Lighting Lesson 03

The above image was achieved with Nikon speedlights using the CLS ( creative lighting system ). As you can see we have a commercial studio look which took about 1/2 hr from start to finish. Our goblet was placed in front of a blank wall. We used two books ends up about 2 feet apart and placed a piece of clear glass across the books on top of a small table. This lets use slide a gridded speedlight underneath our subject to add specular highlights from below. Our main light is diffused in a soft box from camera left. Our background is lit from camera right and is snooted to control light fall off. An additional light from camera right is pointed directly at the subject with no diffusion. The diagram above gives you the complete overview. Click on images to enlarge. All lights were controled with SB commander unit from camera position.

Notification

Notice of announcement that our wedding packages have been rearranged and our top of the line package now includes parent albums and a standard size 11 x 9 story book. We will carry the larger 13 x 11 story book but it will be and additional charge option. There is no change in package pricing at this time but an increase may be coming for 2009. We suggest anyone booking weddings for the upcoming year should consider booking soon to lock in the 2008 prices.

Night photography

Here are some night photography shots I took the other evening from the rear parking lot of NFHS. The first is a composite of two images merged together in photo shop to bring back the detail in the window areas which other wise would have blown out. The second image didn't have the high contrast problems as the first so I used the car roof as a tripod and did a long exposure the achieve the great clarity. It had just stopped raining and the foreground reflections were an added bonus.

Lighting Lesson 02

Studio quality lighting is easily achieved with the Nikon CLS ( creative lighting system ). The diagram shows you the technical specs. of the image. A black bed sheet was draped behind the subject for a quick background. Click on images to enlarge.

Cave tour

Saturday Wendy and I went to the Lockport Cave, Lockport, NY. The cave is a hydro conduit built in the 1800's to power 3 industries of that era. The men who dug this cave worked 12 hours a day were paid 17 cents a day and given a shot of whiskey every 2 hours until the job was completed. They averaged digging out 2 feet a day. Our guide takes us on this tour which is part walk and part boat ride and explains the history and geological aspects of the cave. It is a very interesting tour and worth the trip. Here are some images I took inside the cave. Click to enlarge.

Simply Amazing

The Nikon D3 has outstanding resolution and cropping abilities. I was about 30 yds away when this shot was taken. I used Nikon 70-200mm AF-S VR 2.8 lens at 200mm. The original was then cropped 100% and post processed in NX2. Click on image to enlarge. The detail and facial expressions are extraordinary.

Work Shop Series... Creating Amazing Circles

Here is an interesting and easy technique I learned using Photoshop. I have no idea what practical purpose these have but they are fun to make and have interesting designs and shapes and no two are identical. I suppose one could use these for backgrounds. I use simple exercises like this to sharpen my Photoshop skills and sometimes come up with great ideas for future works. Start your project by opening Photoshop. Any of the newer versions should do. On the tool bar go to file and open your image to the desktop. Any image will do. Experiment with different types of pictures to see how many different types of designs you can achieve. Today I have chosen a flower image with vivid color and texture.

You now need to make a selection that is squared. Choose the crop tool and set your width and height to the same number. Five and five works fine here .

Now select the area you want and crop.

Now apply filter polar coordinates.

Be sure to check the polar to rectangle button.

Now you should have an interesting image, but it is not finished yet.

Now rotate the image 180 degrees and filter polar coordinates again only this time toggle the rectangular to polar button.

Now you have a way cool image.

You can use this image like this or elaborate on this with some of your own Photoshop techniques. You will be amazed at what your imagination can come up with. Here are a few examples of some images I have made.

Niagara Celtic Heritage Festival

To see our gallery of images from the Niagara Celtic Heritage Festival click on this link:
http://www.pbase.com/g_muth/celtic_game_faces

Celtic Festival

We went to the Celtic Festival in Olcott, NY on Saturday. Turned out to be a rainy day. Admission was $15 for 2 people. They did have a very organized program of events for the 2 day festival. We watched the Scottish Highland Games tournaments and didn't understand much but it was exciting. We watched Celtic dancers and listened to Scottish music. We even partook in some Scottish foods. All in all it was a very nice festival. Here are some shots from the day.

Just a few of my images from the zoo. The bottom three are from the new rain forest exhibit. All the images were made with a Nikon D3 and my favorite lens, 70-200mm AF-S VR 2.8 Nikkor.

Self portrait? No, but there is some resemblance. My brother took me to the Buffalo Zoo today and we made a lot of great images. The Zoo has a new rain forest exhibit and they have remodeled and cleaned up the rest of it. The place looks great and if you get some free time stop by it's worth the trip. This image is actually a female gorilla. It is amazing to watch these animals. They act so human at times. Shot with Nikon D3, 70-200mm AF-S VR lens.

Lighting Lesson 01

Today is the first installment of my better lighting workshop to help you understand how light effects your pictures. I start with this example above. I took this dark corner to show you that without light you have no image. The first picture was actually totally black, no image. I then turn on the lamp and I get an image but in order to see the photo on the table I have to over expose the lamp light. This is not a pleasing photo. In the middle photo I add a flash to the camera and take another image. I get lucky on the first attempt because I don't get any reflection from the glass in the photo in the picture and it is lit fairly well, but I get very unlucky with harsh nasty shadows from the lamp and picture frame in the background. The photo is not satisfactory. In the last photo I add off camera lighting. One pointed to the ceiling to bring up the ambient light levels in the room without casting harsh shadows.. One with a snoot to highlight the picture frame. And one with a snoot to highlight the lamp. Both lights are to camera right and add just a hint of light to our scene to give our final image depth and dimension and still remain realistic and natural. Depending on your level of photography and how much effort and equipment you have will limit what you can and can not do. I just want you to see how light makes or breaks a good photograph and maybe it will inspire you to go out and apply better lighting techniques to make better images. Click on image above to enlarge. Stay tuned for more workshop tips.

We did some photography at Sal Maglie Stadium last weekend. Niagara Falls High School played the Frontier Falcons. The lighting wasn't good and it started to rain but I did manage a few images of the game. NFHS lost this opening season game to Frontier 28-7.

This image of Nathan was taken yesterday at the same time as the ones below. We see the same ole' baby images and same ole borders on lots on images out there . This is an attempt to leap outside the box ( maybe ). I think possibly this has merit if the hand prints were really Nathan's. Any opinions ?

More of Nathan

Here's Nathan! Little Nathan is now 6 months old and the cutest baby ever. We baby sat for him today and I snapped a couple pictures before he took his nap. I used two speedlights in our living room to light him and give his face some modeling and add depth to the background. Here are a few of my favorites. Click on image to enlarge.

Green heron

I shot this green heron in a creek bed in the southern tier. The high iso performance of my D3 came in handy because the creek was in deep shade and I didn't have a tripod with me. I loved how the colors of the trees reflected in the water. This heron was intensely fishing for minnows but he still kept an eye on me and didn't let me get too close.