Lexington Ky Project Finished: Installment 2

Now back into Lexington after shooting the Pisgah Presbyterian Church and it is around dinner time....between 7 and 8PM......and i forgot my insulin....so back to the hotel......and I see this:
How about a real Mod Cow

I whip into a drive way and jump out of the trooper and shootr like a mad man....before it can run off and hide.....then I realize..........it is not going anywhere..........actually I stood laughing my arse off for a few minutes as I am in the Horse Capital of the World and I see a Hippie Cow Statue........the Gate says Ashland Farm..delivery entrance......a few cars go by and look at me like I am crazy with camera in hand shooting a Hippie Cow Statue.......assignment was NO HORSES........so it fits .......RIGHT.....Oh yeah




Well I made a nother turn and ran into this.....
Mount Vernon Baptist Church

Detail of Church Window

Hand Laid Dry Wall Fence (no motar used to hold together)

Close up Detail of the Fence

.I wasn't lost by any means i just started taking turns at will to see what I could find......you know hidden treasures...sort of............

one night I decided I wanted to do the night life shots and also some "Aerial" shots of the cith lights so I went to the 360 club.....atop one of the financial centers towers.....the shooting was horrific....but it was the only place for what I wanted.....the music was so loud and the club so small that everything seemed to vibrate from the music....the windows, the tables and me and my camera......all the windows had terrible reflections in them and screens on the inside.....so that was a bust...time to leave........so I I left the 360 club I spy this....
INTERLUDE

almost forgot.....no good city shots...but a couple of fireplace shots.......crystals for fuel......
Very Hot Gems

the next evening I saw a peculiar cloud.....it looked as if the man in the clouds was really pissed off.....i wound up driving for about 5-8 miles thru town to get a clear shot.....but it was still there....after a few photos it closed up and was gone........but it waited for me to get to a place with a clear view.....Thank you.... man in the cloud
Ominous Cloud.........................Face

 an evening walk that was being quite unproductive....yep the might of no goood aerial shots from 'Club 360.....I noticed this unusual man hole cover.......
Iron Work IN Brick

and then I looked up and saw this......................
Cool  Mural

Installment 3 coming soon.........................this time I will try to put dialogue with photos but that might mean fewer photos, as I am a very slow typist and then I make tons of mistakes.....thank God for the spell checker.....but even it is not perfect.....updates to 1st and 2nd installed done on Saturday May 22, 2010.........

Lexington Ky Project Finished: Installment 1

Well I am back in Wichita from Lexington Ky........it was a very intersting trip to an area I had no idea about except that Lexington is the Horse Capital of the World.  That is right the Horse Capital of the World.....with farms ranging from a scant few acres to farms of tens of thousands of acres with horses worth very little to well into the millions each......but my assignment was to NOT SHOOT THE HORSES or anything associated with the horses.........Hmmmmmmmm.........then what do I shoot.......Assignment the City of Lexington......Oh yeah the city.....that would be buildings and people and anything but horses.........OK.....

My first stop was the Lexing National Guard Armory....I was disappointed that there was nothing to see.....of course armory can mean small arms....rifles, pistols and handheld rocket rockets and launchers...... but I was actually on my way to a church and cemetary built shortly after the Revolution........

1st the National Guard Armory:

My second stop was the aviation Museum......a lot to see here and as all aviation museums it is very cramped......to the gills so to speak.............my hosts / guides were very helpful and nice.....
The Aviation Museum:

1978 replical of the 1908 Sellers Quadplane:

A WACO RNF:

A couple of 'copters:

 MY GUIDES THRU THE MUSEUM: L-R: RICHARD WOOD, BOB COLE, TIM SMITH & DON SPROULE:

 First time to see an Air Force Plane with a Tail Hook :-}}

Really think these guys were waaaaay off course, No Naval Installation any where near Lexington:  Navy Seahawk.

Had to do a little googling and finally found the H.E. "TEX" SUTTOR website and the history of the company......but no reference to the welcome sign on the door"Welcome to Air Horse 1".......but I will be contacting them for an explanation.........One of the oldest and largest equine forwarding companies in the world.......the rates are sliding depending on how many horses will fly.....id do not believe that all have to be from same stable or owner but a single horse rund approx $30K for a one way flaight in the US.....it can drop to as little as 3K if near a full load......they get special privileges to take off more gradual and to have a much longer landing approach so the horses are not subjected to  the quick take off and landings that people are.....they also have caretakers riding with the horses to help keep them calm and refreshed with hay and food and water............
 H.E. "TEX" Suttor's Air Horse 1:

 

One of the finest Equine Forwarding Companies in the World

One my way to the Pisgah Presbyterian Church I passed this majestic entrance to a horse farm.......

Entrance to Shadwell Farm:

 

and this smaller farm which looked really nice............

I liked the clouds so I shot this small Kentucky Farm:

As I came down the road toward Pisgah Presbyterian Church I see this castle ahead of me....so I make a hard right turn and look in amazment.......this thing is Huuuuuge!!!

 Castle Post.....Yes this is a very large solid rock castle just out side Lexington:

I actually went back so many times to shoot Castle Post That a State Trooper pulled up behind me one evening to ask why I was spending so much time there and then he saw the window sticker "Help Stop Crime: SHOOT BACK" .... that sparked another conversation and he actually helped me carry equipment to and from my Trooper............I must say no police officer gave me any problems about shooting anything.....the above mentioned trooper got into asking opinons on camera's and what I meant by sweet light.......and as I told him that majick time of day is really subjective to the photog.....some like the sun to show some like it to be beyond horizon.......I was looking for special clouds and lighting on the Castle....so I needed the sun a bit higher in the clouds..........


 
I finally arrived at the Church......pretty much like I expected....small and made of stone.....of course this was my first upclose look at the Dry Wall Fences of Ky..........
PISGAH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Founded 1784:

Not the oldest grave I am sure.......

Another view of the Church:

I was running late to my own schedule so I did not get to scour the cemetery like I would have liked to but i shot a couple of headstones to show it was just barely post American Revolution when it was built and used.
On my way back into town i see this very cool mailbox.....of course my heart twinges as it makes me miss my own lab Sadie even more.........

Just liked this mail box:

the farm the mailbox lived at.....for some reason I thought it might have been FishBack Farm.....then I spotted the sign:
Trackside Farm:

and  was wondering if there was a race track near by.....but then i bounced across this:
The Track At the Side of the Farm:

Well my assignment was to NOT shoot horses or horse stuff.....well so far not 100% on "track"
but I am close.....gotta have a bit of horsey stuff......more to come..............

This is the  end of most of my 1st days shooting around Lexington.....and I know I should be shot as I posted images and no real story.............

There is soooo much more to Lexington Ky than Horses.....

There is soooo much more to Lexington Ky than Horses.....yes there is......
Pisgah Presbyterian Church built late 1780's .....still in use today

More to come with pics.....it is Saturday night and I must hit a few music hot spots.....

So look for Edits to this post for photos and such.........

Arrived in Lexington and got a few shots....supposed to rain tonight....much like Ks.......great fluffy clouds and nice light...then wham....freaking clear sky and terrible harsh light.....not going to shoot horses for the art director....but will need to shoot horse themed stuff....this is the horse capital of the world.....there is even a Medieval castle here.....and stuff going back to the revolution.......gonna stay thru wednesday and head back to Witchi ta.......

Shooting Lexington Ky

Heading to Lexington Ky this morning around 8AM.  Would have liked leaving a lot earlier but I did not know my Labrador was out of some serious medication for her cancer.....so had to delay until the vet opens to get prescription. 
Why Lexington Ky.......Because I have a chance to shoot for CityScapes Books again.  Did not want to turn it down......weather should be very nice.   Will post pics of the Journey as it unfolds if I have time....as I must my pix in the Art Directors hands no later than 5-15-2010......so will shoot all day and part of the evening and then process all I can by Midnight and then be up around 5Am to start shooting again......

Headed to bed so I can start on a clear and rested head.

BUYING FLASHES FOR THE FIRST TIME

I see lots of people asking for advice on different photo forums on the subject of buying their first set of studio flashes or even flases for their cameras.

I had the same question running thru many decades ago .  As I see these questions pop up on the various forums, I remember a conversation with reknown Santa Monica Photographer, Peter Gowland...around 1982.
I desparately wantred a set of studio flashes and I loved the work he showed in the many books he and his wife (Alice) had written.  In one of the books I saw his phone number........I thought, this cannot be his private number, not published in a book for millions of people to see and use.......could it.  A few days later, Friday nite or Saturday night I called the number....it is ringing and then a soft spoken man answered, Peter Gowland Residence............long Pause.......Hello.....finall I choked out this is Arthur Scott calling from Wichita Ks....Is this really Peter Gowland the photographer that writes books on Glamour Photography............He replied Yes it is, How may I help you.....so I had a list of questions written down for better explanation of some of his set ups and tips......then I hit the big question........What should I get for my first light set up.  His answer was simple:
1- buy the most powerful flash you can afford
2- Buy at least 3 of them: 2 for front light and 1 for back light, make sure they are all the same brand & model; that way when setting up it won't matter where the lights go.
3- buy a black background and some theatrical gels to color the background
4- the cheapest good flash meter is the Wein 500......I bought the Wein 1000.
5-Would you like some of my posing guides??????    My question was HOW Much are they?? Well How many children do you have??  Me: 3............Mr. Gowland: I'll send you 5 Free........in the background you hear......FREEEEEEE!!!!!!  PETER!!!!!!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN FREE?? IT IS TAX TIME YOU CAN'T JUST GIVE THOSE AWAY!!!!
Mr. Gowland......Ah she'll get over it......I want to help out.....what is your address?? 

In 3 days I had a manilla envelope from him with 5 large posing guides.....actually they were his print catalogs and 90% of his work was nudes........he had a little note inside telling me to watch out for those Bible Thumpers we have here in the Mid west and don't get into trouble with his catalogs as they might view it as porn here  LOL  LOL  LOL .
He finsihed by telling me if I should ever get to Santa Monica to stop by and to send him my very first portrait done when I got my lights and backdrop.

   I did send him my first portrait of my son.  He wrote back saying to do this and this and this and it woulod be great and all I needed was more room and more lights............


He was so very helpful, ihaven't got to meet him yet.....I hope I can before he is gone.

So that is pretty much the same advice i give to all that I see asking that question.....no matter how many times I see the question I answer it...............others say search the forum it has been answered over and over again.......like it is too strainious to type a little and help someone out......99%of all forum searches give you tons of threads filled with non pertinent info and then you have to wade thru those to find the one that has your answer.............


have a good night and great week

NEW BLOG ADDRESS - New Info

IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE THIS WHOLE BLOG WILL MOVE TO A NEW ADDRESS:
{   http://artscottfotografie.blogspot.com  }    ...THERE IS A BLANK PAGE AT THE NEW ADDRESS BUT I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW OF THIS MOVE.
Please copy and bookmark the new address....it will go into effect on Monday May 10, 2010


Thank You


New Info:  This will not happen until around the 18-20th of May.....I am leaving to go shoot in Lexington Ky and won't be able to get to this until then.....crazy shoot......City Scenes and was told by Art Director of the Publishing company......NO HORSES or HORSE RACING....they have waaaay to many of those.....so it will be Lexington and people shooting.....hope to be back around the 17th.