Dan Brandenburg

BVM

Dan Brandenburg — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:15:59 +0000

Blessed Virgin Mary

Experimenting with light, shadow, virgins, and filters gave me this Mary image. I’m actually working a bit to get the lighting the way I want it to produce a more dramatic version of this image (coming soon, I hope).

Baby in a Bottle

Dan Brandenburg — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:58:41 +0000

Closeup of the baby in a bottle

: Baby parts in a bottle

: Happy baby in a botle

I’ve been on a slightly weird kick as of recent and kept thinking of different ways to express it. It started out with some dollar store doll photos and moved into different ways to express the same ideas with different lighting.

Fish Heads! Fish Heads

Dan Brandenburg — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 05:05:33 +0000

Poor dead goldfish

Off to Heaven

They are not Forgotten

What is it with me and fish? I can’t ever seem to keep them alive for more than a few days. Yesterday I purchased a number of goldfish so I could take some cool images and within hours, a few were already dead. By today, they were all dead. I swear, I did it by the book. I allowed the water to sit for 24 hours before I added the fish, I let the fish get used to their water for an hour or so before I dropped them into their new environment. I added a cup of bleach to the water to purify everything (yes, just kidding about the bleach…please don’t write me). By this evening, they were all dead. Oh well… I’m sure they’ll have a proper burial after I take some photos.

A Pleasant Surprise

Dan Brandenburg — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:15:05 +0000

: Fun on the Beach of Hawaii

Finally, after a year or so, I’m getting around to photoshopping some of my favorite images of Hawai’i. Although I took a number of images I loved, I also took a few which I didn’t think would trurn out very well. Usually these images are poorly lit, maybe a bit blurred, or have some other technical reason prohibiting them from making me happy. Sometimes, though, you can get a pleasant surprise once you spend a few moments on such images in Photoshop. This is one such case. I was very surprised and happy with the result. I hope you like it.

Macedonia Church & Schoolhouse

Dan Brandenburg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:58:49 +0000

In keeping with the religious flow, I recently re-visted a place from my early, early childhood (something like age three). I have one single memory of being with my parents in this old building for church and a cemetery visit. It’s been so long. Obviously the building is still standing, but barely. It’s somewhat interesting to see how places are different now than from how you remember them.

Valley Hill Shrine

Dan Brandenburg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:40:23 +0000

A little over a decade ago, the story started of the apparition of the Virgin Mary appearing on a semi-regular basis just north of the small town of Springfield, KY. Thousands and thousands of people flocked to the area hoping for a miracle, a cure, or simply a religious sign. During this time, various people began building a shrine to Mary — consisting mostly of plastic or plaster religious figures. A few people even began building a little church there, but after a few years, the walls are still only about two feet tall (though there is a nice floor). I guess they gave up.

This sign, photographed just over a year ago, seems to provide visitors information on the Virgin Mary’s busy schedule. Unfortunately, during my last visit a couple of weeks ago, I found the sign missing. Perhaps it was stolen as an interesting souvenir or maybe the Virgin Mary simply changed her schedule.

The shrine has certainly seen better days. Interest has dropped significantly over the years and now people straggle in only a few at a time. It appears as if there have been a few high school beer parties there and some of the many figurines have been burned. It’s too bad people can’t leave some of these cool places intact.

Some of the other sites found at this shrine.

Broke Leg Falls

Dan Brandenburg — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:46:59 +0000

Some maps show it as Broke Leg Falls and others say Broken Leg Falls. I’m not sure which is correct (though the sign nearby says Broke), but this is one of the most stunning scenes I’ve visited in a very long time. As I walked around the falls, I almost expected to look up and see a unicorn or something drinking from the pool of sparkling water. A friend found this place while out geocaching — which really makes me want to start my own geocache adventures to see how many other cool and seemingly unknown places there are to be found.

Wrecky-Poo

Dan Brandenburg — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:39:57 +0000

Spring is here and so are the crazy drivers who don’t watch out for bikes. A good friend of mine went down over the weekend due to someone running a light, hitting a car, and then smacking into him and his girlfriend (and soon to be wife). Fortunately, everyone made it out OK, but it’s a good reminder of what can happen so unexpectedly.

Going Public

Dan Brandenburg — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:59:45 +0000

Well, I guess I’ve sat on this site long enough without actually going public with it. Sometimes websites are difficult to design and launch because you never feel there’s enough material on it. The only way, of course, to get enough content for a site, is just to launch it and begin added stuff as it comes through. So here it is for the world to see.

Admittedly, I’ve trimmed the site down a bit because I’ve not yet launched my best-of photography gallery or written a decent “about me” page, but I’m sure I will soon enough. These things take time.

Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap

Dan Brandenburg — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:38:30 +0000

Spring is here and it seems like I’ve not been producing many new photos. Rather, I’ve been enjoying the nice weather, riding my motorcycle quite a bit, and getting to know other bikers. I recently went to Deals Gap (aka Tail of the Dragon) with friends and really got to enjoy beautiful scenery, beautiful bikes, and….surprise….really nice cops.

Why Deals Gap? Among biking and auto enthusiasts, it’s kinda curve heaven — 318 purported curves in about 11 miles. Though the speed limit is only thirty miles per hour, advanced riders have no problem racing well beyond the speed limit. Semi-intermediate riders, such as myself, found the road to be a challenging and technical experience…and I loved every minute of it.