Back home - Sunset over West Palm Beach

Back home - Sunset over West Palm Beach, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

For some reason, those days that I choose to go on a hunt for the image seem to produce the least. I must have driven about 300 miles as I zig zagged back from the west coast of Florida. Just wasn't feeling the vibe ya know. Well, I guess it took gettting back to the places I know.

Stopped for the light

Stopped for the light, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I took this (and few more) on one of my cross state trips. Those are always kinda freaky (for the traffic behind me) when I'm creeping along Route 60 or sometimes alligator alley, and while on the constant lookout for subjects, color, and light. I seem to be drawn to those scenes like a mouse to the pied piper. I get that way with music too. I guess thats why I am heading across state in the AM to see a concert that I saw not just 2 nights ago in Miami.

I have been a fan of Jamie Cullum ever since I heard him a little more than a year ago. Just the right mix of upbeat melodic jazz and blues performed with a youthful pop delivery (alright, a music critic I am not.

In the meantime, enjoy the clip from one of Jamie's performances and I'll try to bring home a few cool images from the trip.....cool?

Magic hour in West Palm Beach

Magic hour in West Palm Beach, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

We've all done it. Heart pounding as we race to a place to park the car. The suns dropping like a bowling ball. That light, that incredible light! Its fading fast...please wait till I get the shot!

Then of course, you glance at the LCD screen and think "thats not at all what I saw, where is that deep color, why is the sky blown out, how come I can't see the dark details?"

That is of course why I spend half my time creating the magic in the digital darkroom.

I can't do much about that fading light though. That will always continue to be a race! Unless of course if you are in someplace like Iceland in June, which is of course is exactly where my friend Trey Ratcliff is from Stuck in Customs. Six hour sunsets, hard to beat that!

Looking to the west for color - West Palm Beach, FL

Looking to the west for color - West Palm Beach, FL, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

First off, I sometimes have to remind myself of how lucky I am. As a photographer and lover of light and color, sunsets are one of lifes truley magical experiences. When I get the urge (which should be daily since I am so close), all I have to do is head down, grab the bike, cruise over the bridge to Palm Beaches Bike Path, and enjoy the show. Mind you, not every night is a symphony of luminous design, but its still worth the trip. To get out, clear the mind, and recharge the emotional batteries is essentially the goal. As the skys opened up this evening, however, I had a feeling that a nice scene was about to unfold, and boy was I right. At first, I was a little bit upset that I didn't even have a camera to record the beauty that was about to unfold in the sky, but I quickly realized that the real moment for me was just to see it.....really see it. Sometimes when you are fiddling with the tripod, lenses, knobs, and all that ghack, you fail to really get pulled into the moment. So thats what I did.

This image, however, was from another one of those moments...when I was fiddling about with the gear. Enjoy :)

God Beams over West Palm Beach - and a search for enlightenment

God Beams over West Palm Beach - and a search for enlightenment, originally uploaded by Photomike07 / MDSimages.com.

During one of those o' so few evenings when the South Florida sky just opens up and screams at you, I decided to fly out the door and capture some of natures enlightenment. Sure, the camera sensor doesn't really see what I see, or in this case, what I wanted to see, but thats what post is for. Color, light, great music on the Ipod, and a sense of accomplishment from the day....thats about all you need sometimes.
So, on a somewhat related note, I feel like linking to a video I recieved today. As you must know by now, this blog has never been much of a source for ideas or product endorsements, but I really felt like sharing it. Life sometimes has a way of presenting you with challanges, or as I like to see it, opportunities for self growth disguised as hurdles. Since my divorce, I have been on a full on feast of self growth knowledge. There is no one that seems to cover all these areas that, lets face it, we can all use improvement in, as well as this cat I found called Brian Johnson. His debute product called Philosophers Notes (google it), is a buffet of knowledge and selfgrowth wisdom. Kind of like a cliff notes creation of 100 of his favorite reads while on a sabaticle in Fiji (man, thats sounds cool doesn't it?), he indeed pours his heart into this product. It has been my "Go To" folder on the ole' Ipod for sometime now. In fact, I can't think of a better way to start the day that with one of his delicious 20 minute morsels of insight. A great fuel for the mind for sure. Well, as you can see from the link to a video below, he has an other product out that looks kinda cool too. So, I ask you, what have you fed your mind today?

http://www.optimalliving101.com/why

Palm Beach - a special place

Palm Beach - a special place, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am. In fact, just the other day I took a knee jerk reaction turn and headed over the beach with my little one after school and pounced about in the sand (not here as this is the intracoastal.....beach is much cleaner!). After spending a few wonderful moments there, I had to stop and wonder what in the world has prevented me from taking the 7 minute trip from my place over to this paradise recently.

In continuation of my little theme this week, I am posting a link to the music that inspired my creation of the image this evening. I first heard Josh Varnadore perform this live last year at a church that we were lighting a Passion Play in. I hope to hear more from him someday! Very catchy tune and a wonderful message. Hope you like :)

Warm night under the banyon tree

Warm night under the banyon tree, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Wow, what a nice little blog break that was! Our events schedule this past week made it virtually impossible to live anything close to a normal life, but thats ok. Those who know me best understand that I kinda like a random and somewhat chaotic schedule. My only regret, especially after taking a peek at the closing ceremonies tonight, was that I didn't get to watch the Olympics more. Oh well, there's alway 2014.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fantastic week. I have a lot to drone on about, but I'm a little beat now......so more on all this later.

I hope to post a couple later in the week from a couple of the events that I was able to capture. Until then......

A bit west of town and a bit of an apology

A bit west of town and a bit of an apology, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Taken a wee bit back during a late afternoon of wandering about out west on a "chasing the light" session. (Good grief, what a horrible opening sentence to a blog. Hope it gets better!)

I feel like I have let down the viewers of my images here lately. While I have a million or so on the hard drive to work on, with many other opportunities to create around me, I haven't been allowing myself that time. Sure its busy this time of year here in South Florida, but I somehow was able to focus a bit on the art of it all last year about this time. I must say, however, that I have also been spending a bit of time developing a few new strategies in a totally unrelated field, so that might have a bit to do with it. Only so many hours in the day!

As I progress a bit in my life and head towards the big five o' (hey, lets not rush the next 5 years now), I seem to be pretty clear with a few goals. More than ever, I plan to become a bit more active in my real estate investments. I have been spending most of my time outside of Hy-Lite educating myself in all aspects of acquisition, planning my next moves, and fine tuning my strategies for the next few years. I don't want to head too deep into this just yet (in my blogsposts), but I am pretty excited about the whole process. I will say that a little further down my goal statement, say a couple of years or so, I am pretty passionate about rehabbing smaller apartment units "Green." I feel there is a tremendous opportunity there and in its infant stages. My other and more immediate goals are all part of a strategic plan to get me there.

So, why all this Mike? Do you think we even care?

Well, good point and well taken. Guess its just a quick excuse for my lack of energy here in my little art world getaway. I guess the real trick is to find that balance as to not overdo it in any one area. Yeah, balance.....always had a bit of a problem with that, but thats another story altogether!

More on all of this later.....

PS.....was that a cool halftime show or what! Lights were awesome and well programmed. Hats off to the artists on that one. You should be proud of yourselves :)

Jammin'

Jammin', originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Jammin' hamsters........might sound a bit silly to those who don't know me. Actually, it might sound silly to those who do know me! That we are this weekend......jammin! Tis the season here in Palm Beach. We are in the middle of a weekend of 3 events this weekend, and as of now, all is going great. I have a rock star team along side of me, and I must say, it feels awesome. Thanks guys.....

(So Mike, whats with the picture?)

Actually, nothing at all! ...... Yeeaaah....nadda......

Catch it quick!

Catch it quick!, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Not too much to ramble about, just a little touch of warmth to end the day. Don't you just wish that moment when the sun is about to hit the horizon could be frozen a bit longer? Guess thats why Iceland and Norway are a couple of pretty awesome places to be in the summer for the photographer. Hmmm, summers coming up soon, isn't it? Food for thought :)

And a little music to go with the scene :)

Love the melody at about 1:24 into it. Look for this to be released soon in the states!

Sunset at the Oasis

Sunset at the Oasis, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

In light of the fact that there were probably a million sunset images uploaded today, I present to you this....sunset image one million and one :)

I kept this one a bit real for ya. HDR processing tends to bring out detail in the lights and in the extreme shadows. Sometimes however, its kinda nice to keep those shadow details hidden. In this shot, there really wasn't too much of a payoff to linger in the depths of the foreground shrubbery. Taken during an HDR workshop I was on last week in Austin by Trey Ratcliff. Hope ya like!

By the way, here's a link to the post he did a couple of days ago as a wrapup. I must say that my image stream got about 6 times the normal view count for that day and the next. Wow, very powerful!

Stuck in Customs - Workshop

A special thanks to my stellar crew for the hard work this weekend (as I subtly shift gears to the event lighting world). We rocked out a couple of events over on the Island (I just love saying that) in Palm Beach at MaraLago and The Breakers Hotel, and as always, it was a pleasure working with them and I really appreciate the effort. Look for a few images over the next few days.

Till then, have a great weekend :)

Painted skys over West Palm Beach

Painted skys over West Palm Beach, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Cool weather always brings the opportunity for some great skys, and this evening was no exception. After a quick glance out the window this evening, I scurried about (at a rapid pace whilst haphazardly stumbling about I might add) and grabbed the D3 and sticks. I am so blessed to have the balcony I have and this time of the year, the suns in a great spot! I tried for a different perspective and used a 70 to 200 lense to isolate a space piece of the luminescent sky. Hope ya like :)

Sunset in Sebastion - larger than life

Sunset in Sebastion - larger than life, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

So often, many a great photographer has set out for the golden hour. Those warm and wonderful precious few moments of light have often found this photographer without a great location! Every once in a while however, these two come together in luminescent harmony. (Geez, did that sound stupid!) Sometimes its a crapshoot. You prep the gear, load up, and headout...or if your slightly insane, you do this in the morning. I must say, I do love starting the day this way...it's just a bit hard to actually get started. Yeah, my sunset shots far outnumber those sunrise ones, thats for sure! (Again, quite a lame sentence there.....)

Anyway, while bumbling about the coast here one afternoon in Florida, was quite lucky to be as they say "at the right place at the right time!"

Time to decompress - Sunset at Seabring

Time to decompress - Sunset at Seabring, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

So I was asked at the book launch party last night about how I have been able to diligently post a a blog post just about every night. Well, for me, its all about the escape. There are those who escape to the bottle, the TV, the gym, the club, the internet, you name it....we all look forward to that daily escape. I guess this is mine. Sure, there's the occasional useless tweet or mid day facebook post, but this is more of a focused....uhhh, well.....what is it exactly? Kinda like a rather long worthless tweet actually. Yeah, well, sorry about that......let's hope tomorrow evening is a bit more insightful!

Anyway, enjoy the image!

Thats the real escape for me actually. Spending a little time painting and playing in the digital darkroom this evening was rather therapeutic. After finishing a few proposals for up and coming events this evening, this little escape to my world of color and light is just what I needed!

Waiting on the meteor shower

Waiting on the meteor shower, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

So, according to the experts, there is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. Hmmm, ain't seen nottin' yet. The full kit is set up on the balcony with a fisheye lense cranking out a 7 exposure set every 20 seconds in hopes of capturing an HDR time-lapse of the show. Like I said, its a bit light on the actual show part. I guess I'll see in the morning!

Goodbye Tampa

Goodbye Tampa, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

I titled this one while processing it during the last day I was in Tampa for a week long Summit about a month ago. I does look a bit apocalyptic though, doesn't it?

As I checked into my room, I kinda squealed like a chipmunk (alright, that sounds kinda weird), when I got a glimpse of the view I had for the week. I think I may have taken a couple of time-lapses too. In fact, I'm sure I did. Soon to follow I am sure.

Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend!

Under the Juno Pier - In a perfect world

Under the Juno Pier - In a perfect world, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Thanks for stopping by!

Although I originally shot this as an asymmetrical image with a small section of the pier off the the left, I decided to work my mirror image technique on it. After a little color work, a bit of tonal contrast, and a couple of other photoshop actions, I created this. Hope ya like :)