Scott Wood Photoblog

Tag Archive for Sedona

Water Wheels

Scott / September 26, 2011 / 6 comments

(click on the image to see a larger version or to order prints)

You have seen this scene before, probably dozens if not hundreds of times. It is one of those “must get” shots when you are visiting the Sedona, AZ area. I made this image when my friend Justin Ward was visiting with a couple of his photog friends from Texas.

There is a reason that this very scene is photographed as much as it is, it is in an easily accessible location and is a gorgeous location. It is very hard to make this “your own” but I decided that I would make my version of this a black and white.

I hope you enjoy it. I had a great time that day shooting with Justin and his friends from Texas.

Category: Travel / Tags: Arizona, Cathedral Rock, Sedona

Looking down on Sedona

Scott / August 14, 2011 / 6 comments

This image was taken on a recent trip up to Sedona. I used some of the same HDR techniques that I mentioned in my blog post of the image from the Lake Roosevelt Dam. It was taken from the scenic overlook at the Sedona Airport. I actually prefer the scenic overlook that is a little way down the road from here, but I do like that they have the coin operated telescopes here. It adds an element of interest to the foreground.

Category: Photography, Travel / Tags: Sedona

A Cathedral Reflection

Scott / August 5, 2011 / 5 comments

A couple days ago I blogged about photographing “iconic” locations and trying to make them your own. A lot of people will say that they try to avoid shooting the same scene that they have seen countless times before. I understand where they are coming from, but I don’t entirely agree. If you do an image search online for some variation of Cathedral Rock and reflection you will see many versions of this image. It is taken from a very nice place along Oak Creek in Sedona, AZ. It is easily accessible and a lot of people visit this very location, it is in a state park.

While I agree that it is nice to “make the location your own” as I mentioned in my previous post, I did that one by nothing more than including a fly fisherman in my shot, I also see a value in simply trying to re-create what many before you have done. This image is my take on that iconic Sedona location. I hope you enjoy.

Category: Photography, Travel / Tags: Cathedral Rock, Sedona

Fishing the Cathedral

Scott / August 1, 2011 / 5 comments

I have never been on of those photographers that refuse to photograph an iconic location simply because it has been documented more times that a person can count. With that said, I am always interested in finding something that will make that image a little more interesting. If you take about 30 seconds on the internet you will find 1000′s of images of Cathedral Rock shot from the exact location I was standing for this image. They all pretty much look the same. You have Cathedral Rock in the background and it’s reflection in the water in the foreground. As I said, it is an iconic image and I will be sharing my version of it soon, but in the meantime I wanted to post what I thought was a much more interesting image from my time there this past weekend.

When I made this image, the light had gotten pretty flat, there were a lot of clouds in the sky, but even with the less than great light, I was thrilled to have the fly fisherman come into the scene. It adds so much to the scene, and allowed me to capture this location just a little differently than all the other shots from this exact location

The moral of this post is not to avoid making images of those iconic locations, even if they have been captured countless times, but simply to try and find some way to make that location your own.