The Lunar Eclipse

Did you see the Lunar Eclipse the other night. I sure did. It was very, very cool indeed. It was little extra spice in the night sky. A little salt and pepper where it was once rather bland. A bit of extra light on a normally mundane subject.
I set myself up out on a dock near a couple old rickety shrimp boats down in Bluffton, South Carolina. I set up my tripod, put in some 100 speed Fuji Velvia film into my Nikon FM2 body and pointed my telephoto lens to the stars or to the moon to be more exact, and took my first image. I then clicked an image every five minutes until the show was over. Its always a long shot with long exposures but all one can do is hope, is rely on your years of previous long exposure experience and the sometimes dissapointing results in the darkroom, and hope that you got the exposure you wanted. Time will tell. But, it was very cool indeed. At one point the moon turned bright red and all the wispy clouds that misted around its circular glow were suddenly bathed in a reddish hue. I think the moon was blushing because of all the sudden attention it was receiving from the stargazers on Earth. Sorry, no images yet...

Northeast Kingdom Music Festival

For the previous two years I have worked as the house photographer for the Northeast Kingdom Music Festival in East Albany, Vermont. It is a three day music and arts festival that features rock and roll from around the world. The producer of the event, Ed Dufresne does an incredible job of putting together an eclectic musical lineup that is sure to please a wide range of listeners appetites. Everything from bluegrass to hip-hop to hard rock to soul can be heard. The stage, lighting and production is top of the line. This is not your backyard bbq/music shindig by any means. It is a full-on rock and roll festival and it attracts a lot of great people who come out to dance, hear new bands, meet up with old friends and toss back a few beers. I put together a short slideshow with some of the images from this past summer. check it out.
Thanks for reading about my photography. I am looking foreword to some great beach portraits on Hilton head island. Call me or visit my website to book your beach portrait on Hilton Head.
Daniel Straine.

Poi Dog Pondering

So, sometimes I wonder how I ended up living in the southeast and then I remind myself of how it is because I was offered an amazing job here that I could not refuse. That was actually sort of a strange delivery on a blog post that has nothing to do with the subject of the blog which is, as far as I am concerned, probably one of the greatest bands to ever live. Then again, perhaps it is right on. You see, Poi Dog Pondering probably never dreamed they would end up in Chicago when they left their native Hawaii years ago, but yet they are now a huge part of the Chicago music scene.
Occasionally, I get into conversations with people about music and of course the old question of who is your favorite band comes up and almost always for me, it is between Phish, the Pixies and Poi Dog Pondering.
Poi Dog Pondering is an amazing band. Every album they have ever put out is different than the last. They are progressive. They are creative and they more than perhaps anything else they possess a passion for what they do that is grounded in soul and raw talent. Check them out at their website and also check out the YouTube Video I have posted here.
Cool. That is it. Check out Poi Dog Pondering. You will be glad you did. If you are looking for a good album to get started with make sure to check out "Wishing Like a Mountain and Dreaming Like the Sea."