Galway

Kylemore Abeey

Spent the day driving around the Galway area - yes, I am driving on the other side of the road....it was one of those gray cold Ireland days....but the good news is no snow anywhere to be found.

Started north and went to Oughterard to see the Aughnanure Castle but it was closed for the winter. Jumped a fence and walked around the castle for a bit before heading out to find Kirk Castle. I saw an image of Kirk Castle in the hallway at the hotel last night - only thing the photo did not let on was that the castle sat in the middle of a loch - no way to get close and with the fog impossible to see.

Heading further north to Leenane at the top of Killary Harbor which was the setting for the film The Field.

Then it was off to Kylemore Abbey located in the pass of Kylemore where the image above was capture.The abbey was founded for Benedictine Nuns who fled Belgium during the war. Prior to that is had been a private home.

On the way back it was a stop in Clifden near the ocean but the light was about gone, and, being New Years Eve, needed to get back to the hotel in Galway before dark. Hard enough driving on the other side but add night driving and it becomes a bit like a 'D' ticket at Disneyland.

The image below is my new friend met a a red light on Grafton Street in Dublin. It was captured with my IP4 and the Hipstamatic Camera.

Grafton Street, Dublin, IP4 Hipstamatic Capture

Tomorrow it is off to the Cliffs of Mohler and points south ending up in Limerick...

Dublin

Reflections - Dublin, iPhone 4

Arrived into Dublin yesterday morning at 7AM....Had a bit of breakfast and a quick nap then hit the streets. As many times as I have been in Dublin with this band or that band this was the first time I actually had the time to get out for a walk - with no cell phone ringing incessantly.

Headed over to Grafton Street then down to the river that runs through Dublin - I captured the image above from the Grafton Street Bridge. Dublin has the most amazing architecture - some of the doorways completely blew me away - hope to get an image of one next ot the hotel before departing for the drive to Galway this morning - more fun driving on the wrong side of the road.

Below is the church in Low, Quebec I attended for the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service....attendance approximately 35 people......

Church, Low, Quebec, IP4

Christmas

Golden Gloves Boxer, Canon 5DMKII

Just back from the north country, Low Quebec. Barely made it back before the blizzard hit New York - 20 inches of snow....the last hour of the drive took forever. There was very little internet or 3G signal in Quebec so no posting over Christmas.

Church, Low, Quebec

I did manage to find time to make a few new images and work on a few older ones in between eating and sleeping. Mostly doing some blending on the iphone looking for a more painterly quality, using overlays and textures. Still a work in progress but liking the results so far...

Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley, IP4

San Diego Lighthouse, IP4

If planes are flying today we are off to Ireland today for 10 days.

Yosemite

This was a mountain face in Yosemite early last year - Re-processed in the new NIK HDR Pro software. This was a single image high resolution capture.

Graffiti Underground

Graffiti Underground - Philadelphia

Finally getting around to my big dude high resolution camera this morning. This image is composed of 4 separate captures - 1 stop apart - processed to HDR in Photomatix Pro, the stand alone version.

The Graffiti Underground is 100 miles from my hoe but is fast becoming one of my favorite locations to capture images. Every day is different there depending on the color of the sunrise - and when ot on the end of the structure provides one with a sweeping view of downtown Philadelphia.

Looks like a return trip is in order in early January......maybe snow????

Philadelphia

Underground - Philadelphia

Up early yesterday (3:30AM) to drive to Philadelphia to visit two of my favorite locations - Graffiti Underground at sunrise and then  Eastern State Prison.

The image above is a high resolution HDR capture from the Graffiti underground.

The image below is a vertical two image ProHDR stitch from the IP4. The image was imported in CS5 for final processing before being converted to Black and White.

Eastern State Prison Cell

 Off to Woodstock area today -

Low, Quebec

Next Wednesday we drive up to Low, Quebec with a stop in Knowlton (east of Montreal) for our annual Christmas visit. For those not steeped in Canadian culture, Low is located in Western Quebec on the Gastineau River - basically one needs to think Northern Exposure - population in Low about 1,000.

Today's image's are what I  call Low's version of the 'Statue of Liberty'  - you pass right by this image as you enter town on the main road.  Add that to the 'Moose Burgers' and it adds up to quite the trip.. In reality I am looking forward to making some new images up there during Christmas...

I have been playing with black and white conversion methods hence the two images.

House Images

Homage to Modigliani - Color - IP4

Seems like some of the best images are right under our noses - just need to look.

Yesterday I found this image sitting in the bedroom....

Homage to Modigliani - BW Version - IP4

First Post - Year 2

San Genaro Festival - New York City

I have been giving some thought to how to start off the second year of this blog. Unfortunately my mind is completely blank today - my only thoughts are that I made it through the first year, which was my original goal.

In the end I decided to post a couple of my favorite images that did not make the cut last year as well as two new iPhone images, House Angel and Graffiti Underground. 

So here we go - year 2....

Kaiser - Cartell - New York City

Toronto - iPhone 4

House Angel - iphone 4

Yosemite 2009

Graffiti Underground, iPhone 4 HDR processed in CS5

Anniversary

"What a long, strange trip it's been"............Grateful Dead

Happy First Birthday to my blog - yes, it has been one year.

When the blog first started I thought it was about posting an image a day for 365 days. I was so wrong. While  actually posting 365 images, not necessary daily, this blog has done so much more then ever expected.

I met new friends, traveled extensively, looked at 100's of images deciding what to post, and, through it all, learned a great deal about myself through the work and the comments received back from those who subscribe and those who view the blog.
  
So as year 2 begins, I wish everyone a 'Happy and Healthy Holiday Season' and 'All the Best for 2011'.

Grafitti Underground

Graffiti Underground, Philadelphia, IP4

The first part of last Saturday was spent in Philadelphia at the Grafitii Underground - a section right on the waterfront near the downtown area. A bit of a hike from where you need to ark but well worth th effort, particularly at sunrise...

The image above was captured with my iPhone4 then transferred to the iPad for further enhancement. Below is an image captured (5 images actually) with the hipstamatic camera on the iPhone4 then stitched together using the iPhone4 auto-stitch application. Additionally my camera is also a phone...

These are two of many - so much more to process.....

Graffiti Underground, Phialdelphia

Eastern State Penitentiary

Red Barber Chair - Eastern Sate Penitentiary  

Back from the long weekend in Pennsylvania. Spent Saturday shooting at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. We shot mostly with the iPhone on tripods but did find the time to make a few big people camera images (red barber chair above). I can honestly say that the flexibility afforded with just and iPhone and a lightweight tripod is a fabulous way to capture images.

All in all a fabulous iPhone weekend - learned a good deal about applications and their various functions as, for the most part, we never took our eyes off of the screen.....not to mention that we sang, out of key, all day...WHAT FUN

Now all we need is a hot shoe mount for the iPhone......hint hint

Al Capone Cell - eastern State Penitentiary

Below is an image of Al Capone's cell which they have maintained, I assume, as Al left it.

And below is another iPhone capture adding an artistic touch to the red barber chair.

Still have images to process from the Graffiti Underground, Longwood Gardens and Fonthill..

Red Barber Chair, IP4 Capture and Process

Fonthill - Bucks County

Fonthill Entry

Shot yesterday at Fonthill in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. - home of Henry Chapman Mercer. Cameras are not allowed inside but we had free roam of the grounds.

The image today is the driveway leading up to the house - just could not pass up the shadows....Above is my iPhone 4 impression - below the Fonthill Mansion.

Off to Longwood Gardens today to capture the Christmas Lights.

Fonthill, Main Building

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 Not much time this morning. Heading out to PA today to meet up with several Iphone camera addicts and shoot around Bucks County and Philadelphia.

Iceland

Looking forward to some new images over the next few days....first time I have been shooting in quite some time....

Black and White

California Coast

A couple of black and white images today.

The one above was captured with my iphone4 and processed for a photo-gravure alternative process look. The low resolution of the iphone makes this possible.

The image below is a three shot high resolution panoramic stitched and converted to Black and White in Photoshop CS5.  This image was captured driving from Death Valley to Las Vegas.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh, Scotland

 Sunrise while the moon sets in Edinburgh captured from my hotel room window last January...

Cadillac Mountain

This image is from last summer in Maine. I had just finished capturing the sunrise on top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park when I heard what sounded like chanting or singing.

Sunrise., Cadillac Mountain

Upon further investigation it turned out to be the four people in this image sitting about 100 yards off to the right chanting or meditating in the most beautiful tone. Not quite sure what they were doing but I will tell you the scene was very surreal mostly because of the sound they were making with their voices. And the cloud formation seemed to enhance the scene even more...

I still have no idea if they were a religious type group or just 4 individuals out for a morning sing. What I can say is that this image completely captures the feeling I had when being an observer of this event. It was that kind of morning - not sure why but happy to be part of it.

Even the pigeon sitting to the left seemed very content.

And PS, the image below was the sunrise capture that morning....on the Iphone 4....

Sunrise, Cadillac Mountain, Acadia

Byrant Park

I received a note yesterday about posting  before and after images of my iphone work, so, today, I am doing just that...

Skaters, Bryant Park

The image is from last January in Bryant Park at 42nd and 6th Avenue in New york City. It was captured with the IP3Gs and process in several applications which included ProHDR,  Photo Studio, Photoforge and Perfect Photo. I tend to run the image throgh several applications and in some cases back through again dependig on the look I am after.

Skaters, Bryant Park

More iPhone

Sunrise, Horse Show

OK, I am still working from my iPhone - one of these days I will start using my big boy camera again...

The image above was shot awhile back with my Iphone 3Gs and reprocessed recently on my Ipad...Applications are slightly different and not always better but working in the large image size on the Ipad makes these old eyes happy. I used Iris on this one and blended in several textures that I created in various applications like artistaoil and Sketchmee...Sketchmee has several different ways to create that give the final image depth and texture.

The image below was captured with ProHdr and processed in photostudio, photoforge (older version) and perfectphoto....

Sorry for so much technical information but there are those who might be interested.

Times Square, New York

Can you believe it is December 1st already.

Hipstamatic

Bookstore, Bloomington, IN

While traveling last month most o the images captured were done with the iPhone4 using the Hipstamatic camera application. Hipstamatic gives on several different choices of lens and also several choices of film types from grainy black and white to outlandish color. If you are using the iPhone I highly recommend this camera application. Additionally try the Picture Show application which creates fun images from your original captures...

Cara, Detroit

Earth and Water

Jupiter Beach, Florida

'Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul'..........John Muir 

Happy Thanksgiving

Yellow-Green Light.......

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving...It has almost been one year posting here and I am thankful for all of you who have shown interest and commented on my work. December 14 marks the start of year two and I will have the website up (yes there have been may false alarms) and running by then. It is in beta test now.

The website will host many different phases of my work in landscape, music and iPhone Imagery. Additionally, the site will also provide a link directly to this blog.

Thanks for a inspiring year - looking forward to the next one..


All the best to you and your families on this Thanksgiving Day 2010.

Gothic Seascape

Seascape - Iceland

This image was captured in Iceland last July. I remember that Einar, our tour director from Focus on Nature, mentioned that this area had some connection to his family.

The rocks are called Reynisdranger (Reynis Cliffs). The mountain is called Reynisfjall (Reynis Mountain). Renir is a man's name. The town is Vik Mydral on the south coast of Iceland. 

If you look closely there is a bird in flight just to the right of the structure.

Love the black white on this image....

For Free

Playing for Free - Bloomington, Indiana

'I was standing on a noisy corner
Waiting for the walking on green
Across the street he stood
and he played real good for free
On his clarinet, for free'..............Joni Mitchell

Had a couple of friends meet me in Bloomington, Indiana on Sunday for lunch. After lunch we were actually waiting for the light when I saw this guy playing on the corner across the street. As you can tell my thoughts went Joni and so I gave him a few dollars and asked about a portrait - these are the first couple of passes....just playing with various toys in the IP4...

Playing for Free - Bloomington, Indiana

Shot and processed with a Hipstamatic Camera Application with the Iphone4....A touch of NIK Viveza at the end before posting....

Church with Red Roof

Church with Red Roof, Skaptartunga, Iceland

This church is located in Groef in the town of Skaptartunga, Iceland...If my memory serves  me well we left Nupstadir that day and got caught by this church in a severe rainstorm....As the rain died out I was pulled into this image by the shapes of the mountain off in the background caused by a fog that rolled in.

Image captured with a Canon 5DMKII, Canon 70200MM,  and processed with Nik Hdr Efex Pro....

Pacific Coast Highway

Pacific Coast Highway

I have friends who live in the Santa Cruz area of California. Whenever I have the good fortune of visiting with them I always drive the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) en-route to their house.

I make it a point to stop at several of the coast beaches between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. This is an Iphone4 capture made last October.

Happy Sunday