Author Archives: bobshank

Close-ups

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My son, James, thoroughly enjoys and has a passion for macro photography. He’s got a good eye and likes to get close and the closer the better.

I dabbled in macro photography over the years but my son taught me to look at things in a new way. Now when I am on a photo shoot I wonder how James is seeing things. What might we photograph in this location? When we go to a photo shoot together I get to see him in action and observe how his photo-mind works.

This past winter I was leading our PA Elk Photography Experience when we came across three horses running and playing the snowy pasture. They put on an impressive display for us with snow falling from the sky and flying off the horses’ hooves. It was an action-packed shoot that we encountered unexpectedly. In the midst of this opportunity we took some close-ups of the horses’ eyes. Here is one that I captured.

More Baseball Photos

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Today I photographed three baseball games. And it was a beautiful day for baseball!

The Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy 11u team played the Titans at 9am. It was a hard-fought game that featured some solid defense and quality hits. The action was exciting throughout the game. It was obvious that these boys are being coached well and are learning the fundamentals of baseball.

I then photographed the two LVBA 15u games. This team played well, too, winning both games and moving on in the next round of the tournament as the #2 seed. The players were hitting the ball very well and exhibiting great fundamental defensive skills–they turned one double-play and made some very nice defensive plays on the field.

I am posting four photos from the 11u team here on my blog today, but you can see the photos of all the games on my website. They should be posted by tomorrow evening. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these photos.

There’s Always Something to Do!

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Photography is a strong passion for me and one thing is for sure–with an interest and passion like photography there is always something to do! Here is a short list: go on a photo shoot, plan for an upcoming trip, edit photos, keyword and organize photos from past trips, scout out new locations, read photography blogs, watch photo software tutorials, make prints, create photo slide shows, clean equipment, shop and dream of new photo gear, browse through coffee table photography books… the list goes on and on!

So what do you do with your passion of photography? What are your favorite tasks? Are you willing to admit your least favorite photo duties? What do you enjoy the most? What you like the least? What gets your passion ramped up? What excites you in the world of photography?

There is always something to do in our field of interest and it seems to me that it can be valuable to share with each other what we enjoy the most about our photographic passion. This thought motivated me to create a simple poll that I will post later today. It seeks feedback from fellow photographers about what you all like the most about photography. I hope you will take a minute or two to think about this and respond to the poll or comment here on the blog. My thinking is that we can always learn from each other and also motivate one another as well.

Finding Lost Files

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I’ve never had the experience of having my kids getting lost and separated from me. I am sure that is an alarming feeling to say the least. But just this week I did experience that pit in my stomach when I wanted to find one of my favorite photos. It was lost! I searched and searched but could not find that lost file.

Part of my problem is that I have two computers, two external hard drives, and a Drobo. I can easily find all of my recent photos, especially those shot since I purchased my Drobo. Previous photos are harder for me to locate sometimes and this week was a prime example. Which drive could the file be on? Which date was the photo taken?

I typically had named my photo files with a date in this format: “2010-09-09.” Then eventually I added the event or location to the end of the file. For example: “2010-09-09 Elk County.” This naming scheme still caused some problems for me because what if I knew a photo was taken in Elk County but couldn’t remember which date it was taken? This was my exact problem this week. I knew the photo was taken in Elk County, but I could not remember exactly when I took the photo or even which year it was taken. Most recently I changed my naming scheme to the event or location first and then the date like this: “Elk County 2010-09-09.” This naming convention must be used by more and more photographers because Lightroom uses this convention in their latest version 3.0. This protocol makes sense to me because now all my events and locations are grouped together by name and then by date instead of vice versa. Obviously I did not make this name change to all my old photos or I would have found the file I was looking for this week.

I eventually did locate the photo I lost, but it was aggravating. How do you name your photographs? Can  you find exactly what you’re looking for within a few short minutes? I was told a long time ago to pick a naming scheme and stick with it. I guess I haven’t found the best scheme for me yet. I am still adapting and changing out of necessity. Some day I will be able to not even think about this and it will just be second nature. In the meantime, I will continue searching for the best naming protocol that works best for me.

By the way, here is the photo that was missing in action until today.

The Circle is Getting Bigger

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My photography experiences  over the years have led me to some amazing places and introduced me to some amazing people! Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy my quiet time behind the viewfinder out on a mountain as I am photographing the elk of Pennsylvania, but the places and people I’ve come to know is nothing short of exhilarating!

It is almost hard for me to believe how wide my circle of photo friends and places is now. The circle is widening and getting bigger all the time. It reminds me of when I was a kid and would throw a stone in the pond. The stone would create a circle once it hit the water and the circle would create a ripple of larger and larger circles until they eventually hit the bank where I was standing. Amazing!

My photography circle is amazingly similar. I’ve met fellow photographers who have incredible vision and are a blast to be with on a photo shoot. I’ve met incredible people who have touching stories to share. I’ve met people I would never have met were it not for my interest (or maybe passion) in photography.

We will be holding our Pennsylvania Elk Photography Experience later this month when the rut will be in full swing. This small workshop has allowed me to meet photographers and share some photo tips with them. Dick McCreight, a good friend and professional photographer helps me lead these trips and we always have incredible memories to take back home with us. We also learn a lot from the photographers we are teaching, too. This year marks the third year of these unique photographic experience and we are excited to continue meeting new photographers, teach them about the elk and how to respect them and the land they inhabit, and hopefully instill a deep respect for these beautiful creatures that God has created for us to enjoy.

I also have the opportunity to photograph awesome sporting events, too. I love baseball and am naturally drawn to this sport. The same goes for football. But the events I photograph always seem to lead me somewhere new and different all the time. To say it is fun sounds almost patronizing and is definitely an understatement. I am having the time of my life with my camera!

I do not know how wide my photography circle might get, but I know it is still getting wider all the time. I’ve photographed wildlife, seniors, athletes, coaches, landscapes, historic sites, small towns, big cities, and so much more. I am learning to enjoy both the places and the people I meet on this exciting journey. And I am counting on this being the case for the rest of my time here on earth until my circle will finally reach another shore.

The Ups and Downs of Learning

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Did you or do you like school? I must confess that I was not the best student in any of my classes. In fact, I sometimes wonder how I graduated from high school! But with each step I took to higher education, I learned more and got better as a student. The progression, however, was not linear. There were many bumps in the road and plenty of ups and downs!

I find this to be true as I keep learning about photography as well. Some things come easy for me at times, but then there are those times when I pull my hair out trying to learn a new technique or skill.

Just tonight, I spent several hours trying to learn some new software–well, new to me at least. Thankfully, I had a friend beside me to show me the way, but it was not always easy and I am sure that I have a whole lot more to learn about this software. I do like learning and the computer has afforded me plenty of opportunities to learn more and more. I still remember the very first time I tore apart my pc and installed a new hard drive all by myself. Seeing the hardware underneath the hood and actually taking some of it apart was a thrill to me! Of course, I had to find a way to put it all back together, but the sense of accomplishment with this simple task was contagious.

If find a similar fascination with computer software. Can I find more efficient shortcuts or processes to make a task easier? Can I learn how to use this software for what it was intended but also learn how to utilize it in more creative ways?

Last night I worked on a project in Photoshop that was thrilling for me. It wasn’t anything fancy by any means, but to be able to work with a client and incorporate his vision for the desired outcome was enjoyable to me. Of course, I had to know how to use the software, but it was fun to actually be able to implement his vision into a tangible outcome. I attached a photo of this project for you to see here. Again, it is nothing very fancy but it reinforces my theory that learning has its up and downs. Tonight had some bumps in the road to learning new software for me, but last night I was able to get it right. So it goes with learning!

No-Hitter Pitched for LVBA 15u

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Eli pitched a no-hitter today for the 15u Lehigh Valley Baseball Academy!

The opposing team had very few base runners during the game and Eli was in control as he struck out one batter after the other. On two occasions, he walked a couple batters in an inning but put the hammer down and pitched out of trouble. He was in command of his pitches all day and kept his focus throughout the game. Watching a 15u player throw a no-hitter was a complete joy to witness and photograph!

This was the first no-hitter that Eli pitched in his young career. The LVBA team scored one run on a wild pitch as Joey DePerno scored from third base on a heads-up play to cap off Eli’s no-hitter with a victory.

Here are a series of photos from the first inning of Eli’s no-hitter. It was a day to remember and I was glad to photograph the game as it unfolded. I always say that each game has a unique story and I see my job as trying to tell that story through the photographs I capture. Today Eli made it very easy to tell this game’s story. Awesome game Eli and congratulations on your no-hitter!

In-Between Photo Shoots

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What do you do on a day when you don’t have a photo shoot? Do you dream of the next photography shoot? Do you just relax and forget about photography? What do you do in=between photo shoots?

I cannot sit still. Today I had to pack all my photo gear for a photo shoot I am scheduled to do tomorrow, but there is no assignment for me today. Still, I am thinking a lot about photography today. I just can’t help it. Maybe it’s in my blood; maybe I have ants in my pants, as my grandma used to say; or maybe photography is a passion for me!

After checking my favorite websites and blogs this evening, I will sit down and read through some of the photo books I packed along on this trip. Thankfully, I am staying at my in-law’s and they have a computer with an internet connection. This means I can get this blog entry out tonight quite easily even though I am on the road. My in-laws are great! They let me stay with them and even give me awesomely delicious food to eat. I love my in-laws!

So I might be in-between photo shoots, but I am still thinking about photography. I went for a bike ride earlier this evening and was wishing I had my camera with me to capture what looked like an upcoming perfect sunset. Oh well, at least I could imagine myself with the camera, adjusting to the proper exposure, and composing the sunset in my viewfinder.

Yep, I might be in-between photo shoots, but I am sure I will be ready for the next one. Preparation and mental rehearsals are key!

Wildlife Web Galleries

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I already mentioned previously that I like Lightroom. I’ve been using this software for well over a year now and I love it! Just last night I watched a tutorial on how to use the upload feature in the Web Gallery Module. It got me to thinking that I can not only save time by automatically uploading photos to my website directly from Lightroom, but I can also keep galleries of my wildlife photos and just keep updating them automatically from Lightroom.

It took me a little while to implement my idea, but after a few trials and errors it worked! I was excited last night about this possibility and thought, gee, this is almost too easy! I suppose this is what software really should provide for us, but I typically find the opposite to be true. Computers and software are supposed to work for us and make our work easier, right?

Well, last night I implemented an idea that really shows that Lightroom can work for me in some very positive ways. For example, I wanted to create a gallery for each different mammal that I photograph–deer, bear, squirrels, elk, etc. Previously I created a gallery in Dreamweaver for this but then had to edit each gallery every time I added some additional photographs to the gallery. So last night I got the brainstorm to create the galleries in Lightroom and have Lightroom upload the gallery for each mammal. Now, when I add more photos I just upload the gallery again, which overwrites the old one and automatically adds the new ones. Now that’s efficient!

So now my website is starting to feature some of these wildlife galleries. You can go to my website and see these galleries listed on the right-hand side. Click on any of the mammals listed there to see the corresponding galleries. Thanks, Lightroom, for making this task not only manageable but easy, too!