Tulips in B&W

Originally yellow and red, I thought that this image taken with a Panasonic Lumix LX5 would look more dramatic in monochrome. I processed it first in Topaz Adjust- Charcoal- then Photoshop CS to create this slightly sepia toned flower image. Absent color, one can focus more on the flow of nature's design and tonalities. Enjoy, Jeff

Great Smoky Mountains

Originally, a color image taken years ago with a Canon G2 digicam. I am exploring further the artistic ability of using an iPad to further develop my images with the number of creative Apps available. This image was edited in Camera+, Photoforge and PS Express till I found the look that I liked. This is the joy of digital photography, that in a 20-30 minutes you can "develop" an image to your liking without chemicals and burning through expensive sheets of paper. Enjoy, Jeff

HAIR- Let the Sunshine In!

Hair, The classic 1967 pro-peace, anti-war musical played at Proctor's theatre last night. At the show's end the audience is invited up to dance with the troupe and just have fun. Knowing this, I brought my Panasonic Lumix LX5, preset the exposure and caught this shot angling the camera over head! I had to fiddle around with the white balance in post processing even though I shot in RAW. There were multiple colored lights at various temperatures. I love the joy, emotion and shear freedom the shot represents. Enjoy, Jeff

Great Light

Great light. That is what it is all about! Just shot this going to Procter's. This low horizon sunlight created warm tones. Coupled with the dark storm clouds creates the dynamic opposite that we look for. Shot with iPhone 4, using Camera+ App. Always have a camera with you. Enjoy, Jeff

HDR Albany, NY

True HDR App. Taken tonight in downtown Albany. Handheld iPhone .

Love it. Jeff

Dream Harley

I love Harleys. I dream of Harleys. Thus this dreamy App Dynamic Light created this image from a straight iPhone shot. Enjoy! Jeff

Tulip in the Rain

Those photographers who stay indoors during rain are really missing an opportunity for outdoor image making. There are plastic bags and designed waterproof camera covers to protect your equipment as well as rain gear for you. I took this image today in Albany's Washington Park during moderate rainfall. The technique used for this was a DSLR Maxxum 7D with a Minolta 2.8 70-200 lens, ISO 800, F2.8, and Tv of 1/300 sec. Shot in RAW/JPEG with WB set to Cloudy +1.

There are many ways to shoot flowers and unless you are creative, seeking great light (thus going out today) and experiment with composition, depth of field, and so forth, you risk your flower photos looking like those of everyone else. To get this narrow DOF, a SLR is required. Compact Point and Shoot cameras can't accomplish this. I chose f2.8 for a shallow depth of field to throw the competing leaf background out of focus. The image was "developed" in Topaz Adjust to create a little more contrast and definition. Enjoy, Jeff

A tree in Israel

A tree in Israel. Taken with a Canon SX 10 camera but developed in three Apps on my iPad. First softened in Dynamic Light, watercolor and oil paint applied in Photoforge and then framed in PS Express. The lesson here is that there are so many artistic tools to add emotion and expression to your images. Jeff

PS. Did you spot the deer?

The old car.  Saw this beauty through a window. With a little iPhone magic and Photoforge something artsy was made. Jeff

HDR

Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Wingdale NY, now long abandoned and left to ruin. When I drove by this place last month, I vowed to come back to do a little photography. It's on Rt 22 north of Pawling and sits on hundreds of acres, largely abandoned buildings. There is juvenile center in the back and of course trespassing is not welcomed.

This image was taken through a broken window used as an offset frame, framing the decay and disarray inside. Despite the grunge, I noted the color left and thought that this would be a good HDR subject. Perching the camera on the window ledge, I shot 3 exposures, one stop apart and combined and tone mapped them in Photomatrix Pro. I like the result. Jeff

HDR Wing with iPhone 4G

True HDR, probably the best HDR app for the iPhone 4 and 3Gs. Handheld, one exposure was taken of the lighter sky, the second of the darker wing and the program combines the two in a few seconds to create a true High Dynamic Range Image that preserves details in either end of the histogram. In Photoforge I boosted contrast using Curves and added a white frame in PS express. I know, I like the iPhone! It really allows for those creative fluids to come out and mix. What fun! Jeff

Willow and Fog iPhone 4

The iPhone again! This time with iPhone 4 and its 5 MP sensor. Driving around in the fog a few weeks ago, on the way to the office, I spotted this weeping willow in a frozen, brackish pond, backlit by fog. Having a camera always with me

( the iPhone), I composed and took a shot of the willow. That evening, I leisurely "developed" it to my artistic liking in Photoforge. A frame was added in PS Express Mobile. An 11x14 print from Smugmug just arrived and it looks great. Jeff

The Stairway of King Carlos

Depth of field. Sometimes you just have to have it to make the image work. When I saw this staircase of King Carlos V palace at the Alhambre in Granada, Spain. I knew this was a depth of field shot. That's where my pocket Lumix LX5 came in perfectly. The smaller, yet pro level new compacts are capable of great focal sharpness from a few inches to infinity when the lens is set properly. I set the lens to f6.3 and placed the camera, hand-held on the base of the rail, focused about 1/3 of the way up and carefully depressed the shutter to get three bracketed shots. I converted the sharpest one to a dramatic black and white in Topaz adjust and was most pleased with the result. Jeff

Bounce Lighting

Abe, our grandson. A handsome intelligent 4 year old. I took this portrait this weekend while Abe was sitting on the couch, using a Fuji S3 Pro and a Nikon 55-200 VR lens at f5.6, ISO 400 with a Nikon 600 Speedlight bounced off the white ceiling. I converted the image to B&W in Topaz Adjust, using Portrait Smooth and dropping the saturation to zero. Bounce light uses a ceiling or wall as a giant softbox, creating soft, non-harsh light that evenly illuminates the subject. Bounce light is an inexpensive way to create beautiful portraits, with out the unpleasant flash glare that is created using direct flash. Jeff

Window Light Portrait

The ultimate in window portrait lighting- an airplane window. Flying to Spain, sitting next to the window was this lovely young lady from Luxembourg, Nathalie. I noted as we were starting approach she was gazing out the window in deep thought ( ? anticipation ). Quietly I got up, set my Lumix lx5 to ISO 400 and metered off her face, composing and silently fired the shutter. Window light can provide dramatic light due to its fall off and creates a beautiful portrait. Jeff

El Ristorante, the gig was up.

Stealth street photography, Seville Spain. There we were finished our Tapas lunch and on the way out I passed by these two men. The whole scene made me think I was in 1955. I went back setting my Panasonic Lumix LX5 to "Film Grain " mode to emulate the Ilford 3200 ASA films of the era. With the camera hanging from my neck, lens at 24mm,

f 5.6 , I just pointed my self at them about 4-5 feet away. Looking elsewhere, I just quietly depressed the shutter and out of 5 shots, the last, when the gig was up , was the best. I smiled a cheery "Hola" and went on my way. Jeff

The Roof of the Mezqitta

In Spain last week and saw this unbelievable mosque in Cordoba. Built by the Moors about year 1000-1100 and then added on as a church starting 400 years later when the Moors were driven from Spain. I saw incredible delicate architecture with great light coming in. So what to do when it is dark, you don't have a tripod or DSLR and you want your images to be sharp. One set the ISO to 800, 2) find a firm surface to steady the camera, in this case- a rail and 3) set the camera to take 3 bracketed exposures 1/3 stop apart. So, steady the camera, compose and depress the shutter. The first image will likely be blurry from camera shake with depressing the shutter. But.......the next two will be sharp as the camera takes these shots without shutter depression-shake. An alternative is to use the self timer button set at 2 seconds and still bracket. Taken with a Panasonic Lumix LX5. Jeff

Street photography

This shot using Hyperfocal focusing as described in the post below. I used a Sony F828 digital camera with the lens set to 28 mm at f22 equivalent. I found this app called Old Photo Pro that can give an image a old picture look which I though was appropriate for these Chasidic boys at the Fair. Jeff

Men at Work

Great day for wandering around with a camera. Some ventured into the woods and creeks to shoot snow nature landscapes, as I did on Sunday. Today was about the urban scape and snow. Shot in color with a Fuji S3 Pro, ISO 400, 24 mm Nikon lens, f22 set to hyperfocal distance so everything from 1.5 feet to infinity was in focus, then converted to B&W in PS CS. If you don't know about hyperfocal distance for street shooting, you need to.

Check out:http://www.dofmaster.com/hyperfocal.html

There is a lot written about it. Basically it allows you to eliminate autofocus and the lag that will occur with AF systems when you depress the shutter. By setting focus to manual with a wide angle lens, putting the lens in its hyperfocal setting, everything with in that focus zone will come out sharp. In essence, you urn your camera into the fastest point and shoot around. This is essential for street photography at times. Jeff

Trees and Snow

We had a great fluffy snowfall last night. The kind that coats the trees and creates beautiful B&W images. I was out cross country skiing with my good friend Cliff today and came across this grouping of trees. I used an f-stop of 5.6, ISO 400, RAW on a Panasonic Lumix LX-5 camera and composed with main focus on the forward tree to the left. With all of these cameras, snow will be exposed a mid tone grey unless you do one of two things. You must open up the exposure in camera by 1-1and 1/3 stops if you don't process your images in the computer, or adjust the exposure histogram toward the right in levels or curves to show the proper color of the snow. If you shoot in RAW, white balance can easily be adjusted in processing. If not AWB may work but it's better to choose the proper scene balance in camera. For this image it would have been "cloudy". Alternatives to compensate for the color changes that can occur on cloudy, overcast days are to shoot a Custom WB off the snow or set a proper Kelvin temperature in camera to compensate. Jeff

Digital Pinhole Photography

Until recently I never thought that I would use any of the "digital modes" available on a digicam. For me, I shoot in RAW and Aperture Priority and usually adjust the final exposures in Manual Mode. That was until I started using the Panasonic Lumix LX5 and said, What the Hell?" and started playing around in the various creative options offered in camera. Several of the posts below were shot in Film Grain mode. This, in Pinhole, creates that effect with a pale center and surrounding vignette. This old corn shed is in the woods way behind our house on a snowshoe trip the other morning. I shot it in 5 or 6 different modes and liked this one the best. Jeff

Jack's Foot

Emotional impact. Think about that when deciding on what you are seeing in the viewfinder. Images that elicit a response from the viewer often are one's best images. Here is the foot of Jack, our first grandson, in my hand. Jack, a vibrant 150% healthy 7 year old, was born 6 weeks prematurely weighing 5 pounds. When I held him for the first time at NYU Medical Center, I was overwhelmed by emotion and then noted his foot in my hand. Wow, this was a foot, a tiny foot, the size of a full term infant's hand! With the help of our terrific son Ari, we composed this image with a Canon G2 digicam. The fold out and twistable LCD really helped to frame the image. Setting was P mode and image was converted to B&W in Photoshop with some corner vignetting added to throw the viewer's eye toward the central, important part of the image. Jeff

Canajoharie

The Village of Canajoharie, home of Beechnut is slowing dying. Beechnut is relocating 20 miles away to replace their 100 year old plant and slowly a ghost town is forming. Wander around and you see abandoned factories, buildings and old mills. I saw this scene last week and was struck by the drabness, decay and coldness of the winter's day. I could have shot it in color as the buildings were red brick and paint, but the grayness of the day and its "mood" directed me to shoot in a high grain monochrome called "Film Grain" on the Panasonic Lumix LX5. Wide angle of 24mm captured the scene. The camera chose the f stop. With multifunction modes in newer digital cameras you can choose settings that reflect yours and the scene's mood. Jeff

Hibiscus in B&W

Macro-photography. There are different ways to approach this from dedicated macro lenses, extension tubes, screw on macro filters or a damn good compact camera that has a close up Macro feature. We have this hibiscus plant in the house and it produces beautiful large deep red flowers, For this, I used a Panasonic Lumix LX5 pro level compact in macro mode. I shot a variety of images in color and monochrome. The best result was with one of the "My Color" modes, "Film Grain" which reproduces a high contrast grainy image reminiscent of B&W ISO 3200 films of the past. This B&W shot had so much more drama than the color ones. ISO was 1600, Shutter 10/2500sec and f stop 2.4 with focus on the stamen end. Jeff

Sharon Springs Boilers

Sharon Springs New York. Once a 20th century destination spot for those seeking the healing spring baths and waters, now a village trying to come back, but without the Springs. The old Spring houses and baths are in ruinous decay. These are the spring boilers that once warmed the sulfuric spring water for the healing baths. This was shot on my new Lumix LX5, an extremely versatile pro-level compact that shoots raw as well as a number of creative modes. I elected for this shot to use "Film Grain" to create the mood I was feeling in the boiler house ( yes, I trespassed) and at a wide angle- 24mm- to create the depth I wanted. The camera set the ISO to 1600 in this mode. The gritty grain matched the gritty interior. The image was developed in iPhoto to bring out the shadow detail and bring down the bright areas on the boilers. Jeff

Venezio!!

Ah Venice. It's beauty, canals, people and food. This is a travel shot, but a travel shot with good light, symmetry and balance. Note the careful placement of the triple lantern in the lower right third. I waited for the woman to walk into the scene and fired the shutter when she was near the middle of the second arch, balancing the lamp post. If she was in front of an arch support, it would have been distracting. It was early morning, just past sunrise, creating a soft glowing light. As an added bonus, the lamp lights were still on. Taken with a MF Minolta Autocord TLR using Fuji Reala print film. Shutter 1/100 sec at f5.6.

Jeff

Light and Shadow in Old Montreal

Photographs are waiting to be captured. Equipment is often secondary. My wife and I were visiting Old Montreal about 20 years ago. It was a drizzly day which created great reflections off the stone paving. Looking for a scene I immediately noticed this old carriage portal to an enclosed home-compound. We look for contrasts in light and the dark walls , and this stone floor coupled with the bright light beyond created a great shot. But, it needed a human element. Jeanette, wearing a red raincoat with black umbrella was the the perfect subject. Then I was using a Canon QL17 film rangefinder with a little fill flash on top. I composed vertically and had her slowly walk in . Just before the transition is where I fired the camera with a little flash to create some increased reflection from the floor and lighten up the walls.

Enjoy, Jeff

Punk Rocker

Get close, fill your frame and look for the dramatic. I saw this band player at a Harley Rally. We struck up a conversation and he gave me permission to photograph his hands. I was intrigued by the tattoos and jewelry. The original shot was in color, but I changed it to a Sepia in PS. Color sometimes can detract from a strong graphic image, so a monochrome conversion works better. Shot with a Sony F828 in AWB, no flash.

Portraiture

I had the opportunity to photograph some families this weekend. I want to go over this simple portrait set up with you. The camera was a Konica Minolta 7D DSLR. I used 2 manual 5400HS Minolta flashes shooting through white umbrellas about 5 feet front left and right angles at 45 degrees to the subjects. Each umbrella was about 7 feet high and angled downward toward the subjects. Note the painted Muslin backdrop which has no elements to detract from the main subjects. The flashes were fired remotely with radio controlled transmitter mounted on the flash shoe and receivers on the foot of each flash. The left flash fired at full power and the right (to the photographer) fired at 1/2 power to give a pleasing ratio of main light and fill light. Thus the facial modeling needed to avoid a flat light look. The camera was set at ISO 100, f8, 1/8oth second shutter. The advantage of digital is that one can easily adjust the exposure by varying one of these 3 factors. Certainly integrated TTL flash systems with camera make this easy, but as demonstrated, not necessary. Jeff

Jay Street Reflections

Had to try out my new Panasonic Lumix LX5 tonight. These compact pro- level cameras get better and better. I wanted a professional compact to carry on my belt. This camera has had great reviews. I was wandering around Jay St. in Schenectady tonight after the rain looking for reflections of the neon signs. This was perfect, a red reflection, from a red sign in a puddle on dark stone pavings. Note the elements of design, the color and contrast. I did a little adjusting of levels and cropping in iPhoto. The image was taken at ISO 400, aperture priority, no flash and at 1/13 sec, hand-held. Ah, the joys of an image stabilized camera. Jeff