Tag Archives: culver academy
Indiana Photography: St. Joseph, Michigan Sunset
While nature photographer Corey Hilz was here, we (Grant and Corey) decided to drive north to St. Joseph, Michigan. We weren’t sure what we are going to see, but we thought it would be nice if we could catch a sunset. We did get some sunsets and other scenes, such as guys fishing, a beautiful light house, and some boats that seemed to play on the water the entire time we were there. In addition to what is included here, there are more of these photos posted at www.culverphotos.com. Ginny’s favorite are the ones with a pink sky. I like the lonely fishing pole. There didn’t appear to be a lot of fish coming in on those poles, but I thought they made for a good shot. I didn’t shoot them, but we also saw a lot of couples who came out to the pier just to see the sunset. I can honestly say that I know now why they do and I hope to take Ginny the next time I make that trip with a camera.
Indiana Photography: Indiana Dunes
Today, we (Grant and Corey Hilz) explored some of the many state parks located at the Indiana Dune’s waterfront. It was hot with a lot of hiking involved, but once the sun started to set, the shots were worth the sore feet I had when I got home. In several of the sunset shots, the skyline of Chicago can be seen on the right side of the photo. I couldn’t believe you could see that skyline from where we were. I was grateful to capture some of it.
I had to play around with a lot of settings, as it’s easier to blow out the sky on sunsets than it is to capture some color. I also find it more difficult than it would seem to capture foregrounds, such as the shoreline, while trying not to completely blow out a shot. You have to work rather quickly once the sun gets low in the horizon, as you lose the light quickly, but I enjoyed trying to get a few shots while there was enough light to adjust the settings until I found a shot I liked. Though we got home really late (after midnight), I enjoyed making that trip and hope to make it again next summer.
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: Practice, Practice, Practice
This week, we had a well-known nature photographer (Corey Hilz) in town who spent some time shooting areas in and around Culver with us. While we had him here, we decided to take some pictures at Culver Academy’s Memorial Chapel. We thought it would be great to shoot with Corey because it became obvious to us after a few days that Corey was an expert scene photographer. We thought it would be fun to look at the ”potential scene shots” we could take at the Chapel.
We were fortunate that Minister Joanna Wagner gave us permission to go to the chapel and take some pictures. We also decided to hire a model for the shoot. With the help of Ashley Ellinger, a bride whose wedding we shot earlier this summer, we set out to see what scenes we could get at the chapel. We also decided to take our off-camera lighting equipment to set up some portrait shots that would show off Ashley’s beauty and enhace the lighting in the chapel, which isn’t ideal for shooting portraits or scenes.
We struggled with scenes inside the chapel and outside, as we had to shoot around long shadows and fading sunlight. We managed to get some great shots that we’ve posted here. Ginny kept saying, “I think the model bride is so beautiful that it will be hard to take a bad shot of her.” We tried to use lighting to highlight our model in the scene shots, to give her warm lighting when the lighting seemed to demand it in portraits, and to capture the sky that finally decided to warm to us as the day came to a close.
We thank Corey and Ashley for providing us a great learning experience. And thanks to Joanna Wagner for allowing us some time at the chapel.
Indiana Photography: Bridges and Barns
While nature photographer Corey Hilz was here, he wanted to shoot some country scenes, so I took him out to do what Ginny and I like to do–roam around the country roads until we see something interesting. On this trip, we found some bridges and barns. Corey spends several minutes (up to an hour) setting up a scene shot. He uses his tripod and waits for all the right elements to fall into place. He’ll wait half an hour for the clouds to line up as he wants them. Those who know me know I tend to show signs of ADHD, so I’m not as patient as Corey; however, I did try to pay more attention to my lines, the sky, and composition. Here are a few shots of our day of shooting bridges and barns.
Culver Academy Football Photos: CMA Varsity Football Game
It’s a great day to be an Eagle! Culver Military Academy’s Eagles had its first 2009 football game today. Unfortunately, it was raining and I didn’t want to damage my camera, so I got off only a handful of shots. One of my favorite things to do as a photographer is shoot sporting events at both Culver Academies and Culver Community schools. Parents are rightfully wrapped up in watching the game and seeing their child play that they are often without a camera or the patience to shoot the game. I love shooting just about any sporting event and have met some great coaches and parents in the process.
Recently, I started shooting the sporting events with Nikon’s 70-200 mm F2.8 lens. It’s built for action, and I’m absolutely addicted to using it. Ginny and I will be shooting a lot of sporting events this school year. Catch up on any games you miss at www.culverphotos.com. In this set, I did catch Zach Deery as he scored a touchdown after an amazing return kick. He went the full length of the field and had some great blocks from teammates to make the score. It was impressive, even in the rain.
Culver Academy Soccer Photos: CGA Soccer vs. Warsaw
I really was looking forward to this game as it was the first game that I covered for the 2009-2010 school year. It may have only beeen a scrimage, but the girls played as though it were a championship game. The game didn’t start until 7:00 p.m., so I was faced with a setting sun that made more warm photos. In the beginning, I was able to get fast shutter speeds with my 70-200 mm f2.8 with a 2x duplexer, but as the game progressed, I was fighting the lack of light. For this game, I had a difficult time choosing my favorites. I ended up with a lot of photos that showed great action. If you’d like to see more after viewing what I have posted here, please visit www.culverphotos.com. There, I’ve posted 187 photos from the game under the Culver Academy, Sports section.
Indiana Photography: Corn and Country Roads
As noted in other entries, Ginny and I like to hit the country roads and take pictures. For some reason, on this day, we tended to take photos of roads and corn. Maybe it’s because the lines popped out at us, or maybe we were just craving corn on the cob. We ended our day taking shots of some wild flowers along the side of the road. Ginny took several pictures of bees pollinating the flowers. Their wings move so quickly that it was difficult to get a focused shot. Ginny claims she needs to purchase a certain lens from her dream list, so she can take more close-ups of bugs. She did seem to like those bees. She also likes to take wooden posts and signs along the road. We might need to avoid the pictures of signs that say “Private Property.” We tend to not pay attention to details that could get us in trouble. We promise that we don’t cross that particular line and we do stay off private property, however. Hope you enjoy some of lines we discovered among the roads and the rows of corn.
Culver Indiana Photography: Country Shots
We like to get in the car and roam around the country roads around Culver and take pictures of whatever we see. Ginny was reading a photoblog of a photographer in Pennsylvania who shoots only within a 15-mile radius of her home. So, we thought we’d try to do the same thing to see what surrounds Culver. What we discovered is that there is beauty all around us. Our first trip out found us wandering the cornfield-lined roads for hours. Included here are a few shots of what we found. We hope it’ll inspire you to take a few minutes to “wander Indiana.” On our route, we saw a woman collecting wild flowers. We found this simple task to have its own inherent beauty. Ginny decided to ask her permission to photograph her as she rode her bike away from us. She smiled and said, “I guess that would be okay.” If for some reason she finds her way to this blog, we hope she will see the beauty we saw in her as she traveled down the road on this day.
Culver Indiana Wedding Photographer: A Sunset Ceremony
Ginny and I were honored to shoot the wedding of Ty and Diana Fujimura. Ty is the son of Cheryl and Tom Fujimura. For those who went to Culver Academies in the 80s, you might know Mr. Fujimura as “Dean Fujimura.” For this wedding, we fought the rapidly descending sun, as the ceremony started around 7:30 p.m. We struggled with lighting issues all night, but we learned that you must work with what you get in this scenario, and sometimes, you get more than you hoped for. In some cases, the sun gives you warm, golden pictures that you couldn’t create superficially if you wanted to; in other cases, it created a romantic setting. In still other cases, it blew out shots and meant we had to adjust settings throughout the evening.
The bride and groom are fun people, beautiful to photograph, and showed great love and respect for their friends and family. We enjoyed catching some of the moments they shared on their special day.
Plymouth Indiana Wedding Photographer: Wedding in a Park
Ginny and I shot the wedding of Ashley and Seth Ellinger. The ceremony was held at a park in Plymouth, IN. They used a gazeebo for a more intimate ceremony, and then had the reception in the park with a larger crowd. Ginny shot from the back of the gazeebo, while I moved around it. My favorite shot is one Ginny got of the flower girls. She noticed they were getting tired of being on their feet and had begun to move toward each other. Ginny waited patiently for the right moment, and I think she captured it here. Though it was a short evening, we had a great time shooting this beautiful groom and bride. Here are a handful of shots from the evening.
