Virginia Museum of Transportation

While in Virginia I visited the Virginia Museum of Transportation It is a wonderful museum as the name implies about transportation. It's main attraction is full sized locomotives, but it also has many other types of transportation including planes, boats and automobiles. My favorite part was the details.

 

 

See more images here.

In The Fog

On my recent photo trip I visited my friend and very talented fine art photographer Dan Henderson who showed me some beautiful sites of Roanoke, Virginia and surrounding areas. One of my favorite outings happened when we where up early to find fog. I couldn't be happier with what we found.

See More Images Here: www.hollydegarmo.com/fog2

Caution: Think Twice Before Leaving Your Critters With Me

I have a camera and I'm not afraid to use it!

Greyhounds At The Sarasota Kennel Club

 

While in Florida I visited the Sarasota Kennel Club and watched the beautiful and elegant dogs do their thing. According to Greys Landing Greyhound Placement these powerful dogs can reach speeds as fast as 45 MPH in only a few strides. They have gentle souls and make great pets. They are retired when they are 2-4 years old.

 

Watching the Greyhounds race was a fun experience and a must do activity when in Sarasota. Oh and betting on your favorite dog is fun too! I wonder what would happen if they ever caught the rabbit?

When Behinds The Scenes Becomes The Scene

Make up artist Allison Bower finally let me photograph her. Allison does make up for weddings, film, TV, seniors or any occasion. Allison is one of my favorite make up artists to work with. She is truly an artist and always seems to know just what to do for a flawless look. She has a great personality and is a joy to work with.

Here is what Allison had to say about her career:

"I have been doing makeup for years to be honest. As a child I could color match women's foundations by just looking at them. I have been doing it professionally for 5 years.
 

I love my job because it transforms how women think of themselves. They "see" themselves in a different way because their features are more enhanced. I believe it boasts self confidence.

My favorite part of my job is constantly meeting new people. Plus, I love doing different types of makeup everyday such as boudoir, seniors, weddings, fashion, television, etc.

I feel grateful everyday that God has blessed me with a talent to help others feel good about themselves. I wouldn't want to do anything else. "

 

 

See Allison's work at: www.allisonbower.com

 



 

Carol and Parker Get Married

Congratulations to Carol and Parker who were married on July 21st in Chicago. Peter Rossi and I were fortunate enough to be able to photograph their special day. It was beautiful day for a wedding and they were so much fun to photograph. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Photostock 2012

Photostock [foh - toh - stok]
noun
1. a gathering of photographers in Northern Michigan



Spider web O'Neal Lake

   Photostock originated and organized by photographer Bill Schwab with the goal of "sharing work and inspiring one another to be better photographers and artists." Mission accomplished Bill. I met so many photographers the first official night of Photostock my head was spinning.There was a father and college son from Arkansas, a truck driver from England, a college Dean from New York, a photo podcaster from Ohio,  working and retired professional photographers and a lot in between. One gentleman said he barely even makes his own photographs, he just has a love for photography.    Most of the photographers I met there shoot film from 35mm to 8x10 with a few digital shooters. infra red, traditional black and white, wet plate and the list goes on. Every format every process is welcome and embraced. After the short sign in and meet and greet at the Birchwood Inn Harbor Springs, MI (photo op) a group of us headed to the historic Legs Inn (photo op). It was a beautiful country drive with winding roads (photo op). OK I think you get the 'picture'. There are photo ops everywhere and Bill knows them all.



Wet Plate

Legs Inn

 
    Back at the lodge that evening Bill gave a wonderful presentation of his work and his guided tours of Iceland. He also gave an inspiring talk to the diverse crowd of photographers about the creative and artistic process. His enthusiasm and excitement for the craft is contagious. The entire weekend I am told is just packed with sharing work, making work, demos and camaraderie in a very relaxed atmosphere. Oh, and I will neither confirm nor deny that a keg of Oberon led me to stay up until 1:30 and convince others get up at 5am and go shooting with me.



Photogravure Demo By Bill Schwab

    Early the next morning we drove down some really long two tracks in the middle of no where and I just started thinking. Where are we? Is my GPS on?! When we hit the end of the trail the morning sun was just beautiful, water, dead trees, forest. I was totally out of my element making me feel like a scared little puppy. Where is my windowless studio? No strobes, no moving one tree 2 feet to the right, no art director, just aperture, shutter and my eye. Most of the time I just walked around trying to remember how to see. Yeah, my images I did take pretty much looked like crap, but what happened though as I left my comfort zone (again) my creative brain got a jump start re-enforcing what Bill said in his talk. That if you are in a rut change it up like equipment or venue.



Portfolio Sharing

Moring Fog O'Neal Lake

    Unfortunately I had to leave after just one day. On my drive home I filled two napkins with ideas for future shoots that had nothing to do with nature or landscape. I was so inspired after just less than 24 hours that I can only imagine what I would have taken away if I where able to stay the entire weekend. I am told the weekend continued with a pinup style demo with a model, a presentation from Suzanne Revy and one from Andrew Moore.
    I am so glad that my good friend and fine art photographer Dan Henderson encouraged me to go for even one day. It was on an impulse on Wednesday eve the day before Photostock that I decided to go (I will neither confirm nor deny that Oberon played a part in my impulsive decision to go). In truth the whole adventure was out of my comfort zone with the socializing with new people and nature photography. Despite that I had an amazing time. So everyone right now join in my impulse for next June and mark your calendar for Photostock 2013. You can thank me later.