January 31st, 2010

More fun with light painting, this time in total darkness and one of Peyton's novelty flashlight which comes with colored gels. If you have a camera where you can control your shutter exposure, I highly recommend this technique . . . it's a whole lot of fun!!

Captured at 4 seconds at f/8. Used the Nikon 50mm prime at an ISO of 100.

January 30th, 2010

Trying my hand at product photography again . . . this time using my X-Box 360 controller. I'd like to tell you that I was playing a mean game of Halo 3 that served as inspiration for this shot, but alas, been way too busy to play. Always liked the design of this simple controller, though, and though the clean lines and pops of color would make an interesting shot.

Captured with the Sigma 70-300 macro at f5.6 and shot at 1/60th of a second with an ISO of 100. Lit with a single SB800 off camera.

January 29th, 2010

I bit more artistic than I am used to posting, but I am really enjoying the processing of these types of images. This was shot through a white sheet, one flash behind the sheet, the other in front. Processed in Lightroom, then using OnOne's very effective PhotoTools to add a bit of personal artistic freedom.

Captured at a 60th of a second with the Nikon 50mm Prime shooting wide open at f/1.8. Lit in two directions with to Nikon Speedlights. ISO is down to 100.

January 28th, 2010

Ok . . . I admit it, I am very, very tired of snow. I want to be done with clearing the driveway, listening for delays or closings. Bring back the sun and some foliage!!!

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime wide open at f/1.8 with a shutter speed of 1/300th of a second. ISO is down to 100.

January 27th, 2010

I am in a very abstract kind of place, recently and wanted to give some light painting a try. It's a very simple technique that can produce some very wonderful images. You find a blank wall - or your 'canvas.' Set the camera to shoot at a slower shutter speed, grab a flash light and just spread the beam across the wall in any pattern or shape that you like.

Set to full manual mode, this was captured with the Nikon 50mm prime shot at f/10 at a fourth of a second. ISO is down to 100.

January 26th, 2010

Aside from the occasional cigar, I don't smoke . . . but I find the dynamics of smoke captivating. Every once and a while I get the urge to photograph smoke and this morning was one of those times. I got out the flashes, raided our candle supply and set up a black backdrop. My usual technique for capturing smoke involves incense, but I wanted to get a subject in the frame this time, hence the candle - the only problem is, blowing out the candle to get a nice plume of smoke. If I blew too hard, the smoke would grow to thin by the time it came back in frame - so I channeled my childhood hero, MacGyver and fastened together two straws to make a more direct 'blow out' and it worked like a charm!

Captured in full manual mode with the Nikon 50mm prime at f/8 and shooting at 250th of a second. I lit the candle from left and right with two Nikon Speedlights and fired them off with an on-camera commander unit. ISO is down to 100.

January 25th, 2010

So it's pouring out . . . presenting many great photo opportunities . . . this one, not too far from my back porch. Because of the shallow depth of field and the fluid dynamics of the rain drops, what you don't see in this shot are the legs of the patio table that this water has collected on. Sometimes, it's what you don't see in the image that's important . . . =]

This was shot with the Nikon 50mm prime at f5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second. ISO is down to 100.

January 24th, 2010

Today was a great day . . . we were invited to a birthday party for one of Peyton's friends. It was at a bowling alley in Warwick, NY and I just knew I could snag a photo-a-day entry out of the trip. Not only did I snag a great shot, but we had a blast. I haven't bowled in over a decade and it was Peyton's first time! She did great, I need an aspirin - but did pretty well. Heather did fantastic, too . . . all in all a really, really good time!

Show on full manual at f5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/25th of a second and my ISO up to 400..

January 23rd, 2010

One of my favorite quotes goes something like this - "Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." It's what I want my photography to say about me as a creative professional. Someone passes this subject and sees a simple air conditioner . . . I see a pattern . . . a symmetry . . . I see a pleasing composition that I wish to share with others. Am I trying to convince you that it's something other than what you're seeing? No. It's an air conditioner - but I'd be failing at my task if I didn't try to make you see that simple air conditioner in a different light.

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime wide open at f/1.8 at 1/400th of a second. ISO is down to 100.

January 22nd, 2010

So it was my intention to shoot these roses for a couple more days, but they died . . . what to do? Follow my credo - focus on the details. And now I can't get that "every rose has a thorn" out of my head!

This was shot with the Nikon 50mm prime wide open at f1.8, accounting for that great, blurry background - love that! Captured with natural light at a 50th of a second with my ISO up around 400. Very little done to it in Lightroom.

January 21st, 2010

Here's another in my Rose series . . . this is much more stylized than I am used to showing off - combining my photographic passion with my graphic design skills. I picked a surface that contained a pattern as a starting point for the image creation. The rest is layered effects done in Photoshop.

Shot with the Nikon 50mm prime at f/1.8 with a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second. ISO is down to 100. Processed in Adobe Lightroom and finalized in Photoshop.

January 20th, 2010

Another in the series of Rose shots . . . this using a technique called Cyanotype to process the image. Shot using natural lighting on the kitchen table. I very much enjoy using natural light when I can as you get this unpredictable, yet very pleasing quality of light that makes for a stunning image.

Shot with the Nikon 50mm prime at a 40th of a second at f/1.8. ISO is up at 400 for this shot.

January 19th, 2010

Second in my week long attempt to shoot a rose in all different styles and settings . . . this shot is a low key image, shot with a black background and a 'snooted' flash - meaning there's tube around the flash head directing the light right at the rose. I sprayed the rose with some water to breath some life into it - giving it a catch light, which wildlife photographers live off of!

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at f/1.8 at a 60th of a second. ISO is down to 100.

January 18th, 2010

So with Valentine's Day a little less than a month away, I thought I'd try something fun this week for my Photo-a-Day challenge. All week long, I am going to shoot roses . . . but each day will showcase a different technique or style - From traditional to a bit more artistic than you're used to seeing from me. First up, today's image is a more traditional shot. I used a light box to illuminate the subject with a high-key background and a single off-camera flash to fill in some shadows. All that was left to do was some cropping and I had my shot!

Captured with the Sigma 70-300 macro at 250th of a second at f5.6 with an ISO of 100. Flash fired from the SU800 commander unit atop the camera. Fired from camera right.

January 17th, 2010

Here's a shot from my Droid Eris that contains a 5.0 mega pixel camera. I am playing more and more with the built in camera on my phone, and also the legion of downloadable Aps used to edit photos right in the phone. I'll be doing this at lest once a week during the last couple months of this year long photo challenge.

January 16th, 2010

Call me crazy, but I love scenes like this . . . this is a barricade on a walkway on 42nd street from one avenue to another - not sure which. There's some new construction going on and this is a typical scene along NYC walkways . . . I love the color, the type and the graffiti designs on the plywood . . . put a model in front of this and you'd have an amazing urban photo shoot!

Captured with the Sigma 10-20mm at 250th of a second with an f-stop of 5.6. ISO is down to 100.

January 15th, 2010

This is a shot at the western gateway to the Bryant Park. There is a pink granite fountain called the Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain, dedicated in 1912. This was the city's first public memorial dedicated to a woman. Lowell (1843-1905) was a social worker and founder of the Charity Organization Society. Charles Adams Platt designed the fountain. As beautiful as the fountain is - Mother Natures addition of icicles surrounding the still flowing water made for a spectacular show.

Captured with the 70-200mm VR at 1/5000th of a second at f2.8 with an ISO of 100.

January 14th, 2010

And here we are outside the library in Bryant Park. Every winter, they set up a free skating rink. The diversity of skill set on the ice was varied. You had people hugging the rail and other in the middle doing Olympic-style maneuvers. Was a whole lot of fun to watch and shoot. We got there just as the Zamboni was making it's way around the ice . . . stay tuned for that shot!

Captured with the Sigma 10-20mm at f5.6 with my ISO back down to 100.

January 13th, 2010

Final shot from inside the New York Public Library . . . these chandeliers hang in each of the numerous stairwells in and around the buildings. The challenge in a shot like this is balancing the light coming from the bulbs with with the rest of the exposure . . . this left me with a very moody shot with shadows creeping in from the corners . . . . very nice effect, I think.

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime shooting at 160th of a second at f2.8. ISO is up to 250.

January 12th, 2010

The books you see here are what amount to the NYC Public Library's card catalog - in bound form. What you see are the only the 200's . . . I didn't see them all, but I did notice at the end of the row, it was up into the 600's. It's an amazing collection of materials . . . and the more I look back at the images I shot, the more I want to return and spend more time there shooting.

This was captured with the Sigma 10-20mm at f/5.6 at a 30th of a second. My ISO is bumped up to 800.

January 11th, 2010

I love books . . . when browsing the shelves at a bookstore, I could get lost for hours. Put me in a historic building with one of the largest collections of texts, and I am in heaven! The NYC Public Library is a treasure trove of photographic opportunities.

Captured with the Sigma 10-20mm at a 60th of a second at f/5.6 with an ISO up at 400. This shot has become my new favorite shot.

January 10th, 2010

First up, here's the video celebrating 9 months of the Photo-a-Day challenge. I am rounding third and the home stretch is in sight! I've got something BIG planned for the next Photo-a-Day blog and it does involve you! So stay tuned!!

Now I'd like to introduce you to Fortitude. Many of you will recognize him as one of the guardians of one of the most powerful places on the planet. He and his brother sit outside the New York Public Library. I call it one of the most powerful places on the planet because if knowledge is power, then the knowledge contained within these walls is staggering. It's an amazing place - if you have only just walked around the facade of the building, I urge you to go inside - you will not be disappointed!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm prime at 125th of a second at f/3.2. ISO is down to 100. Processed in Lightroom and finished with OnOne's PhotoTools 2.5.

January 9th, 2010

Just got back from my NYC photo shoot . . . and boy, was it cold! How cold? Cold enough to form ice on the Hudson River . . . and if you knew what's in the Hudson River, than you know it freezing is a pretty amazing feat!!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 1/3200th of a second with an f-stop of 1.8. My ISO was set down to 100.

January 8th, 2010

So it's snowing out . . . Again! I do have to say, snow - for a photo-a-day blog - give me all sorts of shots to work with. This background - a retaining wall - would have gone to solid tan blur, but with the small steps built into the structure - and the snow collecting on those steps, I get a nifty background for this composition.

Shot with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 350th of a second at f/2.8. ISO is down to 100.

January 7th, 2010

Where do I find my inspiration . . . everywhere and everything around me. This shot was inspired by a recent episode of Mythbusters where the guys tested and confirmed the myth of explosive decompression. The prop was bought at one of my favorite prop shops - Home Goods. Seriously, on any given day, you can find all sorts of great props for cheap at Home Goods. Antique looking things, regional/cultural decor . . . it's a great place to shop! I just picked up an amazing floor to ceiling mirror for my studio for under $100!

This was captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR shooting wide open at f2.8 with a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second at an ISO of 100. Lit from below and to the left by two Nikon Speedlights and fired remotely from an SU800 commander unit.

January 6th, 2010

Taken with my camera phone - trying to prove the point that the best camera is the one you have with you - ala Chase Jarvis and his book/iPhone ap. While this isn't taken with an iPhone, the theory is still solid. As with most camera phones, most of the creative settings are taken away from you save for White Balance, so a few clicks and touches on the camera menu allows me to get creative with the overall hue of the image via a while balance adjustment. Give it a try yourself!

January 5th, 2010

Here's a technique I've been dying to try and might just revisit as I don't think I nailed it quite yet. It's simply a drop of red food coloring as it dilutes in water. I shot this quickly, but if I were to spend some more time with it, I think I can get the entire thing a bit sharper.

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at f/8 with a shutter speed of 250th of a second. My ISO is down to 100 and am am lighting the entire thing with two Nikon Speedlights fired via a commander unit on top of my camera.

January 4th, 2010

There's a reason why photographers get up before the sun . . . and no, it's not insanity. I left the warmth of my bed this morning to great the 3 degrees of fridged weather to capture great color. The sky was amazing with wide swaths of blue and pink . . . and I thought the best way to capture this was the color reflection in the fluid dynamics of ice flow. Not only did I manage to find some great wind swept ice, but I also found a composition with some animal tracks in it . . . totally worth getting up for!

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 160th of a second at f/2.5 with an ISO of 400.

January 3rd, 2010

I love finding small details when shooting on location . . . these cabinet door knobs were irresistible to shoot. That, combined with the painting technique on the cabinet door made this a shot not to miss.

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at a 100th of a second at f/1.8. My ISO was bumped all the way up to 800.

January 2nd, 2010

The holiday's are officially over and I've eaten as much as I could possibly want . . . can't stuff any more in, I think! Thought this little guy would make a great image of the day and a reminder that New Year's Resolutions are calling . . .

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at an 80th of a second with an f-stop of f/1.8. ISO is all the way up at 800 for this shot.

January 1st, 2010

Happy New Year! This year, I have resolved to double my creative output and as April 9th, 2010 nears - the date that marks one full year of Photo-a-Day. I have an even more challenging idea for my next Photo-a-Day blog and it involves YOU! But I'll get more into that later . . . For today's image, I do what I do best . . . seek out the details. In a home full of amazing decorations, I found this little cherub that wished to be photographed . . . couldn't resister her.

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime shooting wide open at f1.8 with a shutter speed of a 50th of a second with my ISO up to 800.