July 2009 Newsletter
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The most difficult thing about producing this newsletter in the summer is staying indoors on a nice day. There is however solace in the orioles, grosbeaks, goldfinches, chickadees and other birds that frequent the view outside the window above my computer.
The last several months have been a great adventure and have yielded some of my favorite images. Camping in the Great Smokey Mountains in April with tornadoes nearby, an early spring trip to Holland, Michigan for the annual tulip festival, a Memorial Weekend trip to Wilderness State Park and finally, a photo trip that I have always wanted to make - Porcupine Mountains State Park.
The photo at the right is of the Presque Isle River, on the west end of the park. It is incredible to see how the river has carved holes in the rock. I did visit the Lake of the Clouds in the park which is an awesome scene. Alas, there were no great pics at this time, because it was so bright, and it just did not make for a good image. I can only imagine what this would look like in the fall, with thousands of trees decked in fall colors.
July may be my final opportunity to share some of the amazing Michigan scenes that I have been able to capture. The Cadillac Arts and Crafts Show will be held in City Park on Friday July 17 from 4 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday July 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. The Traverse City Annual Outdoor Artfair will be on Saturday, July 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the NMC Campus., 1701 E. Front Street.
2009 Art Shows
On the Cover
One
of my images
Lake Michigan Sunset is on the cover of the summer
edition of Michigan Blue Magazine.
You can pick up a copy, which has some great
articles and ideas for summer fun, at a local bookstore. Their
website at Michigan
Blue Mag also displays the cover and
shows some of what is in this edition.
As always, thank you for taking the time to allow me to share my photography with you. I will try to keep capturing images to share and posting on my website at www.tomhaxbyphotos.com or more immediately on my blog. Thank you also to Michgan Blue Magazine for featuring one of my images on the cover of their summer issue. Summer is a great time to be on a lake, river, in the woods or anywhere outdoors up north, and they highlighted some of the best reasons.
Having a fancy digital camera does not guarantee great images. There, I said it here. I am offering sessions for those of you who have ever wanted to learn more about photography, or how to get more out of your camera. The first session is scheduled to review some of the basics of photography with perhaps a brief shooting session on August 7th. It is only $60 and you will learn some of what I have paid thousands to learn. If you are interested, please contact me via e-mail at thaxby02@yahoo.com or call me at 231-620-0521.
Believe it or not, capturing images digitally is not much different than film photography. Some of the same concepts still apply. As an example film photographer, Michael Orton, pioneered a double exposure effect, on film, which later became known as the "Orton Effect" This took two images, one overexposed and one out of focus as one frame. The result was an image that has a soft glow. The same effect can be done using Photoshop and the results can be striking as seen below in this "Ortonized" image of tulips:
If you know of someone whom you think would like to subscribe to my newsletter please e-mail me with their e-mail address. The newsletter is free, hopefully informative and subscriptions can be discontinued at any time. Also, comments are always welcome.
Closing fireworks display for the 2009 Cherry Festival.