Time to zoom in on Chardon's Clock Tower

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Chardon, OH is the center of the "snow belt" in Northeast Ohio. It is also the county seat for Geauga County. The town has a traditional town center square and at the north end of the square is this beautiful county building.

I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out the Canon 100-400mm L zoom lens. All of these images were taken on the Canon 20D which has 8.2 mega-pixels. You'll see by examining these images that good glass (lenses) is more important than lots of mega-pixels.


Let's start out at 100mm. Lots of detail and good saturation.

Stats: Canon 20D 8.2mp 100mm 1/800th f9.0 ISO 400


Let's move up to 200mm. Again, plenty of detail and saturation as we get closer to the clock.

Stats: Canon 20D 8.2mp 200mm 1/800th f8.0 ISO 400


The weather vane was cropped from the second picture. It still has plenty of detail. You can easily read the 1869 sign. No signs of chromatic aberration (red/blue fringing) either.


And finally, a close-up of this beautiful clock. The sun is spanking the dial and the colors are glistening.

Stats: Canon 20D 8.2mp 400mm 1/800th f7.1 ISO 400

I admit that this was probably an easy test for the lens. The sun was bright so getting a good exposure was easy. The lens performed as it should for an 'L' series. What I liked was the ability to crop into the images and extract the most interesting objects.

The simple rule here is get good glass if you can afford it. It's more important than the camera body and is the best investment in the long run. Camera bodies wear out or become obsolete, but lenses generally last forever.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Cleveland sports is looking and feeling good these days

I'm starting to feel good about Cleveland sports these days. The Indians are in first place. The Yankees are in last place. Our starting pitching is excellent. Our closer has 9 saves, tops in the AL. And one of our starters nearly pitched a shutout Sunday and now has to return to the minors. Too bad for Fausto but it shows the depth of the pitching staff.

The Cavaliers are about to sweep the Wizards. They don't have to face the Pistons in Round 2. That's great (but I think New Jersey will be tough). And who's complaining now about Z and that fat contract he signed? He's having a great playoff with double-doubles every game.

Best of all, the Browns pulled off a terrific draft on Saturday. The game of football is all about blocking and tackling and if you do that better than the other team you usually win. That's why Joe Thomas, OT Wisconsin, was a great choice at #3.

Picking up Brady Quinn at #22 was a stunner. Not only do we get a top-rated pick but we get him at value price. Brady gets no huge contract until he proves himself. Giving up our 2008 #1 pick is not a big deal. If it's in the top 5, you always over-pay and the risk is greater. We got our next year's #1 this year and at the price of a #22 pick. Not bad. Do you really think Charlie Frye is the QB we need?

Maybe it's time for us tortured Cleveland sports fans to forget about the past and hope more for a great future. It may come sooner than we think.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Another case of always having your camera with you

It's just a snapshot of a window washer. But I hope this is leading me to the one great picture which I'll take because I'll have my camera with me. It could be, dare I say, a Pulitzer Prize winner! But that would probably mean it is a picture of death, destruction, or some other malaise. If you review the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for photography from 1968 to 1999 you'll see most, if not all, fall into those ghastly topics. Most of the photographers were either students, staff photographers, or amateurs in the right place at the right time.


Hmmm, if I cut the rope maybe I'd get my Pulitzer Prize?

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Worn doors - Little Italy

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O.K., here's the plan. Take picture of two worn doors in Cleveland's Little Italy with reflections in the glass of the sky and craggy trees without getting yourself in the reflection!


Gear: Canon 5D, 24-105mm L, ISO 800, 1/60th @ f5.6

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All rights reserved.

Monet in Cleveland

If you haven't made it over to the Cleveland Museum of Art for the Monet in Normandy exhibit you only have a few weeks left. It is fantastic! My wife, Mary, and I finally made it there tonight and walked through the exhibit several times.

For photographers, studying painting is useful because of what you can learn about composition. The great painters did wonderful things with structure, depth-of-field, and lighting that will help any photographer. Take for example Monet's Garden at Sainte-Adresse. Note the high horizon line and depth-of-field. A photographer would take this image using a wide angle lens, perhaps a 24mm, in order to capture the subjects in foreground, but with a smaller aperture, to make sure the ships in the background are in focus. The high horizon line helps lead the viewer from the people in the foreground to the ships in the background.

Another example is La Chapelle de Notre-Dame de Grâce, Honfleur. Instead of plunking the chapel in the middle of the image, Monet leads the viewer to and from the chapel with the road which protrudes diagonally from the corner and from the gentle slope of the tree line.

Not all skies need to be blue with white, fluffy clouds as Monet shows with The Pointe de la Hève at Low Tide. Here the sky forms the mood for the image. Monet does this in many of his works, using the sky solely as an instrument to set the mood, whether it be grey for drab moods, turbulent for storminess, or bright for joyous moments.

The images I linked from the Museum of Art Web site are not anywhere near the quality of what's at the exhibit. I urge you to see the exhibit in person before it's too late.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All rights reserved.

Pollock Hot Metal Bottle Car

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This series is for all of you who like to look at old, rusted-out, industrial stuff. I spotted this steel mill hot metal bottle car in the back of the new Steelyard Commons shopping center. Apparently the bottle car is part of a steel mill exhibit at the commons. There weren't any signs or labels that mention what it is and what it is doing here.


The bottle car sits on track with the steel mill in the background. It's a big, hulking mass of steel and was used to move molten iron through the plant.


This is what's left of the manufacturer's logo on the side of the ladle. It shows plenty of wear and tear from years of labor in the mill.


A nice rusty image of a steel train wheel.


Not sure what this is but it's full of gunk. Don't you just want to take a putty knife to this?


A gunky device with the "Cleveland" name protruding. Doesn't this say it all about our past? Industrial, tough, hard-working but aging.


A closeup of the brakes.


Another closeup of the springs.


Fluid components looking like they've seen better, and cleaner, days.


Check it out at Steelyard Commons but leave your scrapper or putty knife at home.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All rights reserved.

The People of the Li River - A Photo Essay

The Li River or Li Jiang in Guilin is one of the most beautiful river courses in the world. It is known for two distinct features, one is physical and the other is economic. The first is the craggy but beautiful "karst"-limestone hills that jut out all over the province. It looks like a mystical dreamland. The other is the fisherman and their "cormorant" or diving birds.

The region had been immortalized for centuries by Chinese poets. One of their praises read, "He who sails along the Li River finds himself floating in a sweet dream."

Beyond the hills and the birds there is plenty of activity along the river and many beautiful things to see. Enjoy the ride!

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Small fishing villages are scattered throughout the Li River. Out in the rural areas Chinese instituted "communes" still exist. Many of the parents and grandparents who live in these villages were forced here in the 1950's and 60's by Mao. Most people are trapped here without enough capital to grow, diversify or just leave. They are left with only farming and fishing in order to live out their days.


Cruise boats lumber in caravans down the river. Last year an attendance record for set for Li River tourists averaging over 200,000 per month in the summer. My trip was in April 2005.


Our boat was not crowded. Most of the passengers were down below because of the drizzle. In the background you can see the huge "karst" hills. It's beautiful and scenic but it is only a backdrop to a very sad reality of the rural Chinese people. Unlike the dwellers in the large cities they have very limited economic opportunity and political freedom.


On the back of the cruise boats is the kitchen and dish washing facility.


A young boy has the duty of flagman for this cruise boat.


Two peddlers eye a pair of cruise boats churning down the Li River. About every half mile the cruise boats are targeted by peddlers who row right next to the cruise boats and plead with tourists to buy their goods.


The boats are made of bamboo and can move fairly fast in the water.


Once alongside a cruise boat, the peddlers will plead with passengers to purchase goods. Usually it's a carved object like an elephant or monkey. Most tourist buy their goods out of sympathy for their plight.


Some villages have their own pier to support the activities of many fisherman. This is a typical fishing vessel. It is large enough to be used as a home for a Chinese family. Don't be surprised if five or more people live aboard.


Some villages are large enough to have roads, vehicles and shops. The little blue van is a common vehicle in China. They are used for everything including taxi rides.


A young boy fixes a bicycle along the Li River. The stone pier is covered with a type of "chicken wire" to hold the rocks in place.


A boat launches out for a day of dragnet-fishing. The most delicious fish from the Li River is the steamed Mandarin fish which is so tender it will literally melt in your mouth.


Two girls think about taking a dip in the water. It looks a bit polluted to me but China is all about water. Several major rivers and thousands of tributaries flow Northwest to Southeast and on to the ocean. Sanitary conditions are not up to any Western standards. Bottled water is a must for all foreign travelers.


Help! I have these two stupid birds stuck to my pole! These birds are actually the cormorants, or fishing birds. At night the fisherman takes them out in his boat and they dive for fish. During the day the fisherman hangs out on the pier and charges 5-10 yuan for anyone who wants to take a picture with him. Not a bad way to pick up some pocket money.



Here's a pretty well-worn vessel, longer than most, at its dock.


A woman relaxes in her fishing boat/"home" which is also her source of income. You find entire families living on some of these boats.


In the West you would chuckle if you saw someone napping like this but in China many people work multiple jobs and sleep is taken whenever the opportunity arises. You'll actually see scenes like this all over China. The average monthly income is $25 to $300 per year so any additional job helps. Unlike India and other third-world countries, the Chinese always have enough to eat. Starvation is unheard of in a country of well over a billion people.


A woman relaxes in the shade along a riverside farm.


Another woman heads down to the river to wash clothes. Life is simple here.


A fisherman prepares his nets for a day of work. Because of pollution and overfishing it is more difficult to get a good haul of fish.


A mother nurses her baby along the shore of the Li River. The Chinese still have a policy of one child per couple. Unfortunately, the Buddhist religion requires a son to pray for his parents after death in order for them to obtain heaven. This causes many Chinese to abort or abandon girls in order to have another chance at having a son. Many Chinese girls are adopted by Americans. When flying from China back to America our plane had at least a dozen Chinese baby girls being escorted to America. (They all woke up and cried at different times too! No sleep for me.)


While hardly anyone in America is solely dependent on a river for their livelihood, the opposite is true for much of China. The river is a major source of food, water, cleaning and employment. Here a young woman washes clothes by scrubbing them across rocks along the shore.


A pathway leads to a village where a group lives in a communal farm. They grow rice, peppers and catch fish in the river. Some members work on the larger cruise and fishing boats. Again, for all you hear about China's new prosperity, the average person is very poor and lives a meager life.


A man prepares to paint his vessel. The green and blue vessels are a common color combination along the river as you can see from the image below. No, they are not the same vessel!


A family takes a break onshore to do some washing and purchase supplies. There are ten people here. The boat is big enough to hold all of them.


Two boys watch the river traffic. Unless they get an educational opportunity they will probably live their entire lives along the river. Some Chinese are migrating to Shanghai and other large metropolitan areas to find work.


A beautiful cave entrance along the Li River. The enterprising villagers offer boat rides into the caves. If you enlarge the image you can see laundry hanging out to dry on the trees above the boaters.


A fisherman rows out to the river with three cormorants or "fishing birds." The fish will dive out into the water and catch fish in their mouths. Around their necks is a "choke" rope which prevents them from swallowing the fish. The fisherman retrieves the catch from the bird's mouth and then rewards the bird with a smaller piece of food they can swallow.

There are many wonderful pictures of these boats and cormorants working the river at night. The boats have mystical-looking red lamps that glow like fire at night. Unfortunately, I did not have opportunity to get that image. But I'll be back.

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There is much more to show and tell about the people of the Li River but I hope this gives you a small picture of how these people live. They smile and laugh and are happy to do business with you. But you wonder what they are wondering, how high their dreams are, and how good we have it just to be born in America. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It just shows how important it is for all mankind to see the global and spiritual links that are already in place. Think about that! I know I do.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Cleveland War Memorial built in 1962 by Marshall Fredericks

These images were taken on a very bright, beautiful Sunday morning in Cleveland before the Cavaliers game. The sun was at an 11am position which is not the best for photography. Every object becomes harsh looking because of the sunlight. Also, the sun was positioned directly behind the sculpture such that I could not shoot it from the front.

All in all, the lovely blue sky and the colors of the sculpture and the surrounding buildings help make these pictures work.


Gear: Canon 5D, ISO 100, 24-105mm L, 1/250, f4.0, polarizing filter


Gear: Canon 5D, ISO 100, 24-105mm L, 1/100, f8.0, polarizing filter


Gear: Canon 5D, ISO 100, 24-105mm L, 1/640, f4.0, polarizing filter


Gear: Canon 5D, ISO 100, 24-105mm L, 1/500, f4.0, polarizing filter

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Lens Baby Fun at Night

I had some fun with the LensBaby tonight. It was late and I wasn't finding anything interesting to shoot at the family farm. So let's take a whack with the old LensBaby.


How about an old canoe in the twilight? Wow! Front-focus. Plenty of bokeh. Just leaps out of the picture.


Tree silhouettes in the twilight. Take the grey sky and push it to frigid blue. Nice.


Hate waiting at traffic lights? Me, too. Just pop up the camera and LensBaby the night lights.


Here's another one with green swirls too.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Making the most out of what the light gives you.

Nothing is more disappointing for a photographer than to arrive at a location and have lousy weather conditions. My trip down the Li River in Guilin, China, started out just that way. We arrived early in the morning faced with drizzle and fog. Good shooters take what's given to them and make the best out of it. As they say in photography "find out what the light is giving you". So I composed the best images I could, making sure exposure was correct and using a UV filter to reduce the haze.

(flat, unadjusted RAW image)

As you can see the result was a pretty flat image. Normally RAW files will look that way and what you are seeing is a plain old RAW file without any adjustments.

(RAW file with adjustments)

So let's bring some life to this image by making adjustments to white balance, boosting the saturation slightly, lifting up the highlights and darkening the shadows. Wow! I like it.

Here's another example below:

(flat, unadjusted RAW image)

Again, haze and other lighting conditions put this image into the blah category but with a few adjustments we have a different picture.

(RAW file with adjustments)

By making similar adjustments from the first image we also get a pretty satisfying result.

These adjustments take a few minutes to do using Adobe Lightroom. Again the goal is to stay away from Photoshop if possible and its image manipulation capability.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Very Cool Cleveland Clouds

I watched these beauties swirling over the house today. They had very unusual patterns for clouds. Perhaps it is the reminent of the "Nor'easter" storm.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Fours years (of blogging) without counting

Four years! This month marks four years of blogging for me and it's time for a self-assessment.

First of all, my posting frequency during the first few years has been sporadic. The key to a blog's popularity is frequency of posting. Wazopia has a general theme and that makes it hard to be as prolific a poster as other bloggers.

I enjoy the brave, new world of blogs. They provide unique and specialized sources of information that the traditional media could not effective provide. The "gatekeepers", as we learned in journalism school, could select (based on their biases) the information to be presented to the mass markets. Not so with the Internet, which is the most incredible distribution system ever built, and free, online blogging software. Now, everyone with access to the Web can become a citizen publisher.

(The one major problem with the corporate media giants is they could never admit they had a bias. It is very important that readers seriously consider the source of the blog. How accurate is the information? Who are the authors? What is their bias? The recent media takedown of Don Imus for his callus statement about the Rutgers woman hoopsters is important to examine especially for its speed and fury. The whole rush to oust Imus began as buzz from a blogger who monitors "politically incorrect" infractions of politicians officials and media stars. It took months to oust Dan Rather but simply days to whack Imus.)

So why blog? We all have our own personal political, religious, and civic views but most have no wish to express them on such a powerful and unpredictable channel as the Web. I enjoy keeping things on the lighter side. My colleagues at Brewed Fresh Daily, Working with Words and others do a fantastic job analyzing issues and providing an outlet to many new and important voices. Another local gem is Have Coffee Will Write which provides interesting, imaginative and somewhat quirky content that all will enjoy. (Jeff, thanks for posting the Jefferson Airplane and James Gang videos!) You can understand that Jeff, George, John and other bloggers simply want to let out their creative streams. Blogs, with all its flexibility (CSS) and contact-ability (RSS), is the most expressive and freeing medium in the universe!

The last few weeks I have challenged myself to go back to the original concept of the We(b log) from which the term blog is derived. Blogs began as logs of the changes, edits, updates, etc. that Webmasters made to their Web sites. Occasionally, the author would add interesting information and anecdotes to their blogs. The concept grew and expanded into the powerful information and marketing blogs we see today.

Today I am taking a fascinating journey through the world of digital photography. It's a journey of discovery because the digital camera and software opens up new worlds of possibilities. This ain't about Photoshop, which is a sophisticated and tortuous software that intertwines the tools a photographer needs with those of graphic artist. One is a realist and the other is a surrealist. With the introduction of Apple's Aperture and Adobe's Lightroom, the photographer can now explore the possibilities of his work without the hours of training and practice required by Photoshop. Now we can easily explore light and color options from the photographers seat. So this is the reason for the new volume of postings on Wazopia.

Wazopia was always about images. It's my photo-journalism nature. Tell stories along with pictures but not just with pictures. "Every picture tells a story, don't it?"

Digital photography is about looking at color in new ways, making a bright boat sail on an emerald sea, or softening the sunset colors over a frozen lake. It means taking the ordinary picture and bringing to it new life, adding zing, zest, zeal, etc. and just because you want too.

This blog will monitor those experiments, concepts and revelations. If it sounds a bit tedious to you, then just come and enjoy the images! That's what it's all about anyway.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

West Side Market

The weather has been so lousy, especially on the weekends, in Northeast Ohio. It's April already! The only thing to do is head to the West Side Market. It is the granddaddy of all food markets in the area and a photographer's paradise. Plenty of colors, interesting people and products. There were at least five other shooters there with nothing but images on their minds. I bought apple struedel.

I used a short depth of field in order to blur the people in the foreground but sharpen the rest of the market including the ceiling.


Here's a view of the market ceiling.


The vendors and their booths have character too.


This place is always packed with people.


The vendors take great care in how they display their wares.


Not even a pineapple can be out of order.


Watermelons cut and wrapped.


Apples neatly stacked.


Red peppers.


Red and yellow peppers.


Green, red and yellow peppers.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

American Flag at the West Side Market

Gear: Canon 5D ISO 400 50mm 1/100 f2.0

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Sailing in Key West Harbor

I love the colors, the lighting and the moods you find on the water.

Gear: Canon 20D ISO 200 85mm 1/320 @ f11

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

LeBron Delectric

As promised another group of LeBron pictures with different color emphasis.


This is the normal image with color adjustments made to the picture to compensate for the low pressure sodium arena lighting.


I tried to go for a preserved look like bronzing shoes. This is done by boosting the fill and black levels to the max.


Basketball is about three orange objects, two hoops and one basketball. I desaturated most of the other colors and pumped up the orange level. Amazing what Adobe Lightroom can do.

Hope you liked them.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Underpass

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Gear: Canon G6 ISO 100 28.8mm 1/25 @ f3.0
Motion blur courtesy Boston Metropolitan Taxi

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Seeing Ceilings

This is the library in the British Museum. Inside is a very stunning dome. The lighting is very difficult inside for shooting. The ceiling is bright and the floor is dark.



The image was taken using a 16mm wide-angle lens which shows the key-stoning on the book shelves. I'm not so worried about that as I am the color. The yellow and grey paint combination plus a tinted blue sky through the windows is the challenge.


Using cropping the image shows the unique pattern of the dome. Instead of centering the ceiling window in the middle of the picture it's moved to upper left. Still the color is difficult. The light color coming through the ceiling is different than the large windows below.


If you like the patterns but are having problems with the color, try switching to black 'n' white.

I'm still working on this one. Check back again to see my new results.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

LeBron in Colors

It's been awhile since I've posted basketball picts. I was having problems loading my Cavs photo-floods using Picasa and Blogthis. I've found a workaround and actually like it better.

Here are a few shots of the Cavs vs. Lakers game back in February.


The first image is the awesome LeBron James powering in for a dunk. It is color adjusted to offset the brownish low pressure sodium lights at the Q. The colors look pretty normal here.


Let's go old school and make this into a black 'n' white for the morning news editions. Where's Paul Tepley and Ron Kuntz when you need them?

Next are new color combinations to produce some flair to the original image.


This image gives off a black 'n' white look with muted colors. Contrast is pretty strong.


Here we "pump up the volume" on the fill or mid-tone lighting and color. LeBron Electric!


I like the third effect so let's roll a few more. I've punched up the colors a scotch.

Drew Gooden finger taps a basket. Note the sensitive and artistic vignetting in the corners.


LeBron mashes one over Kobe Bryant.


Even Eric Snow hits the hole with this soft lay-in.


Another smash-down by the "King" The boy's a beast.

Next will be Miami Heat colorations. Enjoy!

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

A Secret Message from the Continental Pilot

Some people think its strange to almost always have a camera at the ready wherever I go. We were taught in photo-j school to always have your camera with you and ready in case something unexpected happens. Who really wants to do that?

What was crazy at Photoshop World was all the people running around with their full-size DSLR's hanging around their necks. What were they planning on shooting? The hordes of photographers running around? I especially loved the guys with the 12" telephoto lenses bouncing around their tummies.

An example of the unexpected:


I'm sitting at the airport in Boston being bored and starting shooting the airplanes. Here's a nice, big Continental 737 getting ready to pull away from the gate.


Whoa, the pilot is waving at us. That's pretty cool.


Now he's waving a clipboard at us. What's on it?


By zooming in on the image, we can read the secret message. "No Whining!"

O.K., I get it. I won't, ever, ever again. Thank you, Mr. Continental Pilot Man.

I was ready for this one!

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Color Escalation

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One picture with two colorful variations.

I took this shot while looking down and through a railing at Hynes Auditorium in Boston using a Canon G6. I don't like to take the full gear on business trips but I gotta have some kind of camera with me! The G6 is perfect. It's the last Canon portable camera to shoot in RAW. It gets 7.1 megapixels. The only shortcoming with the camera is that its top ISO is 400 and a bit noisy too.


So here we have a somewhat interesting view of an escalator through the rails of a fence. It was shot in low light so we picked up some noise (red-green-blue artifacts) in the shadow areas. The exposure was 1/15 @ f3.2 (ISO 400). I had to steady myself against a post to avoid camera shake. The slow shutter speed also helped create movement in the people getting off the escalator.

To clean up the noise takes some time in Photoshop. Instead let's take this weakness and turn it into a strength.


This version shows enhanced, rich colors yet not leaving the real world. This was done by boosting the highlights and saturation, and darkening the shadows. It looks more interesting than the standard colors in the top photo. What is really great is that most of the noise is completely subdued in this image.

But let's see if we can push the limits a little more.


Here the image is showing a reverse or negative view. Brightness was increased and Light areas were boosted. Contrast was flattened to the extreme.

Here's a look at the Tone Curve. As you can see it is a reversal of a normal tone curve.


Reprocessing the color in digital can be fun and even going to the extremes can be rewarding.

Which one do you like?

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Portrait of a Planet

Discovery Channel's mini-series Planet Earth: Portrait of a Planet is wonderful. The videography is incredible.

My favorite scenes are the great white shark leaping over ten feet out of the water to snag a seal, the orangutans walking through the shallow water while feeding, and the hilarious bird-of-paradise mating dance!

If you follow the link above you can see a preview.

Thanks to Laurel and Susanne for mentioning it.

Cleveland Snow

Cleveland is the only place in the whole country where you'll feel all four seasons in one week! Wasn't it 81 degrees Tuesday? Ya gotta be tough to live here.

To make me feel better about the whole weather thing here is my first panorama, built in the new Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta. I returned from Photoshop World in Boston and couldn't wait to try this new feature out. I stepped out into my garage and click three shots. PS CS3 did the rest. Enjoy!


Let's flip this one over to grey-scale. There is not much color anyway. The strength of the image is in the whites and blacks.


Brrrrr!

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Nathan

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A snapshot of my son Nathan.
He hates it when I take his picture but tolerated this one.

I used a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens. The exposure was 1/640 @ f5.0 ISO 125.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Ellis & Grace

A snapshot of my brother-in-law Ellis and his mother Grace.
I used a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens. It's a terrific lens with lovely "bokeh" background effect which makes the foreground figures pop out from the picture.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Is Winter Over? Yes!

Nature is rolling back its white carpets and rolling out its green ones!

A swampy field in Auburn.

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New fencing surrounds this old farm.

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Twin silos stand tall next to old barn.

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An island on Lake Ladue.

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The sun makes dark patterns on Lake LaDue.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.

Jamestown River

Just a kinda blucky, gunky river.

But just like old tractors, farm houses, etc. industrial factories and rivers have some charm.

Copyright 2007 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.