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!

A Wonderful Member's Show

Well, I completed my first CoPA Member's Show and I feel like it was a great success.  Friday night was crazy with lot's of traffic.  Friends, co-workers, Cream City Photographers all came out to show their support and say hello.  I talked to many others about my work including one guy who I met on an airplane this week!

What was best of all however, were the CoPA members themselves who were very encouraging and friendly.  I made many new friends this weekend and I look forward to getting more involved in the organization in the near future.  Thanks to Larry Dattilio for his guidance and friendship.  It was great getting to know Mark Stall, Suzanne Garr, Richard Butler, and many other members.  I had a great time.  Now, I feel like taking pictures.

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.