The Red Queen was a fun shot, finished the image using a process I haven’t used in a while inside of Color Efex Pro.  It was a combination of Tonal Contrast, Glamour Glow, and Dynamic Skin Softener combined in CS4  working in the image as a smart object so I could stack the filter on top of one another and make minor adjustments as needed to get the final effect…

Since this was Alice, this is my White Queen.  The effect on this one was similar to the one above the only difference was in the Dynamic Skin Softener, the values were adjusted for skin tones and I used the eye dropper to select what I felt as a good mid-range tone so that the skin would be effected as uniformly as possible..

Captured with Nikon D700 0-200f2.8 II on Lexar digital film

So a funny thing happened yesterday, I found myself in Santa Barbara at the local Samy’s standing at the counter asking to see an Olympus.  That is right folks not only have I committed the sacrilege of switching camera systems from Canon to Nikon, but I now have an Olympus E-P2 in my bag as well…  (I am sure the hellfire and brimstone will rain down shortly).  So why did I get this camera?  The long and short of it is that I saw what this thing was capable of thanks to my buddy Ray Ketcham and a another amazing photographer out of Texas, Kirk Tuck.  The images with this little dynamo sparked a creative project that I am hopefully going to kick off very shortly assuming I can get my hands on a few more pieces of equipment needed.  At this point my buddy Jeff Lynch is probably rolling his eyes, saying that the gearlustitis is in full swing again, and he would be right.  One thing I have mentioned before on the blog and one that I know other photogs know is that one camera may not be able to do the job to get you that creative vision you had in your head…  So to that end the newest tool in the arsenal of creative vision is primed an ready to go, now if I could just manage to read the instruction book

Captured with Olympus E-P2 14-42 3.5-5.6 on SanDisk Digital Film

P.S.  There is going to be some format changes coming down the pipe, soon so if you see the blog in  disarray late at night that is me trying to relearn html coding using a sledge hammer…

Captured with Nikon D700 70-200f2.8 w/ Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo filter

Finished in Silver Efex Pro

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…

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

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

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

The two building above sat across the street from each other.  The lower one had a fire that burned through it not too long ago.  The other with the old Pharmacy sign was being re-purposed into a restaurant, but was still not open for business.

This old 1 room house sat near the edge of a major highway.  I have no idea how long it had been there, but time had just forgotten it.

Captured with 1D Mark IIN 16-35f2.8 on Lexar digital media, all finished in Silver Efex Pro

Wishing everyone a happy Halloween…

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

I love history, there is a quote that if we don’t learn from our past we are doomed to repeat it in the future.  From a photography stand point this is very true. Learning from past shooting is vital to growing as a photographer.  Back in the day, notepads with all the details of the shot you just took would be written down, so you remembered what you did if you liked it.  Now a days we have metadata that gives us all the details.  One thing that I do more and more now is go back through my files and just look at them.  I look for what I liked in the photo, what I didn’t like, what worked and what didn’t, but more importantly how can I improve the shot if I go there again.

Going back and jogging your memory of past shooting you can prepare yourself for upcoming shoots.  Especially if you visit certain places often.  Go back and look through your old images and see what you like, look for what could be improved upon and then go out and shoot it.

This was a wax candle drying rack probably last used well over 70+ years ago.

Old cooking bowls and decanters inside an old wood stove burning kitchen.

One more quick note, even with all the information that metadata gives me, I still always have a pocket notepad with me.  You never know what thoughts may pop into your head while you’re out there, and if you think you can remember everything you thought about, you would be wrong.  So keep a notepad with you to jot down ideas, inspirations, etc..  It can do wonders for you..

Images captured with 1D Mark IIN 70-200f2.8 on Lexar digital film.