Photo Blog

We Three kings

2011-12-15T11:49:00.001-08:00

A couple of months ago my sister Sharon and friend Marra wrote this years Sunday School Christmas play "A Story For All Generations". Which will be held at Community Church of Elkhorn at 10:30am on Dec, 18th. During the planning stages my sister volunteered my photos then asked me the next day if I would do it and of course I said I would.

The story is a grandfather telling the story of the birth of Jesus, as the grandfather is telling the story, my photos are presented above the stage. We did the photos back in November after church one Sunday. I have always been interested in the Three Kings (Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspar). I dont want to get theological on the names or if their were three or more kings, but they are the names Ill go with.

I did a few different views with the boys playing the Three Kings. I photographed them coming at me, staggered apart, and together, but it wasent the photo I really wanted to do. It was towards the end of photographing them and the kids playing the shepherds were waiting on the sidelines trying to stay warm when all of a suddenly the sun went behind the clouds and the idea came to me to get a profile photo silhouetted against the clouds in the sky. Exposing for the sky and not the kids with the sun on the side gave me the silhouette I wanted ( I know I know they are facing the wrong direction), but the sun gave just enough light to illuminate their crowns and faces to what I wanted and give a little detail. I did a photo of the kids all in black but felt it plugged up the photo too much so I backed off that idea and went with this final exposure of F8 at 1/1000 sec at a film speed of 500. I also rested my camera on the grounds and photographed them at a lower perspective . This helped me out in a couple of ways, it covered up the house and power-lines in the background and with more of the sky behind them gave it a more towering view of the kids.

I enjoyed this photo shoot , yeah, it was alot to do in an afternoon and yeah, it was a little hectic but I enjoyed it so much. I think it would be fun to to a shoot like this on a clear night with bright stars in the background, but that my be for next year.

Merry Christmas!!

Geneva Lake Christmas Tree

2011-12-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

This is one of those photos that I dont know if I like it or not. Part of the reason is that I know I could have done it better. Coming through WIlliams Bay at night I spotted this Christmas tree lit up from the road. The Christmas tree was along the Geneva lake path. So parked the car and walked a little was to the tree.

As I was walking to the tree along the lake I realized I didn't have my tripod with me, which is really strange cause I always carry it, along with alot of other camera stuff I dont need but never know. So I got to the tree and held the camera steady the best I could, but the shutter was longer then I could hold the camera so I upped the iso (film speed) which I didn't want to do. Sure the higher iso is faster but you lose some of the quality. So I sacrificed the quality and figured I would try and fix it in photoshop. So my iso was at 1250 and my shutter was at a tenth of a second. I got the tree ,no problem. and some of the light from Williams bay in the background. I would have liked to have gotten the water a little better as well.

But with all the negatives I still like the photo. Although if I see this Christmas tree along the lake path in WIlliams Bay I would like to photograph it again , only be more prepared.

Moonrise Over Darien

2011-12-05T07:24:00.001-08:00

Living on a farm is great, their are so many photos to be taken at almost anytime of the day or night. This photo is of the Koehl farm and is just down the street. The title "Moonrise Over Darien" I got from Ansel Adams photo "Moon Over Hernandez" but made it my own.

When I left the drive way I saw that the moon was so full and big. I felt like it was so close that I had to get a photo of it, not knowing how to use it yet my first idea was to get to the railroad tracks and work something their. One problem I had was that time was moving too fast. The moon was moving further up into the sky and I was losing light. So whatever I was going to do had to be fast, quick, and close by. I drove up the street to the intersection and could see the Koehl farm across the field and I felt that was the photo I wanted.

I got out of the car and grabbed my 70-200-mm lens and my 2x tele-converter. The tele-converter added focal length to my 70-200-mm lens turning it into 140-400-mm , the down side I lose 2 f-stops but at this time of the day I still had enough light to make it work. I grabbed my mono pod got everything set up to get the photo. A couple of people stopped by to ask it I had car trouble which was nice and I kinda expecting it when I am in the ditch taking photos. With the camera on the mono pod I stopped down the f-stop to f8 so the lost of the 2 f -stops didn't bother me at all. I then set my shutter at 1/60 sec. I usually set everything manually on my camera. Once in a while I will set the camera to Auto to get an idea or in the ball park but then switch back to manual to get the right setting I want.

I snapped this photo and liked it right away, with the time of day and the amount of light I felt really worked well. I did go to the tracks after I shot this and none of them turned out. Bu the time I had gotten their it was way to late. If I had not stopped for this photo I would have gotten nothing.

Dale Edwards

2011-11-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

Being in photojournalism you have to know a little bit about all photography. How to photography sports is alot different then a house fire, or photographing a fire compared to a concert.. They are all uniquely different and approached in different ways.

I think portraits is one area that I could do better in and work on more, although I do like environmental portraits. They are so much more then just stand straight, tip head, and smile. An environmental portrait is a photo taken of a person in a situation in which they work in or live in and illuminates their life and surroundings. Some of the trouble though with environmental portraits is getting the subject to go along with your idea. Annie Lebowitz was great at getting famous people to go along with her ideas and got great portraits. I so much enjoy her Steve Martin photo of him as part of a painting where he is part of it. Thats kinda what I was doing here with this portrait of Beloit sculptor artist Dale Edwards.

My assignment was to get a photo of Dale Edwards at the Beloit Fine Arts Incubator. Dale is an incredible artist and super nice guy. He is wonderful to work with and has his ideas but would listen to my ideas as well and would go alone with them. We did several photos around the incubator both with our own ideas, kinda like how Annie Lebovitz and Steve Martin worked together.

Towards the end of the shoot we were still rattling off ideas but I still wanted one more photo of Dale with his sculptures and I wanted a little more depth in the photo, with his art in the foreground and him in the middle. When he went in back of his sculpture I was thinking it might be neat if his right eye would look through the sculpture's ear hole. I think he also thought of that cause he move right to the spot I wanted him. Then looking through the camera I saw the mask in the background and thought it would be great for a farther background object. So with a little move to the right I had it lined up to what I wanted.

One of the best tools in my camera bag is a Sync-Cord. It allows you to connect your flash to your camera via a cord, but you can move the flash around and have control over the lighting. I use it all the time and is a great asset to have. WIth the camera in one hand and the flash in my other hand I stretched the flash to the side to bring in the light from the side. It was enough to lighten half of Dale's face and fade to a dark shadow on his other side. The sculptor was angled a little to pick up more of the side light and the mask in the back ground caught a little light as well but was most natural light surrounding it. The piece illuminated well against the dark shadow on his face. I used a slower film speed of iso 320 and to get some depth of field set my f-stop at f6.3 and slowed my shutter to 1/40 sec .

When I got back to my desk and went through my photos I kept looking at this one. I then decided to go black and white with it. I felt it really stood out more then color and made the detail more evident and it just fit right.

Dear Photograph

2011-11-10T13:17:00.001-08:00

Dan Plutchak, the associate editor of Walworth County today, came across the web site dearphotograph and sent me the link. Dear photo is taking an old photo and going to the same spot and shooting it now. Its a great site and I encourage you to check it out.

I wanted to do this photo but with something that is unique to the area and Walworth County. Their is so many great areas that would have worked but I ending up choosing Yerkes Observatory and this photo I had from August 16 1898. I did not take the oringal but used it to create this new photo. The original is from Yerkes Observatory and the University of Chicago archives but this one is just a copy. The men in the photo is top scientist of their day including Frank Schlesinger, JS Parkhurst, and George Hale.

So I had a copy of the photo and the place and then all I had to do was to hold it up and take a photo. I thought it would be an easy shoot, but it wsent. Not sure if I was trying to be to exact or was trying to perfectly lining up the building but it took me quite a long time to get the image. I was trying wide angle lenses, 35-mm lens, and even my 200-mm. I was trying up real close and way far away, nothing was working. I had to get the dome so it would look like its coming out of the photo and combine the two images into one.

I finally came to the conclusion that I wasent going to get it perfectly, so this image is the closest I got. But it did spark my intrest to try this again and If you have a shoe box full of old photos sitting in the closet give it a try and relive some good memories or just have some fun playing with the idea and create your own Dear Photograph.

Running with the Bull

2011-10-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken at the Great Midwest Pro Rodeo held at the fair grounds in Elkhorn. As I checked in for the rodeo, I was told I could shoot almost anywhere but that they would prefer me to shoot from the stage looking down.

I did goto the stage and found a spot, but with 5 or 6 other photographers standing next to me with the same lenses we were all going to get the same photo. So I wanted something different then everyone else, so I got off the stage and walked around by the arena.

Wondering around behind the arena was great and got photos that I would not have gotten from the stage. It also gave me a chance to talk to the athletes and get to know them a little better. It also made them more comfortable with me being down their and photographing them.
I stayed next to the opening gate during the bull riding. I had my 200-mm lens on and with the gate opened I just started snapping away. Bull rides are fast and dont last long so I just held the shutter down and took as many as I could. But when most photographers are putting their cameras down I keep mine up. As the bull threw the riders I got as close as I could to the gate, poked my camera through and got this shot of the bull chasing the rider. Many viewers felt I was putting myself in danger being this close to the bull as the riders ran by. I was in no danger. With the gate between me , the rider, and the bull, I felt safe. Once I snapped this photo the rider jumped up and over the gate as I stepped back as to not get in his way.

I was not in that much danger but you never know what could of happen. I suppose the bull could have charged the gate and tried to get over it. But I felt pretty safe with the gate and the rodeo clowns distracting the bull. Still it is probably a little more dangerous then a craft show.

Airfest At Night

2011-10-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

This was at the 10th annual Southern Wisconsin Airfest last September 2011. On the Friday before the weekend they have a little preview of the show which also includes a night takeoff party.

I have never photographed an airshow at night and thought it would be a good challenge to do some night photography. This photo was at the time in-between being completely dark and daylight around dusk, which turned out to be a good time to photography this. Its like photographing Christmas lights on a house, you dont want it completely dark, otherwise all you would see is the lights. I tend to shoot them just before it gets completely dark so you can still see some detail around the lights. Kinda the same thing I was doing here. I wanted to see the lights and the sparklers on the plane but wanted to show off the plane as well. So I balanced the two and got this for my photo.

The camera was set at 800iso and I had the aperture wide open at 2.8 . My shutter speed I am not sure of since I held it open till I thought enough time had passed, and then I followed the plane in a pan motion and hit the shutter and held it open till I thought it was long enough. Its kinda the same way that I shoot fireworks, I hold the shutter open till I think I got the photo and then release it.

Julie Clark is the pilot of the T-34 Mentor and this was taken during her patriotic performance . As she flew by the runway she tipped her plane like that on the photo. This gave me a good view of the plane silhouetted with the lights on the bottom breaking it up from being totally black, the red smoke and the sparklers on the tips of the wing worked well with the time of night , any darker and the red smoke would have disappeared. The longer streaks of the sparklers was how long I held the shutter open and pan with the plane which also kept the plane in focus.

With this being my first time photographing an airshow at night I was happy with the results and next year Ill have an even better idea what to expect .

House Fire At Night

2011-10-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have always had great respect for firefighters and what they do to keep us safe. My father was a firefighter with the Dairen Fire Dept. and I always enjoyed going to the fire dept. and watching the fire department in their training. No matter the weather or the time they are at the scene putting their lives on the line to save ours, they are the country's bravest.

I was coming home late one night this summer , around 11:30 and heard the sirens going off. I turned on my scanner app on my phone and heard that their was a call up in the sugar creek area and that the dispatcher called for area departments for assistants. I was just coming into Darien and was debating to go or not. I was making my way their when another fire call came in and was by Delavan lake which was alot closer then the other one so I decided to go to it instead. As I got closer a Police officer was at the intersection, and even though I said I was with the newspaper he was not going to let me go down the street. Which he is doing his job to keep me safe so I understood. I thought I would drive around and see if I could get a good view of the fire since the officer would not let me down the road it was on. I drove to the next side road and went down it, it was very thick with trees and I could not see anything but I sure could smell it. As I came over a little hill, their on the left side was a huge flame and a massive house fully engulfed in a blaze of orange and yellows. The road I was on was parrell to the one the officer was blocking off. Their was no departments their yet, I think they were still at the other call but could hear the sirens in the back ground and knew they would be arriving soon. So I wanted to hurry, get my shot, and get out before they arrived so that I wouldn't be in their way.

As I got out of my car, I could feel the heat rush all over me. I grabbed the camera and walked over an empty lot and noticed all the neighbors coming out to watch the fire. I had my camera with a 70-200mm 2.8 lens on and spot metered off the flames . With spot metering I could keep the detail in the flames and everything else could go black. I kept my zoom lens on cause their was no way I was going to get too close to the fire. Every once in a while I will take risk and do things or go places I probly shouldn't just to get a photo but their was no way I was getting closer then I was to this fire. As I was looking through the view finder one of the neighbors came across and and stood about very close to the fire watching it. I yelled to him he should get out of their and get back to the road. He said he was safe and just fine but with a 2 story house fully engulfed by flames, and power lines directly over his head, I begged to differ. I snapped a photo and got what I needed for the paper. The fire department showed up in a few minutes and as they were on the other side of the house I couldn't get a clear photo of them. Since I got what I need their was no need for me to just hang around , plus I didn't want to be in the way so I took off to send my photos to the paper.

I try to minimize the time I spend at a fire, the firefighters and police officers that are their have enough to keep track of without me thrown into the mix. So I like to get in, get the photo ,and get out.

Enjoying the Concert

2011-10-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

I like this photo, even though when it went up for state judging last year the judges poo-poo'ed it, I still like it. But judging is very subjective and since I like it I am putting it up on my photo blog.
This was at Country Thunder USA last year and was early in the morning. I was walking around through the vendors and little shops that scatter the midway when I saw these two kids walking up from the parking lot and through the midway. Covered in mud they stood out and I wanted to get a photo of them but wasent sure what I wanted or how I wanted the photo to look so I just followed them around for a little while. Other people would come up to them and get their photo but I wanted more. As I was getting to the end of the midway I was about to give up, thinking I was not going to get a photo and move on to another idea.
Then on the stage the first band of the day began to play so the couple walked over to the to get a better view of the stage. As I was watching them through the camera I was reminded of the iconic photo from photographer Burk Uzzle and his photo from Woodstock with Nick and Bobbi Ercoline standing on a hillside with a blanket holding each other, some 40 years ago. I snapped the photo. I was not trying to recreate the photo or copy it, its just what it was at that time. So even though the judges may not have liked it , I do and who knows in another 40 years maybe this couple will look back at this photo and say hay that was us covered in mud standing in each others arms.

Barn on Starry Night

2011-09-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Photography is painting with light, so what better then a black canvas to start with? For this photo is was around 11:00pm and almost pitch black out. I even had trouble framing and focusing because it was so dark out. The light from the silo and the barn is from a very small light on the other side of the farm and the glow from the background is from Allen's Grove or maybe Sharon not sure which town. My exposure was wide open 2.8m at 30 seconds. I found this to work really well with this image, it picked up the stars enough without having them blurred and it was long enough of an exposure to illuminate the background sky and allowed the little farm light to fill in the barn enough to see it. I had to do a little more research for this photo, weeks before I had to go online and search for the moon phases so that it would be totally dark out then when I found the night that it would be dark enough I had to wait 2 weeks until I could go out and get the photo.

Monk

2009-08-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

77-year-old monk Palden Gyatso adjusts his robe at a march to free Tibet that traveled across the Midwest. In a march for Tibet's freedom, supporters walked 185 miles from Madison to Milwaukee. Among other reasons, they walked for the release of The Panchen Lama, to boycott China's goods and for democracy in China.

This was a very hot day towards the end of summer and I followed the walkers from Whitewater and through Walworth County over two days. This photo was during the second day and the group had stopped for a rest just North of Elkhorn on Highway 67. I was debating whether to take off or stay a little while longer while they rested and then take a few more photos. I decided to stick around a while longer and see what photos presented themselves to me.

The lighting was very nice once I got a base setting; I switched to manual mode to fine-tune the settings. I was watching the group and the monk was to the left and behind me when I noticed him getting up and taking off his top robe. He then swirled it around and by the robe's second time around, I just pointed my camera and started taking photos. I was sitting on the ground and tilted my camera up--shooting without looking through the viewfinder is a signature style of mine. When I do this style of photography, I do check the photos and then look through the lens but sometimes I shoot first then look, which is what I did here and got this image just as the monk covered up.

He was listening to someone speaking which causing his head to turn and he spread his arms spread out which gave the rode a nice flowing motion. I like the way the yellow undershirt,the red robe and the green trees in the background complement each other in this photo.

Fight

2009-06-16T03:40:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken during Ozzfest at the ground stage in July; it was hot and dusty.

When shooting concerts, you are typically in what they call the Photo Pit. It's about 4 or 5 feet in front of the stage where photographers and video personnel can move about and get photos. On the other side of that is a barrier that separates you from the crowd. Sometimes it is a wood barrier, or a plastic fence; at Ozzfest, it's a steel gate, and with thousands of people pushing their way towards the stage, I am glad I am on the photo side. With all these people, in the hot weather, fast hyper music, and a little moshing going on, tempers get short, unintentional pushing and shoving happens, and when the body passing starts, the tiniest thing can push a person too far. It can get edgy and argumentative fast.

In this instance, I was up against the stage and the security guards were behind me. When a body is getting passed, the guards grab them, bring them over the gate and escort them out the side. A guy was pushed over the gate but as the guard came to escort him out he turned and tried to punch another person in the crowd. Instead, he back-handed the guard. It happened very fast with not much time to react. When all this happened, I was shoved forward and raised my camera up so it wouldn't get crushed against the stage. My ribs got bruised but better that then the camera. As I raised my camera up I figured I might as well get a shot of all the commotion so I just shot away. It was a good thing I had on the 14-mm and the spot meter on center.

The next day, I was reviewing the photos and saw that I had gotten this shot. If I hadn't taken a chance and just instinctively hit the shutter, this photo wouldn't have turned out which is something that only experience can bring.

Bus Rescue

2009-05-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Whenever police and fireman are at a scene of an emergency , things can get a little tricky. They are doing their job and want everyone to be safe; however, I need to get the photo of the emergency. I always try to stay out of the way and know where I am at at all times. I am always looking around to find a place close enough to get the photo but also stay out of the way and be inconspicuous.

This was a bus crash in Lake Geneva during the cold winter months. It happened right downtown resulting in the street being blocked off by police. Not only was I to photograph the scene but I also needed to shoot video, so in one hand I had my SLR camera and in the other the video camera.

By the time I had gotten to the accident, the yellow tape was already up and I was standing outside of it, but I was able to get some nice tight shots with both cameras. I walked to the other side of the street and as I was walking, there was a section where there the tape ended; I walked a little closer until I was where I wanted to be. Staying out of the way and looking like you belong there really pays off, and I was able to talk with the rescue personal and get some good photos.

As I was turning around, I had my camera to my side as to not bring attention to it. This firemen was escorting a parent with her child coming from the bus and the child was all bundled up and going to be checked out by the rescue squad. There was a second line of yellow tape which I couldn't get beyond but I didn't need to be that close and with this image I had what I was looking for. I hate to linger around during photos like this. The longer you are their the more someone wants to get you out of there, so I shot what I want and got out. Sometimes I have to wait a little longer to get what I want but once I get my shots, I am gone.

This photo had what I wanted: the fireman in the front right, the mom and child in the middle and the bus in the background telling the observer what had just happened without relying on a caption to tell the story.

Chopping Snow

2009-05-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

This was at the Lake Geneva Winterfest snow sculpting competition. The contest lasted from Wednesday to Saturday with judging taking place on Saturday afternoon. The sculptors work night and day to meet the deadline and come up with some great works of art.

It was cold when I took this photo but it's Wisconsin so you have to expect that. My camera tends to move slower the colder it gets so I keep it in my coat to stay warm. This photo was at the beginng of the 4 day event, so the blocks of snow were still rather large and unformed. The artists trim them down with axes, saws and assorted blades.

This sculptor was using an axe and positioned on top of the snow. He knew I was below him and taking the photo and he warned me to watch out, but I wanted an images that would be different from the norm, so I set the camera on auto and held my camera at arms length and aimed it up. His first swipe at the ice block felt really close, so I left the camera in the same spot wanting to get another photo. This time I was too close the axe came down and just nicked the lens shade on my 14-mm lens and then the blade went into the snow. The sculptor released it and asked if it was okay. The camera was full of snow so I wiped it out and didn't really look at the lens but was looking at this image on the icy screen. I told him everything was fine and thanked him for his concern. It was not until I got back to the office I noticed the cut in the lens, but the lens held up and worked fine.

This was very dangerous and pretty stupid on my part. I have a tendency to act first then worry about the consequences later. I liked the lower angle of the photo and the axe handle leading up to the guy. The snow flecks spraying from the cut and raining down added to the motion of the sculptor. If I had the chance to to this again, I would.

Media Swarm

2009-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

This photograph was taken during after a weekend shooting that left six people dead, including twin baby boys in a murder-suicide committed by the father. I was up in the Dells with my wife Robyn on our wedding anniversary over the weekend. Neither of us had cell reception while in the Dells but as we made our way home, the signal kicked in. I checked my phone and had messages about the shooting which had happened the previous day. Luckily, Week editor Dan Plutchak was aware of the shooting and got photos of the scene; most of my photos were from two or three days after the shooting but there was still quite a bit of commotion going on.

News outlets from all over the Midwest region were camping out in front of the crime scene day and night. After one of the police briefings, a family member of the murdered victims came out to talk to the press.

As you can see from the photo, all of the reporters and video photographers swarmed in on her to get any little bit of info that they could use for their publication or news show. I was in the back of the crowd when all of this took place. I held my camera up and got a photo or two with her in front but everyone their was getting the same photo.

In an effort to get something different, I walked to the back of the subject, held my camera up as high as I could and snapped a photo but it was horizontal and I didn't care for it. I then flipped the camera vertically and got this photo with her in the bottom of the image and all of the press surrounding her. I was probably in quite a few of their photos and I am sure they were not happy with me being in their shots, but the photo was different then anything the rest of the media got plus it maintained the subject's privacy which I don't think she minded. Finally, this photo really shows how much the media swarms in on a hot story.

Hot Fire

2009-05-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

Once again the Darien Fire Department let me get up to the fire with them and get the photos I wanted. This was a house fire in town that pretty much engulfed the structure. I showed up late which I hate to do when there is a fire. I usually try to get to the fire before the police shut down the street. Once the street is shut down, access is harder to get, but if I get there right away, I am in when they shut everything down. If you have a good relationship with the department, it is easy to get permission to be there. The firemen at the Darien station know that I know what I am doing. If they tell me to do something or move somewhere, they know I will do it without question.

With this photo the opposite happened. I showed up late, the police opened up the street and the house burned down to the ground. I was just milling around getting aftermath shots when a little flame kicked up, the firemen were about 10-feet on the other side and watering down the debris. I noticed the heat rising from the flames right away. I got down and focused low on the flames and left my f-stop at 2.8. This caused the foreground to to be sharp and in focus along with the rising heat which gave the firemen a watercolor effect. This was all done in the camera and not the water effect from Photoshop. Since taking this photo, whenever I see a fire I keep this same method in mind. I have tried it with people lighting grills or burning leaves but this is by far the best one that has worked for me to date.

Lighting Vein

2009-04-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

I should do a whole photo story on photographs I take out the back door of the house. The lightening photo that I posted a few posts ago was shot a few steps out the back door. For this one, I never left our kitchen.

This is a weather vein along our fence in the back yard around 25 feet from our house. On this night I had gone out running and while I was out, the sky lit up with lightening. It made for an awesome show in the night time twilight. While running, I was trying to think how I could get a photo of the lightning in the sky. Just a photo of the sky wouldn't cut it. I needed something in the foreground.

By the time I got home nothing really came to me. The ideas that I had would require some set up which would take some time. Since it was starting to sprinkle, I gave up on those ideas, but as I went to the kitchen to get a drink I could see the weather vein silhouetted against the lightning. I knew that was what I wanted.

I ran upstairs to get a tripod but couldn't find a head for it. With the storm moving pass fast I had little time. I ran back down to the kitchen, turning off the lights and grabbing my camera on the way. I always keep my 80-200mm lens on the body so I can grab it and go, which I did in this case. I opened the sliding door, stuck the lens out and shut the door enough to hold the lens tight. This is not the best thing to do with a camera but it worked for me at that time and many times you have to improvise and use whatever is at hand. The exposure is a lot like the lightning photo I posted a little while ago. I open up the aperture to let as much light in as possible, get focused in on something in the foreground (or sometimes the background) and hold the shutter open until the lighting strikes or just open it up when I think it will strike. This works best for me. I know there are other ways to achieve the same result but you have to find what works for you. I do get a lot of all black images but once you get a feel for where the lighting is and how the camera reacts it gets easier. I am not sure what my exposure is on this image but the ISO was 800 and f-stop was set at 2.8 . I do have more from the backdoor but will post them at future dates.

Flag Supporter

2009-04-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken during the Darien Cornfest parade. I have found that parades can be tough to shoot. There is plenty going on but trying to come up with a new perspective from year to year is getting harder and harder the older I get. I have climbed up the side of the town hall, I have been on a float taking photos of the crowd, I even did photos from my balcony as the parade went by when I lived in Darien. With this photo I was shooting low to the ground, from maybe a dog's point of view. As I was laying on the ground looking up, a huge 30-ft flag carried by several volunteers came around the bend onto Main Street.

I then ran to the center of the street and basically laid down on the asphalt as the flag was carried over me. There were people toward the center of the flag holding it up so it would not touch the ground, which is when I took this photo of the lady supporting the a portion of the flag. The sun was bright enough to illuminate underneath so I had plenty of light. I shot 1000th at f8 with an ISO of 400.
Whenever it is sunny and I am shooting outside that setting is a safe bet; it has not failed me yet.

One of the hard parts of photographing in crowds like a parade is just getting the photo and not worrying about what other people are thinking of you. Yes, you're in the middle of the parade and everyone is looking at you, but I just put it out of my mind and do my job. You cannot be timid or scared to get in there and get your shot, but need to be able to get out as well so as to not disrupt the event. If I had just stood in the crowd and shot the parade going by, I would have never gotten this photograph.

1913 Steam Train

2009-04-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

This photo recently received a 2nd place in pictorial from the Wisconsin News Photographers Association (WNPA). It was one of my favorite photographs from last year and one of my dad's as well.

This photo is one that I have always had in the back of my mind, with the snow on the ground and an old steam engine bellowing steam and the engine silhouetted in the center. I always thought my chances were low that I would find an old steam engine in the winter. Then I got an assignment last November to cover a documentary that was being shot in Whitewater. Lo and behold, they had an old steam engine as part of the documentary. I packed my cameras and was on my way.

It was very cold that day. In order to keep the batter warm, I had to keep my camera in my jacket, only bringing it out for a minute or two to get a photo. I got the photos for the paper of the film being shot but as cold as it was, I decided to hang around a little more, like I normally do and see what happens.

They were done with the train for the shoot so they were going to head out. It took a while for the engine to build up the steam and slowly it backed out of the depot. I then ran to the center of the track as it backed away. Even though the train was backing up slowly, it would be gone in less than 3 minutes. I had only a couple minutes to think of all the possible photo ideas and shoot it.

The first couple of shots of the train were way over-exposed, the sun illuminating the steam and drowning out the engine. With the train backing up faster and faster, I was losing time so I made some adjustments and fired another shot. It still was not right but it was better. I then switched to my spot meter and got a reading on the front light on the train which that paid off. I then went to all manual to get a more precise setting. I could do it in Photoshop but if I can do it right the first time in the camera I think the images turn out better. The train was surrounded with steam, the sun was highlighting the steam and I had my settings, but time was about gone. My ISO was at 320, my f-stop was set at 4.5 and my shutter at 1/8000; any later and I would have missed the photo that I've wanted for who knows how long.

In hind site, I am glad the train was further away. It left more room for the steam to expand out; the others were too tight. I also got some shadow on the track and ground in front and more of the steam on top. Originally shot in color I made it into a duo tone with a hint of blue, I felt it brought a new look to the images but yet held and older, classic feel to the photograph.

The shoot really showed me how to think on your feet and I think my experience paid off. I didn't get to try everything I wanted. I had some ideas that I will have to try for another day but when I have only moments to get the photo, running through the scenarios in my head and going after it works for me. I am forced to think quickly and act on it with little error.

Prison Salvation

2009-04-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

This was a very tricky photo for many reasons. The first reason is access: this was in the County jail. You just can't walk into the jail and start snapping photos so a few weeks before the shoot I had to get clearance. When shooting in the jail the officers let you know what you can and cannot photograph, and they trust you to follow the guidelines. No matter if I think it is a good photo or not, I do what the officers tell me to do. If they say that I cannot photograph someone or something, I leave the camera at my side so there is no question. I want to stay on the officers' good sides so I can return for assignments in the future.

After the debriefing on photo ethics in the jail, I was led to a room where a pastor and his volunteers have bible studies with the inmates. One of the photo stipulations was that I could not photograph the inmates' faces. This makes it a little difficult but also makes for a great challenge and forces me to be creative. During one of the studies the inmates bowed their heads to pray. When the inmate in this photo bowed his head, a shadow was cast across his face but his hands stayed in the light. I did have to darken the shadow a little around 10% in Photoshop, just to make sure you could not identify the inmate. The original was probably okay as it was but I didn't want any question as to the inmate's identity. I originally shot the image in color and then converted to to black and white, which I really liked so I then tried it as a duo tone with a bluish grey color and which I liked even more.

Angel in the Morning

2009-03-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been away for awhile but I am back and have a photo for you all. This photo is an older one but I still like it.

If you have been to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and have gone by the Riviera, you will see an beautiful fountain with this angel at the top. I have liked the angel and the fountain but never knew what kind of photo I could get from it. I was living in Darien at the time and my wife lived in Genoa City. She traveled through Lake Geneva on her way to work and called to tell me the lake had a strange fog over it. Instead of going right to work I went to the lakefront too see what photos I could.

I parked next to the beach and the fog was indeed very strange.It was very heavy towards the center of the lake but the mist carried over to land. I saw the angel right away but with the foggy mist in the background the first photo was very overexposed and looked terrible. I made some adjustments, mainly switching to spot metering and metered the fog which brought the darkened the angel to a silhouette while keeping the background properly exposed. The bottom of the images still got blown out from the mist but it didn't bother me all that much since the background turn out good.

Cold Cow

2009-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

It was a very snowy day and I was just out driving around looking for a photo that would show the snow and cold. I was driving in the country and came across cows in a field during the snow storm, but it wanes right, for some reason I didn't feel the photo. So I pressed on with the idea in my head of cows in the snow just looking for the right one. I crept along in the my car going 10 mph in the country roads were they are the last to get plowed so I should have turned around but I really wanted the photo that was in my head. Then towards the end of the day as it was starting to get dark I saw this cow on the side of the road in a farmers field. I just grabbed my camera forgetting about my coats and gloves. The black cow caught my eye first then I saw the frost and snow around his face, his eyes were so cold looking and he just stood and stared at me. I left the shutter open a little longer to get the streaks of flakes but left the 2.8 apturer wide open to get the shallow depth of filed and concentrate on the face and the nice detail and contrast. It was so cold I couldn't see the screen on the camera so it wanes until the next day I downloaded the card and saw the image.

Farm Field

2008-10-14T07:44:00.001-07:00

I have driven by this spot over a hundred times and seen this truck in the old shed and never payed much attention to it. I am not sure why on this day I saw it differently. It was only a few miles from my house and in plain site, but for whatever reason I pulled over and snapped this photograph.

I used this photo for a photo story about stuff in the farm fields. I left the windows on top in to add a feeling of how old it was and with the truck emerging from the shadows of the shed. It reminded me of an old gruff farmer.

A few months later the owner took the truck out of the shed and tore down the building so again timing was an integral part of the photograph; had I waited another month or two it would have been gone.

A few years later while I was speaking at a high school about photography, I brought this image to show the students. One student told me that she saw the photo and made a painting of it. I felt great that a student thought enough of a photo I took to be inspired to make a painting from it. It was indeed a flattering complement.

Working On The Railroad

2008-10-14T07:38:00.002-07:00

This photo of a spike being driven into the track is one of my personal favorites. I photographed this in December 2007. The East Troy Electric Railroad drove a silver spike into the rail line commemorating the beginning of East Troy Railroad's second century of continuous service. There was quite a bit of media in attendance and when a lot of media is around, I try and look for something different then the rest. You can see some of the other photographers and reporters standing around the man driving the silver spike; they are all in shadows.

When I went to make the photo, I saw the light in the background. That's why everyone was on that side so the light from the light post would illuminate the subject better. I was positioned in the middle of the track and I am sure I was in the way of the other photographers so I had to decide get out of their way and let them get the shot or get in the way and get the shot I wanted. As you can see I, got in their way and got what I think is a much more interesting photograph. With enough light in the sky and the added light from the street, I then spot metered off that light causing the silhouettes.

Lighting At Night

2008-10-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Lightening can be tricky to photograph. First of all, you have to have an idea of where the lighting is going to strike. Second, you have to then figure out the exposure and the focusing. Finally, you have to take the photo at the same time the lighting is striking. It's a lot to figure while trying not to get wet.

There are several ways to go about getting the photo. This is just the way that works best for me; other ways may work better for you. I approach lightening like I would shoot fireworks; both are very similar.

First I get an idea of something else in the photo that will be the subject. In this photo the subject is the road and the power-lines. Shutter speeds will be slower for lightening photography so I put my camera on a tripod or mono-pod. I then put my camera on manual and my shutter on bulb. This allows me to determine when the shutter opens and closes. I then point my camera in the general direction of the lighting and will hold my shutter down during the lightening sequence. Once the lightening has struck, I release the shutter.

Granted I get a lot of black images but that's the beauty of shooting digital. The exposures vary; some are faster then others but each one is different with different results.

Horse In The Clouds

2008-10-14T06:51:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, i just drive around looking for photos with no real game plan in mind. I have certain areas that I drive past but the time of day is off or the subject isn't in the right place. This photo is one of those spots where I would drive by but nothing ever matched the way I wanted it... until one day.

I drove by the spot and looked up onto the hill, and saw the white horse in the exact spot I wanted and as a bonus it was a cloudy day that provided me with the background I was looking for. WIth the darker clouds and the shadow on the ground and the horse eating, everything I was looking for came together at that moment.

I got out of my car with my 200-mm lens and snapped away. Less than a minute later, the horse walked down the hill. I had driven by this area for years but this was the day that it all came together. If I had been 5 minutes sooner or later the photo would have been gone and I would have missed the shot.

Ted the Nazi

2008-09-25T09:57:00.001-07:00

Ted The Nazi, what can I say about Ted? Ted was a Nazi in WWII. He settled in Wisconsin and in his later years, built a shrine to Hitler. He held so much pride for his monument that he contacted The Week about the opening of the monument. The paper covered the story and it was picked up on the local and national news.
However, this is not about Ted's shrine or the coverage that it received. This is about the making of a photo.

When I got to Ted's shrine to Hitler I had him sitting in front of it. I went with a darker, gloomy light pattern. With the flash off my camera and on a sync cord I was able to direct the light and have more control over it. In this photo I had the flash to my left and up a tad as to get the shadow in the back ground and illuminate the flags and created the shadow across the side of his face. I shot the photo in color (you can always go black and white from a color pic but not black and white to a color pic) so from the color image I went Black and White but I didn't think it had enough oomph to it so I then did a duo tone using levels in Photoshop to get the right look that I wanted. Over all I felt it gave the photo a little more feeling and emotion.

Fireworks on the Lake

2008-08-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is a recent photo I took at the Venetian festival in Lake Geneva over looking the Rivera. It was a fireworks display on the final night and I always look to do something different. For 5 years I have been wanting to do a shot like this with the Riv in front and the fireworks up high. This year I was granted permission by the owner Sal, to go up into the condos across the street and get some photos and this is what I got. The lens is a 14-mm at f/9 and I cannot tell you how long the the shutter was open mainly because I used instink and my best guess. I did a couple of test shots but each firework is different so it depended on how big the firework was and how bright, plus you have to remember the lights already avaibile. After one or two fireworks I got a feel for what would works and what wouldn't. I had forgotten my tripod (D'oh) so I resting the camera on the balcony ledge to steady the camera. One thing that really bugs me about this photo is the trees in the lower right corner it is covering up some of the building and also a fountain in front which would have been nice to see.

Funeral For A Solider

2008-07-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

This photo is from the funeral of Cpl. Keith A. Nurnberg who died in Bagdad. Keith Nurnberg married his life's love, Tonya, in December 2006. In February they found out Tonya was pregnant with their first child. He was killed in action on September 5, 2007.

The paper was invited by family to attend and photograph Nurnberg’s funeral. When I arrived at the cemetery, veterans from area posts were already there along with members of the Patriot Guard Riders setting up for the burial.

I have covered several funerals before and I always feel uneasy about being there. Even if the family invites you and approves photography, I feel like I am a disruption to the people in attendance. My editor, Dan, once told me that when photographing a funeral you are showing others that this person was on this earth and existed, that they lived here and that they were somebody and they mattered. I always keep that in the back of my mind when photographing a funeral.

Cpl. Keith A. Nurnberg was buried with full military honors. I had never attended a funeral with full honors and honestly, it was amazing. Family sat on one side of the site while friends and well-wishers sat on the opposite side of the site. Patriot Guard Riders surrounded the entire area in a circle. I figured I would stay outside the circle. I used a 200mm zoom lens with a 2x tele-converter and stayed far back.

This picture was taken when the pallbearers was coming from the hearse to the site. As they brought the casket down from the hearse, the solider in the front looked up momentary and I could see the look in his eye that expressed so much emotion. Honestly, I don't remember taking the photo but I remember the emotion I felt at the moment. Only once did I get pulled aside while shooting when a military representative came up to me and asked that I turn the continuous shutter off and only use single frame. I apologized and complied with his wishes.

Afterwards I stood there in amazement as to what had just happened. I talked to some of his friends and learned more about him and what a great guy he was. I felt privileged and honored to have been able to photograph his funeral and show others the love felt toward Cpl. Keith A. Nurnberg.

Pilot

2008-07-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have received quite a few comments on this photo of Steve Sorg and his plane. Most people ask how in the world I got a shot in front of Steve with the runway in the background. One person asked me if I was on a tower with a long lens, another asked if I had a timer or a remote shutter release.

The paper was doing a story on Steve’s refurbished classic plane. I met him at Palmyra Airport for the shoot. Afterward, Steve asked me if I wanted to take a ride. There are two cockpits in his plane; the one in back is where Steve was flying the plane. The other cockpit is located in front of the other and is a very small space, consisting of a seat and a bar handhold. Realizing that the limited space wouldn’t allow me to take my regular camera and gear bag, I decided to take my little Canon point and shoot. Once we took off, I was glad I made that choice. The force of the wind on an open cockpit would have prevented me from getting pictures with my other camera. But the little point and shoot that I bought from the clearance table for $150 was perfect. I was able to hold the camera above my head without it flying out of my hand and get the pictures I wanted. When we did a fly-by of the Lake Lawn airport and pulled up I snapped this photo. There is about a second or two delay with a point and shoot so I had to think ahead and even then I wasn’t sure if I got what I wanted until we landed.

The photo took a second place in the Wisconsin News Press Association in the portrait personality category. What I like best about the photo is that is was made without a big expensive camera. I’ve made several presentations to 4H groups and use this photo to illustrate the point that a great photo is up to the photographer and his/her vision; it’s not about having big, fancy equipment. You can have a point and shoot camera and still get a great photo.

Window Firefighters

2008-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

The Darien Fire Department has always been interesting for me. My dad was a member of the fire department and rescue squad for many years. I remember going on fire calls with him or just hanging out down at the station when I was a kid. Today, when I hear a call for the Darien Fire Department, I grab my camera and go!

Everyone that asks me about this photo has one question: "How did you get inside the house while it was burning?" Actually, I am not inside the house. While I would love to do a photo from inside a burning house looking out, I don't think the fire department would let me!

This was a barn fire just outside Darien. By the time I arrived at the location, the fire was mostly done. I have found that most of the time, photos taken before or after an event make a better photo than photographing the event itself. In this situation, the fire was out but the firefighters went inside the barn to put more water on the still hot materials. They came up to the window and it framed them so well. The side lighting was coming through the window and the smoke was still rising up from the floor. I knew it was the photo I wanted.

Horse Barn Fire

2008-06-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite photos. I heard a call over the scanner of the fire and grabbed my camera and out the door I flew. No knowing what to expect I hung back and observed what was happening. I saw all the fire truck gathered at the front of the barn and the firemen rushing around.
It was a big barn and I knew it was going to be burning for awhile, so I had some time to get those shots later. But on the side of the barn was the pasture and I started to see the horses coming. I pulled over, jumped out with camera and ran along the fence line to get into position. Next I saw the horses quickly running from by the barn which is the shot you see. They ran on the far back pasture and up to where I was, but the shot was them coming from the barn, once they were next to me the impact and the feel was not the same.