MW Fine Art Photography
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  • February15th

    Just when I started thinking to myself the other day that winter was “almost” over, we had another four inches of  snow fall. I’m getting really excited for this “winter blues” weather to break and Spring to make things green again. I’m also looking forward to hitting the trails with my bike, taking walks without having to wear as many layers that I dress like the Marshmallow ManTouring Wisconsin’s Disk Golf Courses, Music at The Small Theater and Drinking a Cup of Coffee outside at Luna.

    Last weekend I got a call from a friend of mine wondering if I wanted to meetup and shoot the sunset. With the weather being a warm 24ºF I knew what my initial response was going be, but with it fresh in my mind that I have not shot anything for fun lately, I said yes.

    The first shot, “your standard sunset with some big-sky-clouds”, I didn’t really take a huge liking to. I tried to let the brain slip away and just let my eyes do the seeing, as is their job and I started to see things a bit differently.

    I really liked what I was starting to see, and was starting to get a bit more depth into the picture. Forground, middle ground and background right? Looking back at the above shot, I wish I would have visited this idea a little longer and tried a few more compositions. With the sun setting and the light running away from me I trudged onward through the snow to expand the eyes a bit further. Perhaps some close-ups with a little bokeh in the background? (this is due to a great amount of inspiration absorbed from Dustin Dais’ 365-project)

    Then when editing them down I remembered that I took a series of 13 photos that I intended to stitch together into a panoramic. Stich + Crop  = Pano. I love it.

    Until then, I will look forward to a future day that I can go out and shoot without the feeling of a numb index finger and wondering why the shutter is not clicking because I cannot tell that my numb finger is not on the button.

  • January10th

    Ever pickup your camera and wonder what to shoot? Are you working on your new 365-project and starting to hit a wall on this 10th day of 2010? Trying to find that new subject or “look” for your next shoot? Here’s a list of a some links that should help get your creative juices flowing.

    • As always, if you are looking for something to shoot. Great content is only a few clicks away with David Hobby at Strobist. I sometimes just take a look through the archives to get the wheels turning.
    • Believe it or not, YouTube is also a great source of inspiration. There are a lot of photographers that post their behind-the-scenes footage of photo shoots, lighting tut’s, gear reviews and the backyard 2-story water slide that we all eventually get sidetrack on.
    • There is a great little app for the Palm Pre called, Dropee. Which serves as a Dropular client. Dropluar is a Media Bookmarking site that is great for artists, designers or anybody that wants to see interesting images, videos, or links from the world wide web. (Currently down due to a server change)
    • Looking to add some new gadgets to that bag? Check out the strobist-friendly products of CheetahStand.
    • Dustin Diaz, voted as the Best flickr Photographer of 2009, wrapped up an addicting 365-project on December 31st. A stroll through his photography will get your Bokeh-jucies flowing, most of his images have strobist info attached as well as a set-up shot showing the lighting set-up.
    • Craig Johnson produces some some of the best HDR images around.

    There are a lot of days that go by where I am wondering what I can shoot. I know that when I have reached the point that I am thinking about what I want to shoot, I know that I am over-thinking. Just pick up your camera, put on that lens that you never use, because “you don’t know when you would ever use it,” and go take a walk. Capture everything you see, everything that intrigues you, grabs your eye and causes you think think. Thinking about being creative doesn’t do ti for me, I have to get out there and make some pictures.