William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development » William Haun – Multimedia Artist

Benty: Guinea’s Colonial Ghost Town

William — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:08:16 +0000

The coastal town of Benty (sometimes spelled Benti) is located in the southern lowlands of Guinea along the Mélikhouré (Melacorée) River. Once a thriving port and French military post, today the colonial buildings are in ruins. A few Guinean families occupy some of the buildings but it remains for the most part abandoned.

Until the mid-1800s, the French presence in West Africa was mostly concentrated in Senegal. In 1866, the French military moved into the region now known as Guinea. The following year they built a military post in Benty and opened a port of trade. The channel at the mouth of the river was relatively deep, allowing ships with 6 meter drafts to pass through.

The deep-water port thrived for decades as a trading center for exports such as bananas, pineapples, rice, salt, coconuts, and palm oil. Over time, the northern town of Conakry’s port was expanded and Benty’s importance waned.

Upon Guinea’s vote for independence on October 2, 1958, the French colonists left almost immediately. Under the new nation’s president Sekou Touré, the port remained open through the 1960s dealing primarily in banana exports. By the 1970s, virtually all traffic through the channel ceased and the town of Benty began to crumble.

I made the images below on a brief visit to Benty in June 2011. Located in the countries remote southernmost region, access to the town is difficult. The town is cutoff off by a Guinean naval base that requires special permission to pass through.

Benty: Guinea’s Colonial Ghost Town is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Ocmulgee National Monument at Night

William — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:20:41 +0000

The Middle Georgia Camera Club had a rare opportunity this past weekend to visit the Ocmulgee National Monument after dark (it usually closes at 5pm). While the original plan was sunset, moonrise, and star trail photography, the weather had other plans for us. Despite the overcast skies we still had a fun time socializing atop the ancient Great Temple Mound and taking photos of the Macon city skyline.

Click the image above to launch large panorama in a new window

Long exposures of the Ocmulgee swamps at night.

Light painting over Macon.

Ocmulgee National Monument at Night is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Pano Practice

William — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:46:47 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve shot & stitched a panorama so I’ve been practicing lately in preparation for an upcoming road trip out West. Here are a few I took over the last two weeks.

Click the images to launch the large panoramas in a new browser window. Once opened you may also have to click them again to fully enlarge them (depends on your browser settings).

Georgia Industrial Children’s Home, Macon, GA

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Atlanta, GA

First Baptist Church Sweetwater, TN – Roger Haun speaks at the 150th Anniversary Service

Lake Wildwood, Macon, GA

Pano Practice is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Lensbaby Love

William — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:23:03 +0000

I’ve been shooting with a Lensbaby Muse for over a year and a half. I first got it with the plastic optic then added the double glass one. At the time, shooting video with a Lensbaby on my dSLR was not an option and I experimented with what I called “burst mode videography.” The effect was cool but the post-processing was a bit tedious. Then I finally got a Canon 7D and video with a Lensbaby was possible in beautiful 1080p HD.

I recently acquired the “top of the line” Lensbaby – the Composer. Where the accordion-like Muse has to be constantly controlled manually, the Composer features a ball and socket joint that can be adjusted and then locked into place. This allows for the lens to be used on tripods and steadicams and even for HDRs.

Below is my first video experiment with the Composer, followed by some of the first photos I took with it.

[vimeo id=13912453] [gallery link="file" exclude="3620"]

Lensbaby Love is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

By Land, By Sea, By Air

William — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:05:54 +0000

Currently on exhibit at the Middle Georgia Art Association is the show “By Land, Sea or Air: Modes of Transportation.” The show includes some beautiful photos and paintings created by members of the group.

My photograph “Boats of Bouzigues” placed 1st in the juried show and is currently hanging in their gallery. The image was printed and stretched on a 1½ by 3 foot canvas – the largest I’ve ever done – and I was very pleased with the result. If you are interested in purchasing this ready-to-hang print contact me or swing by the MGAA gallery on Ingleside Avenue in Macon, GA.

If you are interested, here’s a bit of info about where the photo was taken and what I was doing there on that day. For the camera geeks out there, this was an HDR image created by compositing three separate photos of different exposures taken on a Canon Rebel XTi.

By Land, By Sea, By Air is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Macon at Night

William — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:58:22 +0000

At the end of last month I was lucky enough to get access to the roof of the Medical Center’s surgery building in downtown Macon. I planned my trip up there to coincide with the rise of the full moon and I was also lucky that Central Georgia’s infamous pollen had not yet filled the air (it arrived 2 days later).

This evening the Middle Georgia Art Association is holding the opening reception for their exhibit “This is Macon.” You can see my Macon skyline panorama and my Douglass Theatre on MLK photo on display in that show. The reception is from 6-8pm tonight (Friday April 16th) in their gallery at 2330 Ingleside Ave.

All the photos below are HDR images, mean they are each composed of 3 or more photos. The panorama was created from 14 different images that were stitched together. Each one of those was also an HDR meaning a total of 42 photos were taken to create the final product.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these photos as a print or gallery wrap, contact me for information about sizes and prices.

Click to launch a larger version of this panorama in a new window

Macon at Night is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

New COMMERCE Album Out

William — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:00:41 +0000

The newest project from the Johnson City, TN based band Commerce is out. Several months ago I was asked to contribute photos for the album art. I settled upon two photos I took on our family’s visit to Sapelo Island Estuarine Research Reserve back in March (more photos from that trip). Illustrator Mike Lowery designed the packaging and added his great hand-written typography to my photos.

You can order the album “What Happens Now” on iTunes and preview some of the tracks on the band’s MySpace page.

New COMMERCE Album Out is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Etowah Indian Mounds HDRs

William — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 06:52:28 +0000

Last week I visited Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site with my son. I’ve been playing more and more with HDR imaging and made quite a few on this trip. I’ve never been a fan of the really over-the-top HDRs, but I’ve found that the technique is really effective when used subtly. Here are some from our visit to the park:

Etowah Indian Mounds HDRs is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Foggy Day on Sapelo Island

William — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:00:39 +0000

Sapelo Island isn’t exactly a state park, but some of its facilities (mainland visitor center, primitive group campground, and the Reynolds Mansion) are run by the GA Dept. of Natural Resources. The island isn’t a tourist destination, it is a research reserve for UGA’s Marine Institute.

When we visited the park last week it was chilly, foggy day but the overcast skies provided some great photos. In addition to the ones below, you can see more images of Sapelo Island on our family blog.

Foggy Day on Sapelo Island is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Along Highway 29

William — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:44:35 +0000

I grabbed these images while driving back from Richmond, VA to our home in Macon, GA. These were taken along highway 29 between Anderson, SC and the GA/SC stateline.

Along Highway 29 is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Sunflower Doomsday

William — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:20:30 +0000

Sunflower Doomsday is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Panorama of Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge

William — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:57:00 +0000

When out hiking with my son I stopped to take a 360degree pano of the woods we were in. It was quite spectacular. If you have Quicktime, click the image below to launch it.

Panorama of Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

High Falls State Park Photos

William — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:27:34 +0000

Click image above to launch slideshow

High Falls State Park Photos is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development