A guest blogger - enjoy his stunning photos
Neil Golub is the Operations Manager for the Martha Stewart Radio Channel on SiriusXM and has been with MSLO since August of 2006.
Last week, when I was at the Sirius/XM studio doing my radio show Ask Martha, I managed to have a look at some beautiful photos that Neil took on his recent vacation, visiting some of our national treasures in the western part of the country.
I thought they were amazing and wanted to share them with everyone. Please join me in welcoming guest blogger Neil Golub! I look forward to seeing more of his work.
Neil in his own words:
I was exposed to Classic movies at an early age by my father and one day I went to see
a double feature at the famed Ziegfeld Theater in NYC.....this was around 1989
I went to see Stagecoach with John Wayne (1939) and Fort Apache with
Henry Fonda (1948)
Both movies were directed by John Ford....Ford used Monument Valley, Utah as his
backdrop for many of his Westerns.....after seeing those movies...I promised myself that I would go there in person one day.
Even though these movies were shot in Black and White....I found them visually stunning.
I got into photography because of my dad...
I remember playing in the street...seeing him walking down the block in his suit with his newspaper under his arm, running into the house to change clothes and grab his
camera. I would grab my little Kodak camera that used 110 film and he used a Konica 35mm.
We would jump into the car to chase the sunset.....we fought Brooklyn
traffic to get to the Verrazano Bridge just in time to get the perfect shot.
Sometimes we didn't make it in time!
We also took trips to Bear Mountain State Park in Upstate NY, to take pictures of the fall foliage.
I also fondly remember setting up a darkroom in our garage...that
garage was dark and cold.....perfect for a makeshift darkroom...
As I grew up, I would take photos of my travels and at concerts....
My father died while I was in college and when I came home...I picked up his camera equipment and starting taking pictures....taking more serious pictures....trying to get better
I definitely felt a connection to him while I was taking pictures....and I still do. It was a part of my healing process after he died.
As the years progressed, I started realizing that I had some talent for it and was often complimented on my photos by friends and family.
Being part of MSLO means that you are exposed to a lot of talented people and I have showed some of my recent photos to various people around the company.
I was encouraged to post my photos on Flickr. At first I was sort of reluctant to do so because photography, for me, was always a personal and sometimes private endeavor...
Since posting on Flickr, I have had an amazing amount of positive feedback and it has exposed my work to all kinds of people and organizations.
Sadly, I'm starting to move towards going all digital...might be putting my 1979 Nikon FE on the shelf.
I have always been a purist when it came to taking pictures....Film was the way to go....but with all the new advances in digital cameras and software...its hard to hold onto the old ways!
I am extremely proud of the photos that I am sharing with you today! These photos are from my recent trip to Utah and Arizona (Monument Valley, The Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Arches National Park)
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them.
1 Grand Canyon, South Rim - taken with Lumix LX3
2 Grand Canyon, South Rim, mid morning - taken with Lumix LX3
3 Grand Canyon, AZ, South Rim, hiking mid morning - taken with Lumix LX3
4 Grand Canyon, AZ, South Rim, hiking down - taken with Lumix LX3
5 Grand Canyon, AZ, South Rim - taken with Lumix LX3
6 Grand Canyon, AZ, hiking, South Rim - taken with Lumix LX3
7 Grand Canyon, AZ, South Rim - taken with Lumix LX3 using Fisheye Lens
8 Arches National Park, Utah - taken with Nikon FE
9 Arches National Park, Utah, Balancing Rock - taken with Lumix LX3
10 Arches National Park, Utah, South Window - taken with Lumix LX3
11 Wilson's Arch, Utah, near sunset - taken with Lumix LX3
12 Monument Valley, Utah, mid morning, Wildcat Trail - taken with Lumix LX 3
13 Monument Valley, Utah, on the Valley Drive, near sunset - taken with Lumix LX3
14 Monument Valley, Utah, just after Sunrise, east mittens - taken with Lumix LX3
15 Monument Valley, Utah, morning, hiking on Wildcat Trail - taken with Lumix LX3
16 Monument Valley, Utah, Wildcat Trail - taken with Lumix LX3
17 Monument Valley, Utah - taken with Lumix LX3 using Fisheye Lens
18 Monument Valley, Utah, after sunrise, East Mittens - taken with Lumix LX3
19 Monument Valley, Utah, sunrise, East Mittens - taken with Lumix LX3
20 Monument Valley, Utah, sunrise, East Mitten - taken with Lumix LX3
21 Monument Vally, Utah, East Mitten, sunset - taken with Lumix LX3
22 Monument Valley, Utah, walking on Wildcat Trail - taken with Lumix LX3
23 Antelope Canyon, AZ, mid morning, lower canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
24 Antelope Canyon, AZ , morning, upper canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
25 Antelope Canyon, AZ, Upper Canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
26 Antelope Canyon, AZ, mid morning, upper canon - taken with Lumix LX3
27 Antelope Canyon, AZ, lower canyon - taken with Lumix LX 3
28 Antelope Canyon, AZ , lower canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
29 Antelope Canyon, mid afternoon, lower canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
30 Antelope Canyon, AZ, Upper Canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
31 Antelope Canyon, AZ, Upper Canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
32 Antelope Canyon AZ, Lower Canyon - taken with Lumix LX3
I have always been interested in photographs. I've been a regular subscriber to all things National Geographic so I have seen impeccable photos over time. But I have never seen anything like some of these- I simply did not know that could be done. They are not breathtaking- they are enthralling; I felt my brain trying to decide how to interpret them, what they could be compared to. What a worthwhile hobby to pursue. I look forward to learning more.
Posted by: Stephanie R. Ireland | December 9th, 2009 at 2:18 am
Neil, your photos are breathtaking! Sorry to hear about the loss of your dad.
*
Thanks for letting him share these Martha.
*
Have a gr8 day to both of you.
Posted by: K L Brown | December 9th, 2009 at 3:09 am
Neil has certainly captured the surprise and the intensity of color at Arches, Antelope Valley & the Grand Canyon. (Did the strange bugs unique to Arches bite you?) Don't give away that Nikon FE. My daughter teaches photo developing at a large university --- she tells me that the college students appreciate & are fascinated by photos on film, rather than digital. It's all tools, digital or film. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. You have great eyes for finding the beauty of this world.
Posted by: Penny | December 9th, 2009 at 4:12 am
OMG! Absolutely stunning!! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jay | December 9th, 2009 at 9:23 am
positively stunning...thank you for the gift of viewing them!
Posted by: janice | December 9th, 2009 at 9:36 am
With a beautiful winter wonderland outside my New Hampshire window and logging on to Martha's site with the canyons.....the real and the unimaginable. What a wonderful way to begin my day.
Posted by: Nancy Hamann | December 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Great to see these pictures of the west.
Matianne Wiggins wrote book about one of the first photographers of the west SHADOW CATCHER.
Curtis may have had to stage Indians and their culture that was ending but we are all fotunate that he did use his camera recording history. Martha, Remember what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...
Posted by: ann | December 9th, 2009 at 9:39 am
hello martha..... i from malaysia... i always watching your tv program...i very enjoy and also very interesting to me....
Posted by: siti nor zarina bt othman | December 9th, 2009 at 9:44 am
gorgeous photos!
Posted by: Katie | December 9th, 2009 at 10:17 am
As a quilter I was drawn to the various colors on the sandstone surfaces. Same sandstone, different times of day, different light, different color..... expanding possiblities in thread!!
Posted by: Susan | December 9th, 2009 at 10:20 am
wow, neil!
these are truly stunning photographs. i am particularly fond of those sultry antelope canyon shots. delicious and inviting!
so martha, is he single? "we're always looking!"
thanks for a beautiful start to my otherwise gloomy, rainy day in ny!
Posted by: danielle | December 9th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Thanks Neil for sharing your beautiful, beautiful photos! Monument Valley reminds me the most of those old western movies, my favorites, and I always wanted to ride a horse through rocky hills just to hear the clomping of the horses’ hooves. My favorite sound! I especially love the photos you took with the fisheye lens and can almost hear the director saying “cut” as the scene fades away. I think I would be most interested in seeing Monument Valley but those upper and lower Antelope Canyons are a sight to behold also. Wow, you got right down in or near those crevices didn’t you, and your other views of the sky are absolutely stunning.
~
Thanks so much for sharing and in particular, the photos of the Grand Canyon. I cannot see myself visiting because the heights and enormity of it just scares the wits out of me. I would never hike down the South Rim or even peer over the edge. That’s just too high up for me! Well, keep up the excellent work, Neil, and hopefully Martha will ask you to share more of your photos with us again. Trish
Posted by: Trish | December 9th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I cannot find the words to describe those pictures. Thank you for posting.
To think that Utah is my neighboring state! I need to go out and see our beautifil National Parks more often.
Posted by: Norbie | December 9th, 2009 at 11:31 am
My most favorite photo is the very first one, capturing all the colors and striations in the rock formations, and the rest in the gallery - well, fabulous isn't enough of a superlative to properly and deservedly describe them! You definitely have a gift, Neil, and how neat that your dear father passed down this passion and 'joie de vivre' to you...you will carry it and him in your heart the rest of your life!
~
Any friend of Martha's is surely a friend of her devoted following (ahem - that's me and several others you'll find here each and every day), so we welcome you, Neil, with open arms, and Martha, thanks for sharing him with us today! You already are aware of the polished gems that are on your staff, and Neil definitely is one of them!
~
Grace and peace always,
=^..^=
Posted by: Cindy Bricker | December 9th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
What a wonderful story to read from Neil. How honest and humble. I am hearing all the great artists saying "sadly" I am turning to digital. One famous artist made the comment "it is easy to machine gun the camera and then suffer the consequences at the computer screen".
What a great great photographer.
Thanks so much for sharing Neil's work.
Posted by: Margie | December 9th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Stunning pictures Neil - quite stunning! I don't think I have ever seen pictures quite as strikingly beautiful as these.
I know you are sad to leave behind your father's camera but he sounds like the type of man that would have embraced the new technology, eager to discover the 'new' world beyond the lens.
I think the true mark of a great photographer is not the camera itself but the photographer's 'eye' for the picture and you sir have that 'eye' in spades!
Thank you Martha for encouraging Neil to share his work with the rest of us!
Posted by: Donna Olson | December 9th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
His story, I think, speaks as loud as his photos. They are both beautiful. I can see why he is your guest blogger.
I hope he continues to take at lease some pictures with his old Nikon FE camera and not just digital.
Posted by: Dorothy Pierce | December 9th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Stephanie Ireland's comment "enthralling" best describes these photo's so far in my opinion. They are truly spellbinding and have such grandeur about them.
Please don't put that '79' Nikon FE too far back on the shelf. She's not ready for retirement yet!
Posted by: Becky HK | December 9th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Neil, your photographs are stunning, breathtaking, and gorgeous. I felt like I was standing there alongside you when you took them. I don't think I have ever seen the Grand Canyon in pictures more beautiful than the pictures you took.
Thank you for sharing them. It was a joy to look at them.
Linda
Phila., PA
Posted by: Linda | December 9th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Wow... I am truly speechless. Breathtaking. Truly Breathtaking.
.
Thank you
.
Posted by: Lin Valentine | December 9th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Hi Martha, Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful photo gallery from Neil Golub. So many wonderful memories were brought back about my summer vacation trips to most of the areas pictured, back in the 60's. My youngest brother and I took lots of photos during our trips, but some how they were all lost through the years. Neil did a fabulous job of covering our old trips. Thanks, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | December 9th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
certainly enjoyed each and all of the photos...was just at Arches in October and the blue sky was the same them...couldn't get enough of it and then the sun on the red clay/sand - what a wonderful memory and you gave it to me again! Thank you! your pictures are breathtakingly beautiful, and I know you can relive each moment that the picture was taken because you have captured the essence of that moment. I'm just an amateur but love my pictures and feel that when I take my pictures, even on my less expensive camera, they are the best souvenirs, they are "mine" .... thank you so much for sharing.
Posted by: Lana Ewing | December 9th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Martha,
It pleases me and warms my heart that you use the word "Christmas" on your website. So may business' will not display it. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!
Blessings to you,
Kathy
Posted by: kathy farnam | December 10th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Gorgeous pictures! We live in Utah and I loved seeing pictures of my beautiful state on the Martha Stewart blog! Hope you enjoyed everything our area had to offer! Please come back soon!
Posted by: Melissa Montiano | December 10th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
WOW! NEIL, it's 'AMERICA, THE BEAUTIFUL!"
We expect that Martha has only the "best
of the best" for employees! YOU ARE MORE
THAN FLICKR WORTHY.
I JUST WISH THESE SPECTACULAR PHOTOS WERE
BOUND IN A BOOK, I WOULD HAVE A STUNNING
CHRISTMAS GIFT TO OFFER MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!
MAY THE HOLIDAYS BRING YOU HAPPINESS AND JOY!
Posted by: dana | December 13th, 2009 at 1:21 am
What was as interesting as your photographs was the lovely story woven around them; the story of your father and your mutual love for photography. Each picture carries a little bit of your father with it.
Posted by: Charmaine Allen | December 13th, 2009 at 12:18 pm