Category: Landscape

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The Windy City

Over the next few weeks you will see a lot of pictures I took in Chicago.  We always enjoy spending time there and is probably my favorite city to visit.

One morning, I drove to Alder’s Planetarium.  The planetarium is a great place to capture pictures of the city.  I shot a variety of pictures with my Olympus OM-D and Leica M9.  I think I got every lens I had out of the bag.  This one was taken with my Leica 50mm noctilux.  Actually, this is 4-5 pictures stitched together to create a panoramic shot.  I used Photoshop, Nik Software HDR Efex 2 (this is not a HDR), and Silver Efex 2.

ISO 160 1/1500’s 50mm noctilux

Note:  click to see larger size (trust me it’s worth it)

 

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Who’s taller?

July 4th we spent up in Chicago.  Since we only live a few hours away it’s always a great place to vacation.  I got up one morning at sunrise and headed out to Alder’s Planetarium to capture pictures of downtown.  After shooting over 100 pics with my Leica 21mm super elmar and my Olympus OM-D with the Panasonic 7-14mm lens I decided to get the noctilux out to capture some great depth of field shots.  Here is one them.

ISO 160 1/2000s 50mm noctilux ND filter

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GMC

Re-post October 2011

Shooting at an aperture of 1.4 allows for a very shallow depth of field.  It can give your pictures a very unique look.  It will also allow you to shoot in very low light.  Here is a recent picture taken of the grill of an old GMC truck.  The only part of the picture that is in focus is about 1/3 of the “G”.

 

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On your way up

I finally got back home last night after 2.5 days of exams.  It was definitely an experience and really enjoyed visiting with colleagues that I haven’t seen in over 5 years.  Hopefully, I can now enjoy the remaining summer.

This is a picture I took in Des Moines a few weeks ago.  I was only there for less than 24 hours.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to take pictures but did come across this stair case that I found interesting.

 ISO 1250 1/8 sec f.95 50mm noctilux

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Blue Tree

I don’t shoot HDR (high dynamic range) photography very often anymore.  I know some photographers don’t like it because they think they are too “Photoshop” or look fake.  I would say that its personal preference.  For years people have been manipulating pictures (i.e. Ansel Adams) and to be honest there are probably not too many pictures posted on the internet that haven’t had some editing.  I know some will argue but I don’t really see the difference in HDR photography from someone who uses neutral density or graduated filters (i.e. Lee filters).

Even though I don’t shoot many any more, I still find Trey Ratcliff’s shots interesting and inspiring.  He also has great comments to go along with his shots.  Another photographer, Mark Neal shoots a lot of HDR and is great at discussing his workflow.  If you haven’t visited their sites, I would highly recommend you do.

This shot was taken in San Diego.  It was September and only weeks before I traded in my Canon 5D Mark II for my Leica M9.  My Leica can shoot HDR (can bracket up to 7 shots)  and I do from time to time but I’m more interested in shooting people in their daily lives and love the challenge of catching the decisive moment.

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Patterns

I’ve been busy the past few days and have not had the opportunity to update my blog. Hopefully, I’ll have more time this weekend.

There’s nothing special about this image and I’ve on a few occasions almost deleted it.  For some reason though, I seem to be drawn to it, always looking for something interesting.  I suppose all the lines, circles, and symmetry must have something to do with it?

ISO 160 1/350 f2 35mm summicron

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Hot pepper

For a short time, I had this idea I would start shooting macro.  About 2-3 weeks into having Canon’s 100mm macro lens, I decided to sell all my Canon gear to buy a Leica M9 and lens.

I obviously didn’t have the opportunity to take many macro shots.  It was difficult to focus and I felt you really needed a flash dedicated for macro shots.  Here is a picture of a red pepper my wife was growing at the time.

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Stormy Flight

I just found this picture I took 6 years ago.  I was at the Cleveland Air Show and was using my Canon 5D Mark II and 70-200mm f2.8 with monopod.  The sky was obviously not that dark (edited with Photoshop) but the overcast sky is what allowed me to get the shot.

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Lost pictures

Every couple of months I go through my pictures trying to find ones that I like but forgot about.  Today’s picture is one of them.

Last summer I was driving around looking for places to take pictures of and came across this old barn.  As I walked towards it, I glanced down and notices these flowers without petals (maybe they weren’t flower, never was very good at botany).

ISO 160 1/4000 f1.4 50mm summilux (ND filter was also used)

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