Getting My Grit

I've been itchy to photography lately and especially night, dark, gritty subjects.  I decided to head over to Jones Island, a busy port filled with heavy industry as well.  I was actually approached by an older gentlemen who drove up in his pickup truck.  Apparently, I was picked up by the Coast Guard's cameras.  He was polite enough, asked me what I was doing and merely said he needed to check because of Coast Guard security.  I told him I was just taking image of general structures in the area and that was a freelance fine art photographer.  While I was prepared to tell him I had every right to be there (on public property) and to photograph, he accepted my story and told me to have a nice day.  It was the first time I've ever been questioned on Jones Island.  I'm sure it won't be my last.

My favorite for Breakfast

This is currently my favorite place for breakfast.  With great sausage biscuit gravy and bacon everywhere, what's not to like!

Cream City Photographers

Yesterday was the March photowalk for the Cream City Photographers.  I haven't attended for the past couple of months so I figured I should go.  The weather had turned cold and we had snow that morning. We still had about 15 brave souls who braved the wind and chill.  The site of this month's walk was the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.  Most students were away for spring break which made shots like the one above easy since the school was empty.  It was also a good respite from the cold to venture inside!

Upcoming Gallery Night & Day

The spring edition of Milwaukee's Gallery Night & Day, taking place April 16-17 promises to be a busy one for me.  I'm going to be exhibiting images at three different locations!  The current exhibit at Caggio will be moving to the Milwaukee Athletic Club in the yoga room.  New images will be shown at Caggio on Brady Street and finally, CoPA will be hosting its Members Show in the Dye Building in Milwaukee's Third Ward.  More details on each will follow so stay tuned!

Feeling Spring

While it's by no means warm, you can tell that spring is nearly here.  Today the temps are supposed to reach the upper 40s even though the morning was still below freezing.  But even then, you could tell it was going to be a warmer day.  A haze was forming in the sky and on the horizon.  Snow is evaporating and causing morning fog.  This is the time of year in Wisconsin that is often a tease.  Yes, today will be seasonably warm but will it hang around or are we due for our usual frustrations when is snows in April?

Time will tell.

Today's image is taken from the Third Ward of Milwaukee with a view of the Hoan Bridge and the Milwaukee Harbor Lighthouse during sunrise.

Get Off My Perch

Yesterday, I went down to Lake Michigan.  It's been a while but the weather was glorious.  My favorite spot at north point had these seagulls all around.  I captured one who wasn't in a great mood.

North Point

The CoPA Members Show is just around the corner so I thought I would post the images I'll be showing over the next couple of days.  The first is one of my favorites taken in October of 2007.  It was my intent to go down to Lake Michigan and photograph sunrise of the old North Point pier, just south of Bradford Beach.  It had become a popular spot among the Cream City Photographers crowd on Flickr. 

What I had in mind that day was to catch sunrise with the pier in the foreground using a long exposure to smooth out the texture of the water.  I took several images as the sun got closer to the horizon and I was generally satisfied with the pre-sunrise images.  As the sun broke the Lake Michigan horizon, I shifted to the shoot the pier from the north side.  Immediately, I saw the morning glow on the algae covered wood of the pier.  Using a polarizer and a neutral density filter, I was able to keep the exposure long enough to give me smooth water.  

I shoot a lot of sunrises and sunsets but this day reminded me how important it is to look away from the sun.  In this case, it was a matter of simply looking at how the sun was illuminating the subject I was originally using as a silhouette.  I love the image shown here for several reasons (the texture of the wood and algae), but mostly because I left myself open-minded to shift from my original thoughts about this composition that led to the shot.  On another occasion, I might have missed this shot.