Steven Bourelle Digital Arts

For the past 18 months on my other web site, SierraVisions, I have posted a photo of the month.  I pick a photo that was shot in that month from years past and tell a little about the image. I’ve thought about doing a photo of the month on this site, but never got around to it. Now that the popularity of SBDigitalArts is beginning to pick up, I’ve decided to go for it. So here is the first of many Photos of the Month.

——————

September’s Photo of the Month: Sunrise Fishermen on Lake Michigan, Kenosha WI

This month’s photo was taken on September 18, 2009 along the shores of Lake Michigan in Kenosha. Every year in September,where the Pike River flows into Lake Michigan, fishermen line the shore trying to catch the Chinook Salmon that have come into the area to head up river to spawn. These salmon can be weigh up to 40 pounds and put up quite a fight for the fishermen. I decided to head out for sunrise one morning last year to to do some fishing of my own. Not for salmon, but for photos of the fishermen.

I knew going in what kind of pictures I wanted. I wanted the fishermen silhouetted against the rising sun. There were plenty of them there on this morning to choose from. I hadn’t expected a boat out in the lake though. It was actually getting in my way most of the time, but in this image the boat helped more than hurt.

This image reminds me of the many sunrises I’ve spent with my dad fishing Sierra Nevada lakes. I’ve seen this scene so many times in my life that it’s burnt into my soul. There’s nothing like a quiet, peaceful sunrise on a lake, waiting for a fish to take your bait.

Click Here To Purchase Prints or Usage Rights for this Image

——————————————

No Comments »

One of coolest things about photographing the Fantastikals at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, are their wonderful colors. The bright reds, oranges, purples and greens literally glow in the sunlight of the glade. The one exception to this is Grandmother Cobweb. Instead of  bright colors, she is much more subdued with dark greens, grays, black and whites. She creates a very interesting contrast to the rest of the fairies in the glade. When I decided that I wanted to create a mono chrome image of a Fantastikal, it was only natural to choose Grandmother Cobweb.

This image was shot during my third visit to the faire this summer. Normally Grandmother Cobweb is busy creating her very detailed and elaborate spider web that stretches throughout the glade. I was very surprised when she walked away from the web, knelt down not far from me and began gazing up through the trees, as if examining where her next web was going to go. I shot many images of her during these few minutes, this one I feel is the best and was my first choice for a black and white.

This image started off as black and white, but like many of my mono chrome images, it didn’t stay black and white for long. Once I began playing around with it, I found that I liked the slight sepia much better.

Having spent many hours watching and photographing the Fantasticals, I’d have to say this was one of my favorite moments and this is one of my favorite photos of them. It’s so thoughtful, almost meditative. To me it really symbolizes the feelings I have while in the presence of these wonderful fairies.

Read More About the Fantastikals

———————————-

No Comments »

I’ve loved this statue of the lost fisherman in Port Washington, WI ever since I first saw it. I’ve tried many times to get a good photo of it, but they just never seemed to work for me. Either the lighting was wrong, the background was wrong, or any number of other things were wrong.

Then, while at the Maritime Heritage Festival earlier this month, I finally got my shot. I was walking up to the monument when it occurred to me that a close up of the fisherman with the tall ship Bounty in the background would be perfect. It wasn’t as easy as that though. First off there were a lot of people walking around and to get a photo without any of them in it was an arm tiring, patience trying challenge. I also had to contend with some flag poles to the right that prevented me from having the composition I really wanted.

I knew immediately that it was going to be either a black and white or sepia image. After trying both, I liked the sepia version best. I did do a little “photoshopping” to this image. There were some people on the far shore that I removed. I also removed the rubber dingy hanging off the side of the Bounty. These are just small changes that help to create the feel I’m looking for in the image, (Rubber dingys just don’t say “old timey” to me).

All in all I’m very pleased with how this image turned out. I feel it’s a good tribute to all fishermen and sailors who’ve been lost at sea.

Purchase Prints or Usage Rights for this Image

———————————-

No Comments »

This past weekend was the annual Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival. The festival is a celebration of Wisconsin and Lake Michigan’s maritime tradition. While there is plenty to do at the festival, the biggest attractions are the tall ships. This year they had five tall ships at the festival, the Lynx, Unicorn, Roseway, Pride of Baltimore II and the star of the show, the Bounty.

While I had been looking forward to the festival all summer, I was especially excited about it after seeing all of these ships in Sturgeon Bay 10 days earlier. At that time I was able to photograph the ships under sail, this time I’d be able to get up close and personal with them. They didn’t disappoint. It was especially exciting to board three of the ships, including the Bounty. Walking the decks of these grand ships provides thousands of photo opportunities. The longer I stayed on board, the more things I saw to photograph.

It was a truly magical day. Here is a slide show of my best images from Sunday. I highly recommend that you watch it full screen by clicking the icon in the lower right corner. I will of course have many more photos to share with you once I have a chance to fully dive into them and bring out my artistic interpretations. Until then, enjoy the slide show.

—————————–

2010 Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival – Images by Steven Bourelle

———————————————

No Comments »