November 2009

Trying to schedule a photoshoot around the holidays is very similar to trying to catch a jellyfish with a net. Just when you think you got it, it falls apart. Still hoping to get some shots the day after Thanksgiving. If I do, you know where to find them, right here on my site.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. The holidays are here what better way to celebrate them than with a photo or two from LBI Photos.

Wow, that was just an obnoxious plug wasn't it?

October 2009

Another great Chowderfest! Thanks to all who braved the mud (torrential downpour the night before made the field a bit of a mess). My wife and I celebrated our our one month anniversary by sitting in our booth. We actually had a great time. We always do when we are on LBI.

When we were leaving the island, we noticed some good samaritans in the Shack. Wondering what they were doing we turned around and came back just in time to see them leave. They had shored up the shack! Doubt it would have made it through the storms to come without it. The Sandpaper did an article about them. Here are the first ever pictures of this shoring up.

September 2009

What a month! Started off with me getting hitched to the greatest lady on the planet, Shannon. Small wedding at our home. The wedding was great, the honeymoon even better.

You are probably asking yourself where would an LBI photographer go on his honeymoon? Simple answer: LBI. We rented a house in Harvey Cedars on the bay. Had a great week of kayaking, bike riding, and relaxing.

I even managed to shoot a few photographs. As of this writing, I am still going through the ton of photos I shot. They will be up soon.

August 2009

Woohoo! I found the original negative of "The Shack" on that negative was another photo from 1985. Pretty cool. While going through stuff I also unearthed additional shots of the shack from the late '90s(trying to figure out the exact year). Check back soon for those.

July 2009

What a month! Three weekends in a row of festivals.

Had one Saturday off. We took bikes from Barnegat Light to my hometown of Harvey Cedars where we had lunch at Noonies (delicious). Rode back and visited the Barnegat Light Museum where we discovered the house I grew up in is in the rotating pictures on flat screen in the entryway, very cool.

Went up in the lighthouse which I haven't been up in since I was probably 10. Finished the day with drinks and dinner at Kubel's.

Shot some new photos, check them out.

June 2009

Was in the first ever Jersey Shore Fine Art Festival in Surf City. Absolutely awesome show, the artists were phenomenal. Definitely put this one on your list of must do's for next summer. We wanted to spend all our receipts on other artist's work.

Oh, and I managed to shoot a few photos too.

May 2009

Well all I can say is that I tried. I went to LBI on May 16 intent on shooting new photos, but was greeted by fog. Fog that hung around all day. Didn't make for good shots.

I also did a lot of prep work for my upcoming summer festivals. The first is in June. It's the Jersey Shore Fine Arts Festival and is being held in Ship Bottom. Stop by my booth if you are in the area. For more info go to my Events page.

April 2009

I got to spend my birthday on LBI. Nuff said. Could it be any better? Well, I guess it coulda been for longer than four days. Also shot some photos. Not a ton, but a few. None good enough for the website. Maybe I'll do better at May's photoshoot.

I also penned a deal with two galleries. One on the North end of the island (Jonathan Law), one on the South (The Craft Market Gallery). You may still see a few of my photos at other galleries on the island, but once those are sold out I will be exclusively at these two shops.

I also found out about a few festivals. For a complete listing of where I will be this summer, check out the Events section of my site. Hope to see you at one or all of them.

March 2009

Another month, another visit to LBI. Managed to get some good shots.

Check them out.

Also spent this month applying to art festivals. Last year was my first year doing festivals. I only did three. This year, I will be exhibiting in many more(hopefully). My events section has a complete listing.

I also have in production a couple of holiday notecards. As soon as they deliver you'll be able to find them here.

February 2009

This month's visit I thought was going to be a bust. It was cloudy, and all around nasty. Somehow though, I managed to eek out a few decent shots. You can see them here.

I also applied to a few festivals for the summer.

January 2009

Another cold one on LBI. Got some nice shots of a wooden pier I found in Beach Haven. Yeah, I'm sure it is old news to Beach Haven goers, but I spend most of my time on the beach in Harvey Cedars and while I like a walk on the beach, I've never quite walked from Harvey Cedars to Beach Haven.

In addition to this month's photo shoot, I now also offer all the photos on my website in Black and White versions.

Oh, and the coolest thing that happened this month? I saw the Barnegat Lighthouse lit and functioning as a true nautical beacon. I have to say, I wasn't as wowed as I thought I'd be. I was expecting a beam of light to shoot out the side. When you are standing there, freezing, below the old girl, it's lit, but it really doesn't seem like the light would carry that much.

But it does.

Look for it as you cross the causeway(as long as you are not driving) and you'll definitely see it. I'm guessing the real beam is only visible at an angle that isn't directly below the lighthouse.

Oh, and just to make this the longest entry ever. I got the December photos up including some of the lighthouse with SNOW. Yes, a dusting of the white, powdery stuff. Very hard to capture when the air is riddled with salt.

December 2008

I did get up to LBI this month. I didn't however get the photos up on the website, yet. They will be up hopefully by New Year's day along with my usual email newsletter. You can sign up for my newsletter by visiting the Contact Us section of the website.

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season and a Merry New Year.

November 2008

One word for LBI in November: frickin' freezing! Okay, so that's two words, but you go traipsing around the muck around the shack with the wind howling in sub-freezing temperatures and then tell me a single word to describe it. Wow, that was a genuine rant. Sorry about that.

In addition to the latest photos for the month of November, we are having a Holiday Sale. Everything on the site is 10% off until December 31, 2008. Enjoy the holidays.

October 2008

Wow. Chowderfest. That is one crazy event. Over 14,000 people attended the main event and almost as many attended the Merchant Mart. It was a crazy busy day. A special thanks to John and Sharon for their hospitality.

That ended the 2008 festival season for me. Check out my Events page for festivals for next year (when there are events). Thanks for to everyone who stopped by my booth.

September 2008

September was another busy month.

I traveled to Solomon's Island, MD for an Art Festival, my friend, Paul, was in and visited my sister, her husband, and my nephew along the way.

Oh, and I managed to shoot some new photos too. You can see them by visiting the September 2008 area of the website.

Please join me the first weekend of October for the Merchant Mart on Saturday, October 4, 2008. (The Chowderfest is Sunday, October 5).

August 2008

I participated in the Beach Haven Fine Art Sale in early August. It was a lot of fun. Got to meet a bunch of people and sell a bunch of photos and notecards.

What else happened in August? Oh yeah, I went on a religious retreat in Hershey Park, PA. Church of Springsteen and the E-Street Band.

I've seen Springsteen around 30 times and I have to say, this was the best of all those shows. 3 hours straight. How at 58, he has the energy is beyond me.

July 2008

July, what happened in July?

Can't seem to remember. I know there was something. Something big. Now what was it?

Well, I participated in the 21st Annual Harvey Cedars Arts Festival. I actually participated in the first ever Harvey Cedars Arts Festival 21 years ago when I was a sophomore in college. Back then it was me, a beach chair, and a couple of photos leaning against dune fence. Little different this year:



But that wasn't the big news. Wait.. I remember.

While walking on the beach with my beautiful girlfriend Shannon I got down on my old creaky bended knee and asked her to marry me.

And she said ....

yes.

June 2008

I had a simple goal for this month, get my photos in every shop on LBI. Remember, that was the goal. Thought I could visit every shop in a day.

The reality? Never made it out of Beach Haven. But, I did get my photos and notecards in a bunch of shops.

Even somehow managed to shoot a few new ones.

The rest of the month was spent, literally. Make that spend. Bought a bunch of stuff for the upcoming festivals. Also framed and matted more photos than anyone should ever try and do at one time. Felt like Lucy in the chocolate factory.

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

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.

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.

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: