I’ve posted many pictures from our trip to the Outer Banks last year. We had a wonderful time and I was fortunate to capture many great pics.
One evening we went to the Avon Pier at sunset. I setup underneath the pier to try to capture the waves that were coming in and the many post that held up the pier. The picture is a 5 exposure HDR utilizing my old Canon 5d Mark II. I really like the texture in the piers posts.
Recently I decided to sell my Leica 21mm elmarit and move to a 28mm summicron. This decision didn’t come easily. I’ve enjoyed shooting with wide angle lenses (I had Canon 16-35mm on my full frame 5d Mark II) but have noticed recently my interest is beginning to change. As I have become more educated in photography, I’ve realized that wide angle lenses are not always the best for landscape. Wide angle lenses can flatten your image and typically have a lot of distortion. They are best, when you have something relatively close to you in the foreground and are attempting to add some depth of field. Telephoto or at least 90mm lenses are often times better for true landscape with no subjects in the foreground.
Leica 28mm summicron is still considered to be a wide angle lens but it doesn’t have any noticeable distortion. On the Leica M9 it also will allow you to use the internal viewfinder versus an external (needed for anything wider than 28mm). This lens is very popular with journalist because of its wide angle, no distortion, low light performance, and sharpness. So far i have to agree with their assessment. Hopefully soon I’ll post a few more pics using the lens.
A few days ago I drove to a small rural Catholic church. Behind the church lies a small cemetery. I captured this image using my 28mm summicron at sunset. I really like the sharpness and bokeh produced.
I spent some time in St. Louis in late 2004 and early 2005. On a few occasions we would drive to Alton Illinois to see the second largest gathering of Bald Eagles in the United States. I’ve never had much interest in birds but Bald Eagles are the exception. They are remarkable to see and an enjoyment to watch them fly. I can easily understand why they are our national bird.
Probably, my first heavily photoshop image was taken of Bald Eagles in Alton. The below image is made up of two different birds. The five birds flying are actually all the same bird, I shot it using my Canon 20d and Canon f2.8 L series 70-200mm lens (best telephoto lens I’ve ever owned). The bird on the branch was sitting next to the road. Last, it was a very overcast day which allowed me to get such great pictures of these creatures without completely ruining their highlights. The sky used in the picture was taken outside my apartment at the time in Des Moines Iowa.
P.S. You got to stop at Fast Eddies if you are in Alton, they sell 1/2lb hamburgers for $.99 (they haven’t raised there prices in years)!!!
When we lived in Cleveland, we would visit Vermilion a few times a year. It has a nice old downtown with many shops to explore and great places to eat. Each time we came, I would take a picture of the lighthouse. I never realized until recently that it is actually a replica of a lighthouse that used to sit there (no wonder it’s so small).
This picture is a 5 exposure HDR. I used a wide angle lens for the shot and corrected most of the distortion in photoshop. Most people probably think that I shrunk the lighthouse but in reality it is very small.
Last summer I was driving around trying to find old barns to take pictures of. It’s getting more and more difficult to find these old structures and when you do they are typically surrounded by other buildings or homes therefore it’s very difficult to get an isolated shot.
I came across this barn that set well behind the owners home. I went up to the door and inquired if I could take a few pictures. They initially questioned if I was trying to sell them something (I guess they have people come by inquiring about taking “fly over” pictures of their farm). After I informed them I was just an avid photography with an interest in old barns, they had no problem letting me walk around their property.
This was a 7 exposure HDR. I used a wide angle lens and made sure that there was something in the foreground so that I could add depth to the image. The only downside is that a wide angle lens causes “distortion” to the structures. This can be fixed in photoshop but often adds a nice effect to the image.
I thought today I would show a before and after picture taken in Chicago using Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 for post processing. All my pictures that become black and white are processed through Silver Efex Pro. I’ve been using it since the first version. The second version is far better because it has more control sliders and has “U point” technology. “U point” is unique to Nik Software programs because it allows you to edit only certain parts or colors of your picture instead of making global changes. I highly recommend the software if you are going to be making black and white pictures.
This picture was taken with my M9. I was hoping to get a since of motion with the car. I was able to get this by making sure the rest of the scene was in focus. The initial color picture is boring, changing to black and white and adding some vignetting makes it much more interesting.
I can remember the many drives from Southern Illinois to Des Moines and how much I would complain that there was absolutely nothing to look at. If you’re not familiar with this part of the country lets just say it is extremely flat and all you see for miles is farm land.
Now don’t get me wrong, I loved where I grew up and wouldn’t change it for anything but when you are stuck in a car for 8 hours, it’s nice to have something to look at.
Until recently, I never realized that Iowa actually is not that flat and has many rolling hills. I took this picture just west of Des Moines, it captures the typical farm land scene in this area.
Sunrises and sunsets are always amazing to watch. The surrounding environment is calm, the sky undergoes multiple changes in color, and the rush of daily life has either not begun or has ended.
When I was in the Outer Banks taking pictures of the Avon Pier I witnessed one of those moments. As the sun began to rise, it cast an orange glow in the sky. I was able to line the shot just center and below the pier. I didn’t realize until later that there were two birds posing for the pic.
The Leica M9 is not only known for its great color pics, it’s probably better known for its black and white images. I have to admit, the M9 does a phenomenal job of creating black and white pics. It’s hard to describe what it is but the M9 just has that extra touch when creating these type of images. I don’t routinely shoot in black and white while using the camera. I shoot in raw (uncompressed picture format) and then edit it with Niks Software Silver Efex Pro 2. If you like monochrome images, this is the software to purchase. I have owned just the aperture plugin and now own the Photoshop CS5 plugin and prefer having the Photoshop plugin because it just makes a new layer instead of altering the original pic like it does in Aperture.
Soon after purchasing my black M9 (I have not moved on to the M9-P) I traveled to Cleveland for a conference and on my way home I stopped and shot a few pics. This pic, originally in color was edited in Silver Efex Pro 2. Let me know what you think?
High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography has gained a lot of interest in photography. HDR Photography is where you take multiple exposures of a image and then stack them on top of one another to create one picture. By doing this you create an image that often times is very similar to what our eyes see. Most digital cameras can do this by using the auto bracketing function. For best results you need to use at least 3 exposures. If you are shooting in very bright or low light then you often times need to use 5, 7, or 9 exposures. Unfortunately, you typically need a semi-pro or pro dSLR to do this.
After you take the pictures, you then need software to stack the pictures on one another. The best way I’ve found is using Photomatix or you can use Photoshop CS 5. If you want to see some great HDR pictures you need to check out Trey Ratcliff at Stuck in Customs. He does phenomenal work and has many tutorials.
My wife grew up outside a very small town in Southern Illinois called St. Francisville (well known for the scariest bridge to cross in Southern Illinois/Indiana). In March, we were there for my wife’s baby shower. There is a very old Catholic church that sits down town. I decided to take a 7 exposure HDR pic using my Leica M9. Most of the time when shooting in HDR you want to create a color image, I think in this case monochrome works very well.
