The Story Behind the Photo !

The Brush Mountain School at the Hensley Settlement (circa 1940). While visiting the Cumberland Gap Historic Park in Kentucky, I was fortunate enough to have a fisheye lens in my bag. This allowed me to stand just inside the front door and get all of this school room.
As the settlement grew to its peak of 100 people, the school was moved to its present site. Restored to its mid-1940s appearance. The schoolhouse is stripped-down simple. A wood-and-coal stove dominates the room; cast-iron-and-wood desks stand in neat rows; light filters through the windows & chinks in the log walls. When the school closed in December of 1947, only four students remained -- the children of the three remaining Hensley-Settlement families.


If you ever get the chance to visit the Hensley Settlement you will find photo ops everywhere.


This photo was taken on October 11, 2009 at 3:30 in the afternoon with a Canon 5D and a 15mm fisheye lens set at 1/6 sec F5.6 ISO 100. As always, Happy Shooting !

Crutch

Clingmans Dome

Pete and Liz Michael and I recently took a trip to Clingmans Dome, to photograph the full moon and sunset. Pete said it was just a half mile walk, from the parking area, so I decided to carry my heavy tripod and some other accessories in a back pack. He FORGOT to tell me the walk was straight up. So, this was my first and last trip to Clingmans Dome. We did manage to see a beautiful sunset and a great full moon. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGtr-occUZY We had a great time and I was glad I went. As always, comments are welcome.
Crutch

Photo Tip of the Week

Direction of Lighting.
Photography is all about light, the direction of the light falling on your subject is most important, you must look at your subject carefully and see how the shadows fall.
If you are able to choose the time of day to shoot your pictures, try to pick a time when the sun is low in the sky, either shoot in the early morning or late afternoon. Shooting pictures with the sun too high in the sky, tends to mean the subject's eyes will be in shadow or your subject will be squinting in the strong light, both of which tend to look horrible. A nice side effect of shooting in the early morning or late afternoon is that the color of the light is 'warmer', reds and yellows are stronger which generally gives a more pleasing effect. Shooting in the early morning or late afternoon is known as the "sweet light" among photographers. I'm sure you will agree :)
Happy shooting !
Crutch

Michigan 2010 Part 9 - Summary

This is the last segment of our trip to Michigan & Indiana. You can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwgsVQzN0rY For best results, click on 720p HD. I hope everyone enjoyed this series. Pete and I will probably be working on other projects and I will be sure to keep you updated here. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
Crutch

Michigan 2010 Part 8

New video...Part 8, from my Michigan trip at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU4PBU0wqNY
Be sure to watch in 720p for best viewing. Comments welcome!
Crutch

The Story Behind the Photo !

I have been to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, in the Smoky's, several times and have always enjoyed the fall colors there. In 2008, I decided to go inside this small building that appears to have been some kind of milling room. I really liked this angle and decided to set up my tripod inside and shoot out. Because of the different dynamic ranges (being inside and shooting into the sun) I decided to make three images at different exposures and combine them in Photomatic Pro, HDR software. This made all the difference and the dynamic ranges were completely covered.
If you get to Gatlinburg, Tn., look for traffic light number 8 (Airport Rd) and travel about 5.2 miles to the oneway road entrance. The loop road is about 5 miles and meanders through the foothills of the GSMNP. The photo ops are everywhere. Lots of cabins and streams. The fall is my favorite time to visit here as the colors are breathtaking. This was the case in 2008 on November, 12 at 4:35 in the afternoon. I made this image using a Canon 5D camera, 16-35mm lens, set at 1/6 & F8. ISO 400
As always, happy shooting!
Crutch