BG Pictures Photography Blog

The dancing of the water streams has a calming effect, and the sparking of the sunlight off the surface draws you in.  It was probably a wise decision to put such a device in an airport terminal.  Some people watched it as they walked by, others didn’t even notice as they rushed past talking on a cell phone.  I was in a big hurry too, but just had to take a few minutes and wait for a good shot.

Prints are available in any size, mounted and matted on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Fine Art paper, starting at $30.

Fountain

While visiting my home state of Michigan, I took the opportunity to do a little shooting in Frankenmuth.  More famous for it’s ‘Largest Christmas store in the world’ and ‘chicken dinners’, it does have some great scenery off the beaten path.  This barn must have been functional in days gone by, but now it stand in pristine condition, sitting pretty on a little hill for the people driving by to admire.

Prints are available in any size, mounted and matted on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Fine Art paper, starting at $30.

Frankenmouth Barn

When printing large format on heavy paper, inherent curl is always a problem, especially as the roll gets down to the core.  The best way to cope with the problem is to use a suitable media rack and let the new print acclimate and naturally flatten over several days in a climate controlled environment.  In the real world, you usually need to use the print (sell, mount, ship, etc.) fairly quickly!

Off-the-shelf products performing a quick and safe de-curl cost hundreds of dollars.  Yes they work, but frankly when things are so dramatically over-priced I tend to look for my own solutions.  One very popular and widely used product seemed to incorporate a solid design so I modeled my version after it.

Here are a set of easy to follow DIY plans complete with materials list.  The whole project will take you an hour or two including shopping, and I’ve even made a quick video on how to use it!

BGP DIY De-curler Plans

Traveling over the Tioga Pass, there are countless acres of land where no one has ever set foot.  Short hikes off the road can lead you to beautifully scenic destinations, and here I came upon a half frozen lake near the edge of the treeline.  It was one of my goals this trip to produce a few great panoramas, and I succeed wonderfully.  This and others now hang in my home gallery.

Prints are available in any size, mounted and matted on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Fine Art paper, starting at $30.

9000 ft. Lake

Stopping in the Sequoia National Forest for what was supposed to be a quick hike up an easy paved path for a scenic overlook, I found myself what seemed to be alone for miles.  It was virtually silent and still.  The sun was barely penatrating the canopy and if it weren’t for the few signs of man around me I would have thought I was the first one ever there.  Needless to say no hike is easy at these kinds of altitudes, and my hurried hike turned into a rather paced one!

Prints are available in any size, mounted and matted on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Fine Art paper, starting at $30.

Sequoia Path

First the Canon 50D specs were leaked: Link

And now the Nikon D90! Link

I have always wanted a nice lawn, and have experimented with various options.  Unfortunately my property is a mix of sandy soils, and it’s pretty hard to grow what I like easily.  During one particular seeding, some wildflower seeds germinated along with the grasses.  These buds were no larger than my small fingernail but lasted for many days throughout the lawn.

Prints are available in any size, mounted and matted on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Fine Art paper, starting at $30.

Lawn Bloom 1

Nvidia has been hard at work developing support for us using their GPUs, to be able to offload what traditionally has been CPU tasks, to the GPU.  Now it looks like the rumored collaboration between Nvidia and Adobe has come to fruition, and enchanced Photoshop speed is in the near future.  See this article for more details!

This is also one of my very favorites.  As I travelled over the Tioga Pass, some 9,000+ feet in elevation over the High Seirras, I came upon a vast meadow.  Some fellow travellers had stopped along the road to snap some shots, but I always like to take the road less travelled.  This expanse was over a mile long, at least 1/2 mile wide, and had very little other than a couple outcropping of dead but preserved trees.  I hiked to one such outcropping and was delighted by the textures up close.

Prints are available in any size, mounted and matted on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Fine Art paper, starting at $30.

Tree Above The Clouds

This is one of my current favorites.  It was also on a bone chilling pre-dawn morning on the floor of Yosemitie valley.  The water was maybe 1 deg. above freezing, and in places was as still as the ice next to it.  I love producing images with high contrast, and I knew exactly what I wanted this to look like as I was taking it.

Prints are available in any size, mounted and matted on Ilford Gold Fibre Silk Fine Art paper, starting at $30.

Yosemitie Fallen River Tree