Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Long Exposure
Enigma’s Eye
This was a intriguing burst of light – part of the July 4th Fireworks Display over Manistique, Michigan. Something about the color and tone of this single burst is very appealing to me. The little dots of light, like starts, add a very welcome accent to the frame.
You really should click on the photo to see the larger, more detailed version of this photo. I find it mesmerizing – but then, I’m a sucker for fireworks.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Festival of Flights
Fireworks are a favorite, and fitting, way to end the evening air show at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture.
This is like a little slice of photographer heaven for me – combining fireworks, aircraft and long exposures. I almost didn’t get any fireworks shots on this trip because I forgot to bring my tripod with me. Thankfully, I was able to improvise a suitable camera platform by strapping my monopod to folding lawn chair. It was not a very sturdy/stable set up but, fortunately, there was no wind to speak of. Of course, I use a remote trigger when shooting long exposures to avoid even the slightest movement of the camera.
The blurring of people in this image was caused by their movement during the time the shutter was open; about 23 seconds.
As always, the best of this image can be experienced by viewing the larger, full-screen version. To do so, simply click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Streaking Past the Avalon
The Avalon Theatre is alive, again, in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. This historic landmark theater was completely renovated and refitted to offer patrons a unique entertainment experience. The traditional movie theater seating has been replaced by leather chairs with a table between them where movie goers can order and enjoy a meal – with their movie – prepared on site and served by the wait staff.
The Avalon is a distinctive example of the Mediterranean Revival architectural style. The lobby features Moorish arches, twisting Mediterranean columns, figures that resemble gargoyles and a statue of Athena, a Greek goddess — all from the original building. It is the first Wisconsin theater built for movies with sound
I happened to be there (and created this image) on the night of their Grand Opening celebration in March of 2015. The place was full of young professionals enjoying drinks in the lobby and touring the theater. I was hanging out with a photography friend from the area who took me to a few spots in Milwaukee to shoot some night scenes. He, rightfully, thought this would be a promising location.
The photo, itself, is a long exposure (20 seconds). The white and red lines were created by the lights from the vehicles that passed by while the camera shutter was open. Those spots in the upper left of the photo, I believe, are the result of dust that must have been on my lens. Normally they wouldn’t be so prominent. I think the mercury street lights and the aperture setting of f/22 I used for this shot brought them out. Normally, I would work to remove those from an image…but in this case, I liked the effect and left them in.
You can learn more about the Avalon’s renovation, amenities they offer and its interesting history simply by Googling it.
You can view more of the details in this image by clicking on the photo. When you do, a full-screen version will open in a new browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Star Bright
I went out to photograph a full moon…but ended up focusing on a star.
This is a long exposure, early evening view of the Kewaunee, Wisconsin Lighthouse. This is not the shot I was going for, but that’s the way it works sometimes.
I’d been watching the lunar calendar and decided the best evening to capture the full moon rising over Lake Michigan would be Friday. When it was time to head for the beach, I noticed a band of clouds in the sky but thought they might be high enough to not block the horizon. Turns out, there was enough “atmosphere” between me and the moon, I didn’t see it until much later in the night.
Since I was at the beach and had everything set up, I thought I’d fiddle around getting a night shot of the lighthouse. While fiddling, I thought the star filter I have might add a nice effect to the bright lighthouse light. The star filter is threaded so you can screw it on to the end of the lens. It creates an X pattern over any bright light source in the photo’s frame. I’ve often wanted more lines then the four it’s designed to create, but it is what it is. …or is it?
I took the star filter off the lens and decided to try and just hold it very still, by hand, in front of the lens. That worked better than expected. Next I took a shot and held the filter still it for a few seconds and rotated it a few degrees and, again, held it still. That gave me more points to the star…and it looked pretty good. I experimented a bit more to end up with this version.
This is a 20-second exposure. (20-sec, f/11, ISO 200) I was holding the filter in front of the lens – as close as I could without actually touching the lens. When I tripped the shutter (with a remote), I would count to five, rotate the filter, count to five, rotate the filter, count to five and quickly remove the filter for the remainder of the exposure. As you can see, that gave me three separate sets of star points.
Let me point out a few other interesting effects from the long exposure time. The lake wasn’t as smooth as it seems in this image. The long exposure has a tends to smooth out any motion. You might also notice a small, dark, oblong spot near the corner of the pier, just to the right of the lighthouse. That is actually a man who was fishing off the pier. He moved enough over the 20-seconds that all you see is a blur. And finally, there are a couple of thin lines of light that run horizontal through the frame…about level with the deck of the pier. Those are lights from a boat that was leaving the harbor, traveling left to right over the span of the 20-second exposure.
To view a larger version of this image, click on the image.
Pathway to Glory
These are all images taken at AirVenture in Oshkosh Wisconsin – the annual convention of the Experimental Aircraft Association. These are long exposure images snapped during the night airshow. The above photo was a 32-second exposure, the image to the right was 8, the image below was 35.
How were these graceful forms created? An airplane flew an acrobatic routine with some kind of sparkly fireworks shooting from the wings. To capture the action, I had my camera on a tripod and positioned on the area of sky where I guessed the plane would be flying. These were my best guesses and even these have moments where the plane went beyond the camera’s view…and came back.
The long exposure captures the brightest light from the aircraft’s flight pattern. In the dark, the aircraft, itself, wasn’t bright enough or in one spot long enough to be registered by the camera’s sensor.
If you look closely, you’ll see stars that show up as little white dashes. The whisps, particularly noticeable in the bottom photo, are the smoke left behind from the fireworks.
You can view a larger version of any of these photos in its own browser tab by clicking on them.
