If you have not already seen it, make it a point to take in BLINK–A fine art photography exhibit at Chandler Center for the Arts (located on the northwest corner of Arizona Ave. and Chandler Blvd). More than 40 images by 15 different Arizona Photographers are on display. Gallery Hours are M-F 10AM to 5PM and Saturday 12 Noon to 5PM. The exhibit ends on Saturday, March 10th. So make plans to see this wonderful body of work by Arizona Photographers.
Starting on March 25, 2012, I will be offering this hands-on course that represents a great opportunity to enhance your photography skills. Below is a description and schedule for this unique course in which I will provide direction in the field to help you create compelling images as well as constructive feedback and suggestions through critique sessions, in which we will share work and discuss what makes your images work and what could make them even better. 
I was recently asked to jury an upcoming Fine Art Photography show for the City of Chandler. The jurying is now complete and the show will begin February 3, 2012. There will be more than 40 images on display from approximately 15 photographers.
The show is called “Blink” and will illustrate the critical nature of a photographer’s vision–his/her ability to anticipate and create powerful photographic images by being continually in touch with the world around us and innately sensitive to the visual opportunities which it presents.
The show will take place at Chandler Center for the Arts, located on Arizona Avenue in downtown Chandler. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 12 Noon to 5 PM. For more information about the show, contact me or Eric Faulhaber (Chandler’s Visual Arts Coordinator):
Dale Kesel dkesel@keselimages.com Tel. 480-496-9272
Eric Faulhaber eric.faulhaber@chandleraz.gov Tel. 480-782-2696
Here are a couple of the images that will be appearing in the show…just to peak your interest. Please pass the word about the show along to all friends and supporters of the Arts.
Just returned from a 4-day journey to Monument Valley and Hunt’s Mesa. Here are some of the images created.
One of the most sacred and spectacular areas on the Navajo Land–Monument Valley–provided opportunity after opportunity to create wonderful images for everyone who participated in this photo workshop.
This was my third trip to this area which straddles the Arizona-Utah border. However, this was the first time I included an overnight stay on Hunt’s Mesa. As anticipated, this special feature of the workshop turned out to be a visual treat for everyone. It gave us the opportunity to create images of the entire valley (from 1,000 feet above the floor) during the sweet light–just before sundown and, again, as the sun was rising.
To me, this trip was inspiring! So much so, that it is on my short list for another workshop in the near future. If you are interested in joining me on future photography workshops–to Monument Valley or other “image-rich” locations in the Southwest– just sign up at the bottom of this blog page. I will send you information whenever I am planning a future workshop.
Kesel leads Photo Tour of Monument Valley on Navajo Land, including overnight stay on Hunt’s Mesa.
Departing on September 8th and returning on September 11th, participants will have a wonderful photographic experience on the Navajo Land. We will arrive in time for the late afternoon light on some of the most remarkable monuments of this sacred land (like the image above of Mitten Butte).
Friday will be spent photographing other features of Monument Valley. We will use the low light of the early morning to highlight Totem Pole Monument and the rippled dunes that lead up to this formation. Other points of photographic interest to be covered will be Three Sisters and the Navajo Hogan that sits before it. The day will end with a spectacular sunset image-creating opportunity.
Saturday will start with the Mittens at dawn. Then we will proceed by 4-wheel vehicles to the top of Hunt’s Mesa (800 feet above the floor of Monument Valley–see image to left). Here, we will use the late afternoon light to create powerful images of the valley from this unique viewpoint.
We will camp overnight and take advantage of early morning light for a different, but equally compelling look. Morning light and the calm of the night should give us clear atmosphere and great color as we create images through and beyond sunrise.
Departure from Phoenix will be at 7 AM on Thursday, September 8th and we will return by mid evening on Sunday, September 11th.
For more information or to make a reservation for this great photographic experience, contact at dkesel@keselimages.com or 480.496.9272.
Click photo to visit gallery.
A recent trip to this area, never previously explored by Kesel yielded some spectacular results and some disappointments. Death Valley is the largest of the Nation’s National Parks. We had the equivalent of 3 full days to explore it East to West and North to South. We had a good itinerary mapped out that would get us to all of the key locations we wanted to capture—at the optimum time with regard to light. However, you cannot always account for variables such as weather.
On the second day, a storm was moving in from the California coast. We made a 3-hour drive to the East edge of the Sierra Nevada’s, only to find heavy cloud cover and that snowfall had already begun. Waiting until sunrise to photograph Mount Whitney framed in the Natural Arch (which was our plan), was not going to happen. So we raced back to Death Valley and photographed the Polygons at Badwater. By this time, the wind was blowing at about 50 mph.
Next morning, after a successful sunrise shoot at Briske Point, we rented a Jeep to drive 2.5 hours to a location called the race track. We were hoping for sun on this dry lake bed which would highlight the texture of the dry mud and, with some luck, to find one of the rocks that had created a trough behind it from sliding downhill when the occasional rain fell in this area. We drove from 100 ft below sea level to about 2500 ft above sea level. At about 2,000 ft. the snow began coming down and when we reached the Race Track, it was completely covered with snow.
Two more mornings, one overlooking the valley from 5500 ft., with temperature of 26 degrees and a second shot at Zabriske Point were both rewarding. At the end of our last full day, we went back out onto the salt beds (about 200 ft below sea level) to photograph the polygons again. The winds were quieter this time and the skys (due to the storm moving through) were spectacular.
Welcome to the Kesel Images Blog! I’ll be posting news about upcoming events and classes, as well as images from field trips.