January 29, 2018 – Day 91 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Headed south – I’ve photographed his sign before in Robards before, but till today I never really thought of including a train passing in the background, even though the they pass there all the time. Well, today it came to mind as I was waiting for a southbound CSX local and here’s the picture!! Always keep you eye out for different and unusual angles and things to include to help make your pictures stronger! One of my mentors in life told me that “If it doesn’t contribute to what you want to say in your picture then don’t include it!” Change your angle, get higher or lower, what ever it takes to shoot the picture the way you want!

January 28, 2018 – Day 90 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Manners – All my older 4-6 year-old nieces and nephews all like holding doors open for people, either out in public or even at their homes. Here my niece Elaina and nephew Jayden wait patiently for me and the rest of the family to exit the restaurant. When photographing the kids in your life, be sure to include the little things!!

January 27, 2018 – Day 89 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Light – Went to see the new movie, 12 Strong, (great by the way) and found this light just screaming to be my black and white photo for the day! I already had a couple other options on my camera roll, but this guy took the prize! Right shape for a square photo and the right amount of light for a good photograph, plus the added bonus of a frame within a frame! Always keep your eyes open as you never know where your next picture will come from!!!

January 26, 2018 – Day 88 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Family – This is a photo of my niece Tracy surrounded by her four kids I shot today, after I dropped of my nephew Jayden from school. Well, actually, Tracy is my great-niece and the kids are my great-greats! Isn’t that great?? LOL When photographing a young family group sometimes you just have to go with the flow and let the little kids be kids in your pictures!! I love the chaos that is in this here with the kids making faces and having fun, it makes for great memories!

January 24, 2018 – Day 87A & B – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – 100 Days – Today I can’t make up my mind which picture I like the best! My nephews Damion and Jayden dressed up as 100 year-old men to celebrate the 100th day of school! I couldn’t resist getting them together after school for a few pictures this afternoon and these are my two-favorite black and whites!! They both can be a bit of a ham sometimes, but then again, I’ve been photographing them since they were born! Also, they both are Shutterbugs themselves! So, which one gets your vote?? Shutterbug Damion is on the Left and Shutterbug Jayden on the right.! You can find them both on Facebook and Instagram!

January 24, 2018 – Day 86 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Phoropter – Anyone who’s had an eye checkup has seen this contraption! It’s commonly called a “Phoropter.” I had my annual eye checkup yesterday and grabbed this interesting shot of the front of the device they use! While I’ve heard of blind photographers before, it’s always best to take very good care of your eyesight if you are a photographer!

January 22, 2018 – Day 84 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Shapes – This afternoon I was waiting for two of my nephews and a niece to finish up choir practice at church and decided to wander around and see if I could find a picture for the day. I decided on the stairwell that connects the church to the educational/gym wing of the church and liked this view but felt something was missing until the 3-year-olds headed down from practicing in the sanctuary and I knew my picture was in the bag, so to speak! The human element in your photo can really make the picture more interesting and also give scale to your photo. Sometimes you must wait for it to happen however! When you find an interesting picture that just needs something else like a human element, just wait! Or revisit the scene! It will happen!

January 21, 2018 – Day 83 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Elaina – Sometimes you won’t get tack sharp photos of kids, because they like to move!!! That’s alright though, sometimes capturing the moment, expression and mood can be more important! Here Elaina keep moving around as I was shooting this portrait with my iPhone 7 Plus. We were indoors, and I knew the shutter speed on the iPhone would probably be on the low side, so I kept rotating the camera in the direction she was swaying in, and shooting photos while doing so. This is my favorite photo from the shoot. Think outside the box and try different things when shooting! You may be surprised with what you come up with!

January 20, 2018 – Day 82 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – The Demise of Frosty – Today’s photo is all that remains of my niece Elaina’s snowman! I think she went a bit overboard on the carrots! Always keep your eye open for different and unusual photos as they are all around you!

January 19, 2018 – Day 81 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Shopping – Elaina pushes the family shopping cart as her brother Damion heads down the frozen food isle. Photographs are everywhere you go and with today’s iPhones or other smart phones you’re able to shoot good quality photographs in places you never could before. If you tried doing this in a major grocery store with a digital SLR camera, there’s a good chance you’d be escorted from the store!

January 18, 2018 – Day 80 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Pouting – When photographing the kids in your life, don’t just include the funny, happy, smiling photos! Kids pout also and get mad! Record all the emotions and you’ll be happy you did down the road in life! Here, our princess Elaina was not happy with not getting her way and, so she did a bit of pouting! Lasted about 3 minutes!!!

January 14, 2018 – Day 76 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Going Down – I used the burst mode on my iPhone 7 Plus to capture this shot of a snowboarder going down today at Mahr Park in Madisonville, Ky. Burst mode on your smartphone is a great feature to use when you’re photographing fast moving action!

January 13, 2018 – Day 75 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Ties and Trees – This stack of railroad ties with the row of interesting trees in the background make for an interesting photograph! When out, always keep an eye out for things that make for good contrasting scenes!! I got the extra width in this photo by taking the picture while I was in video mode with the camera! That’s what that little silver button is for!!!

January 12, 2018 – Day 74 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Powder Ball!!- Damion hits me with what should have been a snowball, but ended up as a powder ball instead! It was a first snowfall of the season and it was a bit of a dry snowfall. Didn’t deter him however!!! Kids and snow always make for good pictures! Keep your iPhone handy!!

January 11, 2018 – Day 73 -iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Cookie!!! – Journey is one of our resident Cookie Monsters!!! I caught her here with a mouth full and two waiting in the hand!! Photographing kids doing the things they love is always a good bet for a nice picture!

January 10, 2018 – Day 72 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Plane – Just something about this old airplane that keeps drawing me back to photograph it. It’s in the Air Park at Ft. Campbell, Ky along with several other displays. After spending 24 years in the Air Force I’d think my infatuation with Air Planes would have waned by now, but then it’s been even longer with trains! Photograph the things you love in life!! #iphone7plus

January 9, 2018 – Day 71 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Patterns – Patterns can help make a photograph much more interesting! Be it by repeating, such as the two chairs in this shot, or by all the river gravel on the ground, producing their own interesting patterns.

January 8, 2018 – Day 70 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Monday Pickup – Monday is my day to pick up my nephew Damion from school and take him to his karate and choir practices. When photographing kids or any family members for that matter, always remember to include the things that they do and love in their lives! Your iPhone allows you to do just that!

January 7, 2018 – Day 69 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Sunday Seekers – Grandma Jeanne heads into church with Elaina and Damion as I and mamaw bring up the rear this morning. A good picture doesn’t always have to show the faces of your subjects!!! Pay attention to body language and other things that can help add impact to a going away picture when you’re shooting one!

January 6, 2018 – Day 68 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Night Mamaw – Damion gives his mamaw a hug before heading off to bed for the night. Nighttime routines can provide for some really nice moments for photographing the little ones in your family. It’s one of the things I like about the iPhone, it’s handy and right there with me! Keep yours close and be ready for those moments in your own family!!