For a while I have wanted to make a portrait of my wife's grandfather. Over the weekend I was able to the make this portrait of him with my Mamiya C330. I could tell he wasn't too sure about having his picture made. After four frames he was done. He's really in interesting man. Throughout his life he's worked in the boiler room of an aircraft carrier, raised bees, been a truck driver, and organized unions. I always find his stories interesting because each time he tells one, he adds new layers of detail. 

Pat Shannahan

www.patshannahan.com

www.stepintoaz.com

@pshannahan

Photographing Arizona's Wine Country

AZ Wine Country - Images by Pat Shannahan

These are my favorite pictures I made for a recent story about Arizona's wine country. We went to vineyards in Arizona's Verde Valley as well as vineyards in Sonoita to the south. For me, the most interesting part of working on this story was meeting the wine makers and seeing the work that goes into making wine. In Sonoita, we walked through Todd Bostock's vineyards at sunset sipping Dos Cabezas wine made from the grapes that surrounded us. In the morning we photographed Dick Erath walking though his vineyard outside Wilcox as workers harvested grapes. He started the wine industry in Oregon and is bypassing retirement to experiment with making wine in Arizona. In Jerome we hung out with musician Maynard James Keenan of Tool in his Caduceus Cellar. He is teaming up with Erik Glomski of Page Springs Vineyards to make Arizona Stonghold wine. These photos will be part of a AZ Mag edition dedicated to Arizona's WIne Country. We are also planning on creating a wine page for the travel section of AZCentral.com.

Pat Shannahan
@pshannahan
www.patshannahan.com

Taking the Canon G10 Underwater

Swimming - Images by Pat Shannahan

In an effort to try something new, I borrowed a coworkers Canon G10 and underwater housing to shoot photos for a story about the Chaparall High School girls swim team. In the past, I have shot underwater photos with a Nikonos underwater film camera where you have to focus using the distance scale. The underwater housing allowed me to compose the picture and follow focus using the screen on the back of the camera. The buttons on the housing allowed me to easily turn the flash on and off when I needed it. The waterproof houseing I used was the Canon WP-DC28. I went into the assignment planning on shooting everything RAW. I figured out after the fact that the camera was set to Large JPG. I was surprised at the quality. Not bad for 400 ISO on a point and shoot.

Pat Shannahan
@pshannahan

Ramadan Class

I made this picture while photographing a class at the Phoenix Metro Islamic School, in Tempe, Ariz. The kids were learning about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The boy in the picture kept teasing and playing around with the girl sitting behind him. She on the other hand, was not pleased with his silliness. I thought it was a fun, playful moment.\

Pat Shannahan

Longevity

Doctors at the Sun Health Research institute are finishing up a study looking at longevity and what things people who live long healthy lives have in common. Recently I had the chance to photograph several patients participating in the study. I photographed 92-year-old Doug Morrill as he did his daily weight lifting exercises and 106-year-old Catherine Mehan. The common factors the study found that led to healthy lives are: good diet and exercise, active social networks, ability to overcome hardships, and religious beliefs.

Click here to read the story in The Arizona Republic.

Pat Shannahan
@pshannahan

Havasupai Waterfalls, a Year After the Flash Flood of 2008.

Havasupai Falls - Images by Pat Shannahan

They almost don't look real. The shades of aqua blue and green look like they belong more in a swanky resort pool than in the Grand Canyon. One resident of the Supai village told the reporter I was with, that tourists have asked about what time of day they turn off the waterfalls. You can hardly blame them, but this is all Mother Nature. Disney couldn't do a better job.

I backpacked into Havasupai with Arizona Republic reporter Dennis Wagner to work on a story about the condition of the area a year after a major flash flood in August 2008 forced more than 400 people to evacuate. The tribe closed the area until June 2009 to repair the damage to the trails, bridges, cemetery and campground. The flood rerouted Havasu Creek away from Navajo Falls, leaving it dry. It made Fifty-Foot Falls bigger and created a new waterfall that is temporarily called Rock Falls. Water now only flows from one of the channels in Havasu Falls. Mooney Falls, which is taller than Niagra Falls, now has a larger swimming area.

In addition to still images, I also shot some 360-degree interactive panoramic images that you can see on AZCentral.com.

So you can get an idea of the power of one of these flash floods, I included a video I found on YouTube of Havasu Fall shot during the flash flood by AOA Adventure Tour Company guide Jon Opem.

Pat Shannahan
www.patshannahan.com

www.patshannahan.com/panoramics

www.stepintoaz.com
@pshannahan

Earp/Holliday Mustache and Beard Contest

Earp and Holliday Mustache and Beard Contest - Images by Pat Shannahan

It was a proud day for facial hair. Men young and old came from all over The Valley to show off their chops, soup strainers, and Wyatt Earps in the Earp-Holliday Mustache Contest at the Goldfield Ghost Town in Apache Junction. The contest was part of AJ's celebration for National Day of the Cowboy. What a collection of characters. I set up a white background and lights and tried to make portraits of all the contestants. Everyone had their own style. Some were dressed in costumes, others came as themselves. This was so much fun to shoot. I tried to capture a bit of their personality, as well as the detail and texture in their faces and mustaches. Who would you have picked as the winner?

Pat Shannahan
@pshannahan
www.patshannahan.com