Project 365. One week plus down.

Well it's been a week and eight photos in Project 365. It's been fun so far. I thought I would post some interesting observations and comments.

-It has energized me. I have had to take the camera out of the bag each and every day for eight days now. It has been a long time since I have done that.

-I'm having fun. While shooting stock photos makes me some extra cash, it can get boring. Some of the shooting this week have been fun ideas and photoshopping that I would never do for stock. It has allowed me to experiment and have a blast.

-Everyday can be a grind. Just when you think you are done, drag that camera back out. It's a new day.

-This has gotten me back into photography. I haven't been this active since January.

-I finally get black and white, sepia, and vignetting. Love the effect.

-Photoshop is amazing. I knew this but I'm getting better everyday.

-Did I mention I'm having fun?

Stay tuned. More photos coming. Better yet, start your own 365 project and join the fun. Let me know if you do.

Project 365. Day 8

Day 8 of the project. Changed things up a little today and went boring stock. Picture of a Heddon Punkinseed antique fishing lure.

Project 365. Day 7

I don't have much time today so I made this quick. I am also really enjoying experimenting with black and white, sepia, and vignetting. I really like the way these pictures are turning out. I never really got black and white before but I really see the appeal now. Here is our oldest "boy" Nelson. I really like the way this turned out.

Project 365. Day 6

Well to continue my pattern I had to get my last child in here. I had a hard time getting him to pose and finally I just started shooting. I think this captures the essence of Mitchell.

Project 365. Day 5

Well I had so much fun yesterday I decided to do something similar. Today I took a picture of my oldest son but wanted to not only do black and white but give it more of an old fashioned look. I decided to make the picture look like an old west photo such as a young gunfighter. Once we got the hat and modeled the picture I converted to black and white and added a sepia effect. From there I applied vignetting in reverse with white edges as these photos used to look and have aged. Overall I like the look. Check it out.

Project 365. Day 4

Inspiration struck me quickly today. While thinking what to do I thought about a black and white photo of Maddie with a color isolation. I took the picture, cropped tightly, converted to black and white. Isolated back out the red flower, then added grain and vignette. I really like the results. I hope you do too. This was great as it was something I wouldn't do for stock but a lot of fun to do.

Project 365. Day 3

Wow, it seems like day 2 just ended. Oh wait, it did. Time for another photo. I will say this. So far this has forced me to take my camera out of the bag on a day I wouldn't have otherwise. I guess that's one of the points of doing this. Anyway here's a toy cow isolated on white. I thought it was kind of cute and may end up doubling as a stock photo.

Project 365. Day 2

I had limited time today to take a picture so I had to get creative. I picked a moose in the hotel room and arranged a silouhette against the wall to try to show the shadow. I then converted to black and white and adjusted some levels. Nothing too fancy but it kept me taking a picture today and allowed me to experiment.

Project 365. Day 1

Well I am excited to start this project and spent some time outside today taking some pictures. When my daughter saw this she started to pose. After a few test shots I got one I like. She is sitting on a chair alongside the river. I purposely wanted the water blurred out in the background along with the shoreline. I hope you enjoy the pic. Tomorrow's will be a bit more challenging as I will be on the road.

I'm crazy.

Well as if my life is not busy enough I decided to finally take the plunge on something I have been thinking about for quite some time. I am starting a 365 project. What is that you ask? It is a committment to take and post a photo a day for 365 straight days. The idea is it makes you take the camera out of the bag and shoot. It also gives you a chance to get creative and look for everyday beauty to capture.

I have thought about this for quite awhile. My life is insanely busy right now and some days I am not sure how I will manage but I think it will be a good challenge and one that will force me to grow as a photographer.

Stay tuned for the details and my picture of day 1!

Blackbird shouting it out!

Up river this year there are new signs telling people to slow down their boats to help protect the wild rice beds. Well these signs have quickly become part of the environment as this bird is showing. As we approached this redwing blackbird he was trying to call us off and keep our distance. As I shot away with my Canon 1D Mark IV I got some cool pictures of the bird and sign. At first I was just shooting a picture of the sign to show someone but upon further inspection I really like this photo. It shows the bird with his beak fully open yelling at us as if to be reading the sign to us. I hope you like the picture too.

Whitetail Fawn

Whitetail deer are one of my favorite animals in nature and to photograph. As abundant as they seem at times they can be quite elusive when you have a camera in your hands. A couple of days ago I got an opportunity to photograph a fawn laying in some grass in a field while her mother was laying a little ways away. With the power of my 100-400 zoom lens I was able to get some decent pics although it was tricky trying to get the deer and not blowing grass in front of the deer in focus. My favorite one is below.

More Eagles

Went out on the river looking for eagles and herons today. Got some decent pics. Saw about 3 eagles and only got real close to one. Saw a bunch of herons and have to look over all those pictures yet. Here's a quick one of an eagle that I like.

Hot day on the lake.

We were out on the lake today and it was a hot one! To cool off we pulled the kids behind the boat in the tube. It was a great time and a great photo opportunity. As we pulled them I snapped away with the camera on burst mode and got some great action shots. While some of them wiping out were pretty good, my favorite one is below. It is so hard to believe how hard it is to get a photo with two people looking up and smiling with eyes open at the same time.

I'm using the camera more this week and really enjoying posting here again. Stay tuned for more!

Eye of the Eagle

Today we were floating down the river through wild rice beds and doing some fishing and sightseeing. After several hours of this we had seen countless ducks, herons, eagles and more. As the weather started to turn we needed to get back before a storm rolled in.

As I came around a corner I got a glimse of this majestic bird perched on an old duck blind on the side of the channel. I backed off the motor and grabbed my camera gear. While my wife slowly idled the boat and the kids were amazingly quite I snapped away with my Canon Mark IV. I took about 100 total pics of this bald eagle before we floated by him. The pic below is my favorite. If you want to see the full large version of it go to our main page. If you view the larger version you can see the eagle has a band on his leg.

Long Time Away

Well it's been a long time since I've posted to the blog. Honestly after a strong start to the year I just haven't been into photography much since. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and enjoy the hobby again. It's finally summer here in Wisconsin and with it some great photo opportunities.

Today I spent some time with the camera and tripod taking some pictures of my wife's favorite flowers, peonys. The sun was probably too high in the sky for the pics but I do like the way they turned out. Probably a little too ordinary for a stock gallery but some nice pics nonetheless. Below is one of my favorites of a white peony with an ant in the center.