hey, the blog has been fun but I can’t find time to keep on blogging and working and facebooking, and there’s more action/activity/interest on FB so for now the blog will be going dormant.
But fear not – we’re still working hard making beautiful pictures! Check us out on FB!
I don’t get many free weekends so with a free one we decided to take a mini-vacation and camped at Gettysburg and did some of the tourist things in the area. I’ve visited the Battlefield 3 other times in my life but this was the first time I’d be here long enough to actually look around at my leisure, walk some of the grounds, etc.
My wife wanted to go on one of the Ghost Walks that are all over the place and since I’d seen some program on the ghosts of gettysburg on TLC a good while back I was into it. I was kinda surprised that she wanted to go let alone it was her idea!
During the hour plus walk around the alleys and such of Gettysburg we heard all sorts of stories – less scary than I thought they’d be but the tour had kids on it and I guess I wasn thinking Ichabod Crane kinds headless horseman stories like my Uncle told ’round the campfire when I was a kid. These were more the history of a building or location and then paranormal activity that’s been seen, heard or photographed there. So naturally I asked about the photographing of ghosts and got an explanation of how its done, what a ghostie might look like on film (or well, you know) and where/when is a good time to ‘capture’ ghosts.
OK, lets go to Devils Den out on the battlefield, at night (the park is open till 10 pm) and see what we see! OK, this is kinda freaking out my wife now. It didn’t help that we talked with some locals about ghosts (our dog Toby was with us and lots of people would stop to chat and pet him) and heard lots of real, firsthand stories.
The instructions were to shoot at dusk or later, with flash, several shots in a row and then compare the images to see if there’s anything in one that is not in the others. I took around 80 images at Devil’s Den and did indeed get some odd things in some of the images.
What are ‘orbs’? Here’s a series of three images taken one right after the other. One has lots of orbs, the second one or two in the background and the third, none.
You can see lots of lightning bugs in the images (i’ve never seen so many lightning bugs in my life as on this trip). So what are the orbs? The ghost walk guide says orbs are ghosts. Hmm….maybe. As a photographer that has taken well over half a million photographs in my life and take thousands a week, I must say I’ve never ever seen such orbs in any image I’ve ever taken – and that includes night shots with seniors and brides around the area.
I’m very familiar with my equipment and it’s top of the line Canon stuff, so it’s designed not to show weird refelctions or have internal reflections and flare and the like. And since these orbs are not in every picture, I’d have to say that rules out the quipment as the source of the orbs.
My gut feeling is they’re some type of insect that is catching the light just so. I’ve not been able to verify this or disprove it. I will be taking pics all summer around the area to see if I can figure it out one way or another.
But if they are bugs (or dust or water vapor), then can you explain what showed up in these pictures?
So what is that large orb that ‘sat down’ next to my son William? Here’s an enlargement of it:
Some super sized drop of water or a gigantic bug?
Out of the 80 pics I took about 10 have orbs in them and only this one has a ‘super orb’ in it. Some areas I took pics at (just to the right of this at about 90 degrees) show no orbs at all – not a one. Pics with Wills in them showed orbs more than pics with my daughter, wife, dog or strangers. Is he more sensitive? Are spirits drawn more to a young male than women?
While at Devils Den I had a conversation with a young couple that were dressed in period clothing that were out walking before going home after work. The guy was very much into ghost hunting and they had just come up a path nearby and heard a horse walking and snorting – and saw no horse. This is in the dark mind you, so anyone out riding a horse (and pleasure horses rarely snort) would be taking their life in their hands with low hanging branches, tourists, cars not to mention the terrain in this area (very rocky and uneven).
Are there ghosts? Are these pictures of them? I’m more curious than ever now!
Mia and Scott and I got togehter at Pitt in Oakland for some fun engagement photos for their save the date cards. They both attended Pitt and it’s where they met. It just so happened we were there on a Sunday morning between semesters so the campus was just vacant. Other than seeing one groundskeeper and a couple of tourst types we had the place to ourselves.
If you’re a member of the high scholl Class of ’11 then tomorrow night, Tuesday May 25th, at 7PM you want to be at Tusca Pizza in Brighton Township.
We’re thowing a Premiere Party with our reps, giveaways, speacial deals, discounts and of course Free Pizza!
So come on over to the Party and see what we’ve got new for Seniors this year, same some money and have some fun!
And check out our new Senior Website!
Sarah and Matt tied the knot last Saturday and it was a great day – a very happy couple and it showed in their pictures. Zoe is the flower girl and was oh so cute all day and at the reception she ‘passed out’ in the hallway. It was adorable!
The DJ was excellent (you can see my other posts on how last year went with DJs). It was Otto Productions and his lighting was spectacular – it really made the scene a fun one and the pictures special and unique.
So I know you want to see some of the pictures, and here they are. Mindy did a lot more shooting at this wedding and soon she’ll be shooting on her own!
Mindy got this shot at the reception
One of Mindy's from the ceremony
Zoe and Sarah at Franciscan Manner.
The weather was outstanding all day long!
We did several large family groupings after the ceremony.
Matt's still getting used to his new jewelry.
Now this is love (and the purple in the backgroud is thanks to Otto).
Emily is our Senior Rep at Freedom HS this year and we had a great photo shoot a couple of weeks back – you know, when it was warm! The great weather allowed us to go out and stay out till the wee hours…ok, not really, but the cops did stop by to check out what we were up to. I think it made Emily a little paranoid though.
So here are a few of my favorites from her session. We tried some new stuff in the studio (new bgs, new lighting) and I think it’s outstanding.
We have oure Graffiti Wall back with a twist – it’s outside and a fence this year.
A couple more from our portrait park
Then we ventured out and about. Tried something I thought would be cool – you tell me – what do you think of this location? Can you guess where it is?
Any guesses yet? OK, here’s a bit more to help you figure it out
Told you we were shooting at night. I love shooting at night!
Well? Where is it?
Did you guess the parking garage in Beaver by the Courthouse? Well, it is!
And one last night shot. This is when the cops were watching us.
You can check out more of Emily’s pictures at our Facebook page under Photos, Emily ’11!
For those graduating this year we have some cool new invitations for you to choose from, or we can custom desing something just for you!
We can do invitations for anyone – but you must have permission for us to reproduce your images (the photographer owns the copyright). If we did your senior pictures then it’s not a problem and you get a discount too! Watch your mailbox for more info.
Brandon Masters (Beaver Area HS Class of 2011) was in for his Senior Rep session last week and here are some of the images.
The weather has been so great this spring that we got to venture out and about.
It was fun working with Brandon, he’s a great guy. Thanks to Evan for assisting with the Lighting on the shoot.
Check back next week for some of Emily’s rep session pictures (Freedom HS). We did some really funky things under the stars while the police looked on.
Lisa and Bill came by on Saturday for a few engagement photos and to check out invitations. Having spent a week at Triangle Institute inspired me to try a few things and so I sorta taked them into letting me apply my new found knowledge.
Mindy and I are part way through our week long adventure at the Triangle Institute of Professional Photography and so far it’s been outstanding! It’s better than a trip to Disneyworld – unless mayne you’re a kid. Mindy’s doing pretty well being away from her son, Landon, for the first time in his life.
We’ll have more to share when we get back on all the new ideas and techniques we’re learning!
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