Essay #53: Chocolate, anyone?

What makes European chocolate taste sooooo good? I think this might merit a bit of research. Stay tuned!

Essay #52: Creative Lens Flare

Glenn Lavender, bassist extraordinaire for the band downhere.

I'm usually adamant about avoiding lens flare. I hate those circles that obscure parts of the frame and more often than not fall across the subject's face. But, on occasion, intentionally including flare can add, well, flair.

Essay #51: Boy, am I glad I didn't park there

Wednesday was a record-setting snowstorm. And one big headache for my neighbor.

And to think, my car was parked only two slots away.

Essay #50: Birthday cake

My family recently celebrated my uncle's birthday, with much pomp and ceremony.

Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting: my new favorite cake. Mmmm. The candles may have been a little much, but the little kids were delighted to help blow them all out.

Essay #49: On Wisconsin

Last weekend the Badgers trounced the Michigan Wolverines, and I had the pleasure of seeing it first-hand.

Live sporting events are so much more engaging than televised ones: the crowd, the cold, narrow bleachers, the announcers, the concessions, the big-screen marriage proposals. Plus, it allows for sports photography, the genre that first hooked me on this hobby. I first fell in love with a camera's power to capture motion and energy, freezing a moment in time, while on the sidelines of a college football game taking pictures for the student newspaper. It's amazing how a still image can contain so much motion.

Essay #48: Concert perspective

Okay, so I've taken a lot of photos of the downhere guys over the years. A lot of photos. So last weekend my goal was to capture new perspectives.

Essay #47: Concert light: Black and White

I saw the band downhere twice over the weekend. Each venue had its own set of lights--with their own pros and cons. So this week I'll talk about shooting at a concert: the most exciting light, while also most challenging light.

Concert lighting, while spectacular in person, can wreak havoc with a camera. When colored lights result in unnatural skin tones that no white balance can counter, I have two options: embrace the oddity (see previous post), or go back into the trick archives and pull out the oldest one-shooting in monochrome.