Category: Photography

CNPA – Carolina Raptor Center

Eastern Screech owl from the Carolina Raptor Center.

I’ve been very remiss about updating this site lately. I have been doing a bunch of traveling for fun and work. I also got married recently, so that took up some of my time.  This last weekend I went out to the Carolina Raptor Center with some of the folks from the Carolina Nature Photographers Association (aka CNPA). What a nice time with a great bunch of folks. I am headed out to the High Sierra’s with His Light Workshops at the beginning of June. We’re hitting the Bodie ghost town, Mono lake and an old railway museum. It’s looking like a great trip!

Old Car City Flickr set

I have finally gotten around to editing a few images from Old Car City. You can find them over on my Flickr page.

Under the Boardwalk

This is under the boardwalk at Surf City on Topsail Island. Taken at 8 pm with a 2+ minute exposure. I did do a little light painting with my headlamp, but It wasn’t very bright, so I’m not sure if it did any good. This is almost straight out of camera, I did have to put it through the Nik Filter DFine to get rid of some of the noise. Next time I am down there I’ll take some more time (and a bigger flashlight). This is also where we dropped the keys to the place we were staying (5+ blocks away) and luckily found them in the dark. It was a nice trip with some new friends.

Old Car City Day 2

What a fantastic trip we had at Old Car City. Made some new friend and got to see some old ones. I hope to see them all on future workshops.

A special shout out to the Haverstocks, what great people and wonderful photographers!

Solid Gold

While at the Old Car City workshop I was helping the attendees with various shots. I did everything from help frame a better shot, to remind them to the edges and get down in the dirt to hold a flash. It was a fantastic experience, per usual. I even learned a thing or two along the way.

The second day was sunny in the afternoon, so shadows were a little harsh while you weren’t under the cover of the trees. We brought along a few reflectors / diffusers to help direct the light or in many cases block out the sun. While shooting an old De Soto, I was blocking the sun for someone and when I lifted up the reflector I noticed the sun bouncing off the gold side. It made all the rust just pop. So of course I started shooting that way the rest of the day and told anyone who would listen. It just worked.

Here is an example:

Old Car City Day 1

We are sitting in class at the end of Day 1, Bill Fortney is showing a slide show that I never get bored of seeing. It’s one he did for Kelby Training that has yet to air. It’s going to be a smashing success.  It feels good to know that some of those images I had a hand in making. Bill is a good friend and has an amazing eye. We’ve gotten to spend some time with old friends; Raymond Jabolta, Sue & Jim Haverstock (amazing folks!), Kent Irving, Lynn Rogers, Ricky Scaggs & the list goes on. We got to meet some new friends as well Charles Stanley among them. We have 21 students, 5 guests and 4 of us instructors.

I have the pleasure of teaching again with Jim Begley, Chuck Barnes and Bill Fortney. These guys are really special to me. Some of the most amazing folks I have had the honor to be around. I could never shoot another frame and still would be happy just because I met all the wonderful people I have.

Canon 5D Mark III

Canon released their camera the other day. I am surprised at the Canon marketing machine vs the Nikon one. Nikon seems to do a much better job at marketing & product announcement than Canon. I use the Canon line of products and like a lot of things about them. Nikon released the D800 and D4 recently to a lot of hype. I read all about it on different photo web sites. Most of my photo friends shoot Nikon and I know a few of the Nikon folks. The Canon 5D came out and I barely heard a whisper about it. I almost missed it, in fact.

I am looking forward to the options that this camera has to offer. New processor, 2 card slots, HDR in camera, 63 dual layer metering, higher ISO are just to start. However at the whopping $3500 price tag, I can’t see getting it any time soon. One can dream though.

You can read all about it at the Canon 5D Mark III product page.

Water drops

I am getting married in a couple of weeks, which has taken some time away from my photography. She’s supportive and amazing, so I don’t mind. When my future wife asked me to do something for our wedding website, I rose to the challenge. It has gotten me thinking about macro photography lately. We’re getting married on Valentine’s Day. It’ll be easy for me to remember when the wedding is.

I grabbed a place mat from a store I thought was interesting that I knew I could do something with. So I set myself a little rig to take some macro photos with.  I have a camera on a tripod that is looking down on a piece of glass from a picture frame. I cleaned the glass with glass cleaner then applied some Rain-X. The Rain-X helps make the water bead up. I propped that on a couple of drawers I took from our dresser (of course my stunning bride to be now has a pile of socks in the corner). Below that I put the place mat and a small light. I focused on the water droplets and grabbed some images. This has no processing outside of a small crop applied.  I have several other items I’ll put under the droplets and photograph once things settle down.

I eluded to a recent purchase and I’m still playing with it. I’ll reveal more at a later date.

Photo Rut

Lately I have been in a photography rut. My juices aren’t flowing, I look around and see photos, but I don’t seem to have the ambition to lug out my gear and make some images. I’ve tried watching some videos on new stuff to try. I’ve been doing a little reading and brushing up on some intellectual skills, but the making of images has just been dormant.

So what does one do? Just do it. Grab your camera and go take some images. They don’t have to be great, they don’t even have to be good. Just put the camera up to your eye and start snapping away. I am feeling more energetic on taking some images from doing this.

I am excited to be the assistant leader on some new photo treks this year. We are headed to Bodie, CA (and old Ghost town) and Old Car City in Georgia in March. It’s going to be a blast. I can hardly wait. I did just make a significant photo equipment purchase and once it’s here and I have time to play with it I’ll expose that information later

Photo information: Singh Ray Vari Neutral density filter, tripod, manual at f/22 for 6 seconds.