Types of Photography: – Page 17

An Orchid

Today the photography club that I belong to visited Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pa. I am working on the photographs and will be posting several tomorrow but here is a small teaser. Tune in tomorrow for flowers and miniature railroad photos.

Black and White or Color? That is the Question

For tonights post I thought I would propose a question. It’s a simple question, but I think it really could spark a great conversation.

“Black & White or Color?”

Simple enough question but what’s the right answer? Personally I lean towards black and white when looking at photographs, and as I stated in a previous post I have always been intrigued by black and white photography. As a photographer you need to think about this question constantly. So how do you make the decision? I will often post process the image both ways, place them on the screen side-by-side and see which one gives me the emotion that I saw when I took the photo. I also find that I will eventually use both versions depending on the situation.

I’m very interested in your thoughts on this subject. What is your process when making this decision? How do you make your photos black and white? Do you use digital and convert or are you still a die hard and shoot B&W film? And finally which version of this tree do you like best?

Something Amazing in West Virginia

With the slightly warmer temperatures today I started thinking about a place that I haven’t visited in several years. Located in the Monongahela National Forest is the ever beautiful Dolly Sods Wilderness. Covering over 17,000 acres and with elevations reaching over 4,700 feet. This is one of my favorite places to visit in the summer and a great lace to photograph some amazing sceneries. If you have never visited the area I highly recommend taking a trip. Nearby attractions such as Seneca Rocks and and Smoke Hole Caverns make the trip even more rewarding.

Hope you enjoy and I’ll let you know when I’m planning to journey to this amazing place again.

High Speed Zamboni

So tonight on my way out of work I walked by the ice skating rink at PPG place in downtown Pittsburgh. I watched for just a minute and then decided to go grab my camera and tripod and take a few quick shots of the skaters. But as usual, my plans were derailed when I got back, as the skaters were all off the ice and they were resurfacing it with the Zamboni. You may recall, I mentioned having a list of subject to photograph this year an as luck would have it a Zamboni is number 127 on my list. So here is my shot of a Zamboni speeding around the ice.

Night Time in the City

After showing you an overall scene of the city of Pittsburgh, I thought that I would show you a photo that I took on a walk downtown one evening. Yesterday I talked about looking around you to see what the city has to offer. After walking through this corner countless times, one evening I stopped and took a few minuets to look around, then the idea for this photo came to me and the next night I was standing there with my camera and tripod. I think the results were worth it. Feel free to let me know what you think.

This photo was taken using a fisheye lens and a slow shutter speed to get the streaking of the lights. I will say that my work kept me from getting out today to take any photos but I was able to pull this one from my archives.

Remembering The Past

For todays post I would like you to think back to when you were a kid and try to remember something that stood out to you. Today, I was close by one of the towns that I grew up in and decided to take a ride down main street. As I rode down the street I remembered asking my dad to ride my bicycle “uptown” to go to the 5 and 10 store for some candy. At the risk of dating myself I can remember when you could get a bunch of candy for a quarter and imagine how much I was able to get with a dollar and our local 5 and 10 had penny candy. I now know that this was one of the few places left that was still selling penny candy. I can remember leaving my bike on the sidewalk, running into the store with my friends and picking our candy. (there once was a time when you could leave you bike on the sidewalk and it would still be there when you came out) Then my friends and I would ride back home with our brown bags filled with candy.

As I rode through the town today I was amazed at how things have changed and, at the same time, how things have stayed the same. The 5 and 10 store, although long ago closed, is still standing. Another place that I remember was the local barber shop. In this case we are talking about Mr. Ugliks. I can remember sitting there in the yellow chairs that lined the walls listening to all the older men talking about, well just about everything. I think Mr. Uglik spent more time talking than cutting, it was an experience that many will never have. To this day I can remember the sound that the razor made when he sharpened it on the leather strap hanging from the chair and the feeling of the shaving cream on my neck. And by-the-way the price for a hair cut was $6 and that included the shave. But the entertainment was free and priceless. I have to mention, just in case someone from the area reads this, the one man that was always there, “The Captain”. If you’ve ever spent any time in Masontown, Pa, I’m positive you ran into “The Captain” at some point.

So I leave you with this, remember the old times, tell the young people about them, for they are gone and if we don’t share our memories how will they live on?

Some things from the past are worth remembering….

Weekly Photo Challenge: My 2012 in Pictures

This is my 2012 in photos. Some of these photos were taken with projects in mind such as the abandoned buildings, some were just subjects I came across, and others were planned trips to some of my favorite places like Gettysburg. I hope that you have had a great 2012 and are looking forward to an even better 2013. Enjoy and let me know which photo you like the best.

Cucumber Falls

Nemicolin Mine Abandon

Is Anyone Home

Pittsburgh Church

You Can’t See Me

Abandon

Take Off

The Butterfly and the Ant

General Warren

4Th of July

Tied Up

Pittsburgh Foreworks

I Can’t Believe It

4th of July

Gone but not Forgotten

Homestaed Stacks

Pennsylvania Monument

A Christmas Tree

Return to Nature

Heinz Chapel

An Angel in the Sun

Snacking

A Lilly in the Water

Taking Cover

The Lightning Strikes

Down the Barrel

Protecting the Fallen

Hoemstead Stacks

Nemicolin Mine

Just Another Corner

Coming in 2013…

2012 has passed by quickly and 2013 is just a day away. As I look at this blog and think back to when I started it I realize that I haven’t really accomplished what I started out to do with this blog. The Idea was to show you my vision of the world. Sure, I have managed to share a few of the things that I like and places that I visited, but I question if I have truly shown my vision of the world and the answer is “NO”.

So my “New Years Resolution” is to post a minimum of one post per week for the entire year. I will challenge myself to photograph something every week and post it on this blog, hopefully you will find it to be as interesting as I did when I took the photo. I’ve compiled a list of well over 100 ideas for the year and hopefully this will help me to keep up with my goal.

As always, comments are welcome and I’m looking forward to hearing from you throughout the year.

I will also be having a solo photography show in July at Allegory Gallery in Ligonier, Pa and will post information about the show and opening when we get a little closer.

I hope that all of you have had a great year. Have a safe New Years and hopefully 2013 will prove to be a great year for all of you!!

Gettysburg, one of my favorite places…

Wow I was just noticing that I haven’t posted since July. Wow how the time flies. Well I guess a small update is in order, since the last posting I have received a promotion at work which has taken all of my fun time away. Isn’t it funny how that happens? We work so that we can do the things that we want to do but then work gets in the way of all the things that we want to do. What a vicious cycle….

Well I did manage to get out one day and took a ride to one of my favorite places to visit, Gettysburg, Pa. I have spent many days wandering around the battlefield and always manage to see something new or different. This trip was no exception. I managed to come across a statue of a solider hiding behind a rock near the bottom of Little Round Top. Now the exciting thing about this is that I have been driving past this spot for years now and I have never seen this statue before. It goes to show you that sometimes we miss the obvious when looking for the extraordinary. And sometimes the obvious turns out to be the extraordinary.

Well I hope you enjoy the photos and I’ll try to post a little more frequently.

This is the view that a Union Soldier would have seen from atop Little Round Top during the battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.

One of my favorite statues in Gettysburg is this one of General Warren which is found on Little Round Top

This is the hidden treasure I was referring to in the beginning of this post. I like the shadows in the black and white version of this photograph.

A Walk Through the Garden….

Recently I had a little free time and decided to stop by the outdoor gardens at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The inside always proves to have great flowers, patterns, and details to photograph. In my opinion the outside has some very interesting things to photograph as well. Included are just a few shots from the walk but I think I was able to come up with a few interesting photos.

If you in the area I would recommend stopping by and taking a walk around the outside of the building. The best part is that there is no charge to visit the outside gardens.