My Holga on a Lonesome Highway in the White Mountains

There is just something about a camera with a plastic lens. These images were made with my plastic Holga camera and some Kodak 160 VC film. I really love the dreamy feeling a Holga can give an image. It makes photos that look like memories, a little fuzzy around the edges. These images were made up in the Arizona White Mountains. My Holga and my Mamiya C330 are becoming my favorite cameras for landscape photography. I really like the medium format negative the produce, and sometimes it just nice to use a fixed lens on a film camera. Having to wait to see the results is added fun.

Pat Shannahan

www.patshannahan.com

www.stepintoaz.com

@pshannahan  Twitter

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

Saying Goodbye--- Troop Deployment

Troop Deployment - Images by Pat Shannahan

On Thursday I photographed the Phoenix-based 3666th Support Maintenance Company as they deployed to Iraq. I grew up an Army kid. While my dad never had to deploy to war, I do remember what it was like for him to leave for weeks at a time to go on maneuvers. On this assignment I tried to concentrate on capturing moments of families saying goodbye.

Pat Shannahan
@pshannahan
www.patshannahan.com

360 Degree Interactive Kayaking Photos

CLICK HERE TO SEE A SET OF 360 DEGREE INTERACTIVE PHOTOS FROM GLEN CANYON

The Colorado Rive is well known for it's white water rapids and rafting trips that can take several weeks to finish. Most people don't know that there is a place near the Grand Canyon where the Colorado River runs smooth and calm through towering canyons, and you don't need a permit to enjoy it. Just north of Lees Ferry, where the Colorado River rafting trips through the Grand Canyon start, is Glen Canyon. For $40, Colorado River Discoveries will take you and your kayak up-river from Lees Ferry to the Glen Canyon Dam. From the dam it's a 14-mile trip back to Lees Ferry. The trip can be done as a day trip or as an over night camping trip. My friend Chris and I decided to take our time and camp at one of the six camping spots. Each campsite has a bathroom and fire ring. We stayed at a spot that was on the south side of Horseshoe Bend, which we had seen the previous day from the top of the cliffs. In the morning, the calm water reflected the cliff walls making it feel as if I was gliding on top of a mirror. It was several hours before we encountered any other people. One of the thing I like about this trip was that we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Other than the occasional tour or fishing boat we didn't run across many other people. The roughest water we experienced was the wake from passing boats.

For more information about activities at Glen Canyon click here.

Check out My New Website

Please take some time to check out my new web site at www.patshannahan.com. My friend Dan Kempton recently built it for me. We're still fine tuning it, so any feedback would be great. If you want to go right to the panoramic VR photography you can go to www.stepintoaz.com. The website hosts my photojournalism portfolio, documentary work along the U.S. /Mexico Border, a galley of interactive panoramic images, videos, and portraits.

Thanks for the feedback.
Pat

Alien Jellyfish Lands in Phoenix

Today I photographed the opening of Phoenix's new Downtown Civic Space Park. The main feature of the park is a big sculpture of hanging nets titled "Her Secret is Patience". You are welcome to make your own decisions about the art. This was our first chance to make images of the new artwork with people around it. The first photo shows the sculpture with the Valley Ho in the background. The Ho is a well known old feature in downtown Phoenix that at one time was a hotel that presidents stayed while visiting AZ. The other shows the park with people.

Story for the Birds

I spent the morning with two biologists with the Arizona Game and Fish Department as they tagged, weighed and measured two baby bald eagles near the Rio Verde River. It was amazing to see the size of the nest.

Pano from Tom's Thumb Trail

On Tuesday, I was able to hike the new Tom's Thumb Trail in the McDowell Mountains. The trail is part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. A team of trail builders spent 6 months working on this trail, camping out at the base of the mountain. It's a good hike. It will get your heart pumping. The first pano is taken from about half way up. The second pano shows the view from next to Tom's Thumb.

Click Here to View 360-degree Interactive Photo

Interactive Views From the Border

UPDATE----- I just added a new view to the border fence pano project. This one is from Nogales, Sonora.

CLICK HERE to take you to a 360-degree interactive view of several parts of the fence along the Arizona/ Mexico border. I just updated it with full-screen buttons to make it more interesting. These were taken from several spots in the desert around Naco and Douglas, Arizona. There is a lot of talk about the border fence but many people don't know what it actually looks like. Here it is.

Panos
I've really been getting into panorama photography. It's an excellent way of communicating a sense of place. For those interested in learning more about pano vr photography, I have complied a list of my favorite pano links.

VRMag is a collection of free online issues full of wonderful panoramas. This is a great place to get info and inspiration.

The Panoramist is a blog by photojournalist Gary O'Brien of The Charlotte Observer. He has a lot of great links and useful information on equipment and software. Gary was nice enough to spend an evening with a co-worker and I pointing us in the right direction on how to use the software and shooting techniques.

I'm really inspired by the panorama work of Bernd Dohrmann. His Starry Night pano is simply beautiful. It's shot at dawn and he has drawn in all of the constelations. has connected all of the constellations together. His site has a great collection of panos that really put you in the middle of the action. Worth viewing.

Panoguide is a great how-to site. The regulars in their forums are helpful and quick to answer questions.

Photojournalist Zach Wise has an interesting pano shot of the neon boneyard in Las Vegas. He also has a good intro to panoramas and list of links.

Great Story

Here is a link to a great story about 19-year-old Jennifer Marlowe, who has cancer. The story is about her passion for photography and the people who are working to make her dream come true. Anyone who loves photography can relate to her quote "When I take pictures," Jennifer said, "I feel like everything around me disappears." This story is well worth reading.

Pat

Protest Panorama

Last night I was assigned to cover a war protest in Tempe. The protest was held on top of a bridge on ASU's Tempe campus that stretches over University Drive. I haven't done a pano in a while so I figured it might be a good chance to do one with people in it. Click here to check it out.

All-Star Game at 1/15th of a Second

The NBA All-Star game was in town recently. We covered the game with five shooters and an on-site editor. There were a ton of photographer shooting the game. There were two rows of photogs on the base boards and remotes hung from every available spot. My job was to shoot from the concourse and seating levels with a long lens. After I had taken a bunch of action photos I decided that I'd try and make something different so I slowed the shutter down to 1/15th of a second and panned along with the players. It's nice when things work out.