2019 Indiana State Fair Photography Print Competition:

I am honored to have been presented with the 2019 Top 10 Indiana Photographer award. One print entered in the Professional Color Nature category was awarded 2nd Place. A print of the Mackinac Bridge entered in the Open category was awarded Honorable Mention. On Aug. 7th the State Fair and Indianapolis Professional Photographers Guild held their Awards and Media night event.

I created a visual story about one of my favorite places to photograph, The Minnesota North Shore. If you have a few moments I invite you to have a look.

2018 Recap

Northwoods Project – Update

Relocation and settling in to our new home in Indiana delayed any significant photo trips until later that year.

There remain many areas of the Northwoods in the Upper Mid-West for me to photograph and in October it was time to see what the eastern section of the Michigan UP had to offer.

Waterfalls included were Lower & Upper Tahquamenon, Munising, and Wagner Falls. Lighthouses visited were Au Sable, Mackinac Point, McGulpin Point, and Whitefish Point. Whitefish Point offers The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and the area is known for the infamous Edmund Fitzgerald sinking 17 miles from Whitefish Point.

In addition to the waterfalls and lighthouses, highlights of the eastern UP photo trip include the Seney Wildlife refuge, Mackinac Bridge, and a moose sighting.

Total miles traveled 1597 over 550 original RAW photos taken resulted in 124 final completed photographs.

Essence of the Northwoods Vol. 2

As planned the second Essence Book was completed in March. Spanning 123 pages and containing 156 photos.  Included are two award-winning photographs and on the front cover is the breathtaking Lake of the Clouds located in the Porcupine Mountains State Park; the Split Rock Lighthouse appears on the back cover.

There are 123 locations of the subjects contained within the book and for this second phase of the project, I shot another 1,600 original photos and traveled 4,600 miles.  Nineteen waterfall locations and six lighthouses were photographed for this edition. Combined travel to-date for the Essence project is almost 9,000 miles.

The book is available for preview @ (http://bit.ly/2vMrUWr).

2017 Recap

Northwoods Project – Update

In continuation of the Northwoods personal photography project, I completed another photo trip to the area in May 2017.  My first ever visit to the Minnesota North Shore area began in Duluth, Minnesota and followed historic Highway 61, 145 miles to the US-Canada border and included a brief cross over into Canada.  Rain was ever present but along the way I was blessed with scenes such as Shovel Point in Tettegouche State Park, the beautiful Naniboujou Lodge, and many others.  Capturing the images of waterfalls is an exhilarating experience.  As you hike through the woods, the distant and faint rumble of the falls grows and, as you arrive on the scene, explodes into the thundering roar of the rapids pounding against ancient rock formations.  Waterfalls photographed during this trip were Gooseberry, Caribou River, Temperance River Hidden, Cascade, Pigeon River High & Pigeon River Middle Falls.  The lighthouses dotting the shores of Lake Superior offer their own mystique, and are majestic artifacts offering tributes to life in a bygone era full of challenge and courage. Visited during the trip were Split Rock, and Two Harbors Lighthouses.

Total miles traveled 1611, 520 original RAW photos taken resulted in 102 final images.

Miscellaneous

As described in last year’s recap, I had planned to continue the Essence project and plans are for Essence of the Northwoods Volume 2 to be completed early 2018.

In addition to having been awarded Best of Show honors at the Naperville Art League Chasing The Sun exhibit, “Guiding Light” was also shown at the North Central College Schoenherr Gallery exhibit staged during June 2 to July 9.

After that event, opportunities for the remainder of 2017 were limited as my wife and I relocated to Indiana and entered semi-retirement.   Selling the old home, finding our new residence combined with the first move in many years as you can imagine took precedence over all other activities.  I’m looking forward to 2018 which promises to be exciting as subjects in my new area abound and the Great Smoky Mountains are now as close as the Northwoods once were.

On Friday April 28, at the Naperville Art League Fine Art & Gallery Fourth Friday event, judging of the "Chasing The Sun" show was held. I am honored to announce that my entry to the show, Guiding Light, was selected for the Best of Show award. The piece is a 24" X 36" metal print, Satin Finish, subject is the Menominee North Pier Lighthouse overlooking Green Bay in Menominee Michigan. Photo was taken June 7, 2016 about 10 minutes before sunset, 30 second exposure f/19. Menominee North Pier LighthouseMenominee North Pier Lighthouse

Northwoods Project – Work in Progress

In 2014 the first dedicated photo trip to the Upper Midwest region known locally as The Northwoods occurred and marked the beginning of my Northwoods project. As we begin 2017 I can say with certainty the Northwoods project will be lasting for a while to come. The more I shoot the Northern Wisconsin and Michigan UP locations the more photo opportunities are revealed and during 2016 two more photo trips were completed. A June trip encompassed approximately 1,700 miles, photography began in Marinette Wisconsin continuing to Baraga Michigan and the Keweenaw Peninsula, to Hurley Wisconsin and points in between. During the trip 9 waterfalls and 3 lighthouses were photographed. Waterfalls included Black Slate, Potawatomi, Dave’s, Eagle River, Gorge, Jacobs, Long Slide, Silver, and Twelve Foot Falls. Lighthouses shot were Copper Harbor, Eagle Harbor, and Marinette North Pier.

In October I returned to the Upper Peninsula region specifically Ontonagon, Michigan traveling another 1,310 miles and photographed 6 waterfalls, the Ontonagon Lighthouse, and many off road scenes capturing fall color. Waterfalls included a return visit to Black Slate Falls first photographed in June, and Manabezho & Manido Falls previously photographed in 2015. In addition to the sites deemed worthy of a second trip, Bonanza, Canyon, and Overlooked Falls where included in the October trip.

Over the two 2016 Northwoods trips I took 1,874 raw photos resulting in at last count 130 (Finished) photos with post processing of the October trip still being completed. The plan for 2017 includes visiting the northeast section of the Michigan Upper Peninsula to capture more waterfalls scenes such as Upper and Lower Tahquamenon falls and other great scenery. Another untapped and target rich area is eastern Minnesota along the western shore of Lake Superior. Essence of the Northwoods Volume 2 may not be far away. Lighthouses are another subject I’m beginning to focus on, the shores of Lake Michigan and Superior offer many subjects and they will be included in future photo trips.

Miscellaneous Activities

In November 2015 I joined the Naperville Photo Group (Meetup Group). They are a very active group with multiple events scheduled each week. The first event I attended was the opportunity in January to shoot the historic Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, Illinois. The group leader, Bruce Jones obtained exclusive access for 2 hours on a Sunday morning and it was a wonderful experience. The results of that event may be seen in the (Artifacts and Culture) gallery.  The group has also undertaken a few charity events to benefit the Naperville Human Society. (Photos with Pets). For a small donation to NHS, families and their companion animals got a 30 minute sitting with photographers from the photo club resulting in a family portrait and digital files. For two of those events I set the camera aside and gained experience as a photo assistant.rights/copies. You don't have to have a pet to participate! R

The local Brookfield zoo was the scene in May for practice shooting the 70-300mm lens combined with a 2X Tele converter which necessitated all manual focus. A few shots came out very well including the male Lowland Gorilla who was approximately 80 yards away and in low light.

Finally, the year was closed out with an evening at The Morton Arboretum taking in the “Illumination” show, (Tree Lights at the Morton Arboretum). That was a learning experience, it was snowing about 1” per hour, temperature around 18 degrees which created a challenge to keep gear free from snow while getting clean shots. Photos from this shoot may also be seen in the (Artifacts and Culture) gallery.

Looking forward to 2017!

Northwoods Project

In June I continued the Northwoods project, based out of Ashland, Wisconsin this time I photographed 11 more waterfalls located in Northwest Wisconsin and the Western section of the Michigan Upper Peninsula. Upon completing that project I assembled my second photo book focused on the scenery of Northern Wisconsin and the Michigan UP.  The landscape genre has been of special interest to me in my pursuit of photography. The Northwoods region of the Upper Midwest offers remarkable beauty, stunning landscape vistas, and ideal landscape subjects. With this book project in mind, I took over 1,500 original photos and traveled 4,000 miles.

The book, "Essence of the Northwoods" is available for sale on Blurb and may be previewed and purchased at:

http://www.blurb.com/b/6818883-essence-of-the-northwoods

Bridges of Parke County, Indiana

In October I traveled to Parke County, Indiana located approximately 60 miles west of Indianapolis and shot some of the covered bridges offered there . The trip was over 3 days, October 20th thru 22nd. I was blessed with beautiful weather, the following week the same area was deluged with rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Patricia. 
I’m always on the lookout for interesting locations to photograph and I found out about this area in the Chicago Tribune Travel section September last year. In the accompanying Trib article they stated the covered bridges, once common in rural America had mostly disappeared. Madison County, Iowa still has 6 remaining bridges, (remember the movie?); and Lancaster County, Pa., has 29. Parke County has 31 bridges and calls itself the “Covered Bridge Capital of the World.” The article went on to describe while most counties have replaced these structures built between the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Parke County did not have the resources to accomplish that task and that shortcoming led to a tourism blessing complimented by a yearly bridge festival. My trip occurred the week after this year’s festival. Over the time I was there, I was able to shoot 11 of the 31 bridges and along the way captured some interesting barns and fall color.

2014 Recap

2014 was again devoted to regional Mid-West projects including Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and local Chicago area scenes.

Holy Hill Basilica

I travelled to Hubertus, Wisconsin to photograph Holy Hill Basilica.   Holy Hill is located in southeast Wisconsin, on the highest elevation in that part of the state. Situated on 435 acres of rural countryside, it provides a beautiful and serene setting for photo opportunities.

Their website provides the following brief historical perspective, “As early as 1903, Holy Hill was declared a Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians. In 2006, the Shrine was raised to the status of Minor Basilica. But as far back as the 1700s and perhaps earlier, the American Indians came to Holy Hill because they considered it a sacred place.”

Air Classics Museum

July brought a visit to the Air Classics Museum in Sugar Grove, Illinois. There on display are some classic wartime aircraft that saw service during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

Fabyan Windmill

The Fabyan Windmill is an authentic, working Dutch windmill dating to the 1850’s located in Geneva, Illinois. In 1979 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 5-story wooden smock mill with a stage stands 68 feet tall and sits upon the onetime estate of Colonel George Fabyan.

North Woods Project

In October I travelled to Northern Wisconsin, and was based out of Eagle River. I photographed Bond Falls near Paulding Michigan, and Agate Falls near Bruce Crossing, both are on the Ontonagon River and located in the Ottawa National Forest. Another subject in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was Horse Race Rapids on the Paint River located near Crystal Falls, Michigan.  The final day shooting was spent in Vilas County, Wisconsin capturing beautiful fall color.

I had planned additional locations but more time was required than originally planned. So one of my goals for 2015 is to complete the project and photograph waterfalls located in Northwest Wisconsin, Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Lake Superior scenes.