Like a lot of other photographers, I do “outtakes” in between shooting sessions. I was looking through some travel outtakes recently and realized a lot of them were taken in between shooting locations while sitting at traffic lights, stuck in traffic jams, waiting for the rain to stop, waiting for the cold winter winds to die down, or just waiting for the quality of the light to get better. Each of these outtakes is connected in my memory with some of my favorite images. Take for example the right center image of Vassanta asleep in the car.

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Today is a matting and framing kind of day so I brought everything up from the basement that I will need. I figured out long ago it was way too expensive to have someone else do matting and framing for me, so I bought a mat cutter and I do everything myself. If you are thinking about doing your own matting and framing, I cover some of the basics.

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Google might be saving data on all the places you go, or more correctly, everywhere your phone goes. If you have Google Locations Services turned on, Google keeps a record of everywhere you go. If you don’t want Google to keep tabs on you, turn location services off.

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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.

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I had heard rumors that the twin campus towers, Willa Cather and Ezra Pound Halls, were going to be demolished. Cather Hall was my home for three years at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and I wanted a current picture. On my way to a photo workshop in Colorado I stopped in Lincoln to create some images. The view above is looking north on 17 Street with Pound Hall in the foreground, and Cather Hall in the background.

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A dream came true this month. To celebrate, the Lamoni Food Pantry held an open house at its new location. The move is a remarkable story. The food pantry has been operating out of the basement of the Methodist Church for a number of years (a huge thanks to the Methodist church). An increasing client base meant the food pantry needed a bigger location. After checking out 25 potential locations over several months time, a new home for the food pantry was finally found that could be purchased and renovated. In just a few weeks time the people of Lamoni donated $230,000 to purchase and renovate the property. The open house is a celebration of the new location and a huge thank you to the generosity of the people of Lamoni (population 2,240).

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Pika, Rock Cut, Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Which national parks are at their photographic best in the summer? Here are my favorite choices, grouped by state from west to east, plus one Canadian province.

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An 18% gray card is an excellent tool for metering and just about essential for setting a custom white balance (although a piece of pure white paper will do in a pinch). A gray card needs to be large enough to meter and photograph without blocking the ambient light hitting the gray card, yet small enough to always have with you.

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Every face carved into the surface of the memorial is an actual face taken from photographs of soldiers who were in the Korean War.

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Richard Duane Klug (the name just above the rose) was born January 26, 1946. He died in Darlac Province, Vietnam, November 14, 1967 at the age of 21. He is one of over 58,000 American soldiers that died in Vietnam, and one of over 1.1 million American soldiers that have died in all American wars (almost half of them in the Civil War).

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Last night I got sucked in to doing a U.S. Geography quiz (link below). I got every answer right until I came to this question: “This western state shares a border with west Kansas, and has its highest mountain peak at 6,800 feet, and the lowest valley at 3,317 feet below sea level?” As you can see, I was given four answers to choose from, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and Arkansas. The question and the answers are all wrong. Note that the quiz used a photo of Colorado mountains as a hint.

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It was my happy privilege to photograph the 125th Commencement at Graceland University in Lamoni Iowa. Graceland is a special place. Both of my parents, my brother, and one of our children went to Graceland. I put together a selection of photos to post here, including all the picture taking after the ceremony. Click on any image to see a somewhat larger version.

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Doris. The digitized copy of an original print.

You can create high quality, high resolution digital images of analog prints, and you can do it on the road without having a flatbed scanner and computer with you. You probably have everything you need with the possible exception of a couple of small, inexpensive accessories (less than $10 each). This article will show you what to do, step by step.

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This series of articles is devoted to several photographers and one painter that inspire me. Some of them I have known for decades. Others I have discovered in the last few years. Books by and about them line my bookshelves. Each article has examples of my work and their work. That does not mean I am as good as they are. But I keep trying. Their work has somehow become a part of me. We can all learn from people who do such outstanding work.

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Looking for a fitness watch/tracker? Check out these links.

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If it sounds too good to be true . . . .

Don’t get scammed by fake review articles posted online by the company that sells the lousy product. This is just the latest example of a cheaply made Chinese product touted as a high tech wonder. The watch does not work as advertised.

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Dawn at Sprague Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

The exposure compensation scale on your camera is one of the keys to mastering exposures, getting better images, and ending up with professional quality colors. This means taking your camera off of full auto mode and taking control of your own exposures.

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