Potential Christmas 2011 Cards!

I ventured out early Monday morning to catch the sun coming up after a day of snowfall on Sunday...the day after Christmas. Not many cars ventured out due to the ice and I decided to walk from my house. Of course I slipped right away not 50 feet from my front door, but no damage fortunately. Leaving before 7am, I walked for 6 miles stopping at the Capital to revisit various photographs I had done earlier. A little more interesting with snow on the ground. It was probably not a good idea to wear my old snow boots, and as a result suffered a bad blister after about 2 miles. However, I now have several photographs that might be possible specialty Christmas cards next year.

Winter Snow hits Raleigh at Christmas!

More cards for next years Christmas season. This week was a great opportunity to pull together an entire Christmas set for next year when 6-8 inches of snow dumped on us the day after Christmas. Probably as close to a white Christmas as we're ever going to get. However, it was beautiful just the same.

This morning I ventured out albeit a tad late, but didn't want to kill myself on the ice. Immediately fell down crossing the street in front of my house. Probably made me more careful... and ended up walking all the way to Memorial Auditorium and back. It was a little cold and I hadn't worn my boots in a while, so I developed a painful blister. Consequently I was determined to get some good photographs. This is just a sampling, but my favorite is probably of the bike in front of my garage when I got back.

Raleigh Greeting Cards

I've created two boxed sets of greeting cards from my latest work around town. If you are looking for a nice gift to give at the holidays, this might be a good alternative. Each individually wrapped card is 4-3/4"x6-1/2" and printed on matt surface art papers. Each box of 8 cards is $24.00 plus tax. Pretty good deal for art cards.

If you would like to buy a set, click on the links below.

Tree Cards: As a board member for Trees Across Raleigh, I have spent more time lately looking at the trees in our environment. Raleigh in the fall is every bit as beautiful as any mountain town.

City Cards: Raleigh has been my hometown now for over 40 years. I thought it was high time for me to start photographing it again.

Fine Art Prints: Please also check out our fine art prints that are currently on sale for $125.00 down from $225.00 until January 1st. We also have been selling large canvas prints which look incredible. I'm currently printing to order, but hopefully I'll be doing a show in 2011.

Tree Study

Two additional tree studies now added to the collection. Please visit http://www.simong.com/artprints for more information! 13x17 prints on sale until January.

Extra Large Canvas Prints

First and second in the series, but these are the ones that we are going to offer as 72" wide canvas prints.

For more information about buying fine art prints from our collection, please visit our ecommerce site at http://www.simong.com/index.cfm

Night on the town

I went downtown on Friday night to see the Portraits of Raleigh show at the Raleigh City Museum. Got down there a little early and revisited the view of the capital that I've now done several times.

If you are interested in buying art prints from our collection, please visit our ecommerce site at http://www.simong.com/index.cfm

Limited Edition Print

One of my favorites from the skyline series, I'm following the lead of a friend of mine... Steve Payne, a great photographer in Charleston, WV and offering this photograph as a limited edition framed print. I might have to do two.

Raleigh Sunrise Panorama

At 6:55am, the sun was slightly below the horizon and he sky was an incredible mix of reds, yellows, and orange. Unfortunately, I was dropping my daughter off at school, so I arrived here at 7:10am missing the perfect time. However, we can't always be on location at the exact time you want, so you make the best of what you do see.

This picture is available at

http://www.simong.com/newwork

Also please check out the rest the collection available for sale this Christmas.

http://www.simong.com/index.cfm

©2010 Simon Griffiths Photography

Art Prints Now available online!

Http://www.simong.com/index.cfm

After many requests for prints from my collection of recent images, I finally have them loaded onto my e-commerce site for easy browsing and purchasing. Just click on the above link to take you to the site directly.

If you see something you like and want something different than what is listed, just use the "remember this" feature and email me with your specific interest. In addition to my smaller 11x17 prints, I have also featured a selection of popular photographs as large canvas prints. When I say large, I mean 40" on a side. Really dramatic and great conversation pieces. They have been very popular at auctions. I'm still loading images, but many of the Raleigh Fall series have been posted. Orders received by December 15th will be delivered by Christmas, but please don't wait too long. 10% of all orders will be donated to my MS Bike tour next year...AND if you buy any two prints, you'll receive a third print absolutely free. (3 for the price of 2!) Great way to assemble a wall.

Please call me if you have any questions: 919.201.2381

Just like my daughter!

Ok...so it's a little over dramatic. I was just having fun this morning, so no commentary about my use of this or that effects. It's just what it is...a dramatic interpretation of the Raleigh skyline when there was a pretty cool sky.

I'm in a fog this morning!

Continuing fall color series

Continuing my series of photographs depicting the fall color of Raleigh, I decided to head down into Oakwood and go throught the Oakwood cemetary. I've always enjoyed cemeteries. Oakwood is incredibly beautiful and peaceful. Appropriate I guess. I always learn something new when I go through there. This morning I learned that a 24 year old navel officer by the name of Worth Bagley was the first officer killed in the Spanish-American war and the only line officer of the navy killed in the war. He was born in Raleigh. A very large monument was erected in his honor and even though it's over 100 years old, his image is still very clear. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worth_Bagley

I photographed the corner store on the way home.

Morning greenway ride.

Garden Shed

Putting together images for a possible Five Points calendar, I started working with this shot that I made while going for a walk around the block. It very quickly became one of my favorites from this week of shooting.

Raleigh at dusk

Morning Ride

This time of year is one of the most dramatic displays of color in North Carolina. The last few mornings, I've taken my camera along with me as I do my morning ride. Now that the time has changed, the sun is up early enough that I can get my ride finished by 9am....that is as long as I don't stop too often. This week there have been a lot of stops along the way. Fletcher Park, Fallon Park, NC State, Hillsborough Street, and my neighbor's maple tree provided a nice addition to the fall color portfolio. I only rode about 10 miles today, but it was a workout. :)

The Law Firm

Every once in a while you get to shoot portraits for a law firm that are a little different. Working in a hallway between adjacent offices, I pulled out one of my bag of tricks during the days of shooting film. (That seems like such a long time ago!)

Downtown Raleigh

The clouds were great this morning with the sun peaking through at various times. I was done by 8am and back at the house, but was able to capture some more of the fall color. Only a few more days before it will all be a memory.

What's the matter with shooting the neighborhood?

Raleigh has some of the most beautiful fall color, and due to the dry summer and then early rain in the fall, some of the trees are wonderful this year. I decided that I needed to start shooting more around the city. As a board member of Trees Across Raleigh and a frequent visitor to the Raleigh City Museum, I think I have somewhat of an obligation to document Raleigh as much as any other place that I might visit. Photographers tend to show work from their travels as opposed to their local environment, yet our neighborhood is where we are most knowledgeable. This weekend, I did something I hadn't done in a while and that is carry a regular camera with me where ever I went as opposed to the iPhone. As a result, I think I was a little more inspired although I did work at it. The dog in the window, however was just slightly more than a grab shot. I was passing down Boylan Ave. after the Old Reliable Run in downtown. The police wouldn't let me go where I wanted to go, so I was forced to circumnavigate the downtown area. I was stopped at a light and saw the dog looking through the window, no doubt looking for his master. I grabbed a quick shot first, then went to park the car. He/She was still peering through the window when I got back there and was able to get several shots off. It was a classic moment and made my day.