Great Sand Dune Ponderosa

Great Sand Dune Ponderosa.

While scouting photography tour & landscape workshop venues a couple weeks ago I noticed a tree… Great Sand Dune Ponderosa.

A Great Sand Dune Ponderosa standing defiant, indifferent to the ever-shifting sands from which it has risen. I’m no arborist, but this tree has been making a good go of it for quite some time. If you have never been to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern-central Colorado (note, though the quintessential “dunes” are not visible here, I am in fact standing on a dune– it’s just covered with vegetation), believe me when I tell you it’s an extreme environment. Be warned, when the weather turns and the wind picks-up you best be prepared or ready to run! Great Sand Dune Ponderosa.

The awe inspiring nature of this magnificent specimen, juxtaposed against the vast background, is seemingly lost to the magnitude of the greater vista and cloud filled sky… reducing the giant to mere mortal size. Notwithstanding the scene’s grandeur I found myself wondering, conjuring insights and searching for greater lessons this individual might reveal relative my own existence… does one stand strong, firmly railing against ever change or acquiesce, embracing flexibility when confronting the sands of time? The Great Sand Dunes’ unique siting, much like life, is full of mystery and surprise. This landscape is both forgiving and cruel, simple and complex, beautiful and well, ugly. Could it be that this same duality holds true for the giant’s perseverance in the face of adversity… that the balance of both are necessary not just to weather the storm, but to thrive. So many questions… Great Sand Dune Ponderosa.

I choose to present this image as a continuous tone, which I prefer, over the typically overly-contrasty black and whites one often sees… enjoy. Great Sand Dune Ponderosa.

Great Sand Dune Ponderosa. DAM

Doug Mayhew | Madographer

My journey into the arts, and more particularly photography, began as a young boy shooting the iconic Kodak 110. I went on to shoot my grandfather's Zeiss Icon, my father's Nikkormat, and in high school the wonderful Nikon FE2. During that period of time I studied and became proficient in traditional wet darkroom disciplines... processing my own film, printing, and developing those prints using several chemical techniques. For most of today's work I shoot Nikon's most venerable digital cameras and latest exotic glass. I supplement what you could call my "normal gear" with an assortment of equally compelling, though often more suited, specialized cameras & lenses depending on the subject and outcome I'm wanting to achieve. In truth, cameras are nothing more than tools, the tools through which I endeavor to create and capture original imagery. I am an artist. I photograph that which speaks to me. My visual storytelling is an extension of that process; writing about what I see, the imagery experience and what is envisioned has proven equally rewarding... though itself not necessary. As a professional I pull from various artistic genres and focus my efforts on the process of creating original imagery that captures the essence of the client and their project. When shooting for myself, there are no boundaries to what my eye sees nor constraints to what I create. Conversely, recreating others' work, but with a twist, is something I guard against. Madography is the artistic process of pre-visualizing original imagery; that imageries' subsequent development, creation, and exhibition inby and through both analog or digital, motion or still, art mediums. The Madographer is an artist, a manipulator of light and arranger of composition... in essence, a visual storyteller. Studio Madography strives to provide our clientele with compelling original imagery, that is our goal! Our commercial studio located in the Vail Valley provides for traditional portraiture sittings, dramatically lit headshots, and the necessarily controlled environment required for precise product & copy work. Madography specializes, however, in offering customized on-site production solutions to address our clienteles' unique imagery needs… and in doing so, elevate both the creative process and end product for the client. Our starting commercial fees are listed in conjunction with their respective disciplines and are easily found under the commercial tab located in the menu bar of this website. Custom project pricing is determined on a per project basis-- whereby offering the greatest value for every dollar invested. Our clients can take comfort in knowing that our team of dedicated professionals will do everything possible to provide exceptional original imagery at a reasonable price... we go the extra mile not only to earn your business, but keep you coming back again and again and again. Doug Mayhew | Madographer American artist, photographer, cinematographer, writer...

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