Sometimes you just go with it.

Though I have never been confused with being a great portrait photographer, this part of my photography has steadily gotten better. Though the above is not one of my best efforts, it does merit a story. I had grand plans when I arrived. My Great Aunt was in town and that is rare for the month of November. She usually is wintering in Florida by Thanksgiving. I wanted to get a family picture. My great plans included a nice park with play toys for the children used as props, picture of my Aunt and children hanging upside down next to her on the monkey bars, me moving the light deftly into the correct spot quickly and feverishly.

I arrived and dinner was sooner than I anticipated, my sister was sick with the flu and nobody wanted to go outside because it was cold. I opted for the backyard. The first spot was on a little stream that bisects my sister's property. The lights kept falling down and the space was too small for the CLS to work properly, the lights weren't being triggered. After I resolved those issues, I then found that my aunt wouldn't be able to walk to the spot I had chosen. So plan 2.

A family picture with my best attempt to control the hot spots in the background. I got 5 pictures and one pose. This was the best of the bunch. The other way without the setting sun was an old dilapidated aluminum shed that was facing the other way. It's family though and I love them despite the hot spots.

Golf & Heaven

There was a time when the above statement would have rang as true as a cathedral bell. I'm certain that I even found world peace on a course at times. There still isn't much better than an early morning, first on the tee, dew on the ground and a club in my hand. I don't get to do it much anymore. Time, life pressures and so forth keep me away from 4+ hours on the golf course. I still love the game, but can't seem to make the time happen to play it. Except for one morning in September.

It's fitting that I put these two galleries together. Some may disagree with Golf being a religious experience, but indeed it is. I will forgo the old joke about all of the epitaphs to Christ and God that are uttered at certain times on the course. Today for your review is Erin Hills Golf Club. Built just north and west of Milwaukee and an hour plus drive from my homestead, they say they didn't move much dirt to make this course and it shows. Caddies can be found here and my suggstion is to get one, spend the money and let them suggest where to hit the ball because you will need him/her. I didn't and I paid the price on more than one hole. I happen to be getting ahead of myself a little, let me discuss my impressions.

Erin Hills is quite a place. They were just awarded the 2011 US Amateur so it's well regarded and in some ways justifiably so. When I arrived they had just gotten done hosting the US Woman's Public Links. Some of the conditioning aspects of the course could have come from having so many players in such a short period of time of such a high caliber play the course. Either way the course was in good condition, but not great. The Harvester which I played the week earlier was in better and I might add was 1/3 the cost. More on that later.

The drive in is gorgous, great care is obviously taken at each step along the way as you drive in and around the course. The staff is very friendly, you drop your clubs off at a barn and go to check in at a wooden house. From the name of the course you can see that you are suppose to disappear into Ireland and that is quite easy. The clubhouse has a beautiful wood interior and though I have never been to Ireland I have a sneaky feeling that I may have had the experiance. You can see from many of the pictures the little touches and the care that has been taken in building the course, clubhouse and amenities. Gratefully there aren't any houses. Today there seems to be much emphasis that for me it spoils the pristine nature of so many courses. Even the flags themselves are made of wood and aren't going to be moved much when the wind blows, the flags as well aren't Nylon, but cotton. Everything very professionally done and very well done, it all works.

After getting some direction off the first hole and how to play it, which was well needed I was off. The course was in good but not great condition. The greens though were like a table top. The second hole has a green about the size of my desk and a notice of this would have been very helpful. If I had just had that caddy. That thought will be a comment theme. You can see from another picture in the group how the bunkering was handled. I was chasing the green's crew all morning so maybe some of the conditioning issues I had were taken care of after they got off the course. The most friendly green's crew I have played around. One person eve came over to help me on a par 3 where I couldn't find the hole. Seriously it was on the other side of a hill in a valley and was completely not seen from the tee. Did I mention a caddy? On another hole that was 460 yards and a par 4 I thought I could let it swing, I mean it's 460 I have to hit driver right? Nope over the ridge there was a sharp dogleg and though the ball started staight down the middle and then was lost. The card didn't show that large of a dogleg and now is another good time to mention that caddy.

The best part was the Blarney hole. Strange place for one after hole #9, but there it was a part 3 that you have to play before you tee off on hole 10. I didn't need a caddy on that hole. However on the 10th whole I again couldn't see which way the fairway was and hit a perfect shot in the deep rough.

After my round was over I was in the clubhouse discussing with the pro. He let me know that there wasn't any dirt moved currently to make the golf course, that's a rarity nowadays. He also let me know that the 2nd hole was going to change, they were going to enlargen the green and move it so you could see it from the fairway another good move. All of these changes were going to be before the Amateur in 2011. All good changes.

I enjoyed Erin Hills, I can't say it was worth the money though. Especially for a course that demands you to have a caddy to play it effectively. The layout was challenging enough without having most of the trouble hidden from the tee or the fairway. I loved the staff though. Friendly helpful and cooperative. I'm glad to have played the course and I played pretty well. If I were to play it again and that is unlikely, I would have a caddy. The Harvester and 1/3 of the cost and some 6 hours to west was not as intimidating and didn't need a caddy.

From the course I could see the Basilica of Holy Hill. Truly a great place for a cathedral. Having completed my round I decided to take a look at the cathedral. They were in the midst of a refurbishment of the two tours. Truly a remarkable place and quite large. There was two sanctuaries, the main and the cloisters below. Amazing place and a place that you can see for miles around as it sits on the only hill for quite a few miles. My suggestion is to block a couple of hours and spend it here looking around the cathedral and the grounds.

You can see the gallery here.

A Slideshow of the images can be viewed here.

Rank Your Camera

DxO has come up with Camera Rankings for the most recent cameras and alot of old ones. I won't get into how they compiled this data, I will let them do that, but for those that are interested you can look here.

The Photographer

There was a time I wondered if this day was ever going to happen. Well it has. My son has picked up yet another of my guilty habits. He is now a photographer. This is far better than smacking butts, especially of the girl down the block (yikes!) Not me him! Though it seems that the camera is as large as he is, he grabs it and wants to take my picture. Who would have thought when he started out so long ago that pictures just might be what he excels at. From the grip on him at birth, I thought it might be golf.

Sure I set up the camera so it focuses on the closest object and maybe an S5 or D300 is a bit much for a 8 yr old to handle, but he seems to understand, he picks up the camera, puts the strap around his neck and clicks away. No training, no nothing. He just clicks away and some turn out quite well. He even coaches his model with little words of more and come-on. Seems like not too long ago I was changing his diapers or when he was born and I thought he had a good grip for golf. Well, I'm just grateful that he hangs onto the camera.

Good stuff!

Below is the link to see Buddy's efforts at picture taking. Notice the photo-journalist type of tilt to the above picture? That kinda stuff you just can't teach! He has most of the rest of the pictures start here. Dad processed them though of course in Aperture. I did not crop though. You can enjoy my efforts of the Lake County Buddy Walk 2008 in slideshow format here.

Comments are appreciated either here or at Smugmug. Thanks!

Nik Software

As most probably know I love Nik Software. I use the couple of plug-ins that I own quite alot. I haven't found a bad plug-in. Recently Nik just updated all of them to run under Aperture and released them as a collection. These were good under both Photoshop and Aperture. Just today they are allowing a download for Aperture only for only$299. Yes that's alot of money, but considering the same package under Photoshop is $599 you can see what an incredible savings this is for Aperture users. You can read more about the deal and purchase Nik the Complete Collection here.

Aperture RAW Update to 2.3

As every Apple is reticent to any pertinent information.

About Digital Camera Raw Compatibility 2.3

This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto ’08 for the following cameras:

Canon EOS 50D
Nikon D90
Sony DSLR-A900
Nikon Coolpix P6000

It also addresses issues related to specific cameras and overall stability.

The update can be installed via the software update on Leopard or can be find here.