After a 2-month gap due to extenuating work circumstances (aka “being busy”), the monthly calendar wallpaper is back!  September 2011′s calendar wallpaper celebrates the gi-normous sunflower fields of McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland.  I’d been hearing about these sunflowers for the past few years, and just made it out there for [...]]]>

After a 2-month gap due to extenuating work circumstances (aka “being busy”), the monthly calendar wallpaper is back!  September 2011′s calendar wallpaper celebrates the gi-normous sunflower fields of McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland.  I’d been hearing about these sunflowers for the past few years, and just made it out there for the first time this past July.  Magnificent aren’t they?

Download the September 2011 McKee Beshers Sunflowers calendar wallpaper here, in a resolution appropriate to your computer monitor.  And scroll down to view a few more of my favorite sunflower images.

Download the calendar wallpaper of Chincoteague National Wildlife [...]]]>

The June 2011 calendar wallpaper is here!  Breathe in the fresh air, bask in the glory of the setting sun, and admire the grace of a flock of snow geese with this month’s calendar wallpaper of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia.

Download the calendar wallpaper of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge here, in a resolution appropriate to your computer monitor.  And view more fine art photography of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge here.

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Anyone up for an engagement photography or portrait session on the Eastern Shore?

Between now and the time I post July’s calendar wallpaper, get a complimentary, artist-select and choreographed DVD slideshow ($120 value) of photographs from your engagement or portrait photography session on the Eastern Shore!

(This offer may not be combined with any other discounts or offers.  Session must be booked by June 10, 2011 and session held by October 31, 2011.

Book today with offer code EASTERNSHORE by calling or completing our online inquiry form for a complimentary consultation.

View client raves/testimonials here.  View benefits and my guarantee here.

Silhouetted ducks and snow geese bask in the glow of sunset in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia.

Download the March  2011 [...]]]>

In the Fulani village of Jolooga in northern Burkina Faso, villagers stand outside a traditional house made from woven mats of straw.  Traditionally pastoralist, this house can be disassembled and reassembled at will, as the family and their livestock crisscross the Sahel in search of fresh water and green pastures.

Download the March  2011 calendar wallpaper in various sizes of this nomadic Fulani family in northern Burkina Faso, West Africa.

View more photographs of rural Africa here.

But before we wallpaper…  let me share this really cool drum video.  And let me say that [...]]]>

I’m sorry I’m so behind on my blog posts!  I’ve just been really busy…  Not sure how it is that time has been flying by so quickly.  I even forgot about putting together a wallpaper for October.

But before we wallpaper…  let me share this really cool drum video.  And let me say that I am a complete percussion fanatic.  This is why I fell in love with the super-sophisticated (…NOT…) washboard in New Orleans.  I played classical piano competitively from age 6 through high school, and then played in the jazz band in college.  I also played clarinet from somewhere around junior high onwards.  I was good at the clarinet, but I never really loved it.  I really, really wanted to play trumpet, but my parents wouldn’t let me.  (To this day, I STILL wish I could play the trumpet.  And I really wish I could sing…but I really, really can’t.)  And then in college, I fell head over heels in love with drums.  I did handdrums (djembe) and drum set.  I was practicing four hours a day during my senior year in college, skipping most of my classes to do it.  I had my neighbors A-COMPLAINING!  I really wanted to learn steel drums.  I went to talk to a neighboring college that had a steel drum band, but ended up not being able to join because I didn’t have my own steel drums to practice on.  When I got accepted into the Peace Corps in West Africa, I had this vision of going to Africa, playing handdrums, and walking barefoot in the sand.  I got to where I was in Niger, there was very little drumming in my area, and the ground was too hard and hot to walk barefoot.  Misconceptions dispelled!!!  All this to say…  check out this really cool drum video!  I found it on the Dancing Drum page on Facebook after my friend, Lindsay, suggested that I “like” it.

Now, on to wallpaper. Now that I remember that we’re already a week into October, here is the month’s calendar wallpaper. The title of this high dynamic range (HDR) image is, “Zion’s Fire IV,” and it’s part of my “Of Fairytale Kingdoms” collection.  I chose it for this month because this image has just been accepted into a juried exhibit called, “Natural World,” over at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado, juried by Susan Spiritus of the Susan Spiritus Gallery in Newport Beach, California.  ”Natural World” will run December 3-31, 2010, with an artist’s reception on December 3.  The Center will be issuing a press release with my image.  I will post it when it’s out!

ARTIST’S STATEMENT, “OF FAIRYTALE KINGDOMS”

I am an explorer. An explorer of vibrant colors that stir my heart, an explorer of the multitude of hues, both natural and man-made. An explorer of shadowy contrasts that make me wonder, an explorer of the supple paths of light. I travel down dusty highways and onto dirt roads, and through lush landscapes and into desert sands. And with my camera, I seek beauty in my subjects. Sometimes, I find it on the surface, easily displayed for the world to see. But always, I seek the more subtle beauty within. I seek the essence of our world.

In December 2009/January 2010, I took my first trip to Utah, and my first trip (as an adult) to the American Southwest, visiting a wide range of national and state parks, including Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Zion National Parks, over a 2-week period. Incredible rock formations sculpted over thousands of years by gravity wind, water, and other erosive forces dot the landscape. Coupled with a staggering range of color, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the sandstone formations glow a fiery orange, these amazing feats of nature remind me of fairytale kingdoms. My goal in “Of Fairytale Kingdoms” is to capture the fantastic and fanciful nature of these unique locations.

The photos I had seen of Zion before going hadn’t impressed me.  In fact, our first afternoon didn’t net me much good photographic material at all.  But the next afternoon, it snowed, dramatically changing the park’s look and feel, and encompassing high mountain peaks in an amazingly beautiful weave of white.  The snow began to let up in the late afternoon, leaving the mountains glossy and wet, and as the sun set, the peaks reflected fiery sunset, volcanic-like colors.  I had never seen anything like it.  Absolutely incredible.

Purchase a fine art photograph of “Zion’s Fire IV” here. Or view more photos of Zion National Park.  Or view all photos of my Christmas-New Year’s trip through the national and state parks of Southern Utah (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Zion, Canyonlands, Dead Horse, Goblin Valley).  And by the way, I had done a photo-a-day blog-log of the trip.  Check it out from Day 1 here.

Download the “Zion’s Fire IV” calendar wallpaper in the resolution that matches your computer screen here. Enjoy!

A few weeks ago, I taught a Light & Motion photography workshop at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair.  I headed [...]]]>

A combination of photography techniques called "focus blur" and "zoom blur" are used to transform the lights of the ferris wheel into abstract designs at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

A few weeks ago, I taught a Light & Motion photography workshop at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair.  I headed back to the fair a week later to work on my own focus blur-zoom blur technique.  My abstracts were some of my Summer 2010 Photography Newsletter readers’ favorites, so I’ve decided to make one available for September’s calendar wallpaper.  Download the resolution that matches your computer monitor.  Enjoy!  You can also view a slideshow of more Light & Motion abstracts here.

July wallpaper is ready for download – click on the links below for the resolution and aspect ratio that best match your computer screen:

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Once [...]]]>

The summer sun sets in glorious colors over Great Falls in Potomac, Maryland.

July wallpaper is ready for download – click on the links below for the resolution and aspect ratio that best match your computer screen:

1024 x 768 -     1280 x 1024 -     1440 x 960 -     1920 x 1080

Once you download it, if you have Windows 7, just right click on the file and select “set as desktop background.”  In Windows XP, you’ll need to go to the control panel, click on display, click on the desktop tab, and then browse to select the file.  If you’re using a Mac, well…don’t ask me, I don’t know…though if you really need help, leave me a comment, and I can ask my cousin who’s  a graphic designer.

And click here if you’d like to license this image for use or purchase it as a fine art photography print.  Download information on buying fine art photography here.  And view more images of Great Falls, Maryland here.

Here’s my June 2010 wallpaper for download – click on the links below for the resolution and aspect ratio that best match your computer screen:

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Once you download it, if you have Windows 7, just right [...]]]>

Here’s my June 2010 wallpaper for download – click on the links below for the resolution and aspect ratio that best match your computer screen:

1024 x 768 -     1280 x 1024 -     1440 x 960 -     1920 x 1080

Once you download it, if you have Windows 7, just right click on the file and select “set as desktop background.”  In Windows XP, you’ll need to go to the control panel, click on display, click on the desktop tab, and then browse to select the file.  If you’re using a Mac, well…don’t ask me, I don’t know…though if you really need help, leave me a comment, and I can ask my cousin who’s  a graphic designer.

If you’re wondering how I made this image, it’s from a “painting with light” session that I did with one of my photography students, Jack.  Check it out here: Painting Peace at the Vietnam Memorial.

And click here if you’d like to license this image for use or purchase it as a fine art photography print.  Download information on buying fine art photography here.

Here’s my May 2010 [...]]]>

View of the hoodoos from Inspiration Point at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Thin, protruding spires of rock, hoodoos have been formed over thousands of years by water, wind, ice, and gravity. The northern section of Bryce Canyon National Park boasts the largest concentration of hoodoos in the world.

Here’s my May 2010 wallpaper for download – click on the links below for the resolution and aspect ratio that best match your computer screen:

1024 x 768 -     1280 x 1024 -     1440 x 960 -     1920 x 1080

Once you download it, if you have Windows 7, just right click on the file and select “set as desktop background.”  In Windows XP, you’ll need to go to the control panel, click on display, click on the desktop tab, and then browse to select the file.  If you’re using a Mac, well…don’t ask me, I don’t know…though if you really need help, leave me a comment, and I can ask my cousin who’s  a graphic designer.

Even though it’s been four months now since I’ve returned from my Christmas-New Year’s winter road trip through Utah, I’m still on a Utah kick, because of my “Of Fairytale Kingdoms” fine art photography exhibit at the Arlington Public Library in Virginia that I’ll be hanging this Friday morning.  (I’ll be there at 10:30 AM, if anyone would like to come and keep me company while I’m hanging.)  This photo, which I’ve named “Hoodoo Nation I” isn’t part of the exhibit, but I chose it as a wallpaper because it’s one of my favorites.  There’s always a limited space available at these exhibits, so it’s never possible to put up everything I want to!  Plus, I’ve only done a few images now with a textured overlay, so I’d welcome any feedback. And finally, as this is only my second wallpapering experience, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me a comment below to let me know if there are any kinks, or if you think I should offer them in other resolutions as well, or if there’s a certain photo that you’d like to see as a future month’s wallpaper!  I hope you enoy it!