"Bici en el Barrio Viejo" in this week's "Apps Uncovered"

This past spring, I went on a photo-walk in Tucson's Barrio Viejo...
...and one of the scenes from that day is featured in this week's "Apps Uncovered" by iphoneographycentral.com:

"Bici en el Barrio Viejo, Tucson"

Backstory/Apps Used: Just south of downtown Tucson, the architectural soul of the city--

Sonoran adobe rowhouses from the 19th-c., unique in the U.S. 

(iPhone5, snapseed, iwatermark)

It's an honor to have this photo in this week's showcase; there is some amazing work in this week's selections!

The "Apps Uncovered" series is such a good place to learn from--the 'backstory' for each image gives you a bit of a behind-the-scenes look into the 'toolbox' the photographer/artist used.

For this particular image, as you can see, the only app I used was snapseed. (iWatermark is just used for my 'signature' in the corner.) I used the crop-tool to make the scene into a square, and then the 'drama' filter allowed me to bring out the texture of the wall. I used the 'center focus' tool just very lightly for a slight vignette. 

New apps keep coming out every week, but snapseed remains my 'go-to' app--even when I use others for different effects, I usually begin and end the process with snapseed.

...in iPhoneography Central's "Apps Uncovered"

Last week, iphoneographycentral.com published the recent installment in their "Apps Uncovered" series...and I'm honored to have two of my 'snapseeded' photos included:

"Red Doors, Sokcho"

Backstory/Apps Used: --like stepping back in time, this seaside district of Sokcho, S.Korea; a relic of the Korean War--the houses of N.Korean refugees and their descendants in the "Abai village" neighborhood (snapseed & colorsplash apps used; this photo among the "Honorable Mentions" in this year's Mobile Photo Awards)

     For "Red doors, Sokcho"--I took this with an iPhone4 a couple of summers ago. Not far from the location of the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics, Sokcho, South Korea has a frontier-feel. (The setting is gorgeous--between mountains and the sea, but lax zoning laws have led to haphazard construction.) The neighborhood where I saw this streetscape is a relic of the Korean War--on a spit of land between a lagoon and the sea, refugees from what would become North Korea built makeshift dwellings, thinking these would be just for the short-term... When the DMZ was drawn in 1953, they found themselves stranded, and this neighborhood has now been home to a several generations of these N. Korean descendants. It feels like a different world from the wifi-and-caffeinated frenzy of Seoul. I used snapseed and the ColorSplash apps for this scene. ColorSplash allowed me to isolate the red doors and shirt stripes, converting the rest of the scene into greyscale. Then I used snapseed's 'tilt-shift' filter and the 'white balance' option found among the 'tune image' options. Combining the 'hyper'-sepia tone and the red accents reminded me of the traditional color scheme used in many older Korean scroll-paintings.

"Bear Canyon, evening"

Backstory/Apps Used: I took the photo with my iPhone5 a few months ago while on a trail-run in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains on the edge of Tucson, Arizona. Winter evening light is just gorgeous in the desert. I used snapseed to convert the shot into a black-and-white scene, then used ''white balance' in the 'tune image' to warm up the scene. I also used the 'drama' filter to play with the contrast. The 'tilt-shift' filter in snapseed and then the "BigLens" app allowed me to smoothen out the sky.

From the chicken to the dinosaur

I've been having fun playing with semi-surrealism with recent iPhone images; last week's "ominous chicken talk" shot was featured in Mobiography's weekly showcase...and then today, WeAreJuxt's weekly "1000 Words" showcase came out...including this:

"When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there..."

On a busy, otherwise prosaic, intersection near where I live in Tucson, a dinosaur sculpture presides over the traffic whizzing by fast food, a gas station, and an oil-change joint…The words of Guatemalan author Augusto Monterrosso come to mind when I pass this seemingly gratuitous T-Rex reproduction–in one of the shortest short-stories in any language, he wrote: “Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí.” (“When he awoke, the dinosaur was still there.”) That’s it, just that one sentence; enigmatic, allegorical, and surreal…Juxtaposition within one short sentence that illuminates the juxtaposition of a prehistoric-reptilian-statue in the middle of the automobile-centered cityscape of the American West…

I took this with my iPhone5. Initially I used the Perspective Correct app to straighten the traffic light next to the sculpture. Then I used Snapseed to crop and even out the exposure. The grid/fold overlay is from ScratchCam–but to get the ‘folds’ to line up where I wanted them to, I placed the photo in one of the options in the PicFrame app, estimating where it would line up in ScratchCam before I would crop it again. The surreal color-gradation from ‘prehistoric’ red on the right to dream-like green sky on the left is also from ScratchCam. To add a bit more texture, I used DistressedFX, and then the final vignetting was done in snapseed. (For my ‘signature’ in the bottom corner, I used iWatermark.)

Honored to be included again!

(Another 'surrealization' of a Tucson landmark 

was featured back in March.)

"Ominous Chicken Talk"...streetscape

In this week's "Capturing the Moment" showcase by Mobiography, this was one of the featured photos:

 "Ominous Chicken Talk"

(Honored to be included, and yep, I had fun with this title...)

I drive by this street corner in Tucson very often. Finally, on a recent Sunday morning, the parking lot deserted, I pulled over to take a few photos. The juxtaposition of these oversized animal sculptures next to an otherwise nondescript strip-mall makes me smile every time I pass them--Is it whimsical? Gratuitous? Intentionally surreal? Mere kitsch, or knowingly dadaist? 

I went back and forth between the snapseed and scratchcam apps to edit this scene, which I took on my iPhone5. I liked the rectangular 'fold' overlay on this scene because it frames the chicken in a way to make it seem that it's talking to the giraffe. But WHY does the chicken pay more for gold? And WHY is the giraffe even there? (is there a giraffe-ransom involved?) And why would I want to come here to sell my gold? Endless questions...

==============

And, for breaking out of a creative slump, check out this recent article, "Breaking out of the Photographer Slump," from We Are Juxt...and in it you'll find some images and a few words of mine among others' useful comments and photos:

In Tucson's Barrio Viejo...

This past weekend, The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation organized a "Historic Adobes of Barrio Viejo" Tour--a rare opportunity to get an inside view of some of the oldest homes in the architectural soul of the city--the Sonoran rowhouses of the 19th century. It was a singular combination of sanctioned voyeurism and exhibitionism--'ok'd' by the historicity of it all...

No interior photography was allowed, but I did take my iPhone with me, so here are a few shots of the streetscape:

It feels so much more Mexican or Mediterranean than "Wild West US"...It's almost unbelievable to think that in the 1960's, blocks and blocks of this architecture was just torn down to make room for the Tucson Convention Center. (Before the days of gentrification--when this neighborhood was mostly Latino, with Chinese corner-grocers...) 

Just incredible. Tucson could've had a downtown as architecturally and as historically compelling as Santa Fe, NM--unified and with an authentic sense of place...Alas, just relics are left--but still enough for a worthy stroll or bike-ride...No other city in the U.S. has this collection of Sonoran architecture.

Some of the wrought-iron details:

--gotta love the cat-and-mouse sense of humor in this window...

...and the rattlesnake almost has a cute face...

creative tortoise-lock:

--and the old Teatro Carmen:

(this was not taken on my iPhone,

but I did use snapseed to edit it)

This particular alleyway has always reminded

me of a De Chirico painting...

...and, from a couple of years ago,

a serendipitous rainbow over a renovated adobe façade:

in this morning's paper: a(nother) Sabino Canyon scene

In this morning's Tucson newspaper, one of my photos--published:

And here are a few more that were taken on that November morning,

as I ran with my iPhone on a wrist-strap...

iPhone + snapseed = perfect for a running-photographer 

I had my phone with me again in the canyon this past Sunday morning--so, a few springtime scenes:

Thistle in bloom; busy, happy bugs...

And the usually elusive Gila-monster:

--only the second one I've seen in the wild in the six years I've lived in AZ;

truly a treat to see...

And there's still plenty of water flowing in the creek;

some nice reflecting pools, such as this one

beneath Thimble Peak:

I keep returning to this particular texture 

using one of snapseed's 'grunge' filters;

I love way it evokes

parchment, vellum, and heavy hand-made paper...

A couple more 'ways of seeing' the landscape's reflection:

(used PicFrame and lo-mob for this mirror-strip)

One of my favorite running-words is fartlek.

Snicker if you must; it's Swedish and you can read here for a definition.

Anyway--running with my iPhone is "foto-fartlekking" in my book, and it helps keep me sane as I continue to spend my work-week-days with teenagers...

A week off: spring landscapes, downtown, and close to home

The school district I work for gave us a long spring-break this year: the week before AND the Monday after Easte--off! Always good for mental health...

So, here's some of what caught my eye over the past week-and-a-day...

My wife and I went for a hike in Catalina State Park, just north of Tucson--the winter rains came at the right time for spring wildflowers in the desert:

While not as spectacular as the spring of 2010, it's always worthwhile 

to go for a hike in the desert when the wildflowers are out...

lupine, Mexican gold poppies, owl clover

(AND, incidentally, the photo above was featured 

on the local TV news last Tuesday.)

...so ephemeral...

Spring runoff, flowing water in the desert, saguaro reflections...

While running the loop in Saguaro National Park, on the city's eastern edge,

I noticed this saguaro-skeleton

with its signature downturned arms:

Just a few years ago, it looked like this:

 Memento mori, from a cactus...

A couple of downtown evenings:

Late-night coffee-and-dessert at the Cup Café in the 1919 Hotel Congress:

No longer a motel,

but this vintage neon sign has survived:

And one of the best restaurants in Tucson,

Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails:

Some street-art--on the corner of 4th and University, just north of downtown, just east of the Univ. of AZ:

Seeing this, this phrase came to mind: "Read me a good story, and I'll never forget..."

love how the b&w ants seem to pop off the brick...

and a bit of the ColorSplash app here, to make the 'bouquets' stand out.

Pistols. Flowers. Ant.

Hmm...

Today--a trail-run into Bear Canyon...

...four miles in, four miles out: crisscrossing a seasonal stream,

a few boulders and a couple of switchbacks,

trail lined with wildflowers this time of year...

 ...with Seven Falls as the destination:

(I love these guys--not that common,

Coulter's hibiscus, a.k.a. desert rosemallow)

On the way to Bear Canyon, 

a stand of cottonwoods I keep returning to:

 Closer to home, something abstract:

Well, actually, inside home, these permutations;

here's the original image:

(looking up in the entryway)

And who can resist a bird's nest?

 --on the back patio--the mother dove left for a few minutes, so I thought I would check on the two babies (dovelets? dovelings? chicks?) The mother dove did come back...all is well...

===========================

...and a fun surprise from last night--

I found out that this photo, "nighthawks for noodles,"

was featured in this week's "Through the lens of an iphone" showcase

by iphoneography.com

 

Taken on my last night in Seoul, a couple of summers ago...

An honor to be included...

"white dove of the desert"--the Mission San Xavier del Bac

A few afternoons ago, I was able to leave work a bit early...so I took advantage of the warm spring day to explore a bit--I went down to the Mission San Xavier del Bac, one of the earliest European structures to be built in Arizona. 

Only a 15-minute drive down I-19 from downtown Tucson, the 18th-century mission is one of the best examples of Spanish colonial architecture in the U.S.--the "white dove" of neo-Baroque and Moorish influences is still a parish church of the Tohono O'odham people today, over three centuries after Padre Kino first ventured up into what the Spanish Empire labeled "Pimería Alta." 

Desert sky, Native American culture, Spanish architecture--this is definitely a nowhere-else-but-Tucson kind of place, and endlessly photogenic. So. A few iPhone shots...

Traditional saguaro rib-mesquite log-ocotillo branch ramadas line the plaza in front of the Mission, where local Tohono O'odham families often sell regional food and drink...

View from the side chapel
(the slight 'fish-eye' effect
obtained by using the built-in panorama
mode in the iPhone5)

And here's the door handle on the Mission's entrance:

While a rattlesnake is an environmentally appropriate motif for a desert building, I can't help but wonder how many visitors note the irony of having a serpent 'guarding the entrance' to a church? (re-read Genesis, anyone?)

Inside--definitely baroque:

Look carefully at the cloth covering the altar:

It's the 'trademark' motif of the Tohono O'odham--the man-in-the-maze:

And some more of the Baroque interior--note the Native American statue on the right:

This is Ketari Tekakwitha, a 17th-c. Algonquin woman who was canonized, last year, as the first Native American Saint in the Catholic church...

The rear entrance to the courtyard of the Mission...

==========================

Totally unrelated to the Mission, the scene below,

but this striking street-art was on my way--

I've passed it so many times, but had never stopped to photograph it:

the Heart mural on the corner of Stone & Speedway:

(Bright colors and skulls--the pre-Hispanic and Hispanic influence of the Day of the Dead)