Creativity Begins with a Question

EL-Train Chicago - Windy City

2011-12-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

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Mississinewa 1812 Reenactment

2011-10-16T02:39:00.000-07:00

2011-08-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share one more snap shot with you! I think this fireweed plant frames to photo well.

A fork in the road in Alaska

2011-08-20T05:43:00.000-07:00

I took several photos at this location. The clouds keep changing the way the light minored the mountains on the pond that I was standing in front of. Oh, what a beautiful spot in the fork in the road.

Rain drops form on this flower petals

2011-08-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

Mariyln Monroe - Some Like it Hot!

2011-06-26T02:50:00.000-07:00

Is she is still a legend today?

Blending In

2011-06-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

A friendly reptile lurks in the tree above spying on the sun worshipers below,ah "what a view."

Iguanas don't have claws, they have talons. And they are VERY territorial so keep your distance.

Finally some rain!

2011-06-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

Right after the rain these flowering petals seem to soak up every drop of water. The locals said it had not rained for three months so I decided to take advantage of some extrodinary photo opportunities.

Sunrise in Key West

2011-06-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

Another wonderful sunrise on the island of Key West.

The sun is just coming up over the mountains

2011-01-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

I enjoy watching how the shadows change the colors and shapes of the buildings. If you stay long enough - its literally a new photo opportunity as the sun comes up over the mountains.

Oceanside Pier - California

2011-01-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

As the sun sets in the West.

Alaska is where the big fish swim

2009-12-22T03:13:00.000-08:00

Fly-out arcoss Cook Inlet in Alaska

2009-12-22T03:06:00.000-08:00

Welcome - Leave your shoes at the door!

2009-12-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

A few more photo opportunities with the owl

2009-09-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

Up in the trees

2009-09-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend while visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes Park in Michigan, I caught a glimpse of this owl setting on a branch.

Semester Is Ending - Look Out Fish!

2009-04-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

As you can see this fly is very colorful and takes a lot of patience to make. It only takes one snag in the river or perhaps that unforgiving tree behind you to lose this beauty.

This fly sparkles and it really gets those fish to take notice.

Sharing Alaska

2009-04-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

The photo was taken at midnight of Mt Redoubt last August. Six mountain ranges can be seen from Anchorage on a clear day, including the Alaska Range (and Denali) to the north, the Chugach Mountains to the east, Talkeetna Mountains to the north, Tordrillo Mountains to the west, Kenai Mountains to the south and the Aleutian Range to the southwest. Alaskans love to share Alaska, and fortunately, there’s plenty here to go around.

Practicing Portrait Photography

2009-04-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

Timothy Doyle - Master Stone Carver using a pointing system. Some of his recent work can be seen at:
Shannon Stone Co. - Custom Carvers of Indiana Limestone

The basic art and craft of stone carving has changed very little since Greek times. There have been advances in the field with the introduction of pneumatics and electric tools, with Carbide steel and diamond technologies, but the basic tools have remained the same for centuries.

"I will work by studying the block of stone, sketching on it with a pencil, and then developing the design from the block. When a precise copy of a model is required, accurate measuring techniques are employed. The "pointing machine", an outgrowth of the Egyptian canons and the old measuring box of the Greeks, is a type of 3D pantograph."

A woman celebrates her 72nd birthday

but for some reason her family does not attend.

Where is that golden ticket I am running out of eggs!!

Relax and Enjoy - View Overlooking Lake Michigan

2009-04-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share this view with you - you never know when a perfect sunset will occur overlooking Lake Michigan. But they seem to happen there more often than anywhere else.

Dorothea Lange photographs (1895 – 1965)

2009-03-21T02:02:00.000-07:00

My reasoning for choosing Dorothea Lange:

For the past several months, I have had a strong interest in taking photos of homeless individuals and their surroundings. Because of this newly found interest I have chosen Dorothea Lange’s work to delve into this segment of the assignment. Conventions of photography that can show a heightened sense of reality and can also distort it or misrepresent it. Lange has been quoted as saying: “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.”

Lange thought of herself as a clinical observer committed to a direct, unmanipulated recording of contemporary events. White Angel Breadline was her first documentary photogragh. To me, what is striking about this photo is the elegant manner in which Lange has balanced the narrative of her image with its formal construction. Displaying a masterful ability to organize complex space, she focuses the viewer’s gaze on just one individual in the crowded pen of unemployed men lining up for food. His hands clutche a tin cup and it appears from the evidence of his worn clothes and disheveled appearance that he has been down and out for some time. Leaning on one of the wooden railings that diagonally crosses the lower quarter of the picture, he faces forward, his back to the rest of the crowd, lost inthought. His eyes are shielded from the camera’s view by the brim of his battered hat, this man emerges from this dark sea of men by virtue of his counter-positioning. His presence is emphasized by the use of light that floats over the the brim of his hat, tin mug, and his clasped hands.

By spotlighting these telling details, and by composing the principal character slightly left of centre and establishing strong tensions between the vertical and diagonal elements, Lange creates an image that is theatrical in presentation and engaging in terms of its content. She achieved a brilliant balance between a collective portrait of humanity and one of an individual. This photo speaks for itself and to its viewer.

White Angel Breadline (1933) Oakland Museum of California, City of Oakland, Gift of Paul S. Taylor.

From 1935 to 1943, photographers working for the federal government produced the most enduring images of the Great Depression. Many of the eight thousand photographs taken by the so-called Farm Security Administration (FSA) were distributed by the agency to newspapers and magazines to build support for the New Deal's rural programs. These photographers presented thier rural subjects in ways that middle-class viewers could recognize and sympathize with. Attempting to overcome fears about the disorder provoked the depression, photographers chose poses and points of view that emphasized their subject's dignity, orderliness, and responsibility in the face of hardship.

Migrant Mother, Nipomo, Calif., March 1936.
(Farm Security Administration, Library of Congress.)

Mississippi Delta Girl (1936)

Tractored Out, Childress County, Texas, (1938)

Lange’s objective was not only to document poverty but to show also the agricultural system from which it grew. She used the rhythm of the plowed ruts and ridges and the rows of plants to increase visually the size of the fields in her shots. She showed the impersonality of those enterprises where workers never met the boss and did not know many of their co-workers.

A Compassionate Eye, (1942) War Relocation Authority, National Archives

This photo is of a young Japanese boy awaiting evacuation. Lange is in all probability most famous for her work towards exposing the forced evacuation of Japanese-Americans to relocation camps post Pearl Harbor. She captured this misfortune with over 800 photographs which were impounded by the Army. Today, these photographs are available in the National Archives.

Just for Fun Paint.NET

2009-03-07T06:06:00.001-08:00

This power plant is right on the edge of downtown Indy. The architecture looks so dark and alien when contrasted to the shiny white concrete and glass skyscrapers. The slant of the picture may seem inappropriate; but, I feel it lends to the basic incongruity of the scene.

As we were leaving Indy I looked into the side rear view mirror and this increadiable scene unfolded before me. Another photo opportunity here is what I saw.

Enhancing a Photo with Paint.NET

2009-03-05T03:09:00.000-08:00

The orginal photo was taken last week in Indianapolis, IN. Do to the warmer outdoor temperatures there were a lot of people walking the streets and enjoying the early spring day. It was a perfect opportunity to grab the camera and and try out some of my newly learned skills. Such as, framing the shot, rule of thirds, lighting, composition, and to concentrate on the camera settings and features. I tried to master the technique of panning, but that did not work out as well as I had hoped.

This particular young woman caught my eye so I started photographing her. She was window shopping and unaware of my presence. To me, she looks like a model and I enjoyed watching her interact with her friends as they were walking down the street. I began transposing the orginal photo by cropping the picture to eliminate some of the white space above the subjects. I experimented with many of the features that Paint.NET has to offer. Using the Auto-Level and Brightness/Contrast features added a more appealing look it brings out the natural colors in her face and jacket which I believe allows the viewer to focus on her expression.

Again, cropping this photo a bit more allowed me to focus on my subject. I decided to turn it into a B&W. Then, I turned to PowerPoint to help me frame this photo. It certainly will take a lot of practice to learn all these techiques. Nevertheless, I am excited about what I have learned in just a short period of time thanks to all the support from Professor Weller and my classmates.

Indoor Photo Without a Flash

2009-02-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

A family gathering always means; load up the kids; grab some food and head over to moms. Don’t forget to bring the camera because good times are waiting to be captured for future reference. Especially, if one of the twins drinks too much - and if you are in the neighborhood stop by. BYOB

For this weeks assignment take a well composed photo and enhance it using Photoshop or PaintNet. I decided to use the fill flash feature which allowed me to adjust the hue and saturation ratio. It lightened the subject and created more shadows. My nephew, Matthew loves to read and most generally is engrossed in a novel.

I tried another feature called Graphic Pen it allowed me to give this photo a new look. I increased the stroke length to 15 and opted to have them come from the right side of the photo. Changing the light/dark composition to 50 which added another dimension giving it more contrast. I really like my new free download tools.

Be Bold! Using Picasa 3 to Create a New Look

2009-02-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

Original Photo - when I snapped this photo my goal was to capture the children (my nephews and nieces) interacting with the sea gulls. I enjoyed experimenting with many of the different features Picasa offers.

Cropped the photo and changed to B&W and adjusted the shadows and lighting.

Be Bold - I used the saturation feature to show the contrast between the different color schemes.

Rule of Thirds

2009-02-16T00:33:00.000-08:00

When composing a picture, the rule of thirds can promote most any average photographer to the next level almost instantaneously. The idea is to break down the scene into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. Strong horizontal elements should line up with (or be close to) either the top or bottom division lines in the frame. Similarly, strong vertical elements should line up with the right or left division lines in the frame. [Some digital cameras have grid lines in the viewfinder that can be turned on and off, but with most cameras, you will have to use your trained eye to imagine a grid over the scene and place scene elements accordingly.

Using Picasa to Enhance My Photo's

2009-02-15T16:10:00.000-08:00

The original photo was taken on a cold winter day and the birds nest is weathered. It still holds a nice compositional feeling. The branches of the tree reach out to the corners of the photo forcing the eye to follow. Conversely, it lacks a feeling of life and in the next illustration, I will demonstrate how a tint of color can enhance this photo.

The "graduated tint" feature in Picasa 3 was used to increase the level of "saturation." This put emphasis on the pinks at the bottom of the photo. A tint of olive green was used in the upper right corner. However, I have not yet achieved the desired look that I am seeking for this photo. So, I will continue to strive for a better result and will post the updated version soon.

Cropping For A New Look

2009-02-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

For the second portion of our class assignment, I decided to give this photo a makeover. It was taken as I was traveling on a guided tour bus to the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery last summer.

The original photo and the subject is not defined.

In China there is a place called Shangri-La, in the northwest of Yunnan province (southern part of China.) Zhongdian County was renamed Shangri-La County in 2001 by Chinese authorities after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the novel “Lost Horizon.” Previously the county was called Zhongdian, among Chinese, and Gyalthang, among Tibetans. The capital of the county is also known as Shangri-La, before 2001 it was named Jiantang Town.

The myth of Shangri-La was born in 1921 with the novel by James Hilton “Lost Horizon.” In his book, Hilton describes a paradisiacal place in the foothills of the Himalayas isolated from the outside world where people lived a harmonious and happy life.

I was able to make several adjustments in Picasa 3 which allowed me to focus more on the subject. However, I am not sure how to remove the rain drops from the windshield of the bus? My personal opinion is this photo does not warrant saving. The composition is weak and no matter how hard I tried to enhance it using Picasa 3 - for me; it still is an undesireable photo.

Nevertheless, this assisgment taught me how to crop and change the dynamics of a scene by adding an array of colors. I will continue to practice using this software which allows me to edit, organize, and share pictures over the Web.

Behind The Lens

2009-02-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken as I was looking at my reflection in the mirror. Picasa 3 was used to illustrate the dynamic features this program offers its user. First of all, as you can see, I cropped the photo and used the enhancing lighting feature. I changed the look of this photo when I turned it into a B&W which I think gives it a depth of field feeling. It takes on a new character by showing the contrast of shadows on my face.

I Did Poorly On The Quizz - But Look At What I Have Learned

2009-02-13T13:34:00.000-08:00

This semester I am enrolled in a college course called Visual Communications in a Digital Age taught by Professor Worth Weller at IPFW University. For the past serveral weeks now I have been learning about the "camera." Even though my camera came with a manual the information is overwhelming. So, this is my reasoning for taking this course so that I may have a better understanding of photography.

As photography is painting with light it is also about visual expressions...using a camera to freeze in time those moments that are soon gone forever. Composition is all about the art of subjective arrangement. Knowing what your subject is and when something catches our interest, the mind tends to focus on only that which has attracted our attending. If we use these same principles when we take the photo then it will be easier to concentrate on the composition (subject.) Learning to use light, composition and to communicate ideas and move from taking “snapshots” to creating exciting photographic images. In fact, I think the single most important step you can take to become a better photographer is learning to see light and learning how to manipulate with both the camera and most recently the computer.

What Is a Blog?

2009-02-13T12:26:00.000-08:00

Look at me now Ma – I’ve got my very own spot on the World Wide Web. In fact, just the other day I learned how to create a blog. Yes, your daughter the one who is technically challenged. It’s funny; because I’m not sure what blog even stands for? So, I decided to do a little research on the topic. According to our text and Google, the definition is fairly simple: a blog (short for "web log") is essentially an online journal or diary where anyone can post messages, photos, music and videos on his or her own site...

Blogs were initially created for the sole purpose of providing an avenue for people to “journal” their thoughts online.

Blogs are meant to be updated regularly.

Now blogging has become a way for any business to advertise their products and services.

My First Blog Photo

2009-02-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite spots to stop and absorb the elements of nature. No matter what the season in northern Michigan the convergence of the Manistee and Pine River at Tippy Damn Pond offers the viewer many diverse photo opportunities.