Black & White World

So far this winter I have taken very few photos. Part of the reason is the dull dark and short days we have had. Yesterday I managed to go for a walk in the Trego woods and take a few photos. They are nothing to really brag about, so I decided to spice them up by turning them into Black and White re-creations. Black and White can actually add another dimension to what would be pretty plain and bland. How glad I am though that we don't see things just in Black and White like some animals do. God gave us great and beautiful colors to help us enjoy creation around us and bring us to glorify Him. Here are a few of those Black and White photos from yesterday. The 4th one, of the top of the trees, amazingly enough was totally washed out, until I turned it into Black and White and enhanced it. 

Foggy November Night

When it comes to fog in mid November I have a love/hate relationship with it. I hate to drive in the thick darkness of fog, but I love the photo creativity it brings. This morning the fog was super thick in Barron, but it gave me an opportunity to take some photos of a couple of trees and a barn. If I had time I would have taken many more. Then tonight the fog had a grandeur glow in the lights. A few lights near the Mobile Station here in Trego were perfect.  I experimented with taking shots at headlights on the highway with long exposures. It is beginning to look a lot like Ole London Towne. The last photo kind of reminds me of the Sci Fi game "Splinter Cell", which I never played but I have the t-shirt.

Man Hunt 2014

   I am not sure if I should be in tears or laughing about today. After a long ordeal, I learned that I was the subject of the Washburn County sheriff's' man hunt. Here is what happened today:
  This morning I had a Bible Study here at the house with a couple of men. After the Bible Study I decided to take a trip to Minong with the goal of taking a few winter pictures. Needless to say, my camera never saw any action today. There was a long road running from Minong down to County Road F that appealed to me as a place for some fantastic scenic shots. What I didn't realize was that the road soon turned from a 2 lane road to a one lane snow covered road and there was no way to go except straight ahead. After about 3 or 4 miles of nerve racking trying to stay in the snow ruts, my car ended up totally stuck in the snow. For the next 45 minutes I tried and tried to get the car unstuck and moving. Of course, I did not come prepared with a shovel to dig with. I ended up using my hands and a snow scraper. Fortunately the snow was soft and the ground was sand. Still no luck getting out, so I started to walk to see if I could find a house or someone with a shovel that I could borrow. About a mile down the road I finally came to a stop sign and a road that ran north and south. This too was snow covered with only a trail to follow, but above all NO HOMES and NO SHOVEL! Sooooooo I walked back to the car and prayed all the way. Again I shovelled and tried to get out for at least another hour. FINALLY the car broke loose and I got it moving back to where I had started, following the tracks in the snow and heavily praying that I would not get stuck again.
   About a half mile from County Road 77, four Sheriff cars passed me. The last one slowed down as it passed me and then turned on his lights, so I pulled over, still shaking from my ordeal. As I got out of my car, he asked me if I had a hand gun with me. Puzzled, I sort of laughed and told him to "No". He asked me twice again just to make sure. Then he asked if I minded if he patted me down. With nothing to hide I told him "no problem". He told me that someone had called in saying there was a man walking down the road with a hand gun in his hand. The only thing I could figure was that my dark gloves looked like I was holding a gun. Just as he asked for my driver's license, the other 3 sheriff cars came back to where we were. One of them called me by name. I was never so glad to see Sheriff Terry Dryden in all my life. We have known him and his wife for several years and he was able to vouch for my character. They still had to run my driver's license, but then let me go home. Actually with "apprehending" me it saved them several hours of searching for this deadly villain with a handgun walking down the road.
    By the way, for the morning Bible Study we talked about Psalms 145, where David says that the Lord hears the cry of those who call upon Him and will save or rescue them. Coincident - I think not! He certainly heard my cries for help today!
 

Sunset Shadows

If anyone has been looking at these posts, they will notice a lot of them are sunset photos. There is just something majestic about the sunset colors and the contrasting foreground that makes these photos pop. My favorite spot to shoot is on Cnty Hwy. K just north of County Road E. There is an open field that is perfect for capturing the setting sun just before it says "goodnight". Tonight I found an old headlight cover that I set on a post and shot it from a distance with the sun shining through the open hole. It made a great silhouette. A couple of the shots I turned into Black and white just to see how they would turn out.

Fall Video Test

Tonight I took a few photos of the sunset and the Fall colors. After loading them into Picasso I noticed that I could make a video of them. Hopefully this will turn out and be watchable. Please let me know if this works on your computer. Thanks... 

Fall Colors 2014

Who doesn't love the colors of Fall?! Here in N.W. Wisconsin, we don't have the brilliant red colors of Maine or other states that have the rich colors of maple trees. What we do have is plenty of yellow, orange and green. This year the colors turned quickly and now most of that color is almost gone. Even so, I still managed to find some rich yellows and with the blue of the sky and lake they really stand out. Praise God He is not color blind and created some majestic colors in nature around us. Can you even imagine living in a black and white world? (By the way, the first photo is taken through a bullet hole in a sign and the last 3 photos are some old cars I found in the woods near Stanberry.) Enjoy and God Bless!

2015 Calendars

This year I have put together 3 different calendars which are for sale. All of them are pictures I have taken this year, mostly here in N.W. Wisconsin. The lighthouses are from Wisconsin and Michigan. Calendars are on 8.5" X 11" matte photo paper and are spiral bound. Our webpage has a sample calendar that you can download. http://www.fldistad.org/franks-photo-page.html They are at the bottom of the page in pdf format.   MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 
Call: 715-635-9426
Email: Fdistad@Gmail.com
Message me on facebook. 

Calendar #1: Flowers from N.W. Wisconsin, with scripture verses under each photo.
Calendar #3: Lighthouses from Wisconsin and Michigan. (No scripture verses).
Calendar #2: Seasonal photos with scripture verses under each photo.

Calendars are $6.00 each, plus $2.00 shipping per order. 

Also for sale are Photo Notecards on photo paper. They are $3.00 for 4 cards and envelopes, plus $1.00 per order for shipping. I can print cards from any photos on this blog site or even from any of the photos on the calendars.