Shot on location during a recent gig for Ford . . . I was shooting at a barn built in the 1700's and it was just such an amazing location. The contrast between the old barn and the sleek cars was fantastic and there was plenty for me to shoot while the cars were being reset.
Captured with the 70-200mm at f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second. ISO was down to 100. Converted to Black and White with Adobe's new Lightroom 3 Beta.
I had the pleasure of shooting a Tai Chi studio yesterday . . . full of history and good karma. They had this amazing drum used during class set in the corner of the room . . . has to be a hundred years old . . . perfect subject to shoot!
Captured with the Sigma 10-20mm at a 40th of a second at f/5.6 with an ISO of 500.
Once again, I am a huge sucker for sunset shots . . . and am very fortunate to have a piece of land that affords me this view on an almost daily basis! There are some days when the sun almost sneaks down, slipping beneath the horizon with barely a whisper . . . then there are days - when a few clouds mark the sky, where the sun begs to be seen and creates a colorful splash down that you just can't miss!
Captured with the Sigma 10-20mm at f5.6 with a shutters speed of 1/160th of a second. ISO is down to 100.
Autumn is in full bloom, finally . . . a recent cold snap has everything pretty much turning every shade of Fall and it's stunning!! Shot this in the back yard as the sun was going down - hence the harsh shadows. what was great is, a quick rainfall added a ton of specular highlights to the background and - while out of focus - the resulting effect turned almost painterly!
Show with the Nikon 50mm prime wide open at f/1.8 at 1/500th of a second with my ISO set to 100.
It's just not right! Check the date! It's only October 16th and last night, we had almost 2 inches of snow on the back deck!! I am not ready - and more important, my John Deere with the plow attachment isn't ready!! Let's hope this is a freaky weather thing and we get a few more weeks of Autumn before the real stuff begins to fall!!
Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm at f2.8 with a shutter speed of 1/160th of a second.
We're doing a 'family project' for my daughter's kindergarten class and picking up all different color leaves. It's an exercise in sorting - brilliant idea, really - and a whole lot of fun. So I though I'd take advantage of mother nature this morning and shoot one of the leaves. My favorite art director - young little Peyton Marie - helped me out in the selection of the subject.
Captured between two layers of glass, placed atop a light table and illuminated with a single SB900. Shot at a 60th of a second at f2.8 with the 700-200mm with an ISO of 100.
So part of what I do as a photographer is try to see the beauty in the mundane. Take these sockets hanging around on my work bench . . . I've only use like three of these things in my life. One for the fastenings on my tripod, once to fix a loose windshield wiper and the other use escapes me right now . . . but they are shiny and when you lump them together, they form patterns - patterns are very pleasing to the eye and, therefore, make for great subjects.
Captured with the sockets sitting on a light table and illuminated with the SB 900 from above for that specular highlight you see inside the socket. Shot at a 60th of a second a f5.6 with my ISO at 100. The only adjustment I made to the image was in Lightroom, where I finessed the white balance to give the overall shot a much 'cooler' feel - hence the blueish tint.
Something simple for today's image . . . the leaves around our home still haven't turned over quite yet, which perplexes me as our all around us, color is blooming. So I opted to process this image with a little less color . . . which is easy to do when you're shooting wide open at f/1.8.
Shot with the Nikon 50mm prime at an 80th of a second with an aperture of f1.8. ISO is set to 250 to give the image some texture.
So I did a Google Map search for some historic locals around my town yesterday and discovered a cemetery dating back to Revolutionary War times. I love shooting cemeteries as they are all very beautiful and peaceful - and full of history. Ironic thing with this shot is shortly after shooting this, I had a brush with death as a log rolled off the trailer of a pickup - I narrowly avoided a front end collision with the log - managed to swerve out of the way but still hit it with my back tire, which blew out, sending the Baja into a skid. Me, the car and the cameras all survived, but there's nothing like a brush with Death to make you appreciate everything around you!
Captured with my Nikon D100 that's been converted to shoot IR. Taken with the Sigma 10-20mm at 1/1000th of a second at f/4 with an ISO of 100. Processed in Adobe Lightroom to give it a sepia tone.
Sometimes, a long abandoned yard ornament makes for a great subject - especially when you're under some tight deadlines, are a single dad for a week and working feverishly to have the redesign of your web site done and ready to launch by Friday! Still - this image has all the things I look for when shooting . . . color and texture!
Shot with the Nikon 70-200mm at f2.8 with a shutter speed of 350th of a second.
The only thing missing from this morning's photo-a-day entry are some wispy clouds to give the background some texture . . . but this ain't all that bad! I tried getting a shot of the beautiful 'Hunter's Moon' last night, but it was just to overcast, so this, I reckon, is the next best thing. And this is why professional photographers call the twilight hour before and just after sunrise the Golden Hour . . . the light you get is just amazing.
Captured on full manual mode with my Nikon 70-200mm. Shooting at f/8 with a shutter speed of 640th of a second. ISO is down to 100. Contrary to popular belief, the moon is quite bright, so hand holding a moon shot is totally doable - as seen here. No tripod necessary!
As promised . . . The Praying Mantis. Every October, these creepy little creatures find their way to our property. I found this one as I was mowing the lawn. He was sitting atop a guard rail that borders our yard. I immediately stopped what I was doing and grabbed the camera. Snapped off more than a few shots - the rest can be found here: www.pmkane.com/mantis. As you will see in the gallery, this mantis wasn't the only one to visit me yesterday . . . in fact, you'll see that I interrupted another one - an older mantis from the coloring - during his evening meal! I gotta warn you - if you're a fan of Lady Bugs, the last two shots of this gallery are NOT for you!
Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm at 250th of a second at f/5.6. ISO is down to 100.
Critters make for great subjects. This little guy almost bought the farm this morning when I stepped out of my car. This is a Woolly Bear Caterpillar . . . according to legend, the severity of the upcoming winter can be judged by examining the pattern of brown and black stripes on woolly bear caterpillars – the larvae of Isabella tiger moths. If the brown stripe between the two black stripes is thick, the winter will be a mild one. A narrow brown stripe portends a long, cold winter.
Captured with the Sigma 70-300 Macro. Shot at f/5.6 with a shutter speed of a 60th of a second. ISO is at 500. Normally, when I shoot macro, I make sure to mount the camera onto a tripod. This time around, I simple shot on 'continuous high' and fired off a burst of 15-20 shots. Chances are, in that burst of images, you'll be able to find one that is tack sharp.
