Why today? On August 19, 1839, Louis Daguerre announced the invention of the daguerreotype, the first photographic process of a chemical nature that made an image that remains permanently fixed.
All of the images in these collages were created by me with the exception of half of the last collage.
OSU Photo Workshop. August 12, 2012. Click the image to see a larger version.
Stand. Kneel. Sit, Lay Down. Climb a ladder. Do whatever it takes to get the photo. Our OSU photo workshops were based on Gibraltar Island in Lake Erie. On this particular day we took a boat to South Bass Island for our field trip.
Solar Eclipse – April 8, 2024
There will be a solar eclipse tomorrow, August 12, 2026. It will be a partial eclipse in the northeast United States and Alaska, and not visible in the rest of the U.S.
Sarah, The first click of the shutter on our first photo shoot. August 10, 2006.
Today is a red letter day! 20 years ago today I did my first photo shoot with Sarah, a terrific model and a fine photographer. I did not know it 20 years ago, but our artistic relationship and our friendship would dramatically change my life as a portrait photographer.
St. Joseph Lighthouse, Michigan, June 11, 1995.
August 7, 1789, President George Washington signed an act by the U.S. Congress to create and establish lighthouses, beacons, and buoys. The text of the original act is here. “National Lighthouse Day” was created by an act of Congress and signed by Ronald Reagan on November 5, 1988.
Kristina, “Fire and Ice”
Although you wouldn’t guess it from the image above, 99% of the time I am pretty much a photographic purist. What you see in my images is what you would see if you were standing right next to me when I clicked the shutter.
Kristina, August 2, 2016.
Ten years ago today Kristina needed an audition video for a TV role. The script was a conversation between a man and a woman, so I read the part for the man. It took several takes. The photo above is when we finally got it right. She went to my office and sent the video to Hollywood to meet the end of the day deadline. Then we did a photo shoot.
Colorado became a state August 1, 1876, 100 years after 1776, hence the nickname “Centennial State”.
Somewhere in Arkansas, July 26, 1926
This photo is extra special. My dad, Jim Doty, is the blond haired boy, 2nd from the left. Next to him is his taller, older brother, Raymond. On the left is Maude Manning and on the right is Curtis Manning. Dad and Raymond lost both of their parents at an early age. This is the couple that raised dad (and another couple raised Raymond). I remember “Grandpa and Grandma Manning” from childhood trips to Arkansas.
I make my decision based on drive failure rates from Backblaze. They are a respected online backup company running banks of external hard drives with a total count of over 300,000 external drives. I wanted the best balance between size and MTBF (mean time before failure), or Backblaze’s new preferred standard, AFR (annual failure rate). Bigger drives fail more often than smaller drives.
Soleece, Lake LaShane.
It was very foggy early this morning in southern Iowa. In my mind I could see Soleece dressed in white or black and out in a foggy, misty lake. It would make a beautiful, ethereal, black and white image. But she now lives elsewhere. Not every image you see in your mind comes to immediate fruition. Maybe on some future foggy day with just the right person in the water, it will happen.
OSU workshop group, South Bass Island, Lake Erie.
15 years ago today our happy photo workshop group was at South Bass Island, our last field trip location. We had a great weekend. This was the first photo workshop Jeremy Bruskotter and I did for Ohio State University’s Stone Lab. Jeremy is in the front row, 5th from the left. I am in the back row, 2nd from left.
Click any image to see a larger version.
Stone Lab photo workshop boat trip. Gibraltar Island dock. Lake Erie.
15 years ago today, Jeremy Bruskotter and I took our photo workshop group on a morning field trip. At 6:30 am we boarded our boat for the nearly two hour trip to Kelley’s Island.
Kim (left) and a friend at Park of the Pines.
27 years ago today was a red letter day in my photography life, but I didn’t know it at the time. You don’t realize the significance and importance of some events until long after the event.
Sunrise, Gibraltar Island, Lake Erie.
July 22, 2011, 15 years ago today, was a very special day. It was the first day for Jeremy Bruskotter and I to lead our very first photography workshop for OSU’s Stone Laboratory. We were based on Gibraltar Island where we were housed, ate meals, and had classroom sessions. Our photo field trips were on Gibraltar Island and other islands that we reached by boat.
Jeremy Bruskotter, Gibraltar Island.
This is a very happy memory! Jeremy Bruskotter and I were catching the last sunset light over Lake Erie. That’s Jeremy in the photo. We were on Gibraltar Island to lead our very first photography workshop at Ohio State University’s Stone Lab. It was a beautiful evening.
Headed for Colorado this fall (or any other time of year)? Welcome to my complete Colorado fall color photography and travel guide with 133 photos, 18 maps, and over 100 pages of information (if you print it all out). I cover many of the best fall color locations in Colorado, and most of these locations look great any other time of year. This guide gives you options for spending anywhere from a few days to two weeks exploring the beautiful Colorado Rockies at a gorgeous time of year.
Connor in AI generated snow.
With rare exceptions, I am a photographic purist. What you see in my photos is what I was seeing when I clicked the camera shutter. On the rare occasion when I dramatically change an image from what I saw when I clicked the shutter, I point that out. This is one of those images.
Connor, “Ad Building”, Graceland University
Connor is a fine violinist and pianist who lives back east. I was informed months ago that he wanted me to do portraits of him playing the violin when he was visiting in Iowa. For this day’s portraits we chose locations on campus. We also spent a day out and about in the county. See the link below for those photos.
Acadia National Park is 110 years old today. The photos in this article were taken by me in Acadia National Park, October 2017.
Lady Liberty times 5.
Every year I photograph our local 4th of July parade for the local newspaper. Here are some tips for photographing any parade.
4th of July Parade Photos
Individual photos follow. Click on any photo to see a larger version.
The Strip, Las Vegas with Fireworks
You can point your camera at the sky in auto exposure and autofocus modes and fire away whenever you see a burst of fireworks and you should get some nice images that way. But for the best quality photos, it helps to know a few tricks of the trade. It’s easy when you know what to do.
Several of my ancestors fought in the American Revolution, including three sets of fathers and sons, but I know the most about Elijah Wadleigh, my 4th great-grandfather (1757-1800). I have a copy of his diary in which he describes the day to day events of his involvement in the war.
Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
From the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776. Written by Thomas Jefferson (1762-1826). 3rd US President (1801-09).
To see an engraving of the original and George Washington’s personal printed copy, go here.
The entire text of the Declaration of Independence is after the page break.
4th of July parade collage in chronological order. Individual photos follow.
Every year I photograph the annual 4th of July parade in Lamoni Iowa. In addition to the 14 “selects” I share below, I discuss the equipment I use, the number of photos, and at the end of this article I describe what I look for when I photograph a parade. “Selects” is a newspaper/magazine word for the best photos (the photos selected) out of all the photos created. An editor working on an event article might say to a photographer, “Send me a dozen of your selects”, so the photographer would send 12 images out of all the photos that were created at the event.
Connor
Connor is a fine violinist who lives back east. I was informed months ago that he wanted me to do portraits of him playing the violin when he was visiting in Iowa. I wanted just the right kind of light to shoot outside. We had day after day of harsh, bright sunlight. Finally, on his last full day in Iowa we had the light I wanted.
We also spent a day on the campus of the local university. Use the link below to see those photos.
Lamoni High school baseball game vs the Seymour Iowa Warriors. Drew hits a single.
On an increasingly drizzly Friday, June 26, the Lamoni High School Demons played the Seymour Warriors. Lamoni won, 13-0. The JV game was called at the end of the first inning due to the rain. The JV score was 3-3.
Click any image to see a larger version.
Last Light on El Capitan. My first trip to Yosemite Valley, December 30, 1990.
What a great idea! It started with Abe Lincoln, 162 years ago today. He was the first President to create “public lands” and it started with Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove.
