Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-28-11
Sick. So this is an older photo(end of April) taken in Nashua, NH.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/160th f/3.5 ISO 200
Friday, May 27, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-27-11
Special PotD today. An HDR Photo! Hopefully it will make up for missing yesterday :) Taken in Nashua, NH at drunk-o-clock(Bruins were playing). Four exposures melded into one.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 Varied Shutter Speed f/1.8 ISO 200
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-25-11
My face! I challenged myself to shoot my PotD in 5 minutes. Here is what I came up with. About 4 minutes to set up and 1 minute to shoot. Setup is a 44" white umbrella, 4 ft from me, to the right and rear of the tripod.
Nikon D3100 w/18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 1/200th f/5.6 55mm ISO 100 & Nissin Di866
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-24-11
Time crunch getting ready to move. This is a photo of a carving I did in high school, I think. It's amazing what you find when you look through the things you have. I also have a plaster mask of Cyclops(X-Men) I made in middle school.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/40th f/2.8 ISO 400
Monday, May 23, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-23-11
I have refrained from pet pictures as long as I could. I tried to make a desert out of sugar(forming wind ripples) but I didn't have the coke handling skills to do it. So here is Bella Sassafrasquatch. I think she has eyes the speed of light because every time I strobed her she blinked.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/200th f/4.0 ISO 100 & Nissin Di866 on the Left
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-22-11
Bovine bokeh. This was shot for an assignment over at Photography.ca. The assignment is for the creative use of bokeh. For those of you who don't know bokeh is the appeal of the out-of-focus parts of an image. I really wanted the cows face surrounded by out of focus leaves but she just wasn't cooperative enough for that.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/320th f/1.8 ISO 100
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-21-11
There is a condemned building in Pepperell, MA that will be torn down soon. The Mass Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA have been around town recently to oversee the project. I have some pics of that but they just aren't that interesting. The PotD is a decorative washer on that condemned building. I kind of want to steal one but they had security posted outside the building.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/60th f/1.8 ISO 400
Friday, May 20, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-20-11
This freaky little creep was lurking outside my work today. I thought he was going to attack so I shot him. I think its a moose stuffed animal turned inside out. It was pretty well camouflaged with the damp pavement and sand left over from the winter.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/125th f/1.8 ISO 100
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-19-11
Oh I've heard your shouts, cries and demands so it's back for an encore. The decrepit building! You didn't want more? Well to bad dammit! Here it is.
Really I just didn't have much time today, but you gotta use what you got.
Really I just didn't have much time today, but you gotta use what you got.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/200th f/4.0 ISO 100
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-18-11
Yay! It finally stopped raining... kinda. I got the chance to do some shooting on my lunch break and shot the nasty building I work in. It should probably be condemned but provides alot of grungy textures to explore. So here you have it, a mix of structure and nature.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/200th f/1.8 ISO 100
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-17-11
Geez feels like England around here. Overcast, rainy, just plain not fun. Photo of the Day! Can you tell how many candles are in the photo? There is something that will give it away, but I wont tell you what.
Nikon D3100 w/35mm f/1.8 1/250th f/1.8 ISO 800
Monday, May 16, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-16-11
Oh-oh. It was 9pm and I hadn't done my photo of the day(POTD) yet and it was raining outside. I could post an older pic but that's not why I started POTD. So I went to find something interesting indoors to shoot. My brother had brought over some homebrewed beer and left the bottle(thanks Bro). So I have my interest now what? Glass + Flash = FUN!
And here is how it was setup: My Nissin Di866 w/ a blue gel sitting on top of my Cowboy Studio radio trigger(awesome and cheap!). This is the actual ambient lighting as well. The strobe was set so that I could overpower the ambient light.
And here is how it was setup: My Nissin Di866 w/ a blue gel sitting on top of my Cowboy Studio radio trigger(awesome and cheap!). This is the actual ambient lighting as well. The strobe was set so that I could overpower the ambient light.
Ma-ma-ma-Mega ISO
I know what you have been told. "Keep your ISO as low as possible to reduce noise." Well that is correct for most shooting situations but why not experiment? I put my ISO to 12,800 also known as Hi2. And was impressed by the results. Below is a crop of that sample shoot, its just my dresser drawer at about 66% of original size(when you click on it).
This is some very cool looking grain... I mean "noise". So I have decided to do some more experimentation with it. It gives photos that vintage look, so I decided to shoot some antiques in color and converted to B+W.
Color Performance
First group is straight out of camera.
The biggest difference I notice other than noise is the color of the blacks. They have a purpley magenta color which adds to the retro look.
Next up is my retouched versions of the photos. Again we are looking for an old school dirty film look.
The ISO 100 shot was much harder to manipulate to what I wanted it to be. I also lost some of the warmness in the wood trying to get my purpley blacks. Overall the ISO 12,800 ISO was just easier to manipulate. Which do you prefer?
Black and White Time
Let's switch photos here and look for some differences. This first batch is with minimal editing(crop and white vignette).
As you can see there is not much of a difference between the two. So when you go out in the future, intending to do some black and white, don't be afraid to push your ISO more than you normally would in color.
Time to get crazy. Let's see what happens when some Lightroom grain is added, more vignette and proper cropping.
There turned out to be minimal difference once the grain was pumped up. I would love to use this style for shooting a Civil War reenactment, burlesque show or a cowboy action shooting event. That's what this article was missing, a handlebar mustache.
Summary
If you are willing to deal with a little grain than higher ISOs can be great. Especially if you are thinking you would love to shoot something but there isn't enough light. I would rather capture a great shot with some grain to it than miss out on an opportunity. Remember all of these samples are coming from Nikon's bargain offering, the D3100, and higher end cameras(especially those with non-cropped sensors) can give you better high ISO performance. Now get out and shoot!
Nikon D3100 w/ 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 at 50mm f/5.6 ISO 12800
This is some very cool looking grain... I mean "noise". So I have decided to do some more experimentation with it. It gives photos that vintage look, so I decided to shoot some antiques in color and converted to B+W.
Color Performance
First group is straight out of camera.
 |
| ISO 100 |
 |
| ISO 12,800 |
The biggest difference I notice other than noise is the color of the blacks. They have a purpley magenta color which adds to the retro look.
Next up is my retouched versions of the photos. Again we are looking for an old school dirty film look.
 |
| ISO 100 Grain added |
 |
| ISO 12,800 Grain natural |
The ISO 100 shot was much harder to manipulate to what I wanted it to be. I also lost some of the warmness in the wood trying to get my purpley blacks. Overall the ISO 12,800 ISO was just easier to manipulate. Which do you prefer?
Black and White Time
Let's switch photos here and look for some differences. This first batch is with minimal editing(crop and white vignette).
 |
| ISO 100 |
 |
| ISO 12,800 |
As you can see there is not much of a difference between the two. So when you go out in the future, intending to do some black and white, don't be afraid to push your ISO more than you normally would in color.
Time to get crazy. Let's see what happens when some Lightroom grain is added, more vignette and proper cropping.
 |
| ISO 100 |
 |
| ISO 12,800 |
There turned out to be minimal difference once the grain was pumped up. I would love to use this style for shooting a Civil War reenactment, burlesque show or a cowboy action shooting event. That's what this article was missing, a handlebar mustache.
Summary
If you are willing to deal with a little grain than higher ISOs can be great. Especially if you are thinking you would love to shoot something but there isn't enough light. I would rather capture a great shot with some grain to it than miss out on an opportunity. Remember all of these samples are coming from Nikon's bargain offering, the D3100, and higher end cameras(especially those with non-cropped sensors) can give you better high ISO performance. Now get out and shoot!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-15-11
Out for a walk in the rain. Actually it had stopped briefly when I went out, just overcast. I shot this from the underside of the bush into my light source(sky). I think the exposure on the flowers vs. the leaves gives a cool effect. Looks like a dream to me.
Nikon DSLR Recommendations (on the cheap)
In this article we will be exploring the wonderful world of Nikon DSLRs. I will be giving recommendations for those of you who are struggling to decide which camera is right for you. What features do you need to make great images?
This is why it's a good idea to leave you kit lens in your bag! 18mm
Photo of the Day 5-14-11
Wow! Looks like I missed a few days. I am getting ready for an upcoming move.
In this pic I am playing around with my flash and a longer shutter time(1/3 sec).
In this pic I am playing around with my flash and a longer shutter time(1/3 sec).
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Photo of the Day 5-10-11
Whoo-hoo! Follow thru. Day 2 of the PotD project. I drove around a bit looking for something that interested. Came up with squat. Walking to my house I passed a walkway, lined with plants, I've passed a million times before but the spring time colors are just beautiful. So here you go:
What did you shoot today?
The Start of a Blog
Why, why WHYYY!?.. Why not? Actually the point of this blog is to motivate myself to do new and interesting work. My current photography job is very mundane(products on white, yawn) and this blog will serve as a creative outlet and keep me shooting.
Some things I have in mind for the blog:
1. Photo of the Day - The primary reason for the blog. And a push to make interesting photos each day!
2. Self-Assignments - Something I have heard talked about as a motivation tool but haven't found many interesting ones. Will be making assignments and encouraging others to participate.
...
More to come soon
Some things I have in mind for the blog:
1. Photo of the Day - The primary reason for the blog. And a push to make interesting photos each day!
2. Self-Assignments - Something I have heard talked about as a motivation tool but haven't found many interesting ones. Will be making assignments and encouraging others to participate.
...
More to come soon
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