Wake To Your Life
Horton, Michigan
photography
Drip By Drip
Drip by drip, my experiment with making infused olive oils starts today.
And no, not those oils. These are homemade cooking oils infused with yummy things like jalapeños and garlic. Filtered through, yes, a coffee filter. It will be great in popcorn.
Sterilize the container, chop up whatever you’re using as the infuser, simmer in olive oil for 15-20 minutes, and then filter out all the non-oil stuff. Then throw it in the fridge and use it up in a week. Easy peasy.
And judging from a few sneak taste tests, delicious.
Abandoned Farm Field
Caught this in an abandoned farm field, along Michigan’s stretch of US-12, before winter really hit in our area.
The sunset was lovely that night, just after Christmas, and there was lots of exploring to do. More on that later.
Photographers Directory
I’m an amateur photographer based in Jackson, Michigan, who does some pro work on the side, sticking to mainly nature, abandoned sites, and street landscape photography. Capturing light, shadows, seasons, colors — this is my bread and butter. But I don’t shoot bread and butter; others can do the food photography thing.
The platform and tools matter, but only a little. I shoot Canon (DSLR and the M mirrorless) and Fujifilm, with some iPhone and 35mm film thrown in here and there.
I take on personal projects, like old guys who collect model trains, or local abandoned theme parks, or mottled light in dark woods, when a brainstorm strikes. And I use my blog to share my work, not others’ (mostly).
All of my photo work is on Flickr, and I share the best on my blog, natch.
Thanks, Photographers Directory!
Pure, Bright Color
Sometimes, the best thing to photograph is pure, bright color – as was the case at this abandoned restaurant in Austin, Texas.
Creating Lightroom Presets
Messed around making my own Lightroom preset, after seeing these images from the Kage Collective.
I’m not into the whole matte black, faux-film look so much, but there is a trendy appeal to it. And I’m usually Mr. Bright Colors guy, but something a little more soft and restrained is good for variety. I made a black and white version, too, just for fun.
This isn’t all that different from the stuff you see sold for $20-50 a pop nowadays. But dig in to a preset you like and you’ll learn enough to be dangerous, and start making your own.
Strong vignettes FTW!
Difficult to Tell
There is such a huge amount of brilliant photography coming from all corners of the world that when I glance through highlights on VSCO, flickr, or Instagram It has become difficult to tell the difference between photographers.
All The Things – 50 Foot Shadows
Agreed. There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s all blurring together. Great portraits, great landscape shots of the Pacific Northwest, great shots of guys with beards in flannel at a bonfire living out of their car.
Lately, I’ve started to follow more photographers focusing on unique portraits, conceptual work, and urban landscapes. For this year, I want to try to find photographers who are not from New York / Portland / SanFran / etc. How about some more Midwestern shooters, or folks from the south?
If you have any follow suggestions, let me know.
Some Clean Up
An abandoned house down the road from me. Seems like the (eventual) new owners will have some clean up to do.
