She Walks With A Wolf

The other day I had the pleasure to photograph a Bronze by Charloette Darling-Diehl.

Originally a stone sculpture, Char now casts Bronze from stone originals.

Her work appears to have a strong Inuit influence, and can be viewed on her website.

http://darlingcarvings.com/

Scenes from the Road

A fallen tree in hazy morning light along the river bank.

Scenes from the Road

An autumn sunset signals a time to harvest.

Scenes from the Road

The old man of the forest, with his arms up stretched searching for the last rays of fall.
Majestic Maple.

Scenes from the Road

Chlorophyll is loosing the battle with Yellow and Red.
So soon they also will lose to Brown,
and then to White.

Scenes from the Road

Well it's that time of the year again, getting colder outside but our lives are getting more colorful.
Painted leaves and rosy cheeks...

Scenes from the Road

While riding on a narrow back road I found this old country schoolhouse.
Once surrounded by children from the local farms, now abandoned, but still a work of art in it's last days.

Scenes from the Road

Fall is in the air, and the yellow petals have turned and fallen from the once bright sunflowers.

Scenes from the Road

Another day, another road. Could there be a buried treasure along the river, under the trees where X marks the spot...
Or, is the treasure the Journey?

Scenes from the Road

Another old barn in morning light...

Scenes from the Road

Went for a ride before dawn,
then a walk in the woods,
took a picture,
just another nice day...

Scenes from the Road

Scenes from the Road

Photographers are Painters also, we just use light.

I was asked by Thrivent Financial, to photograph Lutheran Churches throughout the country for their calendar. Saint Peters in New York City presented it's own challenges. Being made of gray concrete block, and sitting in the shadows of skyscrapers, the whole scene was very monochromatic. I checked inside and finding the interior was in the process of being renovated I realized my only shot was outside.
I am paid for results not excuses, so it was time to pull the rabbit out of the hat.
I came back at 6:00 p.m. and picked the best composition, put the camera on a tripod and took the first photo, the ugly gray one. I shot until 9:15 p.m. Watching the light change, I captured the sky, the reflections on the buildings, and after dusk the lights in the church and other buildings.
When I got back to my hotel, I worked till 1:00 a.m. painting seven files into the result you see here. I hope enjoy the process.

Scenes from the Road

Scenes from the Road

Scenes from the Road

Scenes from the Road

About a month ago I took on a quest to ride all 107 of the designated Rustic Roads in Wisconsin on my motorcycle in three weeks. Often leaving early in the dark, I would see a moon to the west and a hint of pre dawn pink to my east. The rides were between 100 and 800 miles in a day. The longest day was 18 hours on the bike. Some of the photos posted earlier were shot on these days on the road, and I will continue to post photos from these roads and others that I travel this summer.  

You will see sunrises, flowers, old cars, barns and anything I found of interest labeled, Scenes from the Road. I hope you enjoy the Scenes as much as I did finding them.

 To kick this off, just a dead flower held up to the sun.

I got up at 3:30 am to get a shot of a Lighthouse. I must be crazy... But the Community Foundation needed a photo of a lighthouse for their Annual Report, so off I went in the dark of night. 

You must be there in the dark, find the best camera angle and be ready. Only a 10 minute window to shoot while the sky is dark but filled with color, and the pre dawn light warms the subject giving it shape. If the sun's rays peek above the horizon you loose. Go home and get up early again tomorrow.

I had a request for some of my woodworking, so here goes.

Some years ago, I made a Jewelry Box to give away at our Christmas family gathering. All the girls put their names in a hat, but only one was the lucky winner, so a tradition was born.

I changed them  a bit year to year, these are made from Quilted and Birdseye Maple, Australian Lacewood, and Macassar  Ebony.

About fourteen boxes later all the girls are happy, and  my work is done.

Independence Day

I took a ride on a Rustic Road today where I came upon someone's handy work outside of a barn window.

Red white and blue flowers.

I had to stop and take this photo to say happy Forth of July,

and to thank  all of those who served to keep us, and others free.

Yamaha

Thought it was about time I show some real work again.

These are just two shots from large series I shot with Hoffman York, for Yamaha's Parts and  Accessories Division.  The challenge was to first find and shoot great scenes that would be a perfect  environment for the different Yamaha vehicles, then to shoot the vehicles in the studio,

matching the lighting and perspective to that of  the scene. The key is to make the two shots blend seamlessly so when viewed no one can tell. These, and the other shots from the series

 can be seen on Yamalube containers any ware in the world.

Old Pond...

 I parked the bike at a pond just before sunrise.

  What I saw reminded me of an old Haiku.

Old pond 

Frog jump in

Water sound

Weeds At Sunrise

A sunrise can make anything look better, if you wake up and see it...

Even the weeds looked good today.

Sunrise Today

 Last night I thought it might be nice to add a sunrise shot to my blog.  After all, with everything happening these days, a nice sunrise shot just might cheer some people up. I know sunrise always make me feel better. 

So in the black of night I grabbed a camera fired up the motorcycle and off I went, another adventure. 

  As the sky lightened, I rode along  hoping for a warm colorful sunrise, with magic light filtering through the low lying fog embracing the rolling hills.

 But reality set in when the sun rose to greet a plain, pale blue sky with no ground fog, and yes I was in flat dairy land Wisconsin, so no rolling hills or anything else to help me find the beautiful sunrise shot that I was hoping for. I did however see some daisies, and I was enjoying a nice morning ride on the bike.

 So I guess sometimes, if we can't find that perfect sunrise,  we can be happy with the daisies we find by the side of the road...