Picture Stories by Stephen Alvarez

Studio Strobes outside

One of the things that I love about living on the Cumberland Plateau is trail running in the winter time. The woods are open and light, but it is a hard thing to make a picture of. Runners tend to fade into the woods. In this photograph I've used studio strobes to brighten the runners and lift them out of the frame. Studio strobes are wonderful things to take out of the studio. They let you overpower daylight and brighten the subject.

Pink Rope, Alam Kuh, Iran

Above, a climber packs his rope before attempting Alam Kuh's German Ridge. 

I am packing today too, except for a week in Washington at the annual photographer's meeting, not of a climbing trip. It is always inspirational to see my colleagues. We work largely alone so this is the only chance we have to look at pictures, compare notes and swap stories. 

Stephen Alvarez

Sewanee, TN

Visual Diary, the first photo of 2013

above, the first photo of 2013 a flock of birds fly over downtown Wilmington, NC

I'm in Wilmington, NC for the start of the new year. Its the end of a vacation and the start of the new years work. My family and I spent the day wandering around downtown looking for ice cream, oysters and a place to shoot an author portrait tomorrow. I think we found all 3.

Happy New Year!

Stephen Alvarez

Wilmington, NC

Is the world ending today? Probably not but the Maya Long Count Calendar is.

above, a Maya cave ceremony at Naj Tunich, Guatemala

December 20 2012 marks the end of the current Maya Long Count calendar. So will the world end tonight? Well the calendar certainly does and it is an extraordinarily long calendar. The current calendar started August 11, 3114 BCE. So what happens tomorrow?

Fire and Brimstone? Planet X colliding with the earth? Instagram seizing user identities? Other unspeakable horrors?

Oak trees and stars from 12-13-12 in the Unicoi Mountains

Oak trees stars in the Unicoi Mountains, NC. 

I was planning on shooting a time lapse of this image but the frost was just too heavy. No amount of attention would keep the lens clear as ice built up on the camera. The frost was so heavy I am not certain that even a set of dew zappers would have worked. 

On instagram and facebook few people have asked about the technical specs of this image so here it is.