Category Archives: Photography

Valentine’s Day

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Unfortunately I have never been known as a great romantic, and these roses were something that were sitting at work recently, so they provided an inexpensive opportunity for a photo. The chocolates were bought at a local retailer to round out the theme, and now I am addicted to the Lindt Lindor chocolate truffles shown on the table. Chocolate inside chocolate should be outlawed, but hopefully I can keep my intake to one or two a day.The metal heart shaped lid proved very tricky to light correctly, and so did the candy box interior. I heard on the radio that the average man spends 180 dollars on valentines day, which amazed me for some reason.

Old School vs New

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One more variation featuring the old Remington typewriter. A good friend volunteers at a local computer recycling center, so I asked him to borrow a few old keyboards to use as a backdrop for the typewriter. I had the idea to contrast the old technology with the current. Obviously things were made a little better in those days. I basically skimmed the flashlight across the keyboards to accent the keys.

The Old Workhorse

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My photo for today features an old GMC pickup that I spotted yesterday sitting in an old abandoned car wash. Supposedly this vehicle has been parked here for years waiting for someone to restore it to its former glory.I was told the owner wants $5000 for it, so anyone reading this can contact me if you want to buy it. You can see the dust accumulated on the windshield, which is ironic considering it is parked in a car wash. I used a flashlight and some flash to light the truck body and walls of the bay area.This was shot in the dark, except for the fluorescent light, which I had no control over.

The Daily Grind

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I am always on the lookout for things that appeal to me as possible photo subjects and I recently made contact with a gentleman that owns a local machine shop. I had stopped by one day for another purpose and while I was standing in the office, I noticed some old machine shop equipment in the back. Everything had a rich patina of dust, grease, and everything in between from years of jobs being performed. These machines go back many decades, are built like a tank, and seem almost indestructible, to me anyway. Everywhere you look, there seems to be endless photo possibilities for those willing to look. You can just feel the history within the shop as your eye moves from machine to machine, and being allowed to photograph there is something I am very grateful for.

The owner not only allowed me and my friend to photograph there, but he also trusted me enough to let me shoot unattended the very first night I was there. This is something that I am very grateful for and do not take for granted. Being all alone in the shop gave me the opportunity to really look for shots that I thought might work with my light painting techniques. For those who read this and enjoy photography, I want to say that I always try to make prints and let the owners use my images as they need in exchange for their generosity. Having the chance to create new images is very important to me, and I am not sure why, but I seem to have a real drive to be creative, even if I am the only person to ever see the work. So in closing, I suggest to always ask if you see something unique that you want to shoot, because you might be pleasantly surprised, and always return the favor in appreciation for someone allowing you into their domain.

I do not know anything about this particular machine, other than it being a heavy-duty grinder. Keep a look out for more great machines from this shop in the future. Again, a special thanks to Lee and his helpful employee who assisted as well.

A light Dusting

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Yesterday we got a light dusting of snow and once again it was nothing to get excited about. For some reason I woke up a little early this morning, and took a peek out the front window, and I saw a nice pastel sky with an near full moon getting lower to the horizon. I hurriedly threw on some clothes, while my mind raced to think of any possible locations to shoot. Nothing came to me, so I just drove around and ended up with these two so-so images. Hopefully some significant snowstorms are still coming this year yet, so I can get some real snow scenes.The windows in the house are illuminated by the rapidly approaching sunrise behind me.

Splish,Splash,Takin a Bath

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Several people told me they enjoyed the stories of my Maine escapades, so due to the fact I am behind on processing new images, I will share another story and image. Several years ago, I asked a friend if he wants to travel to the Poconos in Pennsylvania to shoot some fall foliage and a few waterfalls. It was a lovely fall day and we arrived to see perfect conditions for shooting. The location shown here is called Silver thread falls and although it’s not the most photogenic, it is among the highest at 80 feet. I was shooting film at the time and this image was snapped on the way to the top of the falls. We took the trail all the way to the top, and upon reaching this point, we were greeted with an overlook of sorts that included a rail fence. I took one look at the fence and decided I was having none of it, and immediately reached over the railing to set my loaded camera bag on the ground on the other side. I then turned to my buddy to say something, only to hear a small bumping sound, which was my camera bag headed down the embankment to the flowing stream. By the time I jumped over the fence, my bag was already heading downstream toward the top of the waterfall shown here. Without hesitation or thinking, I jumped off the bank from about 6 ft up and splashed into the water,which was about knee-deep and grabbed my bag. I made my way to the water’s edge real quick, opened my bag which was buckled shut, and of course every lens,camera etc was totally filled with water. I remember being so upset at my own stupidity as we drove home, as I held my lenses out the window to try to dry them.

The funny moment came when several hikers came rushing up from down below to the top of the falls to find me soaking wet, and told us they thought someone was committing suicide when they saw me jump. As I settled back down after the incident, I realized how dicey the situation was and how it could have gone downhill pretty quick. I was maybe 10 feet from the edge of this falls in fairly fast water, so one slip on a rock and both myself and my gear may have taken the express lane to the bottom. One thing I specifically remember after I got home was that my parents owned this kitchen device that cooked food with cyclonic heated air, which basically was air spinning incredibly fast inside this circular contraption. My 80-200 that would not dry for days, suddenly dried out totally in about 20 minutes in this thing. It was too late anyway, but it absolutely worked to dry the water out. This image is one of the few that survived because they were already in film canisters that stayed dry that day

Persistence pays off

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Several people who know me have commented that they enjoy my light painting photos, but want to see more of my nature and scenic photography, so I will appease them with a shot I did in Acadia National Park one fall morning. I really love traveling to the New England states in autumn, because the landscapes and quaint villages make for some terrific possibilities. Many times in the past I have made the trek to Vermont and New Hampshire, only to find a nasty batch of bad weather has destroyed most of the fall color, or I am slightly early or late. After suffering through that situation several times, I started to have a back up plan each trip, and that turned out to be the great state of Maine. The beauty of Maine is the fact that even if the color is a flop, you can hit places like Acadia National Park, which is really quite spectacular. It features a rugged rock lined coast, lovely pines, crashing surf and more. The title of my post refers to the fact that I headed to this mountaintop overlook Four days in a row, and on the very last day I was rewarded with this sunrise. This view is from Cadillac mountain in Acadia, which is the highest point along the atlantic seaboard and the first place you can see the sunrise in the United States. Each day before this one was full of nasty winds, rain, thick fog,etc, but this day awoke to the ocean being covered in a spectacular wave of rolling fog. The Sun made an appearance and provided the finishing touch to the scene. All the mornings of getting up an hour and a half before dawn for nothing great, were soon forgotten as I took in the awesome scene before me.

A few tidbits of info for anyone contemplating visiting Acadia or anywhere along the coast of maine. First take plenty of high-capacity memory cards, wake early and see things that 99 percent of tourists miss by sleeping in. Next, if you are one that likes to get unique perspectives, be aware that if you fall in the surf or get washed out in Maine, chances are fairly good that you are finished. Maine pretty much figures if you are brave or stupid enough to be pulled in, that’s your problem. I basically like that view and will tell two simple stories of my escapades in Maine.

The first is from a trip I took to Acadia years ago, and as I was working the rocky coast, I made my way along a ledge that lead to a small cove of rocks that was almost ten feet high by about twenty feet wide. I was dazzled by the crashing surf on the rocks below,which were at least 8 feet below me,and even though I knew the tide was coming in, I was oblivious to that fact. After about thirty minutes of shooting, I noticed the ledge I came in on, was now under two feet of water. If you ever had a scare where you feel your heart racing, then you know what I felt at that moment. My only possible way out was to climb the sheer walls in this cove, and I did that by using my Gitzo tripod,which is very strong,and I literally stood on it to reach the top. All this while The surf was spraying me occasionally and getting closer. It was a real eye opener, because had The surf got me, that would have been all she wrote.

My next memory of Maine involves a trip to the Portland Headlight, which in my view is a very gorgeous lighthouse. Anyway, as usual,they have a fence to kind of keep you off the rocks, but again, if you are after that special image, you most certainly feel the call to jump that fence. I have ventured into this usually very safe landscape of granite many times, and gotten great images over the years. On this particular trip I was somewhat close to the ocean, but I was standing on a mountain of a rock that no kidding was at least 25 feet high and 20 feet square.This rock was far enough and high enough from the crashing surf that the incoming waves were only just nipping at the rock next to mine. To get a clear picture, imagine you are on a 25 foot high rock and there is a two foot gap to the next rock and you can look down and see surf at the bottom. wave after wave mildly washed around the bottom few feet of these house sized monsters. As I was looking through the viewfinder, I hear a thunderous crash and look up to see the entire rock next to mine covered, the 25 ft deep crevasse filled with water and water washing up to my ankles. If you have never heard the term, rogue wave, familiarize yourself with it, before hitting Maine. Those memories are forever etched in my mind because of the intensity of the experience.

Okay, one more funny one,to me anyway. I was photographing at the pemaquid lighthouse one fall morning. There was only one other guy there shooting. I said hi and noticed a small sticker on his tripod that said John Shaw. I asked why he had a John Shaw sticker and he said well, it’s because I am John Shaw. For anyone who does not know him, he is a fairly well-known nature photographer who has published numerous books. I had all his books, but in person, he looked different than I remembered. He was very cordial, left me load a roll of 220 velvia slide film in his fuji panoramic camera and shoot a series with it. I was dazzled by the meeting and even had my wife snap our picture together.

The Golden Age of Music.

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Today I wanted to share a photograph I did recently showcasing a beautiful Wurlitzer 125 Military  Band Organ that dates back to the early 1900s. This amazing musical instrument is from an era when automobiles,airplanes and electric lighting were all new. Given the opportunity to photograph such a marvelous old piece, I cant help but think of the generations of people who must have had a smile on their face as they listened to this mechanical wonder. This organ would have played in a variety of locations, such as skating rinks and carousels and can supposedly really fill the air with a tune.

As an artist, I have always found music to be very inspiring, and the ability that many musicians and singers have to take you to places that let your spirit soar has always fascinated me. This old instrument undoubtedly captivated the imagination of those who heard it play as they skated or simply enjoyed special times with family and friends. Most certainly, anyone from an older generation would have fond memories come flooding back from their youth if they were to hear this classic come to life.

I must extend a very special thank you to the owner of this piece, for allowing me access to capture something so beautiful, and also the opportunity to express my creativity through my photography. Things like this are not seen every day, and it affords ones imagination an opportunity to dream of things of wonder and beauty from times past.The original catalog states it is a 44 key instrument designed for small to medium size rinks. It lists instrumentation as outside visible-13 Brass trumpets, 13 Brass Piccolos, 13 Wooden Flageolets, 2 Drums,and a Cymbal. Inside it has 5 Wooden Trombones, 5 Open Basses, 13 Open Pipes, 6 Stopped Pipes, 11 Pipes in Accompaniment. Bottom- 5 Stopped Basses, 7 Stopped Pipes, 10 Pipes in Accompaniment, 1 Stop for Trumpets, 1 Stop for Trombones, 1 Stop for Piccolos, 1 Stop for Flageolets, Bass Drum and Cymbal.After reading about all the instruments, it’s probably good I did not ask to hear it play in a closed setting. Shipping weight was noted as 800 pounds.There are also two harmonicas lying on the table to echo the whole music theme, and the one is called a Hohnerphone that utilized a small horn like amplifier. Another very cool old instrument on a smaller scale of course.

For many seeing this image may invoke visions of merry go rounds, circus midways or other childhood memories that few other automatic instruments can match. I hope anyone seeing this image enjoys it as much as I did photographing it.

Speed Graphic & Remington

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Every day I struggle over what photo I will post and what I might say that will be interesting enough that someone will actually read it. I recently purchased this old typewriter, a Remington model seven from 1897 for 3 dollars at an auction. I picked it up with the sole purpose of photographing it, and decided the old speed graphic camera from 1947 would look okay in the shot as well. The old dresser is sitting in our basement and I threw the flower arrangement in there to soften things a bit. I lit the items once again with flashlights and am fairly happy with my attempt. I am always impressed with the quality and design that things from the past seem to have, and while I would not want to work with this camera or typewriter, they are really cool to look at. The idea behind my composition was one of what tools a reporter from the past might have used.I did this shot sunday morning and it took maybe two hours start to finish. The following are a few quotes about writing, which I am terrible at, but I enjoy trying anyway.

You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you.  And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.  ~Arthur Polotnik

Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.  ~Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 19 August 1851

This last quote is so true and hopefully those who are kind enough to follow me here, will see that I try to live an active life, and realize that my photographs are an extension of who I am. Thanks to everyone who hits the like button on my site, but to be honest, I am not sure exactly how some of these site features work, or how many of you found me to begin with?  I don’t even show up on any of the photo pages, which frustrates me, but not sure how to change that.

Mixing things up

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A friend sent me a link to a little photo project to try, so today I gave it a whirl. The original idea was to mix water and cooking oil and shoot the resulting effect. After initial tests, I decided to mix rubbing alcohol and canola oil. This seemed to work pretty well as the two were easy to stir up and then they slowly separated from tiny circles to progressively larger circles as time went by. I have included an image of my messy setup to give visual aid to anyone wanting to try this. In the setup photo, you will see a clear glass bowl that the camera looks straight down into, and I simply cut a hole in a board slightly smaller than my dish. I did this to keep spill light from the flash hitting anything but my colorful items and not the glass bowl. The arrows point to my two flashes that were aimed at the pile of colorful clothing that I placed about two feet below the dish. Basically the flash hits the colorful items and the liquid picks up the colors. Flashes were set on manual and I shot around f 16-22 for most shots. I may try water and oil at some point,but initially it seemed they separated too quickly. Lens was a 105 micro and I was almost at 1 to 1 magnification.The three white sticks are to keep my dish from moving.

The Gathering Place

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Winter weather can often include interesting skies and nice billowy clouds. This scene features a group of Amish buggies attending a sale at the farm. This shot was taken from the roof of my truck to give a little better perspective on the line of buggies. Sometimes I get strange looks when I have my tripod set up on my vehicle roof, but you would be amazed how much an extra six feet off the ground can help. . The only thing you must be aware of is not shifting your weight if you are using long exposures, but this was a fairly fast exposure, so that was not an issue. this was shot in infrared.

Birds of a Feather

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Today I decided to shoot this group of hand-made birdhouses that I occasionally pass in my travels. They are for sale at a roadside stand that features a variety of items for the passerby.They are all made by an older gentleman who lives there. He has no electricity or power tools and cuts everything utilizing good old muscle power on an old miter box. Sometimes it seems I forget many of the places I have shot before, because the wife of the owner came out to tell me about a nice photo another photographer gave them years ago. Turns out it was my photo, and I figured I would share that image along with tonight’s shot. I came up with the title because I think many of the people who follow me here also have a good appreciation of beautiful places and things, hence birds of a feather, flock together. The top image was done with my flashlight this evening using a thirty-second exposure.

The Birthday Present.

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I am constantly amazed by architecture from days gone by, and I enjoy capturing locations that I find visually appealing. This home was originally commissioned by Peter Watt, co-founder of Watt and Shand department stores, and he presented it to his wife on her birthday. It was built in 1896 and remained in the family for over 70 years. As far as I know, it is currently for sale, and the last I heard, it started at 5 million, but is now listed at 3 million. If I ever hit the lottery, perhaps I will buy it. I photographed the home from the sidewalk, just outside the iron gate shown in the black and white infrared version.The cascading ivy was the perfect complement as it turned white in the infrared spectrum.I had an old Nikon D200 converted to do only infrared by the light pixel company.I was never really that dazzled by that camera,especially at any iso above 200, but it works great now for infrared.sorry to those who saw only one photo this morning.I missed the update button last night.

Little Deuce Coupe

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With temperatures climbing past 60 degrees today, I started to reminisce about a couple of images from the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival a few years ago. Art comes in many forms and I am always amazed what these sand sculptors create with several million grains of sand. These are good examples of getting up before the rest of the world to get images others rarely see. Now I can only hope for a good arctic blast to set everything back on its proper course, and maybe get some snow sculptures instead.

Banzai Pipeline

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During the winter months, Landscape photography can be a bit lackluster at times, so doing a little shooting inside helps to keep things interesting. Todays image features nothing more than liquid dish soap and its intense colors. To do this shot, I filled a tray with soapy liquid, and then used an old tennis racket frame I had, to dip into the liquid. When the racket is carefully lifted, the soap stretches across the frame and starts this interesting swirling motion. Colors and patterns vary greatly,and do not usually last long till it pops. I basically pre focus on a spot and then put the racket in position, and quickly fine tune things. To really bring the color to life, I used a technique called cross polarization,which uses a sheet of polarizing material on the light source and then a polarizer is also placed on the lens. My title references the surfers paradise in Hawaii called the Banzai pipeline because I thought the soap looks like a huge crashing wave.

The Invincible Machine.

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Nothing is really invincible, but this machine found in an old mill seems to be very well-built and has the name invincible on its front. A sticker on the beam says invincible cleaners, but I have no clue what it did in the mill operation. Evening light was pouring in the windows while I was lighting the gears and barrel, so we have a cold verses warm effect.This was shot in the same place as yesterdays post, and thanks to no heat inside, temperatures were near freezing, which was actually colder than it was outside. Perhaps that comes from the stream that runs under a portion of the building.

The Barrel Room

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Todays image is another from my series taken at an old mill, and features a room full of old wooden barrels, along with a variety of tools used by the mill in its heyday. The round stone, serving as a table in the foreground weighs 2000 lb and is not going to move anytime soon. The image was shot using deer spotlights that I have placed diffusion on to soften the light output, and each exposure was approximately 30 seconds in an almost totally dark room. The windows were covered with black fabric to block the outside light from having any influence on my light painting, and were uncovered at the end to get the window detail. The lanterns were lit only by my spotlights to give a glowing effect. Because the spotlights are so intense, I use a technique where I pulse the trigger on briefly ,then off and keep moving across the scene till the shutter closes. A half second worth of spotlight is all it takes to light an object at f11 or f16 at iso 200. I also use a fairly inexpensive wireless remote to fire the camera from across the room, so I never touch the camera once I get started.

Classic Victorian

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Just wanted to let anyone that might be following my blog to know that I do not just do light painting, so I felt I would share an image of what I consider to be a beautiful old Victorian home . It was shot with a Nikon camera that I had specifically modified to capture only the infrared spectrum. I used to use an expensive filter to do it, but that got to be a real nuisance because the filter was so dark, you had to remove it to focus on every new shot. The modified camera can almost be handheld,but I still insist on the tripod. I mention handheld because with the filter, you had daylight exposures in the 4 second range.

Antique Biscuit Box & Tins

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Once again, thanks to the generosity of many people I meet, I am lucky enough to be allowed to photograph items that are a part of their lives, and at the same time, express my creative side through my photography. Sometimes these people own things that are so cool, I just have to ask if I can photograph them. The antique biscuit box and old tins shown here are one such example. Owners Margi and Dan have quite a selection of quality antiques they sell, and they were more than happy to let me capture some that have a personal connection. The grained wood box supporting everything is a family heirloom from the 1800s, many of the tins are early 1900s and were found in old general stores. Margi’s great great uncle was Newton Graybill who operated an old general store until the mid 1900s in Richfield,Pa, and in the late 1980s, a huge public sale was held featuring countless new merchandise items from the 1900s. Margi was able to buy several items from that sale. The old calendar reads 1922, and the american lady shoe sign is early 1900. finishing off the image is a door that is original to the house from around 1790. I light painted the whole scene with deer spotlights that have snoots and diffusion that I added to control the power they have. I use many types of flashlights and flash to do this,but I favor my spotlights the most. small items need more subtle flashlights, so its good to have a variety.

A Life Well Lived

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This photograph is one in a series I am doing at an old mill that is literally frozen in time. I picked the title because the man who ran this mill had very conservative beliefs, and knew the value of working hard and saving money. He was so diligent with his finances that he established a foundation that still oversees this mill for tourists to visit to this very day. What you are looking at in this photograph is the mill office/post office that served residents in the small surrounding community for decades. I placed a pair of shoes at the chair to allow the viewer to imagine the man who once sat there, wonder at the tales he could tell, and appreciate how simply he lived, and most likely more fulfilled than the majority of people today. Picture yourself sitting down after a hard day in the mill, snow blowing outside and a warm fire in the stove, as you turn on the old radio, you sip some tea, and rock yourself to sleep by lantern light. A little imagination can take you to great places.

From Dawn to Dusk

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Winter has once again relinquished its icy grip, and today temperatures climbed to the high forties.       I personally enjoy a good hard winter, with lots of snow and intense cold, but this winter season has been a real let down thus far. Thank goodness a good batch of fog rolled in overnight to envelop the landscape in an atmospheric wonderland, full of opportunities for photography. Once again, I had every intention of sleeping in, but looking out at 5am, I saw the fog building and figured I better get moving. As I dressed, my mind rapidly ran through all the locations I could think of and I finally decided to head to this church which sits on a hill overlooking a valley. Floodlights at the church backlit the fog, and as I worked the possibilities, I kept thinking, boy it would be great to have the sanctuary lit, and to my delight, a car pulled in and a member of the congregation agreed to turn them on. While I am pleased with my result, I must say the shot was taken at the very edge of where the ambient light starts to overwhelm the interior light and I literally got a few shots off till the balance tipped too far.If the interior had been lit a half hour earlier, the result would have been even better. Thanks to Glenn Buffenmyer for helping to make this church shot possible. The second image is an afterthought that I added tonight after shooting it on the way home this evening. I luckily had my camera with me to capture this colorful sunset. The best part is the images took only a few minutes on the computer instead of the hours I invest in the light painting photos here. If anyone cares to click on my gallery pages at the top of my page, you can see a couple other church location images under the fog gallery.

Unlock your Imagination

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I chose the title of todays post after my wife and I went out to eat on friday. The restaurant walls had several quotes stenciled on them, and one by Albert Einstein caught my attention. The full quote reads like this, “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my own imagination.Imagination is more important than knowledge.Knowledge is limited.Imagination encircles the world”. As an artist, I am constantly looking for inspiration all around me, whether its music, photographs, art,  or in this case an inspirational idea, one can enhance their own artistic expression by unleashing their imagination.

Whenever I read a quote like this, I think to myself, I sure wish I could say something so profound, yet so simple, but you can’t have it all I guess. On the topic of creativity, I have always been intrigued by how some people are seemingly born with the gift of creativity, others seem to learn it along the way, and others do not have an artistic bone in their body. Personally I don’t like to even say I am artistically blessed, because I am a small blip in the creative world, but I do feel I have been given a gift from God to capture the beauty around me. I know this because every time I see a gorgeous sunset or scene, I can feel something inside me stir, and am so grateful to have that feeling.

My image today features old locks and was made possible by the Burkholder family who have an antique business. They allowed me into their home to do two shots I had envisioned in my mind. One of the two images was this old group of keys and locks, and I wanted to photograph them in a way to accent their aged quality. I decided to use some old barn wood I had, and put some old lanterns in there as well. I light painted the scene to bring out the textures and shapes, and to make the lanterns glow,I held a lit match near the wick to simulate the glow, simply because these old antiques could not be fired up. The door in the photo is from an old prison and provided the background to complement my shot.

So in conclusion, I wholeheartedly believe that imagination is more important than knowledge, and I encourage anyone that follows my blog to imagine the possibilities you have each day to photograph what you love, and do it in a way that pushes your photos to the next level, and as you do so, may you find great satisfaction in producing something you are proud to put your name to.

A Fleeting Moment

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I was hoping to sleep in this morning, but I woke up early thinking about several photo projects I am planning, so I bundled up and headed out for a potential sunrise. Temperatures were right at 20 degrees,which is not that cold, but when the sunrise is a bust, it seems colder as you wish you were home in a warm bed instead. After conceding the sunrise was not happening, I headed home and suddenly the rays broke through the clouds and side lit the plowed snow along this country road. It only lasted a minute or two, but I had my gear on the seat and captured the fleeting moment.

Graceful curves

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Yesterday I was sure the winter weather was going to come up short,but this morning we woke to nearly six inches of fresh snow. I spent most of my day inside doing light painting on a couple new subjects, but still found time for a quick winter shot. This is located at the same place I posted two days ago. The graceful curves of this wrought iron gate caught my eye as fresh snow accented the lovely lines.

A chill in the air

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Tonight you could feel the cold raw air on your neck as a wintry mix moved into our area. Freezing rain, snow and everything in between are possible,but unfortunately it sounds like it will be just a small storm. For those who enjoy taking photos, it’s the kind of storm that leaves you wishing for a good old-fashioned nor’easter that drops inch after inch all night long, and as you lay in your warm bed listening to the wind howl, you anxiously await first light and the glorious landscape. Tomorrow I am shooting a few antique items using light painting, so unless the storm surprises me, I plan to be inside most of the day. This image was taken last year about the same time as everything was covered by freezing rain, and I found myself rushing around to catch the endless possibilities that were melting before my eyes. Author Bill Watterson once said “getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery” and that sums things up pretty well.

All Fired up

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Actually I get fired up when thinking about potential subjects that I want to shoot, and the fire extinguishers are something I have seen for several years. I finally asked permission to shoot them,and even though I enjoyed trying, to be honest,I was planning to do better than this. The pile seems to have grown higher than I remember with newer models tossed on top, and even though I was hoping for lots of rust, flaking paint and so on, I gave it a go anyway. As I was standing there waiting for darkness, I noticed this rusty old farm implement behind the building and the owner said I could give that a whirl too, so I rushed around trying to see some sort of composition in near darkness. The resulting photos are not my greatest works to date, but not every shot is going to be a winner every time. Still I had fun lighting the stuff and practicing my techniques. I got a brief glimpse inside the place I took these, and it appears they have some really interesting old machine shop items that have lovely curves and angles to try light painting on. I am hopeful that the owner may allow me to try something on one of these old classic machines sometime.Thanks to Mr Martin for letting me try these shots.

Dreams of Europe

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Todays image features a small village in Pennsylvania that was created by a Husband and Wife, who enjoyed traveling throughout europe and wanted to re-create the beauty they had experienced there.As a landscape photographer, I have dreamt of visiting places like Prague,Paris, Vienna, among a long list of others.The architecture, antiquities and sheer beauty have always been beckoning me, but for now this is as close as I can get. This village has numerous homeowners who have quaint shops, and while the concept seems great, public support has not always been what was hoped for. Periodically I make a brief stop there to dream of european adventures that someday will hopefully come to fruition. This image was taken yesterday after a brief shower, and includes the large fountain within the main village courtyard. I used wireless flash triggered by radio poppers to sidelight the cobblestone and fountain details.

A glimpse back in time

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This photograph features the old equipment in a water powered grain mill. This amazing set of machines are still functional, and start right up with the twist of a shaft, which runs two stories to the basement. In the basement there is a huge tank that holds water in reserve, and at a moments notice, the entire operation is ready to go.The date on the machines says patent-1893, and the craftsmanship and build quality is characteristic of an era were necessity was the mother of invention,  This is another example of painting with light, and the photography session lasted almost 2 hours and the merging of all the pieces took about 3 hours, but I go in circles sometimes trying to decide which effect I want to pick, so that complicates things a bit. As I have warned in past posts, never bump anything in your shot while doing this, and as usual, I kicked the shovel halfway through, but luckily I had it captured already. Try and find something built to these standards nowadays, and you will be looking a while or digging pretty deep in the pocketbook. The two lower photos represent the base layer on the left, upon which the image is built and that image is a very flat,subdued, dark image,upon which the highlight images are overlayed, and a single light painted sample section,on the right, which includes the flashlight source where I have the arrow pointing. I generally try to keep the light source hidden by my body or simply turned away, so the camera cannot see it. A snoot or shield on the light can help, and even if you see the light source, its irrelevant if that section is not being used.

Frozen in Time

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Old man winter made a brief comeback today in the form of temperatures that hovered around 12-15 degrees at daybreak. Cold conditions like this can provide some interesting possibilities if you are dressed properly and look long and hard enough.This image was captured at the edge of a local pond. It’s a wonder I even go near this pond, because it’s the same place my father made me wade into when I was around ten years old. I had pushed my friends sled across the frozen pond, and of course it went in the only open hole on the entire pond, so that evening when my father found out, he loaded me in the car, drove me to the pond and made me try to recover the submerged sled.I got to about waist deep, till he said get out, and then promptly drove me to buy a new one for my friend. Suffice it to say, I never pushed any sleds across frozen ponds from that day forward. That was decades ago, but it’s indelibly etched in my mind.

The doctor will see you now!

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This light painting effort from my shoot today includes some of the tools doctors used in days gone by, and reminds me that I am happy to be living in modern times. This small grouping of medical items came to me courtesy of the local historical society, who I have been working closely with to highlight some of the pieces in their collection. The doctors bag is well-worn and one can only imagine the stories it has seen, while the smaller cases still hold pills that would have been prescribed at the turn of the century. The round device in the foreground was used to heat the clear glass domes which, when applied to the body would draw blood out through a vacuum effect,  curing the patient of whatever malady they had, or so they thought. The tiny metal device near the glasses would slice the skin with a series of very sharp blades. The two remaining items are what I believe are an early microscope, and a syringe.

The photograph of the doctor was added after my shoot, and was photographed in a locked display case. it was downsized from the larger photo, and I added it because I just felt its nice to see the people who made a difference in their communities and this doctor was one such person. He is Doctor John Franklin Mentzer, born in 1862, and it was said his service to the community could hardly be equaled. He was a Physician, a postmaster during President Benjamin Harrison’s term, Was director of a trolley company, and was a county treasurer as well. In 1904 and 1908, he was a county delegate to the republican national convention, which nominated Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft. He died in 1958 at the age of 96.

One important point for those wishing to try this type of image, is you absolutely cannot bump anything during your light painting, or you will not have registration between the various pieces. I bumped the microscope about a half hour into shooting the scene, and thankfully I had that half of the shot already captured. This technique takes a certain amount of dedication to your photography, but I thoroughly enjoy the creative process it entails.