pewits nest - ice

Durring the spring, I discovered Pewits Nest (see that post here) and I remember saying to myself, "Self, you need to see this place again."  This time I could walk on water, most of the way up the gorge because the stream that normally covers the bottom, was frozen solid.  (I knew it was safe because there were plenty of footprints to prove that others have tried and the ice didn't break.) Yes, that is me in the photo, not because I am vain, but I was the only human around to show scale...

Last time, the biggest draw to the goarge was the swirling water, this time it was this waterfall that was frozen all around it.  I could literally walk all around to get any camera angle I wanted.  I was, once again gity, like a little boy that couldn't believe his lick in finding the perfect mud hole to play in.

Once I got over the intrigue of the waterfall, I started noticing all the other details, shapes, light formations and the general feel of the rest of the gorge.  This is definitely a location I need to come back and see how it changes with the seasons.

red sky snowy night

The other night, it finally started to snow like it was winter.  The great big, fat, wet flakes that just stick to everything and refreshes the grey landscape.  It really has been a dull winter (weather wise that is) for photography, so this was a welcome sight...so much so that I was shooting away out the window and on the balcony in my pajamas before I even noticed that my wife went to bed.

Yes, that red/orange sky is natural, it is all the artificial light bouncing around off the snow, kinda freaky and cool at the same time.

The next morning, I wanted to "call in sick" but I knew that the snow was only going to last a couple hours...and really it was a little flat for photography.  A little sunlight would have done a ton to shape the snow and add shadows so that it was more than just a blanket of white.  And while your at it, a great big blue sky (with dark clouds for good measure) would have created a background that is different from the snow so we wouldn't have white on white...but it was still magical.

Technical note: remember to play with Exposure Compensation (push to the + side for more light) to brighten the snow and really make it white like it should be.  To be honest, I was really disappointing when I got these images into the computer.  I was groaning because it didn't look like this to my eyes outside.  It had so much more depth and detail in the whites, I am guessing it is because my eyes can see so much better in the highlights than the camera.  Like I said already, shadows from direct sunlight and a sky with color and/or texture would have really made these images pop, and maybe look like how my eyes were seeing the scene.

greek conference 2012

Greek Conference in Indianapolis was the other weekend, and other than photographing the conference, I also helped with the promotional material, setup the sound system, shot video for the summary video edited by Eric Holmer...




...and created a video story that was integrated into the overall  program (one of 2)



Lets just say that I was glad to sleep for the following 3 days (almost) strait.

Greek Conference is always an amazing event to observe, both from a cultural perspective (I was not in a fraternity) as well as a spiritual one.  Thanks for letting me have such a part.

Thankfully I was not the only photographer there, so i was free to capture video.  And in the process I have to suffer seeing images of what I look like when I work.

greek conference 2012 setup - time lapse

Over the weekend I photographed InterVarsity's Greek Conference in Indianapolis.  After I helped setup the confrerence's main hall, my main role was to photograph the event.  Here are 4,700 of the 6,800 images I took.



more to come...