Telling a Story in Santa Fe Plaza

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Santa Fe just wouldn’t be Santa Fe without cow skulls, strings of chili peppers, adobe walls, and Spanish churches.  There’s also a lot of interesting characters mixed up in all this decor and bathed in the wonderful light of New Mexico.  Today our photo assignment was to hang out at the Plaza in the center of town and try to capture images that evoke the essence of Santa Fe and tell a story at the same time.  Now if you think about it, trying to tell a story with a single picture is hard to do.  Really hard.  We’re moving beyond snapshots here and climbing up to a new level.  A WHOLE new level.  Read on to understand why. Continue reading “Telling a Story in Santa Fe Plaza”

Monkeys on the Range

_MG_3782The monkey put on his boots, spurs, and duster and headed toward Eaves Movie Ranch yesterday afternoon for a photo shoot.  The ranch has been the set for several Westerns, including the Cheyenne Social Club, Lonesome Dove, Silverado, Every Which Way But Loose, and many, many, more.  Today Kongo’s National Geographic Photo Expedition Workshop got to work with models, learn about bouncing light, and get up close and personal with some real Western characters. Continue reading “Monkeys on the Range”

Strangers and Texture on Canyon Road

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Kongo is in Santa Fe attending a National Geographic Expeditions Photography Workshop this week.  Today he spent the morning and early afternoon in the classroom reviewing what goes into making a truly good photograph, helpful reviews of things like the “rule of thirds,” the geekiness of dangling lens caps, the inter-relationships between f-stops, shutter speed and ISO settings, and how to approach strangers on the street to take their picture.  In the afternoon we headed out to Canyon Road, the famous artsy stretch of Santa Fe inhabited by galleries, artists, poets, sculpture, and a lot of characters all of whom came from someplace else. Continue reading “Strangers and Texture on Canyon Road”

Cactus Monkey

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So today Kongo dropped Missy and Mrs. Kongo off at the airport then he headed east on the road to Santa Fe.  Kongo is on the way to a 7-day National Geographic Photo Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico with Joe McNally.  The photo workshop will be a great opportunity for Kongo to hone some of his photography skills in a small group setting with a world renowned artist.  Mr. McNally has been a staff photographer for Life, Sports Illustrated, and has shot for National Geographic for 25 years.  Needless to say, the monkey is psyched.  This afternoon he explored a bit of Saguaro National Park just east of Tucson, Arizona. Continue reading “Cactus Monkey”