here because it
emphasizes the fact that suffering is relative, and
also that your outlook on life can increase or
decrease your level of suffering as well.
Near Apple Valley, CA
This was taken in the same field as the photo
above, and I was amazed to see these trees actually
leaning on each other. It reminded me of a
battle taking place, and I emphasized this in
photoshop by very heavily dodging and
burning. I also burned the horizon line, to
emphasize that this is just one small fight taking
place on a huge battlefield. I purposely gave
it a little too much contrast, to make it sharp and
emphasize the pain. The final image reminded
me of battles I've seen in certain Kurosawa
movies.
Near Trona, CA
This is another one of those "find" shots. I
had just spent the day taking pictures in the
Landmark, and on my way out, along the road, I
stopped to wander around some mud flats.
After about an hour of hiking around and taking a
few shots, I came across this "fork in the mud"
which made me stop in my tracks. I think the
first impression that I got was that it reminded me
of the image when the space shuttle blew up in
1986, after which each solid rocket booster took
off in its own direction. I hope to get a
whole series of this shot over time, to see how
this fork holds up to mother nature.
Pinnacles National Natural Landmark, CA
This shot was fairly heavily dodged and
burned. There is a great contrast in this
area between the darkness of the pinnacles, and the
brightness of the surrounding areas. The
roads are often a bright shade of white, and I
usually like to bring this out when I can.
This area has never-ending possibilities for
interesting camera angles, and lighting
effects. Even near mid-day, when this picture
was taken, offers potential for creating a surreal,
barren feel.
Pinnacles National Natural Landmark, CA
Another shot taken at Pinnacles, with another one
of those great white roads. This one was
taken before dodging and burning was a part of my
process, so it's a little more "pure".
Mormon Rocks, CA
I've done lots of photography at Mormon Rocks, and
out cropping of rocks caused by movements in the
San Andreas Fault. The rocks are almost right
on top of the fault, and are great to hike
around. In this shot, I had just hiked up the
side of a large slanted rock (most of the rocks
here are VERY slanted) and my legs were just a
little unsteady due to the height. There was
a 400 foot vertical drop just to the right, and the
left, a small drop which entered into a plain of
bush and grass, on top of another huge rock.
The scene in front of my reminded me of a storm at
sea, with huge waves rolling by. Also seems
that it could be huge waves in the land, caused by
a huge earthquake.
Imperial State Wildlife Refuge, Wister Unit Salton
Sea, CA
After touring through this area, on a hot, humid,
stormy day, I came across this bird at the side of
the road. I'm not sure how it died, but it
was in perfect condition, and in this fossilized
position. I dodged and burned it fairly
heavily in photohop, to bring out certain
details.
Southern Salton Sea, CA
I was really not that surprised to find these cars
stranded in this lake. The Salton Sea area is
one of the strangest mixes of elements I've ever
found, farmland bordering on a salty sea, with tons
of abandoned buildings, some still occupied,
wildlife preserves, dead fish, grassland, salt
flats, boiling mud pots, flocks of birds, half
buried tires everywhere, dried mud flats, oily mud
pits, dust devils, intense humidity, merciless
files and insects, and the smells of sulfur, dead
fish, wet grass, rotting tree stumps, Del Taco,
fresh rain, moisture everywhere. The heat can
be relentless, and this is often one of the hottest
areas in the desert. It is a photographer's
paradise. So, finding these abandoned cars
was really pretty routine.
Near Niland, Salton Sea, CA
Drive two miles west of the town of Niland, CA, and
come to one of the coolest locations for a photo
shoot I've ever found. I never seen the
potential for such a wide variety of shots in one
small area.
Here
is
a Terraserver link to the location. Doesn't
look like much from the aerial, but wait until you
get there. I call the area "Ground Zero"
after one of the shots I took there. This and
the next four shots were all taken within 400 feet
of each other.
Near Niland, Salton Sea, CA
The Salton Sea area is volcanic. There are a
few obsidian hills, Cinder cones in the mountains
not too far away, and tons of these Mud Pots.
The mud is not hot, but boils up with a sulfury
smell. In this shot, the small white object on the
horizon is Mullet Island, a volcanic uprising in
the salton sea.
Near Niland, Salton Sea, CA
This shot was very influenced by one of my favorite
photographers,
David
Fokos.
This image also sums up the Salton Sea area:
strange opposing combinations of elements which
somehow merge together to create a coherent
whole.
Near Niland, Salton Se, CA
This heavily dodged and burned shot has certain
religious implications, so I brought those out
further by dodging and burning the sky.
Algodones Dunes, CA
Dunes have quickly become one of my favorite
subjects, not just for the final picture, but for
the act of taking them. Wandering within
dunes is a surreal experience, and just about the
closest I've ever felt to being completely lost in
another world. It seems there are always
clouds in the Algodones area, and it's a challenge
to try to isolate them in creative ways with the
dunes.
Fish Creek, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, CA
I've always been into fractals, and the idea of
repetitive detail at different scales. So, I
felt right at home when I came across this
outcropping of sandstone, about six feet across in
this shot, which resembled an entire mountain with
snow.
El Mirage Dry Lake, CA
In this heavily dodged and burned shot, I zoomed in
on the central area of my first shot above,
"Trimetro".
Note:
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Please note: All images featured in this
showcase are Copyright Jeff Alu, all rights reserved. These
images are protected by U.S. and international copyright
laws and may not be used or reproduced without permission.
For licensing information, or to order prints, please
contact Jeff Alu at
animalu@animalu.com
About the Exhibit:
This
month's PhotoTripUSA Showcase features Guest Photographer
Jeff Alu,
presenting a collection of images
taken with a digital camera,
mostly from the
deserts of Southern California.
I would love to hear from you! Please send all comments to my e-mail at: animalu@animalu.com
I'm a 3D Artist/Animator who has begun taking black and white photography in an attempt to get back to the basics of light and shadow. Many of my clients demand high-impact, colorful graphics, which have their place to be sure. But it can often become overwhelming, and the act of doing black and white photography clears my mind a little.
My photos tend to be graphic in nature, and I try to look for strong leading lines. Some have described by photos as "3D", which I suppose comes from doing so much 3D work. I do allow myself to alter the images in Photoshop, using dodging and burning. I've found this to be such a great technique for isolating subjects or bringing out emotions. I didn't dodge and burn at first, but now I do it on every image.
I had my fill of dark room work when I was working at JPL/Palomar Observatory. We would venture up to Palomar each month for six nights and take pictures of the sky using the 18" Schmidt camera. We used hypered 4415 film, usually processed about 100 films a night. We took pairs of films of different areas of the sky with a 40 minute separation. We would then take a pair of films and look at them under a stereo microscope, trying to detect near-earth asteroids and comets. It was fun work, but also hard work, and I learned to really hate dark rooms in the process.
My actual shooting technique is for the most part point and click. The act of photography for me has come out of my love for hiking through the deserts on very hot days. I drive out to locations in my jeep, and then usually hike in the rest of the way. I'm not one to wait in one spot for very long, I'm much happier taking pictures while I'm on the move. Since I've started doing photography, I'm seeing the desert in a new way, and this in turn gives me new ideas about photography.
I'm usually more interested in finding new areas to photograph, rather than taking pictures in more popular areas. I think this state of mind dates back to the Palomar days, searching for comets, the thrill of the hunt. But in this case I'm hunting for new areas, new meanings, new questions. I feel very satisfied when I find a subject such as "Fork in the Mud", because I know that I had to work for it. I was searching for "something", and I found something. Three hours from home, in the middle of nowhere, I found something. It always reminds me how much more there is to see, and how little I've seen.
I want to thank Laurent for giving me the opportunity to show my work in this gallery, I feel very honored to be here!
Equipment Info: I'm using a Kodak DC-280 Digital Camera, and circular polarizing filter. At this time I don't use a tripod. I take all of my pictures in color, and convert them to black and white in Photoshop. I generally convert to black and white via the channel mixer, because it helps to cut down on the graininess of the sky. Next, I dodge and burn, playing with different contrasts and levels. After dodging and burning, I always add some unsharp mask, usually with a large radius, and a small amount. This helps to accentuate certain features in the image and increases the overall impact. Next, I add another layer of unsharp mask, this time with a very small radius and a larger amount. This adds a more traditional sharpening to the image.
To see more of my
photographs and
also my 3D work,
please visit my
website at
AnimAlu
Productions.
Find photos of the Colorado Plateau in Land of the Canyons, the Photo Trip USA landscape photography guide book.
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