Birds Eye View

I was going to list the exposure settings for this one but I figured it'd almost be too confusing. You're actually looking at two photographs. The first is a cropped and enlarged version of one photograph and the pigeons sitting on the ledge is from another.

The cityscape was photographed at the top of the Teweles Seed Tower in the 5th Ward of Milwaukee while the pigeons were photographed along the rooftop deck of Hotel Astor between downtown and the East Side. I combined the photos with a bit of work in PhotoStudio.

This is my first "combined" photograph in the sense that it's two separate compositions. I've heard people tell me I'm "cheating" but I don't really see it that way... it's more along the lines of broadening the scope of my art - photography. Any thoughts?

Still Morning

HDR - ISO 200, f/22, 1/6"-3/5"

I took this photograph in early September while walking along the shore of Lake Michigan during sunrise. What grabbed me about the scene was that while I could remember seeing countless pieces of driftwood, I had never seen an entire stump. The lighting helped too... the way the sun was glinting at the edge of the shoreline made for a near ideal photographic setting.

Abandoned
HDR - ISO 200 - f/11, 2"-8"

When I was a child, I knew this site as the "old houses". This is one of four extremely old, abandoned wooden shacks that - from what I can tell - used to be home to several families. I hadn't seen them in years so I decided to venture back and see what, if anything, was still there.

Only the one in this photograph is still standing. The other three have fallen victim to the elements. I'd imagine this particular house will follow suit shortly so I'm happy to have gotten one final glimpse into this world that once was.