Well, today, 6/16/2012, is officially the 18th anniversary of my 29th birthday!!  Hard to believe that the years fly by so quickly.  I sound like an Old Man when I talk like this, but I can remember $0.45/gallon gas prices, and $0.45/pack cigarette prices.  I also remember going to a move theater and getting out for under $10.  Try THAT one now

Today, I think I'll take a couple of minutes to discuss my most popular print by far.... the "Granville County Courthouse In The Snow."  

Granville County Courthouse In The Snow This shot was taken in the early morning hours of March, 2009 during a late-season snowfall.  The most prominent building is, of course, the Granville County Courthouse.  Located in Oxford, NC, it is one of the oldest courthouses in North Carolina and is still an active facility, holding court sessions for both civil and criminal cases in two separate courtrooms.  It also houses the Register of Deeds office and the Clerk of Courts as well as District Attorneys and Judges.

The view presented here is looking down Main St....and yes, those tracks in the snow are from my vehicle.  To the untrained eye (Haha!) there would appear to be something unusual about this photograph....and the untrained eye would be correct!  This is a technique known as Selective Color.  It's basically a digital painting, where only certain things are in color and everything else is black and white.  But you figured that one out..right??  The technique is used to add artistic value to an image as well as to emphasize the primary focus...here, the Courthouse.

I often get asked how I did this, and my answer is always...."Lots of coffee and lots of time."  All total, there are probably a little over 100 hours of editing time put into this image.  Once the photo was converted to black and white, and all the blacks and whites and grays were adjusted, I then had to go back into the image and digitally re-paint each brick of the courthouse back to its original color...(side note here....black and white images are actually many, many shades of gray.  Once an image is converted to black and white, there are several level adjustments that must be made to get it to look like the artist wants it to!)  I must admit, it was quite challenging at times and I almost gave up on it, but I was VERY happy with the final result!!  And apparently many of you are too, as this has been my most popular selling print.  Thanks to everyone who purchased this print!!!  I sincerely hope that you are enjoying it!!  And for those of you who have not bought one yet, I'll be happy to print one for ya!!!  ;-)

Well, I'll sign off for now.  Got birthday stuff to do, and more photos to capture!!  As always, thanks for all your support!!  

Doug