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posted by James on 02/2/12

The Essence of Christmas

A freezing, snowy night + an old, rickety piano + an ancient, homely building = a cozy, fantastic picture! This is what went running through my head as I passed through the deserted Staff Center meeting room at the IBLP Headquarters in Hinsdale, Illinois, that late, wintery night in mid-December 2009. Luckily, I already had my camera equipment with me, tripod and all, after spending time in the dining room shooting Christmas trees, Christmas lights and various other decorations of the season. Though it was nearing midnight, I couldn’t help but arrange a few compositions of the conglomeration of picturesque elements setting in the corner of the room. It wasn’t every day that I had my camera handy, let alone that there was falling snow outside combined with evening solitude inside.

To make it a decent, uncluttered picture, I had to remove a lot of books and miscellaneous stuff laying around the piano. However, I didn’t disturb the songbook that already lay upon the music rack. It was just fine the way it was. I debated whether or not to take the scraggly little tree draped in Christmas lights out from behind the piano, but I decided that because it harmonized with the overall old-fashioned theme, I would keep it there too.

Though not a landscape image, I feel this picture perfectly captured the nostalgic and anticipative emotions of December enough to include it as 1 of only 12 pictures used for Lenspiration’s 2012 Calendar.

Take advantage of the New Year Calendar Sell Out: for quantities of 10 or more, buy calendars at 75% OFF for $2.99 each, plus get FREE SHIPPING! Clearance available only while supplies last.

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posted by James on 01/31/12

Morning Light

One could hardly have asked for a more marvelous Christmas morning! It was probably the earliest I had ever awoke for a Christmas Day, but what did that matter? On vacation with the family in Sanibel Florida in 2009, we were blessed to follow whatever schedule we pleased. And being in-landers from West Virginia, I supposed it was a unanimous vote to see the sunrise on Christmas morning!

Seriously, if one is up early, and if he happens to be at the beach, and if the clouds are broken up enough to let the sun shine through, than chances are it won’t be too hard to get a jolly good view of the sunrise.

I was all prepared with camera and tripod. I’m sure the salt water wasn’t too healthy for the tripod, but shooting from in the water was better than shooting from the the typical, eye-level, seaside picture looking down a sandy coast filled with debris and strollers. Plus, the bubbling, ever-churning ocean water felt good on the sand-covered feet.

I don’t remember much about why I composed the picture the way I did. I suppose the lighthouse made for a good subject and I liked the brilliant sky reflected in the turbulent water. It’s beautiful pictures like this that combine pleasant places with fond memories that caused me to choose this one to be 1 of only 12 pictures used for Lenspiration’s 2012 Calendar.

Take advantage of the New Year Calendar Sell Out: for quantities of 10 or more, buy calendars at 75% OFF for $2.99 each, plus get FREE SHIPPING! Clearance available only while supplies last.

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posted by James on 01/29/12

Autumn Wandering

I haven’t spent much time in West Virginia during the fall season over the past few years. This year, I was in California. The three preceding years I was in Chicago. Thus, the last time I had the opportunity to shoot fall colors in West Virginia was back in 2007. And I remember how incredibly wet that year was! The colors never really peaked: as soon as the leaves changed enough to display any color, it would rain again and all the leaves would fall off. And colors aren’t naturally vibrant under cloudy skies.

Under situations like this, one has to change his objective from shooting color to shooting shapes and feelings. And that is why this twisty little road caught my eye. It’s the road that leads down to my family’s home, so I saw it practically every day, and as the leaves slowly changed color, all I had to do was wait until the right trees had turned color. Somehow, the freshly fallen leaves littering the road added to the coziness of the scene, and the fact that the sky was overcast didn’t make much of a difference because no sky was visible in the composition. In fact, the cloudy skies only made the available light very soft.

All these factors, plus the fact that it was one of the only nice pictures taken that fall season, are reasons why I chose this image to be 1 of only 12 pictures used for Lenspiration’s 2012 Calendar.

Take advantage of the New Year Calendar Sell Out: for quantities of 10 or more, buy calendars at 75% OFF for $2.99 each, plus get FREE SHIPPING! Clearance available only while supplies last.

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posted by James on 01/27/12

First Morning Light

It isn’t every morning that the sky is scattered with gold-lined clouds broken by colorful rays of warm sunlight. I was at the Northwoods Conference Center in the Ottawa National Forest for almost an entire week and this was the only sunrise of it’s rank in splendor.

The hardest part of taking the picture was probably getting out of bed. It was late going to bed the night before and, being in the early autumn, the sunrise was relatively early. But when I woke up and saw the cloud formations in the sky before the sun rose, it was enough motivation to get me up and out the door.

The second hardest thing was enduring the mosquitos. I was surprised that there were so many out so early. But I guess time of day doesn’t matter to a mosquito, and perhaps the chest-high grass and stagnate pond a stones throw away were not much help either.

Another problem was the super high contrast between the bright sky and the dark foreground. I handled this by using a tripod to take two different pictures, one exposed for the sky, the other exposed for the foreground, and merged them together in Photoshop later.

Reaching a goal by overcoming obstacles one at a time is something we must do every day. Faint not, for though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. This is the message behind 1 of only 12 pictures used for Lenspiration’s 2012 Calendar.

Take advantage of the New Year Calendar Sell Out: for quantities of 10 or more, buy calendars at 75% OFF for $2.99 each, plus get FREE SHIPPING! Clearance available only while supplies last.

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posted by James on 01/25/12

Falls in the Forest

Of all the pictures in the 2012 Calendar, this one is my favorite! I had been on the lookout for an image like this for years, and yet I didn’t even see it when I first stumbled upon it.

It all started on May 22 of 2011 when I decided to take a break while driving solo along a 200 mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. The name “Apple Orchard Falls” at one of the many scenic overlooks caught my attention, so I stopped, donned my camera backpack and headed down the 1.25 mile trail to the falls. It was easy going on the way in. It was downhill. ALL downhill. Yes, this was nice for now, but I told myself I had better leave twice as much time and energy for the trek back.

About 1 mile into the hike, I crossed a little bridge where I could hear running water off to my left. Through the trees, I could just make out a small waterfall crowning a pile of moss-covered rocks. But in interest of time, I passed it up in hopes of better shots further down the trail at the “real” falls. How picturesque could an unnamed waterfall be, anyway?

I found out that day that unmarked waterfalls can be very picturesque. Not that Apple Orchard Falls wasn’t nice, it’s just that it wasn’t picturesque, meaning it was difficult to capture it’s niceness. After trying for awhile, I finally gave up, knowing that I had run out of time and that there was a long, steep climb ahead of me.

As I passed the unmarked falls on my way back, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to spend a few minutes to give it a try with my camera. And as soon as I stepped off the trail, I wished I had spent my entire time there. The moss, the arrangement of rocks and the solid leaf canopy softening the harsh afternoon light were just perfect. Needless to say, I was extremely late getting to my destination that night, but I think it was worth the effort to get an image that would be chosen as 1 of only 12 pictures used for Lenspiration’s 2012 Calendar.

Take advantage of the New Year Calendar Sell Out: for quantities of 10 or more, buy calendars at 75% OFF for $2.99 each, plus get FREE SHIPPING! Clearance available only while supplies last.

2 Comments » | posted in Photography