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Well, the New Year was only about 5 hours in and I already had a few new experiences. Shouldn’t you have been sleeping you say? I wish I had been. But I was flying home from visiting family in Wisconsin.

We arrived at the airport at 5:08 am. Our plane was supposed to leave at 6 – we left at 7:30 because of a snow storm that seemed to come out of nowhere. But delay’s are nothing new. What was new was that I got to watching deicing for the first time and take off in a snow storm.

This was followed shortly by an other new experience. After getting rebooked, since we missed our connecting flight in Chicago, we found ourselves upgraded to business class and my first time in the exit row. Lots of extra leg room if you like that sort of thing. To me, it doesn’t matter so much since I usually have plenty of leg room anyway. I’d rather have more elbow room

So deicing and the exit row – new things on the first day of the new year. I know that doesn’t sound terribly exciting, but hey it better than being in my first plane crash.

That was a little while ago now, the new year continues to bring new challenges, up and downs and opportunities. One the new ventures I am embarking on is Real Estate Photography. While that will be separate from this website, I wanted to share the new addition to my services.

Another new thing I am embarking on is some creative re-imagining of my living and working spaces. You can see some of that thought process on Pintrest. I will share more about that moving forward.

The photo in today’s post is called Peaceful Creek. I took it in the middle of a Colorado snow storm. This is the Santa Fe trail, one of my favorites in Colorado Springs.

Here’s to the new year, full of possibilities and new experiences. And new places to take photos.

One of the things that is hardest for me … really for most of the people I know … is waiting. Waiting is a big part of life and a big part of photography. But waiting is really one of the best things to do in both also. Because as the saying goes “good things come to those who wait.”

But how does waiting work in photography? Waiting is especially important in nature and landscape photography because your subject matter is beyond your control. So you are waiting for the light to be just right or for the birds to land in front of your camera or the wildlife to look at you. But when you wait for the right moment, you get the most amazing shot and that moment is captured forever!

But the waiting isn’t passive. You have to go out at the right time to get the shot you want. If you want the shot of the sunset, you don’t go out at noon and waste the afternoon waiting for the sun to set. You go out just before sunset so you can have time to set up your shot with the perfect foreground.

Some planning tips for your next “waiting” adventure in photography:

1. Decide what photo you want.
2. Find a place that captures it and go there to scout it out. Don’t forget your camera – you can take pictures even on this venture. Find the area that captures your idea best.
3. Check the weather and the movement of the sun or moon and figure out when the light will be right for what you want. For example, if you want a sunset photo, figure out when the sun is setting.
4. Figure out how long it will take you to get to your ideal location. Drive time, hike time, etc. You will want to get there early so you can set up a tripod if necessary.
5. Then Wait for the right moment and snap your shot. Take several and move around a little to.

So waiting for the right moment is actually not waiting at all. It’s being attentive to the circumstances and planning so that you are ready when the right time arrives. So while we are “waiting” we can be thinking and dreaming of what’s ahead when the perfect time for the photograph or the life event comes.

A note about the photo: This photo is called Valentine Rose. I love it for the contrast between the red and black. It’s mesmerizing. It’s for sale on Etsy at the moment. And yes, Valentine’s is just around the corner!

It’s the beginning of January and the beginning of winter. To celebrate, there are some great new photos in my new store on Etsy. You can check them out here: firstcenturystudios.etsy.com.

I especially love the photo of the Winter Robin. He’s just so peaceful hanging out there in the top of an empty tree. And his red breast just pops of the background of the brilliantly blue sky.

Hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do!

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Or so they say. Well, how about a picture of one …. or 4. I had this idea in my head that I really wanted to take a photo of 4 apples, sitting in a row.

Here is the result. It’s not quite what I had pictured in my head, but it’s close. So how does one take photos of produce? Here are the simple steps I took to take this photo.

1. Buy apples – I don’t generally have apples on hand, so I had to go get some. These are from my favorite grocery store, Whole Foods. They are organic.
2. Find and prepare a place with the background you would like. It usually best for the background to be plain or it will distract from your object. In my case, I used the kitchen counter. In my head it was on a window sill with an open window. But I don’t have one of those at present so I went with what I had.
3. Prepare your object for the photo. Here I removed the stickers and washed the apples.
4. Set up your shot. Set the object in the configuration you want and get your camera out. I would recommend using a tripod for these shots.
5. Take your photos.
6. Try multiple configurations also – you may like another variation better then the one you had in mind.

For my shot, I didn’t use anything special for lighting. I just turned on the kitchen light. We will talk about lighting in another post

On this New Years Day, I wanted to share with you January’s Desktop Calendar, called: Through the Snow. You can download it here.

Over the last few months, many people have asked to see more of my Black and White work. So here is where we shall start.

It was a cold afternoon in October of all months the snow came down all white and puffy – I am sure you know the kind. The especially nice thing about this day was that the snow fell beautifully on the ground but didn’t stick to the roads so driving to the photo spot was much easier.

This is a great trail in Ute Valley Park in west Colorado Springs. It boasts a marsh even!

I hope that your new year is starting out wonderfully and may it bring you much happiness. I can’t wait to share with you some the great things I have planned for the New Year! It’s going to be a fun ride!

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas. May it be full of cheer, joy and all things good!

Colorado is enjoying a white Christmas! It’s not snowing but two back to back snow storms have left amble amounts of snow on the ground. The other day my parents and I drove around while it was snowing and this photo was the result.

Christmas lights at the Broadmoor Hotel. It was a like a fairy tale and many a couple were walking around enjoying the soft snow fall.

It’s Christmas week! Time to pull out the camera and start taking all those family photos of togetherness and gift unwrapping. But taking those photos can be somewhat disappointing if you don’t know how to set up your shots. Never fear! A photographer is here Here are 5 quick and easy tips for your holiday photo snapping.

1. Never pose people in front of a window or other light source. What’s better is to pose them near a window and have the photographer stand with their back to the window. What does this do? The natural light from outside is a great way to light things so you get that lovely winter light falling on your friends and family faces instead of their backs. You always want the light in front of your subjects, not behind.

2. Learn how to use the red-eye reduction feature on your camera. It does wonders for reducing the ghastly red-eye in your otherwise very cute children. The way it works is that it will flash a couple of times before taking the actual photo which helps the eyes adjust to the bright light. Another way to reduce red-eye is to back up and stand at an angle. Use your zoom for the close up. Standing at an angle to the subjects eyes will help eliminate the flash going straight into their eyes and reflecting the red back. Even better, make sure your room is very well lit and don’t use the flash at all.

3. Center your subjects in your viewfinder. With digital cameras this will actually work. In olden days, centering things in your viewfinder resulted in an off-center photo because the viewfinder and lens were not looking at exactly the same thing. But with the advent of digital cameras they are. So make sure your tall Uncle Bob’s head is in the viewfinder and that everyone is centered in your frame.

4. Don’t have your subjects lean in. A lot of times people will cram together in uncomfortable ways to make sure everyone is in the photo. Generally, this isn’t necessary if you use tip number 3. Of course, you all love each other so you can still do the cute group hug photo.

5. Don’t lean back. This applies to the self-portrait using your arm as the tripod. You know the one where all your friends are together and you get the friend with the long arm to hold the camera out in front so you are all in the photo. You may have also noticed the sudden appearance of double chin on everyone. Eeekkk! We don’t want that! This is because everyone is straining to get as far away from the camera as possible so it will be in focus. It is a worthy endeavor to be sure, but unnecessary. Have people just hold their heads as they normally would. Another way to help this is to hold the camera higher so people look up.

These 5 simple tips will help with the holiday photo snapping.  Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

One of the things I like about winter is fire. Sure you could have a fire anytime of year, but it’s in winter that the warmth is exactly what you need. I love having a fire place. The photo above, called Passion Flame, is from one of my recent fires.

I was sitting there staring into the flames. Fire is an amazing thing. It burns hot and then it burns hotter. The hotter it is the more likely it is to get other things to burn with it. It is also colorful from oranges, white, yellows to deep blues and purples. And if you throw in the right newspaper you can even get greens and pinks. Fire can help and heal: ie providing warmth, cooking food, cauterizing a wound and killing off germs, but it can also hurt: destroying property and causing burns.

Passion is a lot like fire. It can help to change the world, to get the ball rolling to make things better. But it can also hurt. Those changes can fail or remain unrealized, lives get hurt when passion for a cause gets in the way of a relationship or a family, or the passion is just a quick flare followed by nothing. But I hope that what this is – this art and photography of mine – is the kind of passion that helps to move people to see beauty and not to miss it. A passion that I hope lingers and burns brighter despite any set backs or failures.

This year has been a lot of experiments. I have learned a lot of good things. I have failed at a lot of things. I have been successful at a few.

This weekend was an experiment in printing photos on fabric. First 2 attempts were failures. But on try three, I think we may have a winner. But the experiment isn’t over yet so I can’t say for sure. So 3 steps forward, 2 steps back.

I have read often that if you are not failing you aren’t trying hard enough. Well, let’s just say I am trying hard enough. There has been a lot of failure in recent weeks to get anyone down, but that phrase is really true. The only way to know if something works is to try it. And only a small % of the time does it work out on the first go. So I am ready to go into the new year trying even harder and full of passion.

Hmm – is it too early for New Years resolutions? Do you have any to share?

December begins this week. It has been nice to reflect on all that we are thankful for and to stop and rest. I hope you were able to do just that.

I made my pumpkin pie – it is pictured above. And to quote my brother, “This is how pumpkin pie is supposed to taste!” So everyone liked it. I am sure the chocolate crust didn’t hurt either. And the nice thing was that is was gluten free – so I could eat it too.

I am also happy to say that I got my first featured article. You can check it out over on the Heart Handmade blog. That is exciting over here in First Century Studios land!

And also, this Saturday is my last craft show of the year. So if you are in Ellicot, I hope you can stop by. The details are on the Shows page.

And of course before I forget again, check out December’s free Desktop calendar here.

It’s Thanksgiving already? Who told the turkeys they could come so fast? There is a lot to be thankful for even in hard times. I am thankful for a roof over my head and food and clean drinking water. I am thankful for wonderful friends and wonderful family. I am thankful for a God that loves me and saved me from myself and an eternity without Him. I am thankful for you! For your support of my artistic endeavors. This place, this website, would be nothing without you.

And you know what, I couldn’t help it but I wanted to have a sale So all week in my Artfire store everything is 10% off and Christmas Cards have free shipping too.

But I hope that while this time is full of shopping that we all make sure to step back and truly look at the things we are thankful for. And that we look especially at the things we take for granted – like clean air and clean water.

Oh and enjoy some pumpkin pie, turkey and giving thanks. I am making my pie from an actual pumpkin again and this time it has a gluten free chocolate crust – yum! I happen to know the the crust is yummy – yes i cheated and tasted it

This photo is called Harvest Time.