Fine Art Landscape Photography by Jeff Ball

M5 Globular Cluster

2008-05-26T19:32:00.002-05:00

The other night I had the opportunity to experiment with the C14 and AP mount at the Donald C. Martin Observatory in Huntington. I imaged the globular cluster M5. The results and a bit more information are at the link below. I look forward to imaging the heavens through this setup over the next few months.

M5 Globular Cluster

Bryce Light-February Print of the Month

2008-02-16T14:50:00.002-05:00

My first visit to Bryce Canyon was not disappointing. I actually had low expectations as I felt that I had seen all of the photographs and so I really wasn't expecting to see anything new. Boy was I wrong. I was amazed at the quality of light at all times of day. Bryce Canyon is literally a "light theater" all day long as reflected light bounces around and through the various hoodoos, fins, and other canyon structures. It is a location that I long to return to. My first image from the location is simply "Bryce Light." It is the February Print of the Month. The print is fantastic, especially the larger sizes. I hope you enjoy the image on screen.

Bryce Light

New Corporate Collection

2008-01-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

Home Federal Savings and Loan dedicated a brand new location today in Ashland, KY. It is a beautiful facility and one their customers will be most impressed with upon entering. The interior designer selected "Paramount" for display in their client waiting area. The framing is custom designed by Mary Johnson from Alladin's Art Gallery in Ashland. It is rumored that they matched the couch to the print! Another corporate collection has begun with Jeff Ball Photography.

First Light on Zion Canyon

2007-12-22T22:27:00.000-05:00

My first photograph from the Digital Summit has been released. It was from a very special morning along the switch-back road toward Zion tunnel. I hope you like the image and look for many more images and announcements coming soon with some surprises!

First Light on Zion Canyon

San Juan River book published

2007-12-21T22:02:00.000-05:00

The San Juan River Book is now available for purchase. For more information and a preview, please click on the box below.

Spirit of the ...

A Fine Art Photogr...

By Jeff Ball

Book Preview

November Print of the Month: Zabriskie Point (color)

2007-11-23T15:37:00.000-05:00

The geologic classroom of Death Valley provides incredible landscape photography opportunities. Zabriskie Point is one of the highlights of the area and this is my color representation of the view looking west from the overlook area prior to sunset. I hope you enjoy the print.

Zabriskie Point Print

Return from Digital Summit

2007-11-20T15:02:00.002-05:00

I have just returned from the 2007 Digital Fine Art Summit. It was a fantastic event with guest instructor Charles Cramer joining Alain Briot and Uwe Steinmueller. I learned a great deal at this conference and have improved my photography and printing as a result. I am very excited about the work coming from Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Staircase. Please stay tuned for images as they become available on the website. I feel that another learning plateau has been achieved and look forward to future learning in the art of photographic printing.

Comet 17P/Holmes visible to the naked eye

2007-10-30T08:46:00.000-05:00

In the past week, a relatively obscure comet has undergone a tremendous outburst which is visible from backyards and streets to the naked eye. The comet is 17P/Homes and is currrently in the constellation Perseus. You can simply search for information on the comet through your favorite search engine, but I wanted to encourage you to go outside tonight and treat yourself to a spectacular comet view with the unaided eye or even better with your binoculars. I am currrently imaging the comet and will post images in the next few days. Enjoy the specatcular view and stay in touch.

Please check out this website for more information on the comet.
Spaceweather.com

New High Resolution program

2007-10-14T23:46:00.000-05:00

I am watching with interest a new development in achieving higher resolution images with today's DSLRs. The process involves maxizing image resolution by combining several images and performing super resolution algorithms. The program is PhotoAcute and is fairly new. Ewe Steinmueller is performing real-world testing on the application and has posted a diary at the link below. I hope to evaluate the process in the near future.

PhotoAcute Super Resolution review by Ewe Steinmueller

Hilton Head Surf

2007-10-13T13:21:00.001-05:00

On our family vacation to Hilton Head this summer I engaged in a study of morning light. Each morning I would arrive at the beach well before sunrise and simply photograph and study the light of the morning. Each morning was very unique with some mornings presenting harsh direct light and other morning like this one where the light was a gentle mix of pastels and was very soft. I hope you enjoy the new image and that it conveys to you a wonderful Atlantic Ocean sunrise morning.

Hilton Head Surf

New Film from Kodak!

2007-10-10T08:28:00.000-05:00

I really can't believe I have the opportunity to even post an announcement about "new film." I received my email newsletter from John Sexton today. Mr. Sexton is a wonderful photographer with a legacy of studying with Ansel Adams. In Mr. Sexton's newsletter, he presents the Kodak announcement of the the T-Max 400 BW film. He also references some data from Kodak that some 75% of 9000 professional photographers plan on continuing to use film. The survey quotes some of the photographers as to why they will continue to use film. It is a very interesting read and demonstrates that we are still in a very energetic and diverse art form where the tools one may choose are wide and varied.

Kodak New T-Max 400 film

Survey of 9000 Professional Photographers

New Podcast by Alain Briot

2007-10-10T08:22:00.001-05:00

A wonderful new Podcast by Alain Briot is now available. Alain discusses many pertinent issues for the photographic artist, or any artist actually. Alain discusses understanding your audience as an artist, what it means to be a "professional artist," how to discuss your artwork with others, and other issues. Highly recommended for any artist:

Alain Briot Podcast

The second generation of Fiber Gloss Papers

2007-10-08T08:44:00.001-05:00

Digital fine art photography is as much about papers as it is about inkjet printing technology. We are currently in our second round of new fiber gloss paper introduction by several manufacturers including a new entry from Harman. Ewe Steinmueller and Michael Reichmann have new articles where they share with us their impressions of these new papers. I am awaiting arrival of the Harman Fiber Gloss paper for testing and will report on the paper in the next few weeks.

Michael Reichmann article and initial review of Epson Ehibition Fiber Paper

Ewe Steinmueller article

Zion Canyon Photograph Released

2007-09-25T10:26:00.000-05:00

I am excited to release "Zion Canyon" for the October Print of the Month. My family visited Zion in 2004 and only recently have I been able to complete this image according to my original visualization. Technically, it is a stitch of 3 vertical frames blended with PS3s photomerge function. The location is along the Emerald Pools trail and represented a special day of hiking for our entire family. I hope you enjoy the print and if you have any questions, please drop me an email.

Zion Canyon Print of the Month

Film vs. DSLR by Jerry Lodriguss

2007-09-22T09:03:00.000-05:00

Mr. Lodriguss has written a very nice article that totally captures my giddiness with DSLR astrophotography. The article captures what I have been informally observing over the past 6 months as I experiment with DSLR astrophotography. I encourage you to check out the article, especially if you have any history of film astrophotography and are considering DSLRs for astrophotography.

Film vs. DSLR by Jerry Lodriguss

Thomas M. Back: 1957-2007

2007-09-21T22:30:00.000-05:00

It is with a heavy heart that I post the passing of one of our great innovators in amateur astronomy, Mr. Thomas M. Back. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Back at the Black Forest Star Party a few years ago and had a very memorable and pleasant conversation with him about optics and astrophotography. At that time, he was just starting to produce his own refractor telescopes. He was very kind and gracious in our brief time together. His passion for quality optics and observing were contagious. My prayers go out to his family for healing at this time of sorrow. Mr. Back's contributions to amateur astronomy and optics will last for generations.

An interview with Mr. Back can be found at Cloudy Nights website

Globular Filament 7

2007-09-21T09:36:00.000-05:00

We have had some wonderful weather over the past two weeks. I spent 2.5 nights at Rob Adkins' place taking some astrophotos. Here is the first composition from the weekend. Exposure information and notes are on the webpage. This is a composition I have wanted to try for quite some time. I hope you enjoy the image.

Globular Filament 7

Loxahatchee River Print of the Month

2007-09-14T23:39:00.000-05:00

Hello,
I hope this message finds you all well. In February, I visited south Florida with my mother and sister. My professional purpose to the trip was to visit the Ansel Adams exhibit near Jupiter, to visit the Clyde Butcher gallery, and to photograph the locations that Mr. Butcher has introduced to me over the years. One of those locations is the Loxahatchee River near Jupiter. It is a narrow body of water with alligators lurking along the banks keeping a watchful eye on paddlers as they navigate the tight twists and turns around Cypress and other trees just beneath the water line. My favorite composition from this visit involved the Canon 24mm tilt/shift lens. The tilt/shift permitted me to raise the field of view above the water line without tipping the camera up toward the sky which then introduces a severe angle of the trees. By using the upward shift of the lens I was able to keep the trees perpendicular in the image. The image also took advantage of modern RAW conversion in Adobe Lightroom where the huge dynamic range was compressed into a presentable format for both the web and on fine art paper. I hope you enjoy the image and get to visit this lovely area.

Loxahatchee River Print of the Month for September

HDR presentation on GoogleTech

2007-09-11T22:27:00.000-05:00

Ewe Steinmueller has another presentation at GoogleTech where he discusses the latest in acquiring and processing images utilizing High Dynamic Range. I find the technique quite compelling and will be experimenting more vigorously with the technique in the coming months.

Ewe Steinmueller HDR presentation at GoogleTech

On-line publication for astrophotographers

2007-09-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

My friend, Warren Keller, put me onto a very nice on-line publication for astrophotographers. The publication is "Astrophoto Insight" and the current issue is available for free download. The publication is bi-monthly and contains a wealth of practical information for the practicing astrophotographer. I highly recommend the resource to all.

Astrophoto Insight

Rho Ophiuchus in color

2007-09-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

After much debating and many iterations, I believe I have finalized a color presentation of the Rho Ophiuchus and Antares Nebulae. The area has proven to be quite difficult for me to understand and to translate in digital form. I think I am like others and want the Milky Way to be presented with a fairly even sky background. Many years ago while imaging with medium format film I made the declaration that "the Milky Way sky is not black." Well, I was violating my own conclusions by trying to force a neutral black background on this area of sky. The area is quite dusty and has many gradations of color and light across the field. So, after many hours of digital work I think I finally have a presentation that is both artistically pleasing and relatively accurate in its depiction of the beautiful area. I hope you enjoy the image.

Rho Ophiuchus and Antares Nebulae

IC1396 from Almost Heaven Star Party

2007-08-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

This object eluded me in the film days, but it just jumps out with the DSLR and a fast lens. The night was lovely for this capture and I hope you enjoy the image. IC1396 is an emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus.

IC1396 webpage

Northern Cygnus Test Image

2007-08-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

I continue to experiment with the modified Canon 350D. This test is with the old Lumicon Hydrogen Alpha photographic filter from the TechPan days of film. I wanted to see if I could image from my backyard with this filter and come up with anything useful. Conditions were horrible on this night with temps in the 70's, humidity in the 90's, and a waxing moon. I am happy with the results and will continue my testing. The ideal scenario is for a much more narrow band hydrogen alpha filter, but at this time none are available for inside the camera body of the Canon.

Northern Cygnus Test Image

AHSP presentation now available for download

2007-08-22T21:51:00.000-05:00

I have now posted my presentation on DSLR Cameras and Lenses for Astrophotography for download in PDF format. You may access the slide presentation at the link below.

"DSLR Camera and Lenses for Astrophotography"

Veil Nebula Wide Field with Canon 350D

2007-08-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

I have posted a wide field image of the Veil Nebula complex taken from the beautifully dark skies of Spruce Knob on August 12. For the composition I used the Canon 350D and the 135mmf2L lens. I hope you enjoy the image and the accompanying notes.

Veil Nebula Wide Field webpage