The Art of Chris Froelich

Glacier Reflection This was taken as the sun came up in Glacier National Park. I don't remember the name of the peak or the lake. I just remember that it was the first day that we woke up to the sun after blizzards and rain. You just gotta love Glacier in mid-August. I used Flickr to publish this post, and I think the picture looks much better, but now it is small. I wish the rocks were sharper, but this pushed the boundary of performance of my digital Rebel. (note: not Rebel XT or XS or anything else, just my 6mp Rebel with the kit lens)

I took the family up to Lolo Pass rest area to play in the first snowfall of the season. When we got up there it was raining and only the higher peaks were getting snow. But, since we were there we went in and had some hot chocolate and relaxed. I should add that the Lolo Pass rest stop may be the coolest rest stop in America. As we sat inside watching a movie about grizzlies, the rain turned over to big flat flakes. I bet they get pounded overnight! I decided to post some non-reflection pics tonight. Blue Green Pines I had my G10 with, which takes pictures with great image quality. The shots come out with lots of contrast and almost feel like HDR pictures. The shot above is cropped with no post-processing other than using Adobe RAW to convert the file to jpeg. The first picture below was cropped but had very little PP done on it, just a little bump in saturation and sharpening when I converted from RAW. First Snow on Pines I decided to try some more extreme processing and ended u...

Usually I eat out a lot, or just eat a bunch of crud when I go camping by myself. But when I went to Teton, I grilled a little lunch on the shores of the lake and then took a little nap on the beach. It was very peaceful. Steak, mushrooms, butternut squash, and onions. I didn't get a picture of myself sleeping, but this little boat represents how nice it was. Jackson Lake Sailboat

ICON ALERT! Dawn at Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National Park I had to do it!

Photography travel can be frustrating. I've made two dedicated photography trips so far. Both of them were within driving distance from where we live. The first was to Glacier in the fall. It was a steady drizzle with overcast sky the whole trip. Not interestingly cloudy. Just a dull grey blanket that was coupled with 50 mph winds two of the three days. I had a lot of ideas about shots I wanted, (ie. mountain/lake refection shots, sunrise alpenglow, fall colors, maybe a grizzly or two), but those all went out the window. Lakes aren't that interesting when they have a chop, sunrises in the rain haven't really inspired anyone in the art world for the last few thousand years. I didn't know what to do and I didn't get many shots I because I had these preconceived notions of what my photos should be. I hadn't left room for creativity or spontaneity. I don't really have enough experience to be creative or spontaneous, anyway. I just went to the iconic locations ...

I haven't been to the Tetons since I was a little kid and I just loved it there. These tremendous spires just skewer the sky without any warning. There aren't any foothills that roll up the plains, just 7000 feet of in-your-face incline. When I was driving into town, I got there after dark and there was no moon, but it seemed I could feel the mountains to my West, so I pulled the truck off the road, shut off my lights, and stood outside. As my eyes adjusted to the starlight I started to make out the light grey peaks by the light of the Milky Way. I stood there in the cold watching satellites cross the sky and listening to elk bugle until the shivering took over. Milky Way over the Tetons I really wanted to get a shot of the Milky Way rising above the peaks, but alas, a Rebel and kit lens just aren't capable without an objectionable amount of noise. I guess I need that 5D II with a 14mm F2.8 after all. Its funny how the light pollution from Driggs is visible with the camera,...

So, this is the first post for this photo blog. Hopefully we will all be able to document my skill development as I post here. I originally set this blog up to be a place where I could "rant" about pharmacy and pharmacy school, but I decided the name of the blog wouldn't be anonymous enough and I've got a lot of inflammatory ranting to do. So, I have some of the best photos that I've had this summer to roll out, some of which have been posted before elsewhere. Beaver Pond I am pleased with this picture because it looks like I wanted it to without a bunch of bruhaha in Photoshop. All I did is crop it to a 4x5 and convert it from RAW format. I took this with my Canon Rebel and kit lens. The water is about 4 or 5 feet deep and crystal clear. The green cast on the bottom is from the pines.  I don't know how to prepare a photo for displaying on a blog. When I look at other photographer's blogs, they have such vivid and clear photos, but when I resize mine (us...