Cardinal

Finally, the elusive Cardinal!  Today i was lucky in that 2 of 195 images were of the Cardinal unobstructed by branches.  Shot at Five Rivers Game Farm with a Nikon D500, Sigma 150-600 C lens. Settings were 1/1250 sec, f8, ISO 800 at 550mm. Enjoy, Jeff

Special Edit

I love shooting horse races. Being near Saratoga raceway, I go every summer and manage to get a Pass to the backstretch. I've been doing this for many years and gradually have realized that there is a special way to display these beautiful animals and the riders that goes beyond the ordinary photographs taken by the camera.

The majority of these photographs of been taken with the Nikon D 7200 with a sigma 100-600 mm Lens. Shutter speed and depth of field are set to try to capture the action and exposures for the proper ambient light exposure.  Also, I have learned that it is best to be about 1/8 mile-1/4 mile from the starting gate.  The horses are better grouped then, not bunched up yet not to spread out.  Also post rain and a muddy track adds to the drama.  My camera fires about 7 frames a second which helps capture the right grouping.

The magic however occurs in the editing as you can see from the original photograph followed by the specially edited photographs. All of the specially edited photographs were simply edited in my iPad using Google's wonderful program Snapseed

With Snapseed I am able to bring out details, color and dynamic range that are not available with traditional editing techniques. I use HDR mode and then the various structure and ambience modes elsewhere in the program. I play around with the sliders until I simply like the effect that I see and finish the photograph

I have printed several of these images on 16 x 24 reflective aluminum done by Bay photo. They look outstanding.

If you haven't downloaded and played around with Snapseed on your smart phone, iPad or android pads I would strongly recommend you give it a try. Photographic enhancement which for me brings out "the joy" within the image, is easily available.

Also just like we rarely if ever use silver coated tin plate photography anymore as image making progress has led us to digital imaging and more advanced, unique cameras including smartphone cameras, we are seeing a very interesting camera coming out in 2017, the pocketable Light L16 Camera with a total of 16 lenses and 52 MP!   I hope to get my hands on one!  Enjoy, Jeff

Lake Tahoe in Infrared

Lake Tahoe in Infra-red

Steampunk Festival

Sunday was the third annual Steampunk Festival-Enchated City event.  I don't quite understand it but it sure makes for some interesting photos!  Shot with a Fuji X-PRO-1 and18-55mm Fuji Lens.  Enjoy, Jeff

Horse Racing at Saratoga

Insects in Flight

Shot this morning at Five Rivers.  My goal was to capture some bees in flight.  Very challenging!  Out of nowhere a Hummingbird Moth comes by and luckily I was able to capture a few decent images.  Gear: Nikon D7200, Tv 1/1000 sec, F8, Auto ISO at 2500.  Enjoy, Jeff

Track Life

Great chance  to do some photography at the track today with the heavy rains this morning.  By 1PM, no rain, overcast skies and perfect conditions for racing and capturing some track life.  The mud really adds atmosphere to the race as do the Tamales and bridles.  Shot with a Panasonic Lumix DMZ 1000 with its superb 25-600 2.8 Zeiss lens.   Enjoy, Jeff

Saratoga Raceway

Shot today with a Nikon D7200, Sigma 150-600mm IS  lens, ISO1000 to allow a Tv of 1/1250 sec at F14.  F14 for more depth (subjects in focus) and a fast shutter speed to stop the action as well as minimize camera movement or shake.

I would always prefer an overcast sky but "available light" is what is available. We have to do our best with it. Enjoy, Jeff

THE STREET WITH THE FUJI X30

Set up my little Fuji X30 for the street.  I wanted everything prefocused using the zone system.  ISO 800, F8, Shutter Auto and focused between 5 and 30 feet at 10 feet, the hyperlocal distance for 28mm. Shot in Mono w Red filter and 2+ on shadow tone.  Enjoy, Jeff