Desert art: Photography

For today's dispatch on the La Quinta Arts Festival, I'm focusing on photography. (Sorry about that pun.) There were 20 artists listed under photography, but these two really caught my eye -- one for his luscious flowers and the other for his unique "low aerial" landscapes.

Photographer Roger Isabell of La Quinta, CA, with his "Pink Mary Rose."

Roger Isabell, above, has the good fortune to live in La Quinta, where he nurtures his own rose garden as well as photographing flowers where ever he finds them. (His brochure is titled "In Search of the Perfect Flower.")

He takes digital photos, isolates the parts of the images he wants to keep, and either prints a single gorgeous bloom (like the one above) or combines them into incredible arrangements that you would swear were oil paintings. Go to his website, http://rogerisabell.com/index.cfm , and prepare to be blown away!

I fell in love with the "Pink Mary Rose," above, and bought a smaller matted print. While I'm here on vacation it's going to stay propped up in front of my television, because I'd much rather look at it than a TV screen.

Photographer Steve Keating of Port Orchard, WA, with his aerial landscapes.

Steve Keating's booth initially caught my eye because it looked like the bottom photo was taken at the Nisqually wetlands up in my neck of the woods in Washington. Turns out, it was! And Steve lives just up the road from me in Port Orchard, WA.

When he said his work is "low-level aerial," I mistakenly thought he meant from an airplane flying at low levels. What he actually does is raise his camera on a telescoping pole up to about 50 feet. He says he likes panoramic shots because that's the way we naturally see the land around us. Take a look at his website, http://steve-keating.com/index.html, for some more incredible examples.

AND, he just opened an exhibit back in Gig Harbor at Brix 25, where you can see his work in person and have a fine dinner.

More desert dispatches coming soon!

Have a colorful day