Tag: landscape

Posted on

Iowa Countryside

I can remember the many drives from Southern Illinois to Des Moines and how much I would complain that there was absolutely nothing to look at. If you’re not familiar with this part of the country lets just say it is extremely flat and all you see for miles is farm land.

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved where I grew up and wouldn’t change it for anything but when you are stuck in a car for 8 hours, it’s nice to have something to look at.

Until recently, I never realized that Iowa actually is not that flat and has many rolling hills. I took this picture just west of Des Moines, it captures the typical farm land scene in this area.


	


	





		

		
Posted on 
The Orange Sunrise
	


	
	

		
Sunrises and sunsets are always amazing to watch.  The surrounding environment is calm, the sky undergoes multiple changes in color, and the rush of daily life has either not begun or has ended.


When I was in the Outer Banks taking pictures of the Avon Pier I witnessed one of those moments.  As the sun began to rise, it cast an orange glow in the sky.  I was able to line the shot just center and below the pier.  I didn’t realize until later that there were two birds posing for the pic.



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
The Crossing
	


	
	

		
The Leica M9 is not only known for its great color pics, it’s probably better known for its black and white images.  I have to admit, the M9 does a phenomenal job of creating black and white pics.  It’s hard to describe what it is but the M9 just has that extra touch when creating these type of images.  I don’t routinely shoot in black and white while using the camera.  I shoot in raw (uncompressed picture format) and then edit it with Niks Software Silver Efex Pro 2.  If you like monochrome images, this is the software to purchase.  I have owned just the aperture plugin and now own the Photoshop CS5 plugin and prefer having the Photoshop plugin because it just makes a new layer instead of altering the original pic like it does in Aperture.


Soon after purchasing my black M9 (I have not moved on to the M9-P) I traveled to Cleveland for a conference and on my way home I stopped and shot a few pics.  This pic, originally in color was edited in Silver Efex Pro 2.  Let me know what you think?



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
Old Xavier Church
	


	
	

		
High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography has gained a lot of interest in photography.  HDR Photography is where you take multiple exposures of a image and then stack them on top of one another to create one picture.  By doing this you create an image that often times is very similar to what our eyes see.  Most digital cameras can do this by using the auto bracketing function.  For best results you need to use at least 3 exposures.  If you are shooting in very bright or low light then you often times need to use 5, 7, or 9 exposures.  Unfortunately, you typically need a semi-pro or pro dSLR to do this.


After you take the pictures, you then need software to stack the pictures on one another.  The best way I’ve found is using Photomatix or you can use Photoshop CS 5.  If you want to see some great HDR pictures you need to check out Trey Ratcliff at Stuck in Customs.  He does phenomenal work and has many tutorials.


My wife grew up outside a very small town in Southern Illinois called St. Francisville (well known for the scariest bridge to cross in Southern Illinois/Indiana).  In March, we were there for my wife’s baby shower.  There is a very old Catholic church that sits down town.  I decided to take a 7 exposure HDR pic using my Leica M9.  Most of the time when shooting in HDR you want to create a color image, I think in this case monochrome works very well.



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
Faith
	


	
	

		
Up until our move last year to Fort Wayne we would make the trip from Cleveland to Illinois a couple times a year to visit family. We always took a shortcut on US Highway 20 that would allows us get on I-69 in Angola, IN. I must have never paid much attention to my surroundings because on each of these trips we would pass this old white church that set off the main road about 1/4 of a mile. One afternoon, while driving back to Cleveland after preparing for our move to Fort Wayne, I noticed the large white church. I pulled over and liked its simple architecture and its weathered look.


Recently, the caretakers found me and commented on a picture I took of Powers Church on flickr (they said it was one of their favorites). Anyway, I never realized the importance of this church to the local community until I read a few articles about it. It was built around 1875 for less than $2000 by one of the original settlers in the area, the Powers family. At one time it set unused for over 20 years.


If you want to read more information about the church, you can find great articles in the USA Today and the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Also, there is information on wikipedia.


Below are a few pictures I took, including the picture the caretakers liked.



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
Red Door
	


	
	

		
Last fall a friend of mine asked for me to take a few family pics of them at a local park.  As I was leaving I came upon a large red barn.  The barn was sitting on a 7 foot stone block base.  The doors were weathered and really stood out because of the surrounding stone.  Here is one of those doors.


P.S.  Recently, I got invited to google+, a new social networking site by google.  I think most would agree there is a lot of potential.  You can see more about google+ here.  Also, you can find my google profile here.



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
Abandoned Crossing
	


	
	

		
If you haven’t noticed I have an interest in railroad tracks. Probably, most photographers do. I think a lot of it has to do with the rust, age, and symmetry of these structures. They often, can make a boring landscape interesting. I also like taking pics of railroad signs. This one was taken on a small dirt road. As you can probably tell, it was not often used therefore there was no need to change the sign.



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
Indiana Sunset
	


	
	

		
Living in Cleveland, OH for 5 years I got accustomed to grey skies. It seemed as if we would have one blue sky in the winter maybe 1 or 2 times a month. When I moved to Fort Wayne, I was hoping to see more blue skies and fortunately I do but still not as often as I would like (I’m sure others agree in Northeast Indiana). One evening in January, while driving home from work we had one of those rare events. I was driving on the interstate staring at the sun and noticed 2 trees in a field with nothing around them. I immediately took the next exit and drove into the field where they were located. Fortunately, I was able to catch one of these rare Indiana sunsets.


P.S. This is a good reason why you should always carry your camera equipment, you never know when you will find a good picture opportunity.



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
Unclear Path
	


	
	

		
I’ve posted other pics from this location on my Flickr and 500px sites.  I recently traveled back and grabbed a few pics with my Leica M9.  I’ve mentioned previously how much I like the bokeh of Leica lenses.  In this picture you can see how well it focuses just a small portion of the foreground and completely blurs the background.  There’s an old run down bridge in the background but is obviously difficult to see.  The composition allows for some imagination of what is ahead.



	


	





		

		
Posted on 
Carol’s Corner
	


	
	

		
Yesterday, I was driving through South Whitley.  It’s a typical small Indiana town with just a few downtown buildings.  For a small town and historic looking downtown, it was busy with patrons at the local bars and restaurants.  As I was making my way through town I came across a corner ice cream parlor.  It definitely had a retro look and was a great picture opportunity.  Maybe next time I’ll stop and get some food.



	


	



	
		

	

	





		


		
	





		

						
		
		
	
							

			
			
						
						
								
		















	
	
	
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