SURF ART

"The Green Room"

Back to doing a little surf editing of some shots I'm submitting to a surf mag. Went a bit artsy on this one why- just because I can and the photo works for this type of editing. Never say never and never stop pushing the sides of the box.

Enjoy!

"GOD"S ART"

"Fall 2011"

Ah the air has changed, fall has come and is about to give way to winter. Of course everyone love's the mountains this time of year but here on the Outer Banks we can also brag a little on our back woods scenes. But in my opinion it's all about the artist (GOD) it's just my job to show his work for all to see.

Enjoy

"Fall Surfing "

"Surfing OBX Style"

It's the fall season here on the OBX and that means the Atlantic Ocean begins to stir up it's action and surfers hit the water and hit it hard. Converting to B/W then bringing back a little color gives this image a little more to look at and study.

Enjoy

"New Life"

"Transformation"

So as most people have heard and seen on the National News hurricane Irene hit our area on the Outer Banks and then proceeded north to continue it's destruction. Instead of posting photos of the aftermath here I decided to bring a new perspective to our hardship. The day after sitting around full of stress with no power for 32 hours was taking it toll when I noticed beside my driveway my wife's handy work. At first I found it strange looking upon theses flowers in bloom when less than 18 hours earlier the eye wall of Irene came thru with sustain winds of 75 mph and higher gust bending trees to the point of snapping off like toothpicks and here these flowers remain. Nothing else better to do I got the tripod, camera, macro lens, and a little stool for comfort and began shooting away. Only a few minutes later butterflies, moths, and other insects came visiting this flowers nectar. I found myself wondering were did all these bugs and birds go during this whirlwind of disaster. Conclusion, God's grace and mercy still finds away into man's heart after such a day and His beautiful creation begins anew for us all to find hope.

"Janette's Pier"

"Evening Calm"

As you can see the ocean is fairly flat in surfing lingo so it lead to slowing the shutter speed down to created that milky look as the waves rolled to shore. Also this is the Outer Banks newest fishing pier in Nags Head. "The Jannette's Pier concrete pilings and the first wind mills on the Atlantic Ocean.

Enjoy

"Transformation"

"From Camera Raw to Aperture 3 to CS5"

Here is another landscape image from a couple of evenings ago. I decided to post the three images to show where it started to the final image. The key was the gray scale conversion in the second image which set up the rich colors in the final print.

Enjoy

"Endless Summer"

It's so good to have an evening off to shoot for the pure fun of photography. I have to honestly say I don't know of any other place that I would rather live than here on the Outer Banks. So Pea Island was the location as the sun began it's decent for the day. The wind blown sand, the rolling texture of the dunes, the small sand fence that still remains exposed, the clouds falling towards the west as the suns warmth reflects off the east side, what a way to end a great day on our island. Thank you God for your perfect art work.

Enjoy

"The Art of Photography"

Once again shooting families enjoying our beaches is pure fun. Normally I don't post shots of myself but this one is too cool. Captured by my assistant during our evening client session a couple of nights back. My assistant just got her new camera and I set it up for her and she followed my settings as we went thru our shoot. She has a raw talent for composition and that is special in our business of photography. Then I showed her some editing techniques to start off with and this was her shot on the left and the exact image I shot of our client as she shot me. What made her image special to me is not just the sky which was a given but she nailed my flash going off making this image, as well as the cool sand sculptures on the left.

Enjoy

"Good Morning"

Morning Sea Oats

Our morning began with a very impressive giant red ball sunrise as it made it's way thru a layer of clouds on the horizon. As I was cruising along the beach road I found these three sea oats atop the dunes overlooking the ocean. As you can tell this is not the original shot to say. It is but with a few strokes in the PS (photoshop) darkroom I wanted to create a more or less artsy image and wa-la here is the outcome.

Enjoy

"Grandson Time"

"At the Zoo"

My grandson Isaac is just a couple of weeks from turning two and he is a bundle of joy and love.

Yesterday we took a drive up to Virginia and visited the Norfolk Zoo, what a nice zoo it was full of things to do and animals to see. They also had a train ride which is his favorite thing of all, here is a photo of Isaac, me and one of the giraffe's as we were making our way around the sites.

Enjoy

"Pelican Portrait"

"Brown Pelican Portrait"

Yesterday I had a meeting with a client who is purchasing a number of my prints. One of which is this portrait shot of a brown pelican I shot last summer on the beach. After resizing the original print to 24 x 24 I couldn't resist to play around with this one again. A few months back I started to take some of my images and grunge or dirty them up a bit, some images work out and some don't but the effect is quite cool when it does.

Enjoy

Dedication Day

"Jennette's Pier & the US Army Golden Knights"

25 million $$$$$$$ and a few extra bucks to pay for the dedication ceremonies of the new Jennette's Pier in Nags Head hosted quiet a few folks this morning as the Golden Knights started off the event. After a few words from the governor and other elected officials the pier was opened for a free day for all to enjoy fishing or walking the 1,000 foot pier. If you haven't been go check it out.

Enjoy

"Osprey Glowing"

"Osprey Glowing"

If your living or visiting the Outer Banks you have most likely seen this raptor. Their nest mostly man made are numerous along are waterways, bridges, and canals. They are very skilled at fishing for their main diet. Now they are also an arch enemy of the bald eagle so keep your eyes out for these two birds of prey fighting it out under the Carolina blue skies.

Enjoy

"Lost but not Forgotten"

"Eaglet"

Wow, it's been some time since updating this blog. For the last week I've been involved with this eaglet in it's pursuit of survival. A week ago today it jumped or fell from it's nest landing straight down on the lower limb of it's nesting tree. I watched it for two and a half days crying out each time one of the parents return to feed them. As far as I could tell it was not being feed while on that lower limb. I 'm not sure what happen next but when I returned it was gone. I searched for two days thru the swamp muck and grasses as well as in the woods but no sign. Then yesterday he showed up on the bridge. Here he stands over his second squirrel we hand feed him. Later he headed into the woods in pursuit of one of his parents that was sitting on another tree watching us very intently. I have not seen him since. Hope he survives this ordeal until he's ready for flying which by my calculations should be within a week or two. This area has fox and bobcats so he's not off the hook by any means. Good luck eaglet I hope nature deals you a favorable card.

"A Tree Of Life"

Well many people and friends asked me if I got any shots of the sunset Tuesday evening in which I did. Here is one of the images in an area I check out often. Like finger prints each one is totally different and in there own right magnificent. Normally I compose my images using one of the rules we all learned in photography classes, but this one I kept the subject (2) sunset and tree pretty much centered, just think it works better here. Of course the rule does apply to the horizon which I did apply.

Enjoy

"Stormy Weather"

"Insane Skies"

I guess there is not a photographer in the world that when storm clouds of this magnitude roll in scramble to find a location worthy of the moment. As I was crossing over the bridge to the beach I could not believe the formations that was going on, what made it even more unique was it was isolated only in one section of the sky. Even though by itself the cloud would make an awesome image I preferred to anchor it down with the Nags Head Pier along side of it.

Enjoy

"Evening"

"Anchored"

Wow the weather I believe has finally made that change into spring like temps and with daylight saving time in effect there is plenty of photographing to do. I was on my way to our worship band practice an as I was crossing over the first bridge on Colington Road I saw this old net boat anchored in a nice pool of calm water with the evening sun reflecting it's rusted side so I made a u-turn and here is the result. I have to thank the kind owners of the Colington Creek Inn a beautiful Bed & Breakfast for letting me and my tripod capture this moment. If your ever in this area look this place up you won't regret it, and maybe this scene will replay itself once again.

Enjoy

"Simplicity"

"Simlicity"

I truly believe springtime has arrived on the OBX. What a beautiful day of warmth and Carolina Blue skies and as the evening came I new I had to shoot some sunset photos. This was one of the last frames I shot about a half hour after the sun went down. After looking up the title word I knew it fit perfectly. Webster's definition is "a thing that is plain, natural, easy to understand,

the simplicities of pastoral living. The perfect word for a perfect day God has made.

Enjoy

"Red,White, & Blue OBX Style"

"The American Bald Eagle"

I have to truly say if I could do one thing the rest of my life everyday I'm talking about it would be to photograph these magnificent birds. This image was taken yesterday as I was checking on the nest. I have to also say this is one of the hardest birds to photograph in flight when they are swooping down on you filling your frame. The sheer speed this bird generates in flight is amazing so trying to spot focus on their eye is hard to say the least, not to mention your handholding your lens and spinning in cycles.

Enjoy

"Motion"

"OBX STYLE"

Oh Boy the sun was shinning and the ocean was pumping and that means surf photography was the platter for the day. I even took a bit of sunburn as the day progressed into some fine waves.

This shot is of Noah Snyder as he was doing some jet ski take offs tuning up for bigger swells to come. As the morning sun highlighted the ocean I tried a few motion shots for a more artsy look and this was the outcome of my efforts.

Enjoy

"PowerHouse Ministries"

This evening I was shooting some promo work for Chris who heads up PowerHouse Ministries. My set up was two off camera Canon 580EX II speedlites triggered by a mini pocket wizard and shooting in high speed sync allowed me to capture the subject as well as the killer sunset sky. This image has almost the same feel as an HDR image but this is only one exposure. Camera is my Canon 5D Mark II along with a 16-35mm wide angle lens shooting low to the ground. I like being able to use this set up on location because it is light weight, fast to set up and break down and I can handle it all myself without an assistant. If anyone wants any further info give me a shout.

Enjoy

"February the Month of Changes"

"The Old Truck"

Time has a way of passing you bye if your not careful to document it along the way. For the last 32 years I've pointed my camera lens at many different scenes, life styles, objects, beauty, destruction, and wildlife while living on the Outer Banks of Carolina. I've witnessed the changing seasons, storms, heat waves, droughts, winters that never seemed to end and every year it's been this month of February that I love the most. The reason it never fails to give us the winter we wish would end along with a week of spring like temps to assure us that just around the corner our beaches will come alive and all that is new will cycle thru again.

"A Currituck Landscape"

I spent many years snow skiing Snowshoe, Killington, Brice, Wintergreen, Blue Knob on the east as well as Aspen Highlands, Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, in Colorado, Snow Bird, Solitude, Park City and my favorite Alta in Utah. It's safe to say I loved to play in the powder.

Now that my knees have harden I'm find behind the glass showing off the white stuff, no matter what the subject is.

"Nesting"

And then came week two of February 2011 with temps lingering in the low 60's, this means short sleeve shirts, exposing what was once tan skin now a powdery pale at best but who cares it's short sleeves man ! Outside is the place to be we've got eagles laying eggs, green blades of grass begining to shoot up from the frozen tundra (well maybe not so frozen) anyway there was 3-4 inches of fresh snow a couple of days ago pictures prove it.

"Ground Foliage"

For the last two days I have spent the entire day morning to sunset shooting ducks, swans, turtles, you name it, if I saw it I had a lens on it. I truly enjoy shooting all sorts of photography but I have to say I'm at peace alone in the woods, down in the marches, or just walking around searching and watching the many species of wildlife that inhabit our islands, and seashores.

"The Coot"

For the past two evenings the sunset light has been fantastic turning the marches into golden reeds sometimes as if on fire bouncing off the water as blue as the skies above. Here a Coot swims thru stopping from time to time munching on the new grasses under the flooded impoundments as their stop over will soon be ending in a few short weeks. Well there is no need in hoping for spring to start now knowing that winter is taking a little break before reminding us not to put away our foul weather gear but none the less I for one have taken full advantage of God's handy work as often as I can.

Enjoy

"OBX Landscapes"

"West Side"

Here is another image just as the snow stopped falling. As I mentioned in my last post I spent the morning looking for those images of the Outer banks that are totally opposite of the normal beach scenes. This image is the old boat house in Kitty Hawk near the bridge. I wonder how many thousand times I passed by never pointing a lens in it's direction???

Enjoy

"OBX February Snow"

"Winter Home"

February on the Outer Banks and yet another snow fall. This one got all the photographers out looking for that one image to add to the collections. I really wanted to hunt around for some images that were a little bit off the normal path so with my snow boots on I went exploring a bit and came across this wood duck habitat as the snow was ending. Like an artist painting photography beckons for composition and a subject that draws the viewer into the story it tells.

This image pulls the eye from left to right sliding down the angle of the tree trunks and the roofs of the ducks house as well as pushing from right to left.

Enjoy

"Still"

"Yesterday"

I love being a photographer, and I really love the quietness and the stillness during a morning shoot. Even though I have passed by this scene countless of times, I don't mean counting fingers on two hands I mean virtually by the number of years I finally saw the painting by God's hand and the story it tells. The Outer Banks of NC not only is a beach community for an ever growing tourist wave it started long ago as small fishing towns and those salty ones who carved out their living shrimping, crabbing, and net fishing. As time passed others came and found joy and relaxation sailing, and recreational fishing as well. Here an old worn out sailboat sits atop the water as a fly fisherman's bait with out motion secured only by it's ties to a dock worn out by years of winter and summer elements, pointing towards the rising sun to warm it's bow once again.

Enjoy

"A Face Only A Mother Could Love"

"The Stare"

This is an image I shot last summer which I just now have started to re-visit and edit. This is a local Brown Pelican which we have many colonies of these birds living year round. I got lucky on this one being he was hanging out on top of a dune in Pea Island as I was driving by. I think I spent close to an hour with this guy close up and personal, at one time he walked right up to my feet and followed me for a few feet before climbing back up to the top of the dune. Thus he made for a very close head shot.

Enjoy

"Weather"

"The Field"

I very much love when the weather is active and creates drama in our skies. I saw this lone crop tractor and had to snap an image. When I was setting the shot up I noticed the power lines and told myself I'll take those out during editing but after I brought up the image I really like how the power pole helps lock the image together giving more to the story of this photo.

Enjoy

OBX WINTER

"The Monument"

The Wright Bros. Monument in Kill Devil Hills has had more photo time than a super model.

Here is yet another image from a different angle and composition. To be honest it was the soft orange sky that pulled me in to take this shot tonight as I was passing by. With the temps in the low 30's and falling it was all I could do to hand hold my camera, good thing for IS on my lens.

Enjoy