Bourgeoisie Act with Unfolding Sentiment

Here's a spot just outside of Bristol, WI on the day of our first significant snowfall back on Dec. 6th of aught seven ... yeah, it does seem a little weird to be referring to 2007 in the past tense, doesn't it?

As a matter of fact, this scene is directly across the street from this capture, posted back on Dec. 16th. My guess is there's a pretty good chance that the same person owns both plots of land, as there was a perpendicular "driveway" on both sides of the road.

Whereas in the previous photo I was facing west, here, I'm facing east, with the late afternoon sun barely peaking from behind the clouds. I was really glad that I was able to get out and shoot on this day, what with all the lovely colors going on in the sky and the somewhat dreary, overcast conditions really popping the colors of the land.

CAMERA INFO
Canon 20D (Steadied on a beanbag); Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens; Aperture Priority Mode; 1/80s @ f/9.0; ISO 400.

POST PRODUCTION
Zone specific levels, curves, noise reduction & sharpening adjustments for first the sky and then the foreground.

Slainte
Gareth—The Celtic Camera Photography

Prints and photo gifts (Mugs, T-Shirts, Puzzles, etc) are available for non-commercial purchase by clicking on the shopping cart at "The Celtic Camera Photography." Photos are also available for commercial contracts by simply contacting me via the "mailto" links which can be found here).

Silent Space

Day three of my "project" series brings us—as I mentioned—a very similar but yet quite different photo than yesterday.

Taken on the same day but exactly 10:32 earlier, here we see—for all intents and purposes—the same view as yesterday's shot, except for this one I went with a much longer exposure time, as I was looking to blur the clouds just a bit and also to capture that "milkiness" that waves take on from long shutter speeds. I was very pleased with the way the sky is reflecting off the water in this one.

I was thinking of posting one final shot from this series, but I'm afraid I'd be giving too much away. Maybe once the project is completed I'll bring that one out but for now, it's back to "normal" posting tomorrow, whatever that might be! ;-)

Today's a busy day as after work I'll be heading up to Shank Hall in Milwaukee for a show with Seven Nations and The Sandcarvers. If you're in the area and dig on great Celtic rock, do try to catch this one. Look for shots from this show sometime next week.

CAMERA INFO
Tripod mounted Canon 20D; Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens (stabilizer off) @ 28mm; Aperture Priority Mode; 10s @ f/22.0; ISO 100.

POST PRODUCTION
Three photo merge with separate Photoshop exposure settings for the sky, water and sand; added a ND Gradient effect to the sky; area specific noise reduction (sky) and sharpening (foreground).

Slainte
Gareth—The Celtic Camera Photography

Prints and photo gifts (Mugs, T-Shirts, Puzzles, etc) are available for non-commercial purchase by clicking on the shopping cart at "The Celtic Camera Photography." Photos are also available for commercial contracts by simply contacting me via the "mailto" links which can be found here).

Sentiment of Dreams

Before I carry on with today's ramblings, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a quick shout out to some folks who went above and beyond for "The Celtic Camera Photography" in 2007:

The Sandcarvers; DJ John Bowles & PaddyRock Radio; JJ McAuliffe and the whole gang at McAuliffe's Pub; Far Corner; Bill and the Brothers Kopecky; Strange Land; D.R. Burkowitz & all the folks of and participants of M.A.R.S. Fest; The Pulltops; Uncle Norm; vonFrickle; the many fine folks at Progressive Ears; Beth.

Last, but not least and certainly most of all ... my love, my friend and my wife, Raven.

My thanks to all of you for of your help, support, inspiration and patience.

Today's shot is part two of my series of "leftover" shots from my recent CD project. This was also taken back in May, although a few days after the shot I posted yesterday. We were still trying to figure out the proper mood for the project with this one.

A simple shot that I think does indeed evoke more of a mood, I was really taken by the colors of the sky on the morning this was taken. Only three elements in play here: sky; water; beach. And yet, there's so much to see.

Tomorrow's shot is very similar to this one, except ... well, you'll see.

CAMERA INFO
Tripod mounted Canon 20D; Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens (stabilizer off) @ 28mm; Aperture Priority Mode; 1/30s @ f/6.3; ISO 400.

POST PRODUCTION
Three photo merge with seperate Photoshop exposure settings for the sky, water and sand; added a ND Gradient effect to the sky; area specific noise reduction (sky) and sharpening (foreground).

Slainte
Gareth—The Celtic Camera Photography

Prints and photo gifts (Mugs, T-Shirts, Puzzles, etc) are available for non-commercial purchase by clicking on the shopping cart at "The Celtic Camera Photography." Photos are also available for commercial contracts by simply contacting me via the "mailto" links which can be found here).

Nature with Victim

This past spring I was asked by a band that I'd captured in concert quite a few times to do the photos for their upcoming album. As this is a band that I not only really dig musically but also respect a great deal professionally, I was positively thrilled that they'd asked me and jumped at the chance.

It was a fun process: going out in the field with just one word of an initial idea as to what they were aiming for; presenting drafts and then bouncing ideas based on these back and forth; working on obtaining props. It was all quite a fulfilling experience and now that this project, both musically and graphically is close to completion, I'm really excited to see the finished product! I already have a good idea of how it sounds, as I was allowed to hear some rough cuts to try and gain some visual inspiration. Over the next few days I'll be sharing with you the "rejects" from this project.Actually, these will be the those initial drafts I mentioned, from the first time I headed out to see what mood they were looking for.

The first of these shown here is a shot taken back in May of '07 of the Lake Michigan shoreline during sunrise, only a few blocks from my home. As I remember it, this was right after a night of rain and the storm was just ending and moving east out over the lake. What on earth that trench like thing is running through the frame is beyond me, but it really caught my eye and I just had to work it in.

I think this is an unusual shot in that—to my eyes anyway—it's one of the few photos I've seen or taken myself that includes both "The Rule of Thirds" and "The Golden Ratio." The thing that surprised me was that I didn't even notice this at the time I was taking the photo, only seeing it back at home on the computer. A happy accident, indeed. This was cool, as I always strive to learn something new every time I shoot, which I did in this case.

I also decided—now that this one is back in my own collection—to go with a dramatic black and white as opposed to color. I think it captures the dark, dreary mood of the day.

CAMERA INFO
Tripod mounted Canon 20D; Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens (stabilizer on) @ 28mm; Aperture Priority Mode; 1/4s @ f/11.0; ISO 100.

POST PRODUCTION
Converted to black & white; added a ND Gradient effect to the sky; area specific noise reduction (sky) and sharpening (foreground).

Slainte
Gareth—The Celtic Camera Photography

Prints and photo gifts (Mugs, T-Shirts, Puzzles, etc) are available for non-commercial purchase by clicking on the shopping cart at "The Celtic Camera Photography." Photos are also available for commercial contracts by simply contacting me via the "mailto" links which can be found here).

The Resignation of Childhood

Welcome back! Here's hoping that the end of the solstice season finds you and yours healthier, happier (and not just because you got a bunch of stuff) and maybe just a little wiser, as well.

It's definitely good to be back in the saddle and posting again. As I mentioned before my end-of-year sabbatical, I did a ton of work over on my main website, "The Celtic Camera Photography."

I re-sorted all of my galleries, choosing to go with a system based first on year, and then by subject/category (Macro, Still life, etc.). All new galleries in the future will follow this system, except for my music/concert galleries which—as they are so venue and subject oriented—I decided to leave as is.

I also went through my "Portfolio" galleries and weeded out some of the older photos and replaced them with newer and, hopefully, better ones.

All the keywords for my photos have been updated ... maybe some will start popping up in image searches now. Surprising that for so long I overlooked this simple but important step.

I’ve also changed all of my gallery views to the classic SmugMug layout with the new "Stretchy" feature, which now completely fills the width and height of your browser and screen.

In addition, I've been busy scheduling a few wedding shoots for 2008 and—something I'm very excited about—finishing up work on shots for an upcoming CD.

No, I'm not gonna spill the beans about the CD yet! You'll just have to wait.

One other bit of exciting news arrived in the mail not too long ago, as I received my copy of the Spring/Summer issue of "Progression Magazine" in which a few of my photos were used in a feature on the band Far Corner. I'll be scanning the pages and post them soon.

I've applied to Google AdSense to experiment with placing ads here on the blog. The way I understand it, Blogger (Google) scans the content of the blog and then finds relevant advertisers based on that content. I'm still going through the application process and setting it up, which in itself is almost enough to make me chuck the whole thing ... we'll see how it works. I'll try it for a while, but if it becomes too convoluted or the ads just aren't pertinent, well, see ya later, AdSense.

All this while dealing with getting back to work, physical therapy, a head & chest cold that simply wouldn't die and also a three day stomach virus thing. My wife has also been suffering from the same cold, so at times we had two part harmony hacking going on!

Finally, A reminder to current readers and a heads up to the new: most of the photos you see here on "The Way I See It" and also on my main business site, "The Celtic Camera Photography" are available for purchase for non-commercial purposes by simply clicking on the shopping cart. Just click on the thumbnail image here on "The Way I See It" and you'll be taken to "The Celtic Camera Photography" where you'll first see a larger image of todays posting. Click the shopping cart to purchase the one you're viewing or click the green "X" at the top to close that window and enter the main site, where your shopping fun can begin.

Photos are also available for commercial contracts by simply contacting me via the "mailto" links which can be found on the homepage of "The Celtic Camera Photography."

Okay, enough of that. Now, back to today's photo.

I took this shot on one of my jaunts out to Lake Andrea. It was fun watching this guy, as it appeared that he was very new to the sport of Para-skiing, or whatever it's called. When he got it right, though, you could tell that he was having a blast. Maybe next time he should try a spot with a few less obstacles! He was having quite the time dodging trees and bushes ... and I even removed one of them in the photo for him. I'm guessing that maybe a little more snow might also help his efforts, which shouldn't be too much of an issue now, as we've received at least 12" since this photo was captured.

By the way, do we have any skiers out there? It, along with golf (yeah, yeah ... I know!) are two of the sports I'd like to try my hand at someday ... after my back heals up, of course! Any suggestions as to a good starter spot in the Midwest where a novice can get his feet wet?

CAMERA INFO
Hand held Canon 20D; Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens (stabilizer on) @ 135mm; Aperture Priority Mode; 1/40s @ f/9.0; ISO 100.

POST PRODUCTION
Some tweaking of the Shadows/Highlight command in Photoshop to balance the trees and the sky, some noise reduction and sharpening.

Slainte
Gareth—The Celtic Camera Photography

PS: I guess I should warn you now ... I've been on a landscape jones lately!

Prints and photo gifts (Mugs, T-Shirts, Puzzles, etc) are available for non-commercial purchase by clicking on the shopping cart at "The Celtic Camera Photography." Photos are also available for commercial contracts by simply contacting me via the "mailto" links which can be found here).