All In Six Days

Basket Star Revisited - With and Without Backscatter

2011-09-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

In June of 2009 I had two posts, both had a picture of a basket star. The main reason I used it initially was to promote or talk about night diving. In this case, it is to continue my last post talking about lighting underwater and the issue of backscatter. We had weather issues on our recent dive trip to the Carribean which was the reason to offer an explanation.

The purpose of this post is to show an example of backscatter( particles in the water reflecting the strobe lighting back to the lens of the camera) and how trashy it makes the images. It is a tedious process cleaning the images but in most cases they can be cleaned to a useable state. Those examples can be found in the first two pictures. The third picture has been cleaned up to be much more visually appealing.

So far this post has been about capturing the image and post processing. Now I want to talk about the subject of the image, the basket star. Some of this was covered in that earlier 2009 post. The images in this post are successive, meaning there is an order. The first picture is the star as I first found it on the dark reef. After my modeling light was introduced to the star and the surrounding area it became a draw for many little organisms that are drawn to the light much like your porch light drawing moths and other things to your door. The star stretches itself out into the current to feed on those organisms that float past its tenicles. In the middle picture, beween the addition of my light and the immediate feeding of the star with those drawn organisms, the star begins to take on a narled looking state and reduces itself to a form you would normally see during the daylight hours. Its continued regression from its feeding state continues in the final picture. I hope it is interesting seeing the pictures and hearing about it, but it is even better in real time!

Paradise Reef Night Dive

2011-09-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been told since I started shooting underwater, if you think your close, get closer. For those that are unfamiliar with underwater photography, a good strobe is a huge must have. The color spectrum is lost as you go deeper so to bring it back, you need to add white light. But water has particles generally not visible to the naked eye. As the light is added the risk of experiencing what is called "backscatter". This is where the particles reflect the light back to the lense creating pictures with white spots and requiring a great deal of cleaning with software to gain a useable image.
Another factor is the magnification of the water, where things appear 25% larger or closer than they really are.This causes one to think they are more intimate with their subject than they really are.
Putting everything together, getting closer reduces the particles between you and the subject and using a strobe up and away allows the light to be directed at an angle where the reflected light will be away from the lense, eliminating or reducing the backscatter.
Now, why am I telling all of this? Well, because at the time we were in the islands, we met Irene as a tropical storm, before becoming a hurricane. She dumped quite a lot of rain on the islands as she passed to the south of us and provided a great deal of run-off into the Caribbean reducing the visability for our diving for the week and added alot of extra particles to have to avoid. The images below were shot up close and personal on a night dive later in that week.

Butterflies - Recent Captures

2011-08-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

Working on some Market Place images, decided to post them as well.

Pelicans in Iowa - Who Would Have Thought!

2011-02-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

As the pictures from the recent posts show it was exciting to see the Bald eagles again. A real surprise was when heading to Des Moine we stopped by Red Rock Dam to see if there were any eagles near the open water. And yes there were but not near the number that were at the power plant in Ottumwa. But the real surprise was the flock of pelicans we found. I would never expect to see pelicans inland away from the coast, but my mother-in-law's husband acted like he was surprised they were still there. I guess they must be there year round which was a real blessing for me. There was quite a number of geese there also, but I was definitely more interested in the pelicans. Some of those pictures follow:

More American Eagles from the Midwest

2011-01-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

This will be the last of the Bald eagles from our Christmas trip to the midwest. However, the next post will be what was a surprise for me while out there. But you will have to wait to find out what the surprise was.

More Bald Eagles From Ottumwa, Iowa

2011-01-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

Here is the second installment of the Bald Eagles from Ottumwa, IA. Its been a great opportunity. Blue skys would have made these pictures more appealing, however I have to accept and do the best with what is available. Overcast skies was the order of the whole week.

Bald Eagles in Iowa

2011-01-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

Once again while in the Midwest over the Holidays, I had the opportunity to go to Ottumwa, Iowa to photograph the Bald eagles. Just as last year, it was a fridged 9 degrees, but the wind wasn't as bad as last year. This made it more bearable. And believe me, when the opportunity arises to have access to so many American eagles, I for sure will brave a great deal. I was amazed at the different color patterns these fine specimens displayed. I had to do some minor research to be assured that some, as in the first picture, were indeed Bald eagles. But apparently, they are just young birds that have not sexually matured having white head and tail feathers. Their maturing process could take up to 5 years.

Soaring, with an Ottumwa neighborhood in the background.

With the northern waters frozen over, the power plant in the background creates the warmer open waters for feeding.

This last picture shows how they were perching in the trees along the Des Moines river below the power plant.

Belize Fauna on the Way to Lamanai

2010-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

In June, I went to Belize on a missions trip. At the end of the week we took a boat ride up the New River to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai located in the north. The trip took about an 1 1/2 hrs. making numerous stops to view and photograph the jungle wildlife.

Red Tail Hawks in Flight

2010-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some of this months latest shots. Now that the leaves are changing and falling from the trees, its allowing these birds of prey to be seen a little more easily. Although I haven't posted for some time, I'm hoping to show some of the many shots that I've captured this Spring and Summer. This would include some shots from the jungle of Belize, the waters of the Turks and Cacois, and just the local flora and fauna from my daily travels. For now, here are shots from one of my favorite subjects, the Red Tail Hawk.

Feathered Subjects

2010-03-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

Peering into the trees which have been void of their leaves during the winter months, one can see the wildlife much easier than when they are supporting full foliage. I find the Red Tail Hawks and Great Blue Herons a real challenge. They remind me of the Queen Angels on the reef while scuba diving. Their visual acuity is very keen as they continually monitor their surroundings. To capture their image I find I need to be thinking ahead of my subject. It almost seems as though they know that my desire is to get their picture and they're going to do there best to not let it happen. It makes it all the more worth while when the capture is successful.

Bald Eagles in Iowa

2010-02-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I am definitely behind in posting. Between Christmas and the New Year, we were in south central Iowa. One of the days we were there, my mother-in-law suggested we take a drive to Ottumwa, IA. She told us there was an outside chance we would see some Bald Eagles.
In downtown Ottumwa is a hydro power plant. As is the norm for temperatures in the midwest at this time of the year, It was frigid, before adding the wind chill. Due to these temps, the northern lakes and waterways freeze over creating a deficit in feeding grounds for the eagles. Therefore, they needed to find open water to feed.
In my life time, living it mostly in south central Pennsylvania near the Susquehanna River, I have probably seen less than five Bald Eagles in the wild. With in the last year or so, our local paper had an article about the growing numbers of Bald Eagles along the Susquehanna and the Eastern waterways. But even with the growing numbers I find, even in my travels, the large bird gliding around in the air is generally a buzzard.
So, you can imagine my surprise to see along the Des Moines River, downtown Ottumwa, nearly twenty or more flying up and down the river, feeding in the warm waters, and or perching on the branches of nearby trees. At first I went out without gloves and in ten minutes the function of my fingers was nearly lost. Being cold to that point, even with image stabilization renders camera shake. I managed to get some shots. I'm guessing that a cold, fridged auto focus motor in the lense barrel of the 70-300mm caused some of the missed shots from slow focusing.
The opportunity to see what I've always understood as an endangered bird, in such numbers,
was a fantastic treat. I'm sure this will be on the calender again next year!

OK! Back Again! - Market Place Pictures

2009-12-23T12:48:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to keep up here but I'm running into a lot of squeaky wheels. This post is the framed pieces that have been and will remain hanging in the "Market Place" gallery at Perry County Council of the Arts(PCCA). Every year the PCCA and Harrisburg Area Community College(HACC) put out a call to new artists and current PCCA members to fill the gallery with there 2 and 3-d art. It generally begins around the 1st weekend in Nov. with an open house then finishes up at the end of Jan. It gives the new artist some exposure and the community a venue for holiday shopping while allowing currrent members to continue displaying their works with the added traffic through the gallery. The Lion fish was taken in the Cayman Islands and the other to shots earlier at the Hershey Gardens Butterfly House.
Here is a wish for everyone to have a
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'm Back!

2009-11-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

I could offer many excuses where I've been for the last couple of months but won't. For those that kept checking back to see if I had returned, Thank You! To many projects running and that's a good thing. One of the weeks, we were gone for vacation on the Cayman Aggressor, a dive yacht in the Cayman Islands. And for those that aren't familar with these islands, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac, they are in the Carribean right below Cuba and set northwest of Jamaica.
The following shots are from a night dive during the trip. Those not familiar with octopus, they can change color and texure in a moment which by looking at the pictures you can begin to see what I'm talking about. These following pictures taken in a few minutes are from a series of about 15 to 20 shots of the same octopus. Enjoy!

Hershey Butterfly House - Some Residents

2009-09-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, my mother won some tickets to the Butterfly House at the Hershey Gardens, Hershey, PA. A couple of weeks ago, she invited me to go with her to make use of them before the end of the season.
We had wonderful weather, and not just because it didn't rain. Butterflies are cold blooded so it takes the heat of the day to warm their bodies so they become active. And since we've had a mild and cooler than normal summer, it was great that it was in the 80's. The woman that was monitoring the facility and answering questions was telling us that on some of the cooler days the butterflies didn't move from the plants and in some cases remained hidden. That would have been disappointing, but in God's providence, that wasn' t the case for us. More to follow in the next posts.

Hamlet Portraits from San Salvador,Bahamas

2009-08-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

These images were taken while on the liveaboard boat Explorer Ventures I, both in 2005 and 2006. Hamlets are in the Bass-like family of fishes. They are colorful with interesting markings.
I think the Indigo Hamlet below expresses an attitude in its appearance. There are a few more species of Hamlets whose images I hope to capture.

Indigo Hamlet

Barred Hamlet

Shy Hamlet

Juvenile Drums - From My Dive Archives!

2009-08-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

I was looking for some images to post. Not that I don't have any, since my catalog has grown to nearly 40,000, but its been nearly a week since my last post. I've been busy, most of my images are now stored on external HD's and I wanted something easy. Opening up some files looking for some dive images, I ran across some prepared shots of juvenile drums. These are some unique fish and express God's unique creativity. The drum has an interesting metamorphosis with a variety of changes thoughout its life span.
A few years ago while on a boat in the Casa Banks, an area about 30 miles north of Cuba in the Bahamas, I was able to get some great pics of the youngest form of this fish I've yet to see. I was returning from a dive doing my safety stop while heading back to the boat in about 15-20 ft. of water and hugging the sea floor in order to see any macro creatures that were out and about. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some really small creatures in the mouth of an opening in the coral shelf(sea floor). I stopped like a curious kid to investigate, a surprise and a treat. These juvenile drums were like little Star Wars space ships. So, I began trying to take their picture. Because they were so small and moving around the opening, it made it extremely difficult to get what looked to be, in the LCD, a useable image. With some cropping to get them to a size that can be viewed, you'll be able to see the resemblence to space ships. As for the rest of the intermediate forms of the fish you'll also get a chance to see why I think it expresses God's creativity. In the adult form a fish that starts with black and white strips, grows a streamer, then sheds it, ends up in what the icons of fashion would consider a no-no, wearing strips and poka dots together. You can compare these next images with the already posted image from February 25th, actually the kick-off post for this blog. It will be the center image of those posted on that Wednesday.

Portraits of the Week

2009-08-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the shots that I took this week. It's amazing to see just how much a person can miss and how much is going on around us when we pick a small area and focus on the creatures in it. When beginning divers get to a reef, its not uncommon that they try to cover as much of the reef as fast as they can. This results in a great deal of missed reef life. In time, some find that you can settle on a small section and just hang out. Instead of you covering the reef, you stay put and let the creatures come to you or at least reveil themselves. Now, I wasn't diving this week, unfortunately, but I had been at a marsh area shooting small dragonflies. They were sitting on the leaves of plants when out of the weeds climbed a praying mantis. It basically came to me saying take my picture for your blog. I was very happy to do so. So, I know we are all busy, but the phrase,"Stop to smell the roses" can provide a nice respite during the day and remind us that there is so much we miss as we speed around.

Sheldon Reynolds at Ricketts Glen

2009-07-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

This is one of the many shots that was taken at Ricketts Glen during the 4th of July weekend, in between the days spent in Harrisburg at the American Music Fest. For those that are not familar with Ricketts Glen, it is a PA state park and has 22 named water falls. It is located about 30 miles north of Bloomsburg. We spent quite a few hours there and got lots of exercise. Sheldon Reynolds is a bridal falls and has a drop of about 36'. It is the 2nd falls as one hikes the trail from the Route 118 parking area. If you ever get the chance its well worth the day hiking amidst the flowing waters.

Perfect Landing

2009-07-11T22:25:00.001-07:00

Well, as usual, I've been pretty busy this week. But, I still wanted to get something posted. I have been prepping pictures for uploading to the blog but I've run into a dilemma. I wanted this site to reflect some of the wonders of God's creation as the title expresses, "Allinsixdays". Some of my photography has taken a side trip and even though it still technically falls within it, it doesn't have the same flavor as initially intended. Like the steeplechase pics, they were interesting and the hats were a fun subject to shoot. They really don't fall in the nature, wildlife aspect. So I've decided to spin off a new blog which will share the images I shoot at events like the steeplechase, shows like the American Music Fest, and other events that I've shot or will be shooting. Soon I imagine I will be pushed into a web site, but for now I'll work from blogs. So that should allow me to showcase new and different photographic skills as they are honed and broadened.
As for the current posted image, I shot this this week while waiting for a dock door in State College. I can see why most everyone that has this lense likes it. The 100mm macro is one from which I'm sure I'll get a lot of mileage.
I'll be back soon to post here and to reveal the link to my sister blog. I know some bands from the American Music Fest are anxiously waiting to see what I captured.

Recent Portaits

2009-06-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some animal portraits I shot a few weeks ago at Zoo America at Hershey Park, Hershey,PA. The Red Tail Hawk was not in his cage for this shot. I was able to play with one of my newest lenses, the 100mm macro. I've been shooting bugs and very small things and very close. I think, from the subject to the camera sensor, the minimum distance is a little less than a foot. (bugs,flowers,etc.)

Red Tail Hawk

During the week, I was sharing with a few people how with the right position of the subject, in these pictures the cats away from the fence and the camera located as close to the fence as possible, the fence will nearly be eliminated from the image. So, here are two shots where the fence is all but eliminated from the image.

Lynx

Mountain Lion

Also,I decided to crop a portion of the last posted image because I wasn't sure how well you were able to see the intricate tangled mess of this creature. As I said in the previous post, this is the way you would find it during the day.

Why Night Dives?

2009-06-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is again, almost another month since my last post. But today I mailed out two cd's containing over 200 images which were taken at my family reunion last July. Much of my spare time was spent making minor adjustments and some cropping. As I understand, they will be used for a slide show at this years reunion. Hence the need to only spend time working on them and nothing else. However, I haven't stopped shooting during this last month. Besides the usual Amish/Menonite pictures, landscapes, flowers, birds, I've taken a fair amount of shots at the Heritage Days in Carlisle, Shakespeare in the Park in Harrisburg, Arts Fest in Harrisburg, Zoo America and the Park at Hershey, Founders Day in Boiling Springs and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Maybe some of them will find there way on here in the future, maybe.
Recently I had a discussion with a certified diver, that has yet to do a night dive and she seemed leary of attempting one. Then I began explaining the unique experience which I will share with you as well. Just as we have animals that are nocturnal, so it is with the sea. Other than in pictures , the only way you would be able to see these creatures is to do a night dive.
One of the examples I used to explain the difference in behaviors from day to night, was a Basket Star. Looking at the top center of the posted picture, you will see a jumbled mess in a ball shape. This is generally what you would see during the day. You may see them affixed to a sea fan or some soft corals with a nearly choke hold on its host. Now look below that jumble in the picture to the opened Basket Star which has extended its arms out in the current in order to feed. I have seen them in a variety of colors and size.

Basket Star

Another example is the Orange Cup corals. During the day, they have the appearance of cut off thumbs, short and stubby. But the inward tucked tenacles unfold and extend themselves up and out in to the currents as you can see from the pictures previously posted in March. "The Wall at Rappel" that was posted on 3/28, depicts the Orange Cups during the day. The earlier post on 3/21 shows them extended and feeding. These are just a couple of simple examples among many that make night diving so interesting. Also dives during the transitions, from day to night and night to day, are are also something to see. During these times, you see the most activity. The fish from the day are hiding themselves in the crevices from those that are waking up and heading out to hunt. Also, the other behaviors that can be seen are the pairing of fish for courting. The morning transition isn't as dramatic, but is still interesting, that's just my opinion. Maybe that's because in doing a before breakfast dawn dive, I'm still waking up!

More Jumping!

2009-05-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Star Spangled Banner and the Main Events!

2009-05-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

And More!

2009-05-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

And if you didn't have a hat and felt the need to have a hat, there were vendors to help supply you with a hat.

This image is one of my most favorite of the day. I think it is just a bit mysterious and I like the shallow depth-of-field.

I love the capture of her just eyeing up the rest of her cookie!

And More Hats!

2009-05-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

More Hats!

2009-05-16T21:37:00.001-07:00

Hat Contest

2009-05-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

If you have ever seen the movie "Pretty Woman" with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, there was a seen at the polo match and during the intermission they went out on the course and stomped divots from the horses. We didn't go out on the course but I'm trying to give you an idea of the dress for this event which was similar to the movie. Men were to dress in polo or dress shirts and sport jackets, no jeans, dress slacks. The ladies in sun dresses and flats and the PERFECT hat. In fact, they had a Hat Contest for the ladies. That provided a lot of fun for photo-opps. There was an adult and a childs division, the first image is the first place adult hat. The rest of the hats were around the immediate area where we watched the races.

May 2, 2009

2009-05-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

The first jewel of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, was held the first Saturday in May for three year old thoroughbreds. That race held at Church Hill Downs racetrack has been my focus for as long as I've owned thoroughbreds. This year, I set the VCR to tape the race. The reason you may ask? Sometime around 9 a.m., Saturday morning, my ride arrived and transported me south to the state of Virgina. We arrived in Great Meadow, The Plains around 11:30 a.m., the location of another horse event. That other event was the Virgina Gold Cup races a series of steeple chase races with ticket prices benefiting the Great Meadow Foundation. In the Metro-Washington area this continues to be an annual social event with nearly 45,000 peoples in attendance. It reminded me of an upscale tailgate party which spanned different socio-economical levels. I tried to capture a general flavor of the event. The race card had about six races for the day. I didn't get everything I intended because my ride decided to leave after the fouth race. However, I'm greatful for the opportunity to have witnessed my first steeple chase races and hopefully to have captured the flavor of this social event.

Even though it was an upscale tailgate party, not everyone put out china, candleabras,and crystal vases with fresh cut flowers! Some of us went to one of the vendors that supplied food for those that were not prepared for the event. I thought this next image was quite ironic, the number of times your told to stay off the grass and the signs were all over the grounds.

Rejected!

2009-04-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I received disappointing news from the selection committee for "Art of the State". Of the 2,179 entries, 157 works were chosen and my 6 entries were not among them. That just means, there is work to be done and much to learn. Of the 6 entries, I am posting the four photographs that have yet to be posted to this site. "On The Move" and "Nexus Sphinx" were posted to the site on 3/14/09. The following four complete the six.

"Red Hind on the Reef"
"Deb's Lighthouse Portrait"

"Casually Peering"

"Angel Eyes"

Finishing "A Nice Find"

2009-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

As I said in the previous post, this fox after it crossed the road in front of me, didn't venture to far into the field. That gave me the time to get my car turned around and use it to get into position for the shots. The sun was setting and so I was losing light. In the process of turning around I was prepping the camera settings for the lighting. These were shot with my 70-300mm, I opened up the lense as far as I could and zoomed out to 300mm. I still noticed that I was still slightly under-exposing the shots so I reduced the shutter speed I think it was about 1/50th and that's abit slow for wildlife but the fox was meandering in the field stopping occasionally to sniff the air. Then it began to head further into the field when it caught a scent. It leaped at something moving through the thick grass and ate whatever it was. I can only guess it found a nest of something because it was apparent that she was no longer interested in the presence of my truck which gave me the perfect photo opp. I finished filling the card that I had been using the previous day, so quickly I had to change cards. All along thinking my subject was going to leave. But as providence would have it, she stayed with her find at times leaping at the fleeing prey. I ran up the ISO which had been at 200 to 800 in order to get some more sensitivity and bump up the shutter speed. Which was still slow at 1/100 but with the IS and the 40D's 6.5 frames per sec., I think I still captured some nice shots. After finishing her feast, she moved to the brush you see in the background and I turned around to continue where I was initially going feeling elated and blessed for the opp. On another note, hope everyone had a nice Resurrection Day! Have a great day!

A Nice Find

2009-04-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well it's been while since I posted, but yesterday this fine girl crossed my path. I was able to turn my car around and get these and many other shots right from my window. It didn't seem phased at all that I was there. So I took a break from doing taxes and prepped these images while watching the final round of the Masters at Easter dinner at my parents. I wanted these posted while I was on a roll with the post processing. Apparently, I uploaded the maximum amount of pictures for a post so I'll have to post again to get the others that I processed uploaded. I've had a request for some of my more recent images. I'll try to get that accomplished along with the underwater images.

"The Trip Continues"

2009-03-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, I'm not boring you with pictures from the same trip. These are just a select few of the many that were taken. I think on this trip I averaged about 3 to 4 dives a day. On some of the other trips we did liveaboard diving. That's where we flew to a destination, transfered to a boat, and then ate, dived, slept, and relaxed on the boat all week. Sometimes without stepping foot on land for the whole week. And since we didn't have to leave the boat, I would do 5 dives a day. But that was't the case with this trip to Bonaire. We stayed in a room on shore, we purchased 6 boat dives for the week and had unlimited shore diving with a small truck for transportation. Initially, we had an island orientation which is required for everyone since as I said in a previous post, the island is completely surrounded by a marine park. Once that was taken care of, we could check out a couple of tanks a piece, load our gear in the truck and head down the road to find a dive site. The dive sites are marked with basketball size rocks painted yellow with the name of the site and are sitting along the road. When you see one you can pull off the road, gear up, and dive. More to come!

"The Tarpon "

"A Scorpion Portrait"

"The Wall at Rappel"

Bonaire Again!

2009-03-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

I've been working on cleaning up some more images from the Bonaire trip. The blog has been good for getting my images cleaned up. Generally, they just sit in my catalog until I need something new. That's why I'm sort of staying on task with this trip. Bonaire is one of ABC islands which is nearly as far south as one can go in the Carribean before hitting the shores of Venezuela. The A is for Aruba and the C is for Curacao. The entire area around the island is a protected marine park. This is why the reefs here are pristine and the fish populations are up. There are over 60 dive sites on the western side of the island and over 26 around the island off to the west. That island is called Klein Bonaire and all its sites are boat dives unlike Bonaire's sites which are primarily shore dives. Some of the more difficult shore entries can be done as boat dives. I'll edit the previous posts in time to name the marine animals in the photographs. More to come!

"Orange Cup Corals feeding at night"

"Flamingo Tongue on the move"

"Damsel fish hanging out"

"Art In The Garden" Exhibit

2009-03-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to take a break from the 2007 Bonaire trip and post the juried pictures for the "Art in the Garden" exhibit at the Mid-Atlantic Garden Expo in the Toyota Arena at the York Fairgrounds, York, PA. Of the 29 artists with works on exhibit Feb. 26th to Mar. 1st of 2009, the picture "Nexus Sphinx" was honored with a first place ribbon. I don't know how many people went through the show this year, but I was told that there were over 12,000 that went through last years show. I'm greatful for the exposure. It was great to meet the other artists as well. Two of these pictures plus four others have been entered to be juried for the "Art of the State" exhibit. Those accepted will hang in the State Museum for the Summer. What an honor! Results are to be posted around the end of April. I'll post the results when they are received.

"Nexus Sphinx"

"Waiting Patiently"

"On The Move"

And More!

2009-03-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well, last night I posted these pictures with a short statement about falling asleep with the laptop on my lap while downloading my shots for the week. Two of the pictures I neglected to add the copywrite info. While editing the post to add the copywrite to the pictures, the statement was deleted. I'm still trying to get a handle on the software. Trial and error sometimes can be a painful experience. Not like its a life and death matter but to put in the effort to compose something and then have it disappear is frustrating. Oh well, I'll keep at it! Later!

More From Bonaire

2009-03-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

More archived images from the southern Caribbean. March 1st was the deadline for "Art of the State". I submitted six images and should get the results sometime around the end of April. I think for the next few posts, I'll stay with the same theme.

Kick-off

2009-02-25T19:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I see that it was back in June of 2008 when I did the set-up for this blog. After that, it stalled. The intent was to give those in Pennsylvania's northeast a window to continue following my progression in the world of photography. I also wanted to provide a venue for those in central PA and anyone else with an interest in keeping tabs on my efforts.
Because I drive for a living, I don't read much for recreation. For individuals like me, audio books are a wonderful thing. I recently listened to Larry McMurtry's, "Comanche Moon" from the "Lonesome Dove" storyline. While listening, General Skull, one of the characters, had a quote that may explain that stalled period. I wanted to share the quote with you. I'm not going to set up the quote for times sake, but I believe the quote will stand on its own even if your not familiar with the book. I saw the movie but really enjoyed the book on audio as well.

"I've served five years in a great war. The only struggle that still interests me is the conflict with the sentence, sir. The English Sentence, " Civil War General Inish Skull said.

Colonel Sewell had gotten the refusal he expected but the grounds the general gave him confused him.

" Excuse me General, The sentence?" Colonel Sewell replied.

Skull seized a blank sheet of paper and waived it dramatically in front of the Colonel.

"See this paper? It's blank, "Skull said. "That sir, is the most frightening battlefield in the world. The blank page! I mean to fill this page with decent English sentences. This page and hundreds like it."

This is somewhat the reason for the stall in the progression of this blog. The apprehension I had, the desire I had, the ideas I had. I wanted the perfect kick-off. And, it never, through all these last months, received its first post. That's why the exerpt from "Comanche Moon", struck a nerve along with the fact that my business cards have the blog site included on them. It provided me the unction to, "Git er done!" Also, with the "1st place" placing of one of my photographs in the "Art in the Garden" Exhibit at the Mid-Atlantic Garden Expo in York this weekend, the potential for growth in numbers of those interested in my photography is a real possibility with the large exposure I'll receive.

So, for the first pictures to the blog, I'm going to post a few pictures from our dive trip to Bonaire in the Fall of 2007. Hopefully, I'll post no less than once a week. I'm currently shooting almost daily. This is a new adventure. The better I get at post-processing will probably determine the frequency.

I hope everyone enjoys the pictures as much as I do capturing them.