I happened to be in Canada for the War of 1812 Ceremony. It is a big deal up north of the border and I had a great time wandering around and taking pictures. When I photographed this man in period uniform I knew I had a keeper. This is my favorite photo for this date and one of my all time favorite portraits. In case you are wondering, the Battle of Queenston Heights was a major victory for the British.
I sat down on the front porch to enjoy the morning breeze when the birdhouse in one of our trees exploded with noise. Baby sparrows were being fed and raising quite a ruckus. I grabbed a camera, flash, and lens and went to work. This is my favorite photo for this date.
Our grandson Terran was running through the fountain at Bicentennial Park. This is my favorite photo for June 14.
One Sunday after church I was asked to do a three generation portrait. Instead of the usual approach to photographing three people, I decided to line them up in a row showing profile views. They love this image and I do to. It is one of my favorite portraits and my favorite photo for this date.
Our son Jared was walking down the street with our grandson (his nephew) Andrew. This is my favorite photo for this date and one of my all time favorite photos.
It was so hard to pick a favorite photo for this date. I had so many to choose from. There are about 3400 images in my “favorite photos” folder. Evenly distributed throughout the year would mean an average of 9 photos per date. But some dates have a lot more and some a lot less (or none). June 11 has 25 photos.
Bob, my brother-in-law and photo buddy, were driving through Nederland Colorado when we spotted these orange colored poppies in front of the Presbyterian church. We stopped and took pictures. This is my favorite photo for June 10. If this feels a bit like deja vu, I also drove through Netherland June 9, 1997 on my way to take what ended up being three of my favorite photos for that date.
I was leading my annual June photography workshop in Northern Michigan and we were on a night photography field trip. It was a gorgeous night. At just the right time we were able to catch the edge between twilight and night with the planet Venus and stars over Lake Michigan. This is one of my two most favorite photos for this date.
Two great egrets got into a territorial fight over a favorite feeding area. The upper egret is coming down at the face of the lower egret with his feet. The lower egret barely got out of the way in time. This is one of my two most favorite photos for this date.
A friend decided I might like digital photography and loaned me a point and shoot digital camera. This is one of my first digital photos. My daughter and I were at LoDo’s in Portage Michigan, a restaurant that is named for the LoDo area (lower downtown) in Denver Colorado. This is my favorite photo for June 7.
This is one of my all time favorite photos for several reasons. All three people are friends of mine. I have been in Lach’s home several times. My wife and I spent a week traveling in Tahiti with Mareva and her husband, and for several years I was in planning meetings with Bunde.
It sounded like a simple request yesterday morning. At least at first. Could I go to Rose Hill Cemetery and photograph the headstone of David Hyrum Smith? Of course! The request came from a very good friend who lives half way across the country, and Rose Hill is only a few miles from where I live.
Jan Kraybill is an exceptionally fine organist who performs all over the world. She is also a friend of mine and she happens to ride a Harley for fun. How can you not like a bike riding organist?
We hit it off great from our very first photo shoot. She in college and majoring in business . We wanted to create some beautiful images. This is one of my most favorite photos for this date and it is one of her favorite images too.
Vassanta on the shore of Lake Michigan with a beautiful sunset. It doesn’t get much better than this. This is one of my two most favorite photos for June 3 and one of my all time favorite sunset portraits.
We were at West Point for the graduation of our son Jim from the United States Military Academy. I took this picture of Jim and our daughter Janae on the way to a graduation banquet. This is my favorite photo for this date.
I needed a manual incident flash meter to use at my first wedding. This is what I bought. I also used it to meter incident ambient light, one of the most reliable ways to meter that is not influenced by the reflectivity of the subject.
Royal Arches, North Dome, and Washington Column from Stoneman Meadow. Yosemite National Park. California.
Summer is the most popular time to visit the national parks. With so many to choose from, where should you go? Which national parks will provide the best photographic opportunities in the summer?
Pika, Rock Cut, Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
What are the best national parks to photograph in the summer? Here are my choices, grouped by state from west to east. This list includes the favorites I have been to and want to go back to again, plus the ones I haven’t seen and most want to photograph.
Favorite Photos, May. Click for a larger version.
Here are my favorite photos for the month of May. The story behind this “favorite photos by date” project is here.
Bishop’s Bog in Portage Michigan is one of my favorite nature preserves in southwest Michigan. There is almost always something interesting to photograph from spring through fall.
I was surprised to learn that there is a Confederate Civil War Cemetery in Columbus Ohio, so I went late on afternoon to check it out. Over 2100 confederate soldiers are buried here. More information is at the Camp Chase link below. This is my favorite photo for this date.
It was a rainy, drizzly day at Whitefish Point in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but photographers and bird watchers were everywhere. I was leading as photography field trip. This curious Blue Jay got closer and closer and was eyeing me carefully. I kept clicking the shutter as the jay got closer. This is one of my two most favorite photos for this date.
I have so many favorite photos for this date (36 total) in my “favorite photos” folder, it was hard to pick. I finally decided on this one as one of my most favorites for several reasons. One is the actual lightning bolt. Another is the reflection, especially of the left side of the bolt. And I love the clouds which I think really help make the photo. But there is an additional reason.
When Sunny and I go for a walk, I usually let him determine the route. Most days he heads for his favorite park. On this walk I got down at his eye level to take a picture with my iPhone. This is one of my two most favorite photos for this date.
When I saw this flag comping down the street, I knew what I needed to do. My experience as a newspaper photographer taught me to look for unusual angles and to be bold enough to get in the right spot.
May is the time of year to photograph birds feeding their young. A pair of cardinals built a nest in a bush right by our front porch. This mail ;anded on the porch with food in his mouth, looked at me, and then went inside the bush to the nest to feed his young. This is one of my two most favorite photos for May 25.
John Weese, one of my photo buddies, called to tell me Robin’s were nesting in a tree in his front yard. We were able to watch the whole nesting process, right through the appearance and feeding of the babies. I was fortunate enough to catch a moment with both parents at the nest as one of them fed the babies. This is my favorite photo for May 24.
A bee was busy in one of our flower gardens so I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket and started taking pictures. Catching a sharp closeup of a busy bee with an iPhone is a hit or miss proposition. I got a total of five images before the bee flew away and only one of them was sharp. This is my favorite photo for May 23.
Danielle and I were creating portraits in my studio for both of our portfolios. In this image I was going for a classic look with minimal contrast. As you can see from the catchlights in her eyes, I used two studio lights aimed at her face. The main light was up and to camera left and the fill light, which was only dialed down a bit, was up and to camera right. A third studio light is behind her and high to the right, putting a highlight on her hair. This is my favorite images for this date, and one of my all time favorite portraits. I made display prints of this image in several sizes from wallet size up to 16×20 inches.