Category: General (Page 5 of 6)

A couple of days after my last post we finally got some sunshine here in Southeast Texas. It was welcomed mainly because I could now start work on some good pictures. Overcast skies are good for really even lighting, but the resulting pictures can look so boring.

I also tried some new film this time as well. I have been shooting Kodak Portra 160NC and VC. The NC stands for neutral color and the VC stands for vivid color. To be honest I really can’t see a different because both films seem to be a little flat and contrasty. I suppose I should expect the contrastiness due to the fact that it’s ISO160. I shot 2 rolls of Fuji 160C color film (220-size) and I must say I like those a little more than I like the Kodak Portra offerings. After doing a print of one I was rather impressed. I should look into the Superia line of films.

I read about Kodak Ultracolor film, but I cannot find that in medium format anywhere, online or in a brick-and-mortar establishment. Well, I bit the bullet and ordered some 35mm rolls of Kodak Ultracolor 100 and 400. I also ordered some paper that will hopefully add some more saturation to the photos I’ve already taken… we’ll see.

As to the offering of photos for this entry… let’s examine them, shall we?

These 2 photos are among my favorites taken from the Fuji rolls. I love the composition on the upper picture (taken at Hermann Park in Houston, TX). The lower photo is just beautiful to me. In both photos (indeed on most of the roll) the colors are very vibrant, more so than on the Kodak Portra NC and VC films. The shots are a little contrasty, but to me it works in both pictures as it helps preserve the detail.

This was taken also on the Fuji film, but this one helps illustrate a little better about my last post. The whole picture seems more dynamic when sunshine is a factor. I need to learn to use it better to my advantage as I learned that sunlight can easily washout any color you come across (more examples later as I don’t have access to the machine that contains them at this point).

For those who think I may have forgotten how to use my DSLR, you’re mistaken. These were taken in Galveston, TX over the weekend. We have a digital project coming up in my photography class and the picture of the cathedral dome is going toward that project. The seagull was just an opportunity that presented itself on East Beach.

As always, comments are welcome and encouraged. For those of you who haven’t noticed, check out “The Sharp Carousel” listed under “Other Cool Blogs.” I have seen some of Mark’s work both online and off. He has much creativity and skill in him.

The past few days in Southeast Texas haven’t been the prettiest. The last time we had good sunshine was on the morning of 2 February. The sky was clear in the morning and had ceilings by 1:00 pm. Since then it’s been one long overcast day.

It’s funny how, in course of doing something, pick up fragmented pieces of information here and there, but sometimes we can’t seem to tie it all together in order to apply those pieces of information to real world problems. That’s what I was like when I started photographing. I would read articles in “Popular Photography” and see terms like depth-of-field, sunny 16 rule, power position, etc. I would find out the meaning behind these foreign terms and then try to apply them only to get negligibly better results. When I first enrolled in a photography course, I learned one concept that tied everything together – that concept was the light meter.

Ok, now that you’ve stopped laughing, I can explain. I never knew the purpose behind the little number line at the bottom of my viewfinder (as you know, I shoot a Canon DSLR). I knew that a smaller aperture number meant there was a bigger opening and knew how shutter speeds worked… but I could find a way to tie the concept together. I was shooting in shutter-priority mode to sometimes pretty bad results, sometimes pretty good results. My teacher explained the concept of the light meter and the lightbulb in my head went to full output.

I finally understood the relationship between the aperture and shutter speed and how the light meter would help me select the correct values to take the shot. I was elated after class. I was so elated that I went to CVS, bought 2 rolls of Kodak Tri-X 400, and shot the first roll in less that 30 minutes after getting home.

The same thing is starting to happen now with light. In my previous photo class, which was all black-and-white, we concentrated on mastering light and shadow in the picture. In color, light takes on a new dimension in that it will affect how your colors look when the light hits the film. With the addition of color as a new dependent variable, new depths can be achieved with the photograph.

That’s not to say I’m a master of light and shadow. I have a lot to learn in all portions of photography. If it were up to me I would add a third class to my school’s photography program. I can suggest it, but ultimately I don’t control how my state taxes are spent in the colleges.

To illustrate my point about light affecting color, consider the photographs below:

Both of these photos were taken from the same vantage point just a few minutes apart. The sky was heavy overcast. The clouds dispersed the light and made it very even all over the picture. The colors are still there, but not as vibrant as they could be if the sun was out. Now when the sun is out…

This was taken three days earlier in Waller County, TX, just west of the Harris County line. The clouds, which were a beautiful blend of altocumulus castellanus (which was surprising on a day like this as it indicates atmospheric instability) and cirrus clouds, are scattered letting in all kinds of light. The sunlight is letting the colors really pop and providing tonal range within the same colors. In the photos above, you can see that tonal range within the same color is absent.

I clearly have a lot to learn, but after developing these rolls and scanning them in I came out with a new appreciation of how lighting affects colors. I have 4 more rolls at the lab right now that were shot in overcast. I’m sure they will look good, but I’m really waiting for the sun to come out again.

I got my final exam portfolio back today. I am proud to say that I received an A+ on it, I guess that means a 100. I hope it wasn’t on bell curve because that would mean that my classmates photos really sucked (and I know there were some pretty good photos my classmates took). My overall grade in the class was an A, which keeps my GPA in the high 3’s (woohoo!). I’m signed up for Photography II next semester along with a retake of Anatomy and General Psychology. Wish me luck for those in the next semester.

Christmas is upon us. In the previous years I haven’t taken much notice of things going on around me, but this year, since the happenings of December 2006, I’m taking better notice. I’ve been taking a lot of photos this Christmas and I thought I would share of few of them with you.

These 2 are part of my house decorations. They are located on the hearth in my living room. Some would consider the placement of the Nativity and a Santa Claus so close may be blasphemy. I beg to differ. While the birth of Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas, Santa Claus embodies the spirit of Christmas. That spirit being The Father giving the world his Son to save us from our sins.

These were taken at a client’s Christmas party this past weekend. I have a lot of candids, but here I wanted to post my artsy shots. Capturing that flame was a pain, though, as for some reason the fire kept throwing off my focus (even on manual).

These are part of privately funded public displays around Houston. The first one is a part of 3 very big nutcracker soldiers in the parking lot of an upscale strip mall near the Galleria. The picture of Santa is part of a much larger display on the front lawn of the AON building, which is located about 2 blocks from where the nutcracker picture was taken. The ‘much larger display’ was rather difficult to capture.

I’ve been messing with the shooting styles lately on my DSLR. It has gotten rid of the slight orange tint that’s been plaguing my pictures, but now some of the colors are being washed out. I find myself having to do a lot of color correction lately.

At any rate, give me comments because that’s how I grow.

No matter what, usually when I get new pictures I just can’t wait to get them “developed”. Whether it’s digital or on film, new pictures do get me excited. The birth of new creation is always fun. I guess that’s why I can’t wait. As it is, though, it’s 1:30 am here.

Tonight my wife and I did a little Christmas shopping. Well, she did a little Christmas shopping. I bought a couple of CD’s and decided to take some pictures of the Christmas decorations in The Galleria with my DSLR. We were going to take some pictures earlier today of the southern end of Montrose Boulevard in Houston, but like a dumbass I forgot my tripod and grabbed the wrong lens. I grabbed my super wide angle instead of my medium zoom. It’s ok, though… we went down to South Montrose anyway and visited The Menil Collection Museum to see some contemporary art. Perhaps next weekend we will go to the Houston Center for Photography Center (reminds me of the American Dodgeball Association of America from “Dodgeball”).

Anyway, I got some good pictures with the DSLR. My biggest concern with them, however, is the amount of color fixing I had to do with them. When I use the “Standard” style setting, the pictures have a reddish tint to them. Today I tried the “Neutral” setting. The reddish tint was gone, but the colors were a little more washed out. I had to do a lot of saturation level tweaking (on individual primary colors) to get it right. I guess I need to experiment a little more (perhaps white balance?).

At any rate, here are a few of the pictures I took earlier this evening:

The Galleria places a very large tree in the center of the ice-skating rink every Christmas. I don’t know it’s real or fake. I just wish the decorations were a little more colorful.

These last three are a few of the rather large ornaments that flank the tree. These are suspended from the ceiling of Galleria I, where the ice skating rink is located.

I know that when it comes to photography the person behind the viewfinder counts more than the piece of glass on the front of the body. However, a good lens helps the picture that much more. I took my super wide on this outing, which was not my intention. The super wide has an aperture range of f/2.8 – 4. My medium zoom has a fixed aperture of f/2.8. The variable aperture on the super wide didn’t help my depth-of-field. On several pictures I got a depth-of-field much deeper than desired due to the fact the maximum aperture closed due to zooming.

I have to go back tomorrow (or is it tonight?) to pick up 2007’s special ornament. I think this time I’m going to take the medium zoom along with my 50mm f/1.8 lens. Hopefully I can get some better depth-of-field.

As always, I need comments. The comments help me grow as a photographer.

… But I’m not. I tried to take a few pictures of the Thanksgiving feast, but all I got was a picture of the turkey and a very poor one at that. I did get a decent picture of green beans in a colander after being washed, but that’s the only decent food picture I got. The centerpiece, most expertly created by my wife, did come out good.

So the other night I got a wild hair and decided to shoot some night pictures from my front door. I got one picture that came out presentable. I took these pics at around 3 am. The shot is of 2 trees in front of my neighbor’s home. I’m not sure why, but I exposed for the highlights but the sky kept coming out lighter than it actually was. I live in Houston so the sky is never black, but this made it look almost like dusk. All in all, however, I am learning lots about available light exposure.

As always, feedback is welcome and encouraged.

Anyone who knows me knows what kind of music I prefer. To those who don’t, that music is metal. I’ve been listening to it for a little over 20 years and it has never gotten old to me. Between the day job stress and school, I got to go see one of my favorite new bands last night (All That Remains) along with a serious up and comer (Through The Eyes Of The Dead) and a rising established act (As I Lay Dying). The best part – I got a photo pass to shoot all three bands. Here are some photos for you look at.

Click on the picture to see the whole thing if it is cut off. Comment at will.

Yes, it has been a while since I posted here. That isn’t to say I haven’t been snapping anything, because I definitely have been taking pictures. It’s just that I started to lose sight of the value of keeping a blog after I decided to check out Flickr.com. Flickr.com is a great site and offers a lot of cool features, but a blog is better for telling a story. I’ve also been busy as hell trying to balance the therapy business along with an anatomy and photography class. Both classes demand a great deal of time outside the classroom – anatomy due to the amount of information that needs to be processed and photography due to the work required with the camera.

In the time since my last post, I had to purchase a new scanner to scan some prints from our cruise this past summer. The scanner (Epson Perfection 4490 Photo) comes with a negative scanner. After figuring out how to use it, I found myself scanning every negative in our possession over the decade spanning my marriage up until our first digital camera purchase. So far I have scanned over 900 negatives and still have a whole lot to do. I have found some gems in there… more than likely taken by my wife, however, as before I really didn’t like handling the camera (funny how things change). The other power of this is it gives me a chance to preview my class negatives so I can decide which ones to try and print without having to print a contact sheet. I have to do a contact sheet for each roll anyway as part of the course requirements, but if I continue to shoot film, I will save time and money in paper and chemicals since I won’t have to create one.

So far, that pretty much sums things up in a nutshell. At this point I’ll go ahead and show some pictures I have taken over the past month or so. I’ve decided to leave off the information on the digital pics as it takes up more room than necessary. If you want the information, you can email me for it. As for the film pics, I don’t record the information, so I really have no idea. Some of the pictures are cut off due to layout limitations. You can view the whole picture in Flickr by clicking on the picture itself.

First, the film pics:

And the digital pictures:

Any comments are welcome as the feedback helps me grow. Enjoy.

Nothing like home on a Saturday night…

I went through some more of my South Carolina pictures. As I go through them I’m finding the disappointments as well as the gems. In all of these I only had to adjust for color correctness… the exposures were good from the get go (I hope I’m getting better at this). I did find that one of my lenses is in need of a serious cleaning. Well, hopefully it’s the lens and not the sensor. I don’t want to pay to have the sensor cleaned and I don’t have the confidence or tools to do it myself. What to do, what to do… anyway, enjoy!

Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/25
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 17mm

This is an alley just off main street in Greenville, SC. The US Bicycle festival was happening on a blocked off section of Main Street at the Greenville Hyatt Regency. I took this one just cuz I was bored walking toward the street. I liked this one because of the contrasting colors as well as the detail.

Aperture: f/32
Shutter Speed: 1/6
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 35mm

This was taken from an observation point at Caesar’s Head State Park in South Carolina. We were pretty high up in the hills at this point and at the top of this particular hill. The view was definitely breathtaking. The downside to this was that it was cloudy that day. This is one of the few pictures from that observation point that came out good because the sun was able to peek through the cloud for a short time. I know the trees in the lower right distract from whole picture, I left them in because it gives a good perspective as to how high up I was when taking this picture.

Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 50mm

Taken at Cowpens Battlefield National Park in South Carolina. I took this one just for the sake of taking a picture. Even though there isn’t much going on here, the detail captured in the trees helps bring out the natural contrasts. That makes a great contrast against the relative evenness of the sky (at least I think so).

Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 17mm

Taken at Cowpens Battlefield National Park in South Carolina. This is another shot of the monument in front of the Visitor’s Center. In the photo are my wife and her sister. What makes it for me is that this shows 2 non-Americans appreciating an important piece of the history of our nation. They both showed great interest in it, and that seems to be lacking in a lot of Americans who have had families here for more than 2 generations.

I’m still going through all of my South Carolina pictures. It’s taking a while due to the fact that not only am I taking a photography course, but also I have a day job and an taking an anatomy course (which itself takes a lot of time outside the classroom). So today I decided to post some pictures from my cruise last July. Some of these were taken with my DSLR, others taken with my point and shoot. I will label each picture with the camera used along with the other information. Most of these were fixed in Aperture, mostly for exposure and color issues (I do get lucky every once in a while with a shot). I deleted the project, so I don’t know the details of what I did to fix them. That’s not a bad thing, though, now you can just enjoy them.

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XTi
Aperture: f/10
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO100 with -1.0ev
Focal Length: 59mm

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XTi
Aperture: f/25
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO100 with -1.0ev
Focal Length: 24mm

Camera: Olympus Stylus 770SW
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/125
ISO80 with 0ev
Focal Length: 7mm

The top picture is Montego Bay, Jamaica. The 2nd picture is the Jamaican countryside as seen from the deck of the Carnival Conquest. The third picture was taken on our shore excursion (helmet diving) by the guide using my Olympus. One of the great things about that Olympus is the fact that it is waterproof to 33 feet as well as weather proof, which is a great thing for shooting cloud formations.

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XTi
Aperture: f/10
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO100 with -1.0ev
Focal Length: 21mm

Camera: Olypmus Stylus 770SW
Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1/640
ISO80 with 0ev
Focal Length: 7mm

Taken at Grand Cayman Island. The top picture is where we entered the country. We had to anchor offshore and take a tender into the country as the water is too shallow for the cruise ships. That picture does it for me as it shows thunderstorm remnants in the distance (the anvil top from the cumulonimbus hasn’t fully dissipated; neither has the altocumulus). The storm was well off the island. The second picture shows a stingray swimming by. We were on a sandbar (ocean water waist deep!!) feeding the stingrays.

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XTi
Aperture: f/13
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 72mm

Camera: Olympus Stylus 770SW
Aperture: f/6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/640
ISO80 with 0ev
Focal Length: 7mm

The top picture shows the port of Cozumel, Mexico. What struck me about this port was how colorful the buildings are in appearance. It’s definitely a nice departure from Galveston, TX, where the cruise ship moves past all the cargo terminals. Oh, and the blue water doesn’t hurt either. The second picture is my idea of Heaven on Earth – Isla Pasion. This is where the Corona commercials are shot. I didn’t want to leave.

Aperture: f/5
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO400 with -2.oev
Focal Length: 18mm

Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO800 with -2.oev
Focal Length: 18mm

Both of these were taken with the Canon DSLR. The top picture is the ceiling just below the vertical portion of the cathedral ceiling in front of the elevator bank in the ship’s main lobby. The ship’s architect said in an interview that his inspiration for the Carnival Conquest was the art and artists of the Impressionist Era. You can definitely see that here with the reproductions of various paintings all in a collage. The collage spreads all the way up the vertical portions up to the 8th deck where it becomes balcony. The second picture is a shot of the main lobby itself. The top floor (deck 5) held retail shops, casinos, lounges, and clubs… the middle floor (deck 4) held the photo area (photos taken by Carnival for sale) along with the main dining rooms, and the lowest floor (deck 3) held the lounge in the main lobby as well as some other lounges off to the side.

I hope you enjoyed these. I have almost 400 pictures from the cruise between the 2 cameras, but these are among my favorites. I invite and comment and criticisms.

Tonight in my photography course we worked to develop our very first roll of film. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through tonight. There weren’t enough dark rooms for everyone, so the teacher had me remove my film in a bag. Basically it was a black plastic back with arm holes so I could removed the film from the canister, thread the film onto a spool, and place it in a developing tank. Well, it took me forever to open the canister (the plastic tip end wouldn’t come off in one piece, so I had to work at it for a while). After that, I had a hard time getting the film threaded onto the spool. That was no fun. In due course a dark room became available. I was able to get the film, spool, and tank out of the bag in the dark room. After a few more minutes of trying, I finally got the film onto the spool and into the tank. All told that process, which should have been less than 5 minutes, took me a little over 15. To help soothe my bruised ego, the teacher did tell me that using the bag can be a little more difficult and usually takes a little practice before everything runs smoothly.

The chemical portion was more tedious than anything else. After I put the film through the fixer, I had 24 developed negatives. One bad thing did happen during the film extraction from the canister – in the process of removing the plastic, I ended up nicking three of the pictures. After photo-flo and drying, I now have 24 negatives. On Thursday we are going to make a contact sheet and prints.

That being the case, I went through some more of my South Carolina photos. Here are some more I think you’ll enjoy.

Aperture: f/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/640
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 50mm

Aperture: f/22
Shutter Speed: 1/4
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 50mm

Both the above photos are of Hooker Falls in the Dupont State Forest in North Carolina. I decided to see what I could do if I slowed down the shutter speed from the original (in the top) to the point where motion could be seen. The effect was immediately obvious. The waterfall itself goes from being suspended water drops to constant streams. The water surface in the second photo is a lot more smooth. Since the wind was almost non-existent this day, slowing the shutter speed to 1/4 had a negligible effect on keeping the leaves in focus.

Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 17mm

This is the pool directly in front of Hooker Falls.

Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 50mm

This is Triple Falls in the Dupont State Forest in North Carolina. This is just upstream from Hooker Falls.

Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/125
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 50mm

This is Green River Road at the Cowpens Battlefield in South Carolina near Spartanburg. The battle was part of the Southern Campaign during the American Revolution and fought by troops under the command of General Daniel Morgan. Where I was standing to take this picture was around the area where the Washington Light Cavalry (not associated with General George Washington) was stationed in the order of battle. This battle was significant in that it demonstrated one of the few successful double envelopments in the history of the warfare. What makes this even more impressive is the fact that the double envelopment was performed by an inexperienced general (Gen. Morgan) against Colonel Banstre Tarelton, a pupil of General Lord Cornwallis (known as a military genius of his time). To give perspective, the most notable use of double envelopment was by Hannibal in his defeat of the Romans at Cannae in 216BC.

Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO100 with 0ev
Focal Length: 27mm

This is the monument in front of the Visitor’s Center at the Cowpens Battlefield National Park near Spartanburg, SC. The plaque lists the key officers involved in the battle on the side of the Continentals. The inscription on the side reads as follows: “The Congress of the United States has caused this monument to be erected on the site of the Battle of Cowpens as a testimonial to the valor and in appreciation of the services of the American troops on this field in behalf of the independence of their country”

The best part of the photos is this – in all cases I did not need to adjust the exposures. In all the above photos, save one, the only processing done was to increase the saturation (I’m still struggling a little with setting proper white balance). The monument photo required just a little bit of straightening as it was crooked by about 2-degrees.

Let me know what you think.