Blog

  View Larger Map

Letchworth State Park, renowned as the “Grand Canyon of the East,” is one of the most scenically magnificent areas in the eastern U.S. The Genesee River roars through the gorge over three major waterfalls between cliffs–as high as 600 feet in some places–surrounded by lush forests.   Photowalk Date: Sunday ~ May 19th ~ 10AM [...]

  Photos outlining my 2012 exploration of Peek-a-boo Canyon just outside of Kanab, Utah. 28 full color pages.   eBook for iPad or Android $3.99 at blurb.com Available on iTunes soon.   Softcover with premium luster pages $39.95 at blurb.com

First off, let me say, this is the most difficult story I have worked on to date. Asylums are notoriously difficult to write about due to their sordid and often clouded histories. Truth is, most asylums are closed due to atrocities of some nature. And because of those horrors and in the best interest of [...]

This is a preset that I homebrewed while working on a project. If you watch “The Walking Dead” television show, this look will be very familiar. Here is a side by side comparison of the preset.     You can download the preset file by clicking THIS LINK   Once you have downloaded the file, [...]

As a young man from a low-income family I learned from an early age that if you break it, and can’t fix it, you go without. I guess this is where I get my smarts from.   I was never afraid to take things apart and see how they work, repair, change them, etc.  My [...]

Now booking for Summer/Fall 2013. (Click to enlarge)     Please contact me for available dates and reservations.  

Welcome to the final part in my five part series called “Going West 2012″. This five part blog has chronicled my 12 day trip to Kanab, UT, it’s surrounding adventures and back. Once every couple of years, hopefully more often as I do more of these blogs, I meticulously plan a trip somewhere with the [...]

A.D. has been featured as a rising star on the the show. You can view the entire episode online. I urge everyone to buy local, support your artists and support PBS!   You can view the entire segment and more @ http://video.wcny.org/video/2329517230 Watch Artifex on PBS. See more from Artifex.

Early in 2011 I was contacted by a central Pennsylvanian graphic artist about touring and photographing an old mill in Maryland. This was no normal mill though, this was the last completely in-tact Silk mill, left in the United States. Like a lot of abandoned sites, to tour this site, I had to agree not [...]

Sometimes, you have to MAKE it.   Boredom. We have all been there in one facet or another in our lives. Like musicians courting the muse, photographers must follow this same archaic path as well. Being that I have been on both sides of this creative fence I can safely say there is no difference [...]

WSKG’s Artist Café showcases an expansive variety of national and local artists including photographers, dancers, poets and many more. This episode features local photographer AD Wheeler.   Today, (Sunday 12/9), @ 5:30pm EST on WSKG HD.  

  The Winners have been chosen.   ************CONTEST RESULTS************   816 Total Entries. Minus my personal promotional entries left me with 753 total. That list was then pumped into Random.org and the top three winners are:   16″ x 24″ Metal Print “Executive Meeting” ~ Sarah Troiani 8″ x 10″ Curved Metal Print ~ Krys [...]

2013 “Through The Looking Glass” Collectors Calendar. Featuring 13 different original A.D.Wheeler Photography Looking Glass Pieces. 12 Months and 1 Cover shot printed on high gloss books stock from sustainable sources.   $15 each / $25 for two ~ Free Shipping in time for Christmas throughout the lower 48. If you are outside the area, [...]

One of my goals on this last trip out west was to find the “not so normal”. Sometimes you can plan those destinations out ahead of time, and sometimes, they just find you. During this trip there was equal parts of both. One of the plans was to visit a real ghost town, and if [...]

First thing I want to say is that Zion was one of my favorite spots on this last trip out west. There is a reason this place is often thought of as nature’s cathedral. You truly feel as though you have died and gone to heaven while there. Every vista is majestic and spiritually uplifting. [...]

In 2009 I was “forced” out of my mild-mannered job at a local music store due to an economic down-turn and a family owned business that was not ready for the 20th century. I was faced with the decision to hit the bricks or turn my photographic hobby into something real. Well, I am sure [...]

When approaching Bryce Canyon, Utah from the west you must travel through a patch of land called Dixie National Forest. And because the forest is neither a park or monument, hiking and entry are free. With its great beauty, well maintained trails, and bike paths, that’s pretty hard to believe. The canyon shares the same [...]

Win a 16″ x 24″ metallic print of your choice from my gallery.   Go to my facebook page for more information:   https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=545532975461130

In June of this year (2012), I organized and held my first Photowalk. It was a huge success with some familiar faces and a lot of new faces showing up to attend the two part walk. To educate and network was the goal and we achieved that perfectly. One of my long time Flickr acquaintances [...]

I have spent my entire life attending school, and that school is the school some people refer to as “hard knocks”. Now I am not claiming to be some tough guy from the wrong side of the tracks, but I am a firm believer in the fact that screwing up in life (to a point) [...]

Generally, I am quite long winded in my posts, but on this occasion, I am going to REALLY try to keep the words to a minimum and the photos to a maximum. After all, this story was a very visceral adventure for me and I hope it will be for you too.   In 2011, [...]

In my life thus far I have only had a few things that I have seen, that I could not explain or debunk. And though I love shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International and what they do, I cannot say whether I believe in ghosts or not. I do believe that the spirit [...]

A while back I announced that I was a finalist in the Project Imaginat10n contest. Well it has been an excruciating 2 weeks of silence but today I am extremely proud and honored to announce that my photo “Spinning Fire” has won the Canon/Ron Howard Project Imaginat10on contest for the “Setting” category. My photo now [...]

A while back I picked up a 110mm crystal ball on Amazon and have been having some fun taking some photos with it. It is a very challenging device to shoot with. Everything appears in the ball upside-down and backwards and focus can only be achieved with zoom lens. So putting together compositions in the [...]

Who in their right mind drives their car 2427 miles, from New York to Nevada to take pictures of a junkyard in 110°F heat? That would be, me. And who also believes that there is an island somewhere that misfit toys go to be played with and taken care of? Okay, that is a little [...]

I think at one time or another, we have all felt as though we were born into the wrong age. That maybe we should have or could have lived during medieval times or even in the future. For me, I think it was the 1930′s and 40′s. Since I was a wee lad I have [...]

As some of you know, I am the guitarist for the band Wendy Owens and Renegade.  We are a fairly successful band with 12 song CD out and have shared the stage with Big & Rich, Lee Brice, Trace Adkins, and Dierks Bentley.  This year we put away roughly 57+ shows all over New York [...]

Here is my short tutorial on generating 32bit HDR files in Photomatix and then importing them back into Lightroom 4.1 for super-intuitive editing.     *****UPDATE***** HDRSoft/Photomatix have released a plugin that now supports processing of 32bit HDR files without all the hassle.  You can download it here:   http://www.hdrsoft.com/download/merge_lrplugin.html

As some of you know, I am also the guitarist for Wendy Owens and her band Renegade which besides photography, is what I do for a living. This past year has been rough with the band having 57+ dates on the books and me trying to schedule shoots around those dates. Sometimes, the stars align, [...]

One pack of steel wool + one 9v battery + one old stone tunnel = an awesome photo shoot! I teamed up with fellow photog Walter Arnold one dark night outside of Elmira NY to film this. I can 100% say do not try this at home! We came completely prepared with our equipment and [...]

Photomatix 4.23 has been released.  Mostly bug fixes but a few feature updates, see below. 3-Jul-12 – Updated in v4.2.3 – Bug fixed: Canon Raws shot in SRAW/MRAW mode were not converted properly. – Bug fixed: With some specific image width and height, tone mapping with Details Enhancer in Lighting Effects mode could cause a [...]

For sale, my latest piece “Primary Idea” includes 4 prints, high gloss, infused on metal, all with 3/4″ float mounts. This piece is ideal for home or office. $900 drop shipped anywhere in the US.   Pieces included are 1 – 30″ x 40″ main piece and 3 – 8″ x 12″ side prints as [...]

From Adobe:   Lightroom 4.1 is now available as a final release on Adobe.com and through the update mechanism in Lightroom 4.  The goal of this release is to provide additional camera raw support, lens profile support and address bugs that were introduced in previous releases of Lightroom. In addition, Lightroom 4.1 introduces the following new features: The ability [...]

  Link to RSVP (not required but appreciated) and more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/332011453536117/   Click Driving Directions below map for a custom route.   View Larger MapDriving Directions  

A while back I purchased a Murami 720nm IR filter for my Sony a77v camera.  Unfortunately I did not realize that the Sony was not a good candidate for infrared photography because of it’s semi-transparent mirror configuration.  So the filter ended up on the shelf along with this “broken” DSLR body I had.  Then I [...]

Version: 4.2 has been released.  This is a medium upgrade.  Speed, 20 new presets (that kick ass), and many bug fixes.  Get it! Size: 8 MB Platform: Windows/Mac Update log 30-Apr-12 – Updated in v4.2 Main new features in v4.2 – Display options for preset thumbnails: View at a larger size or in two columns, [...]

I am very excited to announce that I will be doing several shows this summer throughout New York State.  In addition to selling my art at these shows, I have also implemented new ways to purchase my works online.  In addition to my base galleries at smugmug.com located at this link:   http://Galleries.ADWheelerPhotography.com   more [...]

  walk·er \ˈwȯ-kər\ [waw-ker] noun 1 : one that walks: as a : a competitor in a walking race b : a peddler going on foot c : a temporary male escort of socially prominent women attending usually public events d : a person or group (walkers) that intentionally moves into a photographers frame while [...]

I have to admit, after touring the west in 2010 and being completely overwhelmed with the vastness and beauty of it all, the thought of touring Maine seemed a bit, anti-climactic. Truth is, I couldn’t have been more wrong.     Park History and Features Acadia National Park is a National Park located in the [...]

Well, it’s spring and an un-seasonable one here in New York.  Today’s forecast was for a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms and as of late, I have not let the weather forecast deter me from heading out to shoot.    I have found that generally the most atmospheric landscape photo opportunities make themselves available when [...]

No, I cannot help you in avoiding a flat tire, other than suggesting that you try not to run over sharp objects. What I will attempt to help you with is avoiding blow-outs in your photographs.   What’s a blow-out you ask? In simple terms, it is an area of a photograph that has turned [...]

If you live in the Pennsylvania, Upstate New York area and you are a photographer, you have probably spent some time shooting in many of wonderful state parks in the area.   With that, many of us have become fair weather photographers.  Whether it be to protect your equipment or your rear end from freezing, [...]

There is no question, I absolutely LOVE landscape photography. When I first got started 4 years ago, I went to every state park, every scenic overlook I could find. Yet, no matter how many photos I took, I wasn’t happy with them. The exposure was good, composition spot on, the scenery was breathtaking, yet compared [...]

A lot of folks who get into photography started out with doing something else. They had some other activity that they loved to do such as hiking or sports and then got a camera and started taking it with, combining their love with photography.  Then, over time the evil addictive photography monster starts to take [...]

Harris Hill, NY is a well-known to the Elmira, Corning, Horseheads residents as a small amusement park with a family picnic area, swimming pool, but it is also home to the National Soaring Museum.  The Soaring Museum is one of only two museums in the United States focused on motor-less flight.  In its heyday Elmira was thrust [...]

Photographers, give your work away, but don’t GIVE it away!!   Recently, I was contacted by a design firm that does murals and interior design for a famous restaurant chain. They shall remain nameless but I will clue you in that the first part of their name was the fruit that landed on Newtons head. [...]

We sometimes forget how lucky we are to live where we do. Sure, I would love to travel to other planets and see all the wonders that they posses.  But the fact is, there is a whole lot to see from your own back yard.   In this tutorial I am going to teach you [...]

The sign-up for the drawing was so successful that I decided to give away 2 prizes.  The winners have been picked and notified by email. As soon as I have their information and details I will announce the winners an the photos they chose for their prize.  Thank you to everyone who participated and stay [...]

Special pieces from A.D.’s “Castles of New York” and “The Art of Decay” collections are on permanent display at The Independent Artist Gallery. The well-known gallery is owned by proprietor and painter Lisa McLean and is located at 46 East Market Street in Corning, New York, at the heart of the Gaffer District. Currently the [...]