Category Archives: Photographs

Photos: 4th of July Parade

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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.

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Google Maps Tracking

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Google maps tracking for July 19, 2024.

If you have the Google Maps app on your phone, you can turn on or off the ability of the app to track your travels. Some people like this and some don’t. You can turn tracking on and off any time you want. The map does not drop bread crumbs that track your exact routes. It draws straight lines between stops. Each round symbol on the map shows one of my stops for the day. Most of these are photo stops but some are for food, gas, or other necessities. By using two fingers on the map on your phone’s screen, you can zoom in or out on the map.

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Happy Birthday Big Bend!

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Sunset, "The Window", Chisos Basin

Sunset, “The Window”, from the Chisos Basin.

Big Bend National Park was officially established June 12, 1944. Generally I don’t like deserts. I like mountains, high altitude lakes and streams, cool breezes, and pine scented air. So imagine my surprise when I fell in love with Big Bend on my very first visit.

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“Napalm Girl”: Who Created This Famous Image?

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Children flee a napalm attack in Tr?ng Bàng on June 8, 1972. Left to right: Phan Thanh Tam, who lost an eye, Phan Thanh Phouc, Kim Phuc, and Kim’s cousins Ho Van Bon, and Ho Thi Ting. The “Napalm Girl” photograph galvanized an anti-war movement in the United States.
Associated Press/AP

53 years ago today a photographer clicked his shutter and one of the world’s iconic images was created. Officially known as “The Terror of War”, until recently it has been attributed to AP photographer Nick Ut who won a Pulitzer Prize for this image.

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Daiqing Tana

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DaiQing Tana, Columbus Ohio

DaiQing Tana, Columbus Ohio.

The annual Asian Festival in Columbus Ohio falls on Memorial Day Weekend. Daiqing Tana is from Central Asia. She has a beautiful and unique singing voice and she is a talented folk dancer. She mostly sings Mongolian music and does dances that are typical of Central Asia. She performs with the group HAYA. They were in town for the Asian Festival.

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Do Your Due Diligence Before Booking Photo Shoots

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Portrait collage of some of the people I have worked with.  To fit this format some of these images are seriously cropped. Click to see a larger version.

My first photo shoot with a professional mode was with Sarah. Before our shoot she had checked me out. And as for me, I had checked her references. I learned she was well known and highly respected. But I was more of an unknown quantity to her. She did not know anyone who knew me. She wanted to have an in-person meeting at a popular outdoor mall. She showed up with a male companion who hovered not too far away. She asked a lot of questions. Part way through our get acquainted meeting she nodded at him and he walked away. I knew I had passed some kind of test. She was doing her due diligence. Unhappy things have happened to models who do not thoroughly check out the photographers they plan on working with.  Photographers have had unhappy experiences too. Once Sarah was confident about me, we scheduled the shoot.

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It’s All About The Light, A Tale of Two Portraits

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Nicole in a church foyer.

The Graceland University choir were performing at a church in Grove City Ohio, and I was in the foyer to take casual photos of some of the choir members. The cool colored evening light was streaming in the north facing foyer windows, turning everything blue. I clicked the shutter at 7:08:40 pm.  The light is not good. Sometimes I love blue, but not for this image. The image also looks hazy and lacking in contrast.

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Photoshop’s Easy to Use Background Removal Tool

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Nicole, casual portrait, Grove City Ohio, May 7, 2018.

Seven years ago, the Graceland University Choir (from Lamoni Iowa) was on tour and I caught their performance at a church in Grove City Ohio. I was in the lobby taking casual portraits of the choir. This young women happened to step into the sunlight that was streaming through a lobby window, making for wonderful, warm “short side” lighting.  Short side lighting means the light is shining on the side of the face that is away from the camera.

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Total Photos vs Choosing “Selects”: What Is Your Percentage of Keepers?

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The Conference Chamber, The Auditorium, Independence Missouri. My favorite image of the morning.

I was photographing a Communion service at a church conference in Missouri using two DSLR cameras and an iPhone. All told, during this one service and the short time before and after, I created 354 images.  So how many “selects” did I pick?  When an editor asks you for “selects” from an event, that means they want your best images in chronological order. The editor will narrow that down even further when deciding which images to publish. Several photographers were covering this event as a team so I didn’t have to worry about capturing everything. This article explores the selection process between taking the photos and the final published images.

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Blue-winged Teal

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Blue-winged Teal

I take our dog for regular walks at our local lakes.  I watch the waterfowl come and go with the seasons.  I always have my “toy” camera gear with me, just in case (link below). For the last two weeks I watched the number of Blue-winged Teal slowly drop from 54 to 11. I wanted a photograph but they were always way out in the lake and too far away for a good image. And then it happened.

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Loons, Seney National Wildlife Refuge, and the Return of ABJ

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Loon, Seney National Wildlife Refuge, July 1, 2019.

Seney National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places on the planet. Loons arrive every year in the spring, one of the many reasons to go to Seney. Not only are they fun to watch and photograph, there is nothing quite like hearing the call of a loon. Seney is in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula just north of Germfask.  As an added bonus, ABJ has returned once again to Seney this spring. More about him later.

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Graceland University Symphonic Band Concert – April 18, 2025

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Jack Ergo, pianist, Graceland University Symphonic Band Concert

After 24 years at Graceland University, Jack Ergo is retiring, so this is his last performance with the band as a faculty member.  Parker Worden, the band director, planned the concert as a tribute to Jack. This is a selection of photos from the concert.

Click any of the images to see a larger version.

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Happy Birthday, John Muir!

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John Muir

John Muir

Today is John Muir’s birthday! He was born April 21, 1838. He had a profound influence on how Americans viewed our wild lands and his influence led to the establishment of many of our National Parks and other protected lands. He was nicknamed “The Father of our National Parks”. Tomorrow, April 22, is also Earth Day, so I am combining the two in this article.

Here are photos from some of my favorite national and state parks along with quotes from John Muir.

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Living Art Studios Dance Recital, Spring 2025

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Dance Recital, Living Art Studios

One of the highlights of the year in Lamoni Iowa is the annual spring dance recital featuring the dance students at Living Art Studios. The award-winning Graceland University Gadets also performed. This is a selection of photos from this year’s recital.  If you want a print, you can order prints here. Ordering information is at the bottom of this page.

Click any of these photos to see a larger version.

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How To See and Photograph the Blood Moon Eclipse, March 13-14, 2025

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Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse from Lamoni Iowa, May 15, 2022.

Don’t miss it. This total eclipse happens this Thursday-Friday, May 13-14 (depending on your time zone). This article will show you how to photograph it. To see it, just grab a lawn chair, a warm blanket, a cup of hot chocolate, and go outside and enjoy the show. A pair of binoculars adds to the show. Continue reading →