I would like to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season.
Enjoy this time of year with your friends and families. Stay safe in your travels and be responsible on New Year’s eve and don’t drink and drive.
I wish you all the best for the upcoming year.
Let’s hope 2015 is a great year for all of us.
Just in time for Christmas I’m offering a 35% discount off my part of the cost of any of my photos in my store at American Kiwi Photo (www.americankiwiphoto.com).
At checkout page enter the code BCTBXB to receive your 35% of my part of the cost.
Any framed or canvas print would make a great present for anyone
Shipping Deadlines
December 19th – Last Day for Overnight Shipments
The Code Expires 12/19/14, so order soon.
All orders for Ameicankiwiphoto.com are processed by Fineartamerica.com
One of my favorite photographers is starting up a new video show next week where masters of The Arcanum critique photos of their apprentices and others and was drumming up support for the show but asking his viewers/followers to post a photo of theirs to be critiqued.
So I submitted one of mine and they decided to do the critique of it in their “Live Critiques for the New Show Launch Day!” video
I’m the second photo in the video around the 3:27 min mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgeR2qhK8c8&feature=youtu.be
I’d be interested in your thoughts. Do you agree with Mason?
Here is the photo that I submitted and below that is the original un edited version
Came home early tonight to see the rocket launch from Wallops Island and to see if I could get a good photo of the arch in the sky as I was within viewing range this time.
Well that was a bust due to the launch being scrubbed thanks to a sailboat being in a restricted area.
But I got a bonus as the ISS (International Space Station) was also flying overhead at around the same time. And was able to capture part of its path across the sky.
Just in case you are wondering, the orange glow in the bottom left was a neighbors outdoor fire, the orange glow on the horizon is Baltimore City lights and the thin white line in the middle is the ISS streaking across the sky.
While I was waiting for the rocket launch was able to capture a nice sunset with the moon in 1st quarter.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the 2015 Johns Hopkins Credit Union Calendar in my mailbox today and I’ve finally found out which of my images they selected.
And the winner is.
You find it on the month of September.
Again, I am humbled that they selected one of my photos for the calendar and hope folks enjoy it and the many other excellent photos in the calendar this year.
This week has been busy here in Baltimore. From September 10-16, Baltimore has hosted the Star Spangled Spectacular Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of our National Anthem.
Part of the event included visiting Naval ships along with various Tall ships from around the work. Along with the Navy’s Blue Angels.
I’d say my highlight of the weekend was the Blue Angels show, it was awesome seeing them fly over Baltimore, the inner harbor area, and over Fort McHenry.
Below is a small sampling of some of the pictures I got over the weekend. Check out Americankiwiphoto.com for my favorites when I’m done processing them.
For 6 years now the Johns Hopkins Medicine community (University and Hospital) have been participating in The National Arts Program and I missed getting any of my work into those shows. I didn’t even find out the program existed until last year when I happened to walk through the Turner Auditorium’s lower level and see everyone’s work on display.
This year I made sure that I would have a photo that is part of the program.
So come on by the Turner Auditorium lower level anytime between Sept 9 and Nov 16, 2014 to view my work along with many other talented artists from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Community.
This is a judged show for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Best of Show prizes, but it also has a People’s Choice Award that you get to vote on. So come on down and vote for my photo.
I’ve entered my Tall Ships at Night Panorama.
You have until October 1st, 2014 to vote for the People’s Choice Award.
If you want to find out more about The National Arts Program, please visit their website at https://www.nationalartsprogram.org/
I got some good news this morning that one or more of my photos are going to be included in the JHFCU’s (Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union) 2015 Calendar.
Part of the Congratulations message I got this morning.
Congratulations! Your photo(s) has been selected for JHFCU’s 2015 calendar. We received many entries and had only a limited number of slots, so picked the photos that we felt best represented the Hopkins community and Baltimore area.
The calendars are being printed now and will be distributed to members at upcoming benefits fairs, then in branches on November 1st.
I’m not sure which photo(s) they ended up selecting yet as I submitted 3, so I’ll have to wait until the calendar becomes available to find out.
I feel honored to have had them select any of my photos for the calendar and when I find out which photo or photos I’ll add the photo(s) to this post.
Yay Me!. As they said, there were a limited number of slots and the fact that any one of the over 38,000 members could have submitted a photo, I can’t help but be excited one of mine got accepted.
Update: Still don’t know which one they selected, but I did figure out which photos I submitted and here they are.
Which do you thing it was.
As I’ve posted before, I recently took a trip to New Zealand. Although this is where I’m from originally and still have several relatives that are living there, on this trip, I had to find lodgings in places where I no longer have relatives that I could stay with.
I wanted other options to standard Hotel/Motel, so I started my internet search. I ended up using a site called Holiday Houses New Zealand (https://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/). Through this site I was able to find either an entire home or a home with a guest apartment. Staying in these lodgings gave you the feeling that you were living in a house instead of just a room somewhere. It even ended up being less expensive than staying at a local Hotel/Motel.
There seems someone is renting out their house or apartment for almost any place you want to go to in New Zealand. Some areas have more offerings that others, so check the area you are looking to visit and book early.
On this trip, I ended up in 3 such homes.
In Rotorua we stayed at a home with a separate apartment on the first floor for the guests called Matipo Haven. This house was relatively new and had all the amenities you could ask for in your stay. The home is owned by a retired couple who were very inviting and helpful to us while we were staying with them. It is just outside Rotorua on the south side, but is convent to all the local tourist attractions.
In Te Aroha we stayed at an old farm-house that had been renovated called Aroha View. They even had a hot tub, which we were not able to take advantage of due to our late arrival. This place is in the Central Waikato region halfway between Hamilton and the Coromandel Peninsula. It is not to far from Hobbiton (about 45mins) if that is one of your places on your list to visit.
We arrived pretty late the night we stayed, so we did not have a chance to meet the owners of this house. Despite that, they made sure we were able to get in and were very helpful over the phone even with our spotty cell coverage at the time.
In Dargaville we stayed at a home with a guest apartment attached called Leslie Lodge. The house is located just out-of-town on the north side of town on Rt 12. It is just 5 min to the center of Dargaville and is convent to many of the areas attractions and beaches. The owners are a wonderful retired couple who know the area well.
All the places I stayed at on this trip offered everything we needed from tea/coffee, towels, and sheets, blankets, clothes washer, and more. Not all places do, so make sure to read the description before you book. Not only did we get a “home” environment to stay in, the owners who lived on premises were able to give us many “local” insights and tips for the areas we visited. In our case, we got some great recommendations on where to eat and some free locations to visit that were just as good as the paid tourist sites. One of the other advantages of this type of lodging is that you can cook your own food if you wish as they do offer kitchen ware for cooking and eating. On this trip we just ate breakfast there and decided to take in the local food for lunch and dinner.
If you are looking for a different experience on your travels in New Zealand I would check out the Holiday Homes website (https://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/) to find your home while away from home. If not traveling to New Zealand, I would see if there is a similar service offered for the area you are traveling to as I think it is well worth it.
Have been blessed with another sale today. This buyer selected the greeting card format of my Farming the Field print, which is one of the many formats you can purchase any of my photography prints in.
I’m assuming the person they are sending it to is a John Deer fan 🙂
Thanks to the buyer from Westerville, OH
