Steve Giralt

With the cold weather settling in, I chose to reflect of some warm weather images today. One thing some don’t realize is how far in advance travel images need to be shot sometimes. For example, I just shot a fall story on pumpkin patches and apple picking a few weeks ago for Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine, but those images won’t come out in the magazine until next Fall.

The tearsheets I’m showing today are some images I shot last winter in the Turks and Caicos Islands for S3 magazine which is a beautifully designed and printed magazine based down there. The main story is a photo documentary on the Blue Hills neighborhood. The people were very nice and open to being photographed making this such a great story.

This year I have been shooting a bunch of jobs in Philadelphia for Philadelphia Magazine. Here I am showcasing some recent tear-sheets from both Philadelphia Wedding and Philadelphia Home magazines. The wedding fashion story is about pastel colored wedding gowns and was shot in my studio. The home interior images were shot in a house on Spruce street in Philadelphia where the owner wasn’t scared to use vivant colors in her decorating. Enjoy!

Day 8

Distance: 20 Miles

I arrived in Scottsdale last night and checked into the Mondrian Hotel. I must say that I am a big fan of this hotel. Everything from the room, to the service was great. The weird part is you kinda feel like you’re on South Beach, but you’re really not in Miami at all.

I walked around Scottsdale for a few hours photographing. I gravitated mostly to cool color combinations or nice graphic compositions. I also found a great little church which has been restored recently. It really has a crazy story of being used as lots of different things over the years. Only recently was it reverted back to a church again.

It was different being back in a real city. I drove around Phoenix for a bit before heading to the airport but wasn’t really inspired by anything. Time to take the Red-eye back to NYC. Goodbye nice weather!

Day 7

Distance: 380 Miles

Today I went on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It’s similar to a ski lift, but it raises you up from 2,600 ft at the base to 8,500 ft at the top, in about 10 minutes. The fun part, is that it’s at a gradient of 26 degrees on average, with a maximum gradient of 42 degrees. That is steep! To add to the fun, the floor of the tram car rotates on the way up and down giving you 360 degree views. If ever in Palm Spring, it’s a must. After the tram, I drove back to Phoenix to just about end my journey. I will have 1 more post to finish up the Road trip portion of the blog tomorrow.

Day 6

Distance: 420 Miles

I woke up today at the Grand Canyon. I had never seen it before and must say that it is indeed quite grand. I explored the Southern Rim and drove along the rim east towards Desert View. If you ever come here, I would recommend the drive. You get some great views of the canyon.

I wanted to do a helicopter flight seeing tour of the canyon, but the timing didn’t work out. I then drove to 29 Palms, ca where my cousin lives with her husband who is a marine. He’s away in Iraq, and since I was close by, I spent thanksgiving with her and her friends. It was a grand old time.

Day 5

Distance: 515 Miles

As a photographer I’m always trying to shoot something different than other photographers, or other people. This usually involves doing things that many may consider a little stupid or crazy. Stepping over the barrier to get a picture that much closer even though you can plummet a thousand feet to your death, driving down a dirt road that the gps says is there but barely resembles a road, in your rental car, not a hummer, and so many other things.

Today I did something stupid which made me drive a lot more than I was supposed to and made me waste a lot of time. I decided to take a random dirt road for 40 miles which my gps said would get me where I needed to go. Unfortunately after about 30 miles, the road was no longer a road by any defninition and and I had to turn around and come right back down that same road. I saw a few Elk in the woods which was kinda cool, but beyond that, didn’t really get any pictures out of the experience. I had to try!

Today I made the long drive from Santa Fe, NM to the Grand Canyon. I stopped at the Meteor Crater just south of Winslow, AZ which was pretty cool, I mean, it’s a crater, made by a meteor, in the desert. I also stopped off the highway a few times to shoot some pictures of the random things we find off the side of the highway. Enjoy!

Day 4

Distance: 410 Miles

What is better than a bunch of brightly spray painted cadillacs buried half way in the ground, in the middle of a pasture, surrounded by cows, in the middle of Texas? Not much, especially when it’s the first thing you run into when beginning your journey for the day. I introduce to you Kadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX.

It was a great day! The land changed significantly today as I drove from the flat prairies of Texas to the mountains of NM. Part of my drive took me along route 66 which was beautiful and kinda nostalgic in a way. What’s more american than driving your car down Route 66 with the windows down and the classic rock blasting. I only had to dodge 1 cow, he really didn’t want to move … he tried to stare me down, but I was bigger than him.

I stopped in Taos on my way to Santa Fe and photographed at the Taos Pueblo. It was waaaay touristy, but worth seeing. It was a beautiful drive to Santa Fe. Tomorrow I venture to the Grand Canyon. 

Day 3 - Part 2

Distance: 350 Miles

These are images from the drive to Amarillo, TX from White Sands. I passed threw Roswell, NM on the way there which was kinda interesting, but not as interesting as I was hoping. I had another day of great weather. I’m not going to want to come back to NYC after a few days of 80 degree weather.

There wasn’t a whole lot going on during this drive. Lots and lots of open spaces.

Day 3

Distance: 350 Miles

Last night I stayed in Alamogordo, NM which is right outside White Sands National Park. I was really excited to go to white sands from the pictures I had seen of it. I get there early in the morning, but unfortunately there were “Missile tests” going on so I had to wait for a while before being allowed in. Missile tests huh?

I shot so much today that I’m breaking up the day into 2 posts. White sands is amazing. It really is unlike any other place I’ve ever been too. I shot a bunch of pictures, and here they are.

Day 2

Distance: 475 Miles

Lots of driving today. I must say for a while, I really was in the middle of nowhere. Driving down an empty desert road, nothing as far as my eye can see, the radio station blasting the only station I could get, county music, with a bit of static. What can I say, it was a great day.

I left Tucson a little later than I wanted to because I needed to go to BestBuy first to solve a technical issue I was having. EIther way, I headed Southeast and got off the main highway for awhile, and made lots of stops along the road. Drove threw the quaint town of Bisbee Az and onto El Paso where I met up with a family I had made plans with to photograph.

Jesse, Chrys, and Jesse Jr. are locals of El Paso, via Hawaii, as well as Craigslist lovers (how I found them). They were a lot of fun, I made them laugh a lot, and took a bunch of pictures of them. I photographed them at an overlook off the side of the road which had a great view of the city. I stuck around a bit and photographed the landscape for a while after they left, then headed to Alamogordo where I will be staying the night. White Sands, Roswell, and Amarillo tomorrrow. I need some rest.

Day 1

Distance: 130 Miles

I landed in Phoenix today, got in the car, and started the roadtrip. I drove to Tucson taking a few detours along the way. It was a nice warm sunny day and a nice sunset. I shot some interesting stuff along the way. Tomorrow I head for El Paso and White Sands, NM.

When starting something new, it’s hard to decide where to start. So I figured for the beginning of this blog, why not highlight a couple firsts in my life. I have posted here a few images from my first jobs.

The first image is from the first editorial job I was ever paid to do. I was still living in Miami, just a year or two out of high school, and got a call from Florida Leader magazine. I needed to photograph 2 high school students for the cover. A cover! WOW! I was excited. Total budget was $300 for film, processing, and anything else I needed to make this happen. I think I made a $100 profit.

The next 2 images were from the first editorial job I got when I moved to NYC. I had only been here about 2 months when I get a call from Saveur magazine to do a shoot. I had showed my portfolio to them the week I moved the nyc. I had to shoot 2 images that day at 2 different locations. A bar in Times square to photograph a bottle of rum, and picture of the maître fromager at Picholine in NYC Max McCalman and a plate of his cheese. I must say, the day went pretty smooth, and they were happy with the images. I continued to photograph for Saveur for the next 2 years.

There is always a beginning to everything, the images are some of my beginnings.

Starting this Saturday the 19th, I’m going to venture on a photographic journey in the form of a road trip in the US Southwest. I will be updating the blog everyday as I shoot new images so check back everyday to see what I’ve been shooting. I’m going to cover some serious mileage, over 2000 miles I believe on the quest to capture the landscape and people of the American West.

Schedule:

17 Saturday - Fly into Phoenix and drive to Tuscon

18 Sunday - Drive to EL Paso, TX and continue up to Alamogordo, NM

19 Monday - Drive up to Amarillo, TX

20 Tuesday - Drive across to Santa Fe, NM / Taos

21 Wednesday - Drive to Grand Canyon

22 Thursday - Drive down to Joshua Tree, CA / Happy T-giving

23 Friday - Drive to Palm Springs, CA

24 Saturday - Get back to Phoenix area and fly back on red-eye

Welcome to my Photo Blog!

As a photographer, I take pictures just about every day of my life. It’s what I do, what I love, and who I am. The addition of this blog to my website will help me share those images with the world on an everyday basis. There is so much more to pictures than just the end image. The experience associated with the taking of those pictures is a big part of what makes photographs so special to me. The people you photograph, the places you visit, the sets you make, and all the creative people who work together to create an image out of a pile of stuff. I hope to share with you all who chose to visit the blog, all my experieces, journeys, and everything that happens behind the scenes of my images.

Thanks for visiting

Steve