Maryland Covered Bridges

Loy's Station covered bridge. Three bracketed images -1,0,+1. Processed thru Adobe Camera Raw, Aurora 2017 and finished in Photoshop CC.

Palms

Black and White Palm, Florida. Three bracketed images in Aurora 2017, converted to B&W in Photoshop CC. Nikon D3, iso 500, f-8 @ 1/320th sec.

Portrait Lighting with Flash

Portrait lighting with off camera flashes is simple and inexpensive. I used Nikon speedlights triggered with a remote wireless cowboy trigger I purchased on eBay for $32. I could have also used the Nikon CSL system built in to the speedlights. The diagram below details the layout used. The umbreela on the left was about 4ft high, the shoot thru umbrella on the right was ground level pointing up and the back light was bare suspended from the ceiling pointing down to highlight her hair.

Shooting Stock Photography

My most popular image this month. My iStock sales are up 300% for 2016. This year has been promising and I plan to continue in 2017. The micro stock market gets more competitive every year but it's well worth the effort. I opted to be an exclusive contributor with iStock and in return they give me higher royalties on my images. I prefer this instead of submitting my pictures to many micro stock agencies and getting the minimum return on any royalties I may receive.

Yosemite Revisited

A redo of a Yosemite image from the past. I wanted to see if the new Aurora 2017 software would make a difference in some of my older images. I was totally blown away to see how well this software brings out the colors and details. Shot with Canon Powershot SX50 HS. ISO 80, f-8 at 1/15th sec.

Snowman

This black ceramic snowman image was a composite of three images. I used colored gels on a pen light to paint light into various areas on the snowman for two exposures then zoomed the lens to infinity and painted the blue background. All three images were then merged in Photoshop CC. Nikon D3, 24-70mm lens at 70mm. Iso 200, WB 3030, f-16, 25 sec. each.

Our Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated for the upcoming holiday. Now I just need Santa to drop off that Nikon D5 I've been wishing for and make my day.

Razor Sharp Cutting Tool

Light painting of a ulu on cutting board. A gift from my brother this razor sharp cutting blade is a great kitchen tool. I made 3 exposures at 3 sec. with red, blue and amber colored stream lights and merged the layers in Photoshop CC.

Taking Stock

It's been a month since my last post and now I'm back. I haven't been out much lately to do many landscapes so I decided to maybe get back to work on my stock images. I used Dave Black's light painting technique for this image. A 6 second exposure lit with led streamlight.

Red Rock

There is an interesting phenomena with digital cameras I have noticed. Old school film cameras taught us to keep the sun over your left or right shoulder for good exposures. With digital cameras if you can get your sun at exactly 22.5 degree angle over your shoulder you can achieve a terrific 3D effect with super depth in your image like the one above.

Trump Tower

Portrait Lighting with Speedlights

A quick portrait of my daughter. I used the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) to make this portrait lighting look natural. My SB 900 is mounted on camera and used as a master to trigger and regulate the others. The other SB's are used as remotes. I placed them on tables around the room and pointed to the ceiling to achieve a smooth wrap around lighting look. The white ceiling diffuses the light perfectly so I do not need any other light modifiers.

Lighting diagram for the portrait above.

Headless ?

Composition is important to conveying your message or telling a story with your photographs. If your images aren't saying something to the viewer then they are probably just snapshots. I didn't care about the statues head in this photo because I wanted to show the pigeons resting and drinking from the water in the foutain and that promentant stain as my main statement for this photo. I do not need the whole statue to do this so I cropped off his head.

NYC Blues

The new Aurora 2017 software from Macphun is an incredible editing tool. If you're running a Mac you need to try this out, ( soon to be coming in PC format ).

Reflecting Waters

Colorful reflections in Central Park.

Blazing Colors

Autumn scene in Central Park, New York City.

Spearmint Plant

Spearmint plant with little tiny flower blossoms.

The Bandana Brothers

Nittany & Oscar wear their birthday bandanas to finish their photo shoot. Disclaimer...All dachshunds were captive an no dachshunds were hurt or harmed ( except their pride and dignity maybe ) at anytime during this photo shoot. Their owners accept full responsibility for any embarrassment they may have caused the dachshund community. If you try this at home be prepared to have plenty of patience.

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)