Every year Frankenmuth, Michigan has a winterfest. The Ice and snow carvings are just awesome to see, and to watch the carvers in action. This year was no exception, and luckily the weather turned cold, as we have had a very warm winter here in mid Michigan.
Decided to try my hand at senior photography. Turned out to be a fun shoot.
I always did all types of photography but avoided taking photos of people other than family parties. Guess I always felt that it took a special talent to do portraits. I guess it does, but it is a learned talent. So I decided to try it, and I have gotten hooked on capturing people posing, or just doing their thing. Here are some of the results.
Quite a foggy morning when I awoke. There were allot of dew drops glistening in the heavy foggy stillness. Natures little glistening lenses hanging from everything was quite awesome to behold. Peering through my macro lens was captivating to say the least.
One more place off my photographic bucket list. The weather was great and the scenery was awesome. The Trilliums and Orchids were blossoming, and displayed their wonderful colors. The streams were gracefully flowing and created many photo opportunities. I along with the rest of my group, were in awe of the variety of photographic possibilities. The Dogwoods were in full bloom and enchanted the leafless trees with the whites of the blossoms.
Sunrise
Trillium
Orchid Buds
Dogwoods
Rapids
Window To The Past
Looking forward to a return trip one day.
The first snow storm of the year arrives on Ye Old Morgan Farm.
Shooting in winter can be such a iffy project. I used ISO 800 to get the shutter speed to stop the snow flakes in flight.
A friend recently replied to my email about blogging stating that he had nothing to blog about. Here is my reply after contemplating why anyone should blog.
“Everything you talk about to me or your buddy at breakfast is something to blog about. The blog is just a venue to express your ideas and current thoughts. I know nobody probably ever reads mine, but it’s a way for me to express my current endeavors and ideas, and go back to expand or rehash them later. Kind of an open notebook basically for me, but will allow others to venture in on the topic if they want to. Same with my photo site. It’s a place for me to post my photos, and let the slide show play while I am doing something else, and lets me get an idea of ways to improve my composition etc. Beats letting them sit on a hard drive, and be forgotten. Many times I get a flash of an idea how to make the photo better, like tweaks of selective exposure or selective focus etc. to make the subject pop out more. The only way to improve is to visually review your current and past photographic adventures. No amount of browsing on the web and reading blogs will make you a better photographer, with the exception of viewing others photos to get better ideas of a different approach towards a subject. So for me the web is a place to review and share my photographic ideas and photos. I believe too many, me included, spend so much wasted time on the web instead of actually using their camera. So what to blog about is endless and I believe an important tool to improve your photography.”
Just got my new toy a Lensbaby Composer. 
Always was interested in its capabilities, and getting more into macro photography lately I finally got the bug to get one. Here is my first try using it.
The focus control it gives you allows for quite a bit of adjustment and creative possibilities. Really like the way it gives your close ups a great variety of looks.
Below is a shot with a 100mm Macro lens.
And here is a 24-105 zoom lens close up.
The one thing I learned is to appreciate the liveview feature on my Canon camera. Making composition and focusing adjustments is so much easier than trying to see through the cameras viewfinder. Especially as you can use the liveview zoom feature to get a closer view making focusing so much easier. I now use liveview for all my close up work. So looking forward to playing more with the Lensbaby and learning its many creative controls.
And no the photo is not noisy, the flowers of the African Violet actually appear that way.
Happy shooting.
On a recent trip to Isle Royals National Park we were shooting a really awesome sunrise. After shooting a couple photos using my 24-105mm lens something caught my eye. I swapped my lens for my 100-400mm and proceeded to zoom in and compose my shot. A friend looked at me and asked me what I was shooting with such a long lens? I really had no answer at the time as I was caught up in the moment and trying to pick up on what enticed me to change my lens and my perspective of what nature was providing.
As you can see the original shot was a really great, in my subjective opinion, sunrise silhouette over the sparkling water.
What had caught my eye was the singe clump of small trees silhouetted on the peninsula surrounded by the morning sunrise. I quickly zoomed in before the sunrise changed again and shot what I was feeling at that moment. Wish I could have moved right a little more to separate the distance islands but unfortunately Lake Superior wouldn’t allow it.
I guess my point is that while most will have a wide angle lens for sunrise you can usually find another shot within the shot that can bring a special emotional response to an awesome sunrise. For that matter it can apply to any photo by finding another shot within a shot that just might deliver to others what touched you emotionally to take the photo in the first place. To steal a phrase from Dewitt Jones “the next right answer”. Which photo is better?? It really is a subjective choice, but localizing can add another dimension to capturing what enticed you emotionally to capture the photo in the first place.
Visiting Isle Royale National Park, located in Michigan’s Lake Superior, for the first time was with much anticipation and uncertainty not knowing exactly what to expect and venturing into the unknown. The journey to reach the island is by boat or sea plane only, and the boat, the Isle Royale Queen IV from Copper Harbor in my case, ride over was delayed because of gale force winds and 14 foot waves which canceled the ferry trip. After a two day delay I finally departed but still faced 7-11 foot waves and a rough ride which took four hours. The Rock Harbor lodge is the only place to stay and the cabins were very nice.
They say that things will get better and once there, I soon realized what a treat I was in for. Although the weather provided varied and questionable skies there is so much to photograph. What nature provides one with is simply overwhelming as one looks over the rugged terrain and rocky shoreline. I can understand why it is considered one of Americas prime wilderness areas as access around the island is by hiking only. Being 40 miles long and 9 miles wide it might not seem that big by most standards but hiking it you soon realize how big the island is.
The awesome rock formations along the shores were simply breathtaking.
The main island is surrounded by 450 smaller islands which provides some perspective on how rugged and awesome the area really is.
The colorful and inspiring plant life growing out of the crevices provide so much to photograph you soon get caught up in all it’s splendor.
Hiking along the trails you soon find your hike is measured in hours instead of miles as there is always something to capture your imagination and entice you to bring out your camera.
The wildlife is amazing as there are 500+ moose and about 20 wolves in two packs, along with otters, beavers and of course fox squirrels etc. calling the island home. The birds are as varied as you might imagine with the loons, eagles, gray jays among many others that reside there.
My most intoxicating memory is of the eerie serenade of the loons every evening and morning reminding me how enthralled one can become in all nature has provided.
Would I return to Isle Royale? Absolutely Yes, in a heartbeat. Looking forward to blog updating the return. Next time I plan on a much longer stay than three days.