Smoke, Snow and...

So the temperature has been fluctuating from warm to cold, our chimney has been smoking us out, and well, there really has not been much activity on my part except for some minor jobs here and there. If only work were easier to find this time of year, I would be happily working on everything I can get my hands on.

Anyway, so, over this seasons wood fires in the house, we have been smoked out several times. Yeah, nothing to be happy about, and the first time was understandable, the chimney hadn't been swept. So, get it swept and then burn... Not in this chimney. After just a few short days, our chimney began to smoke again. This time it was worse than before. Well, this time our chimney had clogged almost completely. So, throw some chains down the flue and see if they can make it to the bottom. Well, we thought they would...

Where in a chimney can a length of chain just stop on its flight to the bottom??? We soon discovered it was really about half way down, right next to where the flue from the kitchen comes in. So, we reached in to discover a nearly 5 inch thick chunk of creosote. DAMN! So, take a hammer and a chisel and work at it bit by bit. Unclog the demon, and give it another try. Chimney burns for 3 days, and we get smoked out again, this time it was in the same spot, and just above the kitchen Flue. So, work at it again, and maybe we can fix it for good. Who knows. Well, as of this point, day three will be tomorrow, so maybe I will be cleaning it, yet again.

Anyway, lets hope the smoke stays out...

A Sampling of Summer

HogFarm-OldStageRd
Originally uploaded by Dan Lovell Photography

Ok, So this summer I have been busy creating images, and some of these images have kept me very very busy. So, I wanted to take a few moments to share with you all a small part of my summer.

This first image, taken in Essex, VT, is part of a landscape series I am currently working on. I have been trying to press the limits of photography, making them border on the edge of watercolor painting, without much manipulation in Photoshop. So, some of these images are simply taken and lightly edited for print. Go figure, an image like this can be done so simply.

I traveled to the summit of Camels Hump to take a few photographs of the summit. Again, working with the same landscape ideas. This time I was successful in a great adventure. I enjoyed every moment of this trip, and plan on traveling there again, very very very soon. I would like to try and capture some fall foliage from these great perspectives. One place I want to travel to for the fall foliage, before it is too late, is the Green River Reservoir in Morrisville, VT. That lake is just gorgeous, and if any of you enjoy camping, kayaking or both together, that is ideal for you to kayak out to a campsite, either on an island or the mainland, and enjoy a weekend of fall water fun.

As for the rest of my summer, take a stroll through my images, and tell me what you think. Feel free to leave me comments either in this blog, or for each individual image on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dglphoto/sets/72157622333983779/

Here is the entire Photoset - A Sampling of Summer

Senior Portraits

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Originally uploaded by Dan Lovell Photography

Every year I try to bring in senior portraits, and this year I managed to take some family senior portraits. They came out great, but as always I cannot seem to find myself into the senior portrait market locally. Go figure.

We all have a need to continue finding ways to stand out, but how do you stand out when the majority of the market I am trying to target go for "Brand Names". It is very hard to compete with the competition when the competition barrages the market with images every where they shop. Go figure. How can I, mr little guy manage to compete with the large studios? Do I need a Large STUDIO??? larger than the competition? Or can I compete with my little portable studio where I meet my clients at their favorite place?

At this point, I have no clue how to compete, but I do know that I can take some great photos. Who knows, the season is not over yet.

FROM THE NEW WORLD

So it has been a long week here in the Burlington Area. I have been a teaching assistant for Burlington Glass Studio and I have been documenting the rehearsals of the dancers for the "From the New World" which premiered last night. This was an absolutely stunning performance by a great group of people. They were a lot of fun to work with, and provided me with ample opportunity to photograph them in some very beautiful compositions. You can see all the photos, most of them unedited, at dglphoto.smugmug.com. Here are a few of my favorites from the week.

My absolute favorite image is of the lone dancer against the blue image in the background. To me, this image is very stunning, and dramatic. It is very beautiful. The rest of the images are favorites, for exposure and an all around great image.

Ok, The fireworks show last weekend was also entertaining. I had played with my camera and tripod, and was very excited to see a few of my fireworks shots. Makes you think of that famous song... the one that goes something like, " Oh say can you see..."



Let's hear what you all think about these images. Please leave me a comment on them, and let me know what you think.

FlickR and its amazing marketing abilities...

Ok, so a few weeks ago I had gotten contacted by a representative from http://www.cleanfish.com/ to use an image I had posted to FlickR. Of all images that could have been used, it was of a good friend when we went fishing for cod and haddock, and was certainly not my best work. So, I hesitantly said yes to selling the image. I had offered a reshoot for the very reasonable price of $500 and could offer the images to them in a weeks time.

Well, they opted for the image at the right, and no reshoot for $150. Now, I have been asked about a photo with a haddock. So, I am delving into my image banks looking to see what I can find. Again, I offered the service over the images I might have on hand, but to no avail. It looks like from now on, if I am going to be using my camera, that I need to treat every photo opp as a professional shoot, because I will never know when someone wants to use my images...

Can you imagine, two images for $300, when they could have had an entire array of images for only $500. Go figure... Well, I am still open to reshooting, especially if they want to hire me to photograph salmon running in Alaska. Any takers out there? Send me to Alaska for a salmon adventure, I will guarantee some spectacular images, maybe even a grisly or two.

Go figure, and did I mention the fishing trip the photo is from was taken at my "bachelor party"...