Sky Fire

Last september, my wife and shared a vacation with 4 other couples from our church. The vacation was a blast and the house we shard in Hatteras, NC was luxurious. I assigned myself the task of documenting the week in photos. All week I took photos of fishing, walks on the beach, sightseeing trips to Ocracoke and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, meals together, a wine tasting, boggie boarding and more. The photos that I took were mostly photojournalistic in style with a few posed couple portraits sprinkled in (my wife's influence on my photography).

The oceanfront house was perfect for capturing the beautiful sunrises over the Atlantic ocean. I rose early on several mornings just to watch the glory of a new day dawning. However it was an sunset that took my breath away. I was actually relaxing in the house, watching the end of a television show when I stepped out onto the deck outside of our room. I was stunned by the site my eyes beheld. I grabbed my camera and ran out to the beach.

It is amazing how God's creation can be so beautiful yet so infinite.

Cades Cove

Cades Cove is the most heavily visited destination within the most heavily visited national park in the United States. The abundance of wildlife and an unmatched collection of historic churches and cabins in the cove attract more than two million visitors every year. A trip around the 11-mile, one-way Loop Road encircles the valley floor. It can be traveled by private vehicle, hay wagon, bicycle, or foot.

Vacationing in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee provided numerous opportunities for observing God's splendor in creation. Beautiful views from the deck of our room, amazing waterfalls seen while hiking through the Smokys, and breathtaking view while driving through the scenic loop of Cades Cove provided challenging opportunities to digitally capture the wonder that my eyes beheld.

The beauty we witnessed was awesome. How great is our God who can create such splendor by just speaking! This picture of the valley floor was taken at one of the many pull-offs on the scenic loop. I love the beauty of lone trees and this tree was spectacular with the mountains in background. This truly was a spectacular area to drive through and my wife and I are looking forward to returning to the area to view the entire loop and all of it's beauty.

Nikon D70, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/320s f/10.0 at 25.0mm, ISO 200

Urban Hawk

Having grown up within the city limits of Philadelphia, PA, the birds that I am familiar with seeing up close are sparrows, robins, and pigeons. So when I saw this hawk perched in a tree near the office where I was freelancing, I simply had to see if I could get a picture of it. Unfortunately, it was raining, my Nikon D70 was less than 24 hours old, and I really had no idea what I was doing with my new camera. Never the less, I ventured as close to this Urban Hawk as I thought wise, and snapped a few pictures.

I wish that I had known a little more about my camera when I snapped this shot. I would have shot in Camera Raw. At that time I didn't know about the various focus-area modes. Had I known, I would have chosen another the single focus area rather than the default closest-subject mode. I certainly would have adjusted my white balance for clouds and I would have loved to have taken this image with my 50mm 1.8 lens which is razor sharp. However, these opportunities don't wait for perfect conditions and I am just glad I had my camera with me. It is opportunities like this one that encourage me to carry my camera with me at all times.

Nikon D70, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/320s f/10.0 at 25.0mm, ISO 200

I do.

Weddings may be the ultimate stage for my style of photography. The moments captured at a wedding our priceless. The entry of the bride... the expression of the groom as he sees his beauty gracefully entering the chapel... Their first kiss as husband and wife.

I do was captured while attending a friend's wedding. I was a guest so this photo was taken from my seat in the audience. I was running a little later than I planned so our seats were further back then I had hoped I would be. So this picture was taken from about 30 feet from the stage. Not my ideal spot for taking pictures, but I managed to get some decent shots none the less.

More than anything, it was a pleasure to witness Caleb and Lilly commit their lives to one another. Caleb is a good brother and a man of God. I am excited to see how God will bless and use them as they grow together as husband and wife.

Nikon D70, Sigma 70-200mm F2.8, 1/80s f/4.0 at 165.0mm, ISO 800

rush hour

The splendor of God's creation is all around us. Even when I am stuck in traffic on interstate 295 South during rush-hour, I can see His splendor on display. Rush hour was photographed as I headed home from a day of graphic design work at a client's offices. The evening sky was simply beautiful and as I drove (or crawled) toward home I felt I just had to attempt to capture what I was seeing. So in between watching the tail lights of the car in front of me, I dug my camera out of it's bag and carefully positioned it on the steering wheel. Since I was still driving (albeit at 2mph) I couldn't look through the viewfinder to take the picture. So I hit the brake to give me a little distance between me and the pickup in front of me, pointed my camera at the sky and trusted that auto focus would do its job. It was a chance shot with very ability to compose the shot but the result is one of my favorite photographs. My wife still can't believe that I took a photo while I was driving. Personally, I am glad I did.

Nikon D70, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/80s f/4.5 at 18.0mm, ISO 500

revolution

Vacations are a great times to take photographs. Colonial Williamsburg provided a number of unique photographic opportunities. From the canon fire demonstration, the yoked oxen, the various trade shops, or the daily march of the drum and fife troop. It really was a very interesting trip.

Revolution was taken during one of two daily drum and fife marches. I really didn't achieve the look I desired for this shot. I wanted less depth of field so that the foremost fifer (is that a word?) would be the focal point of the photo. However, the troop was marching and I was taking photos on the fly.

Nikon D70, 50mm f/1.8, 1/500s f/3.5, ISO 200

nana

Sometimes interesting photographs happen during the most ordinary circumstances. This photo was taken while talking with my mother and her great-grand-daughter on her front porch. As I sat there and watched the two talking and relating I snapped a couple of shots, mainly because I had my camera with me. (How many interesting shots or memorable situations pass by and are never captured because we don't have our camera with us?) I was looking to get an interesting shot of my mother, using some depth-of-field to create interest and make her the focal point of the composition.

Nikon D70, 50mm f/1.8, 1/320s f/1.8, ISO 280

innocence

How could I resist when this cute little girl ran up to me and said, "Take my picture." The funny thing was that I was trying out my new Sigma 70-200 2.8 DX Lens and she was stand only 4ft in front of me. With a minimal focal length of 6ft, I leaned as far back in the chair I was sitting in and took her picture as she posed. I still don't know why she covered her nose for the picture, but that was how she posed. I had no idea that the shot would come out so well. Honestly, I was still very new to my D70 and as I said this was the first day that I was shooting with this new lens. Her parents, who are good friends of my wife and I, have this photo framed and hanging in their home. They say that I need to take a photo of their younger daughter to compliment this one, but the opportunity has not arisen yet.

Nikon D70, Sigma 70-200mm F2.8, 1/125s f/2.8 at 165.0mm, ISO 800

webster street

5:45AM. It is not everyday that I find myself on the roof of the home where I grew up. Yet there I was at the crack of dawn, perched on my mother's roof with my DSLR taking shots of the old neighborhood. I am sure that if any of the neighbors were up at that time of the morning, they were wondering as well, why I was on the rooftops armed with my camera.

Webster Street was actually a project photo. As a graphic designer, there are times in my job where my love of photography meets my vocational hobby and I get to combine them -- hopefully for a pleasing result for my client. In this instance, the client was my mother and a postcard I was designing for her to use as an invitation to her neighbors. I decided that early morning would be the best time to take the photo as I needed some darker areas to overlay text upon in my design and we believed that her neighborhood would be fairly quiet at that time. I shot the sunrise at various exposures so as to give myself several options in the design process. The lens flare was added during post-processing for effect.

Nikon D70, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/100s f/5.6 at 25.0mm, ISO 200