arts – Page 2 – 2Eight Photography

One of My Other Passions

One of my passions, and this may seem weird to you, is that of visiting cemeteries. I really don’t know what it is that lures me into these places but I have always felt very comfortable in cemeteries. Once I started doing photography the two just seemed to go together. I think that cemeteries can be very peaceful and have many beautiful scenes in them. I visit as many as I can and I constantly look for new ones to explore. Some are abandon and some are well maintained. When I’m in Pittsburgh one of my favorites is, of course, Allegheny Cemetery and recently I found the Homewood Cemetery. Tonights post covers several cemeteries around Western Pa. Such as St. Vincent Cemetery, Unity Cemetery, and Allegheny Cemetery. Hopefully you’ll see the beauty that I have found to be so peaceful.

Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa

Unity Cemetery, Latrobe Pa

St. Vincent Cemetery, Latrobe, Pa

Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa

St. Vincent Cemetery, Latrobe, Pa

Mt. Pleasant, Pa

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.

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.

A Walk Through the Strip District….

From time to time I like to take a walk, with my camera, through a part of Pittsburgh, Pa called the Strip District. Now, to say this area is dynamic would be an understatement. This place changes by the second, and you never know what your going to find. The photo opportunities never cease to amaze me. I make this walk several times a year and always find something new and interesting to photograph.

If you have the opportunity to visit the “Strip”, or if your city has something similar, I highly recommend taking that walk with your camera in hand and look for the unexpected.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

It’s been a while…

Well it’s been a while since I had a photo assignment. So I think it’s time I start that back up again. Sometimes making yourself an assignment can get the creativity flowing and get you out and about to do a little photography.

So that being said today the assignment will be:

“Fun in the Sun”

Check back later to see what I was able to some up with.

Things you see when your out and about…..

As a photographer I often leave the house with a preconceived notion as to what I’m going to photograph. For me this is one of the hardest things to work around. Reason being, very often I don’t look at the many other photographic opportunities that are just around the corner. I know this is a problem, so lately I have been trying hard to work around this issue. So, yesterday I had the opportunity to take a ride through the mountains around my area. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just went for the ride and stopped and took a few photographs along the way. I found the day to be very rewarding and was able to get a few neat shots. I would appreciate any comments about the photos.