William Rugen Photography

Tr-State Fair, Amarillo, TX

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:55 -0700

So finally I have gotten to the last of the fall tour images. This brings together a lot of thing I like: state fairs, graphic elements, strong colors and corn dogs.

I also have a strong interest in the way the American flag is used these days. It is used as a way to "prove" your patriotism, it is used as a way to show how you are more genuine than others, it is constantly used cynically as a way to draw people into your business, and it is used on trash cans endlessly. I remember when I was a kid, which admittedly was a long time ago, there was a big debate about people using the flag on their clothing and how that was un-American. We've come a long way I guess.

Lordsburg Redux

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:08 -0700

On my first Go Tour (TM) I went through Lordsburg, NM. It was the first place I really attempted to use my medium format camera extensively. Mistakes were made. Lots of film was sacrificed. I had planned to revisit over the past couple years but had not quite made it work. This year I made the effort. I did my usual Small Town Drive-Thru (Patent Pending) and knew I wanted to do something related to the trains that run through town. I took couple wrong turns here and there and found this great vantage point. It was the usual dance of trying to find the right spot and the usual framing questions. in the truck bed, out of the truck bed, viewing down, leveling the camera, etc until I settled on this. I liked it quite a bit and tried a couple variations with cars on the road but decided I would shoot it without. So I reframed, refocused, shot a frame and as I put the lens cap on, as if this was the magical cue, the train pulled out of the station.

Midland, TX

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:50 -0700

You can see Midland from a long way away. It sits out on the west Texas plains like some man-made mountain. It seems like you are looking at it for a very long time before you get there much. I imagine this is similar to what the pioneers experienced with the Rocky Mountains on their westward move. When you get there it is a relief. Not because it it some fantastic place but rather because you have finally gotten there, finally reached that destination you have been able to see for so long. Now you have a whole new set of issues, but at least that bit of the journey is behind you.

As I stood on this overpass people kept honking at me, a strange phenomena I think a lot of photographers experience. Why are they honking? Do they know me? Do they want to warn me they are driving by and to not step off the sidewalk? Do they want me to know they are watching me? Do they hope I will get startled and fall off the bridge? seriously, I am confounded.

Presidio, TX

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:42 -0700

I have been intrigued with Presidio, Texas, since the first time I saw a photo of it in Stephen Shore's "Uncommon Places". In his photo a man and dog are out on a dirt street next to a chain link fence. A mountain range looms in the distance and Presidio looks like it is at the absolute end of the road. As if America has simply come to a dead end. I always wondered if the fence was what passed as the border with Mexico. After I took a couple loops around town I am not sure how much it has really changed in the 36 years since he took the picture. Certainly more tract homes, the fence is certainly bigger and it is quite apparent that the border patrol is the largest employer in the area. But there are still many little dirt roads that seem to end in Mexico. There is still plenty of dust and plenty of dogs roaming the streets.

I had lost the level I use for my camera so I stopped at the lumber store on the main drag. An older hispanic man in nice slacks and a short sleeve button shirt helped me find what I needed and I asked him how long he had lived in Presidio, wondering who would move here and why. He told me he had lived there his whole life except for when he was in the service. I found out his family on his mother's side had lived in Presidio since the mid-1700s and his father's side, one of the first white's to move to the area, had been there since just after the Civil War. We passed some more time talking about the heat (because there was a lot of it) and other photographers who had passed through town. He talked a bit about his family and how his kids had moved away.

After leaving, while having some lunch just a couple doors down from his store, I wondered what would keep a family in one spot for so long. Presidio isn't some garden spot or some lovely seaside town, it is in fact a dusty, forgotten town in the middle of nowhere. What are the forces that keep us rooted or cast us out on the road looking for something better. I thought about it for most of the day as I drove north looking for more pictures.

The Power of the Hidden Horizon

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:20 -0700

I have a firm belief that most landscape images would be much better off without the horizon, especially when the sky only takes up about a third of the image. Usually this adds little or no interest to the image, and honestly, I often find it distracting and boring. I will put my hand over the sky to test this theory and usually find less is more interesting. I shot this image a few times with different light conditions and on the last exposure included the sky. It totally changed the feel and purpose of the picture, making it look more like a fairly boring postcard. Now you may find this image trite too, but for me it becomes more about the graphical nature of nature and less about "been there and shot that" nature of landscape photography.

Die Hard

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:29 -0700

When I was at the Navajo County Fair it rained on and off during the day. And by rained I mean deluged. It would pour, the sun would come out, clouds would gather and it would pour. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. When I came back in the evening ($4 got you in all day), just as I was getting the gear out of the car, another flooding took place. After about 20 minutes the rain finally subsided leaving big red clay puddles everywhere for me to step in.

Luckily for me lots of folks made the trek back out, ready to ride the rides. Later that night there was a demolition derby and as I was walking from my hotel to dinner, about a mile away, I could hear the announcers at the fairgrounds. It sounded a lot like the end of summer.

Navajo County Fair and Rodeo, Holbrook, AZ

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:18 -0700

The Rodeo: Bucking broncos, calf roping and steer wrestling, barrel racing, clowns getting thrown about by angry bulls. Just some of the dynamic and exciting things you can see at the rodeo and I took exactly zero pictures of any of them. I took a picture of the muddy rodeo ring after a rainstorm. I took a picture of some puffy clouds. An extension cord. The directions to the restrooms. A blue tarp. A bunch of advertisements that somehow don't seem crass even though they are plastered everywhere. An arena waiting to become alive with folks eating hot dogs, drinking beer and cheering a traveling band of cowboys. An area that seems electric to me even though no one is around. A small town coming together for the last day of summer.

I don't know, it seems very exciting to me.

Flower Judging, Navajo County Fair, Holbrook, AZ

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:17 -0700

There was nothing that was going to stop me from taking this picture, including the two ladies from the Navajo County Organic Farmer's Market who were sitting at the table I was shooting directly over. They were very gracious about moving their heads out of the way and I was grateful enough that I would have gone to their market and bought some produce. You know, if I actually liked vegetables.

Squash Judging, Navajo County Fair, Holbrook, AZ

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:24 -0700

I must say, even though they had a lovely old school building with lots of knotty pine displays, they really need to help a photographer out and get some much better lighting in this place. The bright window-light and deep shadows barely filled with very yellow halogen light is killing me.

Luckily there was a fantastic green chile burger stand just outside to make me feel better about my tribulations.

The Road To Show Low

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:57 -0700

I remember the first time I went to Show Low, AZ. I knew it had been named after an epic card game that, depending on which story you believe, either decided its first mayor or decided which cowboy needed to leave town. Either way that gave it a very American West feel to me. I was looking forward to a town steeped in the old west making a transition to the new west. I liked the idea of that intersection. Sadly, Show Low is a very nice little town with lots of pine trees, a main drag, affordable hotels and a good steak house. Not so much what I was looking for though.

This year I was headed from Globe to Holbrook, via Show Low on AZ 60/US 77. I can tell you this is in fact a beautiful drive and this time I even managed to take a picture.