Some more light painting

a light painted photograph

I’ve been playing with some more light painting. This photo I spent about three nights perfecting the lighting. Although I’m no musician, I’d guess it’s a little like writing a song. You run through it, take a peek at it on the computer, change a little something about it trying to keep the rest of the elements from the last photo together while adding a little tweak of the light here and there. By the end of the night you have quite a rhythm down.

This lighting technique is perfect for the vintage cameras and rusty ceiling tile background. The warm and dreamy light adds to the vintage feel of these old cameras. I’ve been collecting old cameras on eBay for some time now with the hope of making some nice photographs with them. I think I’ve found the perfect technique and look. I have more cameras to work with and two more rusty ceiling tiles for backgrounds. I’m looking forward to making a set of three vintage camera photos that work together nicely.

My old F

A little side note about the Nikon F that is in the middle of the photo. That is an old camera I bought and used in high school. I used it as my second body for years, even up until I was a photographer at the Greeley Tribune. When I left for the Naples Daily News in 1996 I finally had staff cameras issued to me. So the old F got retired. But it still works to this day!

Playing around with some light painting

The past couple of days I’ve spent some time doing something a little different. I’ve been inside playing around with light painting in my studio. (well, my basement actually) I like how it’s coming along. I’ll be doing more of this over the winter months.

All that’s used in these photos is a small Mag Light and a 30 second exposure. The light is “painted” on with the flashlight. It’s more tricky than  you would think. But I’ll save a bundle on studio lighting equipment!

Vintage fishing lures light painted with nothing but a small flashlight.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Wildlife Photography

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A little Theodore Roosevelt National Park wildlife photography news here. I know I’ve been full of a lot of Pinhole stuff lately, but I was interviewed by the Bismarck Tribune in North Dakota. The story was about photographing wildlife safely and without disrupting the critters you are photographing. I talked about how I  photographed this Bison shot without disturbing the big guy and without putting myself in danger.

Here’s an excerpt from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Wildlife Photography story…

Wisconsin photographer Cameron Gillie’s favorite national park is Roosevelt. They say it’s a great place to take photos, though it’s important to make safety a priority.

Gillie said big animals can appear docile, but they may read a person’s behavior as threatening.

“Every animal has a line that you cross, and they will take that as a threat. And you never know what that line is,” he said.

Gillie likes to stay in his car when he can and use it as a blind. He considers his best shot to be a close-up of a bison in the north unit of the park (photo at right), taken on a rainy day from his car on the road.

“I was 30 feet from him, and because I was in the car, he didn’t pay any attention to me,” he said. “To be out of my car at that point would have been foolish.”

One of these days I hope to get back out to Theodore Roosevelt National Park to hang out with some of these majestic creatures again. Mike Murray of North Sand Photography and I are also considering doing a photography workshop at Theodore Roosevelt soon.

If you are at all interested in a workshop photographing the amazing majestic animals and landscapes of Theodore Roosevelt National Park sign up for my email list to be notified when we announce the dates of our Theodore Roosevelt National Park wildlife photography workshop.

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Here’s the entire Tribune’s story.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park Wildlife Photography

Some Odds and Ends

Here’s some new pinhole photos from around Madison while I’ve been testing some new film and cameras. In a few days I’ll be in Istanbul, so I want to make sure I’ve got everything dialed in before we go!

 

Garner Trees dark

Garner Park, I see these trees every day on my way to coffee. So if they look familiar, they have been on the blog before.

 

Capitol dome

The Wisconsin State Capitol.

 

Madison Museum of Contempory Art

The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

 

 

 

 

Pinhole Portrait and Vintage Cameras

It may just be that Jim is just good at holding still, but my first attempt at some pinhole portraits went pretty good. Yesterday I spent the day with my friend and fellow Wisconsin photographer/artist Jim Sincock at his studio in Racine, which is about the coolest building I’ve ever seen for a studio. I brought some antique cameras for props and we wandered around the Racine Business Center taking some photos with Jim. It’s an awesome old building with great light. Here’s the results, it was a good day of shooting pinholes.


Jim Sincock (2)

 

Beacon camera

 

Mamiya camera

 

Photo craft camera

 

stairway

 

Jim on stairs 2