5D Mark II

Postcards From Paris!

/ Michael Glover / 12 Comments

While roaming around EPCOT, one of the theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, I came across two different subjects illuminated in beautiful light.

The Eiffel Tower was glowing in the warm light of the late afternoon sunshine. As soon as I saw it I immediately decided to silhouette the buildings just to show their shape, while keeping the orange color at it’s finest. I really liked the simplicity of this shot by keeping it all about light and shadow.

The warm glow of late afternoon light illuminates the Eiffel Tower at EPCOT.

The warm glow of late afternoon light illuminates the Eiffel Tower at EPCOT.

For this second shot I turned around and saw this neat little setup behind me. It was a miniature sized replica of  the Eiffel Tower. The light was absolutely amazing on it, casting shadows on the background. As I setup my camera to shoot it, I made sure to keep the shadow areas prominent while letting just enough light in the brighter areas to shine on the small details.

A miniature Eiffel Tower is illuminated by a late afternoon sun, casting shadows on its background.

A miniature Eiffel Tower is illuminated by a late afternoon sun, casting shadows on its background.

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I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Please consider leaving a comment as I always enjoy hearing from my visitors! 😀

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Buncombe County Court House

/ Michael Glover / 8 Comments

From my camping trip last October(2014), I would like to share another photo. This was taken in Asheville, North Carolina during Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk. What struck me most about this building is the fact that the shape resembles a judge’s chair. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or by design but the significance made me want to get a picture. A cooperative sky brought out some beautiful cloud formations, while the setting sun at my back provided warm light. The color version of this photo was good but it didn’t quite convey the impact I wanted. I decided to convert the image to black and white and that really brought out the textures.

Please stay tuned as there are more pictures to come!

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Please consider leaving a comment as I always enjoy hearing from my visitors! 😀

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The courthouse building located in Asheville, North Carolina.

The courthouse building located in Asheville, North Carolina.

The Calm Before the Storm

/ Michael Glover / 12 Comments

Back at the end of October I posted an image of a beautiful church in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with the promise of more pictures and stories to come. This post will bring you some of that.

Today’s image is from my camping trip back in October. I went to Calhoun Falls State Park in South Carolina. Upon my arrival to the campground, I setup my tent and got some of my campsite essentials setup as well. Table – check. Chairs – check. Cooler – check. Air mattress inflated and in the tent – check. Spectacular view of the lake – check! All that was left to do was to walk around the site, take it all in, snap some pics and just relax and enjoy the breathtaking beauty. Sounds easy enough right? Sure let’s go with that.

My specific campsite was surrounded by water as it was situated right at the edge of the lake. Rule number 1 when you camp in a tent: Anytime you are going to leave your campsite you should always zip up all open doors and windows to prevent water from entering said tent. Remember this rule and everything will be fine. So after taking care of that business it was time to explore the park as a whole.

I drove around checking out all of the other campsites so I could pick out my faves for my next visit. After that I proceeded to the day use area of the park for some exploration. This was such a beautiful park that I didn’t want to leave, but after making about a 10 hour drive to get there, all I could think of was getting some food. One of my favorite things to do is grill out. However I didn’t feel like doing that on this night so I had to drive over to the next town to hit a grocery store for some grub. Abbeville, South Carolina was about 25 minutes away from the camp. Insert rule number 1 here!

When I got there I located a nice grocery store and went inside. After perusing the store, I found some good-looking sandwiches in the deli, and a big bottle of tea. A perfect dinner to take back to the campsite and enjoy the beautiful scenery and sounds of nature. As I walked out the door and across the parking lot I was noticing how the full moon was illuminating the night sky. I thought to myself that would be so beautiful rising over the lake at the campsite. Again, we need to insert rule number 1 here.

As I started my Jeep I saw a flash of bright light. Surely that wasn’t lightning! I thought. Naw couldn’t be. I just saw the moon. As I made my way back down the road I saw light flashing again. Now I know that was lightning. Crazy! Then it started sprinkling rain. Do you remember rule number 1? “Anytime you are going to leave your campsite you should always zip up all open doors and windows to prevent water from entering said tent.” Yes, yes I remember that rule. I always practice that rule. Right?

Well under normal circumstances I follow that rule to a TEE. Except this time. Oh no! It absolutely did not look like rain when I left. I am still about 20 minutes away and by now it is raining so hard I can’t even see the road. I pull off into a parking lot to stay safe. I decided to check the weather radar. WOW! Heavy rain is just all over the place. I can tell by the map that the campsite is being hit really hard. I get back on the road and lightning is hitting all around me. I have to drive slow because of the deluge. I kind of figured by this time, what’s the point of worrying about it anyway. Whatever has happened is done and I can’t do anything about it.

As I finally pull in the park entrance, my headlights are no match for the driving rain pounding the darkness. I make my way slowly back to the campground and to my site. I pull into the driveway and just sit there. The rain is blowing sideways into the tent! The good news is that it is still standing. Only thing to do is sit and wait. And wait… After consuming my dinner in the Jeep, what seemed like hours of waiting, the rain finally quit. Once the lightning disappeared for good, I got out to survey the damage. My air mattress was covered in water as well as the whole tent floor. Looks like I’m sleeping in the Jeep tonight.

After a not so restful night, I awoke to birds chirping at the sunrise, signaling a new day. Looks like today will be awesome! Right after I dry everything off and get some breakfast. Now where did I put that towel?

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Please consider leaving a comment as I always enjoy hearing from my visitors! 😀

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This was taken at sunset right before I left to go get dinner. C’mon this does not look like a monsoon is about to let loose!

A beautiful sunset reflects upon the water in South Carolina at Calhoun Falls State Park.

A beautiful sunset reflects upon the water in South Carolina at Calhoun Falls State Park.

Trinity Episcopal Church

/ Michael Glover / 21 Comments

As a photographer I am always looking for awesome locations for taking pictures. Well I just recently participated in Scott Kelby’s Annual Worldwide Photowalk. This was the 7th year he has organized this and I am proud to say I have joined in every year since the beginning. Living in Florida I have just always found a walk down here. This year I decided to go a little further and see what I could find.

I ended up going to Asheville, North Carolina for the photowalk. However for the start of the trip I reserved a campsite in South Carolina. Over the next several blog posts I will share some stories and some pictures from this entire trip.

From the campground, the Smoky Mountains were only about 3 to 4 hours away. Since that is probably my favorite place anywhere, I knew a day trip was in order. Needless to say my day trip consisted of heavy traffic and even heavier rain. Arriving in Gatlinburg late in the afternoon meant I was not going to have any time to really do any serious shooting. So I did the only logical thing to do. I spent the night there!

The fall colors were spectacular in some areas while other areas hadn’t quite changed yet. Perhaps I was there a bit too early. Across the street from where I stayed I saw this church. The bold red door was calling my name, so I had to oblige and shoot it. The light hitting the tree in the background was intense against the darkening sky. All of the leaves on the ground definitely made it feel like fall, something I don’t really get to experience in Florida.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Please consider leaving a comment as I always enjoy hearing from my visitors! 😀

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Trinity Episcopal Church

Time Marches On

/ Michael Glover / 22 Comments

As a photographer I am constantly looking out for interesting subjects. When I find something, I make note of the location so that I can return to it when the light is right. This image is no different.

I spotted this gem on a recent excursion and got extremely excited. This is the kind of stuff I love to find. Sitting out in the middle of a huge field, there it was. An old cracker style farmhouse left to the elements. The weather has certainly taken it’s toll on this wonderful building. But there is just so much character contained in a piece of history like this I knew I had to come back and shoot it.

After doing some research on the angle of the setting sun and what time of day it would be, all I had to do was just show up at the right time. Oh and hope that the sky spirits would hear my call and present me with an amazing sunset ;). I think they delivered! What do you think?

Most of the time I previsualize a shot in my head which helps me to capture it exactly the way I want it to look. However all of the elements must present themselves to make it happen. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. I originally planned on a black and white image that portrayed the entire field around the house. On the day I took this, I changed my mind and zoomed in closer to show more details of the house. The color was so amazing that I decided to nix the black and white idea. I had really hoped for some birds to fly through while I was there but they didn’t. So I had to add the birds to the scene after the fact.

The idea for the title struck me after noticing how nature is taking over the structure but the field is still in use with fresh hay bales in the background.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this picture so please feel free to leave me a comment.

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Time Marches On