Southern Composition

        I was on my way out to Willow Creek last weekend when I noticed this absolutely stunning sunset as we were coming over the mountains. We were in a hurry but a sunset like that is impossible to pass by without at least stopping for a second... I took a few pics but nothing serious as I really just wanted to capture the beauty & not take too long (it was getting chilly yo!!) I kicked myself in the ass when I got home & looked at the pics b/c every single image had hugely blown out skies but the grounds was dark as all get out- like this one:


ORIGINAL- SOOC

Location: Vista Point off HWY 299 between Blue Lake & Willow Creek, CA
Date/Time: Wed. 4/27/11 @ 7:30pm
Subject(s): Sunset, Rolling Hills, Clouds, Sun rays
Notes: used polarizing filter & edited in photoshop

Yay for working toward my yearly goals! My first DPS Assignment for Aug. was a ton of fun- & VERY last minute! The assignment was "Water in Motion" and the idea was to capture water moving either through motion blur or through freezing the motion, although from my interpretation it seemed there was more emphasis on the motion blur aspect.

This assignment was perfectly in line with my yearly goals also of using and becoming familiar/comfy with long exposure images. In order to be able to get a long exposure without over-exposing I needed to get a filter that  darkened everything so I could take pics during the day (I'm busy as hell & need to be able to take the pics when I have time, not in that 2 hour golden window!). So I went out to Swanlund's Camera & picked up my first Neutral Density (or ND if your'e cool enough to know what that means) filter.

I did some research before I picked up the filter & found out all kinds of interesting things about these filters. First off, there are multiple purposes for a ND filter such as: smoothing out water, darkening a scene, smoothing out clouds, darkening skies, & general darkening so that longer exposures can be used. & there are a few different types of ND filters:
1) Graduated ND Filters (also called Cokin filters): these are rectangular glass filters that are clear on the bottom & gradually get darker & darker starting in the middle. These filters are attached to a round filter attachment which has multiple square slots for the filters & fits onto any size lens. The Graduated ND Cokin type filter system actually allows you to adjust the position of the filter, so you can create your own horizon line....
2) Screw-On ND Filters (Tiffen, or in my case Promaster): these are like normal filters, they are circular & screw onto your lens. The screw on ND filters come in two varieties, graduated (works similar to a circular polarizer so you can adjust your top/bottom but not your horizon line), and full (what I purchased, all one even gray tone).

Surprisingly I couldn't find any info. on my Promaster filter except that it may be an off-brand of Tiffen. Unfortunatley for me the local camera store only carries promaster!!

So I got the filter & set out for a waterfall to both use my new toy & get an image to enter in the weekly assignment. First thing I realized is that my 2x filter is not even close to what I need to take pics around the middle of the day. It works great in the forest around late afternoon & I got up to 6sec. exposures before my images became too bright (that's stacking my ND2x with my Polarizer, both of which block the same amount of light). But in full sun & even overcast conditions I would need to stack with another stronger ND filter. Oh, well, Live & Learn!!!

I had a great time shooting this waterfall & have been wanting some decent pics of it for quite a while....

First, my ENTRY for the DPS Weekly Assignment:

I have been meeting my goal of participating in at least 2 DPS weekly Assignments- WOOT!! It can be kinda hard to find time with the craziness of now being a business owner and still working full-time at the law firm. As much as I wanted to participate in this week's assignment- LOW ANGLE- it is a technique I use alot and feel that I challenge myself on almost every photo session I do- Simply put I LOVE the low angle perspective. 

Whooh! Man I have had one looong weekend! Nevertheless, I managed to meet this week's goals of getting the shop open for Arts! Arcata (another post for another time!)  &  got a few wonderful still life photos. In fact, I have more still life photos than I thought I would have and can't choose which one to enter in the DPS contest this week!

My first round of still life's were taken at the shop right before we opened for business for the first time EVER! The cheese platter was so yummy & composed so well it was begging to be photographed:

Our hella expensive hangers (around $12 each!) were so clean & perfectly arranged that I had to snap a shot or two of them:




My second round- the real thing- was taken at home. We took the dog out to Sequioia Park for a walk after work where I grabbed a few ferns, cut some Calla Lilies out of my flowerbed, poured up the wine, and plated the yummy Humboldt Fog cheese. I wanted to set the scene telling a story about relaxation, peace and a nice quiet, luxurious night in with your loved one...

I lit the candle to do double duty- in some shots I used it more romantically as a prop and in other shots I used it more as lighting, keeping it off camera. I have a white shaded adjustable lamp behind the sofa which provided light in a few shots but was turned off for others. I forgot my tripod - left it at the shop!- so I didn't really get to use any low shutter speeds.




EXIF: Shutter Speed 0.4 ; F5.6 ; Focal Length 36mm


This image was taken with the candlelight only... It came out way to dark for my liking, but I think I captured the candle itself pretty well...






And this last one I think is the winner.... The light looks very crisp and clean (I used the candle off camera as well as the adjustable lamp.) The focus is mainly on the flowers with the wine and cheese somewhat blurred as part of the background. The light captured the edges of the flower on the left perfectly, accentuating the still blooming and opening flower... I also liked the shadows left by the ferns on the right flower. All in all I think this image tells the story I wanted to portray, has some clean lighting with a few interesting features, and looks to me like an advertisement I would see in a magazine...




















Still Life was a really hard assignment for me to pull off.  I spent around an hour setting up and shooting- then setting up again and adjusting the light, then moving something a few inches, testing that ever important patience! This assignment taught me alot about lighting- what works and what doesn't and not to be afraid to experiment. I took around 100 images, and the three posted were the only ones I felt were decent. In the end with a little pre-planning and thought I am happy to say that I have successfully taken my first still-life photo shoot! Man, what an experience- can't wait until next weeks assignment- FENCES!


Location: My house
Date/Time: 5/16/10 @ 9pm
Subject(s): Still Life, DPS assignment
Notes: images have not been edited

It was raining lightly most of the day today... It was so grey and boring looking outside- totally uninspiring photo weather! But my ride was a few minutes late picking me up so I figured I would give this raining weather situation a try thinking I could maybe get some decent raindrop photos... I took a total of 5 pictures:

Location: Eureka, CA
Date/Time: 5/17/10 @ 5pm
Subject(s): Flowers, nature, raindrops
Notes: no editing on images....

This is the main entrance to Venice Beach- This brown gull dropped down into the puddle and apparently the white gull wasn't givin up his chillin spot! If I hadn't had my camera ready to go I would have missed this shot trying to get my camera ready....










Venice Beach Grafitti- I had to wait a while for this area to clear out as they were shooting a MTV show a few feet to the left of this object....


Pretty Flowers at Venice Beach- This shot was actually made tinkering with the Aperture setting, I wanted the closest flower nice and sharp and bright, with the others a little blurry...








Venice Beach Lifeguard Stand at Night- I really enjoyed this photo because I do not take alot of night photos and the lights pouring out the shops lightens up the darkness and adds alot of interest to what would have been a flat boring background...


Santa Monica Lifeguard Stands- This picture isn't the best- I wanted a picture of a row of the differently colored stands but there were a ton of people out and this image isn't really what I wanted. I will need to try that one again on the next LA trip!


Antique Santa Monica Pier- Picture taken with Polarizing Filter, then applied Color Boost and Antique effects in I-Photo. I like this photo alot, even though it has an old antique look it still has alot of color and sharp definition of the pier. I especially like the yellow hue on the water to the left reflecting off the yellow rides on the pier.












































Ethan @ Santa Monica Pier- I like this portrait. Even though the background is fairly busy I think it is balanced out by the highly defined water and open sky at the top.

You talkin to me?- Seal at Santa Monica Pier, I had to wait a LONG time for this guy to look up at me.. workin on that patience!






Elvis in Sepia- Originally taken in color with the Sepia added from in-camera effects....My first time using the in-camera editing tools, and I realized I need to be using them ALOT more! it drastically speeds up post-shoot editing.

































Location: Los Angeles, CA (Venice Beach, Hollywood, Santa Monica)
Date/Time: 5/7/10- 5/10/10
Subject(s): Landscapes, Cityscapes, Structures, Things
Notes: very little editing work done, mostly adjusting light, saturation, and definition in I-Photo...

My sweetie got me Orchids delivered to my office for my birthday. I LOVE Orchids and don't get very many chances to photograph them (I have a black thumb with the living plants), so I got my camera out during my lunch break and started snapping. I wanted an image that had one flower slightly out of focus and the other flower fully in focus. I was very happy with the results:

Location: Work
Date/Time: 4/23/10 at 12:30
Subject(s): Orchids, Plants, Focus, Aperature
Notes: minimal editing done, mostly lighting and cropping

Driving from Sacramento to Eureka is quite the task. I was pretty bummed that I didn't have more time, there were soo many places I wanted to stop at take pictures of. But my honey did give in to one photo stop- I prepped him by talking about for about 2 hours before we got there so he HAD to give in! :) So we stopped at Tulip Hill Wine Tasting Room outside Clearlake, CA. We had passed the place the day before on our way to Sacramento but it was crowded beyond belief. Sunday seemed to be the day to have the place to yourself, there were only two people there! So here is my best shots out of around 20, give or take, all taken in about 20 min- Can you say super-speed-photographer?!

I have been so busy and away from the blog for a while.... its time to play a little catch up! I went to Mad River Beach for the first time in January, guided by my bro. (it's his favorite beach). We walked up the beach from the pot-hole ridden parking lot down to where the river meets the ocean and back to the parking lot along the biggest dunes I have ever seen! It was certainly a workout, going up and down and up and down in all that loose sand.... The day started off really cloudy and drizzly but the heavens opened up once we got to the beach, and the photography god decided the keep the clouds and rain at bay until after I had gotten a couple great shots.

This photo is towards the end of our walk, standing on top of the dunes. I love quite a few things about this picture but I guess my favorite would have to be the clouds. I love the way they draw your eye into the image, their scale and threatening, menacing look. The second thing I like is how the clouds lead your eye to the center of the image which is whited/grayed out by the fog and sea spray rolling in (and its right over that dune peak, which lines up nicely), but on either side of the center you can still see pretty far.
This photo was at the beginning of our walk. I am in love with this image, its actually my screensaver at home. From the texture of the driftwood with all the interesting turns, knobs, juts, & holes to the light and fluffy texture of the sea foam coming in so close, to the way the sea seems to disappear into whiteness... Did I mention that I am in love with this image? :)

LOCATION: Mad River Beach, McKinleyville CA
DATE/TIME: 1/30/10 , 1-3pm
SUBJECT: Nature, Landscape, Seascape
NOTES: Pictures taken using a polarizing filter and edited under 5min. mostly saturation and light levels