Nittany and Oscar dressed as the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. I added a yellow brick road to the city of Oz and the text.

This is another version of the Wizard of Oz theme for Halloween. Below, I thought it would be fun to go back through the years and see previous Nittany and Oscar Halloween costumes and themes.

2015 Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles.

2014 Ghostbuster and Stay Puff Marshmallow man.

2013 Batman and Superman.

2012 Chef and Lobster.

2011 Devil Dog.

Tin Dawg

Here is Oscar in his Halloween costume. He is wearing a tin man costume to match his brother Nittany's scarecrow costume in their Wizard of Oz theme.

Dachshund Portrait Session ( cont. )

This is Oscar, Nittany's brother. He is the least co operative of the two dachshunds. Oscar won't listen to his owner or stand still for more than a split second. That is one reason I went with broad flat lighting. I needed to be able to light these guys up no matter where they stood. Lighting set up explained below.

The Set Up

Because the dachshunds were so energetic I suspended the speedlights from the ceiling and triggered them with remotes with the tabletop set up I mentioned in earlier posts. This set up allows my assistants to move around the tabletop without worry of tripping on wires. The five lights give me plenty of light to light the dogs.

Nittany B&W

Another shot of Nittany the dachshund. This type of wiener dog is very active. To get him to stay in a central location I set up a 6'x3' table and dropped the back drop down the wall and over the table. His owner then attempted to ask him to sit and rewarded him with doggie treats for being good. If you attempt this at home the key word is " patience ".

Dachshund Costume

Here is Nittany with a sneak peak of his Halloween costume. If you guessed he is a clown, witch or beggar you'd be wrong. He is the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.

Gone to the Dogs

Dachshund portrait.

Spider Eyes

Halloween has got nothing on these cross orb weaver spiders. Up close they are very scary looking.

Patterns and Textures

On the back of the main body of this cross orb weaver spider is rich in pattern and texture.

Spider

An extreme close up of the mouth and fangs of a cross orb weaver spider.

New Garden Addition

Chrysanthemums (/krɪˈsænθəməm/)also called mums are a great way to add fall color to your garden. This plant has about 1 inch flowers on it. I merged 50 images ( overkill ) to make this photo. I just wanted to be sure I had all the detail I could get. Shot with canon powershot sx50 hs with raynor 250 close up filter. Iso 80, 1/800th at f-8. Images were merged in Zerene Stacker and finished with the new Aurora 2017 and Photoshop CC.

New Software

Just upgraded to Aurora 2017. Loads of new and updated controls. This hornet macro was stack merged in Zerene Stacker and processed with Aurora 2017.

Basil Flower

This basil has gone to seed. The flowers will generate new seed to be used for next years crop. I shot and stacked 38 images to get this tiny flower in sharp focus.

Profile Picture Updated

I have tried many many types of speedlight flash diffusers with ok results, but the best technique ever was invented by Neil Van Neikirk. His black foamie thing is genius. Not only is it economical it works fantastic. Gives you directional lighting from your on camera flash. My selfie was taken with Nikon sb-900 with black foamie thing on camera directed to a white wall camera left. Another sb-600 directed towards white wall to light my background and bounce light back to the left side of my face. Textured background was added in later in Photoshop CC. You can read up on Neil's technique here Black Foamie Thing.

Platycodon in my Garden

Platycodon grandifloras. It is commonly known as common balloon flower or balloon flower. A reseeding perennial with gorgeous blue flowers. I focus stacked 14 images to get the entire flower in sharp focus. Iso 80, 1/4 sec at f-8.

Nasturtium

Edible flower.

Candid Kids Portraits

Sometimes kids will freeze up when they see a camera come up to your face and they know you're looking. We took Erik to the zoo so he was already happy and excited to go inside. To get this natural happy smile I just stood near Erik in the parking lot and turned away slightly while holding my camera to my side (appearing to be not paying attention)and pointed the lens towards my subject. I used the back focus button on the Nikon to lock in my focus then pressed the shutter. Presto, one great shot of Erik. The technique takes some practice but it's worth the effort. The camera lens is at subject height and you get a better perspective without going down on your knees to shoot.

Evening Bridge

A different variation of Sach's Bridge giving the setting sun a warmer touch by increasing the white balance.

Group Portraits

My best advice to you when doing a large group portrait is don't over think it. Last week we went to Mechanicsburg, Pa to meet up with Wendy's family. Since this was going to be a once in a life time event for her she asked that I take a portrait of everyone. Everyone includes me too. Her parents drove up from Florida, her oldest daughter, husband and two children flew in from California, her son, his wife and two children drove up from West Virginia, her youngest daughter and son drove in from Newville,Pa and we drove down from Niagara Falls, NY. See what I mean a big deal don't mess this up. The key with groups and kids is speed and efficiency. If you don't work fast you'll lose the attention of your group. Fortunately I have trained Wendy on posing large groups when we did weddings and as soon as the gang arrived she quickly posed everyone in a pleasing position in the predetermined spot we picked for our photo. While she did that I quickly mounted the Nikon D3 to a tripod, set my camera up in the parking lot set it to iso 400 because I wanted fill flash ( SB910 ) on camera to lift the shadows, f-11 to get enough depth of field to cover both rows of people, 1/60 sec to sync with flash and under expose background one stop. I used a wireless remote to trigger the camera. The flash also helped to get the kids looking at the camera (most of them). One flash to get everyone's attention then five more frames to get everyone looking at the camera and eyes open. Six images total in under three minutes from start to finish. This was the best of the group.

Sachs Covered Bridge

The bridge always calls me back every time I visit Gettysburg. Three image HDR made in Aurora. You can now pre order Aurora 2017. The new version will be available to download September 29th.

Sachs Bridge

Southwest of Gettysburg on Marsh creek lies Sach's covered bridge. Some say it's haunted but all I met were two tourists, two brothers fishing and one town police officer. I used 5 bracketed exposures merged in Aurora HDR Pro and finished my image in Photoshop CC.

Seriously Evil

Macro of this hornet took 18 images focus stacked in Zerene Stacker. Photo was then processed in Photoshop CC and Aurora HDR Pro. Iso 80, 1/500 @ f-8.

Lobelia (Lobelia Erinus Blue Carpet)

Pink Bee Balm

Hot Blossom

Jalapeño pepper blossom. Iso 80, 1/500th @ f-8.

Blazing Nasturtium

I like the way orange nasturtiums look like flames in their centers. The great detail and depth of field is from focus stacking 45 images and merging them together in Zerene Stacker. My image was then finished off in Aurora HDR Pro and Photoshop CC. Iso 80, 1/500th @ f-8.

Female lion and cub.

Glorious Glories

Wild white morning glory growing in our gardens.

Spider Nation

Macro image of a Spider showing it's many eyes. Interesting? or Creepy? You make the call.

Lion

Buffalo Zoo lion.

Coreopsis

Focus stacked sixty images for the top photo and twenty nine images to complete the bottom photo. Changed the background color and added a custom texture on the bottom image also. Coreopsis is a tiny flower usually measures about one half inch or smaller.

Russian Sage

Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)

Prince at Rest

I used my Canon Powershot SX50 HS to zoom to about 2000mm ( 35mm Equivalent ) to get this close up look of the zoo's newest additions. The lions are approximately 85ft from the camera. The canon makes a great lightweight choice when you need a lot of reach from your lens. I still prefer this later edition to newer ones because of its incredible reach( macro to 4800mm), it shoots RAW, it has a hot shoe, and it flash syncs up to 1/800 of second. When I find another that meets those standards I will upgrade. Nikon is coming out with a Nikon DL with a 1 inch backlit sensor that I am very interested in for an upgrade.

Sleeping Prince

Lion cub sleeps the day away. Taken at the Buffalo Zoo.

Ageratum

An old fashion garden favorite is this tiny fairy ageratum. This macro was made from 22 images focus stacked in Zerene Stacker and finished with Aurora HDR Pro.

Eagle

Bald eagle profile.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Hairy spider was lurking in my garage. I focus stacked 32 images in Zerene Stacker and finished the image in Aurora HDR Pro and Photoshop CC.

I changed the background color and used 44 focus stacked images and got a sharper, deeper image.

The Mill

The Wallace Cross Mill makes an interesting subject. I shot from a low vantage point so I could get the mill reflecting in the water.

Big Sky

This is a two image panorama I made while in central Pennsylvania.

Hotel cira 1880

The hotel Codorus overlooks the Codorus creek in York. I liked the way the evening sun illuminated the hanging flower baskets along the bridge on Market Street.