A Quick One

Got home from boating pretty late today.  Must sleep.  Must go shower. 
I took a picture of the quickest thing I could think of...the book I am currently reading.  I figure this could be a decent way of keeping tabs on how many books I go through and how quickly.  I'm definitely not reading as much as I'd like to be...Once in Northern Ireland, that should not be an issue.  So here is the book I've been reading.  I'm yet to finish it, but it shouldn't be too long now...

Nowhere Man by Aleksander Hemon

Yes, it is indeed a Beatles reference.  Though the Beatles are mentioned many times throughout the book, it really isn't a significant part of the plot...not yes at least.  Once I finish I may write a review...we shall see.  For now, I sleep.

Must Finish School

I want to have my schooling finished before I head to Northern Ireland for a year.  I don't even know if I would be able to do my New York Institute of Photography schooling from over seas, but I have no desire of finding out.  I just want to get it done.  So that is why I am bombarding you, my audience, with picture after picture of boring forced photography.  This was today's project...a product advertisement.  I had to find an ad that I could easily duplicate.  This was the result.  It might not be my final attempt at it, but it was what I put effort into today, so it is what is going up on this here site.

Converse Shoes

I had a bunch of Converses.  And a bunch of people that they would fit.  It seemed to make sense to emulate a Converse ad.  

Ephrata Main Theatre...At Night

Another project for school, I was supposed to show that I know who to shoot long exposures.  Check.  Here is a building at night.  Without a long exposure, the neon light would be visible, but the building itself would be lost in the dark night sky.

The Theatre at Night

The neon lights add some interesting color to night lighting.  Normally it's just the harsh yellows that you get in shots like this.

Pregnant Photography

This is a section of photography that I have not delved into very deeply.  I have done this just a few times.  Four times I think.  And pretty much each time has included other children running around making photography...harder.

 Hold On Tight

Here is a stomach.  The soft colors are quite nice.

A Kiss

A cute kid kisses his brother.

Heart

The awfully generic hand heart.  

Indoor Architectural Photography

 just in case someone missed it....I print all my photos through a company called www.Iprintfromhome.com ...they are really fantastic...great prices, great customer service and really really great quality. I have been using them for a while now and only recently found out that each year they feature their own customers in their paper sample kit (a kit they send out that shows all the types of papers and finishes that they offer). The way they go about choosing the images to use is through a customer contest. Of about 100 images entered, I was one of the 14 that the Iprintfromhome staff selected for the first round. The second round is chosen by the rest of the world...you guys.

I would love to be able to be featured on their photo sample kit, getting my name out there to tons of people...so please if you could, go to the facebook page and click the like button under my image (Biking Through Thunder, by Christopher Kulfan(me))

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150324941691995&set=a.10150321555...

if you dont have a facebook, which I don't even, you can email them a vote for me by going to this page www.iprintfromhome.com/irf.asp and just typing the name of my photo in the comment box. "Biking Through Thunder"


And now, that which you've been waiting for...
Another project for my schooling today...I was supposed to take a picture of a room/office and actually get a lot of the room (not just a corner or wall)in the photo without too much linear distortion.  I found this nicely lit office space and thought it would work well.  We shall see what the New York Institute of Photography thinks.

King Arthur Would Be Displeased

This definitely isn't a round table...Fairly well defined heads of the table.  Also, a little too much linear distortion.  I don't think I'm using this one, but I much prefer this one over...

Less Distortion

 And less character.  But hey, for architectural photography, it is rather infrequent that people are caring about character.

Busy

Today is my wife and my anniversary.  This means that besides the little hike that we took this morning, there was no time for photography.  We have spent much of the day preparing for our big move to Northern Ireland, figuring that instead of spending much money on ourselves by going somewhere nice, we can save that up and have an even nicer anniversary in a year from today.  Perhaps we will go to Paris for our next anniversary, or perhaps the little cottage in Ireland where we spent our honeymoon...decent possibilities, methinks.

Just a Tree

Not a bad tree...but it's just a tree.  I have better things to do today than to shoot...such as a cheap, (but delicious), dessert at our local diner.

School Work

This is the kind of school work I like.  Getting to set up floodlights and flashes, arranging and rearranging subjects, it's much preferred over some of the work I did in both high school and college.  Some of that stuff...a lot of that stuff... had little to no use in the real world.  Hopefully my photographic knowledge does have some use in the direction that I am heading.  I really hope so.
So here is one of the projects for my schooling at NYIP...photographing a still life.  I had started with some different types and sizes of peppers, but I just couldn't get a composition that I was satisfied with.  Luckily my wife was around to help me think of a better subject...mason jars.

Still Life with Mason Jars

I like the gradient lighting in the background.  The only thing I don't really like is how that gradient lighting kind of breaks (mostly the big one) the jars into two sections, half dark and half light.

And now...just in case someone missed it....

I print all my photos through a company called www.Iprintfromhome.com ...they are really fantastic...great prices, great customer service and really really great quality. I have been using them for a while now and only recently found out that each year they feature their own customers in their paper sample kit (a kit they send out that shows all the types of papers and finishes that they offer). The way they go about choosing the images to use is through a customer contest. Of about 100 images entered, I was one of the 14 that the Iprintfromhome staff selected for the first round. The second round is chosen by the rest of the world...you guys.

I would love to be able to be featured on their photo sample kit, getting my name out there to tons of people...so please if you could, go to the facebook page and click the like button under my image (Biking Through Thunder, by Christopher Kulfan(me))

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150324941691995&set=a.10150321555...

if you dont have a facebook, which I don't even, you can email them a vote for me by going to this page www.iprintfromhome.com/irf.asp and just typing the name of my photo in the comment box. "Biking Through Thunder"

thank you very very very much!

House of Martin

About 15 years ago, my father decided to create a Martin bird house.  It wasn't a difficult project, and apparently it was fairly well built, for only now is it starting to die.  But it's dying at a rapid pace...and I'm sure will be taken down and tossed in the fire pit soon.

Martin House

Here is a portion of that bird house.  The colors underneath the peeling paint have a nice antique feel to them.  The fact that it looks like it's going to fall apart also helps add that feeling.

A Stolen Name

I saw a band this evening.  The drummer is one of my coworkers and he has been trying to get me to go see them play.  I finally had a chance to get out and see him, so I did.  The band is called Next To Normal...sounds awfully familiar, right? Well, they sounded really good, so I don't mind sharing (most) of my name with them.

Sweet Sweet Music

Ray is the drummer and coworker.  The person on the right is Jay..he plays lead guitar.  I don't know who is on the left.  The band did all original songs and sounded really good even though they were squished in a corner of a tiny pub.

Jay

This is Jay again.  A fantastic lead guitarist.  The quality is not that great, but I didn't even know if I'd be able to get any shots at all.

Cicada Shell

 ...And that's why I took this photo before we left...just in case I wasn't able to get any good ones at the pub.  These cicadas have been screaming like banshees every night for the last month.  Really, they sound nothing like cicadas...its ear piercingly awful.

Nikola Tesla

..is pretty awesome.
That's why I got this little Tesla finger puppet.
Today he is just standing there with an awesome mustache, but soon he will be all over the place, doing awesome things.

I wasn't going to use him for my photo quite yet, but there is no way I'm going to go take a picture outside where it is 101 degrees but feels like 111.
So here he is, the Master of Lightning...

Tesla

 “The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. No big laboratory is needed in which to think. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.”

and so as to not lose my last post ...

I print all my photos through a company called www.Iprintfromhome.com ...they are really fantastic...great prices, great customer service and really really great quality. I have been using them for a while now and only recently found out that each year they feature their own customers in their paper sample kit (a kit they send out that shows all the types of papers and finishes that they offer). The way they go about choosing the images to use is through a customer contest. Of about 100 images entered, I was one of the 14 that the Iprintfromhome staff selected for the first round. The second round is chosen by the rest of the world...you guys.

I would love to be able to be featured on their photo sample kit, getting my name out there to tons of people...so please if you could, go to the facebook page and click the like button under my image (Biking Through Thunder, by Christopher Kulfan(me))

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150324941691995&set=a.10150321555...

if you dont have a facebook, which I don't even, you can email them a vote for me by going to this page www.iprintfromhome.com/irf.asp and just typing the name of my photo in the comment box. "Biking Through Thunder"

thank you very very very much!

No Photo

I will be posting my photo later.  Right now, I wish to enlist the help of anyone who sees this.

here's why...

I print all my photos through a company called www.Iprintfromhome.com ...they are really fantastic...great prices, great customer service and really really great quality. I have been using them for a while now and only recently found out that each year they feature their own customers in their paper sample kit (a kit they send out that shows all the types of papers and finishes that they offer). The way they go about choosing the images to use is through a customer contest. Of about 100 images entered, I was one of the 14 that the Iprintfromhome staff selected for the first round. The second round is chosen by the rest of the world...you guys.

I would love to be able to be featured on their photo sample kit, getting my name out there to tons of people...so please if you could, go to the facebook page and click the like button under my image (Biking Through Thunder, by Christopher Kulfan(me))

www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150324941691995&set=a.10150321555...

if you dont have a facebook, which I don't even, you can email them a vote for me by going to this page www.iprintfromhome.com/irf.asp and just typing the name of my photo in the comment box. "Biking Through Thunder"

thank you very very very much!

The Last Time?

I drove past the school that I have been taking photos of yesterday.  I drove past it twice.  There was maybe an hour and a half between the two trips.  In that hour and a half it went from about half left standing to very little left standing.  This made me want to continue the documenting process of it's demise, the fact that very little is left.  So today, after a nice run and a swim in a pool, I went back and found even more missing.  There are no rooms left...everything that remains is either a wall with very little attached or an unidentifiable "piece" of what was once a school.  I might go back when there is nothing at all...we shall see.

   A Slight Breeze Could Bring It To It's Knees

A beautiful sunset created the perfect color tones for this post-apocalyptic scene.  If I didn't know what this mass of scrap metal was just two weeks ago, I'd have no idea what it is or once was.

A Junkyard Wasteland

A field that stretches into a baseball diamond has become a temporary junkyard for the site.  A barn in the distance creates just enough light to illuminate pieces of what could have once been a locker room or science lab.  

Unlikely Doors

Not really knowing what I was going to photograph today, I biked around until I came to some interesting old buildings that have interested me, but never to the point that I took a photo of them.  With my recent trips to the school that is being demolished, I've had the destruction of buildings on my mind, and these buildings are definitely in the process of falling down.  Not wanting to just take pictures of the broken pieces and jagged edges of the buildings, I looked around for something else of interest.  I came across a theme..doors on both buildings were oddly placed, or at least now are oddly placed due to the crumbling world around them.

Quite The Entranceway

A good two feet off the ground and surrounded by loose bricks, I'd like to see anyone enter this door without tripping.

A Door Above The Rest

And I'd like to see anyone get in this one, period.  A good twenty feet off the ground and no door knob...good luck.

Spray Paint The Walls!...yellow

So I came up with a fun project idea yesterday.  I choose a color, and try (which can be difficult) to find things that have been spray painted in that color.  It can be graffiti or a means of conveying info...like an X on a tree, sealing it's fate.  I say that this can be difficult because I live in Ephrata, a place that doesn't have much graffiti.  Nor does it have much info being conveyed by spray paint.  But I succeeded nonetheless.  My color choice for today...yellow.

Messages in Yellow

 After piecing these images together, I realized that it could very easily be taken as a secret message.  Apparently someone is running around Ephrata trying to teach people how to become happy.  OK, so you start on the lower right side and go clockwise; (first frame) take the yellow brick staircase (second) up to the (third) stars and you will find (last) happiness.  Now I just need to find the yellow brick staircase.

I'll Climb a Ladder to Reach the Birds

I had some time to kill when I got home from work today.  Not much, just some.  I went outside with my camera, knowing that my neighbor had been doing some house work, thinking I might get a decent photo of something tool related.  I found a pile of ladders, a decent enough subject, and composed the shot.  I then figured I could go for a quick bike ride since my daily photo had been captured fairly quickly, but I kept my camera attached to me...just in case.  I'm glad I did.  As I was riding around, I noticed some birds.  Some pigeons to be exact.  I had noticed some before, and on each occasion was awfully surprised to see them.  See, I live in Ephrata, PA, a non-urban area, surrounded by farms.  I have spent many years of my life in New York City, knowing all too well the type of environment needed for what so many call "flying rats," and Ephrata just isn't it.  But oddly enough, they keep showing up...and more frequently too.  So I decided to follow them a little.  I realized that Ephrata doesn't just have pigeons, we have a flock of pigeons...a very specific group of about ten pigeons that have a very specific area that they like to fly around, and a very specific building that they will rest on.  The flock has a single white pigeon that seems to get a lot of attention.  I don't know if the white one is female, or if it is popular due to the color difference.  Regardless, these birds provided me with a good half hour or so of birdwatching and bird-chasing by bike.  I got the feeling that I could be the new Mark Bittner, a man who spent much of his free time taking care of a flock of wild parrots in San Francisco.  This man and his parrot friends have had a documentary made about their lives.  I'd recommend that anyone who likes a good eccentric guy and some adorably friendly parrots check it out.  It is entitled The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Ladders

Here is that pile of ladders.  Perhaps I shall snag one in order to get closer to those pigeons.

Flock Of Pigeons

These two shots of the birds are definitely not your average "wildlife" shots.  I had no idea I'd be photographing birds, especially not ones on top of buildings.  When I go out with the intention of shooting them, I shall bring a telephoto, allowing me to get some good close ups of these birds.

They Came From the City

This is an ode to my early impression of the pigeon's habitat...the dark, metallic, and rusty city.

Deconstructing A Bicycle: Rear Brakes

Reminiscent of some high school dark room project, I give you the rear braking system of a bike.  Nothing fancy, just the necessary pieces.  

 I Brake For Brakes

It's like one of those projects that you toss pencils and paper clips and whatever else you can find in your pocket on the light table in the dark room and make a negative print...just with bike brake parts.

Gone Boatin'

We took our boat out for the first time this year.  We like to go to Raystown Lake, which is in Huntingdon County, PA, but that's a bit far for days when you are only able to leave at noon.  We instead went to the Susquehanna River, only about an hour away, and rode around on the river, tubed, water skied, and rope ...swung? ...it was a quite enjoyable day.

Riding the Wake

Rather capable on the snow covered mountains, my brother attempted water skiing.  Once he got up he did quite well.  The shot isn't that great because I was frightened about the possibility of getting my wife's new camera wet...I wanted to get the picture as quickly as possible and return the camera to the waterproof bag.

Citrus Model

This is that same brother of mine.  Words are not necessary for this photo.

The Fall

This was where we were rope swinging.  Creating this image was fun, but I wish I got the whole process, not just the part where the swinger reached the end of the arc and fell.

Quite The Contrast

So there was some little fair thing going on downtown today.  My wife and I ventured over to find a bunch of people, many in uniform, with booths set up on Main Street.  Apparently it was for honoring veterans, and was called Hometown Heroes.  There was one person on the other side of the street.  He definitely didn't fit the Hometown Heroes mold...

Hometown Heroes Band

The one side of the street's music was being played by people like this.

A Guy and His Djembe

Whereas the other side was represented by this guy and his djembe.  He was quick to oblige when I asked him if I could get a photo of him and his contrasting style.

Panels of Clouds

Nothing special today.  Got home from work late.  Rediculously tired.  I've been meaning to try something like this for awhile...but was waiting for a day like today...a day that I didn't have much time to put towards a photo.  This ends up meaning I'll probably try the style again with a shot I actually like.  Here's what I got.

Clouds

Clouds are nice.  I think that the panel idea needs to be of an image that doesn't have much going on in it.  Clouds fit that description... but I still think I could do better.

I Had To Return

Afraid that it would be destroyed before I had a decent collection of photographs, I returned to the abandoned school today.  I wanted to make sure I milked the building for all it's worth, because I rarely have such easy access to an awesome dilapidated building.
I was never in this building when it was actually in use.  Sunday was the first time I ever entered it.  What I find strange is that I now feel I know what it looked like when it was being used as a school.  The broken down walls and the exposed pipes and sockets are easily pushed back into place, and the trash can be removed in my mind's eye.  This leaves a fairly clean image of the interior of the school in my mind...the question being just how accurate is my depiction.  Who knows.

 Take a Seat at Your Desk Next to the Cement Blocks

Unlike all the other pictures, this photo was shot with the outside world's natural light coming through the window behind me.  By window I mean massive hole in the wall.  It gives the image a cave-like feel.

 20

This might not look like a door that natural light should be spilling in from, but it is.  The back wall in this room is totally gone, allowing the sun to allow me some awesome lighting.  I know I referenced him recently, but I shall do it again...something about the lines, angles, and lighting in this photo remind me of an M.C. Escher drawing.

Blockade The Entrance!

Apparently the demolition team was being attacked by zombies while destroying this school.  They tried to block the entrance, and succeeded, but forgot about all the walls that they had already torn down prior to the attack.  They're all dead, Dave. 

Let the Sunlight In

 The sun was at the perfect place when I took this photo.  It cast beautiful rays right through the windows that lit up only a small portion of this massive skeleton of a room.

Deconstructing A Bicycle: Rims and Spokes

I spent a good portion of today ripping a tire off of my dying bike's wheel.  It was much more difficult than it should have been.  The exposed rim and loosely hanging spokes had a lot of character as a whole, stopping me from doing some close up/macro shots (which was my initial intention). 

Like an Eye

...staring you down from the edge of a table. 

 Relaxing In The Corner

As a child, I would have had just as much fun with this piece of a bicycle as I would have had with the full thing.

And Finally...Today's Photo

I have a broken bicycle in my shed.  It is beyond repair.  Instead of tossing it, I decided to harvest certain parts for a new photo project.  The project is called "Deconstructing a Bicycle." It is basically what it sounds like...I will be taking photos of pieces of the bicycle as I take it apart.

Bicycle Chain

The first part I removed was the chain.  I don't know if I will use the isolation style for all the photos, but it worked well for this one...so we shall see.

For The 10th of July

We got back from our vacation yesterday.  We got back with enough time for me to take my pictures of the day and to then get back to unpacking.

Even though I didn't have much time, I did have enough.  I also did not want to miss out on the opportunity to get these pictures.  See, my wife and I saw an abandoned school, and not knowing when it would be fully destroyed, had to make our way to it for some fantastic photos.  So we did.

Hallway

As soon as I entered the building I encountered this hallway.  The floor of the hallway was one giant puddle.  The puddle was reflecting the ceiling, creating an illusion of sorts as it tricked you into thinking there was more than just water on the floor.

Auditorium

The auditorium was massive.  The walls on the right had a bunch of doors, all lined up, that were letting in soft light.  The lights in the ceiling were in the process of falling off.

 

Bathroom

What appeared to be either a bathroom or locker room was tiled with vibrant colors.  You can see the exposed electric sockets and pipes climbing out of the floor.

Back From the Lakes

I am back from Michigan.  I actually got back yesterday, but what with unpacking and trying to move after a 14 hour car ride, definitely did not have time to go through 20 gigs of photos.  Since then, I have.  I am not going to write much (there are so many pictures and so many things that could be said of each image) but you will get a slight breakdown of my vacation.  Here it is.

 July 1st

After racing from work to home and speed packing, I had exactly one minute to run out back and take a photo of something.  This is a woodpile that I tried to make slightly more interesting by using glare to my benefit.  I then jumped in a van to leave.

July 2nd

Much like the 1st, the 2nd of July consisted of us getting to the cabin in Michigan at a rather late hour with very little time to do anything but eat and go to bed.  Here is a portion of my family doing just that...eating (on the cabin porch).  I liked the way they were lined up...both the upper and lower halves of them.

 July 3rd
The 3rd allowed for some actual pictures that pertained to the area.  Pictured Rocks is a National Lakeshore that we got to take a boat tour of.  I was able to get some beautiful landscape shots as well as some close ups of the colored rock faces.  The closeups have an abstract feel to them.

3rd Continued
Here is a nice landscape shot of Pictured Rocks from a lookout.  The green and blue water was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  It was so clear yet so green.  This shot was not altered in any way that would change the shade of the lake.

July 4th
We went on an incredible boat tour that had a glass bottom, allowing you to see deep into the water.  The tour was of three different shipwrecks in Lake Superior and each one was fascinating.  Regardless of the fact that none of these are from a pirate ship, I call this compilation "Reconstruction of a Pirate Ship."
 

4th Continued
We tried to see some fireworks on the 4th...they got rained out.  Luckily, we did get to see them on the 5th (a truly spectacular spectacle (especially since it was over Lake Superior)).  I didn't know we would get to see any, so once it got dark, I got my camera out and took some photos of nature's fireworks.   The Milky Way was so very visible.

July 5th
We went on another boat tour on the 5th that took us through Soo Locks, an extremely old but still in use lock situated between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.  You are taken past some old coal yards with some massive pieces of equipment.  This machine made me think of some type of iron guardian, waiting for a reason to come out of it's metallic slumber.

July 6th
We started the day off with some decent hiking around Tahquamenon Falls.  The water is filled with tannin, a polyphenolic compound that comes from oak trees and is used in making wine, and gives the water a beautiful "tan" color.  It made me awfully thirsty for iced tea.

 6th Continued
We then hiked through some beach-like dunes until we actually got to a beach.  The beach was covered in beautifully bright colored rocks that littered both the sand and the lake.  The water being crystal clear allowed for some beautiful pictures of people in the water (my brother and his girlfriend seemed to think so at least).  Also, people had used the vibrant rocks to make rock sculptures.  My brother was in the process of completing one in the middle picture.  The last photo is a compilation of his sculptures.

6th Continued
The sun was starting to set as we left the beach.  The white Aspen that can be found all over Michigan was standing tall on one of the dunes and catching the sun's final rays of the day.  As we made our way back, I took a photo of everyone else cresting a dune.

July 7th
We actually relaxed on the 7th.  Even my camera did.  Here again is the Aspen.  Also, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (where we were) is a huge fan of the Pasty.  The pasty is a pastry shell filled with beef, potatoes, turnips, and onions.  It is assumed that it is originally from Cornwall in England.  The vegetarian version was delicious.

July 8th
Another day for rest and relaxation...two things that we normally don't associate with a vacation.  Not having any plans allowed us to swim in a small lake all day, attend a fish fry for dinner, and then go back to that lake and swim in it at night...a fairly frightening but fun experience.  During the day, while swimming, we found a crippled dock and used it to dive off of as well as to hold obstacle course races on.  It is hard to run on a dock that resembles an M. C. Escher drawing.

July 9th
Here is the cabin/house thing we stayed in.  we left rather early on the 9th.  I had about two minutes to take the picture before I had to jump into the car.  We then drove many hours, met up with some friends, hung out with them for awhile, and then continued on our journey home.