According to the TSA, photographers are terrorists now. People already look at me a little bit funny when I’m carrying around a big camera and lens and snapping photos, but now I have to worry about being tabbed as a domestic terrorist too. I don’t want to come across as overly sensitive, but I think there are far better things to put on this poster…maybe someone making a fake ID or duplicating a passport, for example. The fact of the matter is, a lot of people enjoy aviation photography that may now be subject to even more scrutiny than before. What does this now mean for the sky deck at RDU (Raleigh Durham Airport) where the sole purpose of its existence is so that people can watch the planes leave the runways and (heaven forbid) snap some photos? 

I think the lesson here is this: don’t wear hoodies and take photos outside of fences in plain sight while abiding all rules.

On Wednesday evening, with Hurricane Earl out at sea, I had a real estate shoot scheduled at Salter Path, NC. After I was done with the house, I climbed out on the dunes to get a shot of the sunset. You could already see the effects of the hurricane on the clouds in the upper atmosphere as they seemed to be gently wisping away from the storm.

On Thursday morning, I decided to head over to the beach once again with a friend and shoot the surf conditions. Things were incredibly different than they were the night before. The waves were treacherous and the sky looked like armageddon could begin at any moment. We drove all over the island and shot at Emerald Isle, the Sheraton Pier at Pine Knoll Shores and at the Oceanana Pier at Atlantic Beach. Conditions continued to deteriorate considerably as the afternoon wore on and at around 2:00pm we decided to head back to the mainland since mandatory evacuations of the island were ongoing.

Lucky for us all, Earl began to lose momentum as it neared the coast and took a Northern turn which spared us of much damage. Here in New Bern, all I am aware of happening is a little wind and rain showers through the night. I saw some large branches down in the morning, but nothing further than that.

This morning at Union Point Park in New Bern, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise as the sun burned through the last remnants of Hurricane Earl. All-in-all, we really lucked out by being spared by a HUGE storm that at one point looked like it could hit us straight on. Everyone prepared for the worst and hoped for the best and this time, the best came through!

All photos ©2010 Zach Frailey, Uprooted Photographer. Do not use without permission.

In the process of house shopping, I have come to see that most of the homes out there for sale just have very sub-par photography. In my opinion, the photos on the MLS are the things that will get potential buyers into the house in the first place. That is what gave me the idea to launch ‘HDR for Real Estate’ through my Uprooted Photographer business. Personally, when I saw a house and the photos didn’t do it justice, we didn’t pursue it. With lower priced houses, the photos may not make too too much of a difference. But when a seller is listing a home for a million dollars, the photos need to be million dollar quality. Overlooking this fact may cost the seller dozens of offers and thousands of dollars in the end.

I had the opportunity to shoot a million dollar home on Harkers Island, NC last week. The house and setting were beautiful. This was my first home and I was very pleased with the results.

For more info or for booking for your property, email me at zach@uprootedphotographer.com or drop me a line on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/uprootedphotographer). You can also see the complete set of images from the shoot on the FB page.

Everyone that follows me and sees my work knows that I seem to concentrate on very wide angle landscape HDR images. And I agree, that is my specialty. However, I took a trip to Chincoteague and Assateague island a week ago and in processing my images have found that I must have spent a lot of time sneaking up on birds and animals! This type of thing isn’t what I normally do, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It gave me a chance to use my long zoom lens (which doesn’t get used nearly enough to justify me having it in my bag) and it is just plain fun to sneak around in the grass trying to get the shot of a White Egret stalking its prey.

I previously posted these pictures on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/uprootedphotographer), but they look much better when viewed large. All of these critters were photographed at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. It really makes me want to take up bird watching…maybe.

All photos ©2010 Zach Frailey

Visit www.facebook.com/uprootedphotographer to connect.

Each and every summer, my family takes two weeks to go on vacation on Chincoteague Island, Va. I’ve grown up and moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, but this summer my wife and I decided to take the trip to Chincoteague to stay with them for a few days. Ashley and I have gone before, in fact the island is where I proposed to her two years ago and we visited last summer a few weeks before our wedding. This summer was a little different though. Now living in North Carolina, we were very pleasantly surprised to see that it was only about a four hour drive to reach Chincoteague (vs. the eight or nine hour trip from western PA). This great fact aside, we still were unsure of whether we would be able to go. We had already traveled great distances this summer, but in the end decided that we had a great opportunity to visit a place we loved with my family on our First Anniversary weekend, so we did it.

Chincoteague is a great place. I can’t recommend it enough. It has gone through its fair share of changes over the years (I still vividly remember the sand dunes, visitor’s center and bath houses that have since been leveled by hurricanes), but it still maintains its small-town relaxing vibe. We had no problem waking up at 7:00 am every day and taking a bike ride around town for a few hours. It is that relaxing.

We had a great time on our trip. My family seemed very happy that we were able to come and I am very grateful to have a family that takes a trip and is more than willing to let us stay with them and feed us while we’re there. Not to mention, I’m sure my little brother was extremely happy to have someone there other than mom and dad :)

I can’t conclude this post without sharing a story about our last day at the beach. The water was rough and the tide was coming in. A large wave washed up over our chairs, and out of fear of my camera getting wet, I decided to take it and some other stuff to the car. When I came back, there were over a dozen people on their hands and knees sifting the sand where we had been sitting. Confused, I asked what was going on. My wife’s wedding and engagement rings had been washed off her chair in the wave. At the time the wave came up, she was applying sunscreen and momentarily took them off. Through bad luck and bad timing the wave decided to encroach upon us at that time. Initially I thought to myself there is no way that we are finding those rings, they could be anywhere. More and more people joined in to help. The search continued and everyone was on edge waiting for the next big flood of water to come up. If that happened, we were sure there would be no hope for the rings. Suddenly, someone stood up and said “Is this it?” They had found the wedding band! Incredible! The search continued and shortly after finding the first ring, someone found the engagement ring. I couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t like searching for two needles in a really, really big haystack. So many people pitched in to help too. We are incredibly thankful that everyone helped out and feel very lucky indeed. Wouldn’t it have been ironic that the place where I gave her the ring was the place that it was forever lost? And on our one year anniversary? Sheesh, what a day!

This is the old drawbridge crossing onto Chincoteague Island, Va. It has recently been replaced by a 3/4 mile bridge/drawbridge just down the shore. My family and I crossed over this bridge every summer since I was a new born on our way to vacation and I am sad to see it go. I just returned from this summer’s visit to the island and am pretty sure this is my last time seeing its rusting steel mass. It is scheduled to be dismantled, lowered onto a barge and taken away soon.

(Prints of this photo are available now! Click the Order Prints button to the right to be redirected to me order page.)

©2010 Zach Frailey

Project NC Coast is now Live!

This has been a very exciting time for me lately. If you recall just a few days ago, my new website went live. Now I am proud to announce that my Project NC Coast work has gone live as well! If you have read through my blog in the past, you know that I have been working on a personal project to help raise awareness of the natural splendor of the Eastern North Carolina beaches. A new site has now been launched in conjunction with Kickstarter.com which allows backers to donate funding to the project! This is a great thing because it will allow me to off set travel costs and printing costs for the eventual book that I will be releasing with the photos I take.

If you click on the above photo, you will be redirected to the funding page. I have listed some “thank you” rewards for your help. Also, if the total funding amount isn’t reached, no one is charged. It is a great service for a great cause. Please help me reach my goal so that I can continue this project. Every contribution is greatly appreciated!

I’ve been quite busy lately with a lot of things that come up in life. For that reason, I haven’t been able to get out for the sole purpose of shooting very much this summer. After another busy day, I looked out the window to notice that the sun was setting and it was such a clear, cool evening that I had to grab my gear and run down to the river. I caught this “Painted Sky” just after the sun receded behind the trees along the Neuse River in New Bern, North Carolina. Some times it doesn’t take a whole planned out day to get a great shot, sometimes it can be a spur-of-the-moment, grab your gear and run kind of time.

I hope you like the new look of my blog page. I have also added a brand new “Prints” section. You can click the button to the right to be redirected to uprootedphotographer.com/prints. This photo is now available for order over there. I appreciate you taking a look! 

“Painted Sky”

New Bern, North Carolina

©2010 Zach Frailey

The main site has been redesigned in addition to a brand spankin’ new Print section! To view the newest addition to UprootedPhotographer.com, just click the “Order Prints” button on the right hand side of the page. You will be redirected to my print order/online gallery page!

A Froggy Heaven

Lilly pad bed in Yellow Creek State Park, Pennsylvania

©2010 Zach Frailey