A New Year is approaching......

Saturday I'm starting to shoot for the New Year so keep an eye on the blog. This last year has been very good with several new accounts and a couple of visits to older past clients. I'm looking for continued success with the business. The weather has played a bit of a role in the season as it is colder that I can remember it ever being. We've had little snow but the wind is stifling and almost hurts if you're out in it too long. I have to try some types of shooting this next week if the weather will allow it. I've been reviewing some information on different techniques that should result in some pretty interesting images. I did discover why my tripod leg collapsed several weeks ago.

It sounds really dumb but the clue was right in front of my nose. I stopped into a camera store that I buy some supplies from to look for a new tripod as I thought the other was shot. I explained the situation to the clerk and he asked me if I had checked the screws on the tripod legs to see if they were loose. With a blank look I said " no ". He then showed me the screws and nuts that control the tightness of the clamp that holds the legs solid. ( Never noticed them before....) He then showed me a tool that was clamped to one of the legs that held a screwdriver and a cresent hub on opposite end.
( I had noticed that, but never realized what they were for.....duh....). Amazingly enough they fit the screws holding the clamps tight and could be used to tighten them if necessary.  If the clamps would ever got loose, then the leg would collapse. AND end up costing almost $ 700.00 to repair a camera body and lens via Nikon......

Anyway....Have a great New Year...check back on the blog after the first of the year to see some new exciting images. Thanks for your continued viewing !!!!

Loch Ness found here in Tulsa

I went down to the river the other day to try to see how my camera that I just got back from Nikon was working. What a stroke of luck. I was taking an exposure to check out the shutter speeds and the Loch Bess monster appeared almost jumping out of the water !!! In my panic I must have pushed the shutter button down and to my surprise I got the exposure of a lifetime ! WHAT LUCK !! I'm going to offer it to National Geographics to see if I can get a story, what a deal !!!!!

I must be living right !!!

I got my Nikon back yesterday ! After I had sent it in the forecast was for a 4 to 6 week repair time.
I gave Nikon a call and told them I was a professional photographer and they must have slid it to the head of the line. UPS notified me that I will be receiving a package today and it must be the lens. No more walking around with a forlorn  look and the feeling of something not right. I'm going out to shoot today so look for some new images this weekend.

Spoke with Nikon....

I got a call yesterday from Nikon and it will be about a week more before I get my camera. I feel as though I'm walking around missing part of my body. I drove to Hulbert, Oklahoma yesterday to speak with a new commercial client and on the way I saw many images I wish I could have captured. But....no camera...no capture.

I also have regrets that I didn't have it Wednesday night. Adam Cain, our grandson, gave a fantastic performance in Oklahoma City at his school as part of his Senior Graduation requirements. He is a French Horn musician and was JUST AMAZING. I think he is planning to go to grad school when he finishes in the summer to get his masters. What a great future he has. I would have loved to get some shots of him playing. The intensity on his face was remarkable.

It's the coldest it has been so far however the waterfall in the Koi pond isn't frozen over. The fish are at the bottom hibernating and the pond very clear since it is too cold for the plants and algae. I finished the walnut pieces I've been working on for Christmas gifts and it will be good to see if they are well received. They are made from the trees I grew up with and have some family history connected with the. I was speaking with a "woodsman" that knows his wood and he speculated the judging from the girth of the trees that were about 500 years old. About the time the walnut sprouted, historically speaking, seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fern Pipes de Andrade was meeting with Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary. How's that for some information you didn't really ever think about. Just file it away for future reference. I guess this really shows how much I need to have my camera back......

AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH !!!!!!

I was shooting a product yesterday in the studio a small tabletop set up and walked away for about thirty minutes. I needed to clean out the filter in the Koi pond so the water would flow. It had completely stopped-thank you falling leaves....

I got that done, returned to the studio, and one of the legs on my tripod had loosened, without my permission, causing it to tip over. The camera was on the floor, lens about three feet from it. A few expletives later I tried to put the lens on the camera but it wouldn't stay. Ok, send the body to Nikon Repair. I put another lens on the camera and it worked perfectly, until I tried to change the F stop. Didn't work......sooooooo...the whole shooting match goes to Nikon Repair. Although financially painful, about $ 550.00 in repair, the camera needed a "tune-up" consisting of a cleaning, lube job, general sync checking as to the shutter speeds, blah, blah, blah...I shouldn't complain as in the 45 years I have been in the business I have only had two cameras damaged, A Mamiya RB 67,  a total loss with the lens, and now this. I guess I'm actually lucky.

Rationalization is an amazing attribute....

Another great day in the life of a professional photographer.

Rosemary

This will be a quickie so to speak. Really busy with a new account that I will explain in a later blog note, but I've also harvested my sag, rosemary, and thyme herbs for our cooking in the future. I generally have grown some in pots on the deck. Obviously I was taken by the look of the rosemary and  I pulled some out by the root (accidentally) so I put it in a vase. I liked the look so well I photographed it....imagine that.....

Almost an ode to Simon and Garfinkel.......

A bit frustrated ..

I completed and edited the new "invisibility" video and am pretty pleased with it. However I seem to be having a problem getting it ready to be available for easy viewing in the net. I edited it and converted it to a universal media so all could view it, but the images became soft which makes no sense to me. I shot it in Hi Def but the rendered end product seems soft. I guess I need to go back to the drawing board and see where I screwed up. I hate to have this happen in "public".  But I guess it happens to everyone eventually.

Tulsa is lucky from the standpoint of one not so unique area. We have a "Fablab." Fablabs are a world wide organization that makes tools available to "makers". Makers are those individuals that want to create or make items by using tools that they don't own in space that they don't have. It is such a great concept !. Fablabs are equipped with the latest computer aided tools such as 3-D printers, milling machines, Vinyl cutters, 3-D scanners, as well as the standard drill press, saws, sanders, and other regular tools. Fablab Tulsa has several different levels of membership based on projected hourly monthly usage of the space and equipment. I chose the lowest membership to get my feet wet and already see that it will do me well to step up my membership level. I'm presently at the $13.00 per month level which gives me 12 hours per month but $ 17.00 per month will give me 16 hours per month. I'll let this month go and see how the hours work out.

Before we sold the house I grew up in, we had to cut down two walnut trees that, as it turned out, were probably around 500 years old. The estimate is based on the circumference of the trees. I got two sections 10 feet long out of both of the trees. I took the trunks to a man I knew that had a sawmill and he cut me 12 lengths of the walnut that were ten feet long, three inches thick, and approximately two feet wide. I have two sections placed together that acts as my desk here in the office. As part of the harvest I took several pieces that were "residue" from the harvest. These consisted of limb sections, burled knots from the tree and several different interesting pieces. They have been drying for around seven years now and I have just started to create different sculptures from these pieces.

Although my dad was in the wholesale lumber business and very successful at it, I had no desire to go into the business. But I have always enjoyed wood and the end results of incorporating it into sculptures. Perhaps my biggest regret in College was not taking a sculpture course from John Walker.
John understood wood and the possibilities it offered. He was a master craftsman and I could have learned a lot from him. He completed a series of sculptures I'll never forget as the were so accomplished. He had taken wood and transformed it into cakes and pies complete with flowing cherries and figs, textures of smooth sauces flowing out of the wedges, all out of wood and accent metals. Cherry, walnut, pine, fir and cedar made up his pallet and the end products were stunning pieces that were like the real visual idea.....only made out of wood.

I took one piece to the lab a couple of days ago and did some sanding on it to remove the bark and expose the most fabulous grain and coloring you can imagine. I brought it home and yesterday did a fine sand on it to finish that part of the process. I have some pieces of of "art marble" from Locarni Marble in Carthage that I had purchased many years ago, One of those pieces will serve as the base of the piece. My accountant has a client that professionally sprays varnish on his products and I have given him pieces to spray for me while he is doing his. Fabulous finishes. !!

I didn't take any before "images" of the piece I'm working on but I'll show you the finished product when I'm done. I'll also find out what the issue is with the "Invisibility" project and get that to you.
Stayed Tuned .....

More invisibility coming soon....try to see it....

Ok Halloween is coming up and  I guess that may be sparking my invisibility thoughts. I have had an idea swirling between my ears for about a week now, much like the first invisibility idea took hold.
I'm going out this morning to shoot it and hopefully I'll have it completed by this afternoon. There are couple of issues I will have to work out but that is the way it always works. Check back later to see if I was successful.

Strange editing...

I stopped in to look at my blog and was surprised that about a third of it was dark and hard to read
although it is still legible if you get close to the screen. I guess it is because I mentioned the name of the company where I get my seeds from. It is in Mansfield Missouri and is a fabulous supplier. Google it and you probably will be able to find it. All of the seeds are Non GMO so the old varieties that have been altered with the genetic updates are still available in their original form. They may not be perfect in appearance but they sure taste like the tomatoes I grew as a kid. Check it out.

Homegrown......

It's almost time for the summer to be gone and I'm going to miss our homegrown tomatoes. This year we didn't have many, but those we got were so much better than the "store bought" tomatoes we bought, that I'm embarking on a new mission. If you have followed my blog you have seen the last several summers were spent in converting our backyard into a studio for any portrait sessions that my pop up this year and next. I have a bit more to do with three small areas but one of them will become "the farm".  I have a source for an organic soil that is used by a commercial grower of a vegitable that they will sell me by the pick-up load. I intend to build my garden in one of the areas I have landscaped making a large bed expressly for my tomatoes crop.

It is in full sun most of the day so it is pretty useless for any portrait work but should be great for the plants. I ordered three different kinds of tomatoes seeds for variety, and all are heirloom varieties that have not been genetically altered. The seeds have already come 
in and I will have to start them in February inside under grow lights to have them big enough to transplant 
after the first frost. I want to get the soil possibly this weekend and will mix it with our "red dirt" Oklahoma 
soil and I should get a great bed with good drainage and nutrients for the crop. I'll keep you posted.

Cardiac surprise........revisited.....

As I mentioned yesterday I have tried to load the video up on the blog but there is a roadblock so to speak. Haven't figured it out yet, but in trying to remove my efforts to upload it, I thought I deleted all 426 entries on my blog. Almost jumped out of my skin......That would be disastrous for me.....but it all is safe now....life goes on and I'll keep trying to get it on the blog. Not a rocket scientist....

Try to go to this site to see the video that has kept me stumped....maybe I found the key....

https://youtu.be/SWaJwSrtIFM

Copy the address and place it in your search window and go for it....


It worked !!!!  Copy the address, place it in your search engine window and hit enter.

Shazaaammmmm !

This looks like it may be the start to something new as far as direction for me  is concerned for me.
Even while trying to get it on the net I've been thinking of other areas where I can make it work with some degree of  mystery  and thought.

Started to play with some video thoughts.......

On occasion I have been lucky to produce video productions for clients and it's been a gas. Great time but it is not just a matter of grabbing a camera and shooting the "video" then editing from there. I always start from a storyboard. then scripting, then shooting, THEN editing. I have had clients that bucked at the process but that is the only way I will do it. By trying to edit from raw unthought out sequences will always leave you with images that are not enough or just unless material. Let me explain the process.

A Storyboard.
I generally do this with the client after a walk through of the needs and desired result of the production. I make an outline of our conversation and then take out my "storyboard. A storyboard in nothing more than pages with what looks like empty TV screens on them, generally three to a page. The screens are on the right of the page and I have a column of scripting lines on the left side of the page across from the "screens. I first establish the words for the script on the left then in the screen on the right I draw what I perceive as the "action". You don't have to be Norman Rockwell to draw what you want. Stick figures work for me. Within the boxes I can draw in a primary shot, on the next, a close up of work being done, whatever the script calls for. When it is time to change the scene I place a dissolve in the next box and proceed to the next scene. This gives me a "road map" for the future edition processes i will have to do as well as a logical map for the scripting that follows it.

Editing
The editing process takes a bunch of time that many client don't understand. Having a storyboard cuts the time down and also eliminates un-shot scenes that are in the script. The editing requires a very long time trimming the shots to get them to fit the script, sometimes adjustments to lighting and color balances, and of course any text that needs to be added to the video. It really sucks up the time.

Music
Sometimes music or narration needs to be added which takes a bit more of a challenge. Any recorded music is copyright protected such as music on albums, Pandora, virtually any source. I am very lucky as I have two very talented musician nephews that create my original sounds for my videos, Tim and Andy Putnam. They are true lifesavers and both located in Nashville.

Narration
The narration is another issue that needs to be solved. I generally will go to a radio station and have the "voice"  record the audio there and then edit it in my studio. In the editing process there is a "timeline" that visually lays down the sequences of the scenes on the computer screen as well as the audio lines below it. I can then place the narration where it needs to go as well as the music which is on another line below the audio. On these lines I can also vary the volume of both lines as is appropriate for the situation.

The Final edit
The final edit is critical to the success of the video. In this stage you can tighten up the production and shorten sequences if necessary, and add time if needed to spots in the sequences. I have found that any video for commercial clients, generally speaking, a three to four minute duration is about the max you can hold an audience. Of course this isn't a solid rule all of the time. The longest video I've produced was for a Hospital which ran two storylines concerning patient successes within the hospital which lasted 14 minutes. Hugely successful video, the audience loved it. I produced one for the city of Carthage, Mo. that was 11 minutes long and took a year to produce as we covered the town in four seasons. A very fun video which won an First Place award at a National Chamber of Commerce meeting in Orlando Florida.

I have been thinking of a sequence I would like to produce for over a week and Sunday I figured I'd give it a shot. It was exactly what I wanted as a finished produce....maybe music later....haven't given that issue much thought. As soon as I figure out how to get it on the blog I'll include it. I'm not a rocket scientist......

The lost is found...

Several weeks ago I thought I had erased all of the images I had taken while in California and on the trip back. Wellllll...while looking through my desktop files I found them. Evidently they had been captured by a folder and stayed hidden from me causing some consternation on my part. I hate it when that happens....but at least I didn't lose them. One of the main reasons I wanted them was to show you the images of how close we were to the fires in Utah on the way back. Several of the 40 some forest fires  occurred in locations we had been in.

I can't imagine how long it will be for the forests to replenish themselves but it will be several generations for sure. The good side of the fires if there is one is that all of the scrub brush will be destroyed helping eliminate the chance for another fire for several years. I'm sure that is no help to the property owners that suffered great losses. Here are a couple of the images that redefined "forest fires" for me.

Enough to give us the Heeby Jebbies !

The assignment on Saturday went very well....and opened my eyes..

Saturday I met with my client to photograph the dispersal of necessities for homeless Vets. I was amazed at the number of men and women from the nonprofits that gathered to give the items to the people in need. It was like an army almost. It whole process was set in motion by the Vets signing up and then processing from station to station gathering the necessities they needed. Items ranged from socks and underwear to coats and hats. They were all also given backpacks and a large duffle to hold all of the items.

It really knocked me down that these are men and women many of which are living on the streets in alleys, right of ways along bridges, and vacant buildings. These people are some of our military veterans that have hit extremely hard times through different circumstances. Their physical conditions varied from not too good to absolutely rough. I did make one contact while there that is local and I will approach him to see if they have a need for my photographic services to advance the cause. After seeing what I did this last weekend  I now realize that we ALL need to do more for our Vets.

Extremely busy.....

Well you may have noticed that I've been fairly invisible this last couple of weeks. I've been very busy to say the least. I finished the book I was working on for a client telling the story of the Statue she created for Clarehouse. It is located in a quiet meditation area behind the facility and it is amazing in the feelings it evokes. I did some work for a website for another client involving video production and it really takes editing time that many people never think of. We had to do four takes and then closely edited one to work well. I'm waiting on a call to do some more to finish the project.

I have an assignment tomorrow for clients in Tennessee who saw my blog and thought I would work well for them tomorrow morning shooting an event they are sponsoring. It should be fun. I think today I'll kick back and wax the car. I think I will have two opportunities to wax her weather wise before winter. Waxing keeps the paint good and really gives the car a better attitude. She really doesn't like to be dull and dirty. Her name is Margaret, I always name my cars. Go figure.....

In the "movies".....

I'm in process of shooting and editing a couple of short video pieces for a Doctor concerning his specialty of replacement surgeries for hips and knees plus his specialty work concerning orthopedic breaks. He will use these marketing pieces for his website that his clients and potential patients will have access to. Nine years ago I had my left knee totally replaced due to a bone on bone situation caused by running in the "8o's" . I followed that with my right knee and left hip being also totally replaced last year. Thank you racquetball. 

I have never had any other surgeries than these and really didn't know what to expect. In all honesty, the knees were a challenge. Amazingly enough however, if you follow instructions from your Doctor,

and stay on the physical therapy routine, it's like nothing ever happened. I spent 6 hours a day, in two hour shifts, on a machine that I strapped my leg into and it slowly flexed my leg back an forth retraining the muscles to work properly. It was moderately uncomfortable but it worked. I now have full mobility with both of my legs.

The hip was a cakewalk compared to the knees. In the hospital, surgery, out the next day. Sitting was somewhat uncomfortable for a few days but the physical walking was recovered in no time act all. I have never regretted any of the surgeries. 

I will deliver to my client the first "rough cut" of our project and I see some opportunity to enhance the presentation with some visual explanations. I'll keep you posted on the progress. I love my job....    

Cheekwood.....

As I mentioned in my last entry, we saw the Eclipse from a location at Cheekwood. The property is an extremely well maintained Estate housing an art museum and wonderful gardens. It is located in Nashville and really ought to be checked out if you're in the area.

The tickets for viewing the Eclipse were sold out pretty early as it was a complete venue with food trucks, a band, and a great forecast for the day. Here is just a couple images of the day and the location.

I must throw out a disclaimer as these images weren't taken by me but are from the Cheekwood webpage

A catch in the ol' getalong....

Before we left for Franklin/Nashville my left hip and leg seemed to be in trouble. It hurt to walk with pain from my left hip with an occasional spike down my left leg. I was coming down the stairs from my office and three steps from the bottom my left leg gave out....sort of disappeared so to speak. I became a temporary "Flying Wallenda" and landed on my right hip holding my Nikon safely away from the floor. I gave it the expected ooooh's and OH *****s but eventually hobbled into the bedroom and got in the sack.

The next day everything seemed to be good as the leg/hip weren't really bothering me so we took the road trip. While in Tennessee both parts of my body decided that they needed to be heard and they were. I had to use the cane we brought and a wagon to transport my cameras, mirrors, tripod etc. to the shooting site.

After getting back I went to see my doctor and he prescribed some pills that take the pain away but that's about it. After watching a million doctor shows on TV and an occasional Soap opera, I have decided that I need an MRI. And will look into that next week. In the mean time I remembered
the Grapefruit tree I planted while at Southwest Mo State while in my second year in college.

I ate a grapefruit in the cafeteria and found a seed and wondered if it would grow. I took it back to my room in Freudenberger and planted it in a paper cup. The damn thing grew. I took it to Grad school with me and it continued to grow. I started my business and it was with me. I took it to Louisiana in 81 and it still prospered. Then to Dallas....grow baby grow. It was really starting to get out of had so I started to trim it back. Back to Carthage and in the studio window it was graced with Christmas ornaments and lights and was trimmed back every now and then. When Karen and I moved to Tulsa it came with us. We got here in "02" so the tree at that time was over 30 years old. I had it in a large pot that was somewhat sizable. We had no place to put it in the winter with the exception of an upstairs office. SOOOOOO I took it up. For the next few years it would come down in the summer and up in the winter. It also got a trim every now and then. I guess it was 2 years ago in 2014......I just sort of forgot about it. The tree was 45 years old. The trimming kept the height under control but the trunk continued to gain in width.  The tree died from my inadvertent mismanagement of watering it, so it just sat as a constant reminder of my stupidity. A month or two ago I dislodged it from the pot it was in and took it outside and hosed off the rootball. I didn't know what to do with it. Turn it into a sculpture.....wall hanging reminder to pay attention........I was stuck. Last night it woke me up !
I had a vision !!!

I just delivered it to a master craftsman, Jim Vanderlind, whom I have talked to here in the blog before, and he is going to turn it into a cane for me. It took the first spin on the lathe this morning
and we got a look at what was under the bark. It will be a very light wood with a different colored handle of an exotic hardwood. One more reason to keep some stuff that has history...

The Eclipse....

With grand visions we left for Nashville last Thursday after downing a Starbucks cold Doubleshot. I have found that I can drive long hours with a little help from the Doubleshot. I'm very alert and it smooths out the drive. I had a thought or two about the Eclipse and how I wanted to shoot it and I got sorta close. I had visions of 4 mirrors on the ground reflecting trees, the sky, and Eclipse. Hoping that the mirrors would transform into square holes in the ground filled with trees, clouds and  blue sky and the Eclipse.

Really not thinking of the whole picture...it gets dark during an eclipse, stacking frames may not work, and probably a few other issues I hadn't thought of. All of  this was compounded by the fact that I took a rather nasty fall from the third stair from the bottom of our stairway and really knocked the dickins out of my left hip which had been giving me painful unexpected problems previously.

Karen helped me up and we went to bed with an occasional yelp from me. Morning came and the hip seemed OK so we left on the Great American Eclipse Road Trip. 8 or 9 hours later we arrived at my sisters where we were staying for the duration in outside of Nashville. I had ordered Solar Glasses from the net and were to arrive before we left. They didn't.......that fit in real well with the hip agenda.

metric and Canada.Arriving we were met by her "show dogs" a couple of Shelter finds, and we got settled.We messed around Nashville and the surrounding and had dinner with Nephews and Great Nephews, along with other activities.  Both of my nephews are very accomplished individuals, one is the Digital Director for a major implement company, while the other is an accomplished sound engineer and traveling with major recording stars running their sound for them in arenas throughout North America and Canada.

"E" day arrived and we sent out to Cheekwood for the viewing. It is a wonderful acreage that houses Museums, a sprawling park with ponds and trails. Fortunately my sister got us entrance tickets before they ran out. Almost immediately I spotted the site I wanted and we all advanced to it. As I was basically marking my site with the mirrors the area started filling up and I bent over and WHAMMO!
My back/hip shot a bolt of lightning down my leg. I'm glad I had my cane as if I didn't I would have landed on my duff. Andy, # 2 Nephew, set the mirrors up for me and we waited.

As forecast the eclipse started and immediately the clouds started to collect. I knew it ! The only reason they were around was because I was going to be photographing it. To make a long story short and not keep you drowning in suspense......the clouds parted, disappeared, and we got our Eclipse.

ling home I listened to my wife playing her Ukulele in the passenger seat. A great trip.

Looking up and forward.....

We are a week away from the last total eclipse I'll see, without traveling around the world, in my lifetime. I have some explicit plans to capture it but need to do some tests to make sure my plans will work. Of course it's raining now which limits my ability to do anything even faintly close to a test using the sun. Maybe this afternoon it will stop and I can start with the testing. I'm sure that some tweaking will be necessary to achieve what I want and from the location I'll be viewing. I checked the forecast as to the duration of darkness and it looks to be about 2 minutes. I will have to have everything set up in advance to complete the imagery. Hopefully there will be blue sky with no clouds and all will go as planned. I'll keep you posted.

Testing....

I have some thoughts of what I want to do with the eclipse that is coming up and today I'll start some tests to see if it is possible to complete my "minds eye vision". I've never done this type of shooting before so it should be interesting to say the least. I think I'll videotape as well as complete some still images of the eclipse as the old saying goes, "if ya don't have the pictures ya can't proceed with using them." I think this advice was found along with animal paintings on cave walls in France. I think that's what I heard.....

The eclipse....again....

Week after next we will be in for a real treat with the solar eclipse. I remember the one in the 80's which, although wasn't total, made the birds get crazy, traffic to pull over and stop, and everyone look around with a smile on their face. I'm looking forward to it with controlled abandon. It will obviously be the last I see in this lifetime unless I travel to one. Not likely. I have some pictorial plans laid out and it will be fun to see if I can pull them off. The time of the eclipse is only around two minutes so I'll have to do some preplanning as to the layout of my accessories that will be part of the shadow show. If I can pull my idea off it will be pretty amazing, But...you know what they say..Only the Shadow knows for sure......and he ain't tellin'. Tune in later to see if I was successful.

How much do you want to sell....

I have had accounts in the past that have tried to photograph their own products and often ended up with a drop in sales. Consumers today are more sophisticated than they were even 5 years ago. The quality of of an image often signals to them the quality of a product they may be receiving as a finished item from a provider. In nine times out of ten this is a solid fact.

                                A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS !

In the image below the point can be driven home. This is a typical image from a "just want a pitcher
for the web" client. They bought their camera at a store that promised them they could produce images that could compete with "the professionals". Obviously there is a lesson or two the clerk was unaware of in producing a "professional image".

                                              The following is a professional image.

The milling on the bolts is highlighted as well as the stock listing on the head of the bolt. The soft shadows "ground" the items and they are displayed in a manor that highlights their quality. Producing images such as this isn't "rocket science" but with the techniques of the true professional an image will be delivered that will help "sell a product". If you're a producer of a product line or service do yourself a favor and search out the "Professional photographer" and don't rely on the words of the box store salesman. You'll be glad you did.

Dodged the bullet............

I can't tell you how lucky we were on our trip coming back from Stanford a month ago today. We were at Yosemite and the surrounding areas on our way back. As we were leaving Utah we witnessed one of the fires that, at that time, was encompassing 3,000 acres. It proceeded to grow to over 30,000 acres in the following weeks.  Looking at the map on Good Morning America this morning it is almost as if the fires followed our route. Mass evacuations of towns and tourist locations is taking place and I can't imagine the pain the fires are causing. Of course the forests will grow back but generations of trees will be lost and how the towns inhabitants will survive is the looming question.
Tourism is the economic mainstay of the areas being hit and that industry will surely be affected. To
add to my personal pain considering the situation, I inadvertently trashed all images from the trip with the exception of some that I had been editing. Duhhhhhh.......buy me books and all I do is eat the pages.............

Texas traveling again.....

As many of you know I'm sort of a car guy. Had a bunch of them, sports cars, classic cars, a hot rod,
German cars, Fords, Chevys, Pontiacs. Buicks, and English challenges. It only takes an interesting car to get my attention. Once again, traveling out to California, going through New Mexico I had to stop. Nestled off the road I thought I saw a 1951 Chevy pick-up. Brakes on, we slide off the road to the shoulder. I grab my camera for a closer look. Got Rocks, as it turned out was a 1950's series International Pick-up. In that period the "look" of the pick ups all were wadded together and spit out with most of them being almost identical but with different grills, head lights, or hoods. Perhaps my best loved vehicle was "The Video Van, the tongue in cheek name Bondo gave my 1951 Chevy Van.
This vehicle has become my most lasting memory as far as my cars go. Frank Saferight gave it a spectacular paint job of dark metallic brown with black fenders and running boards. Three on the tree, baby moons with chrome rings, and an inline six. Hog heaven. Of course there are several stories about the building o the car, finding parts, blah blah blah.....You may hear them some day. I just find it ironic that someone would leave a truck or car out on the road that could have so many possibilities.

                                       I guess this is the iconic Rock, don't Roll..........

Leaning Tower....

On the last trip we passed through Texas and I noticed a landmark I had never seen. It could even be on par with the attractions through Nevada and other Western stated proclaiming " We have the worlds largest collection of Baby Rattlers !" So you stop the car, go inside a building that is covered on the outside with paintings of snakes, pay them a buck or so and approach a large container which is usually in a corner. Arriving at said box you look down and you see not one or two but hundreds of baby rattles. Realizing that you have been totally had and trying to gather as much composure as you can, you say "WOW", and backtrack to the door, get  in your car and leave. Quietly saying "never again....."

The town could start the billboard campaign several hundred miles away, Newly discovered....The Leaning Tower....and it could go on for miles. Don't Miss It....Texas's Leaning Tower...A Sight You Can't Imagine !! You know what P.T. Barnum said.......

                                                                                                                                                     

                                                 Beware of snakes and leaning towers...

Printhouse print cost...

I just spoke with Robbie Holmes, the C.E.O.,  of Printhouse and the print cost complete with shipping for just the print it's self would be $ 22.00 dollars and they do take credit card payments.
Remember you must become a follower to my blog to receive the file. Email me your email address to get the file and so I can check to see that you are also a follower.

The deal........

I have had many many loyal viewers over the years and I would like to offer to you a gift from me to you. As I mentioned in my blog several times I had an assignment to photograph graffiti for a designer in Oklahoma City. I got a lot of images that I really liked and he bought several and placed them in the Sigma Nu house at Oklahoma University.

I have a file which I would like to give to you, and have a print made for yourself. The finished size is 17 x 11.3 inches which is full frame from the camera. This image, framed and matted would retail for $ 600.00. My suggestion for the mat would be an acid free white with three inch boarders on the top and sides with a 3 1/2 inch border on the bottom. Of course this gives you a size that demands a custom frame but it's well worth it. It's a great look.

If you would like the file please email me at mspeermorgan@netscape.net giving me your email address. Also please sign onto my blog as a follower. After both requests are finished I will send you the file with a print release for one print. Although the file is free, you will be responsible for the actual print charges. I have recommended a source for the printing below. Feel free to forward this email to any of your friends that may be interested in the offer and have them follow the instructions to get a print from me.

I have made arrangements with Print House, one of the premier inkjet printing locations in the U.S. to handle the Fine Art printing of my images. I highly recommend that you use them for the printing of my images. We have a long standing relationship and their work is top drawer. Their email is;

www.printhousefineart.com.

They have printed this image for me before and they have really hit the mark. I am also working on a source for the matting and framing at a discount. Of course there will be shipping charges whether the image is framed or not. That will be included in the final print cost I'm sure.

By becoming a follower you are automatically notified of all new postings by me so it will help you keep currant with what is happening in my photographic world. I will keep this offer up for two weeks to see if there is any interest. I will have more options as the year progresses that will be exclusive to my followers. These offerings will be in photographic technical answers to some questions we all face photographically to possibly more print files.

This is basically a test and if it works there is much more to come. Thanks for becoming a follower.

A quick note...and a favor to ask...

I am launching a new campaign to convert Viewers to Followers. The reason I am doing this is to be able to offer information to my Followers exclusively concerning the various photographic methods I use to complete the images you see on my blog. As a bonus I am offering an original file of a print I captured several months ago along with information on where to get it printed and what paper to ask for. Included will be a release for you to make one print for your own use. The instructions will be offered tomorrow and will be very explicit in the information I will need from you. I have never made such an offer before and it should be interesting to see if it works. Follow up tomorrow and lets see how it works.....

63,000 views are soon to be passed...

I'm at the 62,800 point on the view chart and with this weeks postings 65,000 could be hit by next  week. I have a seminar this morning to watch on marketing then editing some images for me to post towards the end of the week. A wrap-up of a 6 month project is in line for Friday then another weekend. I love my job....Watch for some new images tomorrow or at least by Friday.

FIRE !!!

While wandering we became curious because of the strange looking clouds ahead of us. We were traveling through southern Utah on our way home and the clouds just didn't look right. After living in Missouri and Oklahoma you become attuned to the sky and weather. Although I've never been through a tornado I seem to have been surrounded by them growing up. They would crop up in the summer and really raise hell on the communities they struck. The temperature drops, humidity rises, the clouds turn a grey green yellow color and birds seem to take off. It's not a good feeling.But these clouds were somehow different. The higher ones were whispy and below them there was a ball of white which was getting bigger. We couldn't figure it out. Karen was the first to speculate that we were approaching a fire. Didn't seem right to me and we continued to drive. After twenty to thirty miles it became evident that it was a fire and as we passed it I took a shot to document it for my blog.

The weather started to turn also the further east we got. Storm clouds were on the horizon and cars approaching us had their headlights on...a few had water peeling off their cars. We pulled into a gas station to see if anyone had heard anything about what was ahead and as we were standing there a trucker rode in from the east. I walked to his cab and asked him about the ride into the truck stop and he said that it was the worst wind he had ever encountered and his 90,000 pound truck was being tossed around the road. The water was pouring in sheets. He was ready to stop for a while.

We stuck around for awhile and the storm did pass and we resumed out trip. After a 19 hour drive we arrived home to hear that the forest fire we saw was at 5,000 acres and have since it heard that its is out of control and covers 30,000 acres and has consumed residences and approaching several towns.
I just don't know how that type of fire could be fought with any effectiveness. The news also said that it was accidentally started by a man using a propane torch to burn weeds on his property. Huge lapse of good sense. I've just started to edit images form the trip and I will display them as I get them done. Business is very good so please realize that business is always first. Images on the way as time allows.

Happy Fourth of July by the way....

While wandering among the arches...

As I have mentioned in previous posts while wandering the outposts of our country I have noticed the presence of stacked rocks. Sort of a silent statement from someone that they had been present at a given time. The most I've seen at one time was in Arizona along a creek, the furtherest north was in Alaska, and occasionally see them in New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada. They are called Cairns and are viewed in many different ways. Conservationists have no use for them, hikers much the same, but the public in their excitement to be in the outdoors occasionally start stacking. I personally have no feeling one way or the other. BUT...I do see the hidden drive we all have to be present in one way or another.

                                             These were in the Arches National Park.
I will have to think about taking a position concerning these I guess. Neutral is an option for me.

I'm Back !!

I apologies for the lack of content over the last couple of weeks but I've been on the move. Our Granddaughter graduated from Stanford and we went to attend the Graduation ceremonies. Stanford  has a fabulous campus that is stunning to say the least. The students refer to it as "the farm" due to the fact that many areas go as uncut fields of grass. However the facilities are top notch. As I watched the students gather for the commencement speech I marveled at the range of ethnicities that were present.
All of these kids are at the top of the educational game many walking away with multiple degrees in some highly specialized fields. Sarah majored in Chemistry and is bound for P.H.D. studies that may take another 6 to 8 years.

As I sat watching I felt that I would love to repeat my educational career at Stanford simply for the electrical experience I was feeling. It is an absolutely inspiring arena of education. Anything is possible....get on board and make it happen.

These are a few shots of the campus. I have to get to work editing some shots I took on the way back so look for more posts later today or tomorrow...

Great Shoot yesterday .......

I got back from my shoot and processed the images this morning. I shoot with Nikon exclusively and it really delivers a big file to work from. At 36 megapixels I can enlarge to almost any size. The largest prints so far have been of the Graffiti assignment I received from an interior designer in Oklahoma City and he has ordered 2-80 x 120 inch images from me. To save you from the math they were 10 feet tall and clear as a bell. He has really started to develop a market for my images as he has ordered several.

The reason I bring up the size thoughts is because I am going to send to my client a disk  of the images I shot yesterday. I don't think they have a computer with enough ram to view the raw files and by sending them over the net would be a very long download time. They will also be able to give me their preference as to the cropping and other information I need to have. I guess it all comes with a days work.

I may be somewhat invisible as I'm going to be very busy photographing. I'll post as I can but it should be a couple of very interesting weeks.

Just a quick post ...then off to Missouri for a shoot.....

It's that time of year again....the lilies are blooming....

Sorry it's so short but business comes first...

             
                                            Click on the image and it will get larger.................

I'm back and got the tar scared out of me..........

While I was on the last weeks shoot I didn't have access to the internet and basically forgot the proper address for my blog to sign on to. I have spent the last hour or so trying to resurrect the necessary information. I have right at 400 posts and 62,000 views so I was panicking that it might be lost forever. Obviously however....I'm back and will have a bunch of images to pass on to you. I will get them edited today and a few on by tomorrow. Check back tomorrow afternoon to see some pretty interesting stuff....nothing like sharing the panic.

The tidal wave continues...

Well it looks like I'm getting about 2000 views a week as my numbers are skyrocketing. Suddenly 70,000 views is around the corner. This next week I've got a completely full schedule so look forward to some interesting images throughout this weekend and next week.The weather may be the defining factor however......

Thanks for the reschedule.....

As I mentioned in my last note the weather was to be the pits today so luckily enough I was able to reschedule my shoot to yesterday and it went very well. The wind was a bit bodacious but we worked around it by being behind large wind blocks such as buildings, fences, and wooded areas. The light was fantastic as the clouds covered the sun basically acting as a large soft box with gentle light that was also directional. It work out very well. I did come across a wall that I found very interesting and would like to see some of this in Carthage.....probably could be filed in the never gonna happen file.
However it really struck me as something interesting and it is popping up all through our downtown area. I'll get it posted next week.

Potential rain Thursday...

I guess it's all in the life of a portrait photographer...I have a session scheduled for Thursday and rain is in the forecast..that could be good or very bad. Obviously water falling on a client doesn't ideally work well however the light just before, or just after, or during a break in the weather can be fantastic...

Hopefully I'll have great images for you to look at later in the week.

We passed 60,000 views and will have 61,000 by tomorrow !!!

Sorry I've been so invisible but it has been a hectic week. I had several deadlines to hit and was successful....but I was invisible to you all in the process. I hate that but business is always first. I closed the deal on the sale of one five foot by six and a half foot print plus a 40 by 60 inch print to the same individual. Big prints seem to be moving right now. I spent the last three weeks working on my "studio" outside getting everything planted into different locations to use as backgrounds. I have to use the whole area available due to the necessity of being flexible as to where the light is. If the light is best in one area I'll use it, if not, the other areas could be good. Same goes with the wind....some areas are better than others. I have a session next week and I'll upload some examples of what I'm talking about.  I love my job....

Solution......dumb us....

I had mentioned that we should probably put the "leaf guard" net up and was met with lukewarm response.......so I did it anyway.  We bought it in the Fall to keep the leaves from falling into the pond and took it down earlier in the Spring. It works great for keeping the leaves out, preventing their decomposition into sludge in the bottom of the pond. If the heron comes back he will have a hard time getting through  the netting for his daily brunch at Morgan Pond. It is strapped down solidly  on the edges so I think we have the loss of fish taken care of. If we have guests over for dinner or whatever we can move it for a better look at the fish. I was just about to name the backyard the "Valley of Death"...

As dumb as it sounds the fish seem to know that something has changed as they are swimming freely throughout the pond. Before I put it up they huddled in the deepest part of their ocean and didn't surface much unless I fed them. Even then it was an "eat and swim" situation. Dinnertime conversations became very limited. If I have photographic sessions out there I will also remove it for that.

Years ago Leon Kennimer gave a siminar I attended were he explained the advantage of shooting with the sun reflected from a pond. It's like adding a hot box lighting set up without electricity to an environmental portrait situation. I did that when I was in Carthage at Spring River and Morrow Mill but until we put in the pond I didn't have the capability to do it here. The parks in Tulsa and the Garden Center require a fee to be able to shoot within their boundaries and that just rubs me the wrong way. They are tax supported entities here in town. So Morgan Pond was the was to get around the problem.

Click on the file and it will get larger...

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Bird must like NPR

Update !!! Looked out this morning and the damn thing was back. NPR was on the radio giving the news...we thought the radio would scare it away. No such luck.........it must like the news.

However, it stepped on one of the bamboo poles we have on the outskirts of the pond and it moved, scaring the bird off. Fed Ex should deliver the "Banshee Eagle Screaming Motion Detector" today and that may help. Of course then again.....all of our neighbors may vacate the area in a panic. Only in America...........

Lost fish.......

As many of my followers know we have had several Koi ponds over the years. Tulsa is no exception. When we bought the house it had a useless backyard...or perhaps better yet.....ski slope with no snow. We really hated it. Never spent any real time out there just mowed it. Back and forth...back and forth east to west, west to east. Over a four year period we started to change it up with no real plan....just get rid of the slope and perhaps turn it into an outdoor studio location. First was a patio with some precast concrete pavers... Expanded it the following year adding railroad ties to hold the backfill dirt in place. The next year we added a concrete wall to reinforce a larger patio pad and then noticed that there was room between the old deck for us to add another deck with a Koi pond. As we were doing this it seemed logical to add a lower deck to the one we were putting in with stairs to the lawn below.

As we did this-digging the pond-we had the railroad ties from the previous wall and a bunch of dirt from the excavation of the pond. We took the ties and put them to the south of one of our Bradford pear tree and used the fill from the pond to create a level area we deemed "the secret garden". A year later while Karen was at church I built another wall from stackable "pavers" south of the railroad ties.
Filling it with dirt I was able to hide the ties and we had another planting area. As one of the features
I added an architectural piece of stone I got out of a dumpster when there were redoing the Post Office in Carthage and added that as an area for a plant.

Needless to say the back yard is a great area to photograph clients in. HOWEVER !!!

We started with 3 Koi and several other exotic goldfish. Evidently fish have no morals as I hadn't seen any marriage ceremonies in the chapel on the bottom of the pond or any rings on fins of the fish and we suddenly had about 45 fish swimming in the pond. Most farmers will tell you never to name animals on the farm if you are going to eat them...kinda hard to have a friend for dinner if you know what I mean. Koi and goldfish are basically carp, we don't eat carp, so we named most of them. They all have personalities and we would look at them from the deck noting subtle changes and size growth.

Last week I thought that the numbers were different......didn't see a couple of fish we had named.
Buck was missing as was Golda. Golda had a habit of hiding under the water fall so not seeing her was not a big deal. Over then next several days as the rain kept coming down and the Arkansas River, which is a bout a mile west of us, started to get higher I noticed more fish missing. Mentioning it to Karen she looked and agreed. I looked out of my office down at the pond several mornings ago and there was a Blue Heron getting ready to snack on our babies ! I flew down the stairs, ran outside and as the bird flew off I was screaming in a provocative voice " Get out of here you Son of a B-------!! And don't come back !!! If the neighbors were out....they must think I'm crazy.

It's hard to count fish however they are straying in the deep part of the pond which is deeper than the bird can reach.....I think. We have the radio on next to the pond and that seems to be working. The bird hasn't been by since we put it out. Tomorrow we have a motion activated predator bird call arriving which will replace the radio. The neighbors may really think I have gone south when they hear a screeching banshee eagle call from the backyard. "What in the hell is he keeping out there
now ???"

Maybe when the Arkansas goes down the bird will leave us alone. When I think of the fish we lost I think it is appropriate to mention Leonard Cohen singing "Hallelujah". The fish were our "kids" and they will be remembered. Google Leonard and the song.....it just seems to fit. The bamboo across the pond is serving as another deterrent to the bird....why make it easy... The black tray on the left will be cut down and turned into a potting table. It used to be my darkroom sink. Click on the image and it will get larger.

About the rain.....

I guess I should have wished for it to stop sooner. We got a total of about 6.5 inches this weekend and had a bit of flooding in town. Not as much as the news would lead you to believe but it made a mess of other towns. I was to be in Tahlequah to photograph an art show and make some contacts for  future work and thought I should call my sponsor to see what was going on with the show. It's a good thing I did as they were unindated with 7.5 inches of rain and the town flooded. Needless to say the show was cancelled the day before and reset for later in June. I just had not gotten the memo so to speak. I have a bunch of repair work in my yard/studio replacing paths that got washed out and trimming back some broken bushes. The wind though is so strong now that I'll have to put it all off till tomorrow. Auntie EM !! AUNTIE EM !!!..........sure hope some of our trees aren't uprooted by the wind.

Dreary ol'day...

Sick of the rain ! We could get a much as 5 inches before the weekend is over..

So far we have had a walk way wash out, drained three inches off the Koi pond and need to do it again, mud washing over new grass seed....QUIT !!!!

I spent the morning editing a real estate job I had Friday and thought I should look at some files from Alaska. Our present weather seems to match the attitude of the area we were in on the boat. Drizzly, a bit cold and just cast a blue funk over the day.

We have been missing a few fish from the pond...or at least it seemed so. I looked down from my office and saw a blue herring standing on the east side of the pond. I raced down stairs, quietly took off one of my tennis shoes and threw it at the bird. As it was flying of I called out in a not too low of a voice "And don't come back you son of a B____ !! Hope the neighbors weren't out standing in the rain....it's all in a day around the house....Click on the image and it will get larger on your screen.

A new account ......and 60,000 views around the corner..

I had the good fortune of a local realtor seeing my blog and contacted me for an assignment on Friday. Because of the weather report predicting rain, I went to the location of the home she wanted to get photographed and produced the outside images yesterday. If it is raining on Friday it won't make any difference as I will have all of the necessary equipment to compensate for the lack of daylight inside.

This is the basic bread and butter work of a studio. Not too creatively challenging however decisions must be made concerning the location of the shooting spot to show the most inclusive angles and the best view of the rooms. Generally I never get to preview the locations inside so it's kind of like Christmas.......each assignment is unknown until I get to it. The larger the location the longer it will take. Every day is a new day....I love my job.

By this weekend I will have surpassed 60,000 views ! Absolutely amazing....

A great leap forward...

Just checked my stats and 58,000 views is around the corner. I'll be shooting today so look forward to a new post soon. Thanks for your support.

Stat check.....

I guess I'm like a kid at Christmas........I really like looking at my statistical ratings from Google. Presently I'm sitting at 55,000 views and collecting about 5,000 views a month from all over the world. Going at this rate I should have 100,000 views by December of this year. I could have never guessed this would be the outcome of something I started for the heck of it. It has earned me business from viewers and I hoped has helped spread the word that because someone bought an expensive camera, they can't call themselves professional.

It takes years of education and experience to carry that label. As the photographic education is well on the way, the act of "seeing" is suddenly realized. Intrinsically everything I look at is subconsciously divided up into compositional spaces. I love it as that happens. The world takes on a different view. I can remember in my first photography class with Bob Johnson at SMS, on a class outing, his ability to "see" compositions I was blundering through. I had not learned the act of "seeing". That and the people I have met make this the job of a lifetime I'll be forever grateful for. I love what and how I see......Thanks for sharing my blog with me....

Sigma Nu Images.......

When my Dad went to Missouri University he was an Sigma Nu. He said that joining the frat was really the only way to get decent housing at that time. There were several Carthagenians attending MU  then so when he settled in Columbia he had college friends, that were also from his home town.

I got the assignment to produce the images from a very well known Interior Designer in Oklahoma City, Mr. Ron Licklider. He had seen my work on my blog and dropped me a call. The first assignment was to photograph art deco elements found in Tulsa. That was then followed up by another assignment to photograph some graffiti and I completed both assignments. Then a problem surfaced.....which ones to choose. I left that problem up to him. The graffiti was especially hard as there were so many to choose from. I've got to admit that one image especially hit my fancy, that being an 80 by 60 inch image of some really nice graffiti. That image is included in the selections above. I had a great time working on this and Ron has told me he has another assignment coming soon......I love my job.

A new project....

As I mentioned in a previous posting I am looking at a proposal for me to photograph images for a foundry of their past work. The "studio" images you have seen were samples of how I would light the work on a black background then a white. Many of the pieces they have cast reside at locations throughout Tulsa. This is a sample of one of the larger works I'm sending to them so they can get an idea of what I would do.

It will be a challenging project for sure.

Click on the images and it will get larger...

The Sigma Nu pictures....

I got word today that the images I made for the Sigma Nu house at OU have been hung. I'm going next week to get some images of the installation for promotional purposes. I'll be sure to get the shots on the blog as soon as I get them processed. Look for some new images this week end of other things that I want to post.

2 New Image tests and Passed 53,000 views....

I seem to have had somewhat of a mental block in getting together the test shots for the upcoming shoot involving the sculptures. It wasn't rocket science but I had to work it out over the weekend
and finally got it done. This assignment will involve some shooting in the studio but a real bunch of imagery to be photographed enviornmentally. Many of the statues are larger than life and situated all around Tulsa and other metro areas. It should be a great time. I would like to complete all of the work over the next month or so while the trees and grass are in their best state. I'll keep you posted.

Great time last night...

I may have mentioned in the post concerning the installation of the sculpture piece I photographed a couple of weeks ago, but I met the lady that owns the foundry that cast the statue while there. We hit it off well and she was in need of a professional photographer as her guy had decided to move on for one reason or another. In the course of the conversation she invited me to Pawhuska Oklahoma for  an art show last night. Karen and I went and I was blown away. The show was well done with some real talent from throughout the United States but the real surprise was Pawhuska. What a vibrant local culture there. The town was hopping, clean, Oklahoma friendly, and the buildings and renovations were outstanding. A really great surprise !!

It really reminded me of Carthage when it was on it's upsurge in the 80's. Excitement, cohesiveness, and the merchants were game for anything. The town square had a great variety of businesses wow..
it really looked good. Distressing that I see just a hint of that now. Granted it can be reborn but it will take leadership that I think must come from out of town. The complacency of being in a location for an extended time is like blinders on a horse.....your vision becomes limited. Pawhuska has buildings like Carthage, many of which are being renovated into condos on the top floors and retail establishments on the ground level. It would do the Chamber of Commerce leaders well to take a chance, do a day trip to Pawhuska, and light the fire again. If they don't think of it as a good idea...other business owners and leaders could make the journey themselves and come back invigorated and start the revolution. If there is enough positive feedback from the trip maybe...MAYBE the ball could start rolling again.

I ran some tests to show my new client how her pieces could look on a white background and as close-ups. I'll have the black backgrounds to show you tomorrow.

Surpassed 50,000 approaching 51,000 views........WOW !!!

Well the title says it all. 51 is around the corner and I better get some new images up so you have something to see. I had an assignment to photograph an installation of a statue in commemoration of an special individual last week and am honored to have received it. The site is in a wooded area a short distance from a main road here in Tulsa. It's quiet, surrounded by trees and has a commemorative wall designed for meditation and for me, I sort of  began to consider the present and future. It's a very special place. The landscaping work isn't totally done as yet but should be finished by the end of May.
I will follow up with a set of completed images to view.

I really like the feelings evoked in this special installation and location.