Autumn, Upper Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Fall color is sweeping the country. To make the most of it, you want to be at the right place at the right time. With some help from the internet, I will help you find the best fall color locations at the peak of the season.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
I was working in my office. The family/TV room was right around the corner. The phone rang and I picked it up. “Stop whatever you are doing and turn on the TV.” I walked around the corner and turned it on.
“On America’s day of trial and grief I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America I know.
Photographer Chip East was staring intensely at his laptop screen.
It was two weeks after two jetliners had plowed into the towers of the World Trade Center. His good friend, photojournalist Bill Biggart’s body had been recovered from the rubble. His personal effects, including his cameras had been released by authorities to his widow, Wendy.
Bill Biggart’s final photograph. He was killed when the second World Trade Center tower collapsed on top of him. He was 53 years old.
This compilation of news reports captures the essence of that morning better than almost any other video on YouTube.
LET US PRAY
On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked and ultimately crashed. Two crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City and one crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.
LET US PRAY.
Dozens of people in each of four airplanes living in terror as their hijacked planes are flown to destinations unknown to them. Each ends in a terrible fiery crash.
Photo by James Nachtwey for TIME magazine.
I will never forget staring at the screen. I was stunned. It was just a few moments after I got the phone call to turn on the TV. Then the second plane hit.
On this date, twenty-one years ago, we experienced a great national tragedy in the United States. 2,977 lives that were lost in the terrorist attacks. So many families were torn asunder. The way we view ourselves and our world changed. Emergency responders continue to suffer terrible health problems as a result of working at the scene. The way we view ourselves and our world changed too. Over 2,000 first responders have died of health issues related to 9/11.
In remembrance of that day, and to honor the lives that were lost, I am posting some tributes.
Norman Rockwell, “Freedom of Speech”, 1943.
Of the four “freedom” paintings by Norman Rockwell, this is my favorite. This painting was inspired by an actual town hall meeting in Rockwell’s home town. The faces in this painting are Rockwell’s friends and neighbors.
Andrew Wyeth, “Christina’s World”, 1948
I love all kinds of art, including paintings, sculpture, photography and music. Since August is American Artist Appreciation Month, I am sharing some of the most famous paintings by American artists. Do not be surprised if you recognize many or most of these paintings. Click on any of these images to see a larger version. Enjoy!
Screen Capture: Adobe Bridge. Click to see a larger version.
When you are photographing a lovely and talented model (or anyone else) at an interesting location, create a lot of images. This is a screen capture of most of the images from a photo shoot with Anoush. If she looks familiar to you, I have shared images of her before (see the links below).
Henri Cartier-Bresson
If your first 10,000 photos are your worst, you want to get them out of the way as soon as possible so you can get to the good ones, right?! So take a lot of photographs!
Great Blue Heron at Lake LaShane
I was driving along a country road at one of my favorite local lakes and spotted a Great Blue Heron straight north of me near the shoreline. I got the crazy idea to do comparison photos between my DSLR and my iPhone. The heron was too far away to get a high quality image with either camera, but I decided to do it anyway. I also wanted to check on the quality of the iPhone’s built in digital zoom versus cropping the original image and resizing it later in the computer.
Dancer, Graceland University, Lamoni Iowa
20 years ago this evening I was photographing this dancer at an evening worship service at a church camp. I tried to capture just the right moments in her dance. I was particularly pleased with this image. I sent it to the media office of the church that sponsored the camp.
Ludington Dunes in the moonlight. Click the image for a larger version.
My primary camera, a DSLR, does not record the GPS location of my photos. Why does it matter? Some photo editors will not publish a photo unless you provide accurate GPS coordinates of the image location. Of course I knew I was approximately a couple of hundred yards up the beach from the parking lot, but not precisely where I was. Plus I am curious. Some of my photos are taken in less obvious locations and I like to know where I was when I clicked the shutter.
Burgess Corners Grocery Store and Filling Station
When I do photography workshops in Northern Michigan, this quaint, early 1920s grocery store and filling station is one of the stops on our field trips.
Sunrise at OSU’s Gibraltar Island, Lake Erie, Ohio. July 22,2011, 6:26 am.
July 22, 2011 was a very special day. Jeremy Bruskotter and I were leading our very first weekend photography workshop for OSU’s Stone Laboratory. Home base for our workshop was Gibraltar Island, OSU’s island in Lake Erie. We did this weekend workshop once every summer for several years.
The color guard with the U.S. flag leading the 4th of July parade.
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).
More images (including Thomas Jefferson’s original draft) and the complete text of the declaration are after the break.
Kodak 126 Instamatic Camera and Kodachrome 64 film cartridge.
I just learned today is National Camera Day. Who knew?
This Kodak 126 Instamatic cartridge camera was my first camera. It was a gift from my parents when I was in high school. I used print film cartridges for about 3 years. It was not until I was in college that I made the switch to slide film cartridges.
We’ve been down this road before. A low quality product made in China is falsely advertised as a top of the line American made product. The Stealth Bird Drone sells for $99, but you can buy the same exact drone on Amazon for $23. Even at that, honest reviews say the flying is a bit erratic and the video quality of the camera is poor.
President Reagan’s 13 minute speech at the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc is considered to be one of the great speeches in American History. In addition to President Reagan, these world leaders were present: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, King Olav V of Norway, King Baudouin I of Belgium, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, and Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada.
Links
President Reagan’s 13 minute speech at the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc is considered to be one of the great speeches in American History. In addition to President Reagan, these world leaders were present: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, King Olav V of Norway, King Baudouin I of Belgium, Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, and Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada.
The text of Reagan’s speech follows.
John Morris, Capa’s London photo editor, tells the story behind Robert Capa’s D-Day photos, including the terrible darkroom mistake that ruined most of the photos. The high resolution video is best viewed full screen. You can see a contact sheet of the nine surviving negatives (ripped sprocket holes and all), Capa’s photo notes, and hear the story of the rush to get the prints back to the U.S. for publication in Life more. Fascinating imagery.
Link
Early Morning Snow at Bryce Canyon, April 25, 2001.
When I left home in the Midwest and headed for Northern California I had no intentions of being in Southern Utah. By the time I reached Denver, snow in the forecast for N. Utah, Nevada, and the mountain passes in N. California made a detour much more appealing than fighting snow on I-80, especially since I have never been to the spectacular parks and monuments in southern Utah.
Old fading wedding photo and digitally corrected version.
I received this question via email from a person worrying about old, fading prints in her scrapbooks:
“I have noticed some of my older photos look like they may be degrading; if I only have the photo itself, what is the best way to restore the print? Do I just take another photo and send it in to reprint? And one other thing, your opinion of Walgreens photo quality?”
Cemetery, The Presidio, San Francisco, California. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.
Memorial Day began unofficially in a variety of places as people felt the need to recognize those who gave their lives in the Civil War. Memorial Day was officially declared on May 5, 1868, when General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic ordered a day of observance when all Union and Confederate Graves at Arlington National Cemetery would be decorated with flowers on May 30, 1868. One state after another adopted May 30 as a Memorial Day observance until all of the Northern states had adopted May 30 by 1890. Many Southern states had picked different days to honor the Confederate dead.
U.S. Flags at Sunset, Rose Hill Cemetery, Lamoni, Iowa
From Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.
