May 2008

What a month. Was in Puerto Rico for a week and then the following week I was off to Nashville for my girlfriend's high school reunion. 11 hours of driving each way. Loads of fun.

The most important thing that happened this month has to be the arrival of the first ever LBI Photos notecards.

I unfortunately was not able to make it up to LBI for a new photoshoot in May, but there are new photos from April from LBI and from Sarasota, Florida.

April 2008

Busy, busy, busy. So busy in fact that I have neglected updating my blog or my website. There are many great things to come, so keep an eye out.

In addition to shots of LBI from April, there will also be shots taken in Sarasota, FL. Plus, notecards. Keep an eye out for my May/June blog/newsletter with all the details.

So, April. What happened? Well first off, the gallery opening in Baltimore was big success. Many people came out and I even sold a few pieces. Very cool.

For my birthday (April 23), my girlfriend and I visited Sarasota, FL for a week. It was fantastic. Warm weather and beautiful beaches. And some nice photos (they will be up on the site eventually, I promise).

No sooner did I get back from Florida and I was off to Puerto Rico on business. Didn't really get any website-worthy shots, but hope to get some on my next trip down.

March 2008

Now I know why it is called March Madness. It has absolutely nothing to do with basketball by the way.

This month was spent shooting photos in Puerto Rico and on Long Beach Island.

In addition to shooting some new shots, I also was preparing for my upcoming gallery opening in Baltimore.

This was my first trip to Puerto Rico. I was only there for a day, but what a beautiful place. The people were friendly, no passport was required, and the incredible town of old San Juan. Really enjoyed my very brief stay.

It also was one of my first forays(I did small shoot in Cape May last year too) into other beach places beyond LBI. Keep an eye out for distant shores in the coming years.

February 2008

Wow, what a month. A lot has happened.

You may notice some new buttons on my website.

NOTECARDS: Yup, I'm going to be producing notecards of some of my favorite shots. I'll be starting off with just four. But this section will grow with time. They'll be sold in box sets.

EVENTS: I actually now have events to talk about. The biggest is a gallery showing in Baltimore at Flip's/Angelfall Studios II. The opening is April 6, between 12pm and 3pm. The show will run from April 6 - May 3. Normal hours for the gallery are Monday through Sunday, 1pm-10pm.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: Every site needs one. Haven't had too many complaints, but you never know what can happen to a photo in the mail.

I shot a bunch of photos this month on LBI. You can see the latest additions in the February 2008 section of the website.

January 2008

You are probably reading this thinking you yourself, Kirk, what the dilly-o? Where are this month's LBI photos? If so, you might consider first speaking a different way(dilly-o?) and second, realize that I had every intention of doing the January photoshoot, today, January 26, 2008. Unfortunately, the cold that is going around decided it was my turn to be it's Motel 8. I'm hoping it plans to checkout soon. So unfortunately there are no new photos yet for 2008. But rest assured I will be shooting next month.

December 2007

You're probably asking yourself, what on earth does Cape May have to do with Long Beach Island? Well, I'll tell you... they um... well... okay. Not a lot other than they are both great beach retreats.

So why the photos? Well, after visiting my folks for Christmas, my girlfriend and I took the ferry from Lewes, DE to Cape May, NJ. She'd never been. We had a great day shooting, borrowing WiFi connects, and tooling around Cape May.

Next month it'll be business as usual back on LBI.

Check out this month's photoshoot.

November 2007

Two posts in one month? Unheard of! Yes, racecar fans and hotrodders, another post. This time to tell you to take a look on MySpace: www.myspace.com/lbiphotos and to do a search on Facebook for “W. Kirk Lutz”. I now have a branch of LBI Photos on each. With all these pages to update, I’m not leaving much time to shoot more photos.

November 2007

I really need to get my own place on LBI. Driving up and back in one day for these shoots is rough. 3 hours each way. But I managed to get up there in time to catch a great sunset.

In addition to this month's photoshoot, I also created my own flickr.com webpage (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lbiphotos). Check it out.

October 2007

Didn't get to the island till about 3pm which didn't give me much time to shoot. Sun sets much earlier this time of year. Managed to squeeze out some good shots.

Many of the places selling my work are open through Christmas, so if you are down looking for Christmas gifts, be sure to stop at:

Earth Sea and Sky
Swell Colors
How You Brewin'?

I'll be heading up in early November for my next shoot. Check out the latest photos by visiting the October section.

September 2007

"It's Better in September". Not sure if this old ad campaign rings with any of you, but it certainly is true. You can get from one end of the island to the other without burning an entire vacation day.

Shot a bunch more photos this month. Wasn't a stellar group, but did find some jewels among the debris. I especially like Another Sunny Day and Glowing Shell.

Check out the latest photos by visiting the September section.

August 2007

August on LBI, does life get any better? I submit that it does not. Beautiful weather, great friends, you just can't complain.

I visited some galleries I missed last time and now SwellColors in Haven Beach is showing some of my work. Thanks, Mary.

Also managed to visit with friends I haven't seen in a while. Thanks John & Sharon for your hospitality. We had a great time. Oh yeah, in between galleries and alcohol, I managed to shoot a few photos check out the August section.

July 2007

Well the day started out kinda fun. I fell out of the shower actually. Really, no kidding. Got some soap in my eyes, did a little turn, lost my balance, fell out of the shower and knocked the toilet off its seating. Ya gotta laugh. Or take the toilet knock off as a sign that it really is time to hit the gym.

Did my trek up to LBI. What usually takes about 3hrs took 5 this time. Delaware was a parking lot.

But the trip was well worth it. Scoured the island for gift shops and galleries. Made a ton of connections. Earth Sea and Sky in Bay Village is now showing my work, thank you Gregg.

How You Brewin? in Surf City is also showing some of my work.

In between sales calls I caught up with some friends. Even managed to shoot a few photos.

Since the trip up took so long, we last minute decided to stay. Found a room. Not much of a room really. Won't mention the name of the establishment but it was pretty shabby.

Made a few website improvements. You can now look at photos by date and month. Check out the new July photos.

June 2007

I think I made up for the missed month of May. Shot a ton of photos and managed to get a few good ones. Also met with the owner of Keeper's Quarters down in Beach Haven. His shop will be selling framed versions of some of my work. Below are a couple of my favorites from this latest shoot.

    

May 2007

Sometimes scheduling doesn't allow for a visit to LBI. That's what happened in the month of May. No worries, I'll just have to take twice as many shots when I visit the island in June.

April 2007

April 23, 2007. What a great day. Not just for photography, but it also happened to be my 40th birthday.

Yeah, I'm officially an old fart.

My girlfriend took me down to LBI for three days. We slept in, chilled out and shot a ton of photos. Have to say it was a pretty perfect birthday.

We stayed at the Sandcastle Bed & Breakfast in Barnegat Light. Nancy, the owner, was a terrific host and a hell of chef. Absolutely delicious breakfast and perfect accomodations. I recommend it highly.

I've been trying for a while to get a really nice lighthouse shot, I think I might have finally accomplished it:

March 2007

What a difference a month makes. Sixty degrees on the island. But also very overcast. As much as I'd like to share all of the shots I took, they quite frankly, suck. Bad lighting = bad photos. I set a date each month to go up to LBI, this time it unfortunately fell on a crappy weather day. Managed to squeeze only one shot out of the whole day:

February 2007

Another cold one on LBI. Amazing how different the island is in the off-season. Imagine getting from Barnegat Light to Beach Haven in about 10 minutes in August. Ain't happening. I had a lot of fun shooting the February shots. I particularly liked these two:

January 2007

This is the start of a year long odyessy to create a calendar of Long Beach Island photos. I will be coming down to LBI at least once a month to shoot photos from Barnegat Light to Holgate. I'll be selling the calendars on this website starting in January of 2008 and in stores on LBI (should I be able to convince shopkeepers to peddle them for me) in the summer of 2008. It'll be a 2009 calendar. I didn't really prepare well for the shoot. No hat, no gloves. Can you say frostbite? The shots I took up by the lighthouse were especially chililng. The Atlantic wind is far from forgiving. But at least I got some good shots out of it. Below are a couple of my favorites from the outing: