The Limited Edition Gallery

Widow's Creek Falls

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:55:03 GMT

Widow's Creek Falls

This image was created on 08-28-2008 on a Photo Trek to Stone Mountain State Park in Roaring Gap, NC. The subject of the photograph is its namesake, Widow's Creek Falls. It can be found by taking a very short hike off of the main road through the park. It is the easiest to get to, and the most beautiful waterfall in the park. I have visited this waterfall many times over in search of the perfect lighting, and environmental conditions. It was on this particular trek that I found that perfect mixture of factors. There was ample cloud cover, a light rain that kept the rocky surfaces wet, as well as a perfect water flow. However, because of the rain soaked rocks, the surfaces were rather slippery, and quite dangerous. It was worth the risk considering the outcome of this Trek.

This photograph has not been altered from how the camera captured it except for just some very slight adjustments to temperature, and curves. Widow's Creek Falls represents my first Gallery Sized Limited Edition Print available through Four Forty-Six Photography. It will be printed as a 13 x 19in gallery print on Glossy, Archival Photo Paper.

Widow's Creek Falls is significant as a photograph to me because of the many attempts to capture this view. All of my previous attempts have been met with some form of hurdle to overcome. Mainly, the rocky ground has been bleached by the sun for so many years that it is very hard to expose for. With the light rain, the surface was darkened sufficiently for a proper exposure. The water flow was nearly perfect after several inches of rainfall the previous day. Everything just worked out perfectly for this image, and that is why I have decided to make it a limited edition print.

Important Details

Size: 13" x 19"

Limited to: 10 prints

Number Remaining: 10 prints

Price: $125.00

Tags: Widow's Creek Falls, Waterfalls, Stone Mountain, Roaring Gap

Just Another Day in the Park

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:48:45 GMT

The photograph you see above is a completely unplanned image. On the 22nd of February, 2007, I set out to the city of Greensboro to photograph a sunrise. According to a friend of mine, there was a parking garage off of Elm St that provided some stunning views of the city. This was the plan, but while I was surveying the scene about 45 minutes before sunrise I happened to see a park across the street from the parking garage. Even though I have worked in the city for nearly eight years at that point, I had no idea the park even existed. There was something captivating about the way the lights lit up the scene. Of course, the surrounding buildings added a certain sense of place to scene. I had to photograph this scene.

With the sky just barely showing signs of the sun, this was an opportunity to really get into a long exposure to capture the night scene illuminated by the artificial light. The side effect of this exposure was the sky appeared quite a bit brighter than it actually was, but in this case, that worked just fine for the scene I wanted to capture. I tried several different White Balance settings until I settled on the one that provided the warm tones you see above. I felt that this represented the scene the best.

What makes this photograph special enough to be added to my limited edition collection is that this is such a different picture from what I normally photograph, as well as quite different from anything else I have seen. Even though this is a very static image with no motion in it, there is so much going on. In the printed version, you can clearly make out a white sedan sitting under a red light next to the parking garage that is situated to the right of the picture. There are many different lights both in the buildings and on the streets, that add excitement and pop to this image. While the sky was nearly dark when I created this image, the long exposure introduced some wonderful tones to the sky that complement the cityscape that lies before us.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited to: 10prints

Number Remaining : 10 prints

Price: $65.00

Special notes, number 1 of 10 has been printed and mounted in an 11" x 14" Oak frame. The price of this piece is $130.00 and it is currently available at the Dan River Art Market.

Tags: Just Another Day in the Park, Limited Edition, Center City Park, night photography, long exposure

Arachnid Lair

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:02:14 GMT

This photograph was created on October 19, 2007 while on a camping trip to Pilot Mountain in North Carolina. What you see here is the product of three different hikes into the woods. The fist hike was simply a scouting trip to find photographic subjects for the coming days I would be in the woods. The second trip was spent trying to photograph a small cave I had come across the first day. What I thought was very good light for the subject turned out to be less than acceptable. That night I thought about other ways to capture this scene that I wanted so badly. The answer came in the form of light painting, a technique where coupled with a long exposure, a flashlight or other source of light is "painted" across the area being photographed. The third trip was a success and after about 20 attempts, I was able to get the scene that I had envisioned in my head.

Other than the time invested in this picture, there are quite a few other things that make this image special enough to be a limited edition print. First and foremost, the texture and colors of the cave wall were reproduced very well using a flashlight from a total of four different angles over the course of a 30 second exposure. The spider web that had originally drawn me to the cave in the first place, was given a position in a spotlight of sorts. With an off side lighting, the web is illuminated and comes across to the viewer of the picture flawlessly. Since it was the web that kept me coming back to this image, the title was a natural...Arachnid Lair.

This image represents so many different techniques in photography, and captured the exact scene that I had envisioned. The amazing thing is I was able to create this image with time honored photographic techniques, not a computer program.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited to: 10 prints

Number Remaining: 10 prints

Price: $75.00

Tags: Arachnid Lair, Limited Edition, spider web, Pilot Mountain, cave, night photography, long exposure, light painting

A Gated View

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:32:58 GMT

June 15, 2006 marked the day where I was finally able to capture this particular fence and gate along the Blue Ridge Parkway. For several times, the lighting had not been right, or the grass not the right color. It was on this summer day as I drove by, everything seemed to work together to provide the picture that I had wanted. As an added benefit, the lighting was working in such a way that the clouds had a slight pink coloring to them...odd for this time of day, but a welcome addition nonetheless.

The element that had been drawing me to this scene for the longest time was that rusty red gate. Red is a very powerful color in photography and works very well alongside green and blue. The colors were perfect for a photograph, and the lines of the fence which led to the gate were a nice touch as well. Everything worked in this scene just the way I had envisioned it all the previous times passing it.

The best part about this picture is that it shows that the beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway is not restricted to the overlooks. The Parkway has it's own character and there are so many things to see while you are driving down the road. This is why it is called "America's favorite drive."

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited to: 10 prints

Number Remaining: 9 prints

Price: $55.00

Tags: A Gated View, Limited Edition, Blue Ridge Parkway

Alone With My Thoughts

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:20:15 GMT

It has been said that some of the best wildlife photographs are created at zoos. It stands to reason that this would be true, because short of going on a safari in the outer reaches of civilization would you be able to get up close and personal with the animals. It was on a visit just like this, to the NC Zoo in Asheboro, NC, on March 16, 2006, where I had the opportunity to create Alone With My Thoughts.

I had spent most of the day walking around with my wife and trying to capture the animals in situations where you could not tell they were in a zoo setting. We left one of the exhibits and right outside, they had a field where several Baboons were playing. It was not the ones that were active that drew my attention. It was the lone Baboon sitting on a rock pondering what appeared to be a piece of bark. With all of the commotion around, both inside and outside the exhibit, the mental focus never broke. Not wanting to chance losing the shot, I composed the scene and shot it handheld. Fortunately, there was plenty of light, and everything came out very sharp.

What drew me to this image was, like I said before, the mood of the whole scene. Everything about the picture says something. While it is usually preferred to capture an animal looking at the camera, or at least having its eyes in view, this one works even better because we have a profile shot. The lack of eye contact forces the viewer of the picture to figure out what is going on in the scene. The intense focus on the bark is hard to miss when looking at the picture. The lack of any activity in the frame intensifies the importance of the thinking primate. It is the self reflecting mood of this photograph that prompted me to add this to my collection of limited edition prints.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited to: 5 prints

Number Remaining: 5 prints

Price: $60.00

Tags: Alone With My Thoughts, Limited Edition, wildlife, baboon, zoo, animal, primate

Autumn Waterfall

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:24:06 GMT

Some of my limited editions are from photographs that represent a milestone in my photographic career, Autumn Waterfall is one of those pictures. Created on October 26, 2005, this represents the beginning of a love affair I have had with waterfalls here in North Carolina. The waterfall pictured here can be found along the Northern boundary of Hanging Rock State Park, and is call the Lower Cascades. The fall can be found after a very short hike from the parking area.

As I mentioned, this photograph holds a special meaning to me because this was my first outing in an attempt to photograph waterfalls. Not only was this the largest waterfall I had seen up close, it just appeared so calm and serene with the still water in spite of the cascading water feeding the pool. The lighting was nearly perfect this day which enabled me to be able to capture not only the detail in the rocky wall, but also the pebbles below the water's surface. The slight reflection in the water leads your eyes directly to the focal point of the entire picture which is the waterfall itself. As the title suggests, this picture was created around the time that the leaves were changing, and there are a few that have sprinkled the wet rock by the falls. These leaves add a bit of color, in the form of visual confetti.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited To: 5 prints

Number Remaining: 5 prints

Price: $55.00

Tags: Autumn Waterfall, Limited Edition, Hanging Rock, Lower Cascades, Waterfall

The Calm After the Storm

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 04:23:41 GMT

Having learned quite a bit about photography by my second trip to the coast in September, I had high hopes of capturing some wonderful images. However, on the morning of September 27, 2005, I have to admit I was caught a bit off guard. After beginning my morning on the boardwalk in Carolina Beach photographing a rather blah sunrise I had retired to my hotel room to clean my camera and get to the business of relaxing on my vacation.

When I got to the room, I looked out and saw the sun trying its best to break through the clouds. This was a setting I had dreamt about photographing with the sun's rays beaming through the cloud cover. I knew that there was a great chance that I wasn't going to be able to capture this sight if I went all the way back down to the beach. I had to act quickly, and make due with my current location...a ninth floor room with a balcony. I quickly set up my tripod on the balcony and got the camera attached. The clouds were still holding, but I could tell that this was to be short lived.

I managed to get off just a couple of shots before the lighting changed dramatically, and the sun was completely hidden. Knowing that the scene before me was not an easily metered one, I tried different exposures instead of different compositions. Later, when going through the pictures from the trip, I thought I had blown my opportunity with this shot as none of the exposures turned out the way I thought they would...except for this last one. With only a slight bit of contrast adjustment, I realized that I had captured the scene just as it appeared to me that warm September Morning.

Remembering the storm that has passed through the night before, the title of this photograph was a natural. There were no more high winds, no rain, just a gentle coastal breeze blowing the last of the clouds inland to reveal a sunny day for the beach goers.

What is special to me about this picture is the fact that I was able to capture it at all. With only about five minutes to work with before the lighting changed, I was able to react and capture this sight. Looking at the photograph, there is an element that I had not noticed when composing the image. If you look closely, you can see that the sun is actually illuminating the horizon, which otherwise might have blended in with the clouds giving this view a flatter feel. With that spotlight of sorts on the horizon, there is a marvelous sense of depth portrayed in this picture. What started out as just a picture of the clouds became one of my iconic beach images.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited to: 5 prints

Number remaining: 4 prints

Price: $40.00

Tags: The Calm After the Storm, Limited Edition, beach, ocean, sun rise, clouds

Morning Glow

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:34:39 GMT

The short amount of time in the morning after the sun comes up presents a truly magical time as the light is warm and diffused. On the morning of September 28, 2005, I took advantage of that very light after photographing a coastal sunrise. Looking to my sides and behind me I found myself surrounded by the picket fence that lines Carolina Beach, NC. The browns of the wood played off of the warm tones of the sand, while the sky was just beginning to turn blue with some small clouds in the distance. I had a field day shooting that morning, and managed to capture several images that continued to appeal to me when I returned home....except for what would later become Morning Glow.

I had gone through all of my pictures and had pulled out the ones that I had wanted to keep. All of these had been edited and added to my portfolio. It was not until I was going through all of the digital files for a second time that I found this one. I wasn't sure why I had not decided to keep it earlier because I could see much potential in it, but the composition was slightly off. After cropping to an 8" x 10" ratio, the whole picture changed. I looked in awe at the colors, and the way everything was placed in the photograph. This was destined to be a limited edition.

What I love about this picture, in addition to the tones, is just the feel that is captured. All of the elements that I think about when I think about the beach are here. Of course, there is the sand and the water, but that fence speaks volumes about the location of the picture. The sky is all but perfect with the blue and rosy tones of sunrise. The way the texture of the sand is amplified with the low morning sun casting shadows. There is just so much to look at in this image.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited to: 5 prints

Number Remaining: 5 prints

Price: $60.00

Tags: Morning Glow, limited edition, coastal, sunrise, beach, sand, fence

Appalachian Gold

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:53:11 GMT

Created on July 24, 2005, Appalachian Gold represents one of my favorite places to be in North Carolina...the Blue Ridge Parkway. Specifically, this sunset photograph was captured at the Raven Rock scenic overlook near Boone, NC. Having gotten a late start on my day, I arrived at this overlook just before sunset. I had plenty of time to get set up, however. Having read that this was one of the best places to view a sunset, I was excited about the possibilities, and purposely set up to feature the rock outcropping that gave the overlook it's name.

As the sun receded in the sky, a now familiar problem reared it's head. The sky was not appearing as I actually "saw" it before me. A couple of specialized filters were attached to bring the color closer to what I saw, and everything was on track. While I was able to get quite a few exposures during the latter parts of this day, there were only a couple that stood out to me. Appalachian Gold was one of them, and happened to be one of my favorites.

What makes this photograph special is the way the sun is sitting on the distant mountain with the rays exploding from underneath. With this extreme lighting, I was very lucky to get any detail in the foreground, much less the amount and clarity of detail that I ended up with. I was still learning the power of the graduate filters at this point in my career. This photograph went on to be awarded third place in the professional color category at a regional fair. The actual framed print (2/5)that was entered has been sold to a very happy local client.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited to: 5 prints

Number Remaining: 3 prints

Price: $65.00

Tags: Appalachian Gold, Limited Edition, Blue Ridge Parkway, Award Winner, Sunset

Wetland Awakening

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:34:45 GMT

Created on June 28, 2005, Wetland Awakening shows an atypical scene in my hometown of Winston-Salem, NC. Amid all the city life, and civilization lies a protected wetland habitat as part of Historic Bethabara Park. I recall passing this area as a child many, many times and wondering about the trees that never seemed to bloom with leaves. The tall grasses and cattails were odd to me as I would look across the 5 lane road to see a large grocery store.

It was not until I became a (fledgling) photographer that I understood its beauty. Of course, there would have to be a time when I would attempt to capture it with a camera. This late June morning was to be that time. With a light fog and moderate cloud cover, I thought the chances of capturing the mood I wanted was very good. After an hour or so on the boardwalk through the marsh, the rain was about to drive me away. I had packed up all my gear and had begun to walk back to the trail that lead to my car.

However, as I neared the end of the boardwalk I looked to my left and saw the sun starting to peek through the clouds and it just happened to be situated right at a dip in the trees. Rain or not, this was just too good to pass up, so I unpacked my camera and set it up again on its tripod. Several quick exposures failed to capture what I was seeing so I dug into my bag of tricks and tried a couple of graduate filters on the end of my lens to really bring out the color. After only a couple of shutter releases, the clouds once again covered the sun and the magic drifted away with the mist in the air.

What makes this image special to me is when I was going through all of the photos from the morning, this one absolutely took my breath away. For the first time as a photographer, I had captured an image like so many I had seen on walls, and in magazines. The sharpness amazed me as I could make out the rain drops on the nearby blades of grass, and the rich colors that I captured transmitted exactly what I had seen on that morning. This photo will always havea special place in my heart, as it represents a huge accomplishment for me as a photographer.

Important Details

Size: 8" x 10"

Limited To: 5 prints

Number Remaining: 4 prints

Price: $70.00

Tags: Wetland Awakening, Limited Edition Print, Historic Bethabara, swamp, sunrise