Best Of 2013

As the year draws to a close I've created a gallery of not necessarily the best of, but more accurately my favorite shots that I've taken in the past year.  You can check them out on Google Plus or Facebook:

https://plus.google.com/+KevinSchaffer/posts

https://www.facebook.com/KevinSchafferPhotography

You can view my full gallery (and purchase prints and other merchandise) here

Books, Blogs, and Other Stuff

I thought I'd end the year with a look at the books, blogs, and other things that I turn to when I have a technical question, when I need inspiration, or to keep developing my skills both in the field and in the digital darkroom.  This list is by no means all inclusive, I'm just trying to cover what I've found to be the best (and/or most useful).  

Books - For the beginner (that I keep referring back to):

Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Book Series - I consider these books an essential resource.  They cover a variety of topics and although they are written for the beginning photographer, I still find myself referring back to these books.  This series has been recently refreshed (volume one was first published in 2009) so make sure you get the  updated version.

Bryan Peterson's books, esp. Learning To See Creatively - Another series of books for the beginning photographer.  Although I don't refer to these as much as I used to, Learning To See Creatively is still a good resource.

Landscape Photography - From Snapshots to Great Shots - Rob Sheppard - A good introduction to the subject.  I've also found that as a whole the Snapshots to Great Shots series is a good introduction to a variety of photography related subjects.

Books - That focus on the technical, particularly composition: 

Within The Frame - David duChemin - duChemin is both one of my favorite photographers and an excellent teacher when it comes to (his) thoughts on composition.  This is probably my favorite book on photography.

Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - David duChemin - Another excellent book from duChemin about photography and composition.  duChemin states early on in the book: “My vision for this book is that readers learn to approach digital development as a craft in service of their vision."  What does that mean?  I won't even try to explain put that in my own words - you'll have to check it out yourself...  The one caveat is that he wrote this using examples with Adobe Lightroom 3 (which was the most recent version at the time) so when reading it now you have to "interpret" some of the examples into Lightroom 4 or 5 "speak." 

The Photographer's Eye - Michael Freeman - An excellent book on composition that focuses on the technical aspects of photographic composition - subjects like the rule of thirds, the golden ratio, the appearance of the Fibonacci sequence in nature and how these concepts lead the eye through a photograph. 

Books - That focus on a specific topic:

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers - Scott Kelby - A good overview of Adobe Lightroom 4, that covers a variety of topics.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Book for Digital Photographers - Scott Kelby - Basically the same book, revamped for Lightroom 5. 

EBooks

Pretty much anything from Craft&Vision, but in particular anything by David duChemin or Piet Van den Eynde - duChemin for thoughts on composition and den Eynde for technical information, specifically info relating to Adobe Lightroom.  Anything by Craft&Vision is well written, beautifully illustrated, and available as an affordable, downloadable PDF.  

Blogs - By excellent photographers that cover a variety of topics: 

Moose Peterson - Wildlife photographer extraordinaire, also a master of landscape and aviation photography.  For years I have read his blog religiously, and I'm still learning something new or viewing awesome photos often enough to keep coming back. 

Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider - Although called the Photoshop Insider, that's only one of the topics covered.  What I like about this blog is that in addition to being an excellent (and very versatile) photographer, Scott Kelby is a great teacher, and he always shares the technical details of his photos shoots, be it landscapes, a wedding, football game, and it's always done with a bit of a sense of humor, and he shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of what happened.

David duChemin - As noted above, duChemin is one of my favorite photographers.  He blogs on an occasionally infrequent basis, but I'm always checking for his latest post because when he does share his thoughts, he rarely disappoints.

Photofocus - Started by Scott Bourne (who has recently turned over the reigns to a capable team) this blog covers a variety of topics daily.

Blogs - That mainly focus on technical issues:

Focus on Singh-Ray Filters - Singh-Ray produces top quality camera lens filters.  This blog features a variety of photographers who write about how and why they use these filters.  Usually a good read and always great photographs. 

Matt Kloskowski - A good source for the latest tips on using Adobe Lightroom (and other software).  

Lightroom Killer Tips - Another blog from Matt Kloskowski that focuses specifically on Lightroom.  There's enough difference between this and Matt's other blog that I check both on a regular basis.

Equipment 

B&H Photo Video - The choice of professional photographers.  Anything and everything a photographer could ever want - or need.

This list also serves as a point in time of sorts, in that it covers everything I've discovered from the first day I picked up a DSLR until now.  This will allow me to, from this point forward, share my thoughts on books, blogs, and other stuff as they arise, or to do a yearly wrap up of the best of the best.  

Capitol Reef National Park

Last month we went on a tour of some of the National Parks in southern and south-central Utah (which was also our honeymoon).  One of the parks we visited was Capitol Reef National Park in southern Utah. 

As plans for the trip were being made, the idea was to do a "loop" through southern Utah, going from Zion National Park to Bryce National Park, then over to the Moab/Canyonlands National Park/Arches National Park area, finally turning south towards Monument Valley.  These were the parks I was familiar with, but as I mapped out the route I saw Capitol Reef and thought to myself "cool, another park we can drive through on the way."  Then I didn't give it much thought after that, other than it being another spot on the map.

The drive over from Bryce (going through a corner of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on the way) was spectacular.  We pulled into the Torrey, Utah, where we were spending the night, late in the afternoon, and decided to continue on and explore the area a bit before settling in for the night.  

We drove into the park and were immediately struck by the beauty of the area.  Spectacular cliffs and domes lined the road.  When we turned down a short side road I saw this lone tree and had to take a few shots of it silhouetted against the moody evening sky... 

We got up early the next morning, both anxious to continue our journey and wanting to catch the sunrise.  We weren't disappointed as we caught our first glimpse of the rising sun....

Turning and facing west, I liked the blue sky peeking out through the clouds with the moon present as well....

Then turning back towards the east I was drawn towards the spectacular clouds...

That morning we took the scenic drive that included a trip through the Capitol Gorge area of the park before heading down the road towards Moab.  I can say without reservation that Capitol Reef was one of the highlights of the trip, and I would not hesitate to go back there again and explore the area further.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Order prints (or other merchandise) here

San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church

I recently visited San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church, located in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. Ansel Adams photographed this church, Georgia O'Keefe painted it, and I feel lucky to have been able to stand where they stood and create my own image of this iconic structure.

First I worked the back side, the view that is most closely associated with this church.  When I processed the photos of this view later, sepia just seemed to capture the mood...  

Then I walked around to the front.  Although this isn't the iconic view associated with the church, I still thought it was beautiful, especially the look of the adobe walls against the clear blue sky....

Then I concentrated on getting a "different" shot altogether.  I went as wide as possible with the lens I had, then pushed in close to the entrance, using it as a frame.  A lot of times photos seem to happen through a sense of serendipity, but this time I was very conscious of trying to find perfect balance, a sense of symmetry, with this shot, with the way the white trim of the door way framed the inner courtyard, how the blue cross on the ground aligned the white cross on the roof, how all the elements were placed in the frame...

Purchase prints here

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Holiday Sale

Holiday Sale!  Use the code "HOLIDAY2013" to save 15% on all orders placed through my web site - not just prints, you can save on greeting cards, puzzles, and other merchandise...  You can check it out here...

Classical Gas Museum

These shots were taken in February 2013, at the Classical Gas Museum in Embudo, located along the Rio Grande River about 43 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I happened upon this place, noticing it as I drove by.  A quick u-turn and I was soon inside, checking things out and asking a few questions.  I also took a few photos, which also happened to be one of the first times that I had used my wide angle lens.  After I got back home to Alaska (having not yet made the decision to move to Santa Fe) I was pleased with some of the photos from that day, and basically set them aside.

I recently decided to reprocess some photos from that day using techniques I've been experimenting with and refining over the past several months.  I chose to do this because I thought that the original images were a little "flat" compared to what I actually saw when I was there.  First I tweaked things a bit in Adobe Lightroom 5, mainly concentrating on bringing out details in the shadows, then I further processed them using the Color Efex Pro 4 Lightroom plug-in (with the Tonal Contrast preset to make the colors "pop") and Dfine 2 Lightroom plug-in (to reduce the noise some since I took these shots hand held in a low lit room), both of which are from the Google Nik Collection, then I did some basic sharpening back in Lightroom before finally exporting the final images.

This first shot - obviously - is a wide shot of the main room...

I worked my way around the room, moving in towards the right side of the back wall...

Then the lower left side...

Before moving to the smaller side room, which had this great Chevron sign...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX

Buy prints of these photos here

(The Other) Las Vegas

Last month we went on a day trip to Las Vegas.  Las Vegas, New Mexico, a small town east of Santa Fe, about 66 miles by road.  I had wanted to visit there for awhile, after both reading that the town had over a hundred buildings that have received historically significant designation, and having driven by there (twice) and just thinking that it looked like an interesting place to visit (and photograph).  It also didn't hurt that significant portions of "No Country For Old Men" (and many other movies) were filmed there...

Walking around the downtown square area, and the adjacent side streets, was more interesting than I had imaged for several reasons.  First of all, I found the historical aspects fascinating.  Finding out that I was walking on part of the old Santa Fe Trail, or standing where Francisco Coronado stood in 1541, was thought provoking, as I've always been interested in history, an interest that has been reignited with our move to the Southwest...  Secondly, seemingly everywhere I turned, I wanted to take photos.  Old buildings, quirky buildings, that I immediately wanted to photograph, and later on seemingly screamed to be processed using high dynamic range (HDR) processing techniques.  I've done quite a bit of HDR photo processing over the last couple of months, and have been refining my use of it, but the images I captured in Las Vegas just called for going a little "over the top"...

Like this drug store...

And the corner of an antique store (that was a treasure trove of cool stuff)...

Or this old, but still operating, cafe...

A shuttered building...

And this is only a sampling.  I also ended up with several shots of old, abandoned buildings, found in another part of town, that I'll have to share in another post...

Purchase prints of my New Mexico photos here

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

2013 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Patterns

The sun sets lower on the horizon, the chill of winter sets in, the days slip away to  grey, and my thoughts turn to color and light...

As you walk around at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta one thing that quickly strikes you is the abundance of color, shapes, and patterns...

Bert Hardy once said "everywhere I look and most of the time I look, I see photographs."  

That's how I felt as I walked the grounds, weaving between the inflating balloons.  Even the balloons that were partially inflated caught my eye, as the colors and patterns folded back on themselves.

I never got tired of looking, or taking photos.

When it was all over I was left with a feeling of wonder, as seeing hundreds of balloons fill the sky at once made one feel like a child, when the littlest things could be filled with a sense of magic...

You can buy prints from the 2013 ABQ International Balloon Fiesta here

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

The doors at Dal al Islam

When I first visited Santa Fe in February I quickly became fascinated by the doors and windows I saw downtown, and this has only grown stronger since I moved here in June.  I even spent a morning walking around the Canyon Road area specifically to take photos of doors and windows, as I've written about previously.  Whenever I'm walking around, whether it's in Santa Fe, Taos, or wherever, I'm always on the look out for an interesting door, window, or old building with character...

A couple of months ago I saw a photo of the mosque at Dar al Islam, an Islamic Eduction Center located just outside of Abiquiu, in Georgia O'Keeffe country.  I had no idea this existed, since I hadn't seen mention of it when researching that area of New Mexico.  After a little research online I decided that I needed to see it.  

After one attempt at finding it (didn't write the directions down, tried relying on memory and missed the turn - which turned out to lead me to another small town and an unexpected photo op I'll share in the future), I headed out again to Abiquiu on a casual drive, with the intent of stopping by as part of my outing...  After driving down a side road for a couple of miles, then up a bumpy dirt driveway for a bit, I came upon Dar al Islam.  I took a moment to check in at the office and say hello, and then spent some time walking around the main complex, which consisted of the main school complex, garden, and mosque.  After rounding a corner my eye caught this door.  I was drawn to the wood door, the recessed entry, the geometry...

A little farther along the same side of the building were these doors.  Again I was drawn to the wood doors, the recessed entryways, the shadows, the geometry, the balance between the doors and the window.

After rounding another corner, then another, there was this doorway...

And to the right of that was another door of the same style.  The door was recessed even further, but within the shadows there was another wooden door and small window...

The whole experience was a pleasant surprise.  Dar al Islam sits alone on a bluff with Plaza Blanca, "The White Place" - an area that was the subject of a number of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings - looming in the background.  A beautiful building situated in a beautiful setting...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Art Alley

Sometimes the most interesting things pop up in the most unexpected places...

In September 2012 I was walking around downtown Rapid City, South Dakota, wandering around really, trying to get a feel for this western town when I came across an alley that was covered, end to end, in paintings, artwork, graffiti, whatever you wish to call it.  I took a stroll down the alley, took a few photos, curious...  What made it interesting, from a photography stand point, was that even the utility poles and dumpsters were covered with paintings, giving a photo a sense of depth...

Eventually I came across a teenager, a skateboarder, and casually said "what's up?" as I walked past.  He replied "just waitin' for paint" and that's when I wondered if what exactly this was...

Every now and then I've thought about this alley, when I see graffiti, and I finally got around to doing a bit of research.  Apparently this place is referred to as "Art Alley."  From what I can figure out with the information available, Rapid City has adopted a "live and let live" attitude regarding this alley, letting "kids" do their thing in the hopes that "doing their thing" will stay in this area.  Art Alley is well enough known that websites like Yelp and Trip Advisor have multiple reviews of it listed and recommendations as a place to see when visiting Rapid City...

Buy prints here

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Gear Update

Last March I wrote a post outlining the gear I use in the field, and the software I use to process photos.  The gear remains the same, but which lens I use frequently and how I process photos has evolved a bit, enough so that I thought it was time to revise and update that previous post...

Hardware:

My camera body is a Nikon D7000.  This replaces the Nikon D40 that I used for over four years.  After taking 13,347 shots with the D40 I decided it was time to upgrade to something that packed more punch.  After much deliberation I decided to stick with Nikon’s DX format (you can read more about that here), and the D7000 was the best DX format camera available.  At this point in time I’ve taken about 7,200 shots with the D7000, and have been consistently impressed by the camera’s performance and the resulting image quality.

I have four lenses in my bag right now, all Nikon Nikkor glass: the Nikkor 10-24 DX, Nikkor 18-55 DX, Nikkor 55-300 DX VR, and the Nikkor 85 DX VR Micro.  The 55-300 VR used to be on the camera when I went out hiking, or when driving so I can grab a shot of whatever I came across, near or far.  In the last couple of months this has changed, and the 18-55, the “kit” lens that came with the D40, a lens that I rarely used in the past, is usually on the camera.  It’s small, light, and sharp, and the wider angle of view more closely fits what I've been photographing since I moved to New Mexico, landscapes and environmental shots (doors, windows, buildings).  Occasionally I opt for the 10-24 when I head out.  This lens allows me to go even wider, or to push in real close to a subject and immerse myself in the image.  I love this lens and it’s really changed the way I approach some subjects.  I also have the 85 VR Micro which I use occasionally for macro shots of flowers.

Another major shift in approach is that I started using the RAW file format when shooting.  At first I used the RAW+JPEG crutch, but quickly abandoned that to shoot exclusively in RAW.  I file this gives me full control over the final image, allowing me to adjust exposure, color temp, etc. as needed.  Using this file format in conjunction with Adobe Lightroom (see comments below) has been the greatest step forward in my work over the past year.

All images are processed and stored on a MacBook Pro 15" with Retina Display, and backed-up on two Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB Portable Hard Drives.  I also have an older Seagate 160 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive that I’ve had for years, which I've recently "semi-retired" as I've filled it to capacity. 

Software:

I started Adobe Lightroom 4.3.2 in March.  Before making the jump to Lightroom I was using Apple Aperture 3.0 to process my photos, and I occasionally dabbled with using the Topaz Adjust 5 plug-in within Aperture.  I used both for a little while but now use Lightroom almost exclusively.  I feel that Lightroom gives me the right tools to organize and process my photos.  The other reason that I gravitated to Lightroom is that the amount of product documentation vastly outweighed that available for Aperture.

I also have Photomatix Pro 4.2.4 installed for producing HDR images.  I started producing HDR images using bracketed shots this past June.  For certain subjects - like landscapes, buildings, and old automobiles - I love the end result of using the method of processing photos.  Using this process has been both exciting and frustrating, and on occasion I've leaned towards "over processing" photos so they look hyper-realistic... The latest shift I've made is that now, about 50% of the time, I use Photomatix Pro to merge several bracketed photos, then I finish processing that image in Lightroom, giving me the blended exposure look, with a greater dynamic range of light, of HDR, while keeping the finishing touches more realistic...

Support:

I have a Manfrotto 190XPROB Pro tripod with a Manfrotto 496RC2 Compact Ball Head, a 200PL-14 Quick Release Plate attached to my camera, and a Vello Two-Axis Hot Shoe Bubble Level that fits in the top of the camera.  

With the exception of the tripod, all of this gear - including the MacBook and two portable hard drives -fits into a Lowepro Pro Roller Lite 250 AW roller bag that will fit in the overhead bin of most aircraft.

Autumn Above Santa Fe

The autumn color is fading in the mountains east of Santa Fe, as fall slowly fades into winter...

A couple of weeks ago I drove up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains above Santa Fe, several times in fact, on lazy afternoon drives or to hike.  The first time I headed up out of curiosity, as I could see the aspens turning yellow in the distance from my house.  Driving the winding road up, I eventually came to the Big Tesuque Campground, where I took the first two photos (the first one from a road side pull off about a quarter mile above the campground, looking south, the second just off of the campground parking lot).  The leaves were golden, with hints of orange and red, and the pines mixed in with the aspens gave the landscape some interesting contrast. 

About a week later, after my first trip into the mountains, I decided to hike the Aspen Valley Trail, which is located a little further up the road from the Big Tesuque Campground.  The trail starts at approximately 9,600 feet elevation, ending up at a little over 12,000 - about a 5.8 mile slog to the top and back down.  Most of the aspens (and color) are located in the first third/half of the way up or so.  I took these shots in that first stretch of the trail, the first on the way up... 

...the second as I was working my way back down to the parking lot.

The whole area was ablaze with autumn color, and I'm already looking forward to exploring more of the area next fall...

First two photos (Big Tesuque) - Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX
Last two photos (Aspen Valley Trail) - Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX 

Prints can be ordered here

2013 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Balloon Glow

Among the numerous activities taking place at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta are three main events - Dawn Patrol, which occurs every morning before and as the sun rises, Mass Ascensions (which I wrote about previously) occur on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesday, and various themed Balloon Glows, which occurred this year five times over the course of the nine day fiesta...

This year I went to the Fiesta Glow which occurred on the last day of the festival.  As the sun set, slowly the balloons filled, glowing...

Once the sun dipped below the horizon the Fiesta (Ballon) Glow commenced, multiple balloons firing their burners simultaneously... 

Leading up to all of the balloons firing their burners and lighting up at the same time...

Once the sun set and the sky turned black, I turned my attention to getting shots of individuals burners firing...

All in all the whole Balloon Fiesta was an event I'm glad I attended both in the morning and in the evening, and I will definitely be going back next year.

You can buy prints from the 2013 ABQ International Balloon Fiesta here

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

2013 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Morning Ascension

I recently was able to go to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for the first time.  I've seen photos from the event over the years, but didn't know too much about it.  

The morning of the first day of the festival we got up early, leaving the house around 4:15 a.m. for the drive to Albuquerque.  We got to the site of the fiesta, parked, walked in, and checked out the vendors, etc., before heading over to the main field where the balloons were beginning to get set up.  Just before sunrise a number of balloons were inflated and subsequently took off (the "Dawn Patrol").  

It wasn't long before I focused on the the firing of the burners, and how the flames played off of the dark, predawn sky.  I was able to get a couple of shots of the balloons as the burners were firing just before take off...

I like this last shot because I was able to get in a bit closer, filling the frame with just the flame and the ballon itself.

The whole fiesta was more entertaining than I expected - and worth getting out of bed at 3:45 A.M. for!  Watching over 500 balloons launch in the span of just a couple of hours during the Morning Ascension was a visual treat.  Colors, shapes, patterns were in abundance (something I'll write about in a future post)...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Prints of select photos can be ordered here

Land of 10,000 Lakes, Two Barns, and a Bridge

I just got back from a quick trip to Minnesota to attend my best friend's wedding.  Of course I brought my camera along because I knew that I would have some spare time in my schedule to do some driving in the country.  I was staying in Red Wing, a small town south of Minneapolis located on the Mississippi River.  The first full day I was there I headed south on a small highway, drove, took a random turn or two to see what I could see, and eventually I ran across this barn.  I loved the red painted sides of the barn and how that played against the bright green grass, so I stopped and took a couple of shots.  I'm happy with how this shot came out, especially since it was the first time (along with another shot earlier that morning) that I successfully got a got starburst in camera (as opposed to digital manipulation later)...

Later that afternoon the sky turned overcast, and in contrast to the bright red barn and sun from the morning, I ran across this grey barn, which caught my eye for different reasons.  I like the older, weathered look of the aging siding, the vines growing up the side of the barn, the moody sky, and the gold fields in the background... 

The next day I was on another random drive south of Red Wing and I stumbled on the covered bridge located in Zumbrota, which happens to be the only remaining original, functional, covered bridge in Minnesota.  I stopped at the park and took a short walk up to, and then over/through the bridge.

While walking through the bridge I saw this view through the windows, and stopped to take a few shots...  

The only disappointment from that trip was that autumn is coming late to that part of Minnesota this year, so I missed the turning of the leaves by a couple of weeks.  I was really looking forward to that, but I had a great time driving around, exploring, randomly coming across interesting rural scenes...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX 

Prints of select photos can be ordered here

The Digital Darkroom

The more I read about digital photography, the more I use software like Adobe Lightroom and Photomatix Pro to process photos, the more I think about film photography and wonder how far from the old days we are straying, wonder how much is too much (with the exception of extreme HDR photography, which in many ways - in my eyes anyway - is more akin to "digital painting" in some aspects).  I see photographers referring to processing photos with software as using the "digital darkroom" but for the longest time that seemed like a stretch...  The more I read and learned and saw examples of film photographers manipulating images in the darkroom the more I could see the parallels between the old ways and the new, but it was a recent experience that made things "click" in my mind.

In Santa Fe the Andrew Smith Gallery features an impressive selection of Ansel Adams' work, including some of his more iconic work.  One of these is Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.  What I found fascinating was that there were several several prints of this photo hanging in the gallery, and each one looked a bit different.  Over the years Adams developed many prints of this photo in the darkroom, and each time he made adjustments in which part of the print he wanted to lighten ("dodge") and darken ("burn"), with each print different than the last.  And I kept coming across numerous examples of capturing the image on the film negative being only the first step in the process of creating an image, like this article.  So, this is my long-winded way of saying that although I try to "get it right in the camera the first time" I've come to appreciate the finishing touches that using the digital darkroom can lend to an image.

Here are some examples of how I approach using the "digital darkroom" in trying to refine an image to either meet what I saw when I took the photo, or to enhance things just a bit to to meet the "artistic" image that's in my head.  This first photo is the original image as it came out of the camera.  The only adjustment made was to sharpen it a bit for printing, which I do to all of my photos.

In the image above you'll notice that the sun is peeking out through the fog in the upper right corner, so I decided to emphasize that with a sun flare effect as seen below.

It took one glance to realize that this was the wrong direction to go in, so I decided to go  in another direction and bump up the mid-tones in the image, using the Clarity control in  Abobe Lightroom to increase mid tone contrast, which created a more sharpened image, bringing out more detail in the buildings and the foreground, which are not only the dominant features of the photograph, but what I remember most from that day.   

I liked the look of the image above, so I decided to add the sun flare back to the upper right corner, thinking that a combination of the two adjustments might work.  Again, it took a quick glance to realize that the sun flare was too much, it brightened the image as a whole excessively and altered the mood too far from the what the actual scene held.

So, what I'm basically doing is selectively lightening (dodging) parts of the image - the same as film photographers did in the darkroom...

I haven't been able to decide whether I like the first or third image the most.  I like the realistic look of the first image, but am drawn to the sharper, "punchier" foreground of the third image.  Ultimately I decided to add the first one to my online portfolio...  

Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-300 DX VR

Order a print of the first image here 

Echo Amphitheater

Echo Amphitheater is located near Abiquiu, New Mexico, in the heart of Georgia O'Keeffe country.  I didn't know that it existed until we passed the turn-off to this small park during a long country drive a few weeks ago.  Last weekend we toured the area again, showing off the Land Of Enchantment to some guests.  I brought my camera, and decided to bring my wide angle lens along for this trip.  When we got to the viewing area for the amphitheater I quickly decided that getting as close as possible, going as wide as possible, and looking up was the way to go to try and get a good shot, especially considering that the clouds were cooperating that day...

This was the first time where I wished that I had a fisheye lens on hand, to capture the full scope of the landscape...

Once I got home and started processing to photos, this one quickly rose to the top as the best overall composition...

You can buy a print of the last image here

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX

Storm Clearing

In late August the monsoon season in New Mexico is winding down, but we are still getting frequent thunderstorms in the afternoon.  Last Saturday we were out on a drive, and I stopped at a few places to snap a few photos.  During the drive we encountered heavy rain for about fifteen or twenty minutes, then the rain stopped and the skies began to clear...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX