digital – Page 22 – 2Eight Photography

Word a Week Photo Challenge – Smile

I saw this at a local ice carving festival and just thought it worked well for the word a week challenge.

The Intricate Parts of an Automobile

Tonights post is a prelude to my day off tomorrow. The World of Wheels car show is in Pittsburgh this weekend and tomorrow you will find me meandering through the cars with camera in hand. I’ve posted before about my love of the automobile and the ties that I have to it and my father. Tomorrow will be no exception, although he is gone now I know that he would have truly loved this show. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as he would have.

Here are a few cars from past shows. Tomorrow I will post some from this years show.

1956

Amazing Paint

The Goat

Headlight

Shadows

Adams Family

When it’s Cold Outside Try….

When it’s too cold outside like it has been here the last couple of days one of the things that I like to do is still life photography. I will take over the kitchen and turn it into a studio with my lights, backdrops, and other items all just to take a few pictures of something I saw sitting around the house.

For the technical readers I use Elinchrom studio lights model Bx500ri with soft boxes, grids, and mini spot attachments. I have been using these lights for about a year or so and have found them to be simply amazing.

Below is a few of the photos I shot using these lights and my Nikon D300. Hope you enjoy. And as always comments and questions are welcome.

1976 Nikkormat

Yashica C

Polaroid Land Camera 95A

Mustang

R/T

Chrysler

Birds of a Feather

Well once agin the temperature in in the teens and tomorrow will be no exception. So I got to thinking what can one do to feel like its warm and tropical yet not spend a small fortune on a plane ticket to Fiji? Well in Pittsburgh (current temperature 16 degrees F) you could visit the National Aviary. It’s a really cool place to visit and see some really amazing birds up close and personal. I visit the aviary every year in the winter months as it is fairy warm and it gives you a chance to get out and take some photos on one of those cold winter days.

Below are a few of the photos I have taken at the aviary. Hope you enjoy!

In the Woods You Might Find an Old Mill

Todays photo comes from a place in Western Pennsylvania called McConnells Mill. You can find this mill at the bottom of small road in McConnells Mill State Park. There you will also find a beautiful red covered bridge. It’s been a few years since I was last there and it’s on the list for places to visit again this year. Would you visit this place if you could?

The Automobile: My Way

Tonight, I decided to share some my vision of that amazing invention: The Automobile. To say I’m a fan of cars would be a “slight” understatement. I have been involved with cars my whole life. As a kid, instead of playing in the streets, I was normally at home working on a car of some sort. My dad was a mechanic and painted cars. And I was always right there along side of him working, helping, and learning. I learned many things about the cars that we worked on and grew to have a great appreciation for classic and antique cars. My dad and I never missed an opportunity to visit a car show.

Years later I started to photograph automobiles and found that overall shots of the cars was, well, kind-of boring. So I began to photograph parts of the cars and I think that the results show the intricacies of the car that many may never have noticed. Today I’m am posting several closeups of classic and antique cars. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Feel free to let me know what you think.

’55’

Good and Plenty

Olds 98

’56’

American Built

Headlight Reflection

Reflected

Solar GTO

’57’

Woody

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.

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.

Pittsburgh, My Home Away From Home

As you can guess tonights post is about Pittsburgh, Pa. Growing up I can remember going to the city for special events like the circus and monster truck races at the Civic Arena. Going to the museums and one of my favorite places Phipps Conservatory. I can remember going to Mt. Washington too see the city scape and especially at night to see the lights from so high above the city.

Well I’m all grown now and I travel to the city just about everyday and it still mesmerizes me every single day. There are truly no two days alike and the city is constantly changing, growing and evolving. I’ve spent the better part of the last two years in Pittsburgh and I can say that I see something unique everyday. If you live or work in any city take time everyday to look around and see what amazing things the city has to offer. All to often we get in a rut and don’t see the great things right in front of us, because we are always looking forward to the next “BIG” thing.

Today was one of the rare occasions that I got off work early enough to run up to Mt. Washington and see those amazing lights once again. And I would like to share the following two photographs with you. Leave a comment and tell me what amazes you about the city or town you live or work in.