Lewis Hine Quote

“The picture is a symbol that brings one immediately into close touch with reality. It speaks a language learned early in the race and in the individual.”

--Lewis Hine

How To Shoot a Moving Sky (The old-fashioned way)

A sandstone arch, millions of years in the making, soars overhead. Countless stars, light-years away, burn trails through the infinite sky. For me, this photograph is about the immenseness of the universe and the passage of time. Both of which make me feel small and yet it is oddly comforting. I find myself wanting to ponder the meaning of life and my place in it. This image takes me back to the creation of the world.

So it only seems appropriate that I used a basic, non-digital method to achieve it.

This image was the result of a five-hour exposure after days of trial and error. I shot this on fuji-color film, ISO 400, f-stop of 5.6, using an old Canon FTb camera and 35mm lens. I needed a fully manual camera that did not rely on the battery to keep the shutter open for long periods. Here are some tips if you want to try this yourself:

1. Pick a dark, cloudless night with no moon. Any light spillover will ruin the picture. Clouds will reflect and amplify any light—even light from the stars.

2. Find a remote location away from city lights—for the above obvious reasons.

3. You’ll need an interesting foreground. I went to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. A place like Arches National Park or the Bisti Badlands would work. Even a gnarled old tree with plenty of sky around it works. This is where your creativity shines.

4. Mount your camera on a sturdy tri-pod and position it, paying attention to the composition of your image.

5. When you’re ready, set the camera on Bulb (which keeps the shutter open until you push it again) and hit the shutter release.

6. You may or may not choose to light the foreground. I popped a small strobe several times along the underside of the arch. I used a slight warming filter on the strobe. I wanted it to look campfire-lit.

7. Find a comfortable spot and wait. I set my watch alarm and went to sleep in my car. When the time is up, close the shutter.

8. The first exposure was four hours and the second was five. They both worked but I think the five-hour exposure turned out the best. The third exposure was blown out because of the coming dawn.

--Janet Worne

Ernst Haas Quote

"Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward. Look for the 'ah-ha'."

-Ernst Haas

Spring—New Mexico Style

The word “desert” conjures up an image of dry, brown hills and mesas, possibly dotted with small green pinion trees as pictured in a Georgia O’Keefe painting. What people who are unfamiliar with our high desert may not know is that New Mexico’s spring is full of surprises and unexpected intense color. Sometimes you have to get out of your house or car and look for it, but it’s there.

One of the first and most colorful things to bloom near my house is the hedgehog cactus, also known as the claret cup cactus. Now a cactus is one of the most inhospitable-looking plants I can think of. And looks are not deceiving in this case, as I have spent a lot of time pulling cactus spines out of my dog and sometimes my ankles. In April, however, small burgundy buds appear amid the spines and not long after, there are scarlet blooms that are as soft and inviting as the spines are sharp and downright scary.

The wonderful thing about being a photographer is that I find myself on my knees observing things at close range instead of throwing a quick glance out the car window while driving by.

--Janet Worne

Bill Allard Quote

"I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don't find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges."

- William Albert Allard

Labor of Love

The Albuquerque Photographers’ Gallery is not only weathering the economic storm of the past couple years, we have recently moved to a larger space and added an eleventh member.

APG was founded in 2003 as Albuquerque's first cooperative photo gallery and has been a constant presence in Old Town’s Poco A Poco patio since then. When we decided to move we found no shortage of spaces available—fallout from the difficult economy. But as a co-op, APG is uniquely equipped to survive. There are eleven of us who have a shared workload and shared financial burden during difficult times. Co-ops foster a team atmosphere with a built-in support system and the effort it takes to make it work is truly a labor of love. Prospective buyers benefit as well by the generally lower prices and the variety of styles to choose from in one space, including innovative work that is not scripted by commercial constraints.

The eleven current member/photographers are; Peter Boehringer, Robert Medina Cook, Roberto Crespin, Bill d’Ellis, Rebecca Golding, Melissa Lea, Urey Lemen, Tom Spross, Gale Sutton, Kent Winchester, and Janet Worne.

Our new gallery opened on April 1, 2011, on the west side of the San Felipe de Neri Church in Albuquerque. Our address is 303 Romero Street, suite N208 Plaza Don Luis in Old Town. There will be an official Grand Opening Celebration on May 7, 2011.

Come and visit us soon!

--Janet Worne

WE ARE MOVING! – BUT NOT FAR

We are pleased to tell you that the gallery is moving to the west side of the Old Town Plaza in Albuquerque. Although our new location is only a couple of city blocks from the old, the move marks the great distance the gallery has come in its first decade. The new space is much larger, better lit, and more welcoming than our current quarters.
Beginning April 1st – and no, this is not an early April Fool’s Day joke – we’ll be in the Plaza Don Luis on the northwest corner of the Old Town Plaza, across the street to the west of the Church. (303 Romero St). We will occupy suite N208 upstairs. Served by an elevator and multiple stairways, we’ll be easier to find and have space for you to sit, have a cup of coffee, and look at the artists’ portfolios. Please come and enjoy our photographs of this land of clear light we’re privileged to photograph for you.

We’re busy preparing the space now, installing a new lighting system, erecting partitions, and planning new displays. We’re excited about the move and can’t wait to get to the new space. We’ll have a grand opening reception and will announce it here. In the meantime, we’re still open at the old location, ready to show you all our photos, including a perfect old adobe wall, a mysterious gate, or an endless southwestern horizon in which your imagination can roam, as free as the wind.