Finally, a real reason to wear aviators

140 horsepower. 47 years old. Not much bigger than your car. Sounds like the perfect specifications for a plane, right? Right.

I consider myself to be quite an experienced flier, having taken somewhere around 100 flights in my lifetime, but this, this was a bit different. Thanks to Doyle McIntosh, I felt the most uncomfortable I have felt in the air in a very, very long time. For some odd reason I figured that a plane with 4 seats would handle nearly the same way as a 757. Incorrect.

Ok, enough whining and griping. After the whole experience I can say that it was an absolute blast, it really wasn't that dangerous nor scary, and I actually flew the damn thing for a solid 2-3 minutes. As for the pictures, I jumped back-and-forth across the line that is artistic photography and journalistic photography. The aerial images are of Ball State campus. Enjoi after the jump.

Retro Rewind

After being behind the lens for a few thousand snaps of the shutter, I have come to realize what my favorite shots include - grunge, interesting architecture, and up-close textures. When I was recently tipped off to a spot that included all of the above (plus retro themes) I knew it wouldn't be long until I would make time for a visit.

Enter the small minuscule town that is Cammack, Indiana. After driving through the heart of the town and nearly missing it, I quickly spotted the reason that I drove half an hour out of Muncie - Cammack Station. While looking around for a parking space I noticed an extremely weathered grain elevator which wasn't my reason for the trip, but it immediately caught my eye as a great photo op. Below are the shots from around the elevator, restaurant, and the township. Enjoy.

Side note - The restaurant apparently doesn't open until April 6th, but an extremely nice older gentleman noticed me snapping off shots of the building and asked me inside. We chatted for nearly an hour about the history of building, town, and his involvement with both. To top it all off, he allowed me to take some pretty cool photos of the interior as well. You have got to love small towns. Get retro'd after the jump!

Broad Ripple (Part One): The writing on the wall

Two days in a row of good weather? Sounds like two days in a row of good shooting if you ask me. I have been meaning to get some shots around the Broad Ripple area, particularly of the grunge and disgustingly beautiful back alleys. I hope to further my Broad Ripple shots into different families i.e., Food, People, Nature, Nightlife, etc. So enjoy the first collection within the set.

Mile Marker- This week marks the 10th week of the blog, and my 10th entry! I'm loving everything about this photo-web-journal-experiment so far, and I hope you are too! Also, happy bday Mr. Deuce! Check out the urban art after the jump.

A Butler serving a Holliday (Park)

Bulldogs, hippies and geese, oh my! I decided to put together a random collection of shots from the first great weather day of the year (thank the Lord), and the majority of them consist of photos around Holliday Park. This is the second time I have been, each time turning out a great plethora of shots. I think I have stated this before, but I CANNOT wait until mother nature works her magic and makes this place bloom.

After Holliday Park, I took a quick trip to Butler University to see what the campus had to offer (a very quick trip thanks to a parking meter and only one quarter in my pocket) and it turned out to have a few cool sculptures, but thanks to Spring Break, no students. I am going to go ahead and say that today was an overall great start to (what better be) a great spring season! Check out some nature after the jump.

To Paint a Portrait

Well, after a photography break of a few weeks I had the chance to work with people and portraiture for the first time. A birthday get-together occurred over this last weekend, and I decided (with some fear for my camera) that it was a great chance to catch people 'in the moment' if you will. I'll go ahead and keep this short and sweet, so without further ado, consider this my first venture into shooting emotions and not posed photographs. Get up-close and personal after the jump.

Have you met my friend, Roy G. Biv?

After a while of terribly inclement weather, February brought somewhat of a relief. For the first time in about two weeks I was able to get out and quench my photography thirst.

I decided to try, once again, Christy Woods near campus, in hopes of catching some interesting critter pictures. After 10 minutes of walking through the all-but-dead area, I was terribly disappointed. Luckily I happened to see a greenhouse, and the shoot suddenly took a turn for the better. Much better.

I stepped into the greenhouse and was instantly vaulted into a world of color and humidity. I quickly searched through the winding aisles and found the place to be completely void of anyone else. I couldn't ask for more. After allowing the fog to disperse from my lens, the fun began.

FYI - Apparently I was in a greenhouse filled with South American Orchids?? I'm no botanist, and have no clue as to what species were there, but wow, amazing subjects for photography indeed. Go green after the jump.

"The party is ru-eeend"

Well I haven't had a chance to go shoot all week - a combination of terrible winter weather and being busy - but with a 50 degree Saturday happening before my eyes, I couldn't pass up the chance to shoot. I ended up getting a tip from a friend about a great place to photograph in the Indianapolis area, Holliday Park. My girlfriend decided to accompany me and we both had a blast exploring around the various sculptures, trails, and gardens. I absolutely cannot wait for spring and/or fall at this place, I have got to imagine that nothing but beautiful pictures will come from this park.

FYI - The random sculpture in the middle of the park is titled "the Races of Man," by Elmer Taflinger. Originally the façade of the St. Paul building in New York City, the sculptures made their way to Indianapolis after the building was torn down in 1950. Stay parked after the jump.

Through the Fire & Fog

Well, my original intent for the MLK day weekend was to take a trip through a wooded area on Ball State campus that is used by the university as a tool for the biology and NREM students. After taking the trip to the (gated) woods and finding them to be closed (yes, closed) I ended up taking some shots in a nearby quad and then heading to a local power plant. This day also happened to be rather foggy, which turned out to be an interesting obstacle as well as enhancement for many of the photos. Get educated after the jump.

Frozen in Park

Well, since returning back to college I have been dying to get out and take some shots around campus. I will get around to this soon, but in the meanwhile I decided to quench my photography thirst by playing around in a nearby parking garage at night. The intention of this shoot was essentially to begin to learn the basics of XSi at night, which I thought should be easy. Ha. With the lack of tripod, 8 degree weather, 10-15 mph wind chill, and a deficiency of knowledge in low-light photography, it turned out miserably. Seeing as there were only 17 photos taken in total,  I considered only 3 to barely scrape by as passable.

There was also an extremely feeble attempt at HDR photography tonight, which, in low-light and without a tripod also failed miserably.  That is to be left to another day, preferably one where I can feel my fingers.

I keep telling myself that I’m only three weeks into this and that adjusting aperture, my eye, ISO settings, shutter-speed, etc. will all be second nature in no time, right? Right?? Check out my progress after the jump.

So Begins a Beach Redux...

The thought of photographing a desolate boardwalk with years of history behind it should entice any budding photographer, right? One could understand how I couldn't resist the invitation of this in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, only a quick jaunt from my home. The only problem with this idea is that as of the beginning of 2010, the boardwalk is under a complete rehaul...essentially meaning that it does not exist as of right now. Slight problem, but this gave me the task of searching for new and interesting shots of the boardwalk construction as well as the beach itself.

Side note: After today I have realized that I am obsessed with black and white shots as well as shots of objects that tend to fade toward a horizon line. Therefore, the shoot at the beach gave me a goal to try and find some other shots that were not only focused on these two types of shots. Go eastern after the jump.

Much Ado About Nothing: Chop Suey Edition

Welcome the melting pot of novice photographs from the first few weeks of my experiment with a dSLR. I hope one is able to look back on these within six months (hopefully) and take note of obviously positive changes. Without further ado, I welcome the recipe to an amateur photography stew. Get a helping of stew after the jump.

All Cooped Up

Well it all has to begin somewhere. I decided to take my maiden voyage around the former homes of millions of chickens. Exciting, I know. My family has quite the heavy history surrounding the farming lifestyle, therefore many visits to grandparents houses were peppered with chicks, pullets and hens. After decades of use, the chicken houses are now becoming a thing of the past, and the combination of time and the elements are beginning to take their toll. Now that the chicken coops stand empty and tattered, they hold many unique opportunities for photos. Welcome yourself to the Stew after the jump.