Hi Everyone-

Today's images were shot on our recent family trip to Walt Disney World. More specifically they were shot in Disney's Animal Kingdom.

While we walked through the Dinoland section of the park I noticed this orange and green wall that seemed to go with the clothes that Cree had on that day. She was really ready to keep moving so I was only able to get one shot off while she was fully engaged with me. Then she gave me the I'm done look and walked away.



Later on in the day while we were walking around in the Asia themed area of the park I noticed a very cool wall outside of the restrooms. Conveniently for us it had a bench built in. So we stopped and played around for a few minutes and got the images of Tonya and I with Cree.





One thing that I always try to do when we are traveling or even out and about in our own area is to look for cool backgrounds and textures that I can incorporate into fun images of the family.

Have a great day!!

Hi everyone-

Yesterday we left the Disney parks for the day and headed over to Universal and Islands of Adventure. While I tend to like Disney a bit more we had a great time.

First of all the weather was perfect. Around 70 and not a cloud in the sky. Secondly and almost as important, there was not a large crowd. At no point did we wait even ten minutes for anything,

After we arrived in the morning we headed right over to Islands of Adventure and specifically the Dr. Seuss area. It was awesome. Not only did the kids love it but we practically had the place to our selves. Most rides we actually rode alone and for a good hour there was only a handful of people in the area.

It couldn't have worked out better.

Just after lunch we had a few minutes while everyone was getting lunch cleaned up and hit the restrooms. While everyone was doing that Cree and I found an area of open shade with some cool colors on the ground or in the background. Something that was easy to do in this part of the park.

Cree recently got a new pair of shoes that are quite sparkly and light up. Well they were perfect for a little photo fun. So while we waited I found an area that I liked and we began shooting. That lasted about 10 minutes before everyone else was ready to go.

Cree had fun and we got a few cool shots.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

As I mentioned yesterday I enjoy watching the Trumpeter Swans while I am in Yellowstone National Park or Grand Teton National Park.

They are graceful and peaceful and to me very calming and relaxing to watch.

In today's image I tried to create a feeling of looking back in time to a more peaceful and leisurely era. At a time in my life and I'm sure for many others where it seems like we never have a chance to take a break, this is just what I need.

Not often enough do I take the time to escape reality and get away for a few hours in nature. More times than not sitting here at the computer working on the images is about as close as I get to spending any real time with nature unless I am on a trip.

I think that I am going to change that this spring. Even if its just for an hour here or there I think it just might make all of the hustle and bustle of my everyday reality a little easier to take.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Back in March of '09 I got a notice that there was going to be a structural burn training held at the York County Fire Training School. I thought it would be fun to go up and catch some shots of the departments involved in the training.

Until recently I forgot that I even went up and shot these images. However I have recently started to organize and relocate some images and while I was doing so I came across the fire from that day.

Since it's been a while since I have shot anything fire department related I thought it would be a good change of pace.

Here are a few of the images that I shot that day. Hope you enjoy.

Have a Great Day!

Hi everyone-

This past weekend we traveled to NYC for our annual Christmas trip. We had a great time but saw more people there than ever before.

Shopping to any degree was completely out of the question as some of the stores were so overloaded it bordered on dangerous.

Rockefeller was crowded to the point where you couldn't even get up to see the ice rink. The streets in any direction were blocked off and completely loaded with people.

We did eat at a few cool places. First was a place called Bubby's in Tribecca. It was very good. The second was Ted's Montana Grill which was not far off of Times Square.

I shot some pictures but I'm not sure how they came out at this point as it was a pretty busy weekend. But it inspired me to look back through some images that I shot this summer while we were in NYC.

Today's images is one of those. Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Last month we spent a few days in the Great Smoky Mountains and though we didn't do the park justice we got to travel around a see a good portion of it. At least to get the lay of the land and get some better intel for future trips.

Even though it was not an intense photo trip I was able to come away with a few images that I really like. Today's is one of those images.

I am not sure exactly what it is about this one that makes me like it but it keeps coming back as one of my favorites. I don't even know what kind of tree this is but I really liked the red berries against the deep blue sky.

Hi everyone-

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Our's was very nice. We got to spend a few days with my family and a few with Tonya's.

Not often do we get to see everyone in the same four day off cycle from my job at the fire department. We got to have some great food, played some games, shot some pictures and just hung out and had a great time.

We got to check out the new kids movie Planet 51. It was pretty cool. The basic story is an "alien", a US Astronaut, invades a society on another planet.

It's a funny concept. The inhabitants of "Planet 51" are by our standards what you would think of as aliens. And they are living in a world based on 1950's USA. Then an alien, our astronaut, lands in their town.

If you have kids, it's worth checking out. Also I am really looking forward to seeing Fantastic Mr. Fox. Another animated movie that looks like it will be great.

Today's image was shot in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I had seen this tree a few times and put it in the back of my mind to shoot in the morning. As luck would have it I was back in this area on a foggy morning and it was perfect for creating a cool image, or at least trying to.

I adjusted the exposure and then adjusted the tone a bit with one of my favorite actions. After that I added and blended 5 texture layers. What you see is the result.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Earlier this week our friends Chuck and Abi had a visit from the stork. Camryn Elizabeth was born on Monday the 9th.

She is just super cute!

I had the chance to stop by the hospital on Wednesday and catch a few shots. She has black hair and blue, blue eyes.

And did I mention she is super cute?

Here's a few shots from that day....

Congratulations Abi and Chuck... Oh and by the way Chuck, I can't wait until we are screening boyfriends for her and Cree... Um actually I think I can wait!

Hi everyone-

Recently I traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the first time. My experience was a bit different than I am used to. Thousands of people, traffic jams and areas that were closed at which you had to wait in long lines until they opened.

One of those areas was Cades Cove. On the morning this image was taken the Cove drive was closed longer than its normal over night hours due to fog. So we waited at the gate for about 45 minutes in a line of well over 100 cars. Not the nature experience I was hoping for here.

That being said there were little pockets of natures beauty there just waiting to be found. If you ventured just off the road often times something beautiful was waiting to be seen.

On this particular day the delay in opening the road allowed for me to pass through the area where this images was shot about an hour later than I would have. In the end It was one of my favorites from the day.

I am currently working on a larger panorama of several images stitched together from this same spot. I hope to have it done soon.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Today's images were shot in Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few weeks ago. One of them is an HDR image and the result of combining six different exposures. The other is a single exposure with a good deal of photoshop work to it.

Can you tell the difference? Let me know which one is which.

That being said both of these images had a ton of photoshop work done to them after they were brought to the same spot. Meaning once I did the HDR and got the two images looking roughly the same exposure wise there was a ton of additional work done. That included, local contrast increases, selective color adjustments, adding a glow, curves adjustments, color saturation adjustments and a few others steps that I know I did can cant seem to remember what they were...

Anyway I hope you have a great day!





****UPDATE****

Hi everyone-

So in the comments Nick, Barry and Jan responded to my question and one of them is correct. That would be Barry. He surmised the second image was the true HDR image and he was right.

This image was shot at 6 different exposures and combines in Photomatix and then further processed in photoshop to create the final look. Here are the 6 images used to create the HDR:

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The next image is the sooc image that i worked on in photoshop to give it a n HDR look.

Hi everyone-

Today I thought I would take the same images from yesterday's post and go about processing them in a different way. Same images, totally different look.

The basis for the look is a vertical blur. This is normally done in camera but I have decided to do it via photo shop. Once the image is blurred it becomes an abstract opening to door to just about any type of processing you can come up with.

The first image is pretty much just the blurred shot. The later images are all the same but processed an similar but different ways.

The nice part about this technique is that you really can't go wrong. But some will turn out better than others. I just like to experiment and let the process go where it takes me. The results are never quite the same.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Here is South Central PA we have been enjoying the taste of a little early fall the last few days. Beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 70's. Very nice for the first week of November.

These conditions are just some more reasons why this is hands down my favorite time of year. Crisp cool mornings followed by pleasant warmer days followed by clear cool evenings. You can smell the smoke from wood stoves in the air and you can wear jeans and a sweatshirt all day and be just fine. Love it.

Another great part of this time of year is the fantastic color that blankets the forests and wooded areas around us. While not like Northern PA we still have a lot to see here.

That being said today's images were taken just a short drive over the Maryland border to a little gem of a park that I have not enough attention too in the past. It is called Catoctin Mountain Park. It is a small National Park and is the home to Camp David.

Obviously I have heard of the camp for years but never really new where it was. We figured it out a few years ago when traveling back and forth to see my sister while she was living in Frostburg, MD. This was not the fastest route to get there from our house but was clearly the most scenic.

Recently I spent some time in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and was a little early for the peak of fall color. But while traveling home I decided to take the route across the park and go home that way. Man was I happy I did.

I didn't have much time as I was trying to make it home in time to join my wife and daughter at a local Halloween parade. But I could not pass up the spectacular display of color and beauty in the park. I spent about 45 minutes photographing everything that I could before having to leave to make it home in time.

I can not wait to go back next year and explore more of this park on foot and without the constraints of time. One thing of note... You should always check the website before going as there are periodic closures of large areas of this small park due to increased security when dignitaries occupy Camp David.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Well with the front end of my trip's details all worked out I am super excited to get out to Wyoming and Montana and maybe Colorado to shoot the fall color and animal activity.

We had a taste of crisp fall mornings a few days ago and I have been ready ever since.

This image was shot in Grand Teton National Park near Oxbow Bend. There are some Aspens in the area that are just brilliant yellows and oranges.

Hope you have a great day!