Well, not really. But just busy, busy, and more busy. Madeline is turning 4 soon, and Evan is 2 months old soon. Kids are keeping me busy, but I'm getting out to shoot too.
Did a photo shoot with a family last Saturday at Como Park. Had a great time. The boy was very fun and excited about everything, which made my job that much easier - no coaxing out a smile!
Been taking a bunch of pictures out and about with the family. We went to Mankato on Sunday to meet Becky's Mom and Grandma, and we played at a park there - Sibley Park, I think it was. Petting zoo, lots of playground equipment. Took some shots of the flowers around the park, and lots of our kids.
No new camera gear...yet. Been thinking about some f2.8 lenses, and getting rid of a couple of lenses and my flash. But nothing concrete yet.
Still have my work on display at Shane's on Main in downtown Stillwater. My work was supposed to be moved towards the back of the restaurant next week, but the artist who was going to come in and take the front spot postponed, so my work is still up. Woo hoo! And it will be there during Lumberjack Days, which is also coming up soon. I did sell another print there; the Balloon Eclipse. Very cool that people like what I'm doing. I always have to re-fill my business cards when I go in there every week, so I know that people are interested.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Summertime
Here it is, summertime. Still have not got out too much to shoot due to the expanded family. Witgh the 4th of July coming up this weekend, I'm hoping to get out and try to shoot some fireworks for the first time.
More gear arrived for me since I posted last. I picked up a used Nikon N50 film body for $14, and completed my tripod with a Giottos ball head. Pretty happy with the ball head and leg combo that I assembled, but we'll have the ultimate test when I try longer exposures and see how it holds up.
I have a shoot scheduled for July 11th. I'll be taking pictures of one of my wife's friends co-workers' son. Long connection, but it works. We're meeting at a very kid-friendly place, and hopefully will get some great shots of him for his 3rd birthday.
I also still have my work up at Shane's on Main in downtown Stillwater. With the tourist season getting busy down there, hopefully I'll sell a few more images.
More gear arrived for me since I posted last. I picked up a used Nikon N50 film body for $14, and completed my tripod with a Giottos ball head. Pretty happy with the ball head and leg combo that I assembled, but we'll have the ultimate test when I try longer exposures and see how it holds up.
I have a shoot scheduled for July 11th. I'll be taking pictures of one of my wife's friends co-workers' son. Long connection, but it works. We're meeting at a very kid-friendly place, and hopefully will get some great shots of him for his 3rd birthday.
I also still have my work up at Shane's on Main in downtown Stillwater. With the tourist season getting busy down there, hopefully I'll sell a few more images.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Back Home
I'm back! We brought a baby boy into the world on May 19th. Things are a bit up in the air at home, but we'll sort it all out and get back into a routine.
As for shooting, I've been able to get out a bit here and there. Updates are on Flickr.
What is it about summer that ramps up the entries for competitions and such? The Washington County Fair fine arts registration is coming up; I'm going to be entering a photo into the competition. Also, the Minnesota State Fair fine arts competition is taking applications, as of which I'll also be entering. Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson is also holding their annual call for artists, which I'm working on getting my submission together for that.
Not sure if I mentioned it, but I sold a copy of my "Sunrise on the Corn Crib" shot at Shane's On Main in Stillwater. I replaced it with a shot from my trip to The Badlands, and found out on Monday that that particular image has also sold, and will be picked up on Saturday. Nice start to the summer; let's hope I can keep it up! I've already got the image to replace it; the image that I thought it was originally.
I'll be helping out a fellow photographer early Saturday morning down by Northfield. He's got a paid car shoot, and I'll be driving his car so he can shoot out of the back of the hatch and get some rolling shots.
The hot air balloons have been launching across the street again this summer. Every time they launch, I seem to be busy with something else to go over. Hopefully I'll be able to get over there again and get some more shots of the balloons. I keep on trying to get one specific shot, but I can't get it. I'll just have to keep trying. :-)
As for shooting, I've been able to get out a bit here and there. Updates are on Flickr.
What is it about summer that ramps up the entries for competitions and such? The Washington County Fair fine arts registration is coming up; I'm going to be entering a photo into the competition. Also, the Minnesota State Fair fine arts competition is taking applications, as of which I'll also be entering. Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson is also holding their annual call for artists, which I'm working on getting my submission together for that.
Not sure if I mentioned it, but I sold a copy of my "Sunrise on the Corn Crib" shot at Shane's On Main in Stillwater. I replaced it with a shot from my trip to The Badlands, and found out on Monday that that particular image has also sold, and will be picked up on Saturday. Nice start to the summer; let's hope I can keep it up! I've already got the image to replace it; the image that I thought it was originally.
I'll be helping out a fellow photographer early Saturday morning down by Northfield. He's got a paid car shoot, and I'll be driving his car so he can shoot out of the back of the hatch and get some rolling shots.
The hot air balloons have been launching across the street again this summer. Every time they launch, I seem to be busy with something else to go over. Hopefully I'll be able to get over there again and get some more shots of the balloons. I keep on trying to get one specific shot, but I can't get it. I'll just have to keep trying. :-)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Out for a while...
If you didn't know, my wife and I had our second child last week. Evan was born Tuesday, weighing in at 8 pounds and 21 inches long. So, I'm off work for a total of two weeks, and most likely will not be updating my blog too much within those two weeks.
I'm still planning on shooting a lot this summer, but need to focus on the family for a bit first. Thanks!
I'm still planning on shooting a lot this summer, but need to focus on the family for a bit first. Thanks!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Weekend Outing
I was able to get out a bit on Saturday and go shoot. I actually organized a group of people from the PhotoMN forum to go out and shoot a few different places. Most of the guys that went along are car photographers, although I think that JP does a lot of wedding stuff, and Stephanie does a lot of nature stuff too.
It was a good time. Chad, Michael and Stephanie showed up at my place right before 2 p.m. JP and Matt called; they were riding together, and would be about 25 minutes late. We decided to just meet up at the first location, which happened to be the farthest out; Cascade Falls in Osceola, Wisconsin.
The falls are VERY accessible. You can actually walk right up to them, and if you wanted to, have the water pour on your head. You can also, to a point, walk behind them. We ended up staying there about an hour and a half, which was longer than I thought we would. Being that I am on borrowed time (wife is due with baby #2, and she's 38 weeks into it, with a 3 1/2 year old at home), I figured we better get a run out to the next location: the old bridge.
The old bridge is the oldest standing bridge in Minnesota. It's also on private property, but I've got to know the landowner quite well, and I can come and go as I please, and bring whomever I want to. It was a good time: I had remembered to pack my wading boots, so a few people switched in and out of them to walk in the creek and get some good angles.
Before I knew it, it was 5:30pm; time to head home and make sure everything was okay. Stephanie and Michael came with me: Chad, JP and Matt went to find a field they had passed on the way back to shoot it.
Overall, it went well. I think everyone was happy with the locations, and felt that they were good spots to find. I do wish that we had more time, as I wanted to check out a barn or two also, but we made good with the time we had.
It was a good time. Chad, Michael and Stephanie showed up at my place right before 2 p.m. JP and Matt called; they were riding together, and would be about 25 minutes late. We decided to just meet up at the first location, which happened to be the farthest out; Cascade Falls in Osceola, Wisconsin.
The falls are VERY accessible. You can actually walk right up to them, and if you wanted to, have the water pour on your head. You can also, to a point, walk behind them. We ended up staying there about an hour and a half, which was longer than I thought we would. Being that I am on borrowed time (wife is due with baby #2, and she's 38 weeks into it, with a 3 1/2 year old at home), I figured we better get a run out to the next location: the old bridge.
The old bridge is the oldest standing bridge in Minnesota. It's also on private property, but I've got to know the landowner quite well, and I can come and go as I please, and bring whomever I want to. It was a good time: I had remembered to pack my wading boots, so a few people switched in and out of them to walk in the creek and get some good angles.
Before I knew it, it was 5:30pm; time to head home and make sure everything was okay. Stephanie and Michael came with me: Chad, JP and Matt went to find a field they had passed on the way back to shoot it.
Overall, it went well. I think everyone was happy with the locations, and felt that they were good spots to find. I do wish that we had more time, as I wanted to check out a barn or two also, but we made good with the time we had.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
To The Badlands, and Back
I left with a group of three other photographers last Thursday morning to head to The Badlands of South Dakota. My only experience with this area was when we packed up Vicki's van and headed the family to see Kristie in Montana. We had what? 7 people, including a baby, in the van? I think that's right. My only memories of it was that I'd been to Wall Drug, and actually didn't remember much else of the area.
I got the new minivan ready and packed on Wednesday night, with what I could pack up. Thursday morning, I got up about 4:30 a.m., and got ready. I was on the road by 5, after saying a hard "goodbye" to my wife. I always have a hard time saying goodbye to her.
I hit the road, and picked up Wayne at his home, in Eagan. The plans had already changed; Bob, who was supposed to meet us at a church in Apple Valley on Johnny Cake Ridge Road, had his wife drop him off at Wayne's place. Cool! One less stop. We loaded up the van with their stuff, and we headed to Barry's place, about 10-15 minutes across Eagan.
We got on the road quickly. When it usually takes me about 3 1/2 hours to get to Jackson, we were there by 8:30 a.m., when we left at 6 a.m. The South Dakota border wasn't far away either; before I knew it, we passed Sioux Falls too. We did stop at a few places; mainly to get gas in the van and stretch out a bit.
Our first main stop was at a rest stop on the Missouri River. Barry and I ended up walking around a bit and took some pictures of the rail bridge and the tee pee at the rest area. Seems that many of South Dakota's fine rest stops have the tall, concrete tee pees at them. We ate sandwiches that we brought along, and all had a good stretch and a break from the road.
On the road again, we came across Oakaton. The road signs advertise that they have a gas station, but like most of Oakaton, it was closed. The town is pretty much a ghost town; and at one point, they tried to market towards that fact. There is a building that even says "Ghost Town Merchandising Company", that was boarded up too. We spent a good amount of time shooting the old grain elevator, abandoned homes and a few vehicles that were lying around in fields. I even ended up getting sunburned there, as my hat and any short sleeved shirts were packed in my bag in the back of the van. It got up to 90 degrees out on Thursday.
We eventually rolled into Wall, South Dakota. As most of you know, Wall is known for one thing: Wall Drug. Very overly-marketed Wall Drug. I considered on counting the Wall Drug signs we saw on the way out, but I don't think I could count that high.
We checked into our hotel; the Best Western Plains. Very nice staff, very nice and clean rooms. We did not check out the indoor pool, even though it had one. Rooms smelled clean and fresh, even though they were not laid out the best. No big deal; our plans were to be in them only when we needed to sleep. We were here to shoot!
After about an hour of rest, we re-loaded up the van and headed into The Badlands National Park. A mere $15 entrance fee, you have access to the park for a week, 24 hours a day. Not a bad deal!
We drove maybe 4 miles into the park, and stopped. We all jumped out at one of the overlooks, and started shooting. What an incredible place! I couldn't believe all of the colors and textures. And it got better! A cold front started rolling in, and gave us some great clouds. After several hundred shots, and a few more stops, including the town of Interior, we packed up back into the van and headed back to the hotel. They have free wi-fi, so I was able to log on, process some images, and upload them to Flickr.
We woke up Friday morning to cold weather. We ate breakfast at Wall Drug; they have a decent breakfast menu for a good price. I had scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for $6. The skies were not as forgiving with the "good light", but I still took a ton of photos, with more exploring around the area. I'm glad I brought several layers of clothes, as it didn't get above 37 degrees out on Friday. Wayne was a bit disappointed; he wanted better skies, but the sky was not cooperating.
We hiked up a trail; Saddle Pass Trail. The map said it was "strenuous", but only .25 of a mile long. What it doesn't tell you is that it is up a side of one of the hills. I got to the top, walked around a bit, and decided I needed to get back down. My legs were sore, I was out of breath, and just felt that I was a bit too high up. So, I looked around, and everyone else was gone. I headed back down by myself, and made it to the bottom.
The story I heard after Barry, Wayne and Bob came back down was they thought I may have fallen down one of the many cliffs. Barry and Wayne both saw someone who looked like me (black jacket, khaki pants), walking off in the opposite direction. Apparently, they called after the other guy, and started walking after him, trying to figure out where I went.
I ended up seeing Bob at the top, and he called down to me. Funny thing; you can hear people talking at the tops of the hills when you're at the bottom. I waved back to Bob, and he called Barry on his cell phone to say he found me. I wasn't exactly lost; I just needed to get to the bottom of the hills. I ended up resting for a while, and I called my wife on the phone. We had a good chat; she helped calm me down a bit and I started feeling better.
More shooting, more driving around. We hit up a place called The Cactus Bar and Grill in town, and I had a decent dinner: cheeseburger and fries. Headed back to the hotel room, and processed more photos.
Saturday we woke up to 2+ inches of snow. Snow! Amazing. We headed into the Badlands again, and found some fun shots with the snow before it all melted away. Being an overcast day again, with no good light, we decided to head to Mount Rushmore.
I've never been to Mount Rushmore. I've of course, seen photos, but never made the trip. After about an hour and a half, we pulled into the parking lot at the National Monument. There was a good number of people there still, even though it was only about 40 degrees out. Unfortunately, the walking trails around the monument were all closed, so we couldn't get any closer to it than the band shell below. I ended up finding Becky a shirt there, and Barry and I started shooting the entrance; with the state flags and the tall granite posts. As soon as we started shooting, the whole area cleared out, except for one guy. This guy was really, really cool; he realized what we were doing, and voluntarily got out of the way of the shots. I couldn't believe our luck! We had the whole granite entryway to ourselves, without any people to interfere with the shot.
We packed up into the van, and headed back to Wall, after stopping at Arbys for lunch. I keep on forgetting that their food isn't that great, and I should make some better decisions about what I eat.
We went back to The Cactus for dinner again, but didn't travel out to take any photos. Before dinner, I found Wayne and Bob down in the lobby on the shared computers. Wayne was showing the ladies who worked at the hotel my shots from Friday that I posted up. They loved them! One of them actually ordered a print, so I'm excited about that. The three ladies were talking to each other after we left, and the one who ordered a print said "I wonder if he'd trade a night for a print." Of course, Wayne and everyone else took it as a "night with her", instead of a "room for a night", which is what she meant. We all had a good laugh about it in the end.
We woke up Sunday, with the plan that if it was not sunny out, we'd pack up the van and head back home. And, like the previous two days, it was not sunny, but probably grayer than the previous two days. We hit Wall Drug one last time for breakfast (breakfast buffet!), and checked out of the hotel room. No big stops for photos, we ended up getting back into town about 4, and after I dropped everyone off at their homes, I got home about 5:30 p.m.
It was a fun trip, and I'd do it all again. the driving got to be a bit much, but I never complained or had someone else drive, and all three of the other guys volunteered to drive at different times, and I turned them down.
I got the new minivan ready and packed on Wednesday night, with what I could pack up. Thursday morning, I got up about 4:30 a.m., and got ready. I was on the road by 5, after saying a hard "goodbye" to my wife. I always have a hard time saying goodbye to her.
I hit the road, and picked up Wayne at his home, in Eagan. The plans had already changed; Bob, who was supposed to meet us at a church in Apple Valley on Johnny Cake Ridge Road, had his wife drop him off at Wayne's place. Cool! One less stop. We loaded up the van with their stuff, and we headed to Barry's place, about 10-15 minutes across Eagan.
We got on the road quickly. When it usually takes me about 3 1/2 hours to get to Jackson, we were there by 8:30 a.m., when we left at 6 a.m. The South Dakota border wasn't far away either; before I knew it, we passed Sioux Falls too. We did stop at a few places; mainly to get gas in the van and stretch out a bit.
Our first main stop was at a rest stop on the Missouri River. Barry and I ended up walking around a bit and took some pictures of the rail bridge and the tee pee at the rest area. Seems that many of South Dakota's fine rest stops have the tall, concrete tee pees at them. We ate sandwiches that we brought along, and all had a good stretch and a break from the road.
On the road again, we came across Oakaton. The road signs advertise that they have a gas station, but like most of Oakaton, it was closed. The town is pretty much a ghost town; and at one point, they tried to market towards that fact. There is a building that even says "Ghost Town Merchandising Company", that was boarded up too. We spent a good amount of time shooting the old grain elevator, abandoned homes and a few vehicles that were lying around in fields. I even ended up getting sunburned there, as my hat and any short sleeved shirts were packed in my bag in the back of the van. It got up to 90 degrees out on Thursday.
We eventually rolled into Wall, South Dakota. As most of you know, Wall is known for one thing: Wall Drug. Very overly-marketed Wall Drug. I considered on counting the Wall Drug signs we saw on the way out, but I don't think I could count that high.
We checked into our hotel; the Best Western Plains. Very nice staff, very nice and clean rooms. We did not check out the indoor pool, even though it had one. Rooms smelled clean and fresh, even though they were not laid out the best. No big deal; our plans were to be in them only when we needed to sleep. We were here to shoot!
After about an hour of rest, we re-loaded up the van and headed into The Badlands National Park. A mere $15 entrance fee, you have access to the park for a week, 24 hours a day. Not a bad deal!
We drove maybe 4 miles into the park, and stopped. We all jumped out at one of the overlooks, and started shooting. What an incredible place! I couldn't believe all of the colors and textures. And it got better! A cold front started rolling in, and gave us some great clouds. After several hundred shots, and a few more stops, including the town of Interior, we packed up back into the van and headed back to the hotel. They have free wi-fi, so I was able to log on, process some images, and upload them to Flickr.
We woke up Friday morning to cold weather. We ate breakfast at Wall Drug; they have a decent breakfast menu for a good price. I had scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for $6. The skies were not as forgiving with the "good light", but I still took a ton of photos, with more exploring around the area. I'm glad I brought several layers of clothes, as it didn't get above 37 degrees out on Friday. Wayne was a bit disappointed; he wanted better skies, but the sky was not cooperating.
We hiked up a trail; Saddle Pass Trail. The map said it was "strenuous", but only .25 of a mile long. What it doesn't tell you is that it is up a side of one of the hills. I got to the top, walked around a bit, and decided I needed to get back down. My legs were sore, I was out of breath, and just felt that I was a bit too high up. So, I looked around, and everyone else was gone. I headed back down by myself, and made it to the bottom.
The story I heard after Barry, Wayne and Bob came back down was they thought I may have fallen down one of the many cliffs. Barry and Wayne both saw someone who looked like me (black jacket, khaki pants), walking off in the opposite direction. Apparently, they called after the other guy, and started walking after him, trying to figure out where I went.
I ended up seeing Bob at the top, and he called down to me. Funny thing; you can hear people talking at the tops of the hills when you're at the bottom. I waved back to Bob, and he called Barry on his cell phone to say he found me. I wasn't exactly lost; I just needed to get to the bottom of the hills. I ended up resting for a while, and I called my wife on the phone. We had a good chat; she helped calm me down a bit and I started feeling better.
More shooting, more driving around. We hit up a place called The Cactus Bar and Grill in town, and I had a decent dinner: cheeseburger and fries. Headed back to the hotel room, and processed more photos.
Saturday we woke up to 2+ inches of snow. Snow! Amazing. We headed into the Badlands again, and found some fun shots with the snow before it all melted away. Being an overcast day again, with no good light, we decided to head to Mount Rushmore.
I've never been to Mount Rushmore. I've of course, seen photos, but never made the trip. After about an hour and a half, we pulled into the parking lot at the National Monument. There was a good number of people there still, even though it was only about 40 degrees out. Unfortunately, the walking trails around the monument were all closed, so we couldn't get any closer to it than the band shell below. I ended up finding Becky a shirt there, and Barry and I started shooting the entrance; with the state flags and the tall granite posts. As soon as we started shooting, the whole area cleared out, except for one guy. This guy was really, really cool; he realized what we were doing, and voluntarily got out of the way of the shots. I couldn't believe our luck! We had the whole granite entryway to ourselves, without any people to interfere with the shot.
We packed up into the van, and headed back to Wall, after stopping at Arbys for lunch. I keep on forgetting that their food isn't that great, and I should make some better decisions about what I eat.
We went back to The Cactus for dinner again, but didn't travel out to take any photos. Before dinner, I found Wayne and Bob down in the lobby on the shared computers. Wayne was showing the ladies who worked at the hotel my shots from Friday that I posted up. They loved them! One of them actually ordered a print, so I'm excited about that. The three ladies were talking to each other after we left, and the one who ordered a print said "I wonder if he'd trade a night for a print." Of course, Wayne and everyone else took it as a "night with her", instead of a "room for a night", which is what she meant. We all had a good laugh about it in the end.
We woke up Sunday, with the plan that if it was not sunny out, we'd pack up the van and head back home. And, like the previous two days, it was not sunny, but probably grayer than the previous two days. We hit Wall Drug one last time for breakfast (breakfast buffet!), and checked out of the hotel room. No big stops for photos, we ended up getting back into town about 4, and after I dropped everyone off at their homes, I got home about 5:30 p.m.
It was a fun trip, and I'd do it all again. the driving got to be a bit much, but I never complained or had someone else drive, and all three of the other guys volunteered to drive at different times, and I turned them down.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Short Week
Looks like it's going to be a short week for me. I'm working until Wednesday, and then heading out to The Badlands with three other photographers for a few days of shooting. I'm driving, even though another guy has a mini van also. I'm the furthest from the meeting place for us to all get together and carpool out there, so it just made sense.
The only hard part is trying to plan out everything. I've got my hiking boots, a flashlight (as it will be a new moon this weekend), a hat, and various clothing items ready to go. It's supposed to be warm Thursday and Friday, with a light chance of rain on Saturday, but cooler.
This is my first "real" photo trip; a trip planned to just go somewhere and take pictures. I've got my camera gear all charged up, my phone will be charged, and hopefully everything else will be planned out perfectly. My next posting will be after I get back, so check Flickr for new photos next week!
The only hard part is trying to plan out everything. I've got my hiking boots, a flashlight (as it will be a new moon this weekend), a hat, and various clothing items ready to go. It's supposed to be warm Thursday and Friday, with a light chance of rain on Saturday, but cooler.
This is my first "real" photo trip; a trip planned to just go somewhere and take pictures. I've got my camera gear all charged up, my phone will be charged, and hopefully everything else will be planned out perfectly. My next posting will be after I get back, so check Flickr for new photos next week!
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