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 New Day

I suddenly realized how long it's been since my last post. Sorry about that!

Well this morning I visited one of my favorite locations . . . North Point. I had no intention of making any photographs but instead, thought I would enjoy a cup of coffee. I'm in a very melancholy mood having just laid my dear sweet dog, Shamrock to rest yesterday. Her time had come and I am at peace with the decision. It was based on her needs and not my own. I will miss her like a child as she's been such a part of the family having lived with us through my real children's formative, teen years. You can see pictures of Shamrock on Flickr.

My friends, old and new have been very supportive. A dear old friend from back east even located the local Humane Society in southern Wisconsin where I found Shamrock to make a donation on her behalf. Times like these are easier with such friends.

I left work early yesterday in the hopes of spending a few more precious moments with Shamrock. We went down to the lakefront. It was an absolutely perfect day. We spend some time walking and sitting but I could tell she was not settled. She was content to just mozy around the grass taking in the various scents of people, places and things. I tried to get her to just sit with me. It was almost as if she was saying, 'it's OK to let me go now' as she continued to be slightly aloof. Her time had come.

So this morning, I returned to this scene content to watch the lake with my morning coffee thinking of Shamrock before heading to work. I was greeted by a wonderful sunrise over the lake. I met some joggers and a close friend. I decided to take a few images, have some nice early morning conversation and then on my way. It was a new day. A new chapter.

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.