After trying the "daylight at night" approach in a couple of spots, I decided to post this one. It's a smidge blurry (my tripod is not the sturdiest of contraptions:-)), but I like how the water almost looks like glass. The image is posted straight out of the camera and shot at f3.5, 13 seconds with the ISO cranked up to 400. This was a fun assignment with some spooky results...
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Since Blog Wars Has Been Extended....
I was thinking the other day (always a scary proposition) on the bus to the St. Francis Dam site that it is odd that we humans go to great lengths to visit nature or historical places. I think our forefathers would laugh at what we go through. We are loaded on buses with folks we probably don't know, given provisions just so we won't faint away (like we can't plan ourselves?!) and guided to the exact location so we can "experience" the setting. It is almost comical. Anyway in researching a historical place, I too bought into this kind of behavior, at least I can report that I did hike up to the top of one edge of where the dam once stood :)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Point Taken

These two images were taken using a 5D, a Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens 1st shot 10 seconds, 2.5, iso 100
2nd shot 20 seconds, 2.5, iso 100
I find it particularly cool to shoot up close at night. Getting the focus using a small flashlight and then setting the lens to manual is about the only way to get this type of shot with a shallow DOF. Fun exercise Wendy.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Santa Clara River Railroad Bridge - 1898

I shot this with a 70-135mm Canon lense set at 135mm, f5, ISO400 with a 30 second exposure. This image is pretty much "as shot" with some minor adjustments in Photoshop, taken about 1 hour after sunset. I like how the light colored weeds in the foreground seem to frame the image - totally by accident.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The house at night

I shot both of these at around 9 or 10 PM las night using the Canon 5D the top one was shoot at iso 100 and the second was shot at 1600. The only light available for both shots was a street lamp outside (wich could be seen clearly ) and in the first shot I also had some light from the TV in the room next to the kitchen help with the exposure. They were both extremely warm so I tried to fix that a bit.Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Dessert Contrasts
This is year three, attempting to get the perfect dessert/snow-covered mountain scene. Any feedback appreciated.
THE SHERWINS

I shot this in Mammoth Lakes at about 7:00 pm. This is a view of the Sherwins. I used a Canon 40D with a 28-135mm lense at 56 mm, F4.5 for 120 seconds, ISO 1600. The sky was clear and the lighting was from the stars and a few town lights about one mile away. Even though I was using a tripod, the high winds left this image a little soft. Composing in the dark is surely a "hit and miss" affair. But, after a few attempts I got the composition I wanted. I played with the exposure in Photoshop a little and re-sized for the blog. If I could re-do this shot I'd reduce the ISO to about 400 and increase the exposure time. Did I mention it was 28 degrees or that my wife waited very patiently in the car for about 45 minutes?
Monday, March 7, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
wish I had a great camera
Filmore Southern Pacific Depot

The Southern Pacific Depot was built in 1887 during the southern California land boom of that decade. Edith Moore Jarrett the first Curator of the Museum saved the depot from demolition in 1974 by purchasing it from Southern Pacific Railroad for a dollar.
The Depot was originally located much further west on the tracks than its current locaton. It was about 50 feet from Central Ave.
The depot had an additional 20 feet of waiting room. The photo with 2 windows on the west end included the waiting room. Where there are three windows that is the current configuration. When there was a waiting room there was also a bay window trackside which went away when the waiting room was removed.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Night and Day
So students, let's have a little fun. I like the spirit of competition! Let the blog wars begin. Keep this simple -- which photographic post (in response to mine) will solicit the highest star ratings in the next two weeks?
My brother-in-law sent me a link of photographs a few months back. The link shows several images taken at night but the end result of the image looks like daytime. In the last year I have played around with the idea myself. The results are so unreal and unbelievable - truly fantastic.
So again, keeping it really simple. Take photographs at night, but make sure they look like daytime. That's it - go for it. Worth the wait?
http://gizmodo.com/#!5742383/175-photos-of-day-taken-at-night
Technical hint? Use a tripod and f 4.0 to start with at least 5 second long exposure. Depending on the available light it may be longer. The new moon (dark moon) is tomorrow, so as we approach a full moon in the next two weeks the light at night will change significantly.
Another from the Hip
Last semester I was lucky enough to participate in a student workshop with the Getty Museum. They brought in Documentary Photographer Sudharak Olwe. This experience has completely changed the way I shoot, before this my photos were mediocre at best, just asked Wendy. Afterward the strength of my images has improved immensely.
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