July 24th, 2009

I love photographing artwork . . . paintings, architecture and even sculptures. This particular statue struck a cord with me today as my wife just returned from a week long business trip and our 4-year old daughter was missing her terribly, so this image just felt right!

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at 60th of a second at f/1.8 with an ISO of 800.

June 23rd, 2009

Sometimes, the lack of contrast is what makes an image . . . these pine things are growing all over the top part of a three-tiered retaining wall on the side of my house. They are naturally occuring and quite beautiful in the morning mist.

Captured with the Nikon 50mm at 400th of a second at f/1.8. ISO is 100.

July 22st, 2009

This image really gives you a great example of what great depth of field you get when shooting a lens like a 50mm prime at f/1.8. Check out the narrow band of the subject that's in focus. You go even an inch in front or behind and you completely go blurry! Great for making your subject pop out! This particular subject is an old mining cart that is part of a local exhibit on Silver mining . . . always wanted to stop and take a picture of it!

Captured with the Nikon 50mm prime at f1.8 with a shutter speed of 40th of a second.

July 21st, 2009

Happy accidents . . . they happen - sometimes, they turn out not so happy, but I think this time around, I got a nice result. I had been shooting some stuff inside at a high ISO. I took the camera out to shoot today's image and forgot to lower my ISO, which completely blew my exposure for this image. Does it make it less pleasing? I think that's in the eye of the beholder . . . what do you think?

Captured with the Nikon 70-200 at 250th of a second at f/8 with an ISO of 800.

July 20th, 2009

Simple and serene . . . they always make the best subjects. It doesn't get much simpler than some lake grass blowing in the slight breeze. Lazy day, lazy capture . . . from a lounge chair while taking in some sun.

Captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 250th of a second at f/2.8. ISO is 100.

July 19th, 2009

Anywhere I go, I am always looking out for something different to shoot. The banquet hall where I shot this weekend's wedding, had these huge stain glass windows. Parked in front of one was a rolling bar with a bunch of stemware on it. It was full of color and contrast . . . even a touch of abstract . . . in other words, perfect!

Shot with the Nikon 50mm prime at f/1.8 with a shutter speed of a 30th of a second. ISO was set to 500.

July 18th, 2009

I just shot a wedding last night, hence the late post this morning. I don't ordinarily do weddings - whole lot of stress on me and the equipment. But this wedding was one of the most laid back affairs I've ever shot. No stress, no bridezilla . . . a really nice time. I shot the event in a photo-journalistic style, not only focusing on the bride and groom, but on the details as well.

This was shot with my new Nikon 50mm prime at f1.8, a 60th of a second and lit with with the Nikon SB900. ISO was set to 500 to give it a very grainy feel.

July 17th, 2009

Here's a continuation test of the new Nikon 50mm prime 1.8 lens . . . shot this in the hallway of my home with no other light source, other than the ambient light from the hallway light. I was able to shoot this at a 30th of a second at f/1.8. ISO is set to 640. I love the softness this lens offers . . . and the graininess. In an age of Photoshop sharp, smooth and gloss, I think this grainy, soft, natural lighting image is something very fresh . . . what do you think?

Special thanks go out to my wonderful model . . . my daughter, Peyton.

July 16th, 2009

Those familiar with my work on the Konxari Cards (www.konxari.com) should recognize this subject. I used the garden statue for both the Angel and Demon cards. This is the first shot from my brand new Nikon 50mm 1.8 prime lens. What's that mean? It being a 50mm prime lens means if I want to zoom in or go wide, rather than turning the dial on a lens, I get the old legs working and step closer or move further away . . . this is old school! The 1.8 means I get some great blurring in the background if I set up the shot right . . . and also allows me to shoot in some crazy, low light situations . . . I've got a wedding coming up - I don't normally shoot weddings, too much stress - but this lens is perfect for those kind of low-light, artistic compositions!

This was shot at 750th of a second at f1.8 with my ISO set to 100.

July 15th, 2009

During the Native American Festival, there was a 'birds of prey' demonstration. It was most impressive! These fantastic birds reacted like well trained dogs . . . coming when called, hitting a target . . . amazing. What was very gratifying to see was their handlers treated the birds with the greatest of respect.

This was captured with the Nikon 70-200mm VR at 800th of a second a f/2.8. ISO is set to 100.

For the entire Native American Festival photo gallery, head on over to: http://www.pmkane.com/native/

July 14th, 2009

The Native American festival proved challenging to shoot on a number of levels . . . I location during the Pow Wow had me shooting almost directly into the sun. Also, the nature of the crowd placement was not conducive to the simple backgrounds I like to put in my shots - we all sat in a giant circle, so any shot I could get, I had fellow onlookers in the image. So I went in tight and shot wide open at f/2.8. Used the Nikon 70-200 for every shot during the day - I love that lens!

I'll post a link to the entire gallery tomorrow . . .

July 13th, 2009

Simple and graphic . . . these are shots I love to take! This was a foundation spike for one of the two water wheels at Long Pond Ironworks. I've placed the rest of the gallery up here. You'll see examples of several different processes in the gallery, from color to black and white infrared, and infrared processed using color negative chemicals.

This was captured using the Nikon 70-200mm VR at f/2.8 at 180th of a second.

Rest of the Ironworks gallery is here: http://www.pmkane.com/ironworks.

Tomorrow will be images from the Native American Festival!