Across the Southwest » Texas

On the Rio Grande – the book!

Adam Schallau — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:48:42 +0000

I’m excited to announce that I have completed the layout and design for my limited edition book, On the Rio Grande ~ A Photographic Exploration of Santa Elena Canyon. This book takes the viewer on a photographic journey through a corner of the land not often seen or experienced by most people. The photographs represented in the book chronicle three days spent canoeing the Rio Grande on its course from Lajitas, Texas, through Santa Elena Canyon, to its mouth in Big Bend National Park.

This book contains 63 pages, and 31 images printed on premium paper, including several images not show in my portfolios. This is a hardcover book measuring 13″x11″ in landscape format and is complete with a beautiful full color dust jacket.

The first proof of the book has been printed and after a few minor adjustments were made, I can proudly offer the book for sale. This book has been created as limited-edition of 25 copies. Each copy will be numbered and signed. The first 10 books are available for $225, with the second batch of 10 selling for $325, and the last 5 will be held in reserve. Please note: as of early February 2009, 6 books have been spoken for. Please contact me to order your copy.

For collectors that are interested in both the book and fine art prints, I would like to extend to you a special offer of $100 off the cost of your prints when ordered with a book.

To see a selection of images from my project, please visit my Big Bend galleries on my website. If you would like to know more about my project and the Luminous Landscape Endowment, please visit the Santa Elena Canyon Project page on my website.

Mission Concepción – San Antonio, Texas

Adam Schallau — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:45:15 +0000

Stairwell

I thought I would share a few photos from a visit to Mission Concepción in San Antonio, Texas a little over one year ago. The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park consists of 5 Spanish missions built along the San Antonio River in the 1700s to bring Christianity to the native population and to make them Spanish citizens.

On my visit to Mission Concepción several parts of the old church were going through a stabilization process and for reasons of safety were off limits. Even with the partial closures, there are limitless photo possibilities. The Spanish architecture is beautiful and the light plays off of the stone walls very nicely, providing photographers with lots of opportunities to test your ability to handle difficult lighting situations. In some ways, the light reflecting from one wall to another reminded me of the photographic challenges of shooting in the canyon country of the Colorado Plateau.

Bell tower and sky at Mission Concepcion

I’m often asked about my process when developing an image and I’m happy to share my techniques. The image of the stairwell was captured using a Daylight White Balance setting and has had minimal processing applied. In other words, this is how it looked.

For the image of the bell tower and sky, I took some artistic liberties selectively de-saturating the image while cooling the shadows and warming the highlights to achieve the look seen here.

Walkway and arches

In the last image, I have applied the effect of a cooling filter and added some contrast to emphasize the shapes of the walkway and arches. Again I have cooled the shadows and warmed the highlights.

All the images shown here were captured with the Canon EOS 5D and EF24-70/2.8L lens with the camera mounted on a tripod to insure sharp pictures. All images were captured as raw files and processing was accomplished using Photoshop CS3.

Please click on any image for an expanded view.

Cover Shot – Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers

Adam Schallau — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:48:53 +0000

My peers at the Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers have selected this image to be the cover shot which will great visitors to their website during the month of January 2009. This image was captured a few minutes after sunset on the boardwalk at the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne, Texas. Located about 30 miles north of San Antonio, the Cibolo Nature Center contains over 100 acres of nature trails and wilderness and was one of my favorite places to hike when I was growing up in Texas.

Please click on the image for an expanded view.

The end of scheduled service for ExpressJet

Adam Schallau — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:49:41 +0000

Things are quiet now on the ExpressJet ramp. The airline ceased branded, scheduled service on September 1st, 2008, citing higher fuel costs as the main factor. According to xjet.com, ExpressJet will continue to provide charter services and will continue flying for Continental Airlines as Continental Express.

My wife and I have flown ExpressJet several times this past year in our trips back to Texas to see friends and family. A lot of them have asked why we don’t drive, after all Texas is the next state over. My answer; because it’s a 12-hour drive if you make ‘good’ time, and sometimes up to 14-hours just to get to San Antonio. Taking ExpressJet still required the 2-hour drive to Albuquerque, but it’s only an hour and 45 minutes by air.

Unfortunately, ExpressJet was the only airline that flew direct into San Antonio or Austin, from Albuquerque. Now if we want/need to fly, we have to connect through Denver, Dallas, or Houston, which adds a considerable amount of time and stress to the trip. Did I mention that it will now cost twice as much to fly on one of the ‘major’ airlines? That’s right, ExpressJet was twice as fast, and half the cost for a round trip fare.

I hate to see ExpressJet walk away from scheduled service, but I understand and appreciate the economics involved in their decision. We will definitely miss the convenience of flying ExpressJet, but most of all we will miss their excellent crews and service. Here’s to hoping that they will come back soon.

Please click on any of the images for an expanded view.

It’s in the bag. How to protect your gear on a river trip.

Adam Schallau — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:50:47 +0000

On my recent river trip down the Rio Grande River through Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park I carried with me my Canon 5D along with 4 lenses, the 17-40mm f/4L, 24-70mm f/2.8L, 70-200mm f/4L IS, and the 300mm f/4L IS. In addition I had numerous filters, extra batteries, and of course memory cards. My biggest concern on the trip was water. I was going to be surrounded by it for three days navigating through rapids and hopefully I wouldn’t capsize the canoe.

The guide service that I hired would be providing dry bags for my clothing, tent, and sleeping bag, but I needed something more to protect my camera gear. I contacted Lowepro and told them what I was going to be doing and they graciously provided my with a DryZone 200 AW camera bag.

If you’re not familiar with the DryZone series of bags let me give you a quick run-down. The DryZone bags are soft sided camera backpacks that feature a waterproof inner compartment known as a drypod that is sealed with a TIZIP™ zipper. This bag will float even when fully loaded!The real test of the DryZone bag came on the last day of my trip as we made our way into the deepest section of Santa Elena Canyon. Allow me to set the scene for you.

I have experience canoing on day-trips, but not on multi-day trips when the canoe is loaded down with lots of gear and it’s not as easy to maneuver. Strike 1!

The river makes several sharp turns in this part of the canyon where the water runs right up against the canyon wall, what our guide Billy referred to as a “wall shot”. You have to be prepared and position your canoe in advance for the “wall shots”, otherwise you’ll be in for a rough ride. Strike 2!

Santa Elena Canyon is strikingly beautiful. Everywhere you looked, up to the left, up to the right, and even behind you there was something new and magnificent to see. Strike 3, you’re out!

I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that we went right into the canyon wall. I guess I should have paid attention to where we were going. We slammed into it broadside and even though we leaned into the wall it wasn’t enough to keep the canoe from rocking back towards the current. In the process we took on a lot of water eventually filling the canoe and submerging the DryZone. I have no idea how we stayed afloat, but we did. The canoe spun around 180 degrees with us going backwards through some fast water. I was having a blast and best of all I didn’t have to worry about my equipment because it was securely packed away in the DryZone. We eventually got everything under control and pulled the canoe up against a gravel bar to bail the water out.

There are some drawbacks to the DryZone such as the TIZIP™ zipper takes more force to open and close, but I can live with it seeing as how it is a waterproof zipper. It’s also very deep which moves the center of gravity farther from your back. I wouldn’t use the DryZone as an everyday pack, but then again it’s not meant to be used that way.

I feel that the pack saved the day and was happy to use it. I consider it mandatory equipment for any future river trips or a hike up the Zion Narrows.

I’d like to thank Lowepro for their sponsorship and for making a great product.

Today’s Image ~ On the road again…

Adam Schallau — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:46:12 +0000

…actually we’re back home again after our second trip to Texas in two weeks. This time we made a trip down to Big Bend National Park to start my project on Santa Elena Canyon that is funded through the Luminous Landscape Endowment.

A West Texas rainbow over my truck.

The weather was excellent with highs in the low 80s, the wind was calm, and mother nature provided some nice clouds. On the morning we left Terlingua for the return trip to New Mexico we ran into storms with high-winds and very threatening skies, but as we approached the town of Alpine, Texas the storms began to clear and we were treated to this beautiful rainbow.

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D and 17-40/4L lens set at 24mm. Please click on the image for an expanded view.

The Luminous Landscape Endowment Fund

Adam Schallau — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:05:26 +0000

I’m excited to announce that I’m one of eight recipients of the 2007/2008 Luminous Landscape Endowment Fund!

About the endowment with text from LuminousLandscape.com:

In August 2007 The Luminous Landscape Inc., created a fund designed to provide financial assistance to photographers to help finance worthwhile photographic projects. A call for submissions was made, with a deadline of Feb 11, 2008.

This fund was financed by readers like you through purchases of our download video tutorials, and also by individual donors and corporate sponsors. In all $20,000 was raised during our initial funding period. (You can read about the program and application process here.)

More than 200 applications were received, and our panel of judges found selecting just a handful of photographers and their projects a most difficult task. The applications selected were, in each case, put forward by at least two of the judges.

My photographic project:

A photographic exploration of Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park located in west Texas. The exploration will focus on the intrinsic beauty and solitude of this remote canyon of the Rio Grande River. The trip will require using local river guide services to safely navigate the waters of the Rio Grande from the put-in point near Lajitas to the take-out point 5-miles upstream of Castolon. The trip will cover a distance of 20 river miles over three days.

The anticipated outcome is to create 20+ fine art quality photographs representing the journey of the river through the desert canyon environment. These images will be used to create a limited-edition portfolio and book with a print run limited to 25 of each.

I’ll keep everyone posted of my progress here on Across the Southwest.

Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo

Adam Schallau — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:39:03 +0000

Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. Canon 5D, 24-70 f/2.8L

I recently visited San Antonio, Texas and made a stop at Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo which is part of the San Antonio Missions Historical Park. Dating to 1720 the mission is the largest in the area and it features beautiful stone and wood work. More photos of Mission San Jose >>

Mission Concepción – San Antonio, Texas