The Great One

Looking through photos yesterday, revisiting old projects, I found these shots of Denali...

Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-200 DX VR

Visualize

I took this shot last April, while walking the boat docks in Seward.  I liked the reflection in the water, liked how the ripple of the wave just under the bow added a different look to the reflection compared to the solid object above, and was generally satisfied with the composition of the shot.  What I didn't like was that it looked a little "flat" to me, a little too "one note" in terms of light...

With the long weekend and the grey days of winter lingering, I've been spending time revisiting photos, playing the mental game of "what would I do this time?" or "how could I approach post-processing differently?"  In this instance I decided to try processing the photo in Photomatix Pro.  Although this program is usually used in processing multi-image HDR situtations, some interesting results can come be achieved when processing single shots as well.  I chose one of the presets, bumped up the saturation a tad to emphasize the blue and red tones even more, and called it good.  Not anything that hasn't been done before, but another step in the learning process.  I think the key thing is, as Ansel Adams believed, to visualize what the end result will be when you take a photo...

Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-200 DX VR

Mountain Glow

I took this photo several years ago while hiking a portion of the Historic Iditarod Trail outside of Eagle River.  What caught my eye was the glow of the morning sun on the rocks, and the wind blown snow...

Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-200 DX VR

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Tumblin' TumbleDeux...

Yesterday I posted a photo of this same tumbleweed.  The only difference between the two shots is how I framed the subject.  The first shot focused tight on the tumbleweed, compared to this shot, where I pulled back some to show more of the background, trying to invoke the feeling of wide open space behind the tumbleweed.  When I first went through the photos from that day these two shots of the tumbleweed stood out, but I wavered on which one I liked best.  As some time has passed since that first initial review of the trip’s photos it has become clear that the tighter shot, where the tumbleweed is clearly the subject, is the better shot…

Another thing I noticed when comparing the two again today is that the barb wire in the closer shot follows the principle of the “rule of thirds” almost perfectly.  This wasn’t intentional at the time that I took this photo (the placement of the tumbleweed in the frame was, but not the placement of the barbed wire), but perhaps it was a subconscious decision?...  

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 55-300 DX VR

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Tumblin' Tumbleweed

In February I was driving down a two lane highway outside of the southern entrance of Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, burning some time in the early morning before the park opened, when I saw this tumbleweed caught in a barbwire fence...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 55-300 DX VR

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Gear

Having made several recent additions to my gear, I thought it would be a good time to do a complete rundown of the gear I’m currently using.

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.  I’ve taken about 1,500 shots with the D7000 so far, and have been 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 is on the camera when it’s in the bag, when I’m out hiking, or when I’m driving so I can grab a shot of whatever I come across, near or far.  The 18-55 is the “kit” lens that came with the D40.  I rarely used it until recently.  When I was visiting the Badlands of South Dakota a couple of months ago I used it to get a wider angle of view, to try and get more of the landscape in the photo and this lens did the trick.  It’s small, light, and sharp.  Recently I added the 10-24 to the mix.  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.  I haven’t taken this macro lens out yet, but summer approaches, a trip to Maui is days away, and blooming flowers and insects buzzing will offer numerous opportunities to put this lens to work.

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 as well as an older Seagate 250 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive that I’ve had for years. 

Software:

I recently started using Adobe Lightroom 4.3.2.  I’m still in the beginning stages of using Lightroom but the intent is to dive headfirst into shooting using the RAW file format.  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 also have Photomatix Pro 4.2.4 installed for the occasionally foray into producing HDR images.

Support:

My most recent purchase is a Manfrotto 190XPROB Pro tripod, with a Manfrotto 496RC2 Compact Ball Head, 200PL-14 Quick Release Plate, 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 fits into a Lowepro Pro Roller Lite 250 AW roller bag that will fit in the overhead bin of most aircraft.

Slot Canyon

This was taken in a small slot canyon in Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I went to this place on a whim, after reading about it on a "day trips from Santa Fe" website, and it turned out to be an unexpected treasure.  This was one of the first times that I took my wide angle lens out on a shoot, so I was concentrating on composition, getting as close to the subject as possible to try and immerse myself in the scene...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX

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Ride 'Em Cowgirl

This shot was taken at the Embudo Gas Museum in New Mexico.  I ran across this place while driving from Santa Fe to Taos.  It was fascinating, filled with old neon signs, junk, another man's treasures...  I noticed this doll that someone had stuck on the front of an old race car, and it just seemed to fit perfectly in with the whole kitschy feel to the place...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX

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First Shot

My first try at taking photos in RAW file format, processing in Adobe Lightroom, and exporting with a new watermark.  From beginning to end it was an interesting process.  At times I felt overwhelmed, at times I sat in front of the laptop, book open next to me as my eyes blurred and I fought off a headache.  I downloaded and installed a few Lightroom presets to see examples of how adjusting various settings had a different affect on the final image (and, admittedly, I used a preset to help "hold my hand" the first time through this process).  I wouldn't call this an original, but it's a first step...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 55-300 DX VR

14,830

14,830

Since I bought my first DSLR in May 2008, I’ve taken 14,830 photos.  I read somewhere once that you need to get the first 10,000 shots out of the way before you really start developing your own voice.  I don’t know that I agree with that, but I do know that I am “seeing” more and “spraying and praying” less.  I do know that I’m becoming more critical of my own work.  I do know that the more I shoot, the more I want to go out and shoot, and the more I want to learn.

I’ve shared my thoughts about the “evils of excessively manipulating images” previously and my opinion hasn’t changed much since then.  What has changed is my understanding – and opinion of – the digital darkroom.  After much reading, contemplation, internal dialogue, I decided to switch from using Apple Aperture to occasionally “touch up” photos to using Adobe Lightroom to “develop” my photos in the “digital darkroom.”  I decided to start shooting photos in RAW file format, giving me the capability to do more with them in post processing.  Although my experience with Aperture was positive, making the switch to Lightroom allows me to access a wealth of literature, tutorials, and general information that isn’t readily available to users of Aperture.  Almost every “pro” photographer that I follow closely either uses Lightroom exclusively, or extensively, in their workflow.  

By switching to Lightroom I can apply what I learn from them directly to my own work.

I’ve already started immersing myself in Lightroom, went out and shot a few RAW files, and am becoming more comfortable in my new working environment.  Soon the results will start appearing here and on my website.  I can’t wait to see where the next 14,830 shots lead…

Storm Brewing

This was taken in South Kihei on Maui, looking south towards Wailea.  I zoomed in on the break in the clouds, set the white balance to Cloudy, and underexposed by one stop to darken the sky and try to bring out the drama in the sky...

Nikon D40, Nikkor 55-200 DX VR

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Mountain Pass

While driving from Phoenix to Holbrook in Arizona on Interstate 17, I pulled over to get this shot.  I liked the look of the snow on the mountains, the clouds, and how the sun breaking through the clouds lit part of the landscape...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 55-300 DX VR

Downtown Santa Fe

I liked the light blue against the adobe wall, prevalent in old Santa Fe...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Rusting Relic

In the parking lot of the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona were several old cars, rusting relics of Route 66's golden years.  As the sun set and air cooled, I wandered around and took a few photos, trying out my new wide angle lens.  I got a couple of shots that were ok, but not great.  I decided to do a little HDR processing on a couple, using Photomatix Pro 4.2.4, as a way of both getting some practice with HDR processing (albeit with a single shot as opposed to a series of bracketed shots), and a chance to stretch my imagination a bit.  This is the best of the batch.  The original photo was overexposed in the upper right corner - which I couldn't fix in processing - but overall I'm pleased with the result (as an experiment).

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX