Texture Saves the Day!

I shot this late autumn scene just over a year ago. The tree was beautiful enough and the detail in the field helped add some interest to the shot but the sky was just too plain and the overall picture just didn't work. The solution I came up with was to overlay a texture in Photoshop. This added some grit and additional texture to the scene and helped accent some of the blue hues already present throughout the scene. I was pleased with the result and have made several successful prints which have proven to be quite popular. Overlaying textures can be easy to overdo and doesn't always work but sometimes it's just the ticket to help save the day!

Cana Island Light

This winter has been record-setting in terms of both cold temps and snowfall. In winters such as this I become somewhat braver in the field. Heights and speed have never bothered me much. But one thing I'm deathly afraid of is falling through thin ice. When it's been this cold for this long I'm much more willing to venture out on the ice and explore with my camera. I shot this scene a few winters ago at Cana Island Lighthouse in Wisconsin.

Lakefront Ice

Every winter is different and ice along the shoreline is never the same twice. It varies not only year to year, but even day to day. It's always interesting to carefully explore the frozen shoreline. As always, the key is light and as in all landscape photography, things seem to be most interesting when the sun is low in the sky helping to make longer shadows and interesting textures.

Keewenaw Dawn

Dawn breaks at the tip of the Keewenaw Penninsula in Michigan. The Keewenaw juts out into Lake Superior. Early one morning a group of friends from Michigan Photo Adventures hiked up through the dark to witness and photograph the dawn…It was a beautiful morning and highlight of the early autumn trip up north!

Beautiful Bryce

I visited Bryce Canyon early this past November with a group of intrepid photographers and friends from Michigan Photo Adventures. We had a great time and were even lucky enough to get a little snow. Back home here in Michigan, we're now getting deluged with snow and cold! I'm currently working my schedule over trying to fit in a quick trip out west next month to shoot Bryce and Zion. I've visited and photographed both Zion and Bryce many, many times but I just can't get enough. No two visits are ever the same. The way the light sculps the landscape in these parks is different every time!

Words of Wisdom

Really…What else matters?

Warm Reflections

Early one spring morning in Charleston, South Carolina I was captivated by this lamp reflection in the window of an antebellum home near White Point. There's just something about reflections that seem to always grab my attention! The warm hues of sunrise and the pink exterior really captured the mood that morning. I struggled with choosing a composition until I settled on a square format.

Henry Ford Museum

I visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan yesterday with Michigan Photo Adventures. It was great to catch up with some old friends and meet a few new friends as well! The Henry Ford Museum is a wondeful place to explore. The range of history presented here is nothing short of amazing. There's an excellent automotive collection of course but there's much more than autos… The museum is also tripod-friendly which is always appreciated!

Auto Show Fisheye

I visited the 2014 Detroit International Auto Show the other day and found some interesting displays to explore with my fisheye lens. This particular robotics display was part of the Ford exhibit. I have lots of auto pics to work through and will post several here soon! I thought this years show was the best in at least a few years. If you're in Detroit this week be sure to put the DIAS on your agenda!

Ice Caves

Mid-winter is a great time to bundle-up and explore frozen waterfalls and icicles. I shot this pic in an ice cave in Illinois near Starved Rock State Park. Icicles and frozen waterfalls can be tricky to photograph well. Direct sunlight is not helpful as it creates too great a dynamic range between the darks and lights. However, overcast days are perfect.

Grand Haven Lighthouse

It's always great fun to shoot the lighthouses of west Michigan. Grand Haven is one of the best to photograph any time of year. I made this photo one summer evening after the sun had set and used a long exposure to help smooth out the lake and capture the full range of color that lingered in the sky.

Shooting Indoors with my Macro Lens

I made this photo the other day at the University of Michigan Matthei Botanical Gardens while with a group of photogs from Michigan Photo Adventures. Botanical gardens are a great place to play with a macro lens when the weather outside is just a bit too blustery.

Laughing Whitefish Falls

Laughing Whitefish Falls State Park is always worth stopping by anytime you're in the area! Located near Chatham, Michigan in the central UP, it is approximately twenty-five miles southwest of Munising. The waterfall is quite beautiful and fairly easy to photograph, at least parts of it are. Pictured above is the very top of the waterfall. It descends quite a ways (100 feet) and resembles a large slide. Pictures don't do it justice…It is certainly much more impressive in person than in photographs. There is a long series of steps that take you to the bottom of the falls and both the workout on the steps and the view are worth the effort! I visited Laughing Whitefish Falls with some friends from Michigan Photo Adventures including +John Clark and +Jim O'Neall this past autumn and had a great time!

Sunrise in the Smokies

I absolutely love shooting in the Smokies! From my driveway in the western suburbs of Detroit and driving safely, I can be in the Smokies in under eight hours. It's actually closer to home than many of my favorite spots right here in Michigan…The Porkies in the western UP are nearly ten hours away! Great Smoky Mountain National Park is beautiful in all seasons. Winter is no exception. I am doing everything I can right now to try and squeeze in a quick winter visit next month!

Wolf in the Wild

I shot this photo of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park one snowy June morning. Yes, June! Recently the State of Michigan has licensed a wolf hunt in the Upper Penninsula. A few states out west have as well. I've never been a hunter. I never will be a hunter. It's not that I'm against hunting. I'm not…As long as one eats what is harvested. I just don't understand the thrill of the kill. It's not as if it's a fair fight. At least when I shoot an animal with my Nikon both of us leave the encounter alive. 

Canyon Road Window

I happened by this beautiful scene one day in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I was strolling along Canyon Road, known as "The Arts and Crafts Road." There was much to see and shoot as well as many galleries to visit. All throughout New Mexico I stumbled upon beautiful scenes like this. New Mexico truly is the land of enchantment.

Pano at Horsehoe Bend

This is a pano I shot at Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona. This place never ceases to amaze me! The raw power of the mighty Colorado is mind boggling! This shot was made hand-held stitching nine shots together in Photoshop. It wasn't but ten minutes later that the sky opened up and rained for hours. A thunderstorm in the desert!

Playing with Macro

I'm always amazed when I have a conversation with a fellow photographer and they make a comment along the lines of "I can't seem to find anything to shoot." This seems to happen more often during the winter months. Whenever I feel I need to take a break from my usual local photo haunts or when the weather outside is unbearable, I turn to close-up or macro photography. Lately, I've made it a point to get busy with my macro lens at least a couple of times a week. The possibilities are truly endless. Macro subjects are all around you. This nautilus shell is combined in post with a textured overlay for an interesting effect. Flowers are always a good choice for close-up photography. Flowers are not only cooperative models but beautiful and fun to shoot. And this is as good a reason as any to get to know your local florist! I've had the good fortune of meeting macro photographer +Mike Moats and attended a seminar and workshop he conducted. If you're interested in learning more about macro photography I highly recommend you peruse his website and consider attending a weekend workshop!

Yearning for Spring

Spring arrives a little earlier in Charleston, South Carolina than here in the midwest. I am always more than eager to travel south and meet spring as it works its way north. South Carolina is a wonderful place to explore with a camera. After a long, cold and grey winter color just seems to explode throughout the "Low Country" each spring. 

Icy Light

Shooting lighthouses is always fun, especially when the Great Lakes freeze and the lights become coated with ice and snow. As you'd expect, the polor vortex that gripped most of North America this week did a number on the lakes and lighthouses. Pictured above is the outer structure of the St. Joseph North Pier Lighthouse on Lake Michigan. Because the lake is frozen for at least a mile out from the shoreline, there's not much spray freezing on the structure…So I'll just have to keep my eyes on the conditions and be prepared to return to St. Joseph when the conditions demand it!

Rainy Day at the Ice Festival

Plymouth Michigan hosts an Ice Festival every year…But the last few years they just can't catch a break with the weather! Last year was downright balmy, way too warm for ice. This year was looking to be better as local temps were hovering at and below zero just a few days ago. But here comes the rain just in time for the Ice Festival! I arrived before dawn in thick fog and was looking forward to meeting some friends to shoot the sculptures and artists at work throughout the morning. Rain was in the forecast and only myself and one other shooter actually showed up. After shooting for about a half an hour the rain did begin and grew stronger by the minute. Finally we decided to pack up and wait for a break in the rain. Maybe it will be cooler this evening or tomorrow morning!

Ice Time

It's now the dead of winter and time to get brave and explore the frigid elements for interesting photo opportunities. After all, you can't stay indoors all winter long, can you? Even if you could, you wouldn't want to. There's just yoo much to see and play with outside. If you're fortunate enough to live in a location with four seasons, embrace the seasons! Or at least pretend to. For the next couple of months tremendous opportunities exist at the lakeshore, lighthouses, winter festivals, and anywhere else you can make seasonally unique compositions. The lakeshore looks very different in January compared to July… So does everything else! Be brave, explore…and make some beautiful winter photos!

Two More from the Gilmore

Yesterday I posted a few photos from a daytrip last winter to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan.  Southwest Michigan offers many choices for fun photography excursions. There's the Gilmore, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, Wineries, Farms, Lake Michigan Beaches, Lighthouses and much more. We're now in the middle of winter and that means it's a perfect time to visit southwest Michigan for both indoor and outdoor photography! Here are two more photos from the Gilmore:

Selfie

Selfies are all the rage. Even President Obama has been known to snap one every now and again. With the onset of winter and bitterly cold temps I often seek interesting indoor venues in which to play with my camera. Auto museums offer tremendous photo opportunities. Some even allow tripods! The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan hosts a very beautiful collection of old cars and is very accomodating to photographers. Museums do make for busy backgrounds so often one must seek to move in real close and make what essentially are macro compositions. This of course is a great time to work on isolating subject matter and simplifying compositions. I snapped this "selfie" last winter when I visited the Gilmore with Macro Photographer +Mike Moats . We had a great time and I highly recommend you put the Gilmore on your list of Southwest Michigan must-see locations! Here are a couple more from that visit:

Mesa Arch Sunstar

When you visit an iconic location like Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park there are certain shots that you simply need to make. I consider such shots to be more than just clichés…They're like bricks in a wall or mile posts along the highway of a photographers' artistic development. Along that highway each of us picks up a few tricks along the way…If we're thoughtful and diligent, lots of tricks. These tricks are just the manifestation of lessons and skills learned. The iconic shots created at these beautiful locations can serve as affirmation of new skills learned. The key is to take those lessons and apply them to new and unique photographic opportunities that we encounter further down that highway. These original photos made in new and unique situations serve as affirmation of new skills mastered. Besides, if you visit Paris and don't shoot the typical portrait of the Eifel Tower, no one will believe you were actually there! And even if you convince them that you were there and that you did have your camera but chose not to make the same shot as everyone else…All they'll want to know is "why not ?"

Pancake Ice

Ice is nice! Ice formations at the shoreline often offer an amazing opportunity to seek out interesting compositions. Wave and wind action push and carve random patterns and formations in the ice that are never the same twice. If you happen to be there early or late in the day, the low angle of the sun can add to the mix long shadows and beautiful light. Despite the cold, these conditions are a perfect opportunity to get down low and use a wide angle lens to frame your compositions. The secret to using a wide angle lens for landscapes is to include something interesting up-close in the forground. It's important to stay safe whenever going out on the frozen water. It's never a good idea to do so all alone. When I shot the picture above at the Lake Michigan shoreline it was about 8°… Had I fallen into the water I never would have made it back to my car which was parked more than a mile away.

Before the Dawn

As I strolled the beach before dawn one spring morning I was treated to beautiful light bathing the shoreline at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. It always amazes me how beautiful the pre-dawn light can be! I'm very fortunate to have been born a "morning person." It's never been too difficult for me to roll out of bed to pursue a beautiful sunrise. That said, I do appreciate a siesta every once in a while! Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina is a great location to explore. There's a very beautiful beach, an historic lighthouse, wildlife and much more! I'll be leading a photo workshop in South Carolina this March for Michigan Photo Adventures and Hunting Island will definately be on our list of photo locations!

Already Waiting for Spring!

It's only January but I've already had enough of winter! Yes, I know snow can be very beautiful and it is fun to shoot in BUT this winter has already been way too early, way too cold and now it's shaping up to be way too snowy! I can't wait for spring to arrive…Only another three months to go! What's one of my favorite things to shoot each spring? Waterfalls, of course! They're actually fun to shoot anytime…Even in winter! This shot of a simple river rapids is from last spring in the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountain National Park is a fascinating place to visit in the spring with beautiful waterfalls and lush spring-greens all around!  There are many ways to shoot waterfalls. Personally, I almost always prefer a somewhat slower shutter speed so as to achieve a more silky/smooth effect on the moving water. Stopping down your lens (think f16 or f22) is one way to achieve a longer exposure. Using a polorizer and or neutral density filter can help as well. I usually find a polorizer to be enough to do the trick as I still want some detail in the flowing water to show through. One key thing to remember with the use of the polorizer is the greatly reduced glare you'll get on the water. Reduced glare is great BUT some glare helps to show the movement of the water. The movement is what gives the photo some visual energy! So the objective is not to eliminate all the glare! I'm planning on leading a workshop to the Smokies again this spring…Most likely the third week of April. Hope you can join us! The Smokies NEVER disapoint!

Warm Morning Glow

Getting up before dawn and exploring the always beautiful Bryce Canyon National Park in November means braving cold temps. But despite the cold air and a fresh dusting of snow, the hoodos bask in warm early morning light. It's truly amazing how red rock reacts to reflected light. The glowing effect is majestic!  

Daytripping to the USAF Museum

I spent an enjoyable day with +John Clark and +Paul Sangeorzan at the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio just after Christmas. It was a quick daytrip from Detroit to Dayton and back that same evening. We spent several hours exploring the museum and had a great time. This place has some amazing aircraft and as you can imagine, history just seems to come alive at every exhibit. I hope to get back there soon!

Happy New Year!

New Years is a time for both reflection and resolutions. I always like to review the photos I've made each year and try to pick my "Top Ten." 2013 was a pretty busy year for me both personally and professionally. Here's a look at my 2013 picks. These ten made the cut for a variety of personal reasons…They are not necessarily my best selling photos from the year nor those that received the most critical acclaim…But each is important to me as an artist. Most of these pics have interesting stories behind them and I'll revisit those in future posts. Enjoy!