Dumont Dunes

Dumont Dunes, Death Valley

'Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and moving toward a creative goal that shimmers in the distance - often visible to us, but invisible to those around us'......Julia Cameron 


These dunes are new to me - first time there. I had heard about them so I sought them out last Sunday while cruising around the Death Valley area. It was love at first sight when I pulled up to these dunes - problem was they had been through a weekend of off-road vehicles chewing up the pristine sand. I decided to make a few images and see what I could do to turn the tracks into texture, which in the end I felt good about.

The areas in and around Las Vegas and Death Valley are ripe with imagery - well worth a trip if you are in the area...

Las Vegas,Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon, Panoramic 

Stopped off at Red Rock Canyon on the way back to Vegas on Sunday and caught some decent light. This post is a three image stitch using my Canon 5DMKII and photoshopCS5 (have not had the chance to play with 6 yet). 

Ireland, Farm Buildings

Ireland, Farm Buildings

When I first saw this scene I fell in love with the color and the cloudy sky. Also liked the juxtaposition of the background mountain against the foreground buildings. .

 After importing the raw image it just did not live up to what my mind was telling me I saw at capture - I don't really like the word capture but can't think of another word at the moment. Frankly, I am of the mindset that one can vaguely remember the color, but not exactly like it was.  - yes there are those who will say they can.

In the end the iamge seems to work being a bit more organic - I do prefer the detail in the less subtle color

The image below is right after import....

Orignal IMage

Still Dancing

'Dancing: the vertical expression of a horizontal desire legalized by music'......George Bernard Shaw

Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars 2008

This image is from the opening of the Dancing with the Stars Tour in 2008. The first show was in San Diego and then went on to tour the United States for two months....Try as I might simply can not remember who this is.....

Kenny Aronoff, Drummer

Drummer Kenny Aronoff

Hitting the way-back time machine today. This image from the mid-nineties made in Bloomington, Indiana when Kenny was drumming for John Mellencamp. At the time I was Mr. Mellencamp's Tour Manager and we were making images for a book that would be sold on the upcoming tour. I was in a 4x5 camera phase at the time and albeit this image slightly soft I have always wanted to see it finished - and that has now been accomplished.

Kenny has played with John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Chickenfoot and so many others. He is also a session drummer and I am sure on more then a few albums or CD's in your collection. Check out the Kenny Aronoff website for more information.

Death Valley Sunrise

Sunrise, Death Valley

'How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!'....John Muir

Modern Technology

Reworked Image

It is great to be making and processing images with the technology that we have at our disposal today. There are so many choices at our fingertips to make our images conform to what we see in our head - and I am not talking manipulation per se - just having the ability to make changes in a short period of time that would have taken hours in the darkroom - and PS, it is done with the lights on. And there are always those who complain vehemently against new technology but it is here to stay......Hey, it happened when Dylan went electric and music is still around...it is happening now with the iPhone right down to those who believe images should only be processed on the iPhone or iPad...I get it but why stifle your art with limitations - the very meaning of being creative is to use whatever it takes to get to the final image in your head....OK, I am done now....this is not the theme for today...

The image today is circa 1972. It sat in a shoebox grave for many years - I simply was unable to make the print I saw in my head....and then several years ago I got into Photoshop.....still took awhile to figure it out but I finally got this image to a place that resonated for me...Ha to move bit and pieces around inside the image but in the end was able to make the save....

Original Tri-X Image

The original was made using a Nikon F Series Camera and tri-x film moved into the digital world using an Imacon/Hasselblad scanner..

Ireland, Ballybunion Beach

Ballybunion Beach, Ireland

'There's room at the top they're telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill'.....John Lennon, Working Class Hero

I am never quite sure what he motivation is for me to post an image with a quote....they just seem to appear so I follow the lead....This image has been posted in color some time ago...Today it changed...

Belfast Political Murals

Belfast Mural 

On the last trip to Ireland I took the Black Taxi tour of what was once war torn Belfast. Our driver told stories of growing up during the more turbulent times in the Republican and Loyalist areas - somewhat like battlefield tourism. I doubt very much that any particular driver will not have an opinion, albeit biased, of the many political murals that cover the walls and homes in these areas. I asked my driver what would happen if someone did not want a murla on their house to which he replied, 'then they need to move'...

These neighborhoods are safe today as much as the black taxi's want to tell you otherwise - they do, however, know which areas to avoid on any given day....Well worth the cost.

This image, according to our driver, is a mural of how this all got started. Of course a bit of shameless promotion added...

Leaving for Cape May today for two days of shooting with a friend....

Ireland, Birthday Rainbow

Birthday Rainbow, Irealnd

What a way to spend my birthday - tooling around Ireland looking for images....And I get a birthday rainbow......these rainbows just show up - they seem to materialize out of the mist.......alas no pot of gold - but still looking......

Irish Pony

Irish Pony

 Been doing a good deal of driving the past few days.....not much processing/looking at image time due to lack of sleep......As mention spent most of Sunday touring up in the Inishowen Peninsula. On Monday made the drive from Derry (Londonderry) to the Cong area...Today it was south to Limerick making several stops in the Partry Mountains - Finny area just outside of Cong. Must have seen minimum 10 rainbows - they are elusive - here one minute gone the next...managed to get one good image but that is for another time......tomorrow is exploring the Dingle area - I hear there are some pretty neat places to shoot....Have I mentioned how good the food is in Ireland.....that alone is worth the price of an airplane ticket...

The image today is from last Sunday up on the northern coast of Ireland - saw this pony out of the corner of my eye standing down in the field and was immediately attracted by the colors...made an immediate u-turn and went back....glad I did...one of my favorite images from the trip...

Only three days left.......went much too fast....

Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi

This image from the opening of the new Meadowlands Stadium last year....

Coney Island Pier

Coney Island Pier

Coney Island - Morning Fog

Coney Island - AM Fog

I really enjoy walking on the beach on a cool foggy morning -  always create an much diffrent perception of the beach when the fog rolls in - creates something very different to photograph....Reminds me of a quote a friend sent me awhile back...

'I do not want to end up simply having visited this world'.....

Carmel, Indiana

Carmel, Indiana

On the road traveling to Indiana....Seems like I spend a good deal of time out there these days - who knew! The image today is from the car show in Carmel, Indiana a few weeks back....

My blog is still w=out of whack - going to have to reload every image one at a time....Http://HarrySandler.com is still up and running....And I have added a print purchase page.....

Missing Images

Indianapolis BBQ

A few weeks back I was in Indiana and got terribly lost trying to find the Jazzfest location. All the corners had 'no left turn' signs and, of course , that was precisely what I was trying to do.  So I made a right turn and this oasis of BBQ appeared in my windshield. It looked so PERFECT (the firewood outside did help) I simply had to stop. And I was not dis-appointed....Going back to Indiana this week and hopefully will be able to find this again......you can almost smell how good this was.

On a separate note, there is an issue with my blog where all of the images have dis-appeared. I inadvertently deleted a Picaso Photo Album where these images were stored - I was not aware that images for this blog were stored there....Something for all blogger on this platform to understand. I am working to replace as many as possible as quickly as I can....THANKS