Lake Erie

Water Lantern Festival - Cleveland

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Went to the Water Lantern Festival last night hoping to get some nice photos. The weather was great after the sun went down, but the breeze was blowing in off the lake. The lanterns were blown into the boardwalk rather than out into the contained area of the lake. Organizers did a nice job with the festival - food trucks, music, and the lanterns. The lanterns were launched on ramps because of the height of the boardwalk area. A launch area was set up using pool noodles to create a "fence". All lanterns were collected after the event.

Close ups of my decorated lantern

Great week for sales

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This has been a great week for sales.  I typically only sell a couple prints per year. This week I had 2 really nice print sales. 36"x20" black and white prints of the Marcus Center in Milwaukee. I also sold a license for a stock photo of the Milky Way.

One of my photos from Cleveland Public Library is getting published in Marketer magazine, a trade journal distributed to 7,000 members of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), thanks to my friend, Tom Townes, who asked for it to be included with an article he wrote.

And finally, I found out my first splash photo will be featured on KelbyOne for Member Monday. 

Winter Sunset on Lake Erie

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The sunsets on the south shore of Lake Erie are not quite as brilliant in the winter, due to the position of the sun in the sky. The sun sets south of the lake and doesn't usually light up the clouds. Tonight was just pretty, because the water was so calm in the harbor. The puffy clouds in the sky picked up a little color, but were mostly muted. 

The still water made for nice reflections of the light house. And the moon made an early appearance.

I finally put my new tripod and Platypod to use. A couple behind the scenes shot highlight the gear. Both are fantastic. 

Sunset at Fairport Beach Mardi Gras

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Mother Nature decided to put on a colorful show the two nights prior to Independence Day (fireworks night for those of us in Fairport). 

Lake Metroparks Photo Contest 2016

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This was my third year entering photos in the Lake Metroparks (Ohio) Photo Contest. There were 6 categories in the contest, I chose three photos to enter - one each in Lake Erie, Black & White, and Landscape/Floral. I was honored to receive First Place ribbons for all three photos. 

The Birds is one of my favorite photos and has been quite popular on social media. I went to Headlands Beach State Park to photograph a sunset. I was sitting on the beach about 15 feet from the water's edge. Gulls were hanging out on the beach behind me. The ranger came by in a four-wheeler startling the birds who took off in flight. I continued taking pictures, thinking these would likely be throw away shots - I normally don't like birds in my photos. When I opened the photos in Lightroom, I was pleasantly surprised with the composition. After some post processing for color and exposure, I came up with the shot.   

Available for purchase: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-birds-adam-kilbourne.html

Category: Lake Erie

Category: Black & White

The White Lighthouse. Fairport Harbor has two lighthouses, a historic one up on the hill and an active one at the junction of Lake Erie and the Grand River. The day I shot this image, the sky was overcast and the water was fairly calm, but not smooth as glass. At the horizon, the sky almost faded into the water. With some creative post processing, I made the horizon disappear and completed some other cleanup to produce the final image.

Available for purchase: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/white-lighthouse-adam-kilbourne.html

Category: Landscape/Floral

The Magical Garden. Every summer the Holden Arboretum hosts a summer concert series. This particular evening, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees during the 90 minute concert. The sky had potential for a nice sunset, so I grabbed my camera from the car. As I walked back to the butterfly garden, the mist was rising from the drop in temperature. I was able to setup and take multiple photos to create a panoramic image. 

Available for purchase: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/garden-in-the-mist-adam-kilbourne.html

Lake Erie Bluffs

A couple weeks ago a photographer friend was in town from Central Pennsylvania. We visited several photographic hot spots in the area. The sky looked promising for a nice sunset, so we went to Lake Erie Bluffs. When we got there, the horizon was covered with clouds, limiting the color in the sky. I was able to get a shot with a deep red sky and lots of contrast. 

A week later the sky was like a painting. 

Ice Beach

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Tried to catch a sunset at Lake Erie Bluffs. The sunset was average, but the beach was covered in large chunks of ice, for added interest. 

Lake Erie Bluffs

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My blog has been stagnant with no excuse other than lack of motivation. I've got a few photo sets to upload and some other updates to fill in. 


Ice Flows

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Yesterday I took my dog to the park at Lake Erie Bluffs so we could hike down to the beach for picture taking. She was a trooper. Even though the ground was cold, she followed along, no leash. She did have a light jacket to help keep her warm.

Down at the beach, the sand was still partially frozen, but it was warm enough that the lake water had started to melt. Chunks of ice were floating around, moving west with the currents. There was one little pocket where the water was calm and the prettiest blue I have seen on Lake Erie. 

This wasn't a shot I had planned, but I tried to get a nice one. Sadly, my DSLR photos of this area didn't turn out, but I got a beautiful pic with my iPhone.  Photographed and edited in Camera+