Craig Stuart's Biography

and Information about his Arizona, Utah, and Southwest Photography.

There is much to be said about the mountains and the oceans, I’ve lived with and loved them for many years. In the early 80’s I was fortunate to take a photography trip to Bryce and Zion National Parks. I returned several more times and eventually the warm, clear air and spectacular vistas became too much to resist and I moved to Northern Arizona.

During my early photography exploits, I always enjoyed available light situations, usually indoors. The task of carrying lighting equipment didn’t always fit the situation, and the result was that it was time to learn how to hand hold slow shutter speeds. Being “quiet” is paramount but very hard to accomplish if there is a stunning, awesome shot in front of you. Or you’ve just climbed the sandy hill to the Wave and are so out of breath that you have to sit down for a minute, heart pumping away. With today's image stabilization systems and low light sensitivity, taking pictures in the dark slots and during treks has become much easier.

If you have not had the opportunity to visit Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, and other fantastic areas of the Southwest including Antelope Canyon, it is hoped that these photographs will create the desire to make travel plans.

Some Technical Points

Most of these pictures were taken with a Sony digital SLR and the factory 18mm to 200mm lens. The set-up is a one notch increase on contrast and sharpness and I also use the “Vivid” picture mode. When shooting the red rocks I use a red enhancing filter, not a red filter in the 20 series. The enhancer lets the correct blue and green colors to come through while saturating the red spectrum. It is almost clear, so you do not loose much light transmission, as opposed to polarizing or pure red filters. I start bracketing with exposure values just on the dark side but find that most of the images shot at neutral have the best color and brightness. I do not use the saturation tools in the computer software, I owe the colors to the enhancing filter, and it also makes it easy to download and print since most of the processes you would use are taken care of by the filter at the “front end”. For images with strong foreground subjects, I bracket by using a small aperture and taking shots by focusing just behind the foreground object and then one right in front of the background.

Move, move, move and get as close to your subject as you can, remembering safety always.

If you do get the opportunity to visit Arizona, Utah, and the Southwest, please know that the traveling distances can be great and prepare with this in mind.