2016 Wildlife Calendar

I just completed my 2016 wildlife calendar and wanted to post a link to it for sale right now.  All of the photos are shot by me and are some of my favorites (you can see more of my favorites at www.keithbellphotography.com.  If you are looking for a calendar for the new year, consider this one.  Link below to my calendar.  You can also use the following promo code ZFRIENDSNFAM  to save 25% off. 

Wisconsin Wildlife Calendar by KeithBellPhotography
Look at more Wisconsin Calendars at zazzle

Long and Winding Road

We were traveling down this section of road and I just had to turn around and go back and get a picture.  Took awhile for traffic to clear but it turned out well.  Hope you enjoy.

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.

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.

New Website Design Launched!

We have launched our new website design.  The same basic functionality exists as the old one but we wanted to give it a fresh updated look with larger picture previews.  We have also added a private gallery section so future clients can easily access their secure log in section.  Take a look at it and tell me what you think www.keithbellphotography.com

New Website Design Coming Soon

Our host has rolled out a new set of tools and we are currently busy designing a new look and feel for the website.  Stay tuned and check back often.  I hope everybody will like the new look and feel.

Fine Art America

We have just joined a wonderful site called Fine Art America.  This site allows users to view some of your more artistic shots and buy them in a variety of prints.  While some of my prints are for sale on our main site, this is another avenue for our more artistic shots.  We are early in the process of building our page but encourage you to check us out.  Some of those prints look great on the wall.  Here's a link to our portfolio:  Keith Bell Fine Art America page.

Catching Up

Life is busy.  Insanely so.  We have had a blast though this summer taking some great photos at events around the state.  My two boys have been shooting with me and we have done balloon rallies, car shows, and tons more. A couple of observations have really hit me on the photos this summer.  One is that I really like shooting editorial events.  Having shots of newsworthy events and not having to worry so much about logos is liberating.  The marketability is really limited but I get so much more enjoyment from it.  Second is that old cars are awesome to photograph!  Great contours, lines, colors of every shade.  They are fantastic.  Lastly the people we have met this summer, especially at the car shows are awesome.  They have been friendly and love to see you take pics of their cars.  Truly great people.

Here is one of my favorites.  You can also check out our new photos added to our home page.  These are just a few of the literally thousands we have.  Enjoy.

Been a long time...

Well it's been a real long time since we added anything here.  More to talk about than we have time for but as I was editing some photos from a winter shoot I thought this would be a fun one to get back into blogging over.

Here is a fun one from Disney on Ice Lion King.  Great colors and a great show!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Years everybody! I thought I'd show a word cloud I put together recently for some stock photography / illustrations I am doing.

Fishing Fun

Well ice fishing wasn't great today but I got some nice photos. Here is one I snapped and added a bunch of texture to. It adds a nice vintage effect. If only that truck would have been a 1950's model:)

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. We will posting some great new pics this week, hopefully, and experimenting with some new toys, more to come on that. Happy Holidays.

Fun on a Saturday

I've been working on photos all day today, kind of a nice break from my normal life. Been working on stock photos and illustrations. Also trying some new things. Here are two experiments I rather liked so thought I would post. The first is a recycling concept image and the second is a collage of last weekend's winter storm. I hope you enjoy them.

Holiday Gifts?

I get this question from time time so I thought I'd publish a quick post about it with the holidays coming up. The question is "Can I buy one of your photographs?". The answer is yes and thank you!

All you have to do is go to our main page KeithBellPhotography.com and find the picture you want. Once you decide on it, click on BUY. It will bring you a pop up where you can select anything from a small size to 8 x 10 to much much larger to specialty items such as canvas prints, wall art, shirts, mugs, mousepads, etc. All of this is professionally made and will be sent directly to you. If you have any questions, let me know but it is very easy.

Lots of people buy and frame some of these photos. I hope you find something you like. Thanks for your visits.

1st Place!

It's been awhile since I've posted. I've been very busy. I thought this was worthy of posting an update. I recently won first place in a local photo contest in the Nature and Wildlife Category. Here is the winning photograph "Time for Reflection".

It's a picture at a local park. This is the first contest I entered so while it is a small contest, I am happy with a win.

Having fun with Textures.

Well I've been busy and haven't posted much. For those of you interested my Project 365 is still alive. I am a little behind posting the latest photos on my Flickr photostream but some of them aren't great anyway. Just quick shots to keep the streak alive. Today I discovered texture layers in Photoshop (remember I still learning) and have been playing with these all day. Below is one example of what I have been doing. I have added a grunge old texture to this photo.

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.

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!

Fun with Snow

I spent the day up north and while there wasn't much snow on the ground it started to snow during the day. I took this as an opportunity to head outside and try to catch some wildlife in the snow. Earlier in the day there were deer playing on the frozen river and birds everywhere. Well once I headed out with the camera there was nothing for wildlife. I took the time to have some fun and try some different shots. Most of course did not turn out great but I found a couple that I like. The first one is of a wreath on the side of our house with snowflakes flying around it. The second is just simple shot of a pine branch in focus with the background and snowflakes out of focus. Just some fun with the camera and practice, practice, practice. While I didn't get any masterpieces it was time spent behind the lens and I need to do more of that. A good day. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Greatest Training Ever!

Well for those of you who have been reading this blog, you know that I have been taking training classes through Lynda.com.  I highly recommend them and more details will come later but below is a banner to their site and classes for those who are interested.  I highly recommend them!!!  They have taught me more on post processing in two months than I learned in two years.