Cleveland Skyline

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Last night looked like it was going to set up for a beautiful sunset in the Cleveland area, but the sky didn't cooperate. I've had a new site on my list and finally made the effort to get out there. The Cleveland sign in Tremont, at the intersection of W14th and Abbey Ave. offers a nice view of the skyline. 

The two middle photos below are panoramas. The first is a 10 shot pano, and the second is made of 6 shots. Both are done with 3 shot bracketing, so they are actually 30 and 18 shots, respectively. They are shot at about 75mm.

Ranger

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I recently met up with my dogsitter to take photos of her big guy, Ranger, a Bernese Mountain Dog. Ranger has bone cancer and at the time of the photoshoot was given six weeks to a few months. Ranger's mate, Mercury, joined us at the arboretum. Ranger was a trooper as we walked to several locations in the park. 

Funny story...Ranger is hesitant around new people. And although I've met him before, he never let me pet him. But by the end of our time at the park, he was my buddy. 

These are the best of the photos we got that day. 

Ruple Antique Cars

A few weeks back I attended a Chamber of Commerce event held at Ruple Antique Cars, a private collection of mostly Ford vehicles. It's not setup in the most ideal layout for photography, but  I had the opportunity to walk around and photograph with my iPhone.

Lacey at Holden Arboretum

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We've been going to the dog park where Lacey likes to run, play and splash. My back is feeling better so today we took a walk at Holden Arboretum. 

A Day at the Dog Park

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Lacey had fun running, splashing and making new friends at the dog park today. Canine Meadow is a fantastic park run by the Lake Metroparks. There is a small dog section, a large dog section, and a communal pond. The park also has drinking fountains, and hoses to clean the dogs. 

Action Shots at the River

Lacey and I have a spot on the Chagrin River that rarely has other people around. So when we're alone I let her off the leash and loves to splash in the river. She'll chase rocks and sticks. 

KelbyOne - The Grid: My Website Critiqued

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Thank you Scott, Kalebra, and Erik for your critiques on The Grid. I was a couple weeks behind in watching The Grid. My website was selected this time around (June 1st). It was near the end of the show and you considered it the best you had seen for the day. I apply what I've learned from previous episodes of The Grid, along with other education content from KelbyOne and others. It is nice to get the validation. 

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One of my favorite shows for photography education is The Grid produced by KelbyOne. The Grid is recorded live and streamed for free every week. I've watched it for several years and have learned so much. My photography has improved tremendously over the years, in large part from the blind critique episodes of The Grid. For the blind critiques, photographers can submit a few photos with the opportunity to get critiqued by professionals. They have more submittals than they can share in an episode, so the selection is random. They are considered blind because the photographers are not named publicly. 

After about a year of trying, I was fortunate to have some photos blind critiqued in episode 139. They get to my pics at 38:09. They gave some good, helpful feedback. Here's a link to the episode.  http://kelbytv.com/thegrid/2014/04/17/the-grid-blind-critiques-with-erik-valind-episode-139/

It's not only critiquing my photos and website that is helpful, but hearing the critiques of other submissions, and applying what I learned from those.

A funny sidenote... I was a couple weeks behind on watching The Grid and I had no idea my site was in the episode. Shortly after they recorded the episode, but before I watched, I had transitioned my website to a new layout. After watching the episode, I switched my site back to the previous layout. There were some design elements in my new layout that were not critiqued favorably in other websites. Applying what I learned, I switched back. 

Here's a link to the website critiques. My site comes up at the 1 hour 1 minute mark. 
http://kelbytv.com/thegrid/2017/06/01/the-grid-website-critiques-episode-286/

If you are trying to learn or improve your photography skills, check out The Grid. 

Portraits of Lacey

A bad back has kept me from heading out with the camera since last fall. I'm on the mend, but not 100%. So I'm getting back into practice with my dog Lacey as the model. 

Lacey is a Boxer mix rescue I adopted from the Greater Ohio Boxer Rescue based in Dayton. She was abandoned in the park. The rescue had her in foster care for 6 months before I brought her home. She's been with me since March of 2016. 

Lacey is super cool and relaxed in the house, but loves to go outside and play. She loves her dogsitters, our neighbor Larry, and Rachele when I travel. But, I think she loves the dog park at Canine Meadows even more!