Sunset on the River

I had a wonderful opportunity shooting a couple of swans on the water yesterday. A few weeks ago I saw these swans in a little bay area on River Rd. in Wheatfield, NY. The sun was setting and what a wonderful picture it was except for one thing I didn't have my camera with me. Since that day I had made several trips back to the same spot with my camera hoping to get a chance to capture an image. The swans never showed up. Finally yesterday my trusty scout Wendy was driving by and she saw the swans dining in the bay. She knew I was trying to catch them so we grabbed my equipment and headed back to the river. The timing was perfect as the sun was setting and created a wonderful golden glow on the water. Sometimes patience in photography is a virtue. I think the images above prove that. Niko D3, Nikkor 70-200mm AF-S VR 2.8.

Focus Stacking

I am continuing my quest to learn macro photography. One of the major stumbling blocks is depth of field. To counter the shallow depth of field on this tulip I downloaded a focus stacking program called Combine ZM. It is free and a great little program with very little learning curve. The image above is a combination of 32 images stacked together to make one image in focus. I give myself an A- for this attempt. I needed about 3-4 more images in the foreground to totally complete this image. This technique has great potential but would be very hard to do with moving subjects. Click on the image to enlarge.

Macro Tests

After much testing I have found the Raynox 250 is a very reasonable approach to macro photography and can compete with most other macro techniques. Like any photo technique it does have limitations. Depth of field is shallow and tricky to handle. Probably its most attractive feature is that it is cheap way to get in close, $43. The most advantageous feature of the Raynox 250 is that it gives you a good 6-7 inches of focus room between your lens and the subject. This is extremely important for lighting issues and being able to get your subject lit properly.The Raynox 250 is 49 mm filter used for video cameras mostly and has an adaptor to fit it up to a 62mm lens. My main lens is 77mm so it became a problem to affix this filter to my 70-200mm. I purchased an additional step down filter ring from Adorama for $2. and this solved the problem.

The bottom image above is shot with this combo while the top image has a 2x converter added. The images did get some vignetting around the edges and are cropped for composition. The cricket used in this demonstration is approximately 13 milometers in length. Click image to enlarge.

Congratulations April & Steve

Congratulations go out to April Martin and Steve Press on their upcoming wedding August 1, 2009. They stopped in this week and we had a great time shooting their engagement photos. What a nice couple they make. We got a wonderful selection of photos from the session and I am sure April and Steve are going to love them all. I will be looking forward to doing their wedding.

Cricket macro

Today's macro shot is of a cricket on a leaf. I used a two light set up to illuminate the subject. Camera settings were 180th sec. at f-22, iso 200. I used a 70-200mm set at 200mm with a 2x converter and a raynox 250. I was quite happy with this image as I got some good detail in the eyes. Depth of field is really shallow with my lens set up (even at f-22) so I will have to evaluate this technique and then decide if maybe another lens combination may work better.

Nature walk...

One of my favorite wildlife photographers is Brad Hill. His work is so inspiring.
http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html
I have studied his work and tried very hard to duplicate his techniques. Here is a Squirrel image I took today and worked it in post. I don't have any bears to shoot like Brad but I think my technique is getting better on the wildlife I do have to work with. Click on image to enlarge.

February Special

Its February and love is in the air! Valentine's Day is coming quickly and lots of girls will be getting the ultimate proposal of marriage. So our February Special this month is for those lucky girls. Come in and book your wedding in the month of February and mention that you read the " love is in the air" special on our blog and you will receive a $50.00 bonus discount on any wedding package you pick. This offer is good for the entire month of February 2009. Don't hesitate, call now 297-3387 and get your savings now.

Events Music

A good friend of my mine, Dave Miller has had his website redesigned and it is up and running now. It is really outstanding and well done.


You need to check it out at this link: http://djthedeejay.net/main.html
See Dave for all your entertainment needs. With twenty seven years of experience and satisfied customers, he must be doing something right. Give them a call today at 297-4413 and tell them Gary sent you.

Winter wonderland

Slow day today so after digging out I took a quick ride downtown to Goat Island. The winter wonderland spectacular of Niagara is in full force. The trees are covered with snow and ice. Everywhere you look is a scenic picture. I shot this couple holding hands and enjoying a walk together on a winter day. I can only wonder what their story is. Maybe lovers, maybe on their honeymoon, maybe married, or just tourists visiting Niagara for the first time. Almost all the attractions are closed in the winter months ( cave of the winds, maid of the mist, etc. ) but winter at the Falls is worth the trip.

Photoshop effort...

My latest creation. Anyone who has ever been to a casino knows there is no photography inside.I have been working on this concept with dice and I needed more than a photograph of just a pair of dice. So I started with some wire and a glue gun and glued the dice to a thin wire and photographed then looking like they are flying thru air. Then later removing the wires in photoshop. The image was well lit and looked good but I wanted something more. So I meticulously constructed the craps table in photoshop. Complete with the rubberized looking back board, mirrors, and chips. Now I had a better image but I needed a reason for the dice flying thru air. So I went into the studio and photographed my hand in a simulated dice throwing motion and added it too. The final image was then stroked and border added and will be submitted for gallery print competition. Lets hope all the work and planning pays off. Click on image to enlarge.

News Bulletin

On Tuesday evening Gary was elected vice president of the Buffalo Niagara Professional Photographers. The PPSNYS is a non profit organization devoted to a strong code of ethics in photographic excellence and dedicated to professional performance from all its members. Our Buffalo Niagara group is one of eleven sections comprising the entire state of New York. Meetings are held monthly and include the latest updates and training on the business of photography.

Congratulations too... John & Tonia

We did engagement portraits for Tonia Hillman and John Itzo today. A wonderful couple who plan to wed this summer on Saturday, July 25, 2009. John and Tonia relaxed and were very comfortable in front of the lens. We got plenty of great images for them to enjoy. I will add some of these to their album after the wedding.

My grandson Nathan is taking after his dad and becoming a huge Miami Dolphin fan. HaHa...maybe not when he grows up and comes to his senses he will be a Buffalo Bills fan.

More macs for down under

Contrary to popular belief, good macro photography is very difficult to achieve. The equipment used is very different from what standard portrait photographers use. I am just a beginner in this field so I have started out easy with a diopter lens which fits easily to most of the lenses I already have. Once I master this I will probably progress into reversal rings and maybe a high quality macro lens. The diopter gets me in the range of some good macro photography like I am interested in but as I continually tell you...it's all about the light. Properly lighting a subject you can barely see is very tricky and takes lots and lots of illumination to light your scene. Not only is light a major issue but your subject needs to be in focus and if your subject is an insect...yikes they move fast and depth of field is also a problem. Then there is the background to consider. And to make matters worse there is a dust issue to think about too. Way more skill and thought goes into a good shot than I ever imagined. The image above is a really close up view of broccoli sprouts. As you can see I am just a beginner but I plan on getting better.

Close up

Close up image of a pencil tip. I can not emphasize the importance of lighting. It makes no difference what camera brand you use. Lighting is the language of photography. Learn all you can about it. Learn to read it, see it and understand it. Without it you have no image. This macro was made better because it was lit properly. The subject is lit well with shape and dimension and it stands out from the background for separation. Learn and practice your lighting skills as often as you can and your photography will improve tremendously.

Macro Photography

I started doing some macro photography. I am using a Raynox 250 video lens on a nikkor 28-105 mm lens. When shooting macros it is very important to light your subject properly. The raynox lets me be far enough away from my subject ( 6 in. ) to get light on it. The images above of some Irish coins ( 20 pence, 50 pence, one shilling )were lit with one sb-800 speedlight from camera right.

Nuthatch

Welcome to the new year. I hope your holiday season was joyous and safe. I took these images of a nuthatch at Goat Island over the holiday break. Isolate your subject for the best results when shooting birds. In these I used a long lens at 200mm to compress the backgrounds and add blur. This separates my subject from the background and makes the nuthatch stand out.

Today in the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle , Wendy and I decided we'd had enough and took a relaxing ride to Goat Island. We stopped at the parking area by the three sister's island and fed the birds. We had all kinds of varieties come down and feed right from her hand. I was hoping a cardinal would come in close but no such luck. It was fun to watch them and we had a great time.

Birding... for the fun of it.

Birds make interesting and beautiful subjects. I shot this cardinal yesterday. Such a magnificent bird. This male decided to come closer and check me out. Maybe looking for some food or just checking to see if I was a threat. Either way he was close enough to capture these wonderful images of him. By intentionally blurring out the background it gives my subject good separation and adds dimension to my image. Click on image to enlarge.

Happy Holidays

Season's Greetings from The Portrait Gallery. Photoshop isn't just for photos anymore. I made this card entirely from scratch in photoshop. Adobe tools allow you to use your imagination with no limits. It is such a fascinating program to use. The Portrait Gallery will be closed December 24th til Jan. 02, 2009 for the holidays and maintenance shut down. If you are planning ordering prints and need them for Christmas you better get your orders in soon. The dead line is December 22. Please have a happy and safe holiday season. Thank you for all your business. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years.

Congratulations to...

Steven McGinnis and Cynthia Sweney announcing their engagement and plan a June 2009 wedding. They came in for portraits and had a great time. A fun couple and definitely in love. We will be looking forward to shooting their wedding.

Nikon D3... WoW factor is?

The subject matter of this image is nothing spectacular. Just an average Christmas tree ornament. What is spectacular is the fact that this image was hand held ( no tripod ) and shot at iso 25,600 and in jpg. format. Some noise reduction and sharpening was added in NX2. Click on image to enlarge.

Grungy and Grainy Technique

The latest look in photographs is the grungy and grainy look. You can achieve this effect in many ways. You can buy an expensive software program for hundreds of dollars or learn how to do it for free. This effect is most likely a fad and will disappear in time, but if you want to keep up with the trends and can’t run out and buy the latest and greatest software program to do this technique. All you need is CS3 and a few minutes of your time. Open your image document in CS3 and in your layers palette make a duplicate layer of the original image.

Now with your duplicate layer active click Filters on the tool bar at the top and Convert for Smart Filters.

This will give you the ability to go back and readjust your image later if needed. Now click on Image>Adjustments> Shadow/Highlights.

Move the shadows slider to the right to about 75-80. Then move the Highlights slider to the right to about 25 and click ok.

In the layers palette click create a new layers adjustment and then click Black and White.

The general default black and white grayscale will be fine here, click ok. Now make this an overlay instead of normal layer.

The image now changes back to color. Now create another adjustment layer and do the Black and White again. This time you need to select your preference from the drop down menu. Try all the settings and see what you like best. In this case I chose the green filter and clicked ok.

Change this layer to overlay also. That is good for the grunge now add some grain. Make a new layer.

Use your paint bucket tool and cover the entire image with a nice neutral gray like the gray in the desk top background.

Go to filters and Add Noise.

Set the slider to about 25-35. Select Gaussian and Monochromatic and click ok.

Now reduce to opacity of this layer down to about 29% and change it to overlay.

For one last final touch go to Filters>Distort>Lens Correction.

Slide the vignette slider all the way to the left to darken and click ok.

Your finished image should look like this.

If it doesn’t you can go back and readjust any layer until you get the desired effect. Experiment with this technique and develop your own style. Landscapes may need less or more depending on your exposures and tastes.