Some of you may know that I had my own turn to say “I Do” a couple weekends ago and just recently returned from our honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii.  First, you MUST check out our amazing wedding photos from our photographer, Erika McCauley. 

We opened a few wedding gifts before we left.  Needless to say, we had quite the laugh.  Confucius says, “If you register for it…[even as a joke]…they will buy it.”   Yes, we only registered for ONE box.

 

I was able to snap a few photos on the trip, but I tried to relax for the most part and enjoy the time away. 

Miles of beaches line the west coast of Maui.  This is near the Sheraton Hotel and Black Rock cliff.  This is one of a few tilt-shift photos I captured from the week.



A view from our favorite hang out



Eating out over the ocean and tasting some of the best fish on the island was AMAZING.  Mahi Mahi with stuffed lobster and crab.  Yum.



One great thing about having a photographer along on your honeymoon is there will be no shortage of pictures.





I took a surfing lesson from a guy and he was kind enough to let me borrow his board the next day.  My beautiful WIFE gets the credit for the photo here.  Not meant to look like tilt-shift, but a cool effect. 

 

Before the trip, I had read about the gorgeous sunsets in Maui, but was disappointed when the weather forecast showed overcast and rain for the week.  Fortunately, the two days I brought out my camera, we had the only two sunsets.  We were both speechless…

  

On our last night, we drove up 10,000ft to Haleakala Volcano summit for our last sunset in Hawaii.  The air was thin, very cold (40 degrees) and very windy.  But as promised, it was worth the drive. 



We literally felt like we were on top of the world. 



Lori said, “It feels like where Heaven meets Earth”



Thank you, Lori, for the most beautiful wedding and honeymoon.  I look forward to sharing many sunsets, in love with you.

A lot has been going on lately, I’ve been so busy I haven’t really had much time to get out and shoot.  We just recently moved to a new home about 7 miles out of the city.  We LOVE it here.  Not only is the house more practical but views and nature around us are perfect.  It’s a little bit of city and a little bit of nature all wrapped in one place.  City life is great, but there is something to be said for listening to the birds in the morning and watching the sun rise over the water. 

I finally had a chance to snap a few shots tonight.  The sunset was amazing and it produced some great color on the swamps surrounding our house.  The knocked down tree (tilt-shift) reminds me that the end of one thing provides many opportunities for new things to begin. 

 

Nikon D700  70-200mm   f/2.8   1/400s  ISO 200

Nikon D700  50mm Tilt-Shift   f/11   1/30s  ISO 500

Just picked up my copy of Twin Cities Metro Magazine, April 2009 issue.  They did a 5 page article on tilt-shift photography and featured one of my photos.  The article can be read online here:  http://www.metromag.com/0p176a2836/welcome-to-smallville/

Photo gallery shows the images throughout the article (mine is the wedding photo – second in the gallery): http://www.metromag.com/pages/popup/gallery_detail.cfm?GALLERY_ID=63

Thanks Bryan!

On a recent visit to Boston, I took a side trip up Route 1 to York Beach, Maine.  I had never been out to the New England area, and I thought while I was there, I would do as much sightseeing as possible.  It took me about an hour and a half to reach York Beach from Boston.  My main objective: photos of Nubble Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is also commonly referred to as Cape Neddick Lighthouse and is claimed to be one of America’s most popular lighthouses.  In 1977, NASA’s Voyager II took a picture of the lighthouse into space as the Coast Guard thought it represented “The American lighthouse”.

The picture below was taken over the course of 90 minutes of shooting.  Next to the Atlantic Ocean, the winds were a constant 40mph+ with temperatures in the 20’s.  I was only able to shoot for about 5 minutes at a time before I had to duck behind a car door to warm up.

 
Nubble Lighthouse   York Beach, Maine       Nikon D700; Lensbaby 50mm Composer f/4  @ 1/2000s  ISO 200

More information on the Nubble Lighthouse can be found here:
http://www.nhtourguide.com/notquitenh/nubble_lighthouse_maine.htm