Barns in Winter

Recently I have really been fascinated with barns - especially in winter. The contrast of the white snow on the ground and on the roofs with the red or white barns simply makes for a great photo. One of the areas where there are several barns is west of Shell Lake and north of Cumberland. I love taking photos of these old relics, but what I would really like to do is get permission to get inside the barns or even behind them to see what treasures are hidden from view. I am sure there are many stories to be told from the inside out. If you happen to know someone that would give me permission to do this, pleas let me know. I have already made calendars and a table top flip book of barns here in Wisconsin. If you would like one, simply ask! Thanks... Here are some barns and animals from today.

Lake Fog

This afternoon I had an appointment to meet another pastor in Superior. To kill time I decided to head to Leif Ericson Park and try to take a few photos. I could see that the lake was covered with mist from the cold air. This time I really watched my step and took my time getting down near the lake. Not only was it slippery in spots it was just plain COLD!!!! It was an amazing sight with the mist and the Lift Bridge in the distance and the sun shining brightly. Talk about getting excited about taking a few photos. This was just about perfect! I was glad to get back to the warm car and start the engine. Here are a few of the photos from today. Enjoy them and give God the glory for His amazing scenery.

New Film Cameras

A couple of years ago a man gave me 2 Nikon cameras and a few lens that go with them. Both cameras use film and not an SD card and were made in the 1970's. At the time they were top of the line cameras and one even has interchangeable parts, which is a great idea. For the most part they have remained on the shelf during these last 2 years. Yesterday I decided it was time to learn how to shoot with them. Thanks to YouTube, I learned how to adjust them and actually take photos with them. It is like learning how to drive a stick shift all over again. Today I took one of them out for a test drive and shot some scenery. Everything about these cameras is manual, so you have to adjust the lens, F stop and shutter speed all manually. It forces you to slow down and really consider what you are doing. That is not all bad, but makes you more careful and conscience of what you are doing. Sometimes it pays to slow down and do things the right way. Sorry no pictures from today. That will come after I finish shooting a couple rolls of film, send them into a photo development place and get them back. One reason you have to be more careful, is that it is more costly, considering the cost of film, postage and development, which is about $10 - $15 per roll. Not only that you only get 24 shots per roll, not 2000 per SD card. As a dear lady told me years ago, "You need to take time to smell the roses."

Sun Star Bursts

About a year and a half ago, one of the ladies at Camera Club (Kathy Deforge) showed us how to create star bursts with our cameras. The procedure is really rather easy. All it takes is to line up the sun with a distant object, set your aperture to F/22, use the lowest ISO as possible and take the photo. Seeing I almost always shoot in Aperture Priority, this is not a hard task and the results can be quite breath taking. I always thought you had to have a special lens filter to do this (which I have used in the past). Below are several photos I took recently, which show the results. What do you think? One other thing - You need a sunny day. Good luck with that here in cloudy, gloomy NW Wisconsin.

Specialty Calendars

   Many people have asked me where I have my calendars printed and bound. The answer to that is at "Distad's Print Shop" namely my home office. With my own color laser printer, specialty paper and binding system I can print them fairly reasonably and quickly. This also enables me to do "Specialty Calendars" for people who want photos taken of their house, property, family, pets, or even have a photo album of old photos that they want put into a calendar. Recently someone wanted me to take photos of a couple of farms, especially the barns, and make a calendar for them. That was simply a lot of fun to do!
   If you are interested in having your own specialty calendar done, please let me know soon. The cost would be $8.00 per calendar with a minimum of 10 calendars.
Contact Information:
Frank Distad  P.O. Box 98 Trego, Wi.
Cell Phone: 715-939-0601
Email: Fdistad@Gmail.com
Or simply message me on Facebook. 
Thanks and May God richly bless you and Have a great and Merry Christmas.

Soar Like an Eagle

Over the years the Lord has provided many opportunities to take photos of eagles. Every time I see one of these majestic birds, I am amazed at their beauty and gracefulness. Yesterday on County Road K, up in a tree, was this glorious eagle, just sitting there waiting for me to snap a few photos. I took a few from inside the car and then dared to get out and a little closer. Then it happened, he started to take flight. All I can say is WOW! Below you can see a few of the photos I was able to take. Enjoy and let me know which one you like the best. Thanks. Then go read Isaiah 40:31. It is worth the read.

One Day Photo

This morning I had an appointment in Barron and afterwords I decided to take a day trip to the Ladysmith area and take a "few" photos. What a Day! In a short amount of time the Lord allowed me to take several photos of barns, lakes and wildlife, even a one seat outhouse!. I was amazed at some of the old colorful barns and especially the ones that are falling apart. In front of one of the barns were 2 horses eating their lunch. As I stood by the fence, they decided to come and visit me so  I could take some portrait shots of them. They were good models. As I was getting ready to take a few photos near the river, the geese took off with a thunder. There were also some turkeys that I was able to shoot as they took off. Now that was a great day of taking photos.This why I love photography!