A Trip to the Columbus Zoo

Back in 2011, I went on a Photography Road Trip to the Columbus Zoo and had a great time photographing all the animals the Columbus Zoo has to offer. It's fun going and checking out other Zoos, a lot of times they have animals that you normally don't see at your local Zoo.  In the older part of the Columbus Zoo they still have a lot of fences that you have to shoot through, one photography trick to use to make the fence disappear is to shoot with a large wide open aperture of  F2.8. I really enjoyed spending the day at the Columbus Zoo, check it out if you get a chance.

Orangutan at the Columbus Zoo ( Click the photos to go to the Columbus Zoo Gallery)



They have lots of colorful birds at the Columbus Zoo


I think they have the animals trained to stick out their tongues at Photographers from Cleveland!!!


To see the photos nice and large you can view the Columbus Zoo Slideshow

If you are looking for cool place to take photos in Ohio and beyond you might also like to check out my Cool Photo Ops Blog

A Fun Time at Parade the Circle 2011

On Saturday June 11, 2011 I had another fun time photographing Parade the Circle in University Circle. Every year in June they have a Parade full of colorful costumes and great music. This was the 22nd Annual Parade. This is always a great photo op for photographers and if you get there early you can photograph the parade participants getting ready for the parade in the staging area. I arrived around 10am and headed to the staging area located on the top level of the Art Museum Parking garage and ran into a lot of my photographer friends from some of the areas camera clubs. After taking hundreds of photos in the staging area I ventured out to the parade route to scope out a good spot to photograph the parade. I wanted to find a spot where I could get shots of the parade headed straight toward me and I found it near the Botanical Gardens where I was joined by fellow photographers Troy Vodila and Dan Flocke. It was a great spot to photograph the parade but unfortunately there wasn't any shade and I got burnt to a crisp!!! All in all its a fun event to photograph, and I encourage you to check it out next year!!!




Cleveland Hoop Dance Click the photo to go to a Parade the Circle photo gallery.




CPS photographers at Parade the Circle, the best looking guy in the photo is the puppet!!! LOL

Go here to see a Parade the Circle 2011 Slideshow

To see photos of Parade the Circle from earlier years go here: Parade the Circle Galleries

You might also be interested in checking out my Cool Photo Ops Blog where I list cool places to take photos.

My Adventures at the Miller Park Nature Preserve

Last Saturday Dona and I ventured out to the new Miller Park Nature Preserve in Avon Ohio. Miller Park is part of the Lorain County Metroparks. The preserve has a 5000 square foot Conservatory. It was a hot day and was even hotter in the Conservatory but it's a cool place to take photos. After spending some time taking photos in the Conservatory, Dona and I enjoyed a great lunch at the Conservatory's Orchid Room Cafe, then went back and took even more photos.

Here's a description of Miller Park from their website:
Located on Route 83 in Avon, Miller Nature Preserve rests on 78 acres of wooded land in the heart of Avon. Much of the property was donated by longtime Avon resident, Buddy Miller in memory of his late wife Alice Fowles. A Visitor Center is nestled between trees and the winding French Creek and includes a café, a gift shop and a demonstration kitchen for cooking classes. The highlight of this preserve is the 5,000 square foot conservatory, the first in Lorain County. Bring your family and friends and camera to capture the beauty inside and outside.


Click Photo to go to Gallery



Google Map of Miller Park.... Click the blue icon to get directions


View 2739 Center Rd in a larger map






Here's a google map

Where's the Photos??????

Hi everyone, part of the fun of photography is sharing your photos with others, as a photographer I like seeing other photographers work. I love going on photo shoots to interesting places with other photographers and then seeing what photos everyone comes up with. Unfortunately a lot of times you never see what the other photographers came up with.  How many times have you been on a photo shoot with one of the areas photo clubs where there are 20 to 30 photographers  taking hundreds of photos, Most times after the shoot you never see any of the photos and I don't understand why. What is everyone doing with their photos? In the old days the photos ended up collecting dust in a shoe box, these days it appears that the photos languish on the photographers home computers never to be enjoyed by anyone else. To me part of the fun of photography is seeing what everyone comes up with when they go on a photo shoot to the same place. It's fun to see the different ways each photographer "sees" the subject. In today's modern society and computer age you would think most photographers would be posting their photos, but sad to say, if they do post them they never give anyone the link to their site. For example on Facebook I have over 400 friends and at least 200 of them are photogaphers but I only see the photos of nine or ten of the same photographers posting photos or links to their photo sites.  Often I'll check the "Fan" pages on Facebook of the areas Photography clubs after they go on a photo shoot eager to see if anyone posted photos  from the shoot, most of the time I'm disappointed to find that only one or two photographers posted any photos. I'll even check out the Flickr sites, there you'll see a little more activity, but it's usually from the same 9 or 10 photographers. So my question is "What does everyone do with their photos?



A photo from the Volvo Graveyard Shoot - Click photo to see more

Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia

A few years ago I went on a vacation to West Virginia and one of the places I explored was the Dolly Sods Wilderness. Here's a description of Dolly Sods from Wikipedia:

Dolly Sods is the highest plateau of its type east of the Mississippi River with altitude ranging from around 4,000 feet (1,200 m) at the top of a mountain ridge on the Allegheny Front to about 2,700 feet (820 m) at the outlet of Red Creek. The highest point in this immediate area is Mount Porte Crayon, at 4,770 feet (1,454 m), in Flatrock-Roaring Plains.

To get to Dolly  Sods I had to travel up a narrow 1 and a half lane road, it got pretty scary at times and I prayed no one was coming down as I was going up, since there wasn't much room to pull over. Once you get up there you travel along Forest Road 75


The view from Dolly Sods is great and there are a lot of trails to explore, since I was there by myself, I stuck close to the road.



It is also very windy at Dolly Sods and you'll see all the trees branches pointing to the east


One interesting fact is they used Dolly Sods during WWII for training and they warn you live bombs could still exist in the area.



I Could of been Killed!!!

Click any of the above photos to go to the gallery.

Click here to see a Dolly Sods Slide Show

Click here to learn more about Dolly Sods on Wikipedia


 

Chippewa Lake Park Photos

It's sad to see a lot of America's old amusements parks being torn down, over the years we've lost Euclid Beach Park, Geauga Lake Park and Chippewa Lake Park. Here are some photos of Chippewa Lake Park. I hope they bring back fond memories for you.



Ferris Wheel - Chippewa Lake Park





Click the photo to go to a Chippewa Lake Photo Gallery

Click this link to see a Chippewa Lake Slide Show

The Mansfield Reformatory X

Here's something eerie, did you know that when light shines through the windows of four different rooms at the Mansfield Reformatory that an X is formed on the floor in the hallway!!!! Scary Stuff!!!!

Click any of the photos to go to the Mansfield Reformatory Photo Gallery

















To see a slide show go here: Mansfield Reformatory Slide Show

Photographing the Monster Jam

I photographed something new this weekend, the Monster Jam at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cleveland Photographic Society arranged for it's members to photograph the event. We were given Media Passes and were able to go down on the arena floor and get some up close shots of the Monster Trucks. We had the floor to ourselves for a little while but before we knew it, swarms of kids and their parents joined us on the floor to meet the drivers and get their autographs. During the show, thanks to our Media Passes we were allowed to roam around the Arena and get photos from various vantage points as long as we didn't get in anyone's way.

Before the show started the lighting wasn't very bright and I was worried about how I was going to get some good photos of the trucks in action, but once the show started they turned up the lights, I still had to crank the ISO up to 800 to get a high enough shutter speed to get sharp photos of the moving trucks. A Shutter speed of 1/250 seemed to do the trick. I experimented with slower shutter speeds between 1/100 to 1/250 to try and get tires blurred and the trucks sharp. If I used too slow of a speed the trucks became unsharp, somewhere around 1/125 to 1/160 of a second gave me the effect I was looking for. Sure a lot of shots didn't come out, but that's the fun of photography, trying different stuff and see what works and what doesn't work, that's how you learn.


Click the photo to go to the gallery
To see a slide show go here: Monster Jam Slide Show

Photo of the Day - Wing Walker - Air Show Photo Tips

Air Shows are a lot of fun to photograph, but they can also be quite a challenge to photograph due to the speed of the planes. A few things you can do is use a higher ISO, fast shutter speed and panning to capture the planes in flight. While this plane wasn't flying anywhere near the speed of the jets, I used an ISO of 400, a shutter speed of 1/1600 of a second, and panned the camera as the plane flew by. It was taken with a 70-200mm F2.8 Nikon lens with a 1.7 teleconverter. This is a husband and wife wing walking team. What I like about the photo is the pose of the Wing Walker and the way the pilot's hat is blowing behind his head. The Air Show comes to Cleveland every year over the Labor Day weekend. Check it out if you get a chance.


Wing Walker
Click Photo to go to Gallery

To see more Air Show Photos go here: Air Show Galleries

Cleveland Photographic Society, 125th Anniversary Exhibition

The Cleveland State Art Gallery will be hosting the Cleveland Photographic Society's 125th Anniversay Exhibition from January 21 to March 12. On Saturday January 22nd you can meet some of the photographers from 2pm - 3:30pm. Check it out if you get a chance.

The Gallery is located at 2307 Chester Ave, Cleveland Ohio

Go here for more info Cleveland State Art Gallery

Monday, January 21 – Saturday, March 12
CSU Art Gallery, Gallery C
CPS AT 125: Cleveland Photographic Society, 125th Anniversary Exhibition

Here's the photo I have on display:


Dueling Rhinos

The Frozen Lighthouse Photos - 15% Off

The Cleveland Frozen Lighthouse may be gone but photos of the Frozen Lighthouse can be purchased here The Frozen Lighthouse and from now until 2/1/2011 you can save 15% on all photos in the gallery by using the coupon code: lighthouse during check out. Just go to the link and select the photos you like, you can change the size and choice of lustre, metallic or glossy by clicking the "Change Product" button on the right side of the screen.


To purchase a photo go here: The Frozen Lighthouse Save 15% on Frozen Lighthouse photos until 2/1/2011- use the code: lighthouse during checkout.




To purchase a photo go here: The Frozen Lighthouse Save 15% on Frozen Lighthouse photos until 2/1/2011- use the code: lighthouse during checkout.