May 3rd, 2010

For those of you following this Photo-a-Day blog, I've launched a brand new Portrait-a-Day challenge over here. Be sure to check it out and follow the new one!

April 9th, 2010

So my year long challenge is over . . . but I an not nearly finished! It's been an amazing year for me as far as my photography goes, having released more than a few books, been featured in a number of magazines and - the most impact on me - gotten involved in a few charitable events. I hope you guys have enjoyed the ride as much as I have . . . I'll be taking a month off from the Photo-a-Day blog . . . but then in May, I'll return with an even bigger challenge - a Portrait-a-Day blog I am calling Paul Michael Kane's FACES.

The End . . . for now!

April 8th, 2010

So I lied about there being one more camera phone image of the day before I wrap up this challenge tomorrow - and there's a good reason. It is astounding to me to see this shot and know that it was taken by a camera phone. So I am sitting in my office thinking about what I can put up today and I hear the heavy thump of the helicopter. I run up the stairs, snagging the first camera I see, my camera phone. Head out to the back deck and see this thing flying right over head - had to be maybe 300 feet off the ground. Snapped the shot and processed in-camera. Now the astounding part? Take a look at the blades! They are frozen - my little camera phone froze helicopter blades that have to moving in excess of over 1,500th of a second! Astounding! Last time I am going to say it on this blog - the best camera is the one you have with you!

April 7th, 2010

So warm outside . . . stunning! The buds are blooming everywhere. The color contrast is outstanding. I often get asked how I get my backgrounds so soft and out of focus and it's an easy task to accomplish. Simply set the smallest number on your lens as your f-stop - in this case I went with f/2.8

Captured with the Nikon 70-20mm VR at a 50th of a second at f/2.8. ISO is down at 100 for this shot.

April 6th, 2010

I've said it before and I maintain my position . . . I am a sucker for sunset shots. This is is one of those that I consider an epic sunset. The colors, the textures . . . just can't NOT shoot something like this. Again, the trick to getting colors that pop in a shot like this is to under expose or shoot with a higher shutter speed. When you process the image and bring back in the light, you'll be amazed at how much color you'll pull from the image!

Captured with the Sigma 10-20 at a 50th of a second at f/5.6. On Aperture Priority mode, the camera wanted me to shoot for a 6th of a second and would have given me a pretty washed out image. Switching to manual enabled me to hand hold the shot and achieve the color I was looking for! ISO is down to 100.

April 5th, 2010

Only four more images to go after this . . . and this may be the very last Camera Phone Image of the day . . . taking just before stepping inside my home office. The program I use for my Droid Eris is called FX Camera and processes the image for me. This particular effect is called "grung" and I like how it works with the clouds. The subjects themselves are great and I can't even believe I was able to capture them both as they soared past each other! Proving that the best camera indeed is the one you have with you!

April 4th, 2010

Happy Easter!! Captured this during Peyton's outdoor escapades with the family! It helps to have such a photogenic family! I did this run twice - once when she didn't know I was shooting and the other when I asked her to run towards me. Without fail, every time she knows the camera is taking pictures, she hams it up . . . this shot, she was unaware that I was taking the picture.

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 5600th of a second at f/2.8. ISO is down at 100.

April 3rd, 2010

The marvelous weather continues as bird song awakens us in the morning . . . made sure there was some fresh bird seed provided and just waited for my subjects to arrive.

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 250th of a second with an f-stop of f/5.6. ISO is down to 100. The trick to any wildlife photography is to get that little glint of light in their eyes - give the image a flash of life.

April 2nd, 2010

Spring has officially sprung here in Northern New Jersey . . . almost 70 degrees out there and it's simply beautiful!! Couldn't resist taking a shot of the buds finally sprouting . . . love the green pop of color against the otherwise brown backdrop.

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm wide open at f/2.8. Shutter speed is set to 350th of a second with an ISO of 100.

April 1st, 2010

8 more days to go and I wrap up this Photo-a-Day challenge! This morning was a glorious morning. Fog rolling out, fabulous blue skies rolling in . . . couldn't pass up a little drive around town to see what I could shoot. Came upon this and knew I had a decent shot!

Captured with the Sigma 10-20mm - one of my favorite lenses! Shot at 125th of a second at f/8. ISO is set down to 100.

March 31st, 2010

So Peyton's class learned the old adage about March Weather - that being in like a lion, out like a lamb. That said, she also learned that sometimes old adages are not always correct. Take yesterday for example . . . more of the same biblical rain fall all day long. This is the constant drip just outside my office window, proving that at some point soon, I am going to have to head up to the roof and clean out some gutters!

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro shooting at 250th of a second with the flash mounted to the top of the camera. I shot at f/8 with an ISO of 100.

March 30th, 2010

So I am cooking dinner last night and my little 5-year old comes running, telling me my photo-a-day is out on the back deck. So - never one to doubt her - I grabbed the camera and raced to see what she was talking about and this little guy stuck around to get his picture taken. She was so cute about the whole thing, telling me to zooooooom way in.

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 150th of a second at f/2.8. ISO is bumped up to 500 for this shot.

March 29th, 2010

Cemeteries are a marvelous place to find striking images . . . so much so, that I am putting together a folio edition on cemeteries. They are full of history and emotion - things I look for in my image making! Stay tuned for more on that!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm at f2.8 with a shutter speed of 1/160th of a second. ISO is down to 100.

March 27th, 2010

A foreshadowing of things to come . . . my baby girl pulling out of the driveway on to make her own mark on the world . . . fortunately today, her little Jeep engine couldn't make it up the hill! It was a glorious day out today - a day off to boot. We enjoyed a movie, some shopping and the outdoors . . . these are days I cherish . . . and these are my favorite photos to take!

Captured with the Sigma 10-20 at a 30th of a second with an f-stop of f/5.6. ISO is down to 100 and I dropped out the color using Photoshop Lightroom 3 Beta 2.

March 26th, 2010

Totally amazing day out there today . . . a bit chilly, but then I prefer it chilled then too warm. No brainer as to what to shoot today. Slapped on the Sigma 10-20mm super-wide, laid out a blanket and snapped away from the front yard, shooting straight up. Sun flairs are always a great creative play thing. They sing when you stop down your lens to it's highest setting - in this case f/25. The trick to getting the amazing blue sky is to select a fast shutter speed. For this shoot, I went into Aperture Priority mode, took a shot and evaluated my setting, went over into full Manual mode and went for 640th of a second. Any faster and the corners of the image without the sun became too dark. ISO down to 100. Also when shooting sun flairs, if you have a lens hood on, take it off . . .

March 25th, 2010

Camera phone image of the day . . . Shot this last night before a camera club meeting. I am very impressed with some of the image processing software that comes in downloadable Apps. They make pretty great looking images . . . saw the moon up there . . . wanted to get it in the basket, but it was moving in the wrong direction . . . but I still ove this shot . . . =]

March 24th, 2010

If you've been to my office, or known me for any amount of time, you'll know that I love comic books and graphic novels. I have a number of great statues around my office and these things are just begging to be photographed. Pictured here is Matt Wagner's Grendel. It's a very dramatic pose and needed very dramatic lighting - stage lighting, if you will. I shot this with the camera on the tripod and lit it with a little pocket flashlight. This allowed me to move the lighting around during a long exposure . . . worked out rather well, I think . . .

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at f2.8 and a shutter speed of one full second. ISO is down to 100 for the least possible noise out of the image.

March 23rd, 2010

This is a fun technique to try if you have a zoom or telephoto lens. And this morning was the perfect condition to try this out on . . . overcast skies and a lot of fog. You go into full manual mode, select a high f-stop and a slow shutter speed. Zoom all the way in on your subject . . . as you begin zooming out, snap off a shot while continuing to zoom out. The long shutter speed will give you some very nice motion blurs in camera . . . a wonderful abstract technique that is a whole lot of fun to experiment with. Try it with a flash and a person as your subject . . . have fun with it!

Captured at a full second exposure at f/22. My ISO is down at 100. I set my White Balance to Tungsten to give the image a very cool hue.

March 22nd, 2010

I am very fortunate to have more than one creative outlet . . . when things get frustrating and confused and hectic, nothing sorts everything out like banging out a few songs on the piano. It's instant therapy . . .

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at f/1.8 for a 50th of a second. ISO is way up at 800 for this shot.

March 20th, 2010

Can't even express to you how much I am enjoying this weather outside . . . took a break from a very cool project I am working on to get some sun and snap a shot . . . most times, you want to try and avoid a sun flair . . . but I couldn't resist breaking the rules this morning!

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro at 2500th of a second at f/22. ISO is down at 100 for this shot!

March 19th, 2010

Haven't done a camera phone image of the day is quite some time, so today had to be the day . . . sometimes I am all about shapes and abstract . . . couldn't pass up this lawn decoration. I know there's some fancy name for what this is, but right now, it escapes me . . . just can't get over how these little camera phones can capture something so sharply! And the in-camera processors do an amazing job of going to black and white!

March 18th, 2010

Now I am having just too much fun with this . . . after doing some experimenting last night, I think if I shift my view a few degrees to camera left, and concentrate on the northern sky, I can get these stars to do a full circle around me! This time around, I popped off a flash in the foreground to see what would happen. I love experimenting and learning from my mistakes/findings . . . I think next, I wanna try taking the camera up to Heater's Pond and trying this with a body of water in the image . . . could I get this in reflection?? Oh, the possibilities are endless!

Captured with the Tamron 28-80mm. Shooting timed intervals at at 5 seconds long every 15 seconds for an hour and half. My aperture is set to f/5.6 and I bumped my ISO up to 200 for this shot.

March 17th, 2010

My first attempt at capturing star trails . . . this is an on-going experiment that you'll see more of in the coming days. I'd say it was a success, but I want to do some more testing and playing. The bright dots you see in sort of a pattern are jets and planes that few across the lens while it was recording. This is a fun project and am making many discoveries about this sort of work!

Captured with the Tamron 28-80mm. Shot at a shutter speed of 10 seconds ever 15 seconds for an hour and a half. 362 frames were then blended together in Photoshop for the final shot you see here. The benefit of doing it this way as opposed to a very long exposure is a lot less digital noise. ISO is down to 100.

March 16th, 2010

What a difference a day makes . . . the past few days have been filled with nothing but rain, but now blue skies are out and it's just stunning out there. Hope everyone affected by the flooding and water damage can begin drying out process! Me, I took a nice long walk at lunchtime to recharge and try and find something fun to shoot. This little fellow seemed to be hopping from tree to tree, keeping a wary eye on me, so I though I'd give him some attention.

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 1/1000th of a second at f/2.8. ISO is down at 100.

March 15th, 2010

One last shot from yesterday's crazy weather . . . proving no matter how long the struggle between Man vs Nature goes on, Mother Nature will always win out . . . the evidence is all around us today!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 250th of a second at f/2.8. ISO is bumped up to 400 for this shot.

March 14th, 2010

It pouring outside . . . biblical pouring! The marshlands across the street are flooding and it's snowing no signs of stopping . . . crazy weather! At least it's not the fluffy white stuff!!!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at a 60th of a second at f/8.0. ISO is down to 100. This was shot through a screened window, giving it that soft, diffused look.

March 13th, 2010

I am always looking for the 'one of a kind' shot . . . and today, during a charity event I was appearing at, I knew I had my shot. It was a St. Baldrick's event where folks - men and women - were having their heads shaved to benefit kids with cancer. A very worthy cause that I was just thrilled to participate in - even though my head is shaved, already . . . So I am watching dozens of people getting shaved and also watching the clean up . . . Regular dust pans just weren't working very well . . . so out came the shovels . . . Couldn't pass it up!

Shot with the Sigma 10-20mm at f5.6 at a 60th of a second. ISO down at 100.

March 12th, 2010

There are some days where I question my choice to become a creative professional . . . and this week was full of them. Has nothing to do with the creative process - I LIVE FOR THAT. The aspect that I don't always come to terms with is the business end. The unreasonable deadlines . . . the extraordinary expectations . . . I could do without those, sometimes . . . which is why, on this Friday afternoon, I am thinking of nothing but quitting time and drowning myself in some sort of chilled beverage of choice . . . hence the martini glass you see below.

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro. This was lit with two flashes - and the fun part is to paint the scene with light, rather than blast it. A lot of times, people don't think that a flash can be controlled or applied . . . it's just another tool to help bend, shape and control light - the subject of every photograph! Shot at f/8 with a shutter speed of 250th of a second. ISO is down to 100.

March 11th, 2010

You never know when the mood might strike to create an image . . . sitting at a stop light, for instance. Seeing all the different color lights . . . knowing applying the technique known as Bokeh would make for a pretty neat image!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at a 40th of a second at f/2.8. ISO down to 100.

March 10th, 2010

Springtime isn't always pretty . . . My astute daughter pointed out that with the return of warmer weather, the bugs are out in force. For what ever reason, there are a ton of flies buzzing about the house - nothing smells funny and I sure hope we're a long way off from Amityville . . . but I saw them and knew I had my shot for today!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 640th of a second and shooting at f/4. ISO is way down at 100 for this shot.

March 9th, 2010

First up is my 11th anniversary video - hard to believe I've been doing this for almost a year already! April 9th will mark the one year date and I'll be taking a month off - only to return with something extraordinary! Can't wait to show it off! In the mean time, enjoy this review of the previous month! And scroll down for a better look at today's image!

Continuing my Spring shots, as I was hunting for a shot today, I heard all these geese flying way up high . . . couldn't resist the shot! The singular cloud they were passing by give the image an almost painterly effect!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200 mm VF at 1/1000 of a second at f2.8. ISO is down at 100.

March 8th, 2010

Judging by the weather out there, Spring has finally sprung! Captured this out in the front yard this morning. I have high hopes of more of the same for the next few weeks. I love shooting macro as not only is it about photography, but also about composition and design.

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro on a tripod at a 10th of a second with an f-stop of f/5.6. ISO is down to 100 for this shot.

March 7th, 2010

I love doing this . . . having my 5-year old art direct my photo-a-day. I asked her this morning what I should shoot and she was playing with her current toy of the week, her GoGo Crazy Bones. Near as I can tell, it's like marbles, but with collectible characters. She loves them and I have to admit, they are cute. So I had her set up a shot and help me 'press the button!'

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro at a 50th of a second with an f-stop of 5.6. ISO is down at 100.

March 6th, 2010

What's this I see out the window . . . blue skies? Feels like forever since I've seen a clear blue sky. And even better? It's supposed to hit 50 degrees this afternoon! Dare I hope spring is on its way . . . ah, what a warming thought!

The trick to getting a nice bright sun flair in your shot is to close your aperture to a nice high number. For this shot, I went all the way to f/22 and shot at 1/500th of a second. My ISO is down to the lowest my camera will go, 100. The down side to shooting blue ski is this - nothing will show off your sensor dust better than a nice blue sky. So unless you keep your sensor nice and clear, be prepared to do a little spot removal!

March 5th, 2010

Gearing up for the next version of my Photo-a-Day challenge . . . this might give you some indication of what. It's a light study . . . how light falls on the human face. How it wraps the contours of the features. Looking forward to exploring this more . . .

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at f/1.8. Shutter speed at 1/125th of a second. ISO is up at 400.

March 4th, 2010

Yet another camera phone image . . . quick one for today . . . a study of light, shadow, texture and shape . . . I am so digging this philosophy of 'the best camera is the one you have with you!'

March 3rd, 2010

Not sure about you guys, but the day I am having already has me thinking about a nice chilled glass of Merlot this evening. So much so, that I thought I'd shoot it this morning. Going for abstract here . . . processed in Lightroom to give the image the red overlay.

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro. Shooting at f5.6 at 125th of a second with my ISO all the way up to 800.

March 2nd, 2010

Another camera phone image for this week. One thing that amazes me about these little cameras is the minimum focus distance between the lens and the subject. The pawn in the foreground is less than an inch away as I took this . . . . I love that intimacy you can get with these handy cams!

March 1st, 2010

So I am in my office trying to come up with something to shoot and I hear this commotion outside. The snow is still pretty deep out there, but closer to the house, you can almost see grass. The local birds discovered this and have been searching for food. I quickly startled them upon investigating the noise, but they left behind a feather, which I promptly snagged as my image for today!

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro and let with one off camera flash. Shot at a 60th of a second at f/8. ISO is down to 100.

February 28th, 2010

My Image of the Day can come from anywhere . . . this beautiful flower was taken at a BJ's Wholesale this afternoon during some food shopping. It was good to get out after being snowed in for four days . . . I practically threw the family in to the car to go - cabin fever had set in. So I knew not only was I shopping for some much needed food items - but for my image of the day, as well!

Captured on my Camera phone. No edits.

February 27th, 2010

I've been wanting to try a shot like this for a while . . . had my daughter watch some cartoons while I simply took some pictures of her. By now - she's five - she is very used to having the camera in her space. We have a lot of fun with it and she's the perfect muse.

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro at f5.6 at 250th of a second. Lit from a single snooted flash fired from of camera. ISO is down to 100. Dropped out the color in Adobe Lightroom 3 beta.

February 26th, 2010

I am getting very tired of all the snow, but thought this would make a whimsical shot for today's image . . . shot off my back deck where the snow is undisturbed by the 25-35 mile an hour winds we're getting. The driveway, a lost cause, has been cleared twice and I've come close to cardiac arrest clearing said driveway . . . but it's pretty out there, yes? Suuuuure . . . . =]

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime shooting wide open at f/1.8. Shutter speed is 1/1000th of a second and my ISO is down at 100.

February 25th, 2010

So I woke up this morning, trying to figure out what I was going to shoot . . . it's snowing out there - AGAIN - and my daughter has a snow day today. So we're up and coloring and it's one of those special days where we have to open up a new box of crayons. Who here remembers how doing that just evokes a childish joy? The sharp, new crayon smell . . . I bet you all can smell it now, even just looking at this shot!

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro and lit with two flashes. Shot at 1/250th of a second at f/5.6 with an ISO of 100.

February 24th, 2010

So as I am clearing the drive way this morning, trying to figure out where to put this additional 7 inches of snow - in anticipation of even MORE snow over the next couple of days - I can't help but notices how the snow effects all the little things around me. How the littlest branch could hold an amazing amount of snow . . . or the contrast between the sharp thorns shown here against the fluffiness of the snow.

Captured with the Sigma 70-300 mm Macro at 1/1000th of a second at f/5.6 with an ISO of 400.

February 23rd, 2010

It's raining outside - threatening to turn into snow/freezing rain. I felt this shot conveys my feelings about the weather of late . . . =]

Captured with the Sigma 70-300mm Macro. Shooting at f/5.6 with a shutter speed of 60th of a second. Fired an off camera flash via a commander unit. ISO is at 100.

February 22th, 2010

Sometimes fortune smiles upon the lowly photographer. I was out this morning trying to find something to shoot today and this jet passed overhead . . . thought it made for a great shot!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 450th of a second with an f-stop of 5.6. ISO is down at 100.

February 21st, 2010

I love to experiment with different things . . . sure, I love to shoot sunset shots, but what if I took a shot of the setting sun through a screen, focusing on the screen, rather than the sunset itself? Pure visual magic . . . loving this. The colors - the textures. Sometimes experimenting works out, sometimes it doesn't. I think this time around, it worked!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 1/500th of a second at f/2.8. I used the auto focus to lock in on the screen and the shallow depth of field and the brightness of the sun did the rest! ISO is down to 100.

February 20th, 2010

So today, I aimed to do a "Camera Phone' image of the day. We were heading out to do some shopping and hit the book store. I love going to the book store. Always have. Browsing the shelves and seeing all sorts of inspiring images and titles. One thing that struck me about the photography section, though, was the abundance of How-To books, rather than Why books. At this point in my photographic journey, I am much less interested in how to take pictures. Very much more interested in WHY i seem drawn to the pictures I take.

There's something poetic there, I just can't put my finger on it . . . something about me not taking pictures, but being taken by the pictures I take . . . I guess it's better that I let the whole "a picture is worth a thousand words" concept speak for me . . .

All I am saying is this . . . these books have their place . . . but only use them as a reference. The best way to learn your way around a camera and how to take a decent picture is to SHOOT, PLAY and HAVE FUN!!

February 19th, 2010

What a long Friday . . . and can you tell where my head is at today? Looking forward to the end of the day when I can open up a nice, chilled bottle of wine and just kick back and relax . . . I think that's all the explanation I need for this shot . . . =]

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime, shooting wide open at f/1.8 with a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second. ISO is down to 100.

February 18th, 2010

Strange morning . . . went outside to warm up the car and found a poor little bunny dead at the driver side door of my Baja. Didn't look like a violent death, but I found evidence of the culprit all around me in the snow. Though I'd go all CSI on it and captured my Camera Phone image of the day. Buried the poor bunny shortly after dropping Peyton off at school - who, by the way - will never know what happened . . . what a weird way to start the day? I don't believe in omens, but that's enough to make me consider it . . . treading very lightly today . . .

February 17th, 2010

One of my favorite things to shoot is this weathered garden angel I have out in the front yard. She's been sitting out there in all this show and finally I can see her again, so I thought what better subject to shoot today . . .

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 500th of a second with an aperture of f/2.8. ISO is down to 100.