St Georges Bridge

I took this photo of St Georges Bridge crossing the C&D Canal in Delaware years ago with my 35mm Minolta.  Now there's the big Route 1 bridge behind it and St Georges bridge is rarely used.

Rhino Beetle

I love beetles.  They're like little living armored tanks.  The reflective surfaces of this rhino beetle would make an interesting vector art project.  I'll add that to my list of thousands of things I want to do "one of these days."

The End of the World

Well.  Here we are.  December 21, 2012.  The end of the world.  Nostradamus, the Mayans and others eluded to this date as being the end of the world.  To be fair, this day is not over yet.  I did experience an end of the world feeling when I went to the mall to finish my Christmas shopping.  You really cannot tell by this shot, but it was a very busy place.

Instagram

I have succumbed to yet another social media outlet.  Instagram is one of the newer kids on the block and I am addicted.  It's easy to use and so much fun.  It helps to have a great phone and a great camera on that phone.  If you want to see what I am doing, here is a link to cut and paste.  http://instagram.com/fauxhead  You might want to join and have some fun too.  And if you are already on Instagram, become a follower.

Autumn Oaks

I still have lots of photos taken as the leaves were changing just wasting away on my hard drive.  Here are a couple interesting shots with blazing red leaves on oak trees.

Goldfish Closer

Here is another view of my Steampunk Goldfish.  It shows the details better than the last one with the big gears.

Steampunk Goldfish

This steampunk goldfish is only part of a larger project I'm working on.  But it also works as a stand alone piece.  I'm happy with it and I hope you like it too.

BugZoo samples

Here are a few recent submissions to my new group, BugZoo.  The group has been up and running for a little over a week on deviantART and it's off to a great start!

"Papilio machaon IV" by Philip Klinger

"Father and Son" by Michal Hoskovec

 "Here nobody can't see me" by Stefano Coltelli

Rufescent Tiger Heron

I found this amazing bird at the airport.  Yes, the airport!  The Philadelphia International Airport has dozens of showcases throughout the terminals and concourses used to display art and collections.  At the present, a group of showcases are displaying taxidermic birds.  I took lots of photos through the glass of some rare and beautiful birds.  I'm thinking that they would make good references for future art projects.

Here are some hints for taking photos through glass.  So many people stand in front of the glass firing away, taking awful pictures.

• Do not use flash.  It just reflects off the glass.
• Press your camera against the glass.  This acts as a tripod for perfect sharpness.  Look at those feathers!
• Your photo colors will probably be too warm because the light source will be incandescent lighting.  Use a photo editing program and use a cool or blue filter to adjust the colors. 

Blackbird Brackets

Along with the mushrooms at Blackbird Forest, there were also a few trees with bracket fungi growing out of their trunks.  These things look pretty sturdy, but in reality are very fragile.  Even something as light as a leaf will scar the brackets as they grow around the leaf.

Blackbird Mushrooms

I stated a couple days ago that I was traipsing around Blackbird Forest looking for mushrooms.  Well, I actually found some.  As you can see, it was a pretty good trip.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

Don't let all these posts about bugs scare you away.  It's just my feeble attempt to drum up some interest for my BugZoo group on deviantART.  I spent several mornings in October looking on the trunks of trees for insects.  Here are some of the ones I found just chillin' on those cool October mornings.

Weevil Puzzle

Not much to blog today, I'm afraid.  We had a lot of shopping to do today to prepare for Christmas and holiday-related projects at my son's school.  Along the way, I picked up this puzzle at the dollar store.  I thought it might be a fun addition to my BugZoo at deviantART.  On the puzzle box, it read "Ugly Bug".  I thought it was kinda cool.

Blackbird Forest

I spent most of the day traipsing around Blackbird Forest looking for mushrooms or anything else that might make a good photo.  Blackbird Forest is located a few miles north of Smyrna, Delaware.  Most of the photos I took were macros or close-up shots, but here is one that looks more like a forest.

BugZoo

I just started my own group on deviantART, a place where amazing and beautiful insects are on display.  The group has only been up for a couple days and it's off to a great start.  I wanted to call the group BugJar, but that was already taken.  Actually, I thought BugZoo would be taken as well.  But it wasn't and here I am!

Here is the link: http://bugzoo.deviantart.com

Mantis

My son found this preying mantis on the screen outside our sliding glass doors.  He called me at work to tell me about it and I asked him if he could catch it for me so I could get a picture of it.  He said he was too afraid to get close to it.  Amazingly, my wife, who is petrified of bugs, caught it in a huge Lincoln Logs container.
See the little black spots in the eyes?  Those spots followed me all over the room as I was getting my equipment together to take the pictures.

Penguins

These penguins were originally inked on illustration board in August of 1992.  Then I did a paper sculpture version in January 2002.  These vector penguins are essentially the same penguins with slightly cleaner lines.

Lost Boy

I took several photos of this overpass while Tater walked back and forth.  Then, after a little tweaking in Photoshop, I came up with this ghostly image.  I don't know why I do these things.  It doesn't really further my art potential, but I get an idea and I just hafta run with it.