I've been wanting to take this photo ever since the village maintenance crew put up the Christmas decorations downtown. I'll take another one in a couple of days when the heavy snow has fallen.

I can't say that I have specialized in any one genre of photography, at least not yet. I'm still exploring the creative opporunities. This is just one of the scenes that I've taken in Grass Lake, Michigan at the Fa-Ho-Lo Camp and Conference Center. It's a relatively small place, only about 130 acres, so it's challenged me to look at common sights from different perspectives.

This photo was taken of my sister and her husband and new baby, Emily. They sat for the picture at the end of the day on Thanksgiving as we were all getting ready to return home. All things being considered, the result was pretty good.

Every year, we take our "Lesters in the Leaves" portrait. Obviously, the photo is taken in the fall and involves my family being in a pile of leaves. The cool thing is that the village landscape dump is across the street from the house, thus giving us a large pile of leaves in which to jump. I'm going to try and convince my wife to pose for the "Lesters in the Snow Pile" photo.

Tabitha had asked if I could drop by and take some photos of her family who had gathered for her birthday. I saw it as an opportunity to not only help make a memory for her, but to practice taking family portraits. I used one umbrella with flash, an attached flash, and my Canon. It was a beautiful day. There wasn't much time, so I took the pictures as efficiently as I could. When I got back to my office, I realized that I had taken the entire shoot with an ISO speed of 1600. It was still on the setting I had used while shooting a volleyball match the night before. With a little photoshop work, I think I have managed to make something reasonably good.

I appreciate people and things that stick out from the crowd. In a world were people try to blend in, it is refreshing to meet someone or something that whose character grabs my attention. This cardinal takes up very little space in this photograph, yet it grabs the attention of the viewer. It reminds me that one doesn't have to be loud or large to stand out, only different.

Fa-Ho-Lo

It's amazing how many times I can see something without really seeing it. Then, about the thousandth time I go by, something gets my attention. This carving doesn't look very impressive, usually. But what if I get down low and and face it so that the Fa-Ho-Lo sign is showing in the background. It goes to show me how many interesting perspectives can be given to an otherwise mundane subject.