Irish Festival

Saturday found us in Gettysburg for the 10Th annual Adams County Irish Festival.
A few days before Saturday, I got an e-mail from Celebrate Gettysburg magazine asking if I could do a last minute assignment.
Let's see, I can take Shirley with me, it's Gettysburg and Irish music. No problem.
A few words about Celebrate Gettysburg. The magazine is a few years old and reflects the community.
This is my third assignment for them. The first one was an artist and the second one was the tech prep program for Adams County, both were fun.
After 34 years in newspapers, magazine work is a different animal. Not as many deadlines and a slower pace. There is no spot news or sports which were my strength, but I always had the most fun showing features.
I like the idea of shooting features. The folks at the magazine have liked my work, which makes the assignments more fun.
This was my first visit to the Adams County Irish Festival. I had thought about it in the past, as I wrote about it in a publication I was responsible for when I was in newspapers.
I like Irish music, so it was easy to get in the swing of shooting. There were times when I started singing or tapping a toe to the tunes.
The food was really good. They served something for everyone from a fruit cup to corned beef on rye to fish and chips.
The event was held at Moose Park, outside of Gettysburg. I figured we would be there for about three hours and we were there just short of five.
The festival is the third Saturday in July, so mark it on the calendar for next year.
www.celebrategettysburg.com
www.adamscountyirishfestival.com

Renewing vows

I had the pleasure of shooting John and Donna Warner renewing their marriage vows this past week.
They were celebrating 35 years of marriage. They have had their shares of ups and downs. Donna is a cancer survivor, as she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2006.
She missed the Westminster High School Class of 1971 (we are both members of the class) reunion that year and she had done must of the work. So it was good to share one of the ups.
They held the event at Emory Grove in Glyndon, a Methodist retreat. Some of the building are on the historical register.
It was a great step back in time. The cottages at the site are interesting to look at.
Donna and the wedding party walked between the cottages to get to the tabernacle, where the ceremony took place.
The wedding party was the original party of 13, who returned to take part in the special day for John and Donna.
It's important to note that Donna wore her bridal gown from 35 years ago with very little alteration.
One of the best part of the day from a photography angle is emotion. One of the main jobs of the photographer in capturing the moment.
I was quite happy with the results.
To read a story of the event from the Owings Mills Times click on www.owingsmillstimes.com

Concert in the Park

Friday evening we headed to the first Sykesville Concert in the Park of the summer.
The price was right, it was free.
Front row seats didn't cost a week's pay. You could sit where ever you wanted.
It was family entertainment. Children played on the playground, danced and as it got dark, they caught lighting bugs.
We listened to the music of No Stringz Attached, which made for a good evening with the family.
I took the camera and got nice images of the family enjoying the event. I also shot the band, which was fun.
If you are looking for a good evening to spend with the family head to Millard Cooper Park in Sykesville. They have snacks including Hoffman's Ice Cream.
On July 24, Hightest will be playing. For more on the event visit www.sykesville.net/main

Liberty Lake

One of the places I like to visit in Carroll is Liberty Lake.
I like to fish, but have wet a line maybe five or six times. I would rather take photographs there.
To tell the truth, I like to saltwater fish for rockfish, flounder, croaker, etc., but back to Liberty Lake.
I enjoy visiting there at sunrise and sunset. I love the light at that time of day.
If you have a body of water near you, you can take some beautiful images, it's just you have to get up early sometimes and stay late other times.
The best time of the year is spring and fall. The green in the spring is nice, but the colors come alive in the fall especially with the reflection on the water.
The lake is one of the reservoirs for Baltimore City. It is a hot spot for local fishermen.
When I was growing up, it was known for largemouth bass. Now it is rockfish or stripers. The fish reproduces in the reservoir. It is one of the few freshwater lakes in the United States that they reproduce in.
We attended Easter Sunrise service there a few years ago which was great watching the first light of day as a back drop.
We stopped there last week and I took some images. It's nice and quiet which makes it a great spot for nature and to mediate. If you are quiet, you might see deer swim across the lake, plus there are geese at the boat dock, which you can photograph.
I plan to get a fishing pole out and head to the lake soon, but the Nikon is going along.

Flags

One of the things that always catches my eye are flags.
Being the birthday of our country, it seems like a good time to write about flags.
In an earlier post, I mentioned how the flag is at half staff for the Memorial Day ceremonies at Westminster Cemetery. So you have to be there for the short amount of time the flag is lowered.
There is plenty of flags in Gettysburg and you could spend a lot of time looking at the images I have of flags in the small town in Adams County. There are flags in parades, at statues, displays, they are everywhere.
They are also in Williamsburg, just not as numerous as Gettysburg.
There are a line of flags at Williamsburg Visitor Center that I always shoot. I have yet to get an image I like, but I will keep shooting on every trip.
At one time the flag hung near Gist Road at Carroll Hospital Center that made for a dramatic sunset image. I always look skyward with flags for use of the sun or moon.
That are lots of flags at NASCAR events. At Pocono there is a large flag in the garage area, which is where I captured the King, Richard Petty.
Don't pass on garden flags as they make a good background for flowers and such.
Once you start looking at objects like flags, you will see many picture opportunities.
Besides looking flags this weekend, I hope to see a couple movies this weekend. The musical, ``1776'' and ``Yankee Doodle Dandy.'' That would top off a weekend
of flags, fireworks, racing and family.
Enjoy the weekend and remember to keep the camera handy.

Sykesville Fireworks

The weatherman said there was a thunderstorm warning until 10 p.m, but fortunately we did not have one and the fireworks went on as planned at the Sykesville Fire Department carnival.

I was a little worried when I arrived and saw the fire department had their truck on the scene to where I was planning on taking pictures from. I had shot there last year, and was able to work around the truck and captured some decent images.

The one thing that bugs me when you shoot fireworks at a carnival are the rides. I wish they would would move more often and at the same time.

Good luck when you shoot fireworks on July 4th or the Manchester Firemen's carnival on July 2nd.

Fireworks

We are coming up on an event I always look forward to shooting.

Yes, I love to shoot the Living History walk of Pickett's Charge in Gettysburg on July 3, but it's fireworks that appeal to me.

I shot my first fireworks at Westminster High School athletic field in the 1970s. The county soon moved the celebration to the Carroll County Farm Museum.

So I have been turning the camera toward the sky for about 35 years. Just when I started to feel comfortable shooting fireworks on black & white film, we switched to color at the newspaper.

There is a big difference shooting black & white to color, as it is to digital.

I will share some thoughts to help when shooting fireworks so you can go ohh and ahh all year long.

You can shoot fireworks hand held and get one burst at a time. I like to have multiple bursts in a frame. I also do my work in the camera and not on a computer screen.

With that said, I would suggest having a tripod. Use bulb setting with a cable release to capture multiple bursts. Hold the release to keep the shutter open. Cover the lens with a hat or black cloth between bursts to keep out extra light.

One of the most important aspects of shooting fireworks happens before it gets dark. Scout out the site and ask where the fireworks will be shot from.

Get a location with landmarks, people or reflections on water. Some folks say don't use people, but you can see by some of my images, I like people.

The spot you pick to shoot from should allow you to view the fireworks in front, not over head. Make sure no poles or wires are in the way.

Turn the camera vertically and make sure the horizon is level. Use manual focus for sharpness. Check after the first burst and check occasionally to make sure you are getting the bursts and they are sharp. You can't go back the next day to reshoot.

Try shutter speeds from two to 10 seconds. The longer shutter speeds record trails which can be seen in my images.

Use apertures between F/8 and F/16. Also use a low ISO of around 100.

Play attention during the grand finale as there is a lot light. So you need to use a higher F stop like F/16.

It used to be I got one chance to shoot fireworks a year and would spend a lot of time reading on the subject.

Now a lot of local carnivals feature fireworks. In Carroll County most of the fire departments use carnivals as their major fund raiser. Among the companies with firework are Gamber, Winfield, Manchester and Sykesville.

As weather permits, I will be at Sykesville Friday night capturing fireworks with the rides in motion.

A Step Back in History

You say "Williamsburg" and a lot of people would think Busch Gardens.

To tell the truth, I have never been to the amusement park. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I love history and Williamsburg oozes history.

If you go with me, you have to have a lot of patience. I will stand for a long time waiting to get a clean shot without a tourist in view. I love shooting the 18th century with 21st century photography equipment.

The people in costume are a plus and help set the scene. Using people in photographs helps for two reasons. One is we always look at people in images and two, people helps us see items at scale. We can see how big or small something is by looking at a person in an image.

It's great to walk down Duke of Gloucester Street and not worry about getting run over by a vehicle. Maybe a jogger or horse, but not a car.

It's also great to walk where Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry have walked and what they saw.

One thing I never miss are the gardens. I see ideas to use at home and also see plants I might want to grow, but more importantly is the images of flowers.

It's always hard to tear myself away from the gardens as I could stay there for days. I'm not sure there is enough space on the Internet for the amount of images I have of the gardens.

We were there the beginning of May for only a few hours, but I shot about 700 images. It was a good visit with Shirley and my sister Jane.

I had thought Jane had been to the historic capital before, but alas I was wrong. She like many others had only been to Busch Gardens.

My sister pleasantly surprised me, she liked Williamsburg. Shirley and Jane spent a while in Bruton Parish Church. No eyebrows raised here, as they are both Episcopalians.

I knew Shirley would like the town if I mention "Williamsburg", she says when are we leaving. Jane would like to return when she has more time to look around.

Williamsburg is a definite stop for photographers, no matter if a novice or a professional. There is time for tourist (see the image of Shirley and Jane) pictures and for art.

I have been to the town in Spring, Summer and Fall. On my list is a visit in December for Christmas and to photograph Williamsburg with a coat of snow.

What a camera

A lot has been written about the Nikon D3 and it has gotten a lot of praise.

Well, it deserves all the press and it is going to get a little more praise here.

I shot the NASCAR race in Richmond, the first weekend in May and I thought that would be a good test of the camera.

I have shot in Richmond, twice a year for about 10 years, so I knew what a digital camera could do at the track.

I shot film on my first visit to the track. The newspaper I worked for at the time made the leap to digital by my second visit.

We used the Nikon D1 for about five years. It was a good camera to start with, but there was color shifts and the dreaded noise, so it was hard to shoot the race once it got dark.

I was able to convince the "powers" that be at the newspaper to upgrade to the Nikon D2Hs. What a step up in quality. The photographers at the paper are still using the camera, as I am too.

There are still noise issues with the D2Hs. In the twilight you could shoot the race, but once it got dark it was hard to get an image that I liked.

So I borrowed a D3 from Nikon. I should have done this sooner. What a difference at the track. I started shooting the race before moving to pit road. Usually you need a flash. I shot without it and the images are great.

I borrowed the camera to also shoot at Dover and again wonderful results.

There are images from each camera and a shot from pit road.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day-the words that come to mind in Carroll County is tradition.

I have taken photographs at about 35 consecutive parades in Westminster and I have seen about 50 of the parades in the county seat.

It has been said that the Westminster parade and exercises are the oldest, continuous Memorial Day events in the country.

It was started by Mary Shellman in 1868 to honor the fallen soldiers in the Civil War. The parade marched to the Westminster Cemetery for exercises. It still does.

There's that word tradition again.

The crowd seems to be growing to watch the parade. It was a bigger event when I was younger, but then none of the stores were open and many members of the greatest generation were still alive.

My parents and grandmother made sure we saw the parade every year growing up.

This year I did not have to shoot for the newspaper. Usually on Memorial Day I started the day shooting in Hampstead, then drove to Westminster for the parade and exercises, followed by a small Civil War ceremony at the Ascension church and then a small get together at the County Vietnam memorial.

I only took in the parade this year. I'm sorry I did not make it to the Vietnam memorial. The gathering at the memorial is small, but usually more than half of the attendees are from the Westminster High School Class of 1971.

I could just watch this year, with no deadlines. I saw the parade diffently this year, but the same units are in the parade.

Well of course I took my camera, it is part of me.

The parade kicked off like it does every year with the Westminster Municipal Band followed by a color guard and veterans.

The Westminster and Winters Mill High School bands take part, but one band I miss is the William F. Myers Band.

There are Civil War re-enactors, scouts, fire engines and St. Johns School students. Two units that have been a part of the parade since my youth are Westminster's antique American La France engine and ladder truck. The units are from the 1920s and are no longer in active duty. They are on display in the fire departments museum.

There was a small child, possibly in his first parade that yawned and nodded off. He was cute and caught the attention of the crowd.

Vision

When we first started seeing each other, Shirley gave me two coins.

On one side of one of the coins is the word vision. A very appropriate word for a photographer. At the time I was a photo editor, but I have handled a camera since my senior year of high school.

She thought the word spoke a lot about my work. She had seen images that I had taken that had not been in the newspaper. Only a handful of people had seen that work.

The hard part of doing a blog is writing about yourself and showing your work. When I was working I had a team which was important and I would promote them instead of myself.

I don't believe people take the time to stop and smell the roses. I am

not sure most people even see the roses.

One of the things I try to do with my photography, is show folks what they have missed. The images from Williamsburg show what I mean. The one image was shot of the silver smith in the 1980s. All of the tourist were going in and watching the man working. I walked in, looked over the shop and decided to use the window to frame and back lit the image.

Using natural light I caught the detail of what he was working on and street scene reflected in the container of water.

Two weeks ago, while in Williamsburg, we stopped in a store that had glasses in the window. Remembering the shot from above, I focused on the center of the glasses for a reflection. Bingo. Oh I was so happy to get the wagon passing by.

It takes time and patience at times to get an image, but you have to see it to make it happen.

To often people take a photograph of a person with a pole or something coming out of their head. Just slow down and look at the image through the viewfinder.

The image of the flag and Carroll County courthouse only happens for a couple minutes each year. They down the flag to half staff for Memorial Day and raise it by the end of the ceremony in the Westminster Cemetery.

The shot of the farmer planting, I saw the box cars packed near Linwood. I waited for over 45 minutes for the farmer to be framed in the opening.

The steam train is pulling into Sykesville. I had scouted out the area ahead of time and knew of a spot where there was a break in the trees to get the angle.

The other side of the coin says what photographers should be aiming to do in their work.

On the other side reads "Vision is the art of seeing things that are invisible to others''-Jonathan Swift