Recent Posts
10 years, 11 months ago 8

 

Tired but happy!  After driving all day from Corbin to St. Augustine, I got to spend the evening with my son Scott,     his wife Diane and my their family, my grandchildren, above, Ben and Hannah!  I was worn out from the eleven hour drive, but being with then brought me back to life!!

 

 

It was great to be with all of them!  Sunday morning I had breakfast with them and then headed for Lakeland for the set-up for Sun n’ Fun. I stopped at Fantasy of Flight for about and hour to shoot a few images and to stretch my legs before going on into Lakeland.  This trip, I’ve shot there a number of times, I tried to concentrate on smaller details than the planes themselves.  Hope you enjoy the results!

 

 

 

 

 

Get ready for a week of aviation related images!  This is one of my favorite assignments, sweetened by the fact I’m not at the Masters!!!!  Not my favorite assignment!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

10 years, 12 months ago 7

On the run today, headed to Sun n’ Fun, America’s second larget air show, and then on to Photoshop World!  Lots to share this coming week, up at O:Dark Thirty tomorrow to drive to St, Augustine and then on to Lakeland Sunday a.m.  Covet your prayers, and promise to report in each day!!

 

Sorry this is so brief, but I’ll do better later!

 

Blessings,

 

the Pilgrim

10 years, 12 months ago 6

 

I just came from Stephen Hart’s lab and have just seen the two images above printed better than I could have ever imagined possible!!! Stephen Hart has been making prints for a long time.  I had never see his work until I saw some of Jim Begley’s work printed by Stephen. Jim is one of America’s best HDR shooters, and I’m proud to say, my partner in His Light Workshops, and my brother in Christ.  For that matter so is Stephen!  But back to my story…..  When I saw how drop dead gorgeous Stephen’s new print process was, it’s called Acrylic Face Mount prints, I was stunned.  Now take just a minute to realize that I have been exposed to virtually all the high end print makers across our country.   Until this morning the most beautiful thing I had ever seen done from one of my files was an Image Wizards, Metal print by Roger Laudy.  Roger is still the man when it comes to metal prints and I love his work, and still highly recommend him, but for more conventional prints, Jasper Imaging is just sick!!  (I’m 67 so I hope I used that in a good way, his stuff is so good it’s hard to believe you’re looking at your own images!!!)  Stephen’s Acrylic Mount Prints are made with UV Museum Grade Acrylic and are finished out perfectly, and to boot he offers conventional framing for those that do not want stand off mounts.  Stephen does all the “High End” print types, Archival Quality Gallery Wraps with the highest end materials, Ink Jet prints in virtually all the best paper choices, and the Acrylic Face Mount prints.

 

The best thing about Stephen’s work is it reminds me of the great craftsman of the past, they didn’t do it for the client, they did it to satisfy their own desire to do it as good as it can be done.  Stephen has realized that goal!  The best part for me is that I can drive a few miles from my office to see how the prints are looking.  I can say this right now, I’ve never had better prints made of my work in 43 years of seeking the perfect printer, I’m not looking any longer, I’ve found him, thanks Stephen!!

 

But what about the tale of two prints???  Sorry about that, got kinda wound up over the spectacular prints I saw this morning.  So the two image above were blown up to 32×46 inches in super high gloss Acrylic Mounts.  If you viewed them at normal viewing distance both are simply stunning, sorry it is two nice images, but when you put your nose right in the print, it is hard to tell which print was made with which camera!!!  One was made with a D800 and the Micro Nikkor 105mm Micro, the other with a D2x and 200mm Micro Nikkor.  The D800 is a whopping FX sensor with 36 mega pixels, the D2x was a DX sensor with 12 mega pixels.  Care to guess which is which. trust me even in the huge prints it’s hard!  The top is D2x bottom D800.

 

If you would like to learn more about Stephen’s company, Jasper Imaging (named after his young son, Jasper), give him a another week or two and then his website  www.jasperimaging.com will be live.  I will alert you when it is up and will add it to my blog roll!

 

If you need large, presentation grade prints of any kind, you owe it to yourself to check his work out….  One thing is for sure, you’ll never see your print until Stephen is happy with it!!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

10 years, 12 months ago 16

We all need heroes, and mine was my father, William Pelle Fortney.  I have a lot of memories of my father, but some of the best were strangely enough, from the visitation before his funeral. We never know what an impact we’ve had on the lives of others until we are gone.  That’s when our family hears from others what should have been said to us in life.  The following are statements that I can remember clearly that were made to me by his friends and family members, on that night almost 20 years ago.

 

“Your father was always kind to me, he never was too busy to talk with me and listen to my cares and concerns….”

 

“I don’t know that I have ever known a more honest man of integrity and character, you were fortunate to have him as your father….”

 

“”I can never remember him every saying a harsh or unkind word to anyone!”

 

“Your father never asked us to do anything at work, that he was not willing to do himself…”

 

“I knew your father really cared about me, he was a wonderful man….”

 

“I lost a great friend….”

 

“Your father truly lived a Chrisitian life…..”

 

“Your father was like a second father to  me when I was in the  Boy Scouts….”

 

 

When my father was buried and I went home I went into my bedroom, alone and wept, for a long time. When I got control of myself, I got down on my knees at the bed just as I did as a little child to say my evening prayers with my father by my side, and talked to him.  I told him I hoped he could hear me, and I was so glad his suffering was over, but that I missed him, and didn’t know how I was going to go on without him.  I thanked him for being a great Dad, and I made him a promise.  I told him, that with God’s help, I was going to try and be the kind of man he had been.  I promised that I wouldn’t ever forget what a difference he had made in my life, and my brother Homer’s life, and I wouldn’t forget how much he had touched not only our lives, but the lives of so  many others.  I confessed that I didn’t think I could be the man he had been, but that I would never stop trying. I told him I loved him, and cried some more…..

 

I don’t know if those that have gone on to be with the Lord can hear us, or know what is happening down here.  Some days when I’ve done good, I hope my father can see me, I want him to be proud of me, other days I hope he can’t!  I know my Heavenly Father sees everything, and I want to believe He shares with my earthly father what he would want him to know.

 

My father set a standard for me that I may never be able to live up to, but in encouraging me to try,  he has made me a better man.  Anyone that does that for you is a hero.

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

About The Image:  When I was a young boy my father was the manager of a Coca Cola Bottling plant in Harlan, Kentucky.  Many of my great memories are of going to the plant and watching the bottling process.  Later in life I actually had my first two summer jobs working in the plant as a teenager.  To this day I am still a big Coca Cola memorabilia fan.  My father’s Coca Cola apron still hangs in my darkroom, as a reminder of who I strive to be, as a man.