2012 Calendar

Is it too early to be thinking about 2012? In years past I've used my photography and combined it with relevant scripture passages to produce calendars. I've used them as gifts, donated some to good causes and actually sold a few to support the online ministry of oneyearbibleonline.com.

Though I've used photos from different parts of the country before, in 2010 I limited the images to only include those taken in Knox County here in Ohio. I took a break in 2011 but did help the church out with their global outreach calendar.

Because I've received several inquiries I'll be creating another calendar for 2012, I'll be using more photos from here in Knox County but also including some from other parts of the state. Go ahead and click on the cover image to expand it... how many locations do you recognize (don't let the image placement influence you)?

Not only did Chris and I have a tough time deciding on which images to use but we also had to narrow down the scripture verses to go along with each one.

For the cover I took a slightly different approach from those in previous years, incorporating a photo of an Ohio road map, then adding polaroid replicas of each of the images used on the inside. I picked up the proof from PIP Lewis Center on Friday, August 19th and its looks fabulous! A limited quantity have been ordered and should be available around the first of September. They'll also be available at the Gospel Supply Shop and the Knox County Art League in downtown Mount Vernon.

KCAL Photo Show

On June 3rd I was privileged to be one of the featured artists to display their work at the Knox County Art League gallery. It was the first time I had shown my work to a larger audience so I didn't really know what to expect. Joining me was Eric Mize whom I've known for a number of years, it was his first public showing as well. Also on display was the work of Terry Gardner of Mount Vernon.

I've said that most of what I love to photograph are the outdoors; landscapes & wildlife.  Not knowing if I would have enough pieces to display I began rummaging through what I did have. I also ordered a few larger sizes and a whole slew of 5x7's. As it turned out I surprised even myself with the number of pieces I ended up with.

A large crowd showed up for the first friday event and I was able to share a bit about some of the pieces that were displayed. I was even able to sell a few of the smaller pieces which was a real encouragement to me.

Here are a few photos from the event.

The Battle At F-Stop Ridge

Great video from folks at The Camera Store. Enjoy!

The Name Of The LORD Is A Strong Tower

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

 Proverbs 18:10 (NIV)

I know its officially spring but with a dusting of snow last night i thought a little preview of what will be was in order. It's a photo of the gazebo in Fredericktown, Ohio. Hope you enjoy.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names sake.

Psalm 23:1-3  (NIV)

We were on one of our weekend drives through Licking County back in 2007 when we came upon these horses in the pasture, it just seemed right to stop and take a photo.

Psalm 42:1

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1 (NIV)

This photo of "spring creek" was taken back in 2006, it's a spring fed creek that runs through the Spring Grove neighborhood of Westerville, Ohio.

Super Size It!

Back in the summer of 2007 we made our way up to Northern Michigan and stopped for lunch in Petoskey. There is a small park that sits atop a bluff overlooking the Little Traverse Bay. It was a beautiful day so I proceeded to shoot some pictures with my Nikon D50.

I especially loved how this one picture turned out, so last May I thought it would be perfect to fill the blank wall that sits in front of my desk. In the past I have had good results when enlarging images to poster size (20" x 30"), but I wanted to do something different with this photo. I wanted to super-size it, not billboard size mind you but something i could mount on the wall at home and have it really stand out.

The D50 comes with a 6.1 megapixel sensor, less than half of what a new DSLR camera comes with these days. I was concerned with pixelization and didn't want to risk poor quality by go going too big, nor did I want it to overpower the room either.  I researched enlargement techniques online to minimize pixel loss and used Adobe software to upsize the image to 54" x 36". I worked with the folks at Key Blue Prints in Westerville and they produced an outstanding print. It's a matte print mounted on black foam core with a .5 mil hot press laminate.

After completing the work on the Fearful To Fearless book I decided it was time to get out, grab the camera and try to capture some of the fall colors in the area. I've since upgraded to the Nikon D90 which comes with a 12.3 megapixel sensor. I remembered that my friend Ray Bohac had captured the brilliance of fall in a spectacular shot of the tree lined street in front of Schnormeier Gardens here in Knox County.

With Ray's photo fresh in our minds Chris and I took a drive out that way a couple weeks ago for a photo shoot. The shot below is one of our favorites from that day, it was taken from a different perspective from the picture Ray took which was from the other end of the road. We liked it so much we decided to have it enlarged.  This time we chose a semi-gloss finish and went a little wider and not quite as tall... 60" x 30". The order was placed and Key Blue Prints didn't let us down.