This was the first stop on my GW Forest visit with my dad the other day. I mainly wanted to check on the foliage to see how far along it was. I’d love to get some images of the fall colors at their peak. This was pretty close.
The foliage is just about to peak at Elkhorn Lake. | Order a print of this image.
When I started shooting (both video and stills) I would just shoot anything and everything. I had no vision and real purpose for what I was shooting. I shot because, well, I could. I see so many people these days shooting video and stills and I always wonder what they do with it. My philosophy these days is “why shoot if you’re not going to do anything with it.” It doesn’t have to be posted on a social media site. It doesn’t have to be on broadcast TV. It could simply be shared with friends around the kitchen counter, but do something with it, otherwise it was pointless to shoot it in the first place. IMHO.
I choose to share mine online. My original intent for purchasing an aerial camera was to shoot cyclocross racing. So here’s a first look at a couple of cross races I’ve shot this season. I actually plan on putting together a piece for the Psycho Cross race – a sort of promo of sorts. Order a print of the featured image here.
The photo isn’t really a throwback, but the place is. Todd Lake (the lake is directly below the camera) in the George Washington National Forest – it’s where I spent a lot of my childhood. I picked wild blueberries and ate them off the plant. I’d walk through the forest and get drinking water from the creek. My brothers and I would sit on top of my grandmother’s bronco and pick/eat persimmons from the tree. And I learned to drive said bronco in the field. I remember going up there every couple weeks to mow the huge field – I also learned to use a riding mower there, too. I spent the day up there shooting yesterday with my dad and my dog Waldo. Good times.
The cabin, where I spent a lot of my youth, sits at the bottom of the clearing in the middle of the image.
I clearly didn’t know what I was looking for this morning during the lunar eclipse. Instead I got to see a pretty awesome sunrise with some low-lying fog. It made for some great scenery. I’ll take it.
Looking for the moon in the west during this morning’s sunrise. | Order a print of this image.
I’m no graphic designer and I’ve never claimed to be one. I can re-create something I see, but I’m just not that creative when it comes to generating something brand new.
The senior class at Handley High School for at least the last 5 years has had some fun with the high school initials (JHHS) and created a logo for the class. I’m not sure how it started or who started it, but it’s been creative every year. We wait in anticipation over the Summer to see how the new year has been incorporated into the initials each Fall. So kudos to whoever generates the Handley senior class “logo.”
One of the many senior portraits I’ve taken of my daughter.
I’ve got a series of images that I’ll eventually combine to create a “mapping” image of the Psycho Cross course in Sykesville. There’s so much that’s cool about this venue, but what’s really awesome is that if I look up the address on my iPhone/Mac maps I can actually see the worn areas that mark the race course. Check it out.
If you asked me a year ago with which lens I preferred to use to shoot races I would have answered, without hesitation, “my 70-200.” These days, not so much. Almost 50% of my images from the last two weekends of shooting cyclocross were shot on my 12-24 lens. This also plays into my purposeful shooting method for sports. Today’s image has nothing to do with cycling other than it was shot at one of the coolest race venues around.
Every year I discover that the Warfield Complex is more boarded up in certain places and more dilapidated in others. It certainly makes for some fun images .
I’ve shot here for several years now at the annual Psycho Cross cyclocross race and I look froward to it every year. I enjoy shooting cycling, no doubt, but I really enjoy shooting this property. And this year I have a new angle of view! Just a little preview of what I’ll be shooting tomorrow.
One of the open windows at the Warfield Complex in Sykesville, MD. | Order a print of this image.