John Batdorff Photography

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Door County, Wisconsin

July 3, 2017 by John Batdorff 5 Comments

While over the past 17 years Staci and I have called Chicago home, I spent most of my life in rural Michigan where we both grew up. I've prided myself on always embracing my small town roots but recently it was brought to my attention (thanks to Staci) that I was becoming soft and a bit citified.  She's not entirely wrong. There are few creature comforts that I find myself craving on a regular basis, including a good cup of strong coffee, a robust cell signal, and on occasion one of those fancy-schmancy bakery cupcakes. But still I wanted to prove her at least a little wrong and show her that there's still a rough and tumble country boy underneath all those boutique cupcakes. So we set out for a quick camping trip to beautiful northern Wisconsin to visit the famous Door County.

Like all well-intended camping trips where you dream of open blue skies and brisk fresh air, it rained the entire time. But we made the most of it and I found myself gravitating toward the things I loved photographing in Northern Michigan. Door County is very similar to Northern Michigan, but without a quickly growing town like Traverse City there seemed to be fewer people and less tourism on the western side of the lake.

pop up camper, a liner camper, aliner camper, camping, dog camping, camping, peninsula state park, wisconsin camping

My two grey-haired girls in our Aliner camper. 🙂

 

blue fountain, blue flowers, forget me nots, camping, campsite, door county camping, spring camping, wisconsin camping, peninsula state park

Beautiful blue flowers in bloom near our campsite's fresh water source.

 

Ephraim's historic Anderson Dock

 

graffiti, door county boat house, graffiti door county, graffiti barn, graffiti building, wisconsin graffiti

Graffiti up close.

 

rusty truck, old truck, blue truck, tuquoise truck, teal truck, door county truck, dairy truck

An old dairy vehicle parked alongside the road.

 

Gus Klenke Garage in color

I rarely do this but I loved this location so much I decided to shoot in both color and  black and white. I shot the black and white versions with a slightly wider angle lens.

old garage, auto garage, black and white, old truck, door county wisconsin

Gus Klenke Garage in black and white.

Where I grew up many of the views are populated with abandoned farm houses from a time long gone. I've always found solace in photographing these farms and imagining how much it strength it took to survive, let alone thrive. My guess is they weren't spoiled by $6.00 cupcakes.

farmhouse, black and white farmhouse, door county farmhouse, wisconsin farmhouse

Door County farm house

 

old door, farmhouse door, farmhouse porch

And old farmhouse door in Door County.

 

old farm house, door county farm house, door county wisconsin

 

Gil's Rock, door county, door county wisconsin

The Faith II at Gil's Rock

 

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A real drive in theater. We didn't have time on this trip, but next time for sure!

 

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The famous winding road of Door County.

 

old barn, wisonsin barn, dairy barn, silo, ford truck, old ford truck

Not to be missed, but the famous Ford Truck sticking out of the garage along highway 42

The quick road trip was an amazing time even given the bad weather. It actually provided some nice active skies and a bit of a moodiness for my photography. I'm not sure I'll give up my creature comforts any time soon, but the trip was a nice reprieve from our daily lives and allowed us to break away from the minutia and spend some quality time chatting, laughing, photographing, and connecting with the wonderful people of Door County. Next time we go I'm told not to miss the fish boil at the old Post Office. We'll be going back for sure.

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Filed Under: General, Travel Tagged With: black and white, camping, travel photography

Beatty, NV: The Authentic American West

November 18, 2013 by John Batdorff 2 Comments

Desert Inn in Beatty, Nevada Death Valley Photo Workshop

Desert Inn in Beatty Nevada

The sand is finally out of my shoes, my is gear unpacked, and I’m just starting to process a few of the images from our recent Death Valley workshop. We began our journey with a brief stop in Beatty, a small gateway community to the entrance of Death Valley National Park.  We stopped in Beatty after our driver noticed a small object in one of our tires, so we thought it would be best to get it inspected. When we do these workshops I’m all about redundancies, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Death Valley, it's that it eats tires like I eat donuts: fast and messy.

Jame's Beatty Nevada Tire Shop in Nevada

“Nascar James,” our go-to tire guy

We drove to the local tire store where we met up with James, the store owner.  I had never met James before, but I’m a pretty good judge of character and his straight-shooting, honest demeanor, coupled with Nascar pit skills made me instantly trust that he knew what he was doing.

Beatty Flea Market, Death Valley Photography Workshop

Beatty Flea Market, Nevada

While James looked over our tires, we ventured out and photographed the surrounding area.  A few of us walked over to the local flea market where we met John, the owner. John was a character and when I asked him if James knew his stuff, John simply replied, “James is the only tire shop within 30 miles, so not only does that make him good….that makes him the best!” We all had a good chuckle and tended to agree with John’s pointed, and accurate assessment of the situation.  I picked up a knife from the table and asked John, “how much would this Buck-knife cost?” That’s where the schooling began, as I was educated on the finer details of how any ol’ knife isn’t a Buck-knife. Upon leaving John’s flea market I became yet another victim to his shrewd negotiating skills and marketing prowess as I found my wallet $30.00 lighter, but reassured my new knife would cost $65.00 anywhere else. I don’t know if it was the desert heat, or if I’m a sucker for a flea market, but my buyer’s remorse slowly faded as I found footholds in a story that I was sure to tell for some time to come.

John owner of Beatty's flea market

John, owner of Beatty's flea market and knife aficionado

Small towns like Beatty have a history sewn together with hard working people trying to make a living, a few characters here and there, and possibly an outlaw or two 🙂   It’s this grit that makes Beatty part of what we've come to know as the fabric of the Great American West. And lucky for me, it seemed as authentic as ever.

Filed Under: Travel, Workshops & Classes Tagged With: black and white, Death Valley

Montana Storms in Monochrome

July 8, 2013 by John Batdorff 2 Comments

Madison Valley hailstorm

Madison Valley hailstorm

We arrived safe and sound in Montana after two days on the road with a car full of dogs and two giggling girls. I love road trips, but after 1500 miles I was ready to put my feet on solid ground or up on a cozy couch. Within days of arriving at the cabin, we had an amazing storm roll in. I had forgotten how spectacular thunderstorms are in the mountains.  There’s something about watching a large storm develop from miles away as two fronts collide working themselves over the mountains… it’s simply stunning.

Storm fronts collide

Storm fronts collide

The clouds were dark and heavy with hail as we later found out. It seemed fitting to process the images in black and white given the setting was so ominous.

Madison Valley Storm

Madison Valley Storm

Montana Rainbow

Montana Rainbow

More to come…
Very best, John

Filed Under: General Tagged With: black and white, montana

Signature Series Black and White Lightroom Presets

April 26, 2013 by John Batdorff 5 Comments

I’m excited to announce my Lightroom presets specifically designed for the black and white photography lover. My Signature Series is a set of 26 effects that have been designed from scratch, tested, and carefully curated by yours truly. I’ve always been a huge fan of presets as a starting point, and on rare occasions, they have been a “one click solution.” This series includes all my favorite effects that I use on a regular basis.

collage-2

Below a sample of the “Soft Portrait” preset in action. Place your cursor over the image and slide the divider back and forth for a before and after preview. You can try out more presets and purchase the package on the new Lightroom Presets page or using the Purchase button below.

[beforeafter]massaiSoft-Portrait-(No-Auto-Exposure)[/beforeafter]

 

Here are the Signature Series highlights and disclaimers:

  1. There are a total of 26 presets and each is labeled with it’s own name. Some perform similar functions, but will have added information in the label distinguishing them from one another. For instance, there are two soft portrait presets; one preset uses an auto exposure and the other does not. I recommend trying both and then comparing your results.
  2. The presets were designed for Lightroom 4.4 and Lightroom 5.
  3. These are not one-click solutions and were not designed to solve every image problem. These presets were designed with a particular style or look in mind. More importantly, many of these presets are making a lot of adjustments in the background via the tone curve, graduated filters, exposure, sharpening, etc… So please take your time to get know them and feel free to tweak them to fit your creative goal.
  4. I like to think of the Signature Series as part of my family. Each preset has it’s own personality, and when coupled with the right image, it can be stunning. However, much like family members, sometimes personalities don’t mix and the image and the preset simply don’t mesh well together. Take time exploring your images and the presets to see which pairing works best for you and your creative goals. My hope is you’ll come to love these presets as much as I do and they too will become an essential part of your processing family.
  5. Most importantly: If you use one of my presets please tag me on Facebook, Google Plus, or even Twitter. I’ll select someone’s photo in the coming months and post it here on my blog with your permission.

I love this series of presets and built them specifically for my needs, but I’m happy to share them with you. It’s my hope you come to enjoy them as much as I have over the years.  All 26 presets are being sold for  $8.50

Purchase
I have put together a quick tutorial on installing presets, but please feel free to drop me a note with any other questions.

Filed Under: Software & Technology Tagged With: Adobe Lightroom, black and white, Lightroom presets

Breaking Into Street Photography

February 28, 2013 by John Batdorff Leave a Comment

Four Seconds in Times Square

Four Seconds in Times Square

Grabbing your camera and taking photos of complete strangers can be downright awkward for most people. It’s pretty common to hear from budding street photographers about their concerns of being too shy or worrying about upsetting unwilling subjects. One of the best ways to build your confidence as a street photographer is to focus on approaching subjects who are already desensitized to us camera-wielding intruders. Great subjects include street performers, artists, street vendors,or people in a parade.

Central Park Street Artist

Central Park Street Artist

Another element of street photography is being in the present (aware of your surroundings) and being fast on the draw. When I first started out shooting, I think I missed more shots than I took simply because I wasn't prepared. The key to being ready for the action is having your camera readily accessible and your exposure settings dialed in. When it comes time to press the shutter button, the only thing you should be worrying about is composition and focus. If you have the luxury of time, then and only then, do you fiddle with exposure.

Presidents' Day at the Rockefeller Center in New York City

Presidents' Day at the Rockefeller Center in New York City

As you become more experienced and comfortable you’ll want to practice combining exposure compensation, framing and focusing in one fluid motion, but for now, just focus on getting the shot!

Filed Under: General Tagged With: black and white, how to, New York City, street photography

“Observations Abroad” show at the Rankin Art Gallery

January 31, 2013 by John Batdorff Leave a Comment

Promotional postcard design by Laura Pierson, 2009 Ferris State graduate

Promotional postcard design by Laura Pierson, 2009 Ferris State graduate

Join me at Ferris State University’s Rankin Art Gallery for, “Observations Abroad”, a collection of some of my favorite black and white images captured abroad. The gallery show will be on display for the entire month of February, with a special reception on February 13th from 6 to 8 p.m. The public is invited and I especially welcome you to join me at the reception where I’ll be giving a brief lecture on how I approach my work.

For all you Facebook junkies, I've made it easy to accept your invitation and share the event with your friends. There's an event!

I threw together a fun little clip to show how I spent last week preparing for the show:

All prints were made using my Epson 9900, coupled with my favorite archival paper Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308. Let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to seeing you there! People over 500 miles from Big Rapids, Michigan are excused. 🙂

Filed Under: General Tagged With: art show, black and white, postcard

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