I was wanting to catch the rain drops as they fell off the pedals. The sky initially took a lot away from the flowers. I used Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 to improve the sky, this definitely help with making the flowers stand out.
Repost from May 2011
Hopewell Church
As I’ve stated many times in the past, I always enjoy taking pictures of old churches. I’m starting to have a good collection of them (maybe I’ll post them all together some time).
This church is near my home town and was taken early evening. This is always a great time to capture landscapes because the shadows are not contrasty and you can often times get great exposure of both the foreground and background.
P.S. I may start reposting some of my post from early last year. I have a lot more followers and think many will appreciate some of my early pictures (don’t worry, I have plenty of fresh pictures also).
ISO 160 1/1500 f/1.4 50mm summilux
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Lincoln Memorial
Here’s a shot I took at the Lincoln Memorial. I was fortunate to get this picture amongst the crowd. Also, the sun had set and was shooting handheld without a flash (my preference).
ISO 500 1/45 f/1.4 50mm summilux
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Our Future @ 9 months
Here is this months picture of our baby girl. I know I keep saying it but it’s getting more and more difficult to keep her on the couch for the shot.
Our Future @ 9 months ISO 160 1/1000 f/.95 50mm
Our Future @ 9 months 2 ISO 160 1/1000 f/.95 50mm
Our Future (birth) ISO 160 1/360 f/2 35mm
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Leica 90mm macro-elmar user report
About 10 weeks ago, I got an email from Dale Photo telling me that a Leica 90mm macro-elmar with the adapter was available and I was next on the list to have the opportunity to purchase it. I had the 90mm summarit which I think is very nice and under appreciated. I opted in buying the macro-elmar because I wanted a telephoto (for a Leica it’s considered telephoto) lens that could be used for portrait and also close-up (even though it’s called “macro” I don’t consider it one) photography. It’s also collapsable, making it easier to fit in your bag.
I don’t consider my self an expert and I’m definitely not a “specs” guy. If you do a google search, you will probably only find 1 or 2 reviews of this lens. It’s hard to find any real world pictures though (flickr has a few).
In the few weeks having the lens I’m extremely impressed. I don’t consider it a true “macro” because you can’t get any closer than 0.5 meters (0.7 meters without the adapter). The amount of detail and sharpness at such close proximity to your subject is simply amazing. My only wish is that it had a lower aperture (lowest f-stop is 4) so that I could shoot at higher shutter speeds and not need a flash or tripod.
P.S. All images are un-cropped. If you are interested in seeing the full-size image let me know. Also, eventually I’ll shoot a few with it attached to my Sony NEX-7. I’m pretty sure these images will also be amazing (the 35mm equivalent will be 144mm).
ISO 2000 1/90 90mm without adapter
ISO 200 1/30 f/4 with adapter
ISO 2500 1/90 f/4 90mm without macro adapter
ISO 160 1/180 f/8 90mm with macro adapter and flash
ISO 160 1/180 f/8 90mm with macro adapter and flash
ISO 160 1/180 f/8 90mm with macro adapter and flash
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the fallen
Most of the time when I post pictures they are not pre-planned. I sit and go through the thousands of pictures I’v taken and I try to find something that is interesting, tells a story, or has some sentimental value. Often times it’s hard to find the “one” picture I want to post.
The picture I’m posting today, was taken last fall at Arlington National Cemetery. It was a beautiful late fall afternoon and a friend and I came across this large tree with many fallen yellow leaves. The contrast between the green grass, yellow leaves, and headstones was remarkable. It’s hard to call a cemetery beautiful, especially one like our National Cemetery but I’m sure most would agree that it is a great place to pay respect to our fallen.
ISO 160 1/360 f/2.0 28mm summicron
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Carrying the little one!
I’m sure some get tired of seeing me post pics of my baby girl all the time. First, she’s very photogenic and second, she consumes almost 100% of my time right now outside of work. Last, it’s my blog therefore I guess I can post whatever I want. LOL.
My family has been in Louisville for the past few days and while my wife works, my baby girl and I have been walking the streets. I should say, I’ve been walking the streets with her attached to my waist.
This second picture was taken at Maker’s Mark. It’s a local restaurant that makes its on Bourbon. I’m not a whiskey drinker but their food was fantastic (it’s seasoned with bourbon).
ISO 1000 1/45 f1.4 50mm summilux
ISO 320 1/30 f.14 50mm summilux
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How long will it stand?
Recently, I was taking pictures of an old school building near my home town. It was in the middle of the day therefore the shadows were to harsh for landscape shots. Fortunately, I have neutral density filters that allow me to shoot during this time of day and allow for proper exposure of the sky.
This picture was taken of the schools chimney. It appeared ready to come falling down. Anyway, I liked the shadow of the tree on the brick.
ISO 160 1/90 f/4 90mm macro-elmar
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Standing
Our baby girl is not only crawling now but standing. In our family room we have large windows and we often times catch her climbing up to look outside. These pics were taken after our last snow fall. I think she was really interested in all the white stuff on the ground and window.
ISO 160 1/125 f1.4 50mm summilux
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Abandoned Outhouse
My brother-in-law and I drove around yesterday looking for abandoned structures to take pictures of. We came across this old church that was built in 1898. It’s still in use but does not having running water and still had outhouses.
The sun was beginning to go down and I was trying to capture it in the picture. This can be a challenge because it will often causes everything in the foreground to be extremely dark. I decreased the shutter to 1/750 of a second, hoping to increase the detail in my foreground but also catch a glare from the sun. This doesn’t always look good but I think it worked well in this picture.
ISO 160 f1.4 1/750 50mm
