I love this portrait of my wife, taken at sunset near the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach a couple of days ago.
JMH - Newport Beach
JMH at the Beach
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US 287: Seat 3D
When I was younger and more prone to moments of wonder, I always chose to sit by the window when I flew. I loved the freshness of perspective that looking down from 36,000 feet gave me. As I have gotten older and more claustrophobic, however, I have increasingly opted to sit on the aisle. I want to be as comfortable as possible in that cramped aluminum tube, and when I arrive I want to get out as quickly as I can can. Which means, of course, I miss those moments of reflection and wonder that come from staring out the window as the country passes below.
I have seen so many amazing sights from the window of an airplane: lightning storms all along the eastern seaboard as I flew from D.C. to Miami; the thin, green ribbon of the Nile tracing its way through the Sahara; the flood-stricken Great Plains states; the mast of an enormous sailboat poking through the fog as we took off from Orange County, California; the Grand Canyon and the Meteor Crater in Arizona; the Milky Way and countless full moons and sunsets. As I think about those experiences, I feel indicted by Louis CK’s widely viewed Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy rant on Conan O’Brien’s talk show.
So, on a recent two hour flight, when I found myself in a row by myself, I moved from the aisle to the window, put away the stacks of reading materials I had brought and pulled down my camera from the overhead bin. It was hot on the ground and the air was hazy, but I still took about 250 photographs along the way. It was another example of a recurring phenomenon in my life as a photographer: the camera helps me to see. The world is an amazing place. I need to remember to slow down and look at it.
Here are a couple of images from my recent flight:
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Middle Eastern Adventure
I’m finally recuperating from jet lag and general travel exhaustion after a two week whirlwind adventure through Israel, Jordan and Egypt. I still have hundreds of images to sort through, but here are a few of my favorites from the trip.
The surprisingly ubiquitous camel, which we saw everywhere from the desolate wilds of the Sinai to the busy streets of Cairo.
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One of the pyramids at Giza, photographed early in the morning just as the fog was lifting.
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We were able to take a short break in the middle of the trip and spent an afternoon watching kiteboarders and windsurfers tearing it up along the coast of Israel. The mountains in the background are in Jordan.
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On the left is a Bedouin musician we met at a camp near Wadi Musa in southern Jordan. On the right, a pilgrim is lost in meditation in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
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My intrepid travel partner, Colby, photographed at the beautiful Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Cairo.
Guadalupe, Arizona | Phoenix Landscape Photography
I spent several hours recently wandering around Guadalupe, which is a small town – you might even describe it as a village – situated right in the middle of greater metropolitan Phoenix. It is kind of surreal to turn off Baseline Rd. in Tempe and suddenly find yourself in a place that feels like it could be in Mexico. The town is home to 6,000 Latinos and Yaqui Indians and is perhaps best known to Anglos as a place to go for authentic, inexpensive Mexican food. I ate lunch at Del Yaqui, which I highly recommend. Great food and nice people. I plan to spend some more time in Guadalupe over the next several months, but here are a couple of images from my first foray:
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Film Noir
I spent a long day in the studio yesterday doing some stock and portrait work and ended the day by having some fun with my friend Kalynne and a new acquaintance, Toby. I have a lot of editing yet to do on the hundreds of images we made, but here is a quick look at one. Toby has a gun in his hand (don’t worry – it was a mock Beretta) and many of the images have the gun in frame, which obviously gives the photograph a much more ominous feel. And this one, with the sharp contrast between the light and dark sections of the image, could be seen the same way. But to me, it also has a sense of longing or even heartbreak. I’m not sure, though. What do you think?
Dancing in the Dark | Arizona Portrait Photographer
Over the weekend I did a portfolio shoot with a friend who performs with CONDER/dance, a contemporary dance company in Phoenix. I was amazed both by her gracefulness and by her athleticism. One moment she was jumping to what felt like NBA level altitudes and in the next she was in complete repose. I read a recent article in which a photographer said that one of the reasons he loves his job is because it allows him to hang out with amazing people who do incredible things. I feel exactly the same way.
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Rainy Day | Arizona Landscape Photography
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