Nicola Godfrey Tiles

I need to mention that Nicola Godfrey (pronounced Nick-o-la) of Nicola Godfrey Tiles asked me back twice to photograph some more of her tiles. they are hand made and really incredible. She has walked me through the process she goes through to make them and I wish I had taken notes! I do remember that the press she uses is a 60 ton press!! She makes masters and then copies and then a master again, I forget it all but sometime in the future we hope to photograph the entire process for her website. The tiles are difficult to make and the slightest imperfection can make them crack.

Speaking of cracks, she made a beautiful ceramic tile frame for a mirror and shipped to to Arizona. Unfortunately it was broken in-route.

Her work is truly wonderful and if you want or need any custom tiles, I highly recommend her.

Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery

I wanted to make a special mention of the Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery. The photos were mixed in with the main Oakwood Historic Cemetery photos but I decided to put them in their own section to make them easier to find. Here is a link to them http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Projects/Raleigh-Hebrew-Cemetery/10605363_MURnb#707406011_iG9Gp . The rocks on top of the headstones are a tradition. In the old days, the sand would blow off a person buried in the desert sand so they covered them with rocks. Today, when a person goes to visit them, they leave a rock on the headstone.

What was really emotional was one where somebody (a child?) left a rock painted with "We miss you" painted on it. It did photograph well but you can see the painted rock here- http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Projects/Raleigh-Hebrew-Cemetery/10605363_MURnb#737390735_8x8xW There was also a very touching headstone where a little boy had left his Matchbox toy car instead of a headstone.

I found the Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery to be much more warm and personal than the Historic Oakwood Cemetery which had more markers about who was the first governor, senator, chairman of the board, etc. The Hebrew Cemetery was much more focused on the person and their relationships.

And yes I used to be able to read the Hebrew writing but have not kept up with it. For those interested, the Hebrew words shown here do not have any vowels on them. It also reads from right to left.

Historic Oakwood Photo Competition

Wow, life has been busy. I have been working on the "Images of Oakwood Architectural Phtoography Contest. Details are below. If you go to my website http://www.hldphotos.com and click on "Galleries" and then "Projects" (Shoot, why don't I just give you the link here http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Projects) you will see three sections, one for each of the contest categories - Public Places, Private Homes, and Parks and Cemeteries.

They said they would notify the winners about a week in advance so that they could attend the awards reception. I had pretty much forgotten it until a few days ago and then figured I had not won. Yesterday the phone rang and it was a person from the committee!!! I AM ONE OF THE WINNERS!!! WHOO -HOO!! Now if you want to know which picture was the winner, (we were only allowed to submit one photo per category I had lots which is probably why they limited it to one. Everybody would have submitted tons.) well, I will have to keep you in suspense because I DON'T KNOW!! They said they wanted to keep it a surprise. Go to my Competition photos and try to pick which one. (Choices are the Governor's mansion, the Oakwood cemetery with the flag in it, and the purple house.

I will post and let you know which one was the winner as soon as I can. By the way for those in the Raleigh area, the reception is at 418 N. Person St, Raleigh, NC, at 3PM. I have to be at work by 4PM so I won't get to stay long.

There is a Civil War Section http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Projects/Oakwood-Historic-Parks/10253909_6drMa#707308817_j2hFp shown here. Samuel Scherr http://www.hldphotos.com/gallery/10253909_6drMa#707427720_ykv78 has a very unique headstone as  does William Samuel Tarlton http://www.hldphotos.com/gallery/10253909_6drMa#707457881_awZoy. I liked the inscription on his marker.

Some comments on the houses there. Yeah, the purple house looks a little odd. These are all old homes and most are painted earthy rich colors. The trees there are incredible. go look at the tree in front of the Governor's mansion http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Projects/Oakwood-Historic/10190317_ndjGP#701965646_KyyUW , talk about a kids delight climbing trees!! The Governor's mansion is within the Historic Oakwood Community. Historic Oakwood is really is a nice place, so different from typical suburbs.

Images Of Oakwood: Architectural Photography

Contest 2009

Open to the General Public

Historic Oakwood, Preservation North Carolina and the Capitol City Camera Club are co-sponsoring an

architectural photography contest featuring Raleigh's historic Oakwood neighborhood. Oakwood is Raleigh's most

intact 19th-century neighborhood and a vibrant historic district. The neighborhood's full range of Victorian

architectural styles and details are set off by tree-lined streets and carefully cultivated gardens. The district also

includes the expansive Oakwood Cemetery, a fine example of the 19th-century park-style cemetery.

The contest is open to the public. Prizes will be awarded and the winning photographs will be displayed at Historic

Oakwood's Candlelight Tour, December 12–13. Submitted photographs must be taken within Historic Oakwood

(see submission form for map) and fall into one of three categories:

Private Home Exteriors

Cemeteries & Parks

Public Buildings

A little history

I guess everybody that starts a blog has to do a little catch up and this is mine, so first a little history.

I began the journey into professional photography in the summer of 2008. I have always been known by family members as the person with a camera in hand. In June of 2008 I left teaching (Certified in high school math an science.) I decided to do something I wanted to do and enjoyed for a change and photography was it so I began the long process of establishing a photography business. It consists of a lot more than just taking pictures and printing them. You become knowledgeable in web creation and design (photography requires a little different design than average due to business demands), blog creation and design, contract formation, legal issues on copyrights, permission to use, etc.

I began acquiring the needed equipment as I wanted to use digital instead of my old 35mm Minolta film camera. I had a digital point and shoot but it is unsatisfactory for professional use and even my personal use. (P&S cameras have come a long way since then and have improved significantly in design.) I chose to go with Nikon, getting a D300 with a 17-55mm f/2.8 lens and a 80-200mm f/2.8 lens. Canon is also a great camera but I had always wanted a Nikon so I went that way.

In August 2008, I finally acquired my LLC (Limited Liability Company) license. About the same time I set up my web site for HLD Photography LLC I decided to name itwww.HLDPhotos.com as that seemed easier for everybody to type and I keep misspelling Photography. 

In February I won the Black and White category at the Raleigh Capital City Camera Club open competition. That was a good feeling. The shot was a landscape shot taken at Umstead Park, in Raleigh NC. http://www.hldphotos.com/Galleries/Competition/CompetitionPhotos/9234768_UQr78#616568424_oy5hW

In May of 2009 I was a second shooter for a wedding. Wow, weddings are demanding. We got there at 3PM and left about 10PM. Shot over 750 shots and took 3 days to process for the main photographer.

In September 2009, I photographed the Englewood UMC Softball team in action.

In October 2009, I photographed some ceramic pieces for Nicola Godfrey Tiles in Zebulon NC. She is an amazing lady who makes the tiles by hand. 

During the month of October and November, I also began working on photographing the Historic Oakwood Community for a Photo contest. http://www.presnc.org/Community/Images-of-Oakwood. A quote from the Preservation North Carolina Site – “Raleigh's historic Oakwood neighborhood. Oakwood is Raleigh's most intact 19th-century neighborhood and a vibrant historic district. The neighborhood's full range of Victorian architectural styles and details are set off by tree-lined streets and carefully cultivated gardens. The district also includes the expansive Oakwood Cemetery, a fine example of the 19th-century park-style cemetery. Submitted photographs must be taken within Historic Oakwood (see submission form for map) and fall into one of three categories: Private Home Exteriors, Cemeteries & Parks, Public Buildings."

Got to run (again). Will talk more about the Raleigh Hebrew Cemetery next. A fascinating place I found as part of the Oakwood photo work. 

Start of it all

Hey, I finally have my blog up and running.