Stephan Herzog Photography

Photography Pure Enjoyment

2014-01-21T18:11:00.002-08:00

How could time fly so fast. It was back in 1975 when I received my first 35mm camera. A Pentax K1000 with a camera bag and flash unit. Boy I thought I had hit the big time.

http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/bodie+island+lighthouse/all" style="font: 10pt arial; text-decoration: underline;">bodie island lighthouse art

http://www.thumbtack.com/Stephan-Herzog-Photography-Middlesex-NC/service/973860" style="border:0;">Stephan Herzog Photography

Glade Creek Grist Mill At Babcock State Park by stephanherzog

2013-11-01T19:21:00.001-07:00

Glade Creek Grist Mill At Babcock State Park by stephanherzog

Just a Little Color

2013-10-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Day One-Sunday

I have always wanted to drive to West Virginia to catch the early fall colors in the Canaan Valley part of the state. This year I drove up to Dolly Sods Wilderness on Saturday night. Wanting to catch the sunrise on Sunday morning from the point at Bear Rocks Preserve. Well I was there but so was about 50 other photographers. So I decided I was in no rush to get my shoot, so I waited. I just watched the sunrise it was OK, but not what I wanted. Patience will have to persist. I was hoping for clouds in the sky so the early morning sun could paint the sky with colors. I spent the day setting up camp at Red Creek Campground and scouting locations around the area. Since I had never been here before I had a lot of scouting to do.

Day Two-Monday

Early to rise, oh the 4:30 am buzz of the alarm. Fix breakfast, get gear ready for early morning shot. I already had my location picked out from my scouting the day before. So I drove the 2 1/2 miles to the location. Got out of the car, oh yes I was alone. I look down the road and see just a few cars coming my way, so I reach my spot, set up the tripod, and went back down to the car to grab me a cup of hot chocolate. There were 3 cars the parking lot and 5 photographers. so we stood around for a few minutes and chatted, gathering information from each other. One guy ask if I knew where I was going to shoot from and I told him to look up to the point. He saw my tripod there. He ask if I would show him the way up. He was a newbie. So I helped him find his way to the top. I pointed out the direction of the sunrise and gave him a few pointers. The sky was aligning it self, the clouds had position themselves just above the horizon. You could see a touch of pink starting to paint the lower part of the sky where the mountains were in the distance. Oh, just what I wanted! As the sun started it's early morning journey, making it way up ever so slowly. It would on be minutes before the sunrise, the sky had painted itself with blues, oranges and pinks. Now was the time to go to work. With only minutes remain before the sun peak over the mountain and all the colors would be gone. That image would last for only seconds.

Well at 7:08 am the sun peaked over the mountain, and all the beautiful colors have disappeared. The fall colors were my being painted with the harsh sunlight. A new day had begun. Packing the gear off the point and heading back to the parking lot, we all exchanged names, and looked at each ones images that we had captured. Saying our goodbyes we all heading in different directions.

I had arrived back at the campsite, and one of the guys I had met the night before ask if I wanted to go see the birds being tagged. I said they were doing what? He explained the there was a group catching and tagging migrating birds just down from the campsite, just across the road. So we walked down the road a bit and down a narrow trail. A beautiful valley! First off I want to thank, Don for the information and secondly I want to thank Joan Bell Pattison of the Allegheny Front Migratory Observatory for the wonderful information. Each year from late August to the first week, volunteers from different parts of the country gather here, to count and band many different species of birds. Each bird is handled with the utmost care, they are identified, measured, banded, and recorded, them they are set free to continue their journey south.

As a bird lover and watcher myself, I can appreciate what AFMO is trying to accomplish. Joan explained to me the importance of their mission. When birds are banded with a numbered band, and they continue their flight to their areas around the continent where they stay for the winter. They make be caught again. Their flight is recorded and each different Observatory communicate with each other. Whow what a mission!

Day Three-Tuesday

Well my travels are to head north about 35 mile to Blackwater Falls State Park and capture Elakala Falls before the sun is to high in the sky. Just a gentle walk to the falls.

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After leaving Blackwater Falls State Park it was time to head south to Babcock State Park, then on to Campbell Creek State Park to capture other waterfalls and the gristmill. Disappointed as it may seem, both of the creeks at each of these were dry. No water flowing over the falls. Oh, well there will be other times to photograph these falls. Maybe after the tropical storm comes up the east coast.

Until next time ....

elakala falls art

A Little time away from Home

2013-07-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

Cleveland

Over the past few weeks I have spent time with my son, his girlfriend and my granddaughters. Enjoying each moment that I have spent in Cleveland. It has been a vacation of painting their new apartment, getting them moved into their new apartment, to spending the 4th at Lakewood Park. Now that all that is done I have had some time to get out and do what I enjoy doing best. I went down to The Flats in Cleveland took some pictures of the Veterans Memorial Bridge with the Cleveland skyline in the background. Soon my vacation will come to an end here and I will be heading back south to North Carolina. But I travel back thru on of my most favorite spots to photograph and that is the New River Gorge area.

Fireworks on the 4th

The Lakewood Project

Night Prints of Cleveland

Fall Photo Drive

2013-01-12T02:58:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful weekend for a drive in The mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. I know there were many people heading to the North Carolina mountains from where I stray, but I chose to go another direction. I have been wanting for many years to go to Babcock State Park during the fall season. I have seen many photos of the grist mills during the fall season and just had to try my hand at capturing the perfect photo of my own.

The mountains on the Blue Ridge Parkway were just gorgeous and bursting with color, the reds, golds and orange were all around. Making my way from North Caolina to West Virginia, back down through Tennessee and South Carolina. Seeing the changing of the leaves in their different stages depending on what state I was in.

Searching for Solitude

2012-09-30T03:44:00.001-07:00

It was just after the passing of my father. I went searching for some places to spend some time to reflect on how much my dad meant to me. I spent the last few days at the hospital with him and as he took his last breath and entered into eternity. I was so relaxed knowing that he had spent his life ministering to others his whole life and now he had received his crown of glory for being so faithful.
I went to the mountains of North Carolina to see if I could get closer to heaven so that I could say my final goodbyes. And as I stood there on the mountain top I could feel the presence of God. So I ask God to let both my mom and dad know that I love them, and ask God to take care of them for being so faithful. The next morning it was raining and I felt that there was someplace else I needed to be. So I ask God to guide me to my destination, and for him to show me peace. The very next morning I was in Manteo, NC and as the sun began to rise from beyond the horizon. I could see the stillness on the waters. The waters were so peaceful, just like looking at a piece of glass. It was there that God send down his peace of mind to me and began to heal my broken heart.

Another Day

2011-03-26T05:16:00.000-07:00

OK well this is the second attempt to post this one, I must have hot a wrong key somewhere.

These were taken at North Hills shopping center in Raleigh. Just the beauty of the flowers that have been placed around the shopping center will take your breath away. It is so beautiful there.

I just went shopping for some new socks at REI, and could not resist to pull the camera out of the bag to share these tulips with you.

This was taken about 9:15 pm in the evening, so you can just imagine what they would look like if it were daylight. While I was trying to snap a few pics, some ladies can up to me and ask how was I going to take a picture of the flowers in the dark. So I explained to them, my technique. First I was using a 50mm f/1.8 lens which is great in low light, and I was using a flash, which was set in commander mode, and only using half power. I didn't want to use the flash at full power because it would be to bright and blow the beautiful colors away. Also I had the flash set as a rear flash which means it flashes at the end of the process. This is also great doing this when taking a scenic photo of a cityscape and you want to add people into the picture.

So this is just a short lesson about some night photography. By the way I love night photography, it is some of my favorite times to get out with my camera. and Thanks for following me.

Beginnings of New Life

2011-03-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

As the Dogwood trees begins to bloom, we just wait for the new season of colors to really begin showing. Soon the leaves will begin to grow and the flowers on the Dogwood will show their royal beauty. A new season has begun and we are going though life just as nothing has changed from the past season. We continue to do the things we did yestereday and the day before that. We have been fortunate not to have a real disaster hit us as it has in Japan, Chile or even Haiti. Lives have been torn apart and communities have been destroyed. But we go on. My heart goes out to those who lives have been changed forever.
As a amatuer photographer I realize that the world that I see from the lens in my camera is ever changing. It will not be the same tomorrow or the next day after that. As the sun rises today we must be thankful for all that we have and love those around us, for tomorrow our lives may be changed.