New Blog Coming Soon

In the next few days I will be leaving this blog.

It has been my posting work horse for almost 3 years but alas I have found another blog with shiner buttons and a more streamlined content management system.

It's nothing personal. It's not you, it's me.

Sure, we can still hang out, maybe even uncomfortably bump into each other at a bar and exchange awkward side hugs and small talk.

*****

You look good you might say.

Thanks, I've been drinking diet sodas, I'd say.

Yeah.

They have so much less sugar and empty calories, I'd say.

Yeah.

Well ... it was good to see you. What? Yeah, I do have a new cell phone number. Do you have a pen?

No.

Oh. Well ... let me give you a card. Damn. I don't have any cards. You can always Google me, I'd sheepishly muster.

You turn to walk away. You don't look back.

*****

This post might be a bit early, given the difficulty I've had with the soft launch of the new site but since I'm doing this solo (and with the help of a few smarter and faster friends) things are chugging along between assignments, emails, cold calls and trying not to lose my mind.

I will again revisit this blog, even after our awkward departure, to post a link to the new site.

Cheers,

Nathan

Official Family Photographer

Since picking up a camera, I have been the de facto family photographer for all weddings, reunions, gatherings and vacations.

As much as I enjoy capturing these family moments, I have to admit that often negatives, digital files and even a slide or two get left untouched and unprocessed for many weeks, months and, I'm embarrassed to say, sometimes even a year or two before I give family members or friends prints or a burned DVD.

Being the family photographer is a not a job I take lightly, but at times the photos of my family come second to newspaper and magazine assignments, and other paying gigs.

In chatting with other photographers about this phenomenon, it seems that we all seem to forgo fulfilling the duties instilled in being the ‘official family photographer.'

We take our paid assignments very seriously, yet we seem to think that family photographs are not as important as meeting a deadline. As if letting a photo editor down is worse that letting down your mom, brother, uncle or best friend.

Yes, my family understands that things can get busy, and they want me to be able to pay my rent and buy a loaf of bread once in a while. (When things are good, maybe even two loafs!)

continued ....

In August my girlfriend’s sister, Jill, was married in a wonderfully laidback but detailed and planned wedding.

Everyone had a task, from cupcake deliveryman, sweeper of alleyways and bartender to hair and make-up specialist.

A photographer in her own right, Jill hired a close friend and photographer to detail the day. Which, honestly, was a huge relief to me.

Still, after so many years of dragging my camera with me on assignments and around town, the duty invested in being the ‘official family photographer’ has a heavy burden.

This time it only took two months to deliver the photos to the respective family members – it might even be a record.

With this delivery, I received some nice emails and thank you notes.

Sure, thank you notes don’t pay the rent or buy bread, but they remind me of why photography is important to me and why the people photographed are more important than meeting any deadline.

Cheers,

Nathan

fashionista

This past Friday a fellow photographer and friend, Javier Manzano, gave me a call to tell me about a fashion show he was shooting. I figured to head out and see what I could see.

Fashion shows are visual by nature and if you look between the catwalks and hairspray you can see some really great images take shape.

I've shot a few fashion shows before and I'm not totally comfortable with shooting such events. Maybe it’s the hiking boots I wear but I've never felt totally at home with the fashionista set. They are not a part of my comfort zone.

For this event, I decided to do a small experiment. As a photographer, sometimes when I feel uncomfortable shooting something, I rely way to heavily on my wide-angle lenses – a photographic equivalent of a cozy blanket, a glass of milk and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

So, to combat this and to step out of my comfort zone, I used a small piece of gaffers tape to tape the barrel of my 16-35mm to stay put at 28mm.

With the crop factor of the Mark IIn's being roughly 1.3x I essentially was using a 35mm or for the mathematicians in the room, a 36.4mm.

This made me step closer, to try and work on layers and focus on composition. My second lens was a 50mm, so again with the crop factor of the camera being 1.3x, I was essentially using a 65mm - which was not used often except once in this edit anyway.

This was a self generated assignment so I had no deadline, no editors calling to ask where images were and no one but myself to beat up if I took nothing away that night.

I had a few trusted photographers take a look at my take and this is the result. I highly recommend getting a few more eyes on your work – if you have the time – and stepping out of your comfort zone.

Purchasing a 35mm,

Nathan



fashionista - Images by Nathan W. Armes

Henri

"In a world that is buckling under the weight of profit-making, that is overrun by the destructive sirens of Techno-science and the power-hunger of globalization - that new brand of slavery - beyond all that, Friendship exists, Love exists."

Henri Cartier-Bresson - 1998

Cheers,

Nathan

Colorado Mission of Mercy

Colorado residents received free dental treatment from hundreds of volunteer dentists, and hygienists from the Colorado Dental Association's third Colorado Mission of Mercy.

The donated dental treatment and education, treated on a first-come first-served basis, went to low-income adults, children and the uninsured.

With lines forming long before sunrise, some arriving the evening before to claim their spot, hundreds of people flooded the treatment center on the first day. The Colorado Mission of Mercy's goal was to treat nearly 2000 individuals at the two day clinic.



Nathan

Sports

I am not a sports photographer, but I am known to show up at games and try my damnedest.

Sports photographers are a rare breed of folks that understand the games they document. They understand the lingo and the plays. They are always at the right place on the sideline, or baseline, because they read the field, pitch, court or rink. They see formations and try to think one play ahead.

Some think that sports photography is half luck and half having access to massive lenses and gear. This may be half true, but I feel that the really good sports photographers truly understand the game and prepare for their movements behind the camera.

For example, if you have spent any time in the press room at any Broncos, Rockies, Panthers or Avalanche game or spent a few minutes talking to a fellow photographer at a high school match-up you quickly get the notion that you really have no idea what is going on.

Do you know your stats? These guys do.

That kid with the glasses and funny sounding name hunched-over, riding the bench, may just be ready to break a national record for punt returns, rushing yards, most completed passes within the 15-yard line, sacks, RBIs, chip passes, goals, tries, or touchdowns.

They pay attention. They keep their eyes open - not just for a 268-pound lineman charging full speed toward the sideline (and your legs) or a foul ball tipped by Derek Jeter - for any subtle changes in the lineup.

They notice if that kid you really got a great shot of ... is actually on the roster.

Special thanks to Barry, his 300, and the nice man who gave me his rosters for making last night's high school football game possible.



Cheers,

Nathan

Foot Race

A few from this weekend's Fans On the Field, the 5k and 10k walk/run that raises money to support the National Sports Center for the Disabled. The event takes runners through Denver’s three world-class sporting venues and professional sports franchises – INVESCO Field at Mile High, Coors Field and The Pepsi Center.





Cheers,

Nathan

Tribute

Firefighters from 48 different departments and five different states took part in the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb Friday morning at the Qwest building in downtown Denver.

Over 350 firefighters twice fought their way up 55 flights of stairs, with 80 to 130 pounds of gear, to pay tribute to the 343 firefighters who were killed when the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.



Nathan

Health Reform Rally

Denver rallied for health care reform, near downtown, Wednesday evening at Confluence Park .

Hundreds, if not a thousand people carried signs in support of a single payer system and a public option. The general feeling in the crowd was a need to find a solution to a contentious issue.

Supporters were comfortably spread out over a grassy hill overlooking the confluence of two rivers, the Cherry Creek and the Platte which have joined for generations with a rush of whitewater and a constant churning, as live music played and rally leaders focused on the issues that roil our country.

You could still hear the constant churning of water as the light faded and peopled trickled home.


Still churning,

Nathan

Horse Racing

A few days before leaving for two weeks, (road trip photos are being weeded through) I was assigned by the Denver Post to photograph a column by Terry Frei about the state of racing in Colorado. Frei was pegging two of the Jockeys, Don Lee Frazier and Russell Vicchrilli, who regularly run at Arapahoe Park to the column.

The racers, who ride for numerous horse owners, are some of the calmest people I've met in a while. Their calmest struck me simply because of the fact that they ride thousands of pounds of living, breathing freight train.

From those that know me, you've heard me say that I don't trust horses, especially spastic, hyped up race horses bred for bolting speed.

What also struck me about these fellows was the welcoming vibe as soon as I walked into the locker room. They joked with each other, read, smoked and waited.

The waits can be long between their assigned races. Sometimes the wait can be just long enough to change racing jackets, some waits can be hours.

These racers will never make a fortune but love what they do.

They see the value in that.

Russell Vicchrilli has ridden his share of winners in thoroughbred and quarter-horse events.

Don Lee Frazier takes a few minutes to put his feet up and relax in the jockeys' locker room prior to a race.

Cheers,

Nathan

Simple Machine

Technically speaking, a bicycle is a simple machine.

Your lungs and heart work as the engine, your legs function as the straining pistons that work to pump the pedals that spin two wheels.

A simple, yet beautiful machine fueled by calories. We all have some excess calories to burn, go get a bike.

Go ride up a mountain. Have a beer to celebrate!

"Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia." — H.G. Wells

Cheers,

USA Boxing

A few frames from the 2009 USA Boxing National Championship.

Cheers,

Nathan