At the beginning of the winter season I could rejoice in having four seasons in which to take pictures.  I could finally round out my portfolio with fall and winter pictures that were so rare in Arizona and so plentiful here in West Virginia.  Soooo plentiful!  Now, I am looking forward to spring while I take pictures of Cheat Lake in the Morgantown area.

Canon 20D, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, @ 35mm, f/18, 1/6, iso 100.  Early morning shot, overcast, using a tripod.

Canon 20D, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, @ 16mm, f/18, 1/6, iso 100.  Early morning shot, overcast, using a tripod.

Filed under: Morgantown Project, Photography by Roger Sealey.com
Tags: « Cheat Lake - Morgantown »
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A day at Coopers Rock.   I really enjoy spending time at Coopers Rock.  Unfortunately, I was only able to get out there once last year to take pictures of the fall foliage.

Filed under: Photography by Roger Sealey.com
Tags: « Autumn - Coopers Rock - Fall »
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This last week we packed up and went to Columbus, OH for our vacation.  We went to COSI science center, the “German Village”, Zoombezi Bay Waterpark, and COLUMBUS ZOO and AQUARIUM.  I know, maybe a little too much emphasis on the zoo, but that is where the good pictures are.  I don’t get to get out the big lens very often.  I get to use it for little league games, a college football game here and there (Go SOONERS/MOUNTAINEERS), but there aren’t a lot of times I can use it for something in nature.  You just can’t use 100-400mm lenses for panoramic shots.  So, on Saturday I had a blast taking pictures of flamingos, koalas, monkeys, leopards, …  When you look at these pictures try to determine what makes them good shots.  I took a couple hundred photos while I was there.  However, only a select few spoke to me.  I think the ones that really stood out were the ones that seemed to portray some type of human emotion such as sleepy, content, sly, or mischievous.  What do you think?

Pallas' Cat

Caribbean Flamingo

Gibbons

Another Gibbon

Sly looking Koala

Sleeping Leopard

Filed under: Photography, wildlife by Roger Sealey.com
Tags: « Photography - wildlife »
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I had a fabulous time walking thru Cumberland with about 20 other photographers last weekend.  However since I am only able to post 2 of my photos to the Photowalk website, I’ve decided to post the rest of my keepers on my blog site.  I decided ahead of time to go with my wide angle lens because there really is no way to back up in a downtown area.  If I were to take one of the zooms, I would have have been able to tie the weather into any of the building pictures.  You can click on any picture to see a larger version.

As most of you know, I am a color and contrast junkie.  When I saw this gas grate in the sidewalk, the colors just jumped out at me.  I took the picture about 6″ off the ground.  You never know what you’ll find just looking around.

This picture was an experiment in drawing the viewers eyes thru the picture.  The vertical lines along with the curve of the bench and the curve of the lens draw the eyes up thru the middle of the picture.

All of my pictures start out in color.  I do all bw conversions in Photoshop.  This gives me complete control over the process.  This photo mimics an infrared conversion.  The yellows and greens were bumped up almost to white using bw conversion layer.

This is one of those shots that wouldn’t have happened with a zoom lens.  Notice how the lens curves the building, keeping your attention on the page.

This is one of my favorites, taken just after sunset.

Filed under: Cumberland by Roger Sealey.com
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All of my prints will be 20% off thru the 4th of July.  Just type in “4th of July” without the quotes for the coupon code to receive the discounted price.  To view my prints for sale, go here.

Filed under: Photography, new business by Roger Sealey.com
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For the last week, my daughter and I were in Kentucky visiting my parents on their 10 acres in the Scottsville area.  I spent most of the time helping my dad work on their new house.  You can see the pile of dirt cleared out from the foundation in the picture.  A storm came thru on Thursday evening just after sunset and I was able to set up with a tripod and a shutter release to get this long exposure.  The shutter was open for 30 seconds.  I set the aperture to f8 in the hope of catching a lightning strike or two.  I didn’t catch a strike all evening, but I did come out with a great exposure.

This thursday June 18th Scott Kelby is having his second annual Worldwide Photo Walk.  It is a great way to meet other photographers.  Wether you use pro gear or a point and shoot camera, you will have fun taking pictures.  Look here for a walk near you.

Filed under: Photography by Roger Sealey.com
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Those of you who have talked to me about Morgantown in recent months know how much I am impressed by what the city is doing in the wharf district.  They have resurfaced the streets, improved existing buildings, built new buildings, and in general upgraded the area from a business district to a more upscale “place to be”.  There is even a new upscale steakhouse now.  If I were to open up a gallery, it would definitely be in the wharf district.  Recently, I spent a few hours taking pictures along the Rail Trail going thru this area of town.  

I started out at the amphitheater beside the Monongahela River walking south.  This bridge which obviously used to carry trains across Deckers Creek had such a nice pattern to the railings.  One of the things that usually catches my eye when I’m looking for something to shoot, are strong patterns that draw focus into the picture.  Be careful with a pattern like this though, because if your not careful, those patterns can lead the eye into and then out of the picture.  That’s why that structural beam on the right side is so important to this picture.  If it wasn’t in the picture, your eye would follow the railing pattern right out of the picture.

This picture was taken from the Deckers Creek bridge.  The bricks in Deckers Creek seemed like a very interesting contrast to the green leaves of the tree above it.  I diluted some of the color in photoshop to give it a more surreal look.

This is a photo of Clay St.  The buildings shown are a mixture of old and new.  I really like the way they took some of the original bricks from the street and used it as details when the street was paved.  The first building on the right is a new steakhouse that I’m hoping to visit soon.  Maybe a birthday dinner.  Although the small tree in the foreground is not the main subject of the photo, it plays a very important role.  It adds depth to the picture.  If I had taken it just on the other side of the tree, you would have seen more buildings, but it would have felt very flat and uninteresting.  I also want to point out how vivid the colors are.  I used a polarizing filter.  These filters screw on to the end of the lens and are adjustable to reduce reflections.  Depending on the time of day and direction you are taking the picture, it can darken skies, and really brings out color.  Without the filter, there would have been much more glare off of the road, and the sky would have been a very washed out blue.

I love murals.  It’s free to see and really gives a feel for local culture.  This one is located near the waterfront amphitheater.  It just shows how much West Virginians love their state.

Filed under: Morgantown Project by Roger Sealey.com
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For the first time in the four (almost five) years that Vicki, and I have been married, I was able to spend Easter weekend with her family.  The weekend is like a family reunion.  There is golf, bowling, a potluck, and an Easter egg hunt complete with adults making chicken noises (more explanation later).  I really get a kick out of watching all the nieces and nephews coloring the eggs.  They are old enough to have some definite caracter, and not too old for the simple enjoyment of doing things as a family.  Here is Sam’s entry in the egg decorating contest.

Filed under: Photography by Roger Sealey.com
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A few weeks back I was lucky enough to have my dad give me a tour of Clarksburg, WV.  I was able to walk with my mom and dad down the streets where he spent much of his youth.  We visited the “million dollar courthouse”,  The bus terminal where my grandfather worked, Central Junior High School, Washington Irving High School, the house where my father was born, “Waldomore” (a historical monument in the downtown area), and the old Waldo Hotel across the street.  I really enjoyed hearing stories of what life was like while he was growing up.  I had fun picturing the sidewalks crowded with people dressed up walking around downtown, because that was the place to be seen in the evenings.  Streets crowded with buses instead of cars, because that’s how they got places back then.  It must have been quite a grand time.  I took a few shots while we were there.

Filed under: Photography by Roger Sealey.com
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This week I am taking a small break from the Morgantown Project to do some commercial work for Pikewood Creative.  Davis Health Systems in Elkins, WV needed some photos for an upcoming ad campaign.  A friend of mine (Dan) who is working on the campaign for Pikewood Creative asked me to take the pictures.  The morning worked out really well.  We took outside shots of Steve and his family.  They were great, even got to hear some good music.  Steve’s granddaughter was very photogenic.  Later that morning we took pictures of Marjory.  She is a fantastic marathon runner and a great photographer as well (several photos on her office walls).  We were so lucky to schedule the outside work for the morning, because it rained all afternoon.  Then came the wait.  We had originally scheduled a 3 p.m. shoot for the CT scanner, but had to reschedule for 4 p.m. because they needed to use it.  Dan and I spent most of the afternoon looking at statues, parks, and the train station that we couldn’t shoot in the rain.  Later during the delay, we just sat at McDonalds.  I didn’t mind though, the company was good, and I really didn’t want to have to come down a second time.  Three hours, in the car, round trip.

Filed under: Photography by Roger Sealey.com
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