Posts from the ‘Processing Notes’ Category
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!
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.
I had big plans for this image. I love making images that contain captivating light and massive reflective surfaces. If you have ever visited Denver, you know the Denver Performing Arts Center (DCPA) fits the bill quite nicely. One thing I didn’t account for was it being closed. I’m not sure why I thought it was open to the public at night? It must be the Utopian in me……
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.
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!
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.
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.
I hadn’t been down to Denver lately so I decided to glance at the weather and schedule a solo photo-walk up. It turned out to a nice evening and quite an adventure. Right before I made this image, I grabbed a quick photo of a newly engaged couple out taking some engagement photos. I passed the photo of their photo shoot along to them, and I think they were quite happy. Remember a previous tip (rule) of mine? If you promise someone a photo, make sure you get it to them. Don’t give us photographers a bad rap!
Tip: It is subtle, but I wanted to keep the focus on the structure and blur the right side of the image. I did so by using a Nikkor 45mm PC-E lens and adjusting it so that the tilt was left to right, then I tilted the lens slightly away from the subject.
Probably not what you were expecting based on the title. The Pepsi Center, here in Denver, is affectionately known as the ‘The Can’ by locals. It hosts the Avalanche, Mammoth, and Nuggets. It has also provided the stage from many a concert. Red Rocks is still the better venue for concerts. However, if you are a stadium rock band, the ‘The Can’ is where it’s at. Well, unless you are U2, then you have to look at 80,000 person arenas….not too many bands like that left.
As you have noticed lately, I am pretty big on using a Nikon 45mm PC-E lens. I don’t really use it for its indented purpose, which is to increase depth of field, and help reduce converging lines in pictures of tall things. I will be going into more detail when my review of the lens hits the blog next Sunday. As for this image, I wanted to test the Perspective Correction feature of the lens. With any other lens, because you would have had to point the camera up at the building, you would have seen the straight lines getting closer towards the top of the photo. Not with the Nikon 45mm PC-E lens! You simply keep the camera (film/sensor plane) parallel with the building and raise (shift) the lens up. It is hard to visualize, but the difference is incredible to witness. That is only one of its tricks. It is a finely tuned, razor sharp, optical engineering wonder!
I’m not totally sure that a permit was required to use a tripod in France, but I’m pretty sure that was what was being requested as I was asked to leave the subway. I understood ‘no good’ and ‘Gendamerie‘ well enough to know I should probably leave before I was the defendant in an international incident. Tripod restrictions weren’t limited to the subway either. I was also escorted away from Jean-Paul Sartre’s grave. I really felt like a Stranger.
Capture Notes:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 17-35 2.8 AFS
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA Film
Aperture f/9.0
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 200
Processing Notes:
Capture – 9 images @ 1ev
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Nik Color Efex Pro – Pro Contrast
Nik Color Efex Pro – Glamour Glow
Nik Color Efex Pro – Tonal Contrast
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com
After a long day in traffic, I couldn’t help but stop to take a break and make an image. The clouds were dreamy but the lake was a bit choppy. Next time it will be sunrise and glassy water, a mirror made for the heavens.
Capture Notes:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 45mm PC-E
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA Film
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 45 mm
ISO Speed 200
Processing Notes:
Capture – 5 images
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Topaz Labs – DeNoise 5 (I am diggin it)
Photoshop – Curves adjustment
Photoshop – Desat adjustment
Sized For Web
LightAsMagic.com
I’m pretty sure I committed an international crime by not sampling any wine while driving through the vineyards of France on our way to Bordeaux. I guess I am more of a Leffe Brune type of guy. Boy, that is a good Belgium beer!
Google suggest that our drive from La Mongie to Bordeaux was around 3hours. We decided to stay off the interstate and take the back roads, which added about 4 hours and an untold number of stories to the drive. Well worth the extra time. One of the the vineyards we passed had an old monastery on its property. As you drive through the French countryside, you get used to seeing quaint villages surrounding a cathedral rich in character. If you stopped at everyone one, it would would take you a week to drive 300km. But this one, I couldn’t pass up. I will post the abandoned monastery sometime in the future. For now, I really liked the gate that led me to it.
Capture Notes:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 45mm PC-E
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA film
Aperture f/4.2
Focal Length 45 mm
ISO Speed 200
Processing Notes:
Capture – 7 images @ 1EV
Photomatix – HDR Tonemapping
Photoshop – Global Curves Adjustment
Nik Color Efex Pro – Glamour Glow (2x)
Nik Color Efext Pro – Tonal Contrast (selective)
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com
Tip: If you schedule a day to explore the countryside into your trip, use it. Don’t rush to your destination. You will get there, but take time to fill your life with what is uniquely everyday.
Now that I have fully recovered from my jet lag induced haze, I can get back to sharing some images from my recent trip to France. The trip began with a 5 day stay in the little town of La Mongie nestled in the Pyrenees. We rode our bikes over some of the most famous mountains in the Tour De France (Col de Tourmalet, Aspin, Soulor, Aubisque as well as Luz Ardiden). It was both humbling and inspiring to measure yourself against the times of your heroes. They are much faster than I am, but the throngs of fans who were camped out along the mountain roads cheered us on as if we were in the Yellow Jersey. It was an experience I will never forget.
As for this image, once we left La Mongie we traveled to Bordeaux to watch the individual time trial. We arrived a day early which left us plenty of time to explore the town. In the center of the town is the massive Cathedral Saint-Andre. I walked around it several times, both day and night, trying to decide how I wanted to make an image of it. It wasn’t until my 3rd lap that I noticed this small diorama of the cathedral itself. I then realized that this is the image I had been looking for.
Capture Notes:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 17-35 AFS
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 800 (oops)
Processing Notes:
Capture – 9 images @ 1ev
Photomatix – HDR/ToneMapping
Photoshop – Curves Adjustment
Photoshop – Vibrancy/Sat Adjustment
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com
Capture:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 45mm PC-E
Hand held
Processing Notes:
Capture – 1 image
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Photoshop – Curves adjustment
Nik Color Efex Pro – Darken/Lighten Center
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com
The Tour is coming to a close, but not before World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara puts his stamp on the final time trail.
Capture Notes:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 80-200 AFD
Exposure1/5000 sec
Aperturef/2.8
Focal Length200 mm
ISO Speed200
Exposure Bias0 EV
FlashNo Flash
Processing Notes:
Capture
Adobe Camera Raw
Nik Viveza 2
Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 – Tonal Contrast filter (sliders at 5%)
Sized for web
LightAsMagic.com
Tip: Make sure you remember that the final riders in the Tour de France time trial, leave at 3:00min intervals, as opposed to 1:00min intervals. It will surely help with your planning.
