A Walk Around the Lake on a Summer Morning.

I'm behind on editing and posting photos, LOVE being busy but it gets me crazy sometimes. Like I NEED crazy added!!!!

These were all taken with my DA 55-300mm lens, "consumer grade" but plays above it's origins as far as IQ goes. There are sharper lenses, but for the size and weight, it works very well. I shot all of these out by the lake by my home. I had never seen a Yellow Headed Blackbird before, that was pretty cool! So was the Green bee...

Nothing Special

Sometimes I like to take my camera with me just anywhere. This time it was to a wedding. Yeah, photographer at a wedding, but not THE photographer, thank heavens!

What I love are the details and decorative stuff that would normally annoy me but that are fun  to take pictures of. Who thinks of this stuff?

As a side note, I am definitely a Prime not a Zoom lens shooter, but there is something to be said for my Sigma 17-70 (The older f2.8-4.5 screwdrive version) It is just a versatile lens, and not too big. I will likely ALWAYS have one in my bag... unless Pentax makes something better for the size.

Getting a little CRAZY with things!

Sometimes I find myself wanting to push things a little bit, I try to not alter reality too much, in fact I try to use the manipulations I can do to create images that look more realistic than the camera can capture in a single exposure. This particular trip into downtown after work I decided that I wanted to just let it all hang out and capture the weirdness of the clouds.

This shot is actually flipped, it is a reflection in a pool that just begged to be turned so that it looked like the actual thing. The reflections made for a cool look once run through Photomatix, HDR is pretty much a have to use with this kind of backlighting. Makes it look like the temple is on fire!

If you could term any of my HDR's to be conventional this is more that way. Still pretty crazy.

These used to be used as the main entrance to the temple, I wonder how many hands have used these knobs!

I stooged around waiting for the sun to get DIRECTLY behind the spire, then I stood in the slightly wrong spot and slightly missed it. Like the effect a LOT though!

This is my FAVE!!!! I truly want to print this one. Maybe Canvas????

Stargazer Lillies and new digs!

Finally. FINALLY. FINALLY!!!! I have a place to put my backdrop and lights and space to play!!! Yippee! The front "Formal" Living room is basically empty and mine to play in. So what did I take pictures of first? Yep, Flowers! The staple of the bored photographer. Yet not so bored for me, they were a mothers day gift for my wife, but were playing havoc with her sinuses due to strong fragrance. So they HAD to go, but pictures were requested. So the photographer in shining armor sallied forth to immortalize the... uh.... offending flora.

Anyway, varying flash positions etc... was a LOT of fun, I used my two BEST lenses my DA*55mm f1.4 and DFA 100mm f2.8 WR Macro, live view for perfect focusing, and quickly got them done. Here are my results, wishing I would have had more time before sending them off. So many more possibilities!

Boids......

Nothing too special, just a bunch of boids. All with DA 55-300 while taking a walk around the lake.

Mixed Lighting is a CHALLENGE!!!

One of the hardest things to deal with when photographing temples, or other buildings at night, is the color of the light. Which is why I always, ALWAYS use RAW files, that way I can adjust the appearance of the colors to more closely match what my (and your) eye sees. When there are two or more light sources that have different colors things get really really REALLY tough. Which setting will give me the best mix and look to the photo? This temple has stymied me, I always end up with too much green when everything else looks decent. I have started doing multiple layers and desaturating the green/aqua and masking/blending to finally get something that looks semi decent. I don't think I have it perfect yet, but I am getting closer!

Technical notes: All these are HDR composites, with exposures up to 30 seconds. The clouds are real. As always, shot on a tripod with cable release and in RAW, using either my Sigma 17-70 or 10-20 lenses.

Stopping on my way home from the Temple gave me an opportunity to try a shot I have WANTED for years. I think I am getting closer. Both of these with my SMC 200mm f2.5 lens.

I Love Redrock!!!!

Addiction to southern Utah redrock is such a pleasant thing... sigh....

Perfect clouds.

Scrambling into the entry to Peek-A-Boo.

Easy meandering in the Dry Forks of the Coyote Gulch.

The entry to Spooky Gulch looks innocent enough, but the slot gets soooo tight!!!

The clouds, oh the clouds!

I have never tried HDR for a person shot, but my daughter was willing to model for me. Nothing fancy or earth shaking, practice helps for when I need the technique in the future.

Now this is what I was just dying to shoot, I have been wanting to achieve decency with star shots and lighting the foreground. I think I finally got that here.

Here are the technical details:
1) Tripod (a nice rock solid tripod)
2) Crank the ISO to 3200
4) 10mm lens wide open (This is my weak link I think, f4 is a little slow and the corners are not super sharp, but I am NOT complaining. I am very happy with what I got!)
5) Set the camera on the longest self timer delay setting, mine is 12 seconds, this allows you to get into position with your flash.
6) Set your exposure for 30 seconds, this can be fudged, I have heard the the longer the focal length, the shorter time you want to expose due to star movement.
7) Any old flash that has adjustable power settings and that you can trigger manually. (if you want to get really really fancy you can use flash stands with remote triggers, which will save you a bit of walking around in the dark!)
8) a good imagination, and go!

This shot was back lit by the dying fire, along with a little light in the bottom corner from Escalante 20 miles away. I was standing almost 90 degrees off to the right of the formation.

This worked better than I had any expectation for, I think my lens correction algorithm in ACR was a little heavy handed lightening the corners, but I am working on a re-do.

The foreground was a little overexposed but still not bad, I include it to show how the flash can bring out the texture of the rock if you angle it right.

This shot of Metate Arch is my favorite, I git the lighting just the way I wanted it, which took a couple of tries. I actually had to rush down around the side of the arch and turn off my headlamp before the camera started. Again remote radio triggers would have been very handy!!!! I just wish I would have been able to be back when the Milky Way was up, but I slept through my alarm.... sigh....

Who can resist a unique self portrait?

And just to whet your appetite, a quick excerpt from my trip through Spooky Gulch.