Tag: sculpture

Early Morning In Waterfront Park

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Big Four Morning
Big Four Morning

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I shot this image on Saturday morning last week before the crowds arrived. The morning was relatively calm and the park had only a few people in it at that time. There were many people walking up on the bridge to catch the first moments of the day as others were busy exercising on the lawn around the swing garden. I like the peaceful feeling that the early morning light gives the image.

Saturday Morning Boot Camp
Saturday Morning Boot Camp

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This is one of my favorite angles to photograph the Swing Garden and the Louisville Skyline from the Big Four Bridge. I like the way the geometric layout of the park comes out from this vantage point. On the right can be seen the barges and equipment that are being used to build the piers for the new Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing. Walsh Construction seems to be taking great pains to keep the job site clean and orderly which is their way of showing respect for the Louisville Waterfront Park and it’s wonderful features such as the Swing Garden and the Lincoln Memorial with the wonderful sculptures by Louisville’s native son and nationally renowned sculptor, Mr. Ed Hamilton.

This image is a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and -2 EV HDR image created using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and Aperture 3. After merging in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I returned the HDR image to Aperture 3 for additional adjustment to the contrast, color channels, sharpening and minor cropping. I also added a slight vignette to the final image to lead the viewer’s eye into the frame.

In the coming months I will be sharing images from the Ohio River Bridges Project as I shoot it from inside the actual job sites. I will be sharing photos of not only the physical progress of the project; I will also be showing the men and women who are doing the work to build this much anticipated bridge and it’s transformation of the Louisville waterfront. I hope you will follow along as work progresses and sign up for email announcements when I post new work; to do that simply follow SpeedDemon2.com via the sign up box at the top of the page.

 

Happy Trails

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Dave and Wiley

A couple of years ago I was along on a group ride through Colorado where we came upon the coolest outdoor gallery of chainsaw sculpture near Mancos. There was no one around to ask about the work but we did spend an hour or so walking through the place and admiring the creative genius of the artist. As we rode away but I had already decided that I would get back there as soon as it was feasible. We finished our trip a couple of days later and I broke away from the group to return to Cortez and Mancos to photograph the sculture as well as an abandoned auto wrecking yard I had spotted on the road out of Cortez.

When I returned I met the sculptor, Dave Sipe, and spent several hours with him as he showed me around his studio and shared stories of how he had come to Mancos several years earlier. I really loved his whimsical, tongue in cheek approach to his work and decided that I wanted a piece for my own art collection. I loved his buzzards, one of which is in this image, and originally that was what I planned to purchase but when he showed me the Wiley Coyote Happy Trails piece I knew that it was the one for me. I agreed to his price and asked that he allow me to take his photo with my purchase to which he happily agreed.

I really like to shoot portraits of people in their element and this image of Dave fits perfectly into that idea. I love the color and imagery that surrounds Dave and the fact that everything in the image is hand crafted by him. His expression captures the playfulness and enthusiasm for life that infuses every piece that he makes and speaks volumes about his zest for life.

I have returned a couple of more times to see Dave and to see what he is creating; the last time was three years ago when we were taking a motorcycle ride to see Mesa Verde. On that trip I did purchase one of his buzzard sculptures which watches over me as I type this post. I haven’t been able to get back through Mancos since then but I hope to return next year if everything goes as planned with my photography business.

I chose to use Topaz Adjust to process the image because I knew it would emphasize the colors in Dave’s work and lend an air of whimsy to the final portrait.

Pixoto Photo Duels

Posted on by Nick Roberts

The image above was taken in South Dakota with an iPhone 3S which fits my personal mantra that the best camera you have is the one you have with you.

For the past two months I have been participating in Pixoto.com photo duels. I have been able to see work from around the world and compare my efforts with those of my fellow photographers. The plus side for me is the satisfaction of winning an award for my work and the knowledge that photographers from around the world have seen my work and voted yea or nay on it.

I don’t know where Pixoto is heading but I feel pretty safe putting my images on their site. They watermark everything with a simple copyright © symbol with the photographer’s name; in my case it is  ©Nick Roberts. They state up front that the photographer retains all rights to the images that they submit to Pixoto.

I find it interesting to see what they pair up in the image duels, (I participate enthusiastically), which show the varied approaches to photography from around the world. It is very gratifying to see that your image has been selected by your photographic peers as the best in the duel, and ultimately the category, whether it is for the day, week or month.

I encourage all of you who come here to view my work to take a serious look at the Pixoto.com site and try it out for yourselves. I think you will find it very gratifying and helpful. By the way I need to mention that it is free for the present time and you can earn posting credits simply by participating in the “Image Duels”

This link will take you to a page at Pixoto.com where you can see many of my images that have won awards from the Pixoto Community. http://www.pixoto.com/speeddemon2/awards