blog

Sunday Outing

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:26:35 -0400

We’re looking forward to getting out of here on Tuesday for our workshop in Sundance, UT, but I had a quick chance to get out this morning to shoot more images for an upcoming HDR book project. There are a lot of historical buildings in the more rural parts of the Maryland countryside and actually on the outskirts of Baltimore city.

I’ll be working on our Nikon Workflow book non-stop until we get out here next week.

After getting back from Utah, we’ll be scouting for a venue to film an instructional HDR DVD.

CLICK HERE for a small image gallery.

Mystery “HDR Heaven” Location

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:50:09 -0400

I’ve been on the Nikon workflow book today, but took a break to put up this totally HDR gallery from our trip to our “secret” location yesterday. My Ellis Island HDR project shooting partner, Mark Menditto, and I got to the location when the doors opened and immediately went “nuts” will all of the photo ops! Although, the outside light was mostly bright sun, shooting HDR series toned down the light in most cases. The ones I “missed’ on were when I didn’t take enough underexposures to hold the detail in the bright hot spots.

Does anyone know this place?
HINT: It’s a national historic site in Philadelphia, PA

CLICK HERE for an image gallery

More Digital Infrared

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:25:55 -0400

I’m working on our Nikon Digital Workflow book this week and took a break to do some infrared processing. NikSoftware really works well with infrared photography. In the old days, over processing would create a nice glow around the image. Filters like Midnight and Glamour Glow work extremely well to replicate or, at least, to approximate the look. Also, Nik’s Silver Efex Pro black and white conversion software can offer new interpretations to your infrared work. The blog image is optimized using the High Structure option in Silver Efex Pro.

This image was passed through Silver Efex Pro and, using the High Structure option, sharpness and contrast was slightly increased.

This shot from a great local public garden, Brookside Gardens, was optimized using Nik Color Efex Pro’s Glamour Glow filter.

This final shot of one of the Brookside Gardens pagodas was optimized using Nik’s Color Efex 3.0 Midnight filter, then followed up with the Glamour Glow filter. Afterwards, the Nik’s Viveza plug in was used to selectively brighten the trees at the top of the frame.

All images shot with a Nikon D200, converted to infrared by http://lifepixel.com.
Also, trial downloads for all of the aforementioned software is available at Nik’s website.

Cool Situation

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:24:16 -0400

One of my favorite subjects, and I don’t really come across the situation that often, is photographing a scene with a painter painting the same scene. So, when Sue and I were on a scouting mission for our private workshops, we came across a painting class and luckily I had my trusty G9 with me and immediately found a good subject and waited for the right situation (brush touching the canvas). I ran the image through nik’s Color Efex Pro’s Glamour Glow filter via the Aperture plug-in (FYI, that’s my uncredited image used for the “before and after” series), for the final “quasi-painterly” image.

Today, I’m working on some ideas in the macro studio and working on 2 book projects: Nikon Digital Workflow (Focal Press) with Jim White and putting ideas on paper for Fine Art Photography: High Dynamic Range Photography (Stackpole).

We’re leaving for Utah and our Sundance workshop in two weeks. We still have some openings, by the way, if anyone is interested in an early fall workshop in a great part of the country.

Private workshop

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 08:26:52 -0400

We’ve been off the radar for a few days conducting a private workshop for a couple from Florida. My latest Nikon World article discusses the growing trend of private workshops. They are expensive ventures for the clients including very long and intense shooting days with close personal attention, macro studio work, technique and composition presentations, and printing sessions. And with the client appropriate expectations of constant attention, it’s pretty intense for us, also. We had great variation in weather and we were able to get Doug and Claudia to our locations in the best possible conditions. We had them shooting multiple exposures and HDR, in addition to “regular” photography. Then we capped off the second sunset making it to an excellent venue, close to where we live, which is a wide view into the western sky to photograph clearing storm clouds, quickly jumping back into the car as lightning approached! Here’s info on our personal custom workshops.

We’ll be heading up to a far off land to a “secret” HDR venue in the coming week....

p.s. I just signed on with Stackpole for another book in the Fine Art Photography series on HDR, beginning work on that immediately.

CLICK HERE for some images shot during the workshop

Digital Infrared

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 18:11:43 -0400

Before we get into the digital infrared, we found a temporary fix for the “leaving a comment” issue. Until Apple corrects the glitch, go to the address bar in your browser and you’ll see “http://web.mac.com/etc.,” etc., etc. Simply highlight the “mac” part of the address and type in “me,” resulting in http://web.me.com/etc..., then press the <return> key. The page will reload and the “Add a Comment” link is operational. If it already reads http://web.me.com/etc... then you’re good to go to leave a comment!

Now, to digital infrared. After being dissatisfied, to say the least, with software infrared conversions, I went ahead and got my old D200 converted to a dedicated infrared camera some time ago. Anyone truly interested in IR photography should consider getting an old digital camera converted.

You can check out infrared conversions through LifePixel.com.

A converted camera records only true infrared, which cannot be seen by the “nekked” eye or by software.

CLICK HERE for an extensive digital infrared gallery.

One extra day

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:53:47 -0400

First off, I’m sorry that the comment link is not working right now. Apple is revamping their servers. Hopefully, give it a few days, but please feel free to email me directly if you’d like.

We took a morning ride to Watkins Glen. It was very dark clouds when we left. By the time we traveled 40 minutes down the road, the sky was clear and the sun was bright. I took a short walk into the Glen and turned around and left. Bright patchy light was everywhere. I’ve never seen weather this changeable in my life. In the week that we were here, it was not unusual to go from a torrential downpour to bright sun in a matter of minutes several times a day. This pattern happened almost every day, including today. So, we came back for a while to catch up on office work, then took off for the city of Seneca Falls to the old Mill and a group of old houses that I’ve had my eye on since we got here. I wanted to walk inside the fence to do some fish-eye interior HDR shots, but the guard dog had a different idea! The blog image of the old houses is a 5 image HDR pan. This means that I shot 3 images (-2, -1, 0ev) of 5 different shots (for a total of 15 exposures) and tonemapped them all the same in Photomatix, then merged them in CS3’s great Photomerge automation.

Following is a shot of the old mill in Seneca Falls, a seven shot HDR, optimized using Viveza in Photoshop.

And here’s another version of the old mill converted to B&W infrared using a new top secret software that we’re beta testing...

We outta here tomorrow morning!

Workshop end

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:01:51 -0400

We finished up this morning with our tremendous workshop group here in Geneva. Long days, all weather conditions, and the group did some incredible work. We took today to hang out and take it a bit easy, but tomorrow we’ll be spending time making more images at Watkins Glen and the surrounding area for stock and shooting demo images for our flower photography/macro workshop at Meadowlark Nature Center, VA on August 3. This is a particularly photogenic area with a wide variety of subject material. Many of the group was shooting in HDR and the old Mill at Seneca Falls was made for HDR photography. We’ll be revisiting the MIll later today and will post some HDR in the next blog post.

CLICK HERE for a gallery of images from the NYSPPS workshop.

In Geneva NY

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:53:44 -0400

We got up to Lake Seneca (Geneva, NY) for the NYSPPS school to a cloud burst....wow! Amazing! and it only lasted a few minutes, then calmed down to a normal rain storm. It looks the same today as we run out and do some preliminary scouting for venues. We know the area a bit from our last visit, but with my new full time passion of HDR shooting, we’ll be looking for venues that will work well with that technique. I’ll be giving my first Ellis Island HDR Project presentation (check previous blog entries) to the school later today and expect that will engender some interest in HDR photography, and some quick Photomatix (check link on side bar) trial downloads!

So, I’ve been messing around with a reverse sandwich, actually more of an image overlay, technique (comes in many names) that’s probably been around for a while, but has been popularized by the great Andre Gallant, who has been immersed in this technique for quite a few years.

The blog image is a single shot, duplicated, then the duplicated file flipped horizontally, holding down the <shift> key then dragging on top of the original image opacity lowered to 50%. After which, I applied nikSoftware’s Glamour Glow filter. As with all things, this doesn’t work well with every image, but experimenting is the fun part. After a while, one can begin to pre-visualize the final effect on a single subject.

The show starts this afternoon in Geneva and we look forward to a great week of weather and great photo ops!

We’re back on the boards!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:47:38 -0400

Well, after a more than brief hiatus from the blogosphere while Apple updated their servers, we appear to back online. It should be SAFE to add a comment!

What’s been happening lately? We finished up our private workshop and it went well. It was a bit hot, but we had great light and Craig and Matt did some tremendous work in our macro studio.

We visited Great Falls at sunrise and had an excellent morning. Wispy clouds are always great, however this image is a 5 stop HDR image shot in later in the morning bright light.

After Great Falls, we paid a late morning visit to Brookside Gardens, shooting in a great shaded area, where I found one of Sue’s favorite subjects. However, it was a great day for Infrared.

We leave for Geneva N.Y. for a week long workshop on Saturday.

In the next month or so, I’ll have to finish a re-write on Fine Art Nature Photography for digital and do extensive work on a Nikon digital workflow book, on which I’m a contributor. So, lots to do......immediately!

But, the really exciting news is that it appears that we will be continuing our Ellis Island HDR project in August!

Welcome back to the blogosphere!

Great Falls, VA

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:04:43 -0400

We have a private workshop for 2 individuals this weekend, so I wanted to finish scouting at Great Falls this morning. Luckily, we had some rain last night, and the morning after a storm is normally pretty good, this morning was no exception. However, walking out on the rocks in hiking boots is a bit tricky, so I’ll probably tape my ankles up tomorrow morning when I take the clients down there.

Afterwards, I checked out Brookside Gardens and it was tremendous!! So, we’ll head down there after Great Falls, if it isn’t too bright.

The blog image is a 4 image HDR image.

The image below is a single image using 3 Singh Ray grads:
2-stop reverse grad nd - to maintain detail at the horizon
2 stop magenta nd - to enhance sky color
3 stop soft edge grad nd - to maintain cloud detail throughout

A little more detail in the dark areas using Photmatix.
A little more natural look using Singh Ray grad nds.

CLICK HERE for a small image gallery

Admin and Staff houses

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 20:02:11 -0400

After the Laundry, we finished up at the Administration and Staff houses. They are on the end of the complex and the Statue of Liberty is visible through the many windows here. The patchy light streaming through the windows was amazing and the cracked lead paint was very graphic and colorful. We spent the largest percentage of our time in these two structures.

CLICK HERE for images from the south side of Ellis Island

Corridors and side rooms

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 08:08:43 -0400

After the Laundry, we continued on through a series of hallways and side rooms on the south side of the Island, stopping often to take in and to photograph this historic and fascinating place. Here are some images from the isolation wards in the contagious disease hospital group.

CLICK HERE for images from the south side of Ellis Island

The Laundry

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 18:43:57 -0400

After spending some time getting “warmed up” in the terminal, we were taken to the laundry. It was like descending into another world. The light was mysterious and aside from having dust swept up, it was as it was in the 1920’s. For any of you Blade Runner fans out there, that was the feeling of this place. Amazing. We went there on both days. Most of the gallery images were shot on the second day, after being a bit overwhelmed on the first day. All images are 3-5 exposures, compiled in Photomatix and slightly reworked in PS using Viveza and curve adjustment layers.

CLICK HERE for a gallery of images from the Ellis Island Laundry

The Terminal

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 09:44:32 -0400

When we first got to Ellis Island, we were taken to the terminal before the herds of people arrived. Ellis gets 3.8 million visitors a year. There used to be more visitors before x-ray screening! We were also given access to the old courtroom, garnering an incredible sense of history and an old court yard, where I had to keep my eyes open for falling debris!

CLICK HERE for a small image gallery

Pre-Ellis Island

Sat, 5 Jul 2008 10:17:43 -0400

Before getting to Ellis Is., we had to take a couple of Ferry rides: Staten Island ferry and from Manhattan to Ellis. In the interim, I thought I’d try some other stuff, so I was able to borrow Mark’s 50mm f/1.4 for street photography and have become a fan of that lens....I will be getting one soon. A really good lens for  guerilla street photography: low profile and non-threatening.

The blog image is of the globe 9-11 memorial. Very moving to say the least, seeing that thing beat up.....man.....I photographed in the WTC plaza about one year before 9-11, so seeing this globe was poignant.

Here’s a few traveling shots.....I kinda like this stuff, actually...and should be acceptable for stock, if I can ever find the time to put together a submission...

A little early morning excitement.

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 16:48:47 -0400

While having my morning coffee, I heard a flurry of activity in the kitchen. I looked around the corner and saw the local “ward” climbing up and down the outside screen trying to conjure up some free food. I always have the G9 on hand and grabbed the camera, put it on P mode and got one shot of this situation. Both of these guys stopped for a fraction of a second and luckily I pressed the shutter release at the right time. I’m sure the squirrel enjoyed driving Akira absolutely crazy for a few minutes, and I love the look of urgent curiosity on Akira’s face. Just tremendous.

Today is Betterphoto critique day and finishing up an HDR article for Shutterbug’s EPT Magazine.

Ellis Island HDR Project

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 05:59:41 -0400

I just got back from the incredible experience of photographing the old sections of Ellis Island. The sense of history was palpable and the sense of being physically transported to a another time was real. This was a goal of mine for some time and many, many thanks to my good buddy, Mark Menditto, for getting us the permits and going through all of the other unimaginable political maneuvering to get us in there. This session was the first in our “Ellis Island HDR Project.” Almost all images are shot in HDR. Since the blog image is indicative of most of the photographic opportunities there, HDR was necessary to capture the high dynamic range of the scenes, impossible with a single exposure, regardless of dodging and burning. After catching up on some essential and pressing office work, I’ll be posting the full gallery on my web site, linked from the blog side bar. It’ll take a little time to process and interpret the 200 or so HDR images created on this trip. Stay tuned.

A few days in Acadia.....home tomorrow

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:54:23 -0400

We had a good few days in Acadia, my absolute favorite location to work on verrrry long water exposures. Jack Kennealy and I made it out at 0330 to the loop road at very high tide to get a few long exposure images. This image is a 2 minute exposure which makes it a 4 minute process (2min to expose, 2min to write). I’ll probably take out two tripods and use the D300 and D3 next time to be able to stagger exposures to get more images. Four minute exposures take 8 minutes per image.

I’m still working on fine tuning my HDR work and tossing around a couple of hdr commercial projects (more later).

Sue and I hung out with students from one of Jay Stocks workshops run by LeeAnn LeFleur and Barbara Tobay, talking about photography and showing some HDR work from the Maine coast. Very nice bunch of people.

So, this trip was a very good getaway for us and it was great to hang out with our friends and associates, while getting some (hopefully) saleable work.

Back home tomorrow for a few days until a trip to NYC, but first I’ll have to get an article out for Nikon World which was due on Tuesday (completely lost track of time!!).

CLICK HERE for an Acadia Gallery

ok....one more last look, the absolute final (the end) morning shoot

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:10:37 -0400

Since we’ve been sleeping in every morning (like until 0600) we missed the boats with the vapor lights at 0500, so I finally got out of bed to hopefully get that situation. I did, and after photographing the vapor lights framing the boats in fog (always a cool shot), I began to looking around for something a bit different. The vapor light reflection in the window caught my attention for sure. I always look for opposites, like the warm/cool color combination in the blog image.

Afterwards, I drove 20k to the library (I can get web access from the parking lot) to do the now daily routine of answering a slew of morning email and getting caught up on Betterphoto critiques.

But, on the way back, I noticed some very cool dinghys on the side of the road, so took a little time to shoot quite a few HDR shots, until Sue called and wanted me back to start packing!