When Bill and Cathy Zubke cook, presentation is important. But the taste is really what it is all about. And I can tell you that this salad, prepared as part of an amazing meal at Lake Okoboji, was a brilliant way to start our feast.
Moonlight Ride
in Seasons
This photo is the second in a series I call "Taking Photos On a Bouncing Boat." The first photo shows up here, and, frankly, I like that one a lot more than this one. But as lakes turn to ice around here, I take some comfort in remembering this boat ride on a warm August night in Iowa.
Pink
As fall turns to winter, I start thinking about the transience of seasons. Where did summer go?
Roof Lines
in Architecture, Travel
This is one of several amazing structures on the Temple Grounds in Kyoto, Japan.
The Skeleton & the Man In the Moon
in Nature, South Dakota
I was out chasing the moon and the sunrise a while back and I captured this. I'm not sure I like the composition. Or the title for the blog post. But I do like the purple-hued sky. And I like the full moon, of course, which has faired better over time than the windmill.
Place Setting
in Seasons
My mother-in-law meticulously plans and sets her Thanksgiving feast. I am always fortunate to have a place at the table.Canon 5DII 1/640s f/1.2 ISO500 50mm
Product Placement
in Seasons
What am I thankful for during this Thanksgiving season? Family and friends, of course, are most important. But high on my list are the great, baked sweet potatoes my mother-in-law makes.I especially like the "special sauce" that goes in to them.
Gig Harbor - One More Look
Gig Harbor has to be one of the more photogenic towns I have visited. I would love to go back again.
Red
in Nature
Somebody gave my wife a dozen roses, which gave me a photo opportunity. Did I buy the flowers? Nope. Kim did.
Fall Reflections
I was looking at some photos I took while staying overnight in a picture perfect town in Washington named Gig Harbor. I had passed this one over, in part because out of the camera it looked a little drab. But, thanks to a little help from my friends (Aperture and Photoshop) this photo is filled with color.
Backroads Bavaria
This is a photo I took a few miles west of Rothenburg O.D.T, Germany. The crops look like crops you'd find in South Dakota. But you wouldn't find a road like this because traffic safety officials would never allow the trees to line the road.My observation about Europe is that one difference is that from time to time aesthetics will trump safety - as in this great road. (For those wanting to see this photo in geographic context, go to "Backroads Bavaria" on my Panoramio site. If yo zoom in on the satellite map view, you will even see the trees from the satellite's point of view.
11-19-11 Melissa
in people, Photography, Portrait
Melissa looks a little sad here but she was one of the more ebullient subjects I had the pleasure to photograph. She was a dancer and actively involved in theater and made posing very simple. And she had many great looks.Here, we are in an abandoned building in Gary, SD, in 2002. I had found a broken window that faced north and told her to pose by the edge. I got beautiful wrap-around Rembrandt lighting.Incidentally, one rule of thumb in portraiture is that you should avoid having the subject show the back of his/her hand to the camera and I break that rule here. Frankly, I didn't know the rule 10 years ago. I did use the "Burn" tool in Photoshop to make the hand a darker shade than the face. Why is there a rule about this? Well, partly because the back of the hand is fairly nondescript and also because any other bright object in a portrait competes with the face. And generally, portrait photographers don't want that.