BRINGING BACK MEMORIES

     For my Photo of the Day photo today I knew I wanted to take a drive out to Pine Lake to find something and it didn't take long for me to find that something.
     While driving down River Road near Clover Drive (where I grew up as a kid by the way), I remembered the old gate that blocked the road to the old Pine Lake dump. Sure enough, that old gate was still there. When my brothers and I were kids we used to slide our bikes under that gate and ride along that road leading to the dump. It was one of many bike adventures we had when we were kids -- that and watching my youngest brother ALWAYS drop his sodas when he had them while riding his bike.
      If there is one thing this project has done for me, it's bringing back some memories of my childhood growing up in the Rhinelander area. It's been fun seeing some of the things I remember -- the old school house in Pine Lake, the State theater on Brown Street, Jets Dairy, the Fun Factory candy shop. All will surely be subjects of my Photo a Day project before the year is up.
     This photo was taken using the macro function on my phone, which I'm really beginning to like. It's one of the many free apps available on my Windows phone that I'm still discovering.
     Here is Day 9 of my photo project.
     Enjoy!

SEARCHING FOR PHOTOS

     Sometimes finding the photo of the day comes easy, it's just right in front of you. Other days, you really have to do some searching and thinking about what you want to capture with the camera.
     Today it was a mixture of both from me. I shot a number of photos and it came down to three I really liked. The one I chose is actually the one I had to work the least to find.
     "Through the Glasses" was taken shortly after I woke up at 6 a.m. today. Sitting on the couch and watching CNN -- as I do every morning -- I looked at the coffee table in the living room and my wife's glasses were sitting there. The sun was peaking through the blinds just perfect, creating a very cool design on the table as it hit the glasses.
     I angled the camera to and close to the glasses and I really liked the image I captured.
     So, here is Day 7 of Photo a Day.
     Enjoy!

STARTING A PROJECT

     Since starting this new job about two months ago now, I find myself having more time to work on my creative/artistic photography.
     For a long time now I've wanted to do a Photo a Day project, but I could decide what to focus on -- the city I was living in, a landmark, a person. Finally, I looked at my summer schedule and a vacation we have planned would take me away from Rhinelander for a week in July -- so that photo a day idea was out the door already.
     After some more thinking, I decided that I would just to a Photo a Day of whatever things/activities I was doing in a day -- whether it be walking, driving to work, at work, at home. All of my photos will be taken with my new Nokia phone and taken in black and white.
     So far I'm having a blast with this project just five days in. I'm trying to capture images of everyday items, but from different viewpoints and even close-up.
     I know it'll be a challenge to do this everyday for the next year, but it's something that'll keep me busy and hopefully I'll learn from it as well.
    Here are the first five days. Soon they'll be updated on my website at corydellenbach.wix.com/photo every day.

Day 1 (4/14) = Icy windows on a house
Day 2 (4/15) = Icicles hang from a door overhang
Day 3 (4/16) = A tree casts a long shadow in the afternoon sun
Day 4 (4/17) = A leaf makes an imprint in the melting snow
Day 5 (4/18) = Rain drops gather on a car
Day 6 (4/19) = Bowl of fruit

    Enjoy!

CAPTURING SPOT NEWS

     It's been a while since I last wrote on my blog, but as many of your know, I've been the last month or so moving to Northern Wisconsin to take on a new career in the magazine publishing world. It's been a whirl-wind, but something that I am truly enjoying.
     While I may not be able to get out every day and chase after the spot news or cover sporting events like I did when I was at the newspaper, having a more set schedule with the magazine company allows me to still get out in the evening and try to do creative things with the images and make more art than news.
     I am freelancing for a few newspapers up here, so I still get my fill of news events to cover. One of those just happened the other night in Rhinelander. Sitting at home, relaxing after putting my daughters to bed and a whole flood of sirens could be heard in town.
     I looked out my window -- yes I still have that reporter's instinct to look -- and I see pretty much all of Rhinelander's fire trucks blasting by. I found out where the fire was and decided to take a drive out there to get some photos for the local paper.
     The house was only about 4 blocks away from where I live now and flames were shooting out from the upper window and lower windows. Power lines were down across the yard and in the road. It was a mess.
     Thankfully everyone was able to get out of the house ok.
     It was an adrenaline rushing getting the photos for the paper and doing what I used to do everyday, but once I got home, I was glad I didn't have a deadline to worry about and could relax.
    I'm still getting use to all the changes, but I'm enjoying life right now.
    Enjoy.