After a quick review of the camera’s controls, and a lesson in polarization, I turned my wife Shauna loose in a small airplane (an otter to be exact) for a flight around the summit of Mt. McKinley. I knew she had the eye, I just didn’t know how good her eye was. When we landed and reviewed our images, she thought I would dig this one. She was right, I pretty sure everyone else is going to like too. There is a good chance you might be seeing more of her work in the future.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D5000
Nikkor 16-85 VR II
Nikon CPLII
Lexar UDMA

Processing Notes:

Capture – 1 image
Photomatix 4 – HDR/Tonemapping
Topaz Labs Denoise 5
Nik Color Efex Pro – Skylight Filter
Nik Color Efex Pro – Brilliance/Warmth Selective to sky
Sized for web
Nik Sharpener 2.0 – Adaptive 25%
LightAsMagic.com

We stood on a small pile of uneven rocks surrounded by rain soaked manure and mud as we awaited the arrival of the Tour de France. The sea of clouds rolled in from Spain and retreated like ocean waves. With the fog came cool gentle rain. With the sun, a refreshing warmth. We were witness to this cycle of clouds for hours while listening to French race radio announce the race unfolding beneath us. As the final surge of fog and rain pushed over the mountain, the white Jersey of Andy Schleck broke through the clouds, followed by the yellow jersey of Alberto Contador. The race radio was silenced by the thousands of fans who lined the roads. Today, after hundreds of miles and 27 angry kilometers on the Tourmalet, the Queen Stage of the 2010 Tour de France was to be decided in the purgatory below…..(to be continued tomorrow)

Capture Notes:

Canon G11
Lexar UDMA

Processing Notes:

Capture – 1 image
Photomatix 4 – HDR/Tonemapping
Nik Color Efex Pro – TonalContrast
Nik Color Efex Pro – Glamour Glow (touch to the clouds)
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com

I paid a comfort penalty making this image. Airports offer some unique possibilities. Where else can you find vast reflective surfaces and scattered light sources without going to Vegas? It is easy to lose track of time while you are out wondering around exploring all that Denver International Airport has to offer. I ended up over exploring and when I headed back to the terminal, boarding was well under way. Needless to say, when you get on late with a bag full of camera gear, you pay the price in leg room……

Side Note: If you are a conspiracist, DIA is at the center of some pretty amusing theories. You can find more information here.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D700
Sigma 15mm Fisheye
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA

Processing Notes:

Capture – 9 images @ 1ev (used the .jpgs)
Photomatix 4 (beta 1ish ?) – HDR/Tonemapping
Nik Color Efex Pro – ProContrast
Photoshop – Remixed the sign from the anchor .jpg
Nik Define 2.0 – Noise Reduction (auto profile)
Sized for web
Nik Sharpener 2.0 – Display 20%
LightAsMagic.com

Over the last month or so I have been testing out the Nikon D5000. For me, it is a great back-up camera as well as a light travel companion. If you are looking to upgrade to a digital SLR, or wanting to get started in photography, this camera is a great option. In order to complete the review I thought it would be interesting to hand it off to my wife for a trip up to Alaska. She has the eye of a photographer, but lacks the patience to deal with all the various dials and settings. So I put the camera in program mode, set the auto ISO, and put her in front of grizzlies, glaciers, whales, moose, and mountains. You will see other images from her portfolio in the final review. For now I thought I would share this one. No question about it, she didn’t let this one get away!

Capture Notes:

Nikon D5000
Nikkor 70-300 AFS VR

Processing Notes:

Capture – 1 image
Nik Silver Efex Pro – B&W conversion
Sized for web
Nik Sharpener 2.0 – Display 30% selective to tail
LightAsMagic.com

That Anchorage Museum exceeded all my expectations. We visited it while wait for our Motor Coach (bus) to take us south to pick up our ship. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but one thing I wasn’t expecting was full gallery dedicated to HDR photography. Pretty darn progressive! I wonder if we will ever see an HDR image in Nat Geo? If you are ever in the Anchorage area, make sure you stop by the museum. The architecture alone was worth the visit.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D700
Nikkor 17-35 AFS
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA

Processing Notes:

Capture – 7 images @ 1ev
Photomatix 4 – HDR/Tonemapping
Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 – ProContrast
Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 – Touch of some glamour glow
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com

No kidding, this was the neighborhood grocery store where we were staying at in Bordeaux. If this was my local grocery store, I don’t think I would ever keep anything in the pantry at home. I would visit it everyday, shoot some photos, and grab a piece of fruit and coffee on my way to work. In the evening, this hub of commerce flashed back to the days of the Salon when the local youth would come out to enjoy the surrounding cafes and discuss the day’s topics. It was the heart of the neighborhood, and just the down the street from our hotel.

Travel Guides: When I get back from visiting a town, I try to put together a quick travel guide that usually includes a map of photo locations and a quick list of things to do, places to eat, and where to stay. You can find all my travel guides, including the Unofficial Definitive Guide to Cozumel, over here:

http://www.lightasmagic.com/travel/

I hope to be publishing my guide to France very soon. Stay tuned!

Capture Notes:

Nikon D700
Nikkor 17-35 AFS
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA

Processing Notes:

I have forgotten what the exact details of the post-processing were, but it was a 9 image (@ 1ev) –> HDR/ToneMapped in Photomatix 4 (I think??) –> and to get the dreamy quality I use Nik Color Efex Pro’s Glamour Glow filter mixed in about 30%.

Sorry for the lack of details.

This is another image from my visit to the local rail yard last year. You can see a previous composition from the same location here. It was one of those days where I knew I was going to pass something interesting on and errand, so I decided I would grab my gear and tack on 30mins to my commute. I wonder how much memory my brain is wasting trying to efficiently plan photo errands? I should formalize a documentation strategy so I can save space for things like remembering to mow the lawn.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D300
Nikkor 16-85 VRII
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA

Processing Notes:
Capture (9 Images @ 1EV)
NX2 Raw Conversion
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Nik Define 2.0 – Noise reduction
Photoshop – Global curves adjustment
Photoshop – selective Desat adjustment
Size for web
LightAsMagic.com

It seems like summer is just getting started. The calendar tells me it is over halfway gone. We are trying our best to take advantage of what summer has left to offer. No better way than an evening hike in the hills near our house. As you know, I have been putting the Nikon D5000 through its paces, and I am pretty darn surprised by it. If you can get over the fact that it has only one command dial and get used to doing your adjustments in the menu system, you have yourself a very capable camera. One thing that I have been wanting to test is the exposure bracketing feature. The D5000 will only allow 3 brackets, but the nice thing is you can bracket by 2 full stops. 2 stops is usually enough for most of my HDR work. For very high contrast scenes (think super bright light out the window of a room) you need more than 2 stops on either side of the anchor. However, for most of my bracket sequences, the D5000 is proving to be a great companion.

For the non-photographers out there, that interested in knowing more about this ‘photographer speak’, feel free to drop me a line. I would be happy to help you get started making images!

Capture Notes:

Nikon D5000
Nikkor 16-85 VR II
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA

Processing Notes:

Capture – 3 images @ 2ev
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Photoshop – Global curves adjustment
Nik Color Efex Pro – Soft Focus (experimenting a bit with it for that dreamy look)
Photoshop – Selective saturation boost
Photoshop – Selective saturation cut
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com

A couple weeks back I decided to schedule up solo photo-walk. I hadn’t been out on one lately, and I was itching to get out and explore. If you remember from a previous post, photo-walks are a big component of my ‘Creative Scheduling’. These are great ways not only to create, but to relax as well. Something goes on the in the creative brain the tends to silence all other stresses that are begging for your attention. So I checked the weather, charged the batteries, put together a route, and quieted my mind.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D700
Nikkor 45mm PC-E (a big help here with converging lines)
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA

Aperture f/6.7
Focal Length 45 mm
ISO Speed 200

Processing Notes:

Capture – 6 images @ 1ev
Photomatix 4 (public beta) – HDR/Tonemapping
Photoshop – Curves adjustment
Sized for web
Nik Sharpener 2.0 – Display 30% global
LightAsMagic.com

Another addition to my Spaceship Suburbia project. After reading Christian Cantrell’s Containment (a great sci-fi read I might add), I started looking around for an image that resembled a polymeth structure from a remote planetary colony. I found it; a fragile atmosphere contained within the conventions of humanity.

Capture Notes:

Nikon D700
Nikkor 45mm PC-E
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA

Aperture f/11.0
Focal Length 45 mm
ISO Speed 200

Processing Notes:

Capture – 9 images @ 1ev
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Topaz DeNoise 5 – Noise Reduction
Photoshop – A Good Tip Form Trey Ratcliff’s eBook I will let Trey tell you.
Photoshop – Global curves adjustment
Nik Color Efex Pro – Glamour Glow selective to the sky.
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com