Capitol Ecplise

Yesterday Teri & Freja modified one of my spare lens caps for an older dSLR I had lying about. They created a pinhole camera and them tried to capture the partial eclipse today. While they captured images, we've still a lot to learn about pinhole shooting. Even though it didn't work as planned, it was still worth the drive down to Teri's office to at least try.

#midwestisbest #midwestliving #wi #travelwi #discoverwisconsin #wisconsin #wisco #madisonwi #madisonwisconsin #wisconsinphotographer #travelwisconsin #driftlessarea #capitolsquare #capitolbuilding #capitol #eclipse #partialecplipse

The Final Blow

One of the events that I looked forward to the most while I was at Pennsic War 46 was the Tuchux Charity Tournament. While watching the big battles where thousands of people in armor bash each other is fun, I really like watching the one on one matches of this tourney. Basically it's MMA in armor and using weapons made of wrapped rattan with high density rubber warheads. It's an awesome display of martial skills. Within the first five minutes I pointed out the Knight on the left to my kid. I told her, "you watch that guy, he's going to make the final round." There are four "bear pits" in which an evenly divided number of fighters are grouped. The are randomly paired and the weapons randomly handed out. The fighters never know what they'll get, it could be a spear, a sword, an ax, etc.. Then through displays of martial skill, ferocity and guile they try to beat each other. The winner stays in the pit and gets a mark. They go many rounds until the top two of each pit then fight. Eventually there are only two fighters from all four pits left. This shot is of the winning blow being delivered by Sammick, clan leader of the Red Lions Tuchux. All proceeds of this event go to support the Drop in the Bucket Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to chronically, and terminally ill adults.

#Pennsic #Pennsicwar #Pennsicwar46 #sca #reenachtment #medieval #medievalreenactment #societyofcreativeanachronism #cooperslakecampground #dropinthebucket #tuchux #redlions #mma #fighters #bearpit #tournament #martialarts #armsarmor #armor #knight

Order of the Pelican

This amazing piece of stained glass art was created by my campmate Q Phia Sherry, pictured on the left, as an award to Lucius Aurelius Valharic. He was being elevated into the Order of the Pelican. As per the SCA website, "Members of the Order of the Pelican are recognized for great service to their kingdom or to the Society as a whole, usually for many years and without thought of reward. They are chosen by the Crown in consultation with the Order. They are addressed as "Master" (name) or "Mistress" (name). Their insignia is a "pelican in her piety," a pelican piercing her breast to feed her young with her own blood."

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The Right Place

It was such a rewarding experience for me as an artist to be camped with other artists. Some of them I've worked with in the past. Camping in with a group that tries to not just "whoop it up," but actually puts on a real show makes for a very easy life for me. All I need do is wait and watch everything unfold. It's as if I live in the set of my imagination. The exchange of creative energy is pure, powerful and very sensual. So many times while having conversations, or photographing something I would physically feel a rush that made the hair on my arms stand up.

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Waiting

The thing about camping at Pennsic War for me is that it gave me a chance to really relax and just be me. I occurred to me at one point that I probably bother a few people. I don't play out a fictional "persona." I'm just the same me in all the settings. When I would talk to people it wasn't to the character they were trying to portray, but to the person. My photography was the same approach. I didn't run around, trying to find the best thing to photograph. I didn't look at Pennsic with an eye as to what it was trying to portray. Instead I shot it the way I saw it, when I saw it, and most importantly, when I felt like shooting. I tried to set up a number of special sessions, and then waited to see which of the many ideas would come back to me. A lot of my time was spent just sitting around camp, waiting for those moments to come. Honestly, being down by the lake wasn't so bad.

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An August Sunset Welcomes Us Home

After a nearly eleven hour drive from our house in Wisconsin we found ourselves HOME. I love this lake, and our first night home the sky gave me a little show. I cannot even begin to try to calculate how many sunsets I've seen from this vantage point.

#morainestatepark #lakearthur #naturalpennsylvania #wildernessculture #outdoorlife #getoutside #liveoutdoors #getoutstayout #getoutthere #naturelover #lifeoutdoors #optoutside #loveoutdoors #outdoorsy #outdoors #nature_perfection #scenicpa #travelpa #explorepa #theoutbound #ventureout #in2nature #thegreatoutdoors #naturewalk #getoutdoors

Pennsic War XLVI

So I ended up going to Pennsic War 46. While I was onsite during of the 2 weeks of the event, I mainly spent time running around visiting my immediate family. It was a whirlwind trip, and at first it was a bit disorienting. One minute I'd be somewhere in "Time." The next I'd be with those whom I don't spend enough time with. It was all amazing though. As I write this my mind is flogged from the over 12 hour drive home (yay for road construction on 80 west!). I just needed to process and post ONE photo. It's not the best of them. I will need time to sort and review everything. I shot this as I was walking around the lake on a clear summer night. The moon was shining brightly having been totally full the night before. I began with this photo location, which is way at one end of the event grounds, and I meandered all the way to the "Castle" at nearly the other end. I can't wait to share the really good ones!

#Pennsic #Pennsicwar #Pennsicwar46 #Pennsic46 #sca #reenachtment #medieval #medievalreenactment #societyofcreativeanachronism #archery #viking #camp