Happy Holidays

It's been awhile since I've added anything to this blog.  I've been busy and have been doing some shooting but haven't had the time to do much editing and uploading.  Hopefully with winter here I will find some time to share some of the photos.

We just had some fresh snow last night and it provided some great photo ops.  I'll share more later but this one is one of my favorites.  Happy Holidays to all.

A couple more from the Upper Dells

Here are a couple of more photos from the Upper Dells. The first is a beautiful cliff edge. The second is a picture from Witches Gulch. Simply amazing place.

Upper Dells

Took a tour of the Upper Dells on the Wisconsin River in the Wisconsin Dells.  While I have been to the Dells many times I have never taken this trip.  I was simply amazed by the scenery on this trip.  I'll be posting some more photos in the near future of this trip but wanted to share two quick ones with you.  The first is the Palisades near the beginning of the Dells and the second is Stand Rock which my Great Grandfather jumped as a child when he grew up here.  Today we got to see a trained German Shepard make the jump.

Door County

Door County Wisconsin is one of the hidden gems of the Midwest and offers a ton of opportunities for photographers.  I spent some time there recently to photograph the cherry blossoms and some other local attractions.  If you haven't had the chance to visit Door County I would highly recommend it.  Here are just a few of my photographs from the trip.  Un-watermarked high quality versions of all are for sale on my website Keith Bell Photography

Pelicans

I spent some time yesterday and today photographing American White Pelicans.  These birds are relatively new to Northeastern Wisconsin and have really exploded the last couple of years.  They use the Lake Winnebago system as one of their only breeding areas in the Midwest.  Here are a couple of photos I really like.  Check out our Facebook Page for more photos I will be uploading soon.  Our main site will be getting these as well shortly in case you want to order prints.  I hope you enjoy these photos of this amazing bird.

March Madness

Well IF you are a sports fan in the U.S. this is one of the greatest days.... the beginning of March Madness!  Games have just started and pizza, chicken wings and beer will soon follow.  What a great day to spend in front of a TV!  My bracket is filled out and my family has its third annual tourney going.

Here is an image I shot at a tournament game a few years ago.  Enjoy the dance.

Main Street

This photo just screamed at me to apply some vintage textures. So I went ahead and added a bunch of textures to it and adjusted the lighting to give it a retro look. A glimpse into yesterday. Hope you enjoy.

Winter Corn

Here's an artistic textured take on this photo made to give it a retro look. I call it Winter Corn. For sale on my Fine Art America page. Link below.

Alpine Buck

Had some fun the last night or so working on this one.  It is a composite along with quite a few layers and textures.  I call it Alpine Buck.  The prints are for sale at Fine Art America.  Details below.

How many deer do you see?

I was editing some photos and just love this photo.  I can tell you there were many more outside of the frame of the picture as well.  How many do you see in the photo?

Andi

Yesterday I showed a picture of Roscoe, one of the three dogs I got the privilege to photograph one day last year.  Today I want to show you Andi, a black lab pup.  While I am sure she is much bigger right now, she was a tiny little ball of fur last summer.  Here's my favorite from the shoot.

Roscoe

One day last summer I had the privilege to take photos of Roscoe, Archie and Andy.  We brought along our dog Rudy and the four of them had a blast chasing each around the yard while I tried to snap away.  Roscoe being the prototypical lab was really only interested in chasing a tennis ball all day and we were more than happy to throw it for him.  After awhile we had to take a break to let him cool down.  This gave me a chance at some great photos of this beautiful yellow lab.  It also allowed me the chance to photo what is the longest tongue I've ever seen on a dog.  Here's a picture of Roscoe I like.

Happy Friday

Happy Friday everyone.  Another cold day but it won't last forever.  I was editing some very old photos today taken with my old Rebel.  I found a bunch from 2009 that I had forgotten about of a Kite Festival we took the kids to.  There were tons of custom made kites.  Everything from Nemo to the Red Baron.  Here is one of a giant smiling star.  This picture is just such a happy image I thought I would post it.

Hanging out with Rudy

The snow is a lot more enjoyable when you don't have to drive in it everyday.  It's also a blast if you are dog!  Rudy has a great time running around outside in the snow and jumping over some of the snow banks twice his height.  Here's a close up of Rudy with some snow on his face.

Herbie the Love Bug

I was going through and editing some photos today and found myself looking forward to warmer days ahead.  My boys and I enjoy going to car shows and taking pictures and visiting with the great people.  Here is a great shot of a 1971 VW Beetle made to look like Herbie the Love Bug (those of you 40 and older should remember).

Ten Again

I haven't seen this guy since the other day but I have some more photos of him.  Here is one of him sneaking off through the woods.  I think he heard the shutter firing on my camera.

That's got to hurt!

It's that time of the year when the bucks start to shed their antlers and get ready for the new growth in spring.  I've seen bucks that have only one horn left but before today I never saw one with such a fresh wound.  This guy came in to get some corn today.  You can see in the photo that he very recently lost his one antler.  Looks painful!

P.S.  It's snowing and for once I am not driving!

Boss Man Bing...

For those of you not in the the northern United States, it is cold.  Very cold.  We are having another round of the infamous "Polar Vortex" or as people with memories beyond this years catch phrase know, an Alberta Clipper.  Our highs here in Wisconsin have been below zero and we have had wind chills below -50 degrees.  Why am I telling you this?  It's sets the story for what I saw.

For those of you that deer hunt or follow the whitetail deer, you probably know that the big dominant bucks are nocturnal creatures.  Outside of their mating season, or rut, in November each year the dominant buck generally only travels at night unless he is disturbed.  I am an avid hunter and photographer and have many trail cameras on my property to track the animals.  Over the course of this past fall I followed many whitetails but there were two huge ones.  One I call Old Bloody Horns as I only saw him once on the cameras and his horns were full of blood from a fight.  The other I saw many times on the camera but never in person.  He's a big old majestic ten pointer that would look great above the fireplace.  Now he needs a name too and I couldn't think of anything as great as Old Bloody Horns, but he is the local boss of this woods.  So when I think of boss I think of the old Friends TV show and the episode where Chandler Bing became the boss... or Mr. Boss Man Bing as they called him.  I found this an appropriate name and something I'd remember.

Well, Mr. Boss Man Bing came out today in the bitter cold.  He chased off about ten other deer, mostly does to get a look for some food today... during the broad daylight.  My son first saw him and called me.  I quickly grabbed my camera and positioned for lots of shots.  The one below is one of my favorites.  I watched Boss Man Bing work through our woods and shake his head like he is getting ready to shed his antlers.  I hope I am lucky enough to find one or both of those.

I hope you enjoy the picture below of Mr. Bing.  Enjoy and stay warm.

Cold New Year

Well another cold day in this new year.  How cold.... well so cold you can see two bucks hanging out together to look for some food.