Thinking about the new year I was reminded that 2010 will be the centennial celebration at Split Rock Lighthouse a Minnesota Historical society site and a state park.

For those of you who have visited this lighthouse you will know it’s beautiful location. For those who do not If you ever find your self along Minnesota’s North-shore of Lake Superior be sure to take the time to visit this site, it is well worth it.

For more information on Split Rock Lighthouse Minnesota Historical Society visit http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/srl/index.htm , And to find out about the Split Rock Lighthouse state Park visit http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/split_rock_lighthouse/index.html

RIP NICK DECKER

Nick passed away on December 15th 2009.

Nick was an instructor at Brooks Institute of Photography and that is were we met. Even though I only had one class with him some twenty seven years ago I seem to still be learning from my friend. He had great impact on many who went through his class, just read the numerous posts on his Face Book page.

Nick you pushed us to the limit, you even made us angry some times bring us to tears, you gave us encouragement and taught us well. I would have it know other way and I want to thank you for every thing you did all those years ago. It is because of you that I am the photographer and person that I am today. Again thank you my friend!

I will remember your joking you called me a stump jumper from Minnesota and I called you the beat farmer from North Dakota.

Nick you will be missed greatly!

Getting Lucky

Being in the right place at the right time is so important to what we do as nature photographers. Research the location and the natural lighting and then making sure that we are there and ready for those few fleeting moments of the sweet light. When talking about what I do with people I stress this point.

I’ll follow up by saying there are time when mother nature just smiles on you and you feel like the luckiest person. I was on my way to check out a location on a cloudy fall day when the sun broke through the clouds and shone on the trees on the far side of the river. At that moment I knew I had just gotten Lucky!

Portland Head Lighthouse

Lighthouses are a relic from the days before Radar and GPS, each one looks and sound unique. Their uniqueness told the old sailors where they were and warned of danger in any weather conditions.

Over the years I have photographed many lighthouse some over and over. Some are close to home and some are far from home. I have visited them when the weather is nice and when it’s been so nasty no would want to be out there. Some times when the weather is in between good and bad you need to photograph in a way to make the image interesting and stand out otherwise you might as well left the camera in the car.

I ask myself how can I make this image more interesting than what I am looking at? In the case of this image I decided to shoot at a slower shutter speed in order to make the waves seem more active then they were. I made a series of exposure starting at 1/30 and going to 1/4 second and chose this image which I believe was 1/15 of a second.

When I was much younger and just getting started in photography I read a book by Les Blacklock said in relationship to photographing waterfalls the the human eyes see at about 1/60 of a second. Therefor if you want blurred water make your exposure at a speed slower than 1/60 of a second.

Peter, Paul and Mary sung about Puff the magic dragon living near Hanalei on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua’i in the early 60’s, I grew up listening to the song. Some thirty years later while on vacation with my wife on Moloka’i Puff worked his magic on a Hawaiian sunset. The thing is for several years I just saw a nice sunset until one day someone pointed out that I had a photo of him. ..... Aloha Puff

New Images

I've just uploaded some new images to my website! Follow this link to the New images section to see what I've posted http://www.phawkinsphoto.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1π=10000&s=0&p=0

Duluth

Duluth, Minnesota is the worlds furthest inland sea port. Vessels from around the world visit each year to load grain, the port ships mostly Taconite pellets to the steel mills down the lakes. Taconite contains iron ore and is brought to Duluth from the Masabe iron range by ore trains. While many goods are shipped in and out of the Duluth Harbor its main good is Taconite. There is a new challenger that could out do Taconite some day, Giant Wind Machines and I mean the big ones. Each blade leaves the port on it’s own oversized truck, So just the blades and turbine take a minimum of four trucks to get from the port of Duluth to its final destination.

Are we really a better photographers?

There are some subjects that I keep returning to year after year and some how I come away with new angles that I never thought of before. This is a result of personal and professional growth, the photographs I make present I could not have made before. These changes come out of more life experience and visual growth. What I mean by visual growth is that I spend a lot of time looking at other photographers work on the web both professionals and hobbyists, by doing this I hope to fine tune my own image making. If the last image we make is no better than one we have made in the past are we really a better photographers?

You've got to push yourself harder. You've got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You've got to take the tools you have and probe deeper.

-William Albert Allard

Digital photography has simplified a lot of what we do as photographers. It has made photo restoration much easier, and the ability of making a new image look old is a snap.

The log structure was built by the C.C.C. back in the 1930’s and the my client was after a retro look for the building.

For many years I had this idea for a photograph of a stand of Birch trees in the fall. I have even tried the shot a half dozen times or so over the years, only to later look at the image and think that is not what I had in mind. Several failed attempts Of this idea all found their way to the trash.

So the idea just simply stayed in my head until a couple of weeks ago. I was walking through one of the lager stands of Birch that I know of on my way back from photographing another subject. And there it was right in front of me, the image that matched my Idea perfectly.

On this day I was very lucky, not only to have found the right location for the image but to have the perfect sky for it as well.

I try to keep track of my image ideas in my head, and as a back up I have a folder on my laptop called shoot list (Ideas). I keep reading through these lists and adding to them constantly . I started my first list over twenty-five years ago, and I keep adding ideas and checking others off, The funny thing here is the lists never get shorter just longer. Years ago that first list got so long I had to split it into several shorter list. Today I keep list for every place I have ever been and even several places I want to go. I set my lists up geographically as well as by subject.

For me that folder full of lists is invaluable in that there is no way to remember all of my ideas. As I read through them I some times think “What was I thinking” and other times I’ll say oh yea I know where I can make that image. Over the years I have heard of people writing their ideas down in note books, pads and blank books. The key is What ever works or you is the way to do it. and this method really works well for me.

1005

I seem to be drawn by old buildings, I have a hard time passing one by with out checking it out. Doors and windows on these buildings seem to have the most significant daw for me. Maybe its the weathering, the texture, who may have walked or looked through, I just know I am fascinated by them and probably always will be.

This door “1005” is located on Route 66 in Tucumcari New Mexico, A town that has seen better days, and may see them again thanks to I-40. There are many towns, old farms, and buildings around this country just waiting to fall down, I just hope the most interesting ones can wait until I can photograph them, wishful thinking I know.

iphone Photography

When Cell phone started to come with digital cameras I thought “I have no use for that! I’m a photographer and I have several camera bodies what on earth would I want a camera phone for? And I proudly told this the sales clerk at the store where I was replacing my broken phone at.

Fast forward several years and Apple announced the release of its G3 iphone, I was going to stand in line for one (The first and last time I have ever done so). It was going to be this great tool for me to have in my pocket but I thought “I will never use the camera, it can not be good enough for my needs”.

I admit I was wrong the iphone camera is a great little camera and I use it a lot! I use it for snapshots, Location scouting, Ideas and price comparison shopping. It is capable of producing a very nice image, not long after I bought the phone I sent an image to a high end lab that I use to have a 5X7 printed, not only was I blown out of the water when I told my rep at the lab that the image was made with an iphone they were amassed.

With all the praise I have just given my iphone’s camera I still have my DSLR and my 4X5 and I have no plans on giving up on either one of them any time soon.

Steam locomotive #2719

The North Shore Scenic Railroad in Duluth Minnesota Runs old trails on the rail between Duluth and Two harbors Minnesota. During the fall on four weekends they pull the excursion train with Steam locomotive #2719.

“ Built in 1923, the engine carried troops to WW II and the Korean War and ran until 1959, growing old as the last working steam engine in Wisconsin.
Restored to running order by the Locomotive and Tower Preservation Fund, Ltd. the engine’s last excursion run was in 2003. It had been stored outside in Altoona, Wisconsin since then. In 2005 the L&TPF entered into negotiations with the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth to move the engine north for inside storage, further restoration and eventual operation on the North Shore Scenic Railroad.” (from http://www.northshorescenicrailroad.org/home/2719home.asp)

The train runs along the Lake front walk in down Duluth for several miles before slipping through neighborhoods on its way north.

Technique

Some may look at this image and say well nice use of neutral density filters. The truth is that no filter was used in making this image, the technique was soothing in the very early morning just as it is starting to get light, in fact it was before sunrise.

Two other vital pieces of equipment were used in the making of this image. And I will use both on about 98% of all of my images, that is a good tripod and a cable release. With the image framed I stopped my aperture all the way down to f/22 and set the shutter speed to sixty seconds, I knew this exposure combination would yield the result that I was after.

When I am out in the field photographing I am approached by many people who ask what camera, lens should I buy? I respond the same way each time that is stick with a name brand camera but then I will say that more importantly get a good tripod (not one from a discount store), and a cable release.

When you try new techniques log your exposure info and try to learn what works and how to get the camera do what you want it to do.

Rhythm

I believe that everything has a cycle, I also believe the things we’ve do can create a rhythm within that cycle. One thing I have always tried to advocate is stepping outside of the box or getting out of your comfort zone will help the creative rhythm in our lives.

This past winter I stepped away outside my comfort zone. I spent six months working as a resort photographer covering special events, photographing formal portraits and shooting advertising pieces for the resort. It is true that early in my career I worked in a portrait studio however that was 25 years ago and I had not done a single portrait in almost 15 years. The type of event photography that I covered was something totally foreign to me, yes at first it was a little scary and I was unsure of myself but after the first few images I found my rhythm.

As part of my job I assembled and published in a yearbook for the resort, I had in the past designed and published a souvenir book so there was some familiarity there. I think the combination of money formal training and my job experience definitely helped make this trip outside my comfort zone not only easier but successful.

While it’s been five months since I finish that job, and it seems like I have been in such a rhythm that I could probably put my camera at something with my eyes shut and it would work, I know that’s not quite true. this experience outside the box has refreshed my vision and my creative rhythm. My belief in stepping outside of our comfort zone has become even stronger and I intend step outside my zone on a regular basis. What do I mean by a regular basis, well probably an annual basis will suffice. It dawns on me that the more I do this I need to find other boxes to step into in order to keep it fresh, scary and challenging. If I can do this I think that my creative rhythm will respond in a positive manner.

I think we should all step outside of our comfort zone periodically and then reap the benefits of doing so.

Favorite places

I just returned from my one of my all time favorite places to Photograph “Itasca State Park” The headwaters of the Mississippi River. I have been photographing in the park for close to 20 years and it never gets old, I find that amazing.

Each trip to the park I ask myself to photograph the headwaters in a way that I have never done so, and as you can imagine that can become a challenge after a while. Yet some how as time goes by and my vision grows so dose my approach to photography.

There are times when I find myself really having to work to=create images and other times where it seems as though everything works really well. I feel like I have been in that grove where everything just works very easily. That may be a result of doing a lot of image making over the last year, and it could be a result of stepping outside the box (Comfort zone) or both. And I plan on routinely getting out of the box if this is the result.

I will return to Itasca State park at least once a year to create new images as long as I live because it is a very special place in my hart.

Little experiment

I am trying a little experiment with Facebook. Every weekday (as long as I have internet access) I will be posting one image to my wall along with my website address. I started this a week or so ago and am seeing traffic heading to my site, I will keep doing this for the near future and if it seems to be a good thing I may make it a regular morning task.

It is coming ............................ fall that is !

it seems every summer goes faster than the one before its August 25 today and it seems like it was just early June. Yeah we’ve managed to do quite a bit this summer but why the summer golf so fast in winter goes so slow.

With the passing of summer we’re about to enter one of my favorite times of year here in northern Minnesota its fall well almost. As I look around I see subtle hints that fall is not far away the marsh grasses have started to turn that kind of gold-dish yellow. The weather is beginning to change you can feel fall in the air, soon will be able to smell it. not long after that natures palette will explode the vibrant reds and yellows will dominate the landscape for a short period as the trees transition to dormancy for the winter.

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year to be out photographing, the bugs are gone for the most part and children are back at school. If nothing else in the fall colors season can be a very hectic time of year in trying to get from location to location. Here in Minnesota the colors changed in ways first you get the sumac then come the maples and other deciduous trees and a few weeks later along the North Shore it all happens again. Just when you think fall colors are over along comes the golden hue of the Tamarack trees if you’re not familiar with Tamarack they looked to be evergreen but they’re actually deciduous date change color and dropped their needles actually they are small leaves. By the time the Tamaracks finish dropping their leaves the fall color has shifted to central and southern Minnesota, so then it’s time to follow the colors south.

My only wish for fall is that it lasted months instead of weeks because it is such a beautiful time of year to be outdoors not too hot not to cold and very few bugs if any at all. There is something about the crisp fall air is so refreshing I’ll step outside and take a good lung full of the fall air on enjoy it for several moments then the realization of what is yet to come shocks me back to reality, yes winter can’t be too far away.

Looking forward

WOW! I can hardly believe that it’s almost August 1. Where has the summer gone again in oh I heard yesterday on the radio at Duluth has only had I believe three days where the high temperature topped out in the 80s. Sure for some the 60s and 70s are pleasant but I really do like in the mid the lower 80s in the summertime. While as I stated in an earlier post I’ve been sticking close to Duluth this summer and photographing around the city. it actually has been quite fun and challenging and have learned quite a bit about the area.

One of my favorite parts of Duluth is a park called blue Leif Erikson Park, and it lies between I-35 in Lake Superior and as its name suggests heat is dedicated to the first European to discover North America and I’m not referring to Christopher Columbus. The Duluth Rose Garden comprises part of this park it in itself a requires its own post. The Duluth lake walk also runs through the park and is a post all in its own, on the lakeside of the lake walk and there’s an old theater reminiscent of the Viking era. The statue in the photo is of Leif Erikson, in his pose he is looking to the future standing proud and tall. In this time of economic slowdown I’m planning and looking forward to a bright future not just for myself but for all of us.

Copyright

On a regular basis I will search the web looking for any of my photographs, on the occasion that I do find an image that has been used illegally meaning without permission I will contact the individual or organization regarding the fact that they broke federal law. In each and every incident I have recovered the maximum amount allowed by federal law. Every item leaving the studio has been my copyright on it and at least one way of contacting me, there should be no excuse for not trying to contact me about using my images. On a really do not like to have to go after someone that have caught using my images without permission but it is in my right and it is protected by federal law. US federal law states that once in the image is created it is copyrighted. Therefore I spend time regularly searching for and individuals or groups that have illegally used my images and I do go after them, and they do so with US federal copyright laws on my side. So should you think it’s okay to use my image without my permission you better be prepared to suffer the consequences.

Recently a good friend of mine started a blog about where he lives here’s the link http://thisisnorthkitsap.com/about/ I think you’ll find it interesting. After looking at his blog I have become inspired to share with you more of that area I call home.

So through the next several posts that I do to this blog I will be highlighting the sites of Duluth Minnesota and the North Shore of Lake superior. My hope is that this series of postings will inspire you like my friend Eric’s did to me enjoy and always feedback is welcome.

Instead of doing a lot of traveling this summer, I have decided that it would make more sense to photograph closer to home. in recent years Duluth has revitalized its waterfront and become a real tourist destination. All of the old warehouses have either been remodeled or demolished and new buildings have replaced them.

I am really discovering Duluth again this summer through my photographic efforts. I am amazed how photogenic city of Duluth really is, I’ve always known that Canal Park in the lake walk provide a lot of interesting vistas what I never realized before is the vast array of parks and the fact that this city is really the beginning of the North Shore of Lake Superior.

What I would recommend is that no matter where you live it doesn’t cost much to get out and explore your local area even your backyard so get up grab the camera and get out there and explore your local area and make some images you’ll be amazed at where you live.

Yesterday which was July 2, 2009 in the Paul ship Dennis Sullivan was due in the Porter Duluth between 12:30 and 1:30 PM. in preparation for going down in photographing the arrival of the tall ship I went online to dilutes boats.com to check for updated arrival information only to be surprised by the fact that the ship had come in at 6:30 AM. I wonder he if this was a planned scheduling as last year when the three tall ships came in support there were literally 1,000 boats in the harbor, including the one I took to picture accompanying this post from.

I’m wondering if it was designed this way as a safety measure because there were too many boats all last year or perhaps they were just ahead of schedule. Anyways the arrival of the Dennis Sullivan was very anti-climatic. The ship will be in the port of the loose in till July 7. According to duluthboats.com the Sullivan is expected to depart Duluth today Friday, July 3 early afternoon and is expected to reach turn and is expected to arrive back in Duluth for a grand entrance between 230 and 330 p.m. this should in fact be quite spectacular hopefully they will have their sales up.

Apparently next year and the organizers of last year’s event in this year’s event are hoping to have between four and 10 tall ships visit Duluth harbor the amount of docking space is going to determine the actual number is some believe it’ll be four or six a lot of people are hoping its 10. No matter whatever the number ships come in next year I am sure they’ll be quite a spectacular event and I will be out there photographing it.

To all a happy and say Fourth of July 2009.

Once, long long ago (RIP Kodachrome)

Once, long long ago a giant ruled the land, he still lives but is a Mirror shadow of himself. The mighty giant was all knowing and powerful until one day when a eager competitor arrived on the scene they did battle with one growing stronger and the other getting weaker. You see the giant was over confident and thought he could rule the world for ever. The giant had many trusted weapons in his arsenal and he knew that they were good and some were the finest in all the world, and he was right. For years he relied on what he had and did not look to the future. This would eventually being his undoing.

Today he still is out there but he is no giant anymore he is gust one of the guys. Years ago he was know far and wide as the Great Yellow Father, you may know him as Kodak.

This image was originally made on Kodak’s Kodachrome 25! RIP Kodachrome

Sorry, Paul Simon, Kodak's taking Kodachrome away

I just recieved this in my in box I'll comment on Kodak later in the day.

Sorry, Paul Simon, Kodak's taking Kodachrome away

By Carolyn Thompson
Associated Press

-- Sorry, Paul Simon, Kodak is taking your Kodachrome away.

The Eastman Kodak Co. announced today it's retiring its most senior film because of declining customer demand in an increasingly digital age.

The world's first commercially successful color film, immortalized in song by Simon, spent 74 years in Kodak's portfolio. It enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s and '60s but in recent years has nudged closer to obscurity: Sales of Kodachrome are now just a fraction of 1 percent of the company's total sales of still-picture films, and only one commercial lab in the world still processes it.

Those numbers and the unique materials needed to make it convinced Kodak to call its most recent manufacturing run the last, said Mary Jane Hellyar, the outgoing president of Kodak's Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group.

"Kodachrome is particularly difficult (to retire) because it really has become kind of an icon," Hellyar said.

The company now gets about 70 percent of its revenue from its digital business, but plans to stay in the film business "as far into the future as possible," Hellyar said. She points to the seven new professional still films and several new motion picture films introduced in the last few years and to a strategy that emphasizes efficiency.

"Anywhere where we can have common components and common design and common chemistry that let us build multiple films off of those same components, then we're in a much stronger position to be able to continue to meet customers' needs," she said.

Kodachrome, because of a unique formula, didn't fit in with the philosophy and was made only about once a year.

Simon sang about it in 1973 in the aptly titled "Kodachrome."

"They give us those nice bright colors. They give us the greens of summers. Makes you think all the world's a sunny day," he sang. "... So Mama don't take my Kodachrome away."

Indeed, Kodachrome was favored by still and motion picture photographers for its rich but realistic tones, vibrant colors and durability.

It was the basis not only for countless family slideshows on carousel projectors over the years but also for world-renowned images, including Abraham Zapruder's 8 mm reel of President John F. Kennedy's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.

Photojournalist Steve McCurry's widely recognized portrait of an Afghan refugee girl, shot on Kodachrome, appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. At Kodak's request, McCurry will shoot one of the last rolls of Kodachrome film and donate the images to the George Eastman House museum, which honors the company's founder, in Rochester.

For McCurry, who after 25 years with Kodachrome moved on to digital photography and other films in the last few years, the project will close out an era.

"I want to take (the last roll) with me and somehow make every frame count ... just as a way to honor the memory and always be able to look back with fond memories at how it capped and ended my shooting Kodachrome," McCurry said last week from Singapore, where he has an exhibition at the Asian Civilizations Museum.

As a tribute to the film, Kodak has compiled on its Web site a gallery of iconic images, including McCurry's Afghan girl and others from photographers Eric Meola and Peter Guttman.

Guttman used Kodachrome for 16 years, until about 1990, before switching to Kodak's more modern Ektachrome film, and he calls it "the visual crib that I was nurtured in." He used it to create a widely published image of a snowman beneath a solar eclipse, shot in the dead of winter in North Dakota.

"I was pretty much entranced by the incredibly realistic tones and really beautiful color," Guttman said, "but it didn't have that artificial Crayola coloration of some of the other products that were out there."

Unlike any other color film, Kodachrome is purely black and white when exposed. The three primary colors that mix to form the spectrum are added in three development steps rather than built into its layers.

Because of the complexity, only Dwayne's Photo, in Parsons, Kan., still processes Kodachrome film. The lab has agreed to continue through 2010, Kodak said.

Hellyar estimates the retail supply of Kodachrome will run out in the fall, though it could be sooner if devotees stockpile. In the U.S., Kodachrome film is available only through photo specialty dealers. In Europe, some retailers, including the Boots chain, carry it.

On the Net:

Kodak: www.kodak.com

When new directions come from old directions

We need to challenge ourselves everyday push in new directions or old directions just push. I recently decided to change my focus ( Pardon the pun) of my business. Yes the current economy has a part to play in this as well as feeling too complacent with my work. So I decided to go back to an old formula that had worked well for me.

I’m betting your asking what is he talking about ? Well I have been shooting stock Photos for close to 20 years or so, but the last number of years it has been on a back burner. I am making an effort to shoot more images and get them in the hands of my agencies.

I am not sure what this will mean to the bottom line for the business, but I have a renewed enthusiasm for making images so I gotta believe that the rest will fall in to place. Having just written this I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes on photography.

"Shoot what you love and you'll love what you shoot"

-John Sexton

Exploring a subject

Exploring a subject with your camera can lead to some great images. What I mean is that after taking the first couple of images of a scene look at it from different angles. Pretend it is something you have never seen before. Making detail images by getting up close and check out the shapes, colors and contrast. Sometimes this can produce a much more interesting image than your typical ID image. Your viewer dose not necessarily to know what the environment of the image looks like.

Both the images in this post are from the same location and subject but tell different stories and could have totally different uses. The peppers drying on the roof and the ristas that have been finished and on display could be used to illustrate an article on the southwest in a magazine or a Textbook. While the close up could also be used for these projects I Like the graphic quality and would tend to use it more for a Fine art print or perhaps as an element in a page layout rather than an Id image.

Weather you are photographing in your backyard or you have traveled halfway across the planet to make photographs. Be sure to take the time to really explore the subject that you are photographing, You will be sure to be surprised with the results.

I’ve been asked to speak at a local camera club and I happily agreed. Then I thought what am I doing I have no program to present!  After some thought I decided to go with the idea of revisiting a subject time and again not only throughout a year but throughout a life time to record the changes that take place ever so slowly in natural world. Over time there can be huge changes.

For instance the Tamarack tree behind the post was once full of branches that hung down and shade the base of the tree. They also made some great framing when photographing across the rocks that signify the beginning of the Mississippi River.

I other places it might be the growth of the local vegetation, or erosion. Maybe the landmark has been restored or just painted.

By going back time and time you can also keep your images current and over the years you can daw on the older ones if some one needs some historical reference. An example would be Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue ox in Bemidji Minnesota. Years ago be for the whole downtown area was revitalized and the built a new visitors center. Blacktop surrounded  Paul & Babe, To day they have cement and brick work, which is much more appealing. I have sold both image many times.

Tucson Arizona for some reason is one of my favorite locations in Arizona. It must be because the diversity of subject matter in a relatively short drive from where you might stay.

I have since my first visit to the area in the 1970’s loved the Sonoran Desert. especially in the spring time when the cacti begin to bloom. The terrain  allows you to choose many different angles for photographing.

My newest favorite spot in Tucson would undoubtable be Barrio Lebria, The oldest neighborhood in Tucson, It is subject rich, Although it has been discovered and it is being re-paired building by building, The buildings are being painted. This is sad and exciting at the same time. I feel lucky to have found this spot when I did, I just wonder what it was like five years earlier.

While my main focus (pardon the pun) is on nature I just love to shoot interesting buildings and details new and old but mostly old. And with in a few blocks of Barrio Lebria there exists so much subject matter that its almost hard to believe.

National Loon Appreciation Week 2009

Peter Hawkins brings his fine art photography back to the Walker Leech Lake area. Peter grew up in the Walker area spending much of his time out on Leech Lake photographing the common loon. 

Peter has been creating photographic images of nature  for over twenty-five years. He is passionate about his subjects and considers their well-being more important than the photograph. It can take days if not weeks to make a single image, depending on the  behavior of the subject.

Peter’s image of a loon on the nest was selected to be on the National Loon Appreciation Week poster for 2009. This event is put on each year by the Sigrud Olson Environmental Institute at the Northland College in Ashland Wisconsin. In conjunction with this event Peter is doing two poster signings. The first will be held on May 15th at 6:30pm at the Hartley Nature Center in Duluth Minnesota, The second will be at the Artist and Crafters Mall of Walker on May 22nd. from 2pm till closing.

Peter looks forward to joining the other fine local artisans at the Artist and Crafters Mall of Walker who will be the exclusive retail location for Peter’s work in downtown Walker, Peter is constantly creating new images and looking for creative ways to display his work.

Those familiar with Peter’s work will find some old favorites and exciting new images from places like Itasca State Park, Split Rock Lighthouse and around Minnesota. There will be some images from Peter’s travels which may include Hawaii, the pacific northwest and the desert south west. There will be a wide selection of images to choose from.

Loon Appreciation Week 2009

This image won the poster contest for Loon Appreciation week that the  Sigurd Olson Enviromental Institute in Ahland Wisconsin dose each year. www.northland.edu/sigurd-olson-enviromental-institute-loon-watch.htm

I will be doing two poster signing events in May. The first one will be in Duluth, Minnesota at the Hartley Nature Center on Friday May 15th at 6:30 pm. The following week I will be in Walker Minnesota athe the Artist and Crafters Mall of Walker at about 1:00pm ( I will post the exact time as we get closer to the date)

These posters are free of charge, I will have a donation Jar with 100% of the proceeds going to the Loon watch program.

I hope you are able to make one of these events.

The art of sight

Look very carefully you may find a subject you did even know was there. Stand still and look around and observe your surrounding yo might just be surprised in what you find, look from different angles.
Some times when I walk in to an area I find that if I just stand there and take a good long look I will find a lot going on and others not so much. You never know it could be flowers, birds, texture, dramatic lighting or just an incredible scene.
The more I observe the more photographic possibilities I see. Take the time to just plain look around you and do this weather you have your camera or not.
The most important thing a photographer can learn is the art of sight.