Power - Use Yours!

The Great Lakes are an amazing example of power.

People living around the Lakes also have amazing power - the power to change their way of thinking. We only have one set of Great Lakes. Use your power to take a stand against those who would pollute our precious water resources. Help protect our natural resources before they are swept away, never to return.

To find out what you can do to protect our lakes, visit: www.healthylakes.org

Photo: Taken on October 13, 2006 during a very early season storm. The wind gusts were clocked at 65 mph+ at Grand Haven State Park. I took the image with a large zoom lens while lying on top of a picnic table to shield myself from the blowing sand.

The Buck Stopped Here...

He really did!

See for yourself! Click on the image below to see it a bit larger:

To all the guys out there, eat your heart out! Shooting with a camera has its rewards too...

This big bad boy will be long gone by the time it's opening day, I'm sure.

I caught this one while on my way over to the Danish Festival in Greenville, somewhere near Wabasis Lake. Luckily, I had my camera right in the seat next to me, just in case. I used my Sigma 500mm lens. I had to take quite a few shots before I managed this one. It was hard to be "stealthy" from inside the car, and I was fumbling around, trying to steady the lens on my half-open window. I also expected someone to stop any moment and ask me what the heck I was doing on the side of the road (which happens often, actually).

You're Invited! Rockford Art in the Park!

Come on over to Art in the Park in downtown Rockford on September 8, 2007. You will be able to enjoy the work of 35+ artists along the banks of the beautiful Rogue River.

For details, see the Rockford Area Arts Commission website.

Mention you saw this blog - and take 10% of price of your total purchase of my photo cards, prints and framed pieces!

The Rockford Dam Print - Finally!

(Click on the image above to see the photo a bit larger)

Over the past couple of years, I've naturally had many requests for prints of the Rockford Dam area. The dam was under some major renovations for over a full year, and it seemed each time I went to catch an image, there was some sort of heavy construction equipment, orange barrels, and men in hard hats wandering about!

The new area is just lovely. The landscaping really makes it a first-class place to enjoy a picnic lunch, to toss in a line, or to stroll along with your sweetie. I personally love to get a snack from my favorite hot dog place in the world - Dam Dogs - and sit at a nearby table to people-watch.

This new image is available in a bit of a longer size in order to show off a bit more detail in the length of the photo. I am offering prints in two sizes: an 8x12 print or a 11x16 print... a good full two inches longer than a standard print.

An 8x12 is $45.00, and an 11x16 is $65.00 - printed on high quality Fuji Pro Digital Crystal Archive lustre finish paper and mounted on archival substrate. Each print include a digital title and signature.

Matting and framing are offered - and I'm proud to offer these services at reasonable prices. Please contact me for more information should you want your print matted and / or framed.

Some Local PR for Your Reading Pleasure...

A little PR can go a long way! Therefore, I don't mind a bit sharing some of my excitement on some recent local news articles concerning my involvement with the Pure Michigan edition of Whisper in the Woods Nature Journal.

Here's the first article - it appeared on August 9 in our local Rockford Independent newspaper. They have a new website, so you can now read their article online:

The Advance newspaper is to have an article out on Tuesday, August 14th - so I'll share that link too if it becomes available.

Autumn Realm

OK, so it's a little early to be thinking about fall, but not really. Given the current drought conditions, we're already experiencing some serious leaf drop and color change. Wonder what it will look like out there by the time fall actually arrives?

At times, I go through my huge collection of images, and find a little gem that perhaps I didn't have time to process or perhaps didn't catch my eye the first time I went through that day's captures.

This image was taken in October of 2003, and I found it today while looking through my digital catalog. I decided it was time that it was brought to life. It sort of goes well with the image from my last post - my "wandering through the woods" type of photos.

Let me know what you think! Go ahead and click on the thumbnail below to see it larger:

Getttin' Down and Dirty...

Monnie Ryan, a fellow photographer from Ohio, captured a rare image of ME out on the beach at Grand Haven Friday evening.

I had a chance to meet up with her and husband Jack while they were vacationing here in Michigan. Jack is an avid photographer of lighthouses, and has visited over 150+ of them along the East Coast and Great Lakes. It was fun meeting them in person after enjoying their many images posted at MyParkPhotos.com.

Thanks for the nice evening, guys!

Summer Serenity

Here's a new image taken from a park I checked out last Sunday afternoon - Grand River Park in Ottawa County. This is part of the floodplain forest - somehow managing to survive quite nicely despite our extreme drought conditions.

The park has a lot to offer - and I especially enjoyed the wildflower and native grassland area. I had visited the park last year during a nature photography class led by Ed Post and John Dykstra

After that class, I had always wanted to return back to the park. Unfortunately, it was about 90 degrees that day - and I had my 3-year old with me, so we didn't last very long in the heat. The forest was about as cool of a place as we could find.

As always, be sure to click on the thumbnail image in order to enjoy it at a larger size.

For those of you wondering - YES - this image is a bit more "artistic" than my usual photos. It has a certain effect applied to it called the "Orton Effect". The name comes from Michael Orton who first used the technique is a sandwich of two images, one in focus the other out of focus.

More Voting!

Speaking of voting - my intimate photo of the Gerald R. Ford Funeral could be in the running for the People's Choice Award at MyParkPhotos.com. But - I need your help!

Please visit HERE and cast your vote for the image by clicking on the button beneath the image that says "Add to my People's Choice Awards". It would be most appreciated!

Please Vote!

I am asking you, dear visitor, to take a quick moment to look on the right sidebar to answer two poll questions pertaining to creating a 2008 photo calendar.

My first calendar in 2007 was quite popular, and I'm certain I will do a run of the desktop-sized calendars again.

However, there were a few folks who mentioned they'd like to see a full wall-sized calendar as well. Because printing a calendar that size requires an order of at least 250 units, and because of the obvious costs involved, I'd like to see what the interest truly is for this product.

So - go ahead and place your votes! Let me know if you'd like to see a calendar that size, and let me know if you'd be willing to pre-pay for a calendar ahead of the printing (this would be to come up with the required funding to pay for such a large print job).

And to see last year's calendar - click HERE.