Turtle on a Fence

Turtle on a Fence

Break in the Weather

I planned on getting out in the woods this morning no matter what(well, as long as there wasn't a major downpour). I left around 7am and actually had a little bit of sun - I did however have to try about three different places in the Valley before I found one that was open(flood damage). I hiked a trail in Peninsula and took a spur I had never been on before - I followed it along a small creek. The most exciting part of the hike was just how green everything is now - I haven't gotten out much this Spring so all that color felt awesome.

Memorial Birthdays

My brother threw a birthday party for my sister-in-law and niece at the Forest Lodge in West Akron. The City gave the Lodge to St. Sebastian's Church(across the street) on the condition that they renovate and maintain it. Its was a great place on a perfect day for a picnic/party. I mostly was trying to enjoy a relaxing afternoon/evening - but I wouldn't be me if I didn't snap some photos.

The Decision to Flea

Laura and I continued our tradition of bargain hunting at the Hartville Flea Market on the Saturday before Memorial Day. We started doing it because it was my last chance to get there before the farm season started....now we enjoy it because it is one of their biggest weekends of the year. The weather was perfect for the hours of browsing and shopping - sunny, but not too hot with a pleasant breeze. The prices we find on plants(veggies, flowers, shrubs) can't be beat - we also picked up a few cameras, knick knacks, car ramps, painting, and pins. Half the fun, though, is in the browsing and amazing people watching - always quite the slice of life at the flea market...

Heimatland Restaurant

Last night Laura and I drove to Brunswick to pick up her Grandma and take her out to eat. We saw that there was a well-reviewed German restaurant nearby so we decided to try it. It is inside a kind-of-strip-mall but the place still has great atmosphere - with original paintings of German towns and countryside scenes everywhere. They had a pretty extensive menu - and everything we had was great. I had a sausage platter, Laura the pierogies, and her Grandma the Paprikas(everything came with a selection of sides) - washed down with some German draft beer. If you happen to find yourself at 303 and 71 definitely check it out.

Hocking Hills Roll #3

Here are a few of my favorite shots from my third and final roll of black and white film that I shot in Hocking Hills.

Weekend Potpourri

Over the weekend I finally had a little bit of time to enjoy my new camera and start to figure out what it is capable of. I didn't shoot anything amazing - just some everyday stuff - as I'm learning the feel and controls of it. As I've always maintained - good photographs can be taken with any kind of camera - and awesome cameras won't make bad photographs good. All that being said, a really nice camera can help you push things a little farther. I can tell already that the 6D has a larger dynamic range than the 7D - more levels of light between the darks and highlights. The camera also has amazing auto-focus in very dim situations - not to mention much less noise at higher ISO's (and an insane maximum ISO). The large sensor allows for great shallow depth of field in images(as shown above). I'm already having fun with it and I'm looking forward to really putting it through its paces(and getting some prints made - the ultimate test of image quality).

The Fullest Frame

'Mom and Dad'

I had an event to shoot late this morning and as I went about getting my stuff together I tested out my Canon 7D. Nothing - it wasn't working at all. After messing around with it for a bit I was able to get it to turn on - but it was too risky to shoot an event worrying about my camera getting stuck at a key moment. I made a decision - enough of this - I walked into Dodd Camera and bought myself a Canon 6D. It was a trial by fire and the new camera pulled it off. The layout is fairly similar to the 7D with one big exception - no little joystick for selecting focusing point or zooming around an image preview. Besides that(which I'm sure I'll get used to) everything went well.

Hocking Hills Roll #2

As mentioned multiple times my Canon 7D died on our trip to Hocking Hills a few weekends ago - so I shot lots of film. Here are some of my favorites from the second roll(which is actually the first roll - I just scanned the other first...)

On A Field of Blue

One of my favorite yearly traditions is photographing the bluebell flowers that come out each Spring along Furnace Run. This year I shot on a slightly overcast morning but did the smart thing and used my tripod. I like the soft light look of these photos - its a nice contrast to the usual morning, magic hour photos I take of things like this. I could post 25 bluebell photos - I really do enjoy these spring wild flowers - but as usual I narrowed it down to around 5.

Keep 'em wanting more - ya know?

Vinyl Below

Why are my test shots from photo sessions always the best? This photo needs an amazing caption by the way. Come up with an awesome one and you will be handsomely rewarded...
Contest is open now.

Hocking Hills Roll #1

I finally got around to developing some of my film from my Hocking Hills trip with Laura last weekend. I always use a two reel tank when I develop - this was the first time I filled both reels and developed two rolls at once. Everything came out well - as it should - but I'm still proud of any analogue "first" for me.... Anyways - I got one roll scanned which is the middle roll of the three I shot. Much of it was taken at the main tourist site in Hocking Hills - Old Man's Cave. It was our first hike up to the Upper Falls - last time here we hiked to the Lower Falls and then down the Hocking River a piece. Maybe it was a good thing my digital camera died on this trip - some of these are cool in black and white. Glass half full kinda guy, eh?

Waterfalls and Dead Batteries

Laura and I decided to get away last weekend - we rented a cabin in Hocking Hills. After we had some lunch and got checked into our one room cabin we decided to get a hike in. Our cabin was within a few minute drive of the Cedar Falls area, which we had never been to, so we went for a walk there. I had my tripod and Canon 7d with me and took a few long exposures of a couple of the waterfalls on the trail. As we hiked on down along the river we were really noticing the beautiful hue of the water and the orangish stained rocks of the gorge blending with the yellow sandstone - perfect for some digital color photos - except that my camera stopped taking them. The screen flashed an error code and told me to reinstall the battery - which I did - over and over. Nothing. Finally I couldn't even get an error code. Just a hollow battery flashing on the top screen of my dslr. I tried not to let on how upset I was and reached for my Minolta X-700 loaded with Tri-X - but now all I could see were the beautiful colors everywhere.

Easter Leftovers

On Easter morning Laura and I went hiking down by Big Bend - across the river and off the trail - back to some old foundations and a huge collection of junk on the edge of the golf course...
I did a digital post on this area a couple of weeks ago.