My Lucky Break in Gettysburg

Gettysburg is a popular tourist destination, especially during Christmas vacations. The historic battlefields are great places to photograph. I always try to find unique or different angles when photographing landmarks, principally because they all photographed to death and I don't want my photos to be like ho-hum same ole photos. I was slowly cruising through the battlefield looking for an opportunity when I came upon a local re enactor dressed in full rebel uniform. None of the tourists seemed to notice him as he walked along. I walked up to him and quickly struck up a conversation. During our talk I asked if he would be so kind to pose for a few pictures for me. He agreed and I quickly looked for a good spot with a clear background. I wanted to show the realism of what it could have looked like back in the day. The sun was setting so the light was great for portraits. I found a lone canon and decided the best angle would be shooting in to the sun. This would normally be ideal if I had some sort of reflector or some fill flash to bounce some light back at him, to make sure I didn't lose too much detail in the shadows. I decided to HDR, ( high dynamic range ) a burst of five images spaced one stop apart would be my best approach. I used my Nikon D3 with 24-85mm lens at f8 aperture priority, iso 400. I also used a graduated neutral density filter to drop the exposure of the bright sky. I moved around my subject and shot various angles to get a variety of images. In my hast to work fast I stepped into a puddle of very cold water in the field...lol. I thanked him very much for posing for my camera and he went on his way. I felt very fortunate to have run in to him, and I knew I had some really great images to bring home. The images above were then uploaded to Adobe Camera Raw, processed in Photomatix and finished in Photoshop CC. I used various techniques ( sepia tone ) to replicate an old photo look.

Grand Opening

This blog, formerly Niagara Falls Wedding Photography blog, run by The Portrait Gallery Niagara has been changed to our new blog simply called Gary Muth PHOTOGRAPHY. It will not be a wedding based photography blog but I plan on covering my personal photography with pictures and tutorials and just general things of interest. I thank you for following my photography.

WWII tribute 2014

A few images from the WWII tribute held at the Dillsburg Tavern in Pennsylvania.

Gorge Walk by Gary Muth

We had a great opportunity to stop in Dansville and visit Stony Brook. A wonderful state park with nature trails and a gorge walk with plenty of photo opportunities. The waterfalls had a nice amount of water flowing which for August is probably rare. The park was packed with people and getting pictures of the waterfalls without people frolicking in the water was a little tricky but with a little planning and patience I got a few images.

Misty Morning

A fine misty morning with a bit of fog burning off the Lockport creek. Nikon D3, 24-70mm lens set at 24mm. Variable ND filter set at 8. Five bracketed exposures composited in Photoshop HDR merge at 32 bit. Finished in Lightzone 2.

1st Communion Photo Sessions by The Portrait Gallery Niagara

A special session for Leah. Images from her 1st communion photo session.

Post Time Post

May 27th was opening day for the 2014 horse racing season at Fort Erie Race Track in Ontario. Here is and action image I shot with a slow shutter speed in order to get some motion blur to show movement.