So, I had a lot going on today and was slammed for time for the entire day, and while I type this I should be getting ready for a dinner party.  It is not a black tie affair so it will take me a few minutes to get ready (Jeans, they’re good thing).  This week I was downtown for a few things and got some shots in for my Life at 50mm Project in while I was there.  But I wanted to go back because there were some shots I saw that I couldn’t grab earlier in the week.  So I adjusted my schedule and gave myself 45 minutes of shooting today.

So while I couldn’t get in a whole lot of time in shooting I did come away with some fun stuff.  The main goal was to focus on shapes and lines for this quick project.  Here a few of what I captured…

For 45 minutes it was a good time…

So following with the theme of the last post about taking the time to stop and take a look at the world around you.  This post is more about, don’t think to yourself that just because you have only a few minutes to shoot that you can’t get some great and fun images.  If you don’t get to shoot you will never know what you are capable of…

If you went to Photoshop World in Vegas at the end of last year and made it to the Art of Digital Photography Panel you would have got to have seen the Master of Self Projects Joe Glyda do an amazing photo slide show based on just “looking up.”  Seeing what is above you because sometimes you are so busy looking straight ahead that you miss the world going on around you.

So while I was in New Mexico, I decided to take a bit of time and look down.  While I didn’t find as much as I would have liked I did find a few things that were fun to shoot.

First up with this old water meter cover that while it didn’t do anything for me in color worked created with a bit of Silver Efex Pro’s Holga filter added, with a few modifications of my own thrown in.

The 2nd, and slightly more odd is this old set of can opener keys from (at least what I can figure) is the remnants of an old sardine can that was laying on the porch floor boards of an old house.

So while I didn’t find much on my little self project in New Mexico I leave you with this thought.  Make sure you take time to really see what is going on around you in the world.  You may pass by the photo of a life time if you don’t stop and take a look around.  With our busy lives these days it isn’t always an easy thing to do, but I encourage you to try…

Images Captured with 1D Mark IIN 16-35f2.8 on Lexar digital film

Some more from this past weekend up in the Sierras.  I turned my attention from the water for a bit to the great trees surrounding the stream.

The light range was getting pretty extreme even for the Split Grad to bring the range of light back down into the cameras range so I went a a quick blast of HDR to get the shot.  I added a bit of Tonal Contrast, and then a quick trip  into Silver Efex to finish it off.

This shot was taken before before the range of light went too far out of range using a .9 and .6 Split grad Neutral Density  filter  stacked I was able to bring the sky back in just enough for the shot.  Finished in Silver Efex Pro.

Top Image Captured with 1D Mark IIN 70-200f2.8 on Lexar digital film

Bottom Image Captured with 1D Mark IIN 16-35f2.8 on Lexar digital film

So I was able to get some time today to go shooting up in the Eastern Sierras for a bit Saturday morning with my good friend Kevin.  So we packed up the gear and headed for the hills.  We were headed for a spot where we shot late last year near Quaking Aspen.  But when we started toward the top we found that due to the recent storms the road was closed.  Consequently the road closed sign stopped us right on top of a fairly fast flowing creek that provided some great shots for the day.  So with all this water blistering by I decided to get some practice in on some long exposure shooting.  My main inspiration for this was my good buddy Jeff Lynch who is a master at this stuff.  Who by the way is going to have a Texas Landscape Safari coming up in April, that I would recommend checking out.

With all these, the motion was captured by just pushing the f-stop between f13 through f22 depending on how much blur I wanted out of the water.  I lucked out that the day was overcast with another storm getting ready to blow through, which made it possible for me to do this without additional filters.  However, if you want to learn the steps in doing this with all the goodies, I highly suggest you sign up for the Safari with Jeff through the link up above.

It was a great time out there and there will be a few more posts this week with other shots form this location.  So keep and eye out.

Images Captured with 1D Mark IIn 70-200f2.8 on Lexar digital media

So I got an interesting email the other day asking me how do I know where I can tread when I am out taking pictures.  Do I just walk onto someones property and do what I want, hop fences, ignore no trespassing signs, etc..  The short answer is no, I don’t stray onto a property that I don’t have permission to be on.  Sometimes it can be a gray area when there is a big ranch with no fence and a great barn you want to photograph, but tread carefully, and use a longer lens if it is possible.

Many times in national and state parks there are fences that are for protecting sensitive habitat and/or areas that are dangerous.  I would never even dream of setting my foot on the other side of the fence.  In a lot of cases I have seen people do that, and they do not realize they are destroying habitat and increasing the risk of soil erosion in the area which can lead to substantial problems down the road.

Now, I have been places where I wanted the shot and there were no trespassing signs up, and I walked up to the owners house, introduced myself and asked permission.  Sometimes they say sure other times they say no.  I have also been in national and state parks and asked where it was safe and not safe to photograph.  You would be amazed at the hospitality of some rangers and caretakers if you are just courteous and ask first.

Hope this helps give some insight.

Oh, one final note.  If you are at a place and time in a wooded area and you hear banjos playing, LEAVE!!

Image Captured 1D Mark IIN 16-35f2.8 on Lexar digital media