Photo Blog

It is Fall Festival Time by Harold Brown

My wife and I try to get to fall festival each year at our local garden center. Great decorating ideas, displays , barbecue, a maze, and pony rides are to be had, of course there are typically a few Halloween display's as well. I get a few pictures each year to capture the event. Enjoy.

Donzell's Fall Festival 2015
Pony Ride
Halloween
Halloween at Donzell's
Halloween at Donzell's
 

Why not a little zombie humor this time of season!

Zombie Apocalypse

Travel Photos From The Car by Harold Brown

photography from moving vehicles

A great number of travel photos I take when traveling are from the car as we drive along the highways. Sometimes from a rolled down side widow, but most often through the windshield. This type of picture taking is far different that the planned artistic captures that we see in travel magazines and websites. However, pictures from a moving car can be as challenging as the setup and preparation for that once in a life time picture at sunrise or sunset. Reflections, glare and motion become the challenge and post processing tools become essential. A higher shutter speed becomes important, as well as avoiding anything close to the car as it will be blurred. Head on shots through the windshield are good for closer scenes as there is typically less blurring. Be ready to crop out unwanted foreground or parts of the car when working on your photographs. I usually get a picture of the driver as well, we are all part of the experience.

Travel Photos From The Car

Here is a video of the temple in Sagar as we drive by it in the car. It is in the first few seconds of the video, but keep watching to see rural India. A few days later we drove by it again, but this time I took the still shots with my Nikon D90 that you see above.

Through the windshield of the car as we drive through Mirjapor toward Delvada on Maroli-Chhinam Rd.

Below is a great read from Nikon Rumors about photography from moving vehicles. I suddenly feel vindicated about my photo site pictures and some great pictures exist along the way to your final destination.

Nikon Rumors "The Photo I missed"

There are a lot of good tips in the post and many are actually what I do when traveling, if you are serious about getting better shots it is well worth the read. If you look at my post from 2013 take note that all the pictures and video were shot from a moving vehicle (except for the fashion shots). Get out and see the world.

 
Hyderabad Nursing Home


Enclosed Deck 3 Weeks Later by Harold Brown

Enclosed Deck 3 Weeks Later

It has been just over 3 weeks since our deck construction completed and now is a good time to update everyone on our first impressions, what we like, don't like, and what is coming up next.

Impressions

  • Although we added the additional footage to the deck it still isn't enough! I say this half jokingly, but it is a good idea to really think about the size of the enclosure and what you want to do with it. Our house is 2,100 square feet and with the enclosure we have added another 180 square feet. That sounds like a lot but when you take into account the two doors and their location that starts to dictate what you can do.

  • American Patio Rooms lived up to their claims and once the work started they continued until they were finished, even the electrician showed up in time to hook everything up. I have heard complaints about other builders that finished their work, but the electrician didn't show up for a few weeks to hook up the power.

  • Speaking to the crew that worked on my deck everyone had at least 10 years of experience and a few had over 20. All of the experience with American Patio Rooms.

 

Enclosing Our Upper Deck

What We Like

  • Just having the house back door and windows open and being able to freely walk onto the deck is great. No flies and bugs coming into the house is a big plus.

  • Another interesting point is we have a lower deck and it is now 50% covered by the upper deck. I can leave the door going onto the lower deck open when it rains. What is even nicer is now that the upper deck is enclosed and the bottom enclosed it gives a nice looking roof over the lower deck.

 

Harold Brown, Bhaga Video, Pictures, Photographs

What We Don't Like

  • The sound of a hard rain is much louder than we thought it would be. If you where watching TV or listening to music you would have to turn up the volume. I assume shingles on the roof would reduce the sound. We might have considered that option when building, but perhaps not (more money). The rain can also be heard from inside the house when the doors and windows are closed to the deck. However, it really isn't that bad in the house, only when you are on the deck.

 

enclosed deck, patio

What We Have Done

  • We decided to buy carpet instead of tile. It was a hard decision to make, but we decided to take the advice of the consultant and go with carpet. On the plus side it will be easier on the feet and warmer in the winter. The big plus is the money saved pays for the fireplace.

  • The outside vinyl siding that was on the house is now inside the enclosed deck. Although I have always power washed the siding it took three separate washings after construction to get it looking pretty good. It still has 14 years of aging, but over all it isn't bad. Just a lot of elbow grease and 3 different cleaners!

  • Power Washed the lower deck to clean it up after the construction

  • We replaced the old outdoor light with an indoor sconce (40 watts does a nice job)

  • We bought a lamp with all the colors we were looking for and made of natural materials

  • We bought screen saver flowers to put onto the sliding door screen

  • We have a mirror to put up that will conveniently hide some of the water stains that wouldn't come off the siding. They are faint but still noticeable

 

What's Next

  • Carpet will be installed in 8 days

  • Buy the electric fireplace (currently we have a deposit on it)

  • Purchase solid white stain for the deck stairs and support posts, and look for a few days when their isn't any rain in the forecast.

Stay Tuned

We will keep you posted on our experience with building and decorating our enclosed upper deck, now the Sun Room. Watch for more blog posts. If you want to read all of our posts on enclosing our deck click here.

1955 Chevy Nomad Belair by Harold Brown

The all new 1955 Chevy Nomad Belair for 1955!

bhaga video, car show

This is the best 1955 Chevy Nomad Belair that I have seen locally. I have been to a lot of shows and seen nice cars but this one is great. Not your typical Friday night car show Nomad.

1955 Chevy Nomad Belair

The Chevrolet Nomad is best remembered for it's two door model from 1955–57.

1955 Chevrolet Nomad Bel Air

1955 Chevrolet's received all-new styling and also gained a V8 engine option.

photos.bhagavideo.com, harold brown, chevy nomad

See more of my pictures of the 1955 Nomad and other cars at this link Friday Night Dairy Queen Car Show.

Friday Night Dairy Queen Car Show
 

Salem Super Cruise 2014 by Harold Brown

Harold Brown Bhaga Video

It is time again for the Salem Super Cruise in Salem, Ohio. It is the first car show that I attended this year. I have already missed a couple of shows this year due to other engagements and I didn't want to miss this cruise-in. Cars on display and driving the streets all day long. How could you go wrong at this show?

Salem, Ohio June 21, 2014 Checkout the pictures at http://photos.bhagavideo.com/Cars/2014-Car-Galleries/Super-Cruise-2014-Salem-Ohio

car show automobile muscle

Click Here to see the Salem Super Cruise Photo Gallery

Salem Super Cruise

I met Chuck at the Super Cruise and he was kind enough to pose for a picture on his Harley. Chuck I hope you like the pictures!

Checkout my 2012 post about the Salem Super Cruise