Bikes Blues and BBQ, and other stuff.
Yeah, yeah… I know I am supposed to write in this blog space every day, but life is worth living when you get to experience it. Sometimes writing about what I did just takes the fun out of it. I mean, what's fun about writing a lengthy article that takes forever to proofread?
Yeah, your right. It is kind of fun to write these things. Kinda.
Kelli and I went to BB&BBQ on Dickson street a while back. I found it to just be a craft fair for bikers. Kind of a snooze for me. If I was still riding, it might have a little more appeal, but I quit riding over ten years ago. I wasn’t that big a fan of the culture then and now that it has nothing to do with me, even less.
Yeah, yeah… I know I am supposed to write in this blog space every day, but life is worth living when you get to experience it. Sometimes writing about what I did just takes the fun out of it. I mean, what's fun about writing a lengthy article that takes forever to proofread?
Yeah, your right. It is kind of fun to write these things. Kinda.
Kelli and I went to BB&BBQ on Dickson street a while back. I found it to just be a craft fair for bikers. Kind of a snooze for me. If I was still riding, it might have a little more appeal, but I quit riding over ten years ago. I wasn’t that big a fan of the culture then and now that it has nothing to do with me, even less.
The crowd was thick but not as thick as it was in the past. Maybe the biker culture has dwindled, or perhaps it is just too expensive, either way, it isn’t as popular as it once was.
There is always something to be said about the vanishing lines that are created from miles of motorcycles. Mostly just because of the oddity of it all. And then there are the people. The mandatory biker wannabees walking the streets, trying hard to escape real life. The young folks who want to be badasses and work very hard to convey that they are mean dudes and gals. Never really convinced me.
What I did notice this year, and last, was the increasingly larger and larger numbers of actual bikers at this rally. You know, the ones portrayed in movies and the like. Trust me when I say this, they are dangerous folks that you don’t want to be associated with on a daily basis. I have nothing against them. They are free to live their lives as they see fit. But the wannabes and the pretend badasses really don’t understand the biker culture that gets people killed. These guys are smart and very cognizant of what they do and how they do it. In fact, between my friend who grew up surrounded by bikers and myself, the stories we have will shock anyone who hasn’t tasted the culture.
And of course, you have the bible folks who carry the cross. I am not sure if this Roman Soldier was one of them, but I bet he is.
Oh, and I found this impressive piece of graffiti. No, I didn’t do it. LOL
That was all fine and dandy, but I am always looking for a story. My Mother and Father lent me some fodder for my muse and didn’t even know it.
After the “rally,” Kelli and I stopped by their house.
This birdbath, with its discolorations and reflections, reminds me of the old stories we had to read in High School English. You know, the ones with sirens and mermaids. The ones that gave birth to one of my favorite moves, Oh Brother Where Art Thou”.
On the hunt for a great Landscape
The end of a day; the sun making its nightly exit known to all. Its colors are the last grasp with the exclamation that it will return. It's rays folding through the trees, over the fields and bringing the depth of what is real to a warm and loving close.
I suppose I could say I am feeling better. The last piece of the puzzle to making me whole again is my voice. I am still just as hoarse and raspy as I was almost two weeks ago. Good news for anyone that thinks I am too loud (which is many more people than you may think) but bad news for me, as I cannot do some of my work yet. If you are an avid listener to my podcast, you would not be remiss to think that I may have just given it all up. Trust me, I haven't. I will be back to podcasting just as soon as my voice can handle it.
Since I was feeling ninety percent myself again, I was able to get out and take some photos. Because I haven't been shooting much, I decided to take some images of the Fayetteville Farmers Market. We got lucky and were able to get a great parking spot near the Fayetteville square (usually we have to walk four blocks) making it much more palatable for my weakened constitution. With just a few steps, we were smack dab in the crowd.
Typically, there isn't much more than the run of the mill Farmer's market stuff by the time we arrive (usually late because, you know, sleep). But to my pleasant surprise, we found ourselves face to face with a brass band. They were fair, not great, but good enough for a farmers market. I enjoyed the throwback tunes and the novelty of it all. Although I wasn't prepared to do so, I thought I would grab some video. After all, that is kinda what I do for a living.
After returning home and doing my thing with the photographs and the video footage. I mentioned to my friend that I was still trying to figure out precisely what kind of pictures people may want to purchase. He joined me in my office, and while contemplating his thoughts, we came across an interesting pic of a Golden Retriever. He sat up and exclaimed that it would be the perfect one to sell. I wasn't (and frankly, still not) convinced that anyone would want to purchase such a photo. It isn't their dog, so why would anyone want the face of a stranger adorning their walls, was my reply. He insisted and called in his girlfriend to confirm his epiphany. They were so adamant about it that I figured "why not."
What do you think? Is it something that would sell?
The next day, I still felt well and decided that it might be a great time to do a little more. I called up my friends and proposed that all four of us have a picnic somewhere, but we just weren't sure about the place where we would end up. It was suggested that we should visit a couple of swimming holes that my friend visited the weekend prior. Sounded interesting to me, Kelli didn't want to go (there was more TV to watch, after all) but we coaxed her into it.
We toured some very remote swimming holes just north of Devil's Den State Park. One of them was a little more "known" than we would have liked. It consists of some extremely tall bluff that the more adventurous like to jump from, A rope swing and lots of tadpoles. The sights were charming but I was more interested in watching the drama before me as group after group of novice cliff divers were coaxed by fiendish friends to jump into the cold river waters below. Personally, I agree with the ones unwilling to jump, but hey, life is short.
With the unknown perfect picnicking location looming above our heads, we decided to explore instead of having an old fashioned evening. Personally, I would have preferred a picnic. Things like that lend to serenity and peacefulness rather than rushing around trying to find something interesting to keep our minds occupied. That's one of the reasons I like landscape photography so much, you get to look upon views that the rest of the population generally are too busy to admire. Even more so when you are looking for that perfect landscape. To get it, you must take in all the beauty, not just what's directly in front of you.
Taking a landscape photo is more complicated than one might think. Yes, it is about photographing the thing in front of you, but there is a lot of preparations that go into it. The first and most obvious is the weather. To get that perfect sunset or sunrise, you need more than just a sun half nestled in the horizon. The beauty of the shot is rarely the sun. What makes that shot beautiful is the context.
The end of a day; the sun making its nightly exit known to all. Its colors are the last grasp with the exclamation that it will return. It's rays folding through the trees, over the fields and bringing the depth of what is real to a warm and loving close. Just like that sentence is dramatic and profound (although not my best poetic dissertation) a landscape must evoke feelings that rival, if not overshadow, any book that was ever written or poem that has ever been penned.
Sometimes just the sun can be cool. Reminds me of Miami Vice for some reason. Oh yeah! I had a Trapper Keeper in Jr High with this on it.
Well now, that was a little much, wasn't it? LOL,
To get that perfect landscape, though, you must look at the foreground of the picture as well as the sky. A bright day with a setting sun is nice, but a few clouds would most definitely be an addition that could keep it from being "ho-hum" and turn it into one of the most beloved sights anyone has ever seen.
My Audition and the real threat from the River Valley flooding.
So, I just spent almost four hours and fifty bucks in a car to attend a meeting that made me want to give up acting forever, and now I have to drive back home.
Now, we have had a lot of rain recently, as we all know. The River Valley (Fort Smith Arkansas) has flooded, levees have broken, and roads are closed. The water from the Arkansas River hit record levels, and here I was driving through it. Another reason for a rental car.
I love making movies, films, television, and anything else that is in the genre. I work tirelessly to know what I am doing at all times and how to execute them beautifully and, my specialty, affordability. I examine tons of footage and writing to soak in all that I can only to come back and learn some more. It is genuinely in my whole being and precisely what I was made for. Not too many folks can say that they know what their true calling is. I am one of the lucky few.
This also means that I am not only a Photographer, Videographer, Motion Graphics Artists, and Editor; I am an Actor too. Sure I can direct actors, but what good would I be if I couldn’t practice what I preach?
Because of my inner “actor,” sometimes I get called in to audition for roles. Sometimes they are for movies, but mostly it’s commercials and PSA type things. And just like most other working actors, I get called back or land the role rarely. Not too infrequently, but enough to call it rare, I suppose. As an actor, this is just how the business works, good or bad.
Most roles that an actor can audition for in Northwest Arkansas and be reasonably assured they have a chance to land, pay either one hundred or three hundred per day or you have to drive to Oklahoma City just to audition, if not both. I am with you on this part, There is no way I am going to drive three and a half hours for a role that pays a hundred bucks a day, no matter what kind of exposure I “might” get. It just doesn’t make economic sense. But this time, the pay for this part was above scale. Scale is the minimum amount of money an actor gets paid if they belong to the union. When I saw that, I submitted. Much to my surprise, I was selected to audition. But it in Oklahoma City, figures. But that pay... Yeah, it suckered me in.
I rented a car and drove to OKC. I figured my 2006 Mustang could handle the drive, but I wanted to go as economically as possible. My Mustang gets 13 mpg in town and 27mpg on the highway, but this little KIA gets almost twice the city gas mileage and a solid 37mpg on the hwy. In real terms, I would have needed to fill the tank on my Mustang four times while I didn’t even have to fill that KIA up twice. That alone saved me the money I spent on the rental; not to mention the wear and tear on my Mustang.
I would say the audition went well, not really great, but that’s how these things always feel. For my actor friends out there, high-end auditions are really the pits. They are impersonal and cold events that make you feel like you have just stepped into a world where everyone hates their job and anyone they come into contact with. No one leaves an audition feeling like they “got the part.” Everyone leaves thinking that they must have done something wrong. And I mean everyone. For those that have never had the pleasure of experiencing the pain and torture of a Hollywood audition; if you had a job interview that went like these always go, you would second guess your career path and leave whimpering. They are worse than brutal, they are soul-crushing events. They also take about five minutes at most.
So, I just spent almost four hours and fifty bucks in a car to attend a meeting that made me want to give up acting forever, and now I have to drive back home.
Now, we have had a lot of rain recently, as we all know. The River Valley (Fort Smith Arkansas) has flooded, levees have broken, and roads are closed. The water from the Arkansas River hit record levels, and here I was driving through it. Another reason for a rental car.
Before I left for OKC I called the Arkansas State Transportation office to make sure I40 was open, and they told me everything was just fabulous with the interstate, but I don’t know if that was entirely true. It seemed to me that the water was only a few feet away from covering the highway, wow.
While I didn’t stop to take photos with my pro camera, these shots show just how close the water came. Good thing my trip was ruled by the sun.
Is the world ending? No, I'm just sick.
Over the past three weeks, I haven’t posted much or taken that many photographs. It may seem like I am neglecting my duties, but in reality, I have been very sick. Over my life, I have had pneumonia dozens of times. This time I thought I was OK until I wasn’t. It put me down hard. In fact, I didn’t know how sick I was until after I started to get better.
Over the past three weeks, I haven’t posted much or taken that many photographs. It may seem like I am neglecting my duties, but in reality, I have been very sick. Over my life, I have had pneumonia dozens of times. This time I thought I was OK until I wasn’t. It put me down hard. In fact, I didn’t know how sick I was until after I started to get better.
I did try to keep creating. I grabbed a sunrise, practiced focus stacking, and took a time lapse. While these aren’t the most fabulous photographs I have ever taken, I still enjoyed taking the time to do it.
I went out early one morning to Lake Fayetteville and set up two cameras in hopes of getting the marvelous colors that are usually displayed when the sun begins to peek over the horizon. The sky was clear, and the air was quite clean. Two things that do and do not contribute to a great photograph.
Usually, the air in NWA is thick with substantial humidity, making everything hazy. This also refracts the light making the great colors one expects to see across the morning landscape. This usually makes taking a photograph a little tricky, as the haze keeps the colors of the trees in focus, sharp and defined. So it is a trade-off, hazy photos but great colors or, in the case of that morning, bright and crisp with only a few colors. I really didn’t mind too much though, crisp air means low pollen. Something that is a big help when suffering upper respiratory distress. Like I said, I didn’t realize how sick I was, and heavily polluted air probably would have done more damage than I know.
Right now, the dam is covered in hundreds of yellow flowers, some of which are almost perfectly shaped. I have been fooling around with Focus Stacking, so I grabbed a few shots. If you look closely, you will see the old water intake is in focus as well as some flowers with everything in-between having a beautiful bokeh.
Since I was at Lake Fayetteville anyway, I thought I would look around at the docks in the marina. Docks can provide great photographs because of their straight lines that seem to vanish into the distance. I wasn’t disappointed.
The Rowing Club of Northwest Arkansas has recently installed a dock meant specifically for their sport. There are no railings, so it is easier to get in the water boats. It even has a little staging area to quickly mount and dismount the skiffs and vessels without the threat of falling in the water. It is interesting if you find yourself wanting to learn something new, go by and just take a look.
The dock itself had a problem that morning though. It was covered in Canada Geese droppings. I mean, covered. It was the most disgusting thing I have seen in a long while. If you know anything about me, you know I love Ducks but despise Canadian geese. They are the least friendly and most undesirable water foul I know of, and also the most damaging, in my opinion, to any Eco-system. But mostly it’s because they are jerks. Anyway...
I almost did not take the photo of the dock. I knew it would be at least an hour of work to remove all the droppings from the photograph and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to take on the task, but the dock looked too good that I couldn’t resist.
I have also been fooling around with daytime long exposure, so this was a great place to try it. When you use long exposure, things like water, and it’s waves blend together to make what could be seen as a mist, causing the camera to create some fascinating photos.
After that little trip to the lake, I thought I would go home and spend the rest of my day in Photoshop and Lightroom, creating my art. But I just didn’t feel that great and ended up napping. When I woke, I had lost my voice completely. This was a week ago, and I still cannot talk. In fact, I think I have gotten sicker.
It seems that every time I think I am getting better, the weather does something funky, and it makes me worse again. I am trying to get better, but until this passes, I won’t be able to put out any more podcasts or take any road trips for great photographs.
Wow, What a long weekend!
When we got the the park we looked at the hills, studies the trails and some topographical maps and this thing looked brutal. Maybe not for the guy or gal that walks or runs ten miles a day, but for two guys that spend ninety percent of their time sitting in front of a computer screen, yeah…
Well, It’s been an exciting few days since my last post. I am still playing around with the camera and got to take a few portrait/snapshots with it courtesy of Bedford’s Camera and Video. They put on a photo-walk where they get a model for you to photograph and let you try out new camera gear. The only thing is, they didn’t have anything for my Sony and said that demand has been too high and they keep selling out of stuff. It may sound like an excuse but, in fact, the Sony a7III has actually been a strong leader in photography gear sales for a year or more. The camera did what I expected it to do, and I got sidetracked with messing with the camera instead of taking photographs. Now that I think of it, I should have used my flash and really got some interesting shots. Never-the-less, the shots were, and I got to see what this camera can do in this type of situation. Not too bad.
I did use a mix of lenses though. The deep woods photos were taken with the Tamron 70-300 while the rest were a mix of the Sony 50mm and the Rokinon 35mm Cine-lens.
If you are interested in Modeling, you can volunteer with Bedford’s as well. They are always looking for new faces.
I have been working with my new Sony a7III for a while now, trying to learn its quirks and proclivities. It behaves much different than my old a77, that’s for sure. While I have gotten a few good shots with the camera, I really haven’t found myself in a position to make that one grand photo or video, but I got really damned close on Saturday. My screenwriter and I were going to walk Mount Kessler in Fayetteville Arkansas to see if we might find an elusive view of the city or a spectacular spot that overlooks to the west.
I’m feeling dizzy.
When we got the park, we looked at the hills, studied the trails, and some topographical maps and this thing looked brutal. Maybe not for the guy or gal that walks or runs ten miles a day, but for two guys that spend ninety percent of their time sitting in front of a computer screen, yeah… we weren’t going to do that. I mean, what if we get lost and miss dinner!? We then decided the better thing was to go downtown and enjoy the Fayetteville Spring-fest. Yeah, they have food trucks there, and it’s only about two blocks long. See, now that is much better. While not overly exciting, it was unusual for a dull Saturday afternoon.
Hello, World!
Since it wasn’t that big of a thing, we broke for lunch and headed our separate ways for a while. I had some lunch while my buddy found himself moving some more of his stuff into a new apartment, even though he hasn’t signed a lease yet. They gave him the key, so I guess its not a problem.
This fish is super hungry.
About five o’clock I called him up and told him the sky should be pretty good for a sunset that night. I figured I might as well try to see what I can get. Being that I was being kinda lazy this weekend, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Lake Fayetteville has a secret place you can go (maybe your not supposed to go?) and get a dead shot of the sunset against the Dam. It’s not hard to get to, but it’s not that easy either. It’s easy enough for even a lazy photog to get to, but I must say, I wasn’t disappointed. I actually thought I wasn’t going to get out of there with anything usable or exciting. But Six Hundred and Forty-Seven Photographs, you are bound to find something.
Ok, yes, I took way too many photos. But in reality, I didn’t. I was planning on making a time lapse out of all the RAW files, so I set it to take a photo every 1 second. I also wanted to see the range and depth of the camera when bracketing (taking multiple images and stacking them in Lightroom/Photoshop to get perfect exposure on every pixel). Between the two, I ended up with 35 gigs of photos and video. Most of which I will never use. If only I could bring myself to delete stuff. I am a terrible Data hoarder.
Sunsets/Sunrises are not all the same
Yesterday seemed like a great day for taking a photograph of the sunset. If only I had looked closer at the weather. While it was a great day yesterday, today is looking to possibly be a brute with a storm barreling in from the west.
Finding that ideal sunset or sunrise is always a big deal for me. I would also go so far as to say that Sunsets are a big deal for anyone that considers themselves a photographer of any caliber. The majestic beauty of the sun fighting its way through the haze and dust of the continent as it rises from the east or sets from the west cannot be understated. Yet, not all sunsets and sunrises are the same and seldom do they look the same day after day. Before a massive rainstorm, the skies of the west are generally cleaner. This causes the light from the sun to refract less and give us clearer blues and sharper clouds. When the storm has cleared, the winds calm down, and the dust rises to cause the light to refract and splinter into the brilliant oranges we love to see. Yesterday was a particularly standard pre-storm day that delivered precisely what it should have, a bland and lackluster sunset.
Yesterday seemed like a beautiful day for taking a photograph of the sunset. If only I had looked closer at the weather. While it was a great day yesterday, today is looking to possibly be a brute with a storm barreling in from the west. Already I have received notifications about possible Tornadoes from the weather apps on my phone. If I would have looked ahead, I wouldn’t have been so stoked for the sunset and would have taken the time to relax a little more and enjoy it. The photographs of the sunset are decent, but since the air was from the wind, they weren’t spectacular, by any means.
The fascinating thing about this outing is that I got a couple of photographs that aren’t of the sunset but seem to be either more exciting or more potent than these. My favorite is the cold Oregonian looking beach scene while my wife, Kelli, seems to prefer the exotic tones and depth of the rocky shores with the hibernating bush/tree.
Kelli found this to be the more interesting of the bunch.
This Oregonian like shoreline is one of my most favorite photos from the excursion.
What do you think about the photographs from this excursion? Which ones are your favorite?
If you wish to purchase any of the photographs in my Blogs most are available in my store. Can’t find the size you want or just want to purchase smaller versions, please contact me! :-)
My Journey into the past, instead of writing.
While he was staring down the old weapons I was wandering, looking for crazy things. There are stacks and stacks of shelves all holding important mainstays of archaeology like pottery and household implements to some really crazy and exotic things. It is kind of an x-file looking stack of shelves too. Just like in the movies and TV. So that made me somewhat interested to browse the place.
They didn’t have just pottery and bones though. I was kinda excited to see that they haven’t forgotten about the other things from history especially the more recent history. They had military helmets, Crazy formaldehyde jars of snakes, frogs and other not so normal things.
Today is a screenwriting day. The day where my writing partner and I go over the plot and circumstances of our current screenwriting challenge. Yes, you should write every day and make it a habit, but he really likes to work when he feels the time is right. Not saying that he doesn't work on other things like I do (I am writing this blog instead of a story, for instance) but he only feels he can work on screenplays when the time is right for him. Needless to say, it takes a long time for us to get a collaborative screenplay out into the world.
We generally go to Sam's Club every Saturday before we start because they give away free samples. Everything is always better when it's free, as you well know. We get to walk around the store and get any itch to goof off out of our system. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Today was different, there was an open house at the University of Arkansas' archaeology department, and he wanted to go. So we went. I took my wife, and he took his girlfriend.
I was surprised to see how many people were at the open house. They had pizza for everyone but that didn’t last!
Little exhibit where anyone could handle replicas of the artifacts stored there.
It was supposed to be held outside, but with this crazy-stupid Arkansas weather, they had to move it inside. I expected to see a few people but boy I was wrong. That place was packed. I also expected the folks to be rigid, facts oriented people that have no funny bone in their body. Wrong again. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few, but for the most part, they weren’t not cool folks.
3-D Printed copy of the artifact and the 3-D printer that made it.
The original artifact and the scanner used to make the 3-D Image
It’s still pretty cool, I guess. They scan in the image to the computer and plug it into the printer and out pops a replica. My buddy said that they need to refine the print head or something to make it more accurate, I do not disagree.
You could definitely see the printing lines in it and it only roughly the same shape when you look close enough.
Since it is actually a working laboratory for artifacts, I am genuinely surprised they allowed the access they did. We saw everything and anything we were interested in. My screenwriting partner asked to see the old weapons they may have in the place, and they happily obliged to open the storage area they are housed in and let him see them close up. Of course, he couldn’t handle them, but hey, good luck asking a museum to show you what they have in storage.
While he was staring down the old weapons, I was wandering, looking for crazy things. There are stacks and stacks of shelves all holding important mainstays of archaeology like pottery and household implements to some really insane and exotic items. It is kind of an x-file looking stack of shelves too. Just like in the movies and TV. So that made me somewhat interested in browsing the place.
They didn’t have just pottery and bones though. I was kinda excited to see that they haven’t forgotten about the other things from history especially the more recent history. They have military helmets, Crazy formaldehyde jars of snakes, frogs and other not so ordinary things that I find interesting.
Just some of the interesting and more modern stuff they have at the pottery collecting facility.
Of course, they have fossils at this place. Most are not that interesting, but there was this one thing. It is an alligator looking thing that was found in Germany. Wait, what? An Alligator in Germany, really? I mean that’s like finding a python in Ireland!
Mystriosaurus (Teleosaurus Bollensis
The keepers of the fossil were telling me all about where it came from and why it’s exciting. They said that the throat cartilage generally goes away when fossilization occurs but this thing, you can still see the esophagus. They believe its throat was made of harder bone than what would be expected in today’s animals of any kind.
The esophagus of the animal
They also pointed out that you can see what it recently ate as well. Ew…I guess it’s sanitary now being that its last lunch was over one hundred and fifty million years ago.
Lunch never got to quite be over, I guess.
For some reason, they also have lots of Taxidermy. Taxidermy isn’t just furry animals; it is also bones. One of them looked a little creepy, the Marmoset has a skull shape that’s eerily close to the form of a human skull. Plus, the plastic bag it’s in doesn’t help the situation much.
The rest of the taxidermy is pretty impressive. Just click an image below, and you should be able to scroll through all of them.
All in all, it wasn’t too bad of an excursion and being that today was a cold, bitter jerk, yet again. I guess the day wasn’t entirely wasted.
If you would like to purchase any of the images in this blog, please visit the store or just click on the photo. I have many different types of prints that can fit in and with almost any decor or color scheme.
The perfect location for a photograph
Some of the best portraits you will ever see more than likely could be a great photo without the subject sitting, running, walking or doing some damn thing. Its about the dream, your photograph. When taking portraits for clients it becomes even more important to have that backdrop be something spectacular. So today I was looking around for something that might make some great lines for some wholesome portraits.
As you may or may not know, the setting is as much a part of the photograph as the subject. You can have a beautiful woman or man sitting for a photograph, but if the background is a power plant, well, those photos aren’t going to impress anyone much.
A few decent lines and I can have them stand in front of the caution signs, might be good. Rule of Thirds will work great here.
Some of the best portraits you will ever see, more than likely, would be a great photo without the subject sitting, running, walking or doing some damn thing. It's all about the dream, your photograph. When taking portraits of my clients, it becomes even more critical to have that backdrop be something spectacular. So today I was looking around for something that might make some great lines for some wholesome portraits.
Every now and again, I go out looking for easily accessible spots in town that aren't too secluded. I used to try and take clients to the craziest places I could think of. Why? Because of the background! I would find the best environments I could. With my tastes, it meant that no one else would ever get that same photograph and probably hasn't yet either. The problem is, I may find that pleasing but the regular Joe doesn't or even worse, it scares them to death.
I once had a couple that needed engagement photos for their wedding. I love water being in all my shots, and I know of a place that's easy to get to and secluded enough that it would be a one of a kind. The path is level with the water. Leaving nothing but a clean horizon line full of a lake, BEAUTIFUL.
I took them out there, we navigated the little path made by the local deer population and got right up to the water's edge just as the sun started to hover above the glistening western horizon. It was going to be perfect. I was so excited that I didn't notice the bride-to-be getting more and more nervous. That is until she let out a little shriek.
“SNAKES! SNAKES EVERYWHERE!”
I didn't see them, the fiance didn't see them but SHE SAW THEM, and that was it. We were off to take the engagement photos in my front yard. Lacking anywhere else to take them other than the local museum turn of the century barn and homestead house, I was out of luck and out of scenery.
After that day, I began hunting for that great backdrop that would allow the client to feel like they are getting something beautiful and I didn't feel cheap shooting it.
This is one of my earliest HDR Photographs of the Shiloh Museum Barn
Yeah, I said it, I don't want to feel cheap. However, I get a few drinks in me, and I stop caring for about four hours, but I always hate myself in the morning. Cheap to me are the obligatory barn photos or the hay bale in a field. Put everyone in plaid and pile them against the hay, not my ideal photograph. YUCK! Ok, if you pay me enough and I'll do it, but I ain't gotta like it. Besides, old barns can be an excellent backup plan. Shoot them right, and you get to keep some self-respect.
That's where I went today, to make sure that the backup plan still existed. To my utter horror, my backup plan is completely destroyed. Well, not completely, but close. Sometimes I like to use the Shiloh Museum to shoot the "homespun" clients in front of. They love it because it feels like the world they wish they could return to. You know, the better days when family cared for each other and ate around the dinner table together. (Secret, those weren't the better days. You worked 12 hour days in the field and momma had to do the laundry outside by hand). It used to be a safe bet and friendly enough place for the majority of the folks but now the only thing left is the barn, and it looks like it's going to fall down. Now what do I do?!
I know what I am going to have to do, find another backup “wholesome” backdrop. Yay me…
Pretty Little Pink Flowers are here today, but they might not be here in June.
That’s when I saw this little gem. It isn’t much, but the flowers seem to be nice, there’s a micro-brewery nearby (two of them actually) so it might do in a pinch. Plus, it’s literally less than one hundred yards from the Police Station. Can’t get much safer than that!
But, there is a downside. Once the spring is over, those little pink flowers will be gone, and the contrast of the background will fade ever so slightly when there is nothing but green. I guess I am going to keep on looking. I wonder if those snakes are still there?
If you would like to purchase any of the mages in this blog, please visit the store or just click on the photo. I have many different types of prints that can fit in and with almost any decor or color scheme.
Sony A7III and Lots and Lots of birds.
One other thing that really makes me happy about the a7III is the amount of detail the stills retain when under exposed. Sony always does a good job at keeping detail in the blacks. Just like a RED camera, the Sony holds up when underexposed but really can’t deal effectively with over-exposure when compared to their counterparts. But really, I shoot dark all the time, it’s my style, so this camera makes my life so much easier in post.
This weekend was busy! My wife wanted to go to the Harry Potter convention here in town, so we had to go to bed early and get up like any other weekday without sleeping in. I know, such a rough life. It was pretty cool, the convention. I like the movies, but I’m not as big into HP as a lot of the folks there. One thing I found really interesting was the Raptors.
Wait, what? It’s a Harry Potter convention…
No! Not those kind of Raptors!
The Raptor Rescue from Conway brought them up because, you know, Hedwig.
Owls are part of the Raptor family of birds, and they are cool. They started off by sitting outside the Town Center, and everyone got a close look at them. My favorite? The Owls, of course.
As a photographer, I am happy with these pictures, but I am even more impressed with the quality of the camera I have. I have a new Sony a7III, and it really makes me not miss my “crop” sensor a77 that I’ve been shooting on for years. I shot all these photos with my Sony 50mm off the shelf Prime lens. Nothing special to it, just a run of the mill lens. But the quality is so good, way better than what I am used to. The Sony a7III is a full frame camera with about 20 stops of exposure built in.
Almost all of these shots on this page are cropped. Not just cropped in, but SUPER cropped. Here is the full photo of the Horned Owl.
Now, Here is just cropping in on the eyes.
It’s not precisely Pixel Peeping, but I am really stoked about the resolution of this camera.
One other thing that really makes me happy about the a7III is the amount of detail the stills retain when underexposed. Sony always does an excellent job of keeping detail in the blacks. Just like a RED camera, the Sony holds up when underexposed but really can’t deal effectively with over-exposure when compared to their counterparts. But really, I shoot dark all the time, it’s my style, so this camera makes my life so much easier in post.
These shots were mostly outside with the bright sky behind the subject. The photos were able to expose well and with very little noise. I was just running and gunning with these shots so let's not judge the shooter, ok?
As shot with no adjustments.
Fully exposed and adjusted. I even brought up the exposure more than I usually would.
In Lightroom, you can get even closer with the RAW photo, and I looked really hard and could not find any noise what-so-ever. Ok, maybe a keener eye might find defects, but they would be hard pressed.
Then we were off to see my father. It was his birthday on Saturday, and they had a little wine.
I noticed a cool looking thing in front of me on the counter. Since I had my camera with me, I couldn’t help myself.
I think this might be a shot I set up later for a product type shot. Better lighting, cleaner glasses, and probably not a wine stain, leaking down the label. But you know, it kinda works.
So, we all went out to eat for his birthday to an ok restaurant in Springdale that is kinda famous. It has been host to three Presidents and the latest season of “True Detective” on HBO, the AQ Chicken House.
Al and Vivian (Mom and Dad)
Kelli in all her Harry Potter stuff
CRAZY Chicken statue in the lobby of AQ Chicken House.
Still using the 50mm for all these shots, I was able to pull the detail out of them without sacrificing image quality even under some of the worst photographic conditions you can think of. Not too shabby.
The next day, it was finally sunny, but it was Sunday and Screenwriting day. Donald and I spent almost ten hours talking over just the opening image of our latest screenplay. UG!
He was running behind so that morning I went out and shot with my Tamron 70-300 zoom I bought for my a77. Fortunately, I thought far enough ahead to purchase the full frame version of the lens, so It works perfectly. The only problem I do have with it is that the lens information doesn’t pass through to the camera. Oh well. I can see the aperture but nothing else.
Since I couldn’t really go for a photo walk or leave the driveway (remember, I was waiting for Donald to show up), I decided to get some photos of the Cardinals and Robins that live in my yard, and of course, they weren’t around, so I had to wait on them too. With my patience rewarded I did get a few shots.
It was such a busy weekend that I had to include everything that went on in one post, I guess. Maybe I am just being a little lazy and not separating it all out into a daily thing, but as you can tell, I am really more interested in the photography of the weekend than I am Harry Potter stuff, but whatever.
Work, Work Work...
Working for a job I’m not supposed to have?
Today was exciting, to say the least. Many of you don’t know, but I was laid off from my job as the Video Production Manager at a national orthodontic firm about three weeks ago. Usually being laid off means that you don’t work for that company anymore, strangely, this time that’s not what’s happening.
It seems that the company may have been a little premature with my departure from the company. Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t want to leave after all. Last week I spent all week up there and nine hours today making videos for them. I don’t mind, since it’s too cold anyway, and it gives me something to do. But good grief...
The good news though is that I seem to have stumbled upon another opportunity. It seems the State has a program that will allow me to go back to school for Graphics Design. That’s pretty cool!
I already know a hell of a lot about color, composition, Photoshop and more but to get free training in all the other stuff, well that’s cool. Once I’m into the program, I actually may be able to qualify for a few grants as well. Maybe that will allow me to travel even more and get the really great shots I am looking for.
Quick journey through the fresh snow.
It snowed in North West Arkansas today so I went out into the cold with my camera and found some pretty interesting colors amidst all the white.
It is brutally cold here in the south. I know, I know… folks in Minnesota are used to being cryogenically-frozen until spring, but this is the south, my dear. We have brutally hot summers where the humidity is so high we sometimes have to wear scuba gear to breath, but our winters only get into the teens and twenties for a few days, and you know, we just ain't used to it. LOL. The good news for us, here in North West Arkansas, is that it snowed a little. Not a vast snow, just a good dusting that made everyone think it snowed.
Since there was a layer of white stuff on top of everything today, I figured I better get out and take a photograph or two. I enlisted my father (who is in his seventies) because my Mustang GT might just get stuck and his giant Dodge Ram probably won't. He and I bundled up and headed out.
The first place I stopped was Lake Fayetteville. It is easy to get to and just deserted enough to test the roads for ice. The calmness of the lake seemed the best place to start.
The cold touch of winter
While this photo is good, it isn't what I expected I would get, and I wanted to do better. When taking a photograph, its all about contrast. Not the contrast slider in your phone's photo editing app that can be taken too far and usually is, but about the contrast of the subjects. Being that winter in Arkansas is typically cold and grey with brown dominating all the scenes where green is overabundant in the summer. Things need to stand out when you take a photograph and not dominate.
I kept looking for something better, something that may spark my interest. I wasn't hitting on all cylinders by my eye caught the wavy vanishing point just to my right.
Wavy lines of man
But really, that wasn't what I was looking for, and it really isn't up to the standards I have set for myself.
Telling this to my father, he started the truck and headed south to the Boston Mountains. I was worried about this trek into the pretend mountains (they are really just very rugged and steep hills) as it is challenging to find the right viewpoint without traveling across private property. He assured me that there has to be something worth taking a photo of. So, off we went, but first, we visited Mount Sequoya in Fayetteville.
Usually, you can get a great photograph of the entire downtown of Fayetteville Arkansas from way up on top of the hill, but just not today. It seems that the upkeep of this particular spot has fallen short this winter, add to that the other sightseers and a persistent haze, it really didn't look all that great. NEXT TIME!
Old main was obscured by overgrown trees and a persistent haze.
I did get this cute photo of the guest house, though. It makes me want to go watch "Its a Wonderful Life" for some reason.
But then we decided to go south. Visit the river and follow it as far as we could stand. It was worth it. While not all my efforts were print worthy, for this blog, I think most of them will do.
Even better was that the cold of the day caused the water in the river to turn emerald green and turquoise. FUN!
But the best one, as it always is, was Devil’s Den State Park waterfall. It never lets you down.
Always running, this waterfall is great, any time of year.
After that, though, I was just too cold. We headed home and had some stew and got warmed up.