|
|
|
|
| | Something has fired up my patriotic fever lately. I have a clue of what is causing it but one thing I’m sure of is that it isn’t being fueled by the horrific national political grandstanding by all sides. I found myself out shooting at several locations that had major historic significance in the last couple of months. With Memorial Day, Flag Day, the D-Day 75th anniversary, July 4th and the moon landing 50th anniversary, it just seems like there is a lot of reasons to celebrate our nation.
It may have started with one of my workshops this month in Bucks County, PA. I met a group of people at the train station in Bridgewater, NJ and across the street tucked into the corner of a shopping center is the historic Van Horne House. Built in the 1750's, it was the site of a Revolutionary War skirmish. When the house was being restored back in the 90’s I did a good deal of work with the organization that is based there. It hit me at the time that I was truly on sacred ground, where men had lost their lives fighting for an ideal that still stands strong today. The first stop in the workshop was part of the Washington’s Crossing State Park and I wandered over to a memorial and gravesite for an unknown number of unidentified Continental soldiers. I just can’t imagine families having people leave home for an idealistic, unproven cause and the loved ones never come home and they don’t hear anything about them.
I also had a workshop at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. Again it hit me that the hardships the men and women went through were astounding. The country’s fourth largest town was built in a matter of weeks and conditions got so bad that Washington ordered the whole camp be moved across the river once spring arrived.
I am doing a lot of international travel and it reinforces that I am so lucky to be an American.
|
| | Stunned by a total solar eclipse
|
|
One of the major thrills in my life has been seeing two total solar eclipses. Earlier this month I got back from northern Chile, which was ground zero for this eclipse. I thought the second one might not be as magnificent as the first time but it was equally impressive. Almost a month later I still have the image of totality embedded in my brain and a smile appears every time I think about it. I wrote about it more in my blog but after totality was over it hit me that here I was, standing out in a Chilean mountain desert and I had just witnessed something so stunning that I can't describe it in words or pictures. I looked around at the mountains above me and the valley below and thought how absolutely fortunate I am. I got quite emotional. This was special. Incredibly special. Amazingly special. The next one in Dec. 2020 will be special too. |
| | Street art in Valparaiso While in Chile I took the group to the artsy town of Valparaiso. I had read plenty about Valparaiso and saw many photos but I wasn’t prepared for what was there. It has to be one of the most colorful cities anywhere. Most of the old part of the city is painted with murals by amazingly talented artists. Walking from our hotel, we took a funicular up a steep hill and everywhere we looked was street art. It looked like much of it was authorized but there was a good deal that appeared to be done when there wasn’t anyone official looking.
There is also plenty of graffiti and tagging but it seemed like there is a respect of most murals and they didn’t get tagged. We walked and photographed for several hours but didn’t see nearly all of it. For blocks and blocks every inch of wall had something painted on it. There were some that were political or social in nature but much of it was beautiful art that could be hung in a gallery if it was painted on canvas. Several places have long sets of steps that been painted on the front of each step so when you were at the bottom you could look back and see the mural.
There was so much art that the novelty wore off but the amazement didn’t.
I could spend days there. |
| |
Thinking about Vermont's foliage Now that summer is here I’m already thinking about autumn in Vermont. I’ve been doing a ton of traveling lately but there really isn’t any place I’d rather be than tromping around than in the woods of Vermont while the leaves are changing color. I’m hosting a couple of workshops this fall at my house in Woodstock, one is my traditional five day workshop that starts with my world famous mediocre spaghetti dinner. My cooking is average at best but I sure do know where to go in Vermont to find spectacular beauty! I’ve added a weekend getaway workshop this year for those people who can’t do a whole week workshop. It is over Columbus Day weekend so hopefully people have that day off work and can come to Vermont and enjoy the color. There still are a few openings for both workshops. |
| | Maine Lighthouse WeekendLighthouses are one of those things that make for fun photos, so I'm leading a weekend dash to photograph about 10 of Maine's lighthouses Sept. 27-29. I'm driving my 12-passenger Sprinter van from N.J. and will pick people up in Connecticut and Massachusetts on the way to Portland, where the photos start. It will be a fun weekend along the Maine coast. Read more about it. |
| | Hurray for the Hungry Hound A quick shout out to my sister-in-law Penny Milligan who opened a new store. Thirteen years ago Penny followed a dream and took a major leap by opening her own retail store, The Hungry Hound. Penny had worked in retail for years and knew what she was doing but opening her own small store was a huge risk. Now she has moved the store across the street in Somerville, NJ, and gone from 1500 square feet to over 5000 square feet. Penny not only has all the supplies and trinkets for pets but makes treats and food. The new store has a huge kitchen and plenty of space for more merchandise. It is another big leap for Penny and not an easy decision. I’m proud of you Penny.
|
| |
| | Personal coaching
If you want to improve your photography, learn more about your camera, get a better handle on Lightroom or Photoshop, or need help with your photo business, then I can help you with one-on-one mentoring that is customized to fit your needs. Read more..
Visit the gallery Stop by and see me and my work
2493 Lamington Rd, Bedminster, NJ 07921 908-375-8389
|
|
|
|
|
|
| I’ve discovered over the years that when I am in a situation where I know there is a good photo and I’m not making the image I should, there is one of two things going on. It usually means something else going on in my head and I’m not thinking clearly enough to be creative and translate what I am seeing into something in the camera. Fixing that is tough but I usually have an honest, hard profanity laced chat with myself while hoping people around me don’t hear the conversation.
If I’m still not getting the shot after punching myself in the face, then I’m probably using the wrong lens. I see an awful lot of photographers worrying about aperture and shutter speed, that is rarely the problem. If you choose wrong with those two it is apparent immediately and you try a different setting. But thinking about how the lens is affecting the shot is something that takes more effort and gives the photographer greater control over the image’s outcome. Creatively using a wide angle lens is one of the best ways to make a very strong center of interest and give a photo a sense of depth. And a long telephoto can compress a scene and make objects feel closer together. While in Iceland I use a wide angle to accentuate the church in the foreground while the background diminished off into the distance. When I switched lenses and put on a 200mm, I pulled the mountains closer to the church which put more emphasis on the background. They were shot with the same aperture and shutter speed but look vastly difference because of lens selection. Which one is best? That depends on what I’m saying with the final image. I did a seminar on lens selection, click here to watch the video.
|
| |
|
|
