Capture Life Through a Geek's Lens

What's In a Number? IMG 1000, 2000, 3000, and more

2013-01-13T23:06:00.000-05:00

I received a wonderful email the other day. A lady had seen the photo below. She told me her father had helped to build the Mt. Storm Power Station, working 4 years in the mountains of West Virginia. In addition, she had spent a summer there with her father in 1965 right before the plant started operations. It's always great to hear a background story to a photo.This photo is an HDR, and when I revisited the photo myself something new surprised me.

The first bracketed shot was IMG_0001

This photo represents the exact moment my shutter count started over. It's not the first time it has happened, and hopefully it won't be the last.

Why does this matter? I don't know that is does, nor do I know exactly why the number surprised me. Its like when you checkout at the grocery store and the total comes to exactly $80. Or if you fill your vehicle with fuel and the nozzle kicks off at exactly $50. That image number could have been any of 9,998 other numbers, but it wasn't. There's something strange the way we seem to take notice of nice round numbers, like there's something special about them.

This 0001 image got me thinking about other numbers from the past year. If 0001 is where the counter starts, what did I take at 1000? What about 2000? I thought looking at those nice round numbers would be an interesting way to revisit 2012.

Making Something Out of Nothing: Before and After

Even though I never published any of these photos before, I decided to post-process them as best I could to see what I could get out. These images were selected by number, so I don't have the freedom to pick a different image because a particular shot isn't very good. Below are two copies of each image, a straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC) version and a post-processed version.

Here are my round number photos from 2012.

IMG_0001 - August 31, 2012 9:51 PM

Default RAW file:

And here's the results after processing the RAW file:

Like I mentioned above, the original image was the first of a bracketed series, so it was purposefully dark. But what can be done? I boosted the exposure, brought down the highlights, cropped a bit, and tweaked the white balance a little cooler. The problem, not surprisingly, is that an image this dark had a TON of noise in it when I brought it up. So a quick run through noise reduction and it was fairly clean. I'm actually quite surprised how much could be brought to life out of such a dark photo.

IMG_1000 - Oct 27, 2012 sometime around 10:45am

Unfortunately I had previously deleted this image but I still had #1001 (taken right after it). So I know where I was but I don't know exactly what IMG_1000 was. If I deleted it, I guess it must have been pretty bad :)

IMG_2000 (#1) - Feb 19, 2012 8:49 AM

I had two 2000 images this year. Here's the first one, again, SOOC in RAW

Not much really. When I brought it up in Lightroom I thought no wonder I didn't do anything with it. It's just a bit....blah. But I put my thinking cap on and tried to come up with a post-processing approach to bring it to life. Here's the results:

My first approach was to add a neutral density filter to both the top and bottom, boosting exposure and mid-tones, added some structure, then brought up the presence and saturation a touch to bring out the tiny hints of color that were there to start with. Finally cropped to remove some of the sky and added a vignette to draw attention to the center. Not sure if you'll agree, but now that I've done that, I actually kind of like it.

A part of me also said this shot might work in B&W. So I took the results above, loaded them in Silver Efex 2, and worked it a few minutes more.

IMG_2000 (#2) - Nov 10, 2012 5:53 PM

The second 2000 image I took was toward the end of the year. Here's the RAW file:

This image was originally taken while trying to put together an HDR panorama of the Thomas Johnson Bridge in Solomons, MD. Unfortunately it was on the brighter end of the bracket, but still plenty to work with. Here's the results:

This one didn't require a lot of work. Reduction in exposure, a simulated graduated neutral density (GND) filter, slight vignette, and a small boost in presence.

IMG_3000 - Mar 21, 2012 7:49 AM

Taken during the peak of cherry blossom bloom along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. This was one of a few trips I took to see the blossoms in 2012. Here's the RAW image:

Again, this is an image that never saw the Internet until now. But what to do? It's not the most interesting photo, but I remember taking it because I liked the empty benches and curved path through and under the trees. It was also a bit overcast. Here's the post-processing results:

I cropped out the tree on the left because it kept competing for too much attention. I boosted presence, saturation, vignette, and reduced the clarity in the blossoms to add a hint of softness.

IMG_4000 - April 21, 2012 4:08 PM

A day at the beach with my boys. Happened to shoot this in JPG, so here's the JPG SOOC:

The color was a touch off, so that was my first issue to tackle. Dropped down some of the highlights a touch and cropped it to a portrait shot to get in close on the action. Here's the results:

This turned out to be a really fun and rewarding way to revisit what I did in 2012. I'm thinking about going back and doing the same thing for other years and I'd encourage you to do the same. You never know what you'll find behind a nice, round number.

What about IMG 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, and 9000? I'm planning to get to those later in a follow-up post. In the mean time, if you revisit 2012 in the same fashion I'd love to hear about it.

To watermark or not to watermark...Is that the question?

2013-01-09T09:43:00.002-05:00

C'mon ladies, you've all met someone like that in a bar or restaurant, right? And just when you think they're gone....

And not to neglect us guys, but I think Alex in "Fatal Attration" said it best:

"I'm not gonna be ignored, Dan!" Alex was crazy, but she was right.

All kidding aside, these analogies are the way some of us handle labeling and marking our images. And I mean nothing negative toward those that practice it because watermarking is a personal, artistic decision. Everyone has their own opinion and there is no right or wrong, only choice.

I don't watermark my photographs, except under very specific circumstances. Why?

What watermarking does and doesn't do

Go back and take a look at the photos above again. How much time did you spend looking at the photo, allowing your eye to follow the flow, the lines, shapes, colors? How much time did you spend concentrating and taking in the details of the shot? And then how much time was spent noticing and reading the watermark? That's exactly why I choose not to watermark. I personally find that watermarked images have less impact. There's always a part of my brain, my perception of the image, that floats off to the watermark.

It's like a leaky faucet in the quiet of the night....drip....drip...I'm small, but I'm here.

That isn't to say it happens in all cases. When a photographer/artist puts their signature subtly in the corner, and it is small and quite out of the way, those are usually easy to ignore and don't really impact the image. But when people put a dissertation at the bottom, or better yet, place a faint logo across the entire image, well, that just can't be ignored.

"But that's the point Jeff, don't you get it?" Yep, I do. I actually do get it. And I still choose not to watermark.

I've heard all the responses before. "Doesn't that mean people will rip off your images every chance they get? Aren't you worried about lost revenue? Shouldn't you get credit for your work?"

All of those are valid questions. I've considered them (and many others) in deciding whether to watermark images. And my conclusion is that a watermark is an answer to the wrong question. Here's why.

Why watermarking is an answer to the wrong question

Think about what the watermark's purpose is. We want two things: marketing and protection from theft. At its core, it is to label the piece of work with the artists mark in a visual manner. We don't want people to take credit for our work. We don't want people to use it without our permission. But does a watermark actually solve those challenges?

Doesn't that mean people will rip off your images every chance they get?

Image theft is rampant on the Internet and nothing's going to stop it. Yep, nothing. No technology will ever prevent a determined person from copying the image they see on their screen. Anyone that knows how to take a screen capture can override your website's anti-copy or anti-right-click scheme. That segment of the market (and yes, I call it a market) will use any image they can that serves their purposes.

Watermarking is, in many ways, a response to this problem. It's like saying, fine, you can take it, but if you do, my logo is on there so you and everyone else will know it is mine. You can't steal it and make it your own (or at least, I'm going to make that very difficult).

The problem is that if you use a small watermark, or even a moderate one in the corner, those are so easily cloned out. And if it can't be cloned, you can just crop the photo to remove it. If you want to watermark, you don't want to ruin the image, so you put the watermark in a smaller, out of the way position, right? Well, a small, out of the way corner position is the exact same spot that's easy to clone...and easy to crop.

If you take the alternate path and watermark broadly across the entire image (to protect against theft), that is usually so distracting you end up fighting against yourself in the other direction (marketing and sales). A huge watermark is distracting and your legitimate customers will notice it for sure. I don't care how subtle and fancy you think you are, it's there, and it's in my face. And yes, it does impact my perception of the image.

A high school kid who wants an image for a report, or a guy who wants a photo for his party invitation, or a woman who wants a photo for her PowerPoint presentation, or anyone who wants a shot as their Facebook profile background aren't my paying customers. They'll find an image that works for their purposes somewhere for free no matter what. And I'd rather them use my image for free and be a free customer than take it from someone else.

Aren't you worried about lost revenue?

My opinion is image theft is only lost revenue when the thief is a customer or gets in the way of my customers. Otherwise the thief isn't a part of my market share and isn't impact me.

The market share I'm concerned with are those people that are potential, legitimate paying customers. People looking to purchase or license a print or hire me for a service. I want those customers to see my work in the cleanest, purest, most unobtrusive manner. Remember, this is an opinion piece and I know there are varying opinions on this. But I personally don't want a potential customer to waste a single microsecond of time being distracted by my logo or name on the photograph. For me, a watermark doesn't solve a problem for customers, it gets in the way of customers.

On the other hand, if someone is impacting my revenue, well, there are already clear legal paths to deal with it (which I won't get into here). But to be honest, the risk is minimal. If I found out someone stole an image and made a million dollars from it, I'd be excited because that $ is coming to me: I'd have a 100% chance of proving the image was originally mine.

One of the ways I protect myself is I leave my copyright information embedded in the meta-data of each image. Another way I protect is to not post the full resolution images online, I always post a reduced copy. You can also use hidden watermark techniques and stenography. And for my very popular images, I occasionally do a reverse image search in Google to see if anyone is using it without my permission. I've never found a single person to be using an image of mine for commercial purposes without permission. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened. But again, would putting a small watermark logo in the corner have prevented it anyway? I personally don't think so.

I've found plenty of people using an image of mine for non-commercial purposes without my permission. I just contact them and politely explain the situation. Maybe I'm lucky but people have always been willing to correct the mistake and either take the image down or give me credit (if I approve of their use). They usually do it out of ignorance and just don't know that an image credit is required or how to go about it (Flickr helps make it easy for people to give credit by using the Share menu). A watermark might prevent misuse in these particular cases because my name/logo would already be on there, but these people aren't a revenue stream and aren't breaking it. And that same watermark gets in the way of my legitimate, existing revenue stream.

Shouldn't you get credit for your work?

I post photos now with copyright clearly marked on the page and with the most restrictive usage rights (all rights reserved). I put the copyright notice inside the image metadata. That's the best legal means I have to pursue unfair use and makes it crystal clear when I approach someone and tell them the image can't be used without credit. It also makes it crystal clear when someone tries to take it. If they decide to take it anyway, well, a watermark won't prevent that.

I have hundreds of images posted with a Creative Commons licenses too and I occasionally get a "thank you" email from someone who used a CC image of mine for something fun or interesting. Even last month I received a copy of someone's book (a PhD dissertation) where they used an image of mine on the cover. No, I didn't get paid. I'm not going to charge a PhD student money to use an image for their thesis, that'd be cruel :) But yes, I did get credit.

The PhD Thesis that used my image (with permission).

So when do I watermark or label an image?

I occasionally make certain images available for download and use for free. For example, I post a free monthly wallpaper/calendar on my website. I take a fully copyrighted image and make copies for personal use. I make sizes available for computers, phones, and tablets. I'm encouraging people to download and use the image without paying me. In that case, yes, I absolutely put my logo on the image.

Like I said at the beginning, this is a personal decision for each artist. Some people feel very uncomfortable posting a photo without a watermark. And to be honest I was nervous about it too early on and even briefly changed my mind a few years ago (it didn't last but a month).

In the end, I think a watermark is like swimming in the ocean with a life preserver. You may think you need it because it'll protect you from harm. But there are sharks under the water that a life preserver can't protect you from, and once you're adept at swimming, you'll find how much easier and quicker it is to swim without it.

Week 1 Self Portraits - Behind the Scenes and Lessons Learned

2013-01-07T19:39:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that I was embarking on 52 project in 2013 and my goal was to do more things that aren't in my comfort zone. An excuse to try something unusual, different, or possibly dangerous just feels right and I hope it is the spice in my 52 that'll keep it going throughout the year.

Another goal of a 52 of course is to learn something, not only about what you shoot and process each week but also to learn something about yourself as well. And a day after my first post I realized I learned things on both sides of that coin.

Lesson 1 - Don't rush it if you don't have to.

I was excited to get the first week's idea captured and I immediately pulled the card and dumped the shots to the computer. 155 shots in all. The progress bar in Lightroom downloading and generating my previews was painfully slow because I wanted to get started right away!

I was disciplined enough to follow part of my usual routine:

Import to Lightroom, tag and label
Quick scan to flag keepers and rejects
Review the keepers in more detail looking for the best of them
~~Take the top shots and do some basic processing (because they're RAW files)~~
~~Possibly process a few all the way~~
~~Review and decide which ones to post first~~

Step 4 is where things broke down. Instead of reviewing and starting to process the best, I immediately focused in on one shot and worked it, and worked it, and worked it. Then I was excited and said "I've got to post this right away". Here's what I posted:

My final week 1 post, rushed too quickly

Should have kept to my original plan because I think I would have changed my mind and posted the shot at the top or this one instead. But oh well, it's done and over. Lesson learned.

Another shot I might have chosen for week 1 rather than the one I did.

Lesson 2 - If you're doing to process a shot heavily, sleep on it.

Sometimes we process a shot a lot because we have to. Maybe it was accidentally too dark, too light, too grainy, too....whatever.

Other times we may process a lot because it is an artistic choice. If you took bracketed shots maybe you aren't sure which merge technique to use...manually blend with layers or HDR? And if HDR, which methods? Maybe you want a really moody shot, or grainy shot, or you want to make a black and white really powerful with strong filters.

Whatever the reason, my lesson learned was that when you're finished, you aren't really finished. You'll come back to it again and tweak it. I was going for a heavily grungy look, and it was a conscious artistic decision, not an accident. However, after I posted the week 1 shot I ended up tweaking it hours later and I liked a slightly softer and brighter version just a touch more. Not sure if you'll agree, but this is what I ended up with on my 2nd edit:

The slightly brighter, softer version I ended up liking more.

I put this lesson to work on the next shot however, because I was again going for a heavily grunge and beat-up look...almost like a boxer after a fight. Here's what I came up with, but afterward I decided it isn't me and I wouldn't have used it anyway. It's just...too much.

Overly processed. I got lost somewhere along the way.

Lesson 3 - Don't stop when the first goal is reached, see what else you've got.

I ended up processing a number of the shots from that first day. I narrowed the 155 photos down to 6. Almost 4% return on investment...I'm happy with that to be honest, given I was doing something new and uncomfortable (studio self portrait).

Even though I can't use these shots for the other 51 weeks I've got ahead, I still kept them. They felt good enough that I may do something with them in the future. Who knows what. Maybe I'll know for sure once I sleep on it :)

1 of 52 - The Beginning

2013-01-06T15:55:00.004-05:00

I've decided to embark on a 52 week adventure. My companions are my camera, my glass, and whatever light decides to join me along the way.

Self Portrait - Week 1 of 52

I saw others do "52 projects" for years but I was never really interested because I didn't want the point to be just a photo a week. It needed to be more and I couldn't come up with an additional goal to go along with it. But this year I found my goal. I want to push myself into an uncomfortable zone as much as possible. I stick with what's familiar far too often. I rely on the same old things too much. I need to shut up, look around, and listen to what's going on in my surroundings. I believe that if I force myself outside my usual comfort zone, and I put in a little sweat, I'll come out better on the other side. So here's to 51 more weeks of uneasy, unusual, unfamiliar territory.

When a GND Just Won't Do

2012-11-12T16:41:00.001-05:00

How To Combine Two Separate Shots

When a Graduated ND Filter Just Won't Do (video below)

Created with a simulated GND in
post-production using two separate shots.

Taking long exposures is one of my favorite techniques. I don't go anywhere without my B+W 1.7 and 3.0 filters and being able to slow things down, even in full sunlight in the middle of the day, can help create some unique situations.

If shooting LE is a favorite technique, seascapes are one of my favorite subjects. Unfortunately there are time when the light is too uneven in a scene. In order to get a long exposure of the water to get it flat and soft and properly exposed, you may end up with a blown-out sky or an exposure of the sky you aren't happy with. The opposite may be true, exposing for the sky may not give you enough time to soften the water.

The shot at the right was such a situation. What you see on the right is the final product, which is made from two separate shots. One I exposed for the water, one I exposed for the sky. Take a look at the two source images below. Both were taken at f/18, ISO 100, at 13mm. However, they were taken with drastically different shutter speeds.

10 seconds

30 seconds

The Problem

As you can see, the image on the left has a well exposed and colorful sky but the water could be brighter and softer (at least that's what I was going for). The image on the left has softer and brighter water but the sky is totally overexposed. One technique that may already come to mind is using a graduated neutral density filter (or GND). The problem with using a GND in this situation is that although it would cut down on the light and allow me to capture the sky w/o overexposing, the length of the shutter speed would blur the clouds too much for my liking. Take a look at the two closeups below.

The 10 second exposure, decent structure and color

As you can see, the 10 second exposure still has definition in the clouds and even picks up some underlit areas quite nicely. Exactly the kind of detail I want.

The 30 second shot below is too long and the cloud movement allows the structure and colors to blur too much. Definitely not what I wanted, but unfortunately this is exactly what you'd get if you used a GND in the field and tried to capture the image in a single shot.

The 30 second exposure with a simulated GND applied to bring
down the brightness of the sky.

So how do we combine the two?

If you have Lightroom, select the bright and dark image together, then right-click and go to Edit In >> Open as Layers in Photoshop (see image below). If you don't have Lightroom, just open the two images as layers manually.

Now that you've got them opened in Photoshop (or in Photoshop Elements), watch the video below to see how quickly and easily you can mask the two images together. You can watch the video in a separate window in HD by clicking here.

After the two were combined I flattened the layers, saved as a TIF, and tweaked the exposure a little more in Lightroom by adding a slightly blue photo filter, boosting saturation a tad, and adding a vignette. After it was all done I ended up with the super flat water and clear clouds I wanted, each element coming from a different shot. It's that easy.

Putting Photos in Motion

2012-11-04T18:17:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: Posted a 2nd video. Link at the bottom.

I recently attended the Calvert Photography Club's November photo trip to Great Falls. We visited both the Virginia and Maryland sides of the park on the same morning. Being only 3 days after hurricane Sandy departed the Washington, DC area, I expected the water levels to be much higher than they were. However, you could definitely tell there had been a jump in river flow. It was much dirtier than usual and the water level was a little high (much higher than it had been over the majority of the summer).

Being an overcast day, even after the sun was "up" I was able to take long exposures in the nice even light. When we crossed the first bridge to Olmstead Island on the Maryland side of the park, I stopped to take a few shorter long exposures (in the ½ - 1 second range) of the water going under the bridge.

I'd blogged before about how to turn burst mode photos into an animated GIF, but this time I wanted to try a video from the long exposures. Following the same technique described in the other post, this time I used Photoshop's export to video option. Below are the results. Each photo was 0.4 second exposure, and each frame is displayed for 0.14 seconds in the video. So the motion actually speeds up real life by a factor of 2.85.

Click here to view the video full screen. It is in HD resolution. Or you can view a smaller copy below.

Video created from long exposure photographs at

Great Falls, Maryland

After I processed the above video I did a 2nd set of photos that I took with burst mode. This one was converted to an oil painting using the filter by that name in Photoshop. This video I tweened 1 frame between each shot as described in the other blog post linked above.

View the second video full screen in high-def or watch in the window below.

Politics and Photo Editing Do Not Mix

2012-10-29T11:28:00.000-04:00

This post is not a political post, this is a digital editing and forensics post. My commentary here should not be confused with an endorsement of any candidate for the US Presidency (and yes, there are more than two candidates to choose from).

However, when Mitt Romney's assistant/campaign worker posted an image to Instagram, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it was a horribly distorted, misleading image. The image appears to show a crowd that is much larger than the actual crowd was. My first instinct was to think it was manually edited. However, after taking an honest look at the image and doing a little forensics in Photoshop, I've come to the conclusion that the image is the result of extremely poor panoramic technique. That doesn't mean it wasn't done on purpose with the intent to exaggerate the size of the crowd. Only one person can say for sure whether it was accidental or not, and that's the person that posted it (and I have not spoken to that person)

What I've shown below is the evidence to prove the image is not a true photograph. Whether you think it was done on purpose or accidentally, only you can decide for yourself. No matter what direction you lean on the political debate, you have to admit that a presidential candidate deserves someone with better photography skills posting on their behalf.

The Lonely Beacon

2012-10-26T10:16:00.000-04:00

Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse by Jeff Smallwood
Taken at sunrise, Aug 29, 2012

Rely on me,

trust me, I will

lead the way. The

light I

shine will

steer you

true, you'll

never go astray

Through darkest

times and when

there's trouble, I

will hold steadfast

Cutting through

confusion, my advice

will ever last. Now

I find my guiding light

is seen by fewer still,

but I've got a job to do, I have an iron will. My youth was shed on

rocky shores, and truth has set me free. Broadcast bright until I'm

gone, for that I guarantee. It doesn't matter who I steer, be it many

or a few, I made a promise, no matter what, I will see it through.

Carnival and Fair Photography - Take your Tripod

2012-09-30T10:09:00.003-04:00

An entire revolution of the ride, Calvert County Fair
10 seconds, f/14, ISO 100, 10mm

Carnivals and fairs offer such a wide variety of unique subjects, it really is one of the best opportunities to get different shots without having to travel too far from your home. From animals to people to the colorful rides themselves, take your tripod, wander the grounds and see what you can find.

Although not far from Washington, DC, we live in the fairly rural area of Calvert County. Like a lot of carnivals and fairs, there is always an animal exhibit featuring cows, sheep, pigs, and other assorted barn animals for show. Make sure to visit the animals either early in the morning or early evening, not during the hottest part of the day. There's better light too as the morning and evening sun, being low in the sky, will usually allow some nice light into the sides of the buildings (although this depends on your fair's facilities of course). It's a great opportunity to get up close because most of the animals are easily accessible from the walkways. You're also likely to find younger animals which is always a treat. Just watch yourself that an adventurous creature doesn't mistake your camera strap for a treat!

Most fairs also have photo exhibits and competitions with entries submitted from local residents. Be sure to check out the results of the photo competition, you just might find a friend or two that won first place. My friend and fellow Calvert Photography Club member Bonnie Bryant achieved 5 first premium awards for her work. You can check out her award winning shots here (flamingo), here (lighthouse sunrise), and here (gorilla portrait).

When it comes to the rides, this is where you can get very creative. I recommend timing your visit to cover sunset. The sky colors in the late evening are perfect backdrops for the rides, it also becomes dark enough you can start to take longer exposures w/o the need for a neutral density filter.

The shot at the left (0.6 sec., f/6.3, ISO640) was taken just as the sun was setting and in this case I did use an ND filter. After sunset the light is low enough a filter isn't required. The shot at the very top was taken w/o any filter at all. As long as you've got your tripod you can capture photos like this.

I was originally trying to capture this Ferris wheel above w/o any people. I setup the tripod low to the ground and kept trying to time the shot between people walking by. I didn't have much time to work as the sun was setting quickly. Toward the end the kids came by and "accidentally" got in front of the shot after I'd triggered the shutter. I chimped to see and I'm so glad I did because I liked the shot with the silhouettes much better than I did by itself. So I asked them to stand still for a few moments while I recomposed and rattled off a few more shots. This one ended up being one of my favorites.

One of my favorites from the evening, and it was
a happy "accident" that I originally didn't intend.
½ second, f/3.5, ISO 640, 18mm

The colors of sunset don't last long and then you're stuck with the dark skies. This is a time to concentrate on the lights of the rides themselves. Ferris wheels and any ride that has changing light patterns can be a great subject. I took probably 20 shots of this ride below within a couple minutes and every one has a different light pattern. You never know what it'll look like...the pattern you see with your eye changes unpredictably once you push the exposure to 1 seconds or longer.

1 sec, f/11, ISO 100, 10mm

Another thing you want to try for are the people shots. There is quite a variety of people you'll find at these events, lots of interesting and colorful folks. With so many people, it's also a great opportunity to capture the hustle of the movement with a slightly long exposure. Believe it or not, the shot at the left was a 2½ exposure (f/14, ISO 200, 10mm). The ride operator happened to be checking his phone just after measuring a child's height (and politely dismissing him because the kid was unfortunately too small to ride). When people stop to check their phone, they end up being remarkably still...the perfect time to trigger the shutter. I ended up really liking this shot because of the mixture of movement, from the total blur of the Ferris wheel to the crowd movement to the still parts of the structure and the operator. Not sure what it is, but this shot just oozes the fair and carnival feel more than any of the others.

The lights in these environments are excellent backdrops for portraits and subjects with shallow depth of field. The bokeh can be spectacular, as in these two shots below taken with a 50mm prime...my favorite lens for bokeh and shallow DoF shots. The background blur in these shots is not the same as blur applied in post processing. If you're looking for photos with backgrounds like this you really need to get it right in the field as this effect is virtually impossible to recreate accurately on your computer.

Ice cream stand where I focused about 2' in front of the lens
to keep the background completely out of focus.
1/30 sec, f/2.0, ISO 500, 50mm prime

Focused about ¼ of the way toward the Ferris wheel to bring
out more of the structure but still keeping it blurry.
1/125 sec, f/2.0, ISO 100, 50mm prime

Subject isolation with a shallow depth of field.
1/40 sec, f/2.0, ISO 400, 50mm prime (my favorite lens)

We stayed until the end, letting the kids ride the rides until we heard the official "we're closing" announcement over the loud speakers. I ended the evening waiting for the kids to finish their rides while the waxing gibbous moon came up over the trees. If you find yourself waiting for the kids to finish their rides (or maybe the adults are riding too!), don't just stand around, keep your camera out and look around for opportunities. When you're stationary waiting, it's a great excuse to use your senses, do some people watching, or even shoot for the moon.

1/640 sec, f/9, ISO 320, 300mm

Free Downloads - Monthly Desktop Calendars

2012-09-12T23:12:00.004-04:00

Who doesn't like free stuff??

(hint: scroll down for free stuff)

Although it's a little late, this month I decided to kick off the first of what will become a monthly freebie.

I use photos all the time as my computer desktop background, and I'm far from alone in that. Something else I do is keep my entire life organized on the calendar. Between me and my wife, we share 4 Google calendars with each other in order to keep the entire family operating smoothly and ensure everyone's on the same page. There's a saying around the house, "If it isn't on the calendar, it isn't going to happen."

Sometimes I don't need to see the actual calendar though with all the planned events, I just need a quick glance at the days of the week. Clicking to open the calendar isn't always needed. My solution has been to combine a monthly calendar with a photograph and set it as my desktop background. That way I've always got an immediate, quick glance at that month's dates and days of the week by looking at my desktop. This works especially well with Aero Peek on Windows 7. If you're on Windows 7, try this right now:

Hold the windows key down and tap the space bar.
+ Space Bar

Pretty cool, huh? It is so easy to take a quick peek at your desktop. Now if you just had a calendar to go on that desktop...... ☺

So what you'll find below are two versions of the September 2012 calendar. One version for wide screen computer monitors, the other version is for standard computer monitors.

Click the appropriate version for your monitor, right-click to save the image to your computer, then feel free to set it as your desktop background. If it doesn't fit your monitor exactly, remember to play with the desktop picture position setting (Fill vs Fit vs Stretch) to get the best results.

I'll post October's later this month so it'll be available for all of next month. Don't forget to check back here or on my website every month for the next calendar!

Free September 2012 Calendars

Notice: You can feel free to download and share these calendar images as long as you do not modify or alter the images in any way. I still hold the copyright on the photographs and make these calendars available for personal, non-commercial use only.

Wide Screen & HD Resolution (16:9 @ 1920x1080px)

This version is best for flat panel monitors and modern laptops

Click to view full size, then save to your computer

Standard Screen Ratio (4:3 @ 1600x1200px)

This version is best for projectors, CRT monitors, and older displays

Click to view full size, then save to your computer

The original image can be found here on my Flickr page.

Don't Get Frustrated, Get Creative

2012-09-02T10:48:00.000-04:00

The "Impossible" shot. Click for larger view.

This Is Going To Be Impossible

Elekala Falls #3
Blackwater Falls State Park, Davis, West Virginia.

I was on the verge of thinking this shot was impossible, that I'd have to seriously risk real bodily harm (or possible death) in order to get it. If you've ever gone waterfall hunting, or spent any time at a creek in the woods, you know how deceptively slippery rocks like this can be. Even rocks that look dry can be almost as slick as ice. Navigating terrain like this requires extreme caution. I can't stress that enough. Anyone who ventures into environments like this needs to think safety first, second, and third. The shot comes in fourth place.

From the parking lot at the lodge, Elekala Falls #3 is about 400' of rough, vertical terrain down the mountain. It's not easy to get to. There is no trail and you have to squeeze in and out of a lot of narrow passageways to find the spot. When I got there I was able to safely navigate to the top of the rock on the upper right, standing just off the frame at the top. The water level is very low. I looked down and imagined the composition in my head....the small pool and waterfall at the bottom, looking up through the large rocks to the wall of moss and water in the background. I wanted that shot, I had to have that shot. But there was no way to get myself and the camera there safely. The rock at the bottom of the photo dropped off about 8 ft to more jagged rocks below, then it continued down even further. If I tried to climb down and stand in front of this scene then:

I'd have about two feet of room to stand, none of it flat and all of it slippery. The drop below would have meant at minimum serious injury...or worse.
I'd most definitely slip trying to climb down to this spot in the first place (about 6 ft drop from the rock at the top right of the shot)
If I got there, the rock was so slippery and full of moss that the moss would just peel away under my feet.

I stood there a good 10 minutes contemplating how this could be done. The only way I could get the shot would be to stand in a place that was asking for serious trouble. Without ropes or other safety equipment that just wasn't something I was willing to do. There are more important things in life than a photograph...although that list of things is getting shorter and shorter the longer I work in photography :)

But yet, there's the shot. I got almost exactly what I wanted and didn't have to risk life and limb. All I had to risk was looking a little silly. How?

A New Perspective

After giving up and realizing it was too dangerous to climb down, I looked across to the other side of the gorge and thought maybe I could come at it from the bottom. The sun hadn't yet come up over the trees to spoil the good light, but it would soon. It was a race against time.

I spent about 15 minutes navigating back up and across to the other side, went down below this spot and came at it from the bottom. I ducked under the ledge of a rock that is off the frame to the bottom left and came face to face with the bottom of the moss covered rock (the one at the bottom of the frame). There was no way I could climb up on that mossy spot. Whether coming at it from top or the bottom, the same 3 reasons I'd probably slip and fall still applied.

I was about to climb away and give up when it hit me.

I had a light-bulb moment...

Yes, I wouldn't have been surprised to look up and see an actual light-bulb above my head. I secured my left foot between two logs, stretched my right foot across and straddled the water below me to get purchase beneath the mossy rock. My arms were just long enough that I could lift the entire tripod, fully extended, onto the moss covered rock at my head. I dug a hole into the moss and anchored one leg of the tripod into the moss, the other leg sat on the top of the rock, and the third leg extended down where I could pin it against the rock with my shoulder to hold it still. I held on to a rock with my left hand and with the cable release attached I could reach up with my right hand and trigger the shutter. I set the shutter to a 2 sec delay so I had enough time to press the shutter release, then hold the third tripod leg still before the shot went off.

Sounds ridiculous, I know.

Of course, lifting the camera that high over my head meant I had no idea how the shot was composed...I couldn't see it. After each shot I'd pull the tripod down, look at the shot, adjust the tripod and camera angle slightly, then try again. Unfortunately, each time the tripod was lifted it would end up in a slightly different position because the moss kept giving way to the weight of the camera (further proof that I made the right decision not to stand on it myself). Some shots were angled too far down, some too high, some crooked. It took 37 trial and error photos before I got what I wanted.

Standing there like that, lifting the tripod up and down over and over....well, it was probably the most awkward and ridiculous position I've ever stood in to take a photo. Thank goodness no one else was around to see me, I'm sure I looked like an idiot. Here's a diagram of how I looked getting the shot.

Ridiculous position I stood in to get this shot...
but it was worth it.

Lesson Learned

The phrase "When life give you lemons, make lemonade" is such a cliché, but there's a reason it is over used....it's still true. When presented with an impossible to get shot, keep looking. Don't let Nature or the situation easily dictate what you can and can't do. Fight back. Try coming at it from different angles, both figuratively and literally. You just might find a way to capture what you have in mind.

Be persistent, be thorough, and most of all, get creative.

15 Minute Sunrise

2012-08-29T20:20:00.001-04:00

15 Minute Sunrise

It took 3 months of planning and waiting, then twice I had to reschedule due to cloudy skies, but it finally worked out this morning. Sunrise alignment with Sandy Point Lighthouse, which is near Annapolis, MD on the Chesapeake Bay.

I took 37 photos without moving the camera, just shot after shot. I was so tempted to run around the beach, maybe capture the sun right behind the lighthouse or try to get different angles, but I stuck to my guns and didn't move. I had to reduce the exposure several times as the sun grew in brightness as it climbed. I then selected the best 6 where the sun was evenly spaced and created a composite, layered image.

I screened each sun layer, then used a shot that I exposed separately for the rocks and water with a GND to bring out the foreground. Just had to touch up 2 little artifacts from the screen layering where the colors got a little wacky in the rocks. The original Photoshop layered image was almost 800 MB!

It'll be about 8 months before the sun will be in this spot again. I already know what I'm going to do differently next time....sucks I've got to wait so long!

Kind of reminds me of a memorable scene in the movie Star Wars on the planet Tatooine :)

Blackwater Falls, West Virginia

2012-08-27T07:54:00.001-04:00

Blackwater Falls, West Virginia, originally uploaded by jeffsmallwood.

Via Flickr:
The photo club's assignment this month is HDR so I was looking to experiment with some processing techniques. In addition, I'm thinking about going back to Blackwater Falls this coming weekend so I went back through shots from my last trip for planning. I never processes this shot from last year and I had taken it bracketed (with 4 exposures) so I figured why not work on the assignment.

I pushed this further than I usually do to see what I could pull from it. At first I was coming up with too many distracting artifacts and not enough depth. It was just after sunrise and a heavy blanket of fog was starting to burn off, so there was a weird mixture of light. I decided to aim for a dreamy quality in the processing to see how it would look.

A lot of the depth in the water color is not so much from the processing as it is from the water itself. There's a reason this place is called Blackwater.

Hidden Treasures

2012-08-20T22:57:00.001-04:00

Hidden Treasures, originally uploaded by jeffsmallwood.

The shoreline at this spot was fairly flat by the water's edge, but this one large mound of dirt & mud had quite the community growing around it. Grasses and plants, insects of all kinds. And at the bottom there were crabs and amphipods and a myriad of other marsh creatures....even lots of mummichogs splashing in the shallow puddles at the base.

It gives me a poetic feeling when I look back at this shot now. The dark silhouette of that mound is what I was shooting for, yet there's so much awesome stuff hidden in the shadows and darkness where we can't see it. Kind of like life itself sometimes.

I'm starting to wonder if I should tag these photos with the word/acronym "YASP"...Yet Another Sunrise Photo. Almost sounds like an exclamation you'd use. "Yasp! That's a nice shot!"....hmm, may have to use that in critique sessions and see what kind of reaction I get.

Forecast: Cloudy, Windy, and Gray

2012-07-22T15:51:00.001-04:00

Forecast: Cloudy, Windy, and Gray

My favorite sunrises are by far the colorful ones, but even though this morning was virtually guaranteed to be cloudy and likely rainy, I got up early because I wanted to see if there might be some magic in the clouds. Besides, I had the photo club meeting at 10am so I figured I might as well make the most of the morning.

It started with a 5 minute drive down to the shore to see what it was like over the bay. Right away I noticed it was pretty windy, with consistent waves and spray blowing on the beach. And rather than a flat gray sky there were distinct patches of darker and lighter gray...perfect for picking up the patterns in long exposures.

So I quickly got back in the car and took the back roads up to one of my favorite early morning beach locations, Brownie's Beach (also called Bayfront Park), just south of Chesapeake Beach, MD. The waves weren't very large but they were non-stop, producing a significant froth and spray that required constant attention to ensure my camera didn't get wet with salty mist.

I tried shooting in several different locations and may post some of the other photos later but this was the last spot I settled on. It's actually the last shot I took before leaving the beach.

High Life on the Highline

2012-07-15T14:38:00.001-04:00

High Life on the Highline, originally uploaded by jeffsmallwood.

My first visit to the Highline on the west side of Manhattan. I'd read about it last year and was very much looking forward to visiting in person. It is such a cool place. The history is palatable and the environment is so unique to be right in the middle of the city.

For those that don't know, the Highline is an elevated park above the streets of Manhattan. It stretches from 30th street down to just past 12th street. It was created on the old elevated railroad tracks that were originally built in the early 1900s. The tracks fell completely out of use by the 80's and began to be reclaimed by the forces of nature (trees and vegetation started to grow on the tracks). Rather than tear it all down the city transformed the entire line into a park with landscaped walkways, benches, places for artists to perform, and overlooks of the city below. One of the neatest things is they left a majority of the original trail tracks in place and built the landscaping and walkways around them. Everywhere you go you can see the tracks below the flowers or built right into the modern boardwalk.

Their website has lots of photos documenting the life of the area, from before the railway was built, through the early part of the 20th century, up to the abandoned tracks right before the park was built. Definitely worth a look if you have time to check it out.

There's also a Flickr group for the Highline as well.

Wife and I walked the entire thing from north to south. If you're in NYC and have a chance to visit, it is definitely worth your time.

Burst Mode - Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

2012-07-13T16:28:00.002-04:00

Taken at midnight under full moon light, motion in the waves crashing on the cliffs.
24 burst images, 96 frames

How was the image above created? I'll explain below and include a link to a larger copy of the image so you can see more details.

Ingredients
1) A midnight bike ride to the top of a cliff
2) A full moon to illuminate the scene
3) A strong wind bringing in waves from the Atlantic
4) Tripod and camera on burst mode
5) and a little bit of magic :)

Most people use burst mode to capture the exact moment something happens in a flurry of activity. That split second when the baseball player hits the ball, the exact moment you friends jump in the air, the perfect shot when your child blows out the candles on their birthday cake. All of those scenarios have one thing in common: Burst mode was used to capture one moment in a sea of many. You're likely to only keep 1 or 2 photos from the burst of shots.

Burst mode can be used to capture the motion in a scene with an entirely different spin.

The best results come from a scene that is cyclical. Water going over a waterwheel, waterfalls, tall grass blowing in the wind, etc. Anything with a natural, repetitive motion works because you can loop your resulting animation to continuously play and it'll feel natural. It is also good to choose a scene where only part of the image is in motion. A mixture of static and moving elements can be very pleasing.

So how did I go from this

to this

to the final animated image ?

I'm not going to cover every single step in excruciating detail. In addition, you don't need to use the exact tools I use here. There are plenty of other image processing tools that will get you the similar results. I encourage you to Google any term or concept I mention that you're unfamiliar with.

Gathering the Images

For the midnight waves crashing, my on-location shots were taken on a tripod with cable release. The camera was set to manual exposure and focus. Each shot was RAW (you'll want to shoot RAW or set a manual white balance to avoid small differences in each shot), 0.6 seconds, f/2.8, 18mm, and ISO 2000. I knew all the shots would be underexposed, but that's about as far as I felt comfortable pushing the exposure because I wanted to limit noise and an exposure longer than 0.6 seconds would blur the motion too much.I figured I would just adjust them in post-processing.

After you've taken the shots in the field, the first step is to decide which images you want. Look for a starting and ending image that are very similar as that will allow the animation to loop from start to end to start in a natural feeling way.


Selecting the candidate images in Lightroom 4. Click for larger view.

After I selected the RAW images I wanted, I exported them as TIFs to a working folder where I could manipulate them in bulk separately w/o messing with the RAW images in my source folder. I exported them in a reduced size for two reasons: 1) The final animation was never meant to be super large, only meant to be seen on the screen and 2) opening 20 or more full resolution 16-bit images as layers in Photoshop would hammer my computer memory! I moved to the exported folder in Lightrooom and opened one of the images in Develop mode. I modified the development settings to my liking. Once that single image was done, I selected all the images in the filmstrip and synchronized the development settings across the entire set (using CTRL-SHIFT-S). This makes every candidate image expose with the exact same settings.

My final development settings for the candidate images. Click to see larger.

Next, select all the images and use Edit In - Open as Layers in Photoshop. If you using another tool, do whatever is required to open your images in that tool.

Open the developed candidate images as layers in Photoshop

Once in Photoshop (or whatever animation/editing tool you're using), you'll want to make a separate frame for each image. This is accomplished easily in PS using the "Make Frames From Layers" option in the Animation window.

Easy way to convert Photoshop layers to animation frames

If the animation frames come out in reverse order (i.e. playing backward), just use the same menu and choose "Reverse Frames".

This is also when you need to decide whether you want to edit the images further. In this case I chose a creative, paintography look and treated each layer image with Adobe's Pixel Bender Oil filter.

If you want to blend the images to give a soft transition between them, select the images in pairs and use the "Tween" option to add blended frames in the middle. I added 3 tweened images between each of my shots for this animation. 24 source images * 4 (1 original + 3 tweened) = 96 images total. You can see the resulting animation stage below. Depending on how quickly the scene was moving, you need to adjust the timing of each frame. I used 0.15 seconds per frame for this one. One last thing is to set the animation to play the loop forever. The default will likely be to play it once, but since we chose a starting and ending point that are similar with the purpose of making a loop, we need to make sure we set it to loop forever.

Resulting animation frames in Photoshop. Click for larger view.

The next step is to export the image as an animated GIF. Use Photoshop's "Save for Web & Devices" option (CRLT+SHIFT+ALT+S). Make any final tweaks here but pay close attention to the areas I highlighted below which are:

Make sure the file size is reasonable. This is done by controlling colors and dimensions
Make sure the export type is GIF
Adjust colors as needed (lower # of colors = smaller file size, but you also sacrifice quality)
Adjust size on the bottom right, either by exact pixels or by %

When you're ready, save the image. Save your Photoshop (or similar) file in case you want to go back and tweak it, and you're done!

The image below was my first attempt for this series of shots before I adjusted tweening, timing, and used the Oil plugin to smooth it all out.

My intermediate attempt, w/o the final timing and image manipulation

Here's a link to view the final, full size animated image. It is 40 MB so it'll take a few moments to load. Image dimensions are 1231x821.

Go out and use burst mode and see what you can create!

Here Comes the Sun - Once Again

2012-07-09T01:28:00.000-04:00

Taken at 6:16am, 27 minutes after sunrise. 1.6 second exposure, treated with ColorEfex Pro.

I've been avoiding getting up for sunrise photo trips lately, which is especially odd given I just finished my first photo book on that exact subject. At first I missed a few weeks because I was busy but then the sunrise just got so darn early. It's tough to get anywhere before 5am and most of the places I want to go usually mean I have to get on the road by 3 or 3:30 (sometimes earlier). It's also tough to rise early when a backlog of photo processing keeps me up late at night :)

I looked back and it had been 10 weeks since I last did an excursion for dawn (when I went to Great Falls, VA). What helped break that streak of sleeping in? I have my friends at the Calvert Photography Club to thank for that.

Taken at 6:14am, 25 minutes after sunrise
View on Flickr

We'd had a sunrise trip planned for several months. We coordinated with the county government to arrange for early and exclusive access to Flag Ponds Nature Park. The park normally doesn't open until 9am so it was a unique opportunity for our club to get access to an otherwise restricted area along the shoreline.

Thanks to the park ranger who got up early and opened the gates, we had over 20 people down on the beach by 4:45am, almost a full hour before sunrise. This allowed everyone plenty of time to scour the beach and grounds for photo ops and prepare for the coming light.

The starry night appeared mostly clear so I didn't have much hope for a dramatic sunrise. However, once we got to the beach and could see toward the horizon we could make out some thin cloud layers. I thought maybe, just maybe, we'll get a show. I chose to start along the curved shoreline, working in some long exposures with the driftwood and the first hints of light in the distance.

The rest of the shots below are in chronological order.

First shot of the morning, 4:55am, 54 minutes before sunrise. 65 second exposure.
Driftwood and beach partially illuminated by the moon behind me and the first colors of dawn in the horizon.
Venus glows toward the top.

A tree limb, stripped bare and smooth by the elements, resting at the water's edge.
Taken a little further down the beach at 5:20am, 29 minutes before sunrise. 12 second exposure.

From my previous visits to Flag Ponds over the years I knew there was a pier toward the south end of the park. One of the shots I had in mind ahead of time was to capture the pier silhouetted and reflected in the water. The stillness of the Chesapeake that morning convinced me to head that direction next. As you may notice from the rest of the photos (and the first two at the top), I never left that spot. It was just too beautiful to walk away from.

First shot of the pier, over-exposed the sky to bring out the silhouette and the beach.
Taken at 5:30am, 19 minutes before sunrise. 5 second exposure.
View on Flickr

By the time I took the shot above the light was bright enough that I couldn't get exposures very long. So it was time to break out the neutral density filters. I moved to the other side of the pier for the shot below. About a foot into the water was a chunk of wood, looked like a piece cut from a 12"x12". I decided to take the camera off the tripod and place it on the block of wood. I held it tight with my hand so there was no risk of it falling into the water. Securing it there allowed me to get the camera only a few inches above the water surface. I took the shot below from that spot.

Taken a few inches above the water surface, south side of the pier.
Taken at 5:40, 9 minutes before sunrise. 20 second exposure (ND 1.7 filter)

As it got closer to actual sunrise, the colors started to change but the horizon still looked very dense. After I took the shot above I was skeptical the sun would actually peak through. I could see some small clouds that I was hoping would pick up the light once the sun finally appeared but wasn't going to hold my breath. However, we were all happily surprised that the sun was able to burn through the moisture on the horizon and did show up right on schedule.

Straight down the pier. I thought B&W worked better to bring out the textures and patterns in the wood.
Taken at 5:55, technically 6 minutes after sunrise but we were just barely catching a glimpse of the sun.

I walked back over to other side of the pier to catch the sun itself beneath the pier but the sky was too good to pass up. Those little clouds all started to pick up the colors and the scene in the sky was on par with the scene in the water. The only way to capture it all was a panorama.

Almost 180° panorama to capture the entire scene together.
Taken at 6:02am, 13 minutes after sunrise. 6 shots stitched together, each 3.2 second exposure.
View on Flickr

As I mentioned above, the scene was just to pretty to walk away from. I had planned to leave the pier at some point and wander back to the other edge of the beach to the north. But the patterns and colors created scenes at the pier I couldn't pass up. The photos below are all variations on the same theme, but I like them all and couldn't decide which ones to leave out.

All in all, a very productive sunrise trip. Not a bad way to break a 10 week stretch of sleeping through dawn!

Getting down low to capture the colors and patterns in the clouds.
Taken at 6:10am, 21 minutes after sunrise. 10 second exposure.

Trying to capture as much sky and color as possible.
Taken at 6:28am, 39 minutes after sunrise.

For a brief few moments, the beams were coming through the clouds clearly.
One of the last photos I took before heading home. Taken at 6:34am, 45 minutes after sunrise

New York City on 10 Miles a Day - Day 1

2012-07-05T16:27:00.001-04:00

Reconstruction One World Trade Center
Taken from the 9/11 Memorial grounds

One subject I've been trying to push myself on this year is street and urban photography. I've always thoroughly enjoyed the sunrise and landscape subjects and the natural environment is still my favorite subject. But I think shooting in the city is so much different. Most of the subjects are either in motion or constantly changing, the scenes are usually busier, and I find myself having to make decisions much faster. It's a great training ground to sharpen your skills.
I can plan a sunrise shoot at a particular spot, scout it ahead of time, show up early and usually be the only one there. In those kinds of situations I'm usually only racing against the light. The city throws a number of different elements into the mix which can result in some surprising outcomes.

Whether you like the city or not (I really enjoy it) or if you aren't used to it, pushing your photographic skills into the heart of an urban environment will definitely help you grow.

My wife and I recently completed a 3½ day trip to Manhattan and New York City. We made a conscious effort to walk as much of the city as we could during our visit. Sure, we had plans to see shows and visit some sights, but when we could, we decided getting to each place on foot was the best way to take it all in. From the time we arrived in Manhattan, over the next 84 hours we averaged almost 10 miles a day on foot.

Waiting for the train to arrive

Arriving to catch the train around 4:30am, I was immediately challenged with something different: a virtually abandoned, outdoor train station in the dark. Not many people there as early as we were, and the station office itself was closed (didn't open until 5am). The awnings were all lit up and stretched away from the station with the tracks disappearing into the darkness. No color and strong contrasts made me think in black and white.

My "paparazzi" shot from the Mall in Central Park

We arrived in the city around 8:30am, departed Penn Station and saw Geraldo Rivera not 30 seconds after being on the street. A quick cab ride to the Hudson Hotel and we felt like we'd already experienced a full day even though we just got there. After checking in we decided to walk through Central Park. We love that park and I'm still amazed at how much of a gem it is in the middle of a huge city. Every city would be so lucky to have a place like it. I got to play paparazzi for a little bit with my wife while we walked toward Bethesda Fountain (she put up with me quite well!). Bethesda Fountain is what many people know from the opening of the television show "Friends". Terrace Drive crosses through Central Park at the same spot and there's a bridge right next to the fountain that you walk under. The section beneath the bridge is almost reminiscent of a cathedral with its columns and brightly colored tile patterns.

Under the bridge near Bethesda Fountain
High dynamic range image from 3 exposures

Beneath the bridge at Bethesda Fountain

The light of the day was in full effect and created very strong contrasts. We lucked out and found a moment when not a single person was walking under the bridge so I put the camera on the tile floor and rattled off a bunch of bracketed shots. The above image I processed as an HDR (3 shots) to try and bring out the rich colors and light. The shot at right is from the opposite direction and I let the contrasts and patterns dictate the moment here and decided to go with black and white.

Central Park is a great place to shoot. Apart from the natural beauty that's been maintained in the heart of the city, there are a lot of unique things to see. Even the smallest details sometimes just jump out if you look for them.

Park bench perspectives

Details in the old carvings on the back
of the park benches

Statue with a mask someone has place on him.
Where else are you going to see this?

Awesome tree roots growing over huge rocks, with the
latest skyscrapers under construction in the background.

One of our many self portraits on the trip.

Another thing my wife and I like to do when we're out is take self-portraits. We find a nice spot, hold the camera at arms length and snap a shot or two. We usually use the 2-sec timer...makes it easier to get situated after you press the shutter release. When you do this over and over, it's interesting how many times complete strangers will come up and ask if we'd like them to take our photo. We offer to do that for groups all the time when we see them struggling with trying to balance a camera on an arm rest or trash can. It feels good to capture a photo for someone that they might not have captured otherwise. However, when we're specifically trying to take self portraits it presents a slightly awkward moment when we explain that, although we appreciate the offer to help, we're trying to take the photo on our own. :)

Outside the famous Radio City Music Hall

M&M colors in the factory store, Times Square

After the park we took a wandering walk through the city by Radio City Music Hall and then over to Times Square. We had a show the next day at Radio City so we wanted to get our bearings before we had to arrive the next day. We took in the experience of Times Square including the required visit to the M&M store. As we started to walk north toward our hotel we came across a charming man in Native American dress. Not the typical thing I'd come across at home in the country, but I was compelled to take a photo anyway.

The chief of what tribe, I do not know

Slightly long exposure of speeding cars
down the wet streets after the rain stopped.

The threat of rain was starting to move in and it sprinkled a while at one point while we shopped. We didn't care all that much and actually took our time to take in the scenes, block after block of huge buildings under the gray cloud cover. We started the day in full sun and it was amazing to see the transformation of the city once the rain moved in. The shadows and reflections almost jump out and grab you, something that was missing entirely when the sun was out.

Reflections of the city in the glass under threatening skies.
HDR from 3 exposures

Patterns, patterns, and more patterns, another 3 exposure HDR

Our last location for the day was the 9/11 Memorial. We'd signed up for tickets ahead of time and began our travels to the financial district. We ended up taking what was my first trip on the NY Subway to get there. A little intimidating to find the right train and stop, but once we figured out the plan it was easy. Not to mention we asked two people for assistance to ensure we were going the right way and people were incredibly helpful.

On our way to the memorial entrance we passed Engine Company 10. They were just loading up to answer a call as we walked by and I snapped a shot after the first engine had left and the second engine was gearing up. Around the corner on their building is a large memorial dedicated to the fallen firefighters.

Engine Company 10, loading up for a call.

Memorial to firefighters around the corner from the fire station entrance.

The 9/11 Memorial grounds are impressive, amazing, and humbling. If you're in New York and have the opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it. Next to the memorial is the continued construction of the new World Trade Center buildings. When we were there the main building, One World Trade Center, had steel construction up to the 104th floor with glass reaching to the 79th floor.

Where the south tower originally stood. The memorial museum is the building on the opposite side
but it isn't open to the public yet.

The tree in this shot survived the collapse of the towers. It was beneath the
debris and when it had been cleared away, all that remained was a small stump.
Arborists nursed it to health and it began to sprout new branches.
One World Trade Center rises behind it.

Reconstructing One World Trade Center
9/11 Memorial in the foreground

We spent some time on the grounds and when we were almost done a thunderstorm appeared to be rolling in. We weren't that surprised as the clouds for the previous hour had been quite dramatic and we honestly didn't expect the rain to hold off as long as it did. We wanted some place to go to avoid the downpour so we high-tailed it over to O'Hara's bar which is right around the corner from Engine Company 10 and right next to the memorial grounds.

Reconstruction of the World Trade Center, HDR in black and white

Long Exposure of the 9/11 Memorial water with the construction behind.
This is just before the clouds got really dark and a storm rolled in.

We thoroughly enjoyed the time in the bar and restaurant. We ate dinner, had a few drinks, and felt compelled to stay and enjoy our time there. We struck up a conversation with the owner Pete, and when we asked him how long they were closed after 9/11 his answer was 9 months...then he surprised us with a question. "Do you want to see the photos?" With my wife and I both being photo enthusiasts, that question was answered with a resounding "Yes".

Pete then reached behind the bar and presented a large album full of photos, newspaper and magazine clippings, and letters they'd saved. It turns out the bar had been spared from total destruction because another building used to sit in front of it, between the original World Trade Center towers and the bar. That other building shielded the bar's brick building from a large amount of debris, although from the photos we saw the bar still took a major hit. They had photos from 9/11 itself, photos from the roof as they attempted to assess damage and begin repairs. The letters they kept were tough to read, the photos were unique and powerful, but the album is well worth looking at if you find yourself visiting the same establishment. Just ask Pete if you can take a look.

The view of the World Trade Center construction from right outside O'Hara's Bar.

After the night was well upon us, we decided the best way to get back to the hotel was by taxi. Pete was nice enough to walk us outside and direct us up the block toward City Hall. From there he explained it would be easy to catch a cab and get back up the road. And we did just that, our legs a little tired from walking the city as much as we did the first day. We went to bed with our minds fully fixed on what adventures would await us the next morning.

A pint of Ireland's finest at O'Hara's bar in the financial district,
right next to the 9/11 Memorial and the new World Trade Center

Vaporize - Cooling Towers at Night

2012-05-31T19:40:00.001-04:00

Went back to the power plant last night. Earlier in the evening the atmosphere was perfect for very tall vapor trails as I could see them rising from miles away in the distance. I headed over trying to catch a colorful sunset behind the plant, but as it got closer to sunset the atmosphere changed and the trails shrank. In addition, the sunset wasn't all that amazing...pretty but not "oh wow" pretty.

So I stood there in the sand, besides and sometimes under the bridge, fighting mosquitoes and other biting insects...waiting until dark. Once darkness settled the humidity was palatable. I had left a lens sitting on top of my bag and it started to collect dew on it just from being exposed to the air.

Yuck.

But it did create some nice effects for a long exposure. I didn't want a shot like the last one, so I decided to focus on just the cooling towers for this shot.

That glow coming from behind the trees feels so mysterious to me.

Lightning and Stars - Don't Give Up Quickly

2012-05-24T17:42:00.001-04:00

If at first you don't succeed...

If at first you don't succeed......try, try again.

I occasionally attach little stories or some background information about a particular image, but this one's definitely got a story to it.

My house backs up to a farm and the farmhouse is at the highest point on the land. It offers a nice view of the fields below including an old barn that I've photographed numerous times before. It's a spot for which I keep a fairly accurate mental image in my head because of how close it is to home.

So I'm getting ready for bed and I wander to the back door to let the dog in. I noticed the first flash of light as soon as I got to the door and as I'm always on the lookout for a good lightning shot, I waited a moment to see what the situation was. Stepping out onto the deck I noted completely clear skies above, stars everywhere. But just to the south, as a backdrop to the farm and barn, there was a wall of light and highly structured clouds. Perfect scene.

I wasn't dressed to go outside but the setting was too perfect to pass up. I'd be safe from the elements as there were no clouds above so I wouldn't have to worry about rain or lightning hurting me or the camera.

I ran through the house. It took me less than 3 minutes to gather up the camera equipment, throw on some jeans and grab my boots. As I put my boots on at the back door I could still see the lightning bolts as clear as can be. I threw open the sliding glass door and high tailed it, literally running through the dark (I forgot a flashlight). I crossed the field, through the farmhouse yard, and arrived at the top of the hill overlooking the barn. Total time to get to the spot: probably less than 4 minutes.

I setup right at the edge of some tall grass using the farmhouse as shade from the streetlights behind me. Plug-in the cable release and started firing off shots in bulb mode waiting for the lightning to show up.

Nothing.

Then some faint bursts deep in the clouds, but nothing the camera would pick up.

20 minutes. Nothing. Murphy's Law.

The longer I work in photography, the more sympathy I have for fishermen. In fact, maybe I should take up fishing more often. At least when a fisherman almost brings in the big one, he/she can hold out their arms and describe "it was this big!" When a photographer almost gets the amazing shot, well, it doesn't matter how far apart I hold my arms, there just isn't anything to show for it.

Now comes the part where Murphy redeems himself.

I pack up and wander back to the house, defeated, wondering what might have been had I only seen things 5 minutes earlier. I fill my wife in on the situation, get undressed, and start brushing my teeth. As I'm brushing my teeth I wander to the back door to look outside.

Flash.....Flash-flash.

"Son of a bitch!", a little spittle of toothpaste flinging from my lips.

Flash.

Screw it. If Mother Nature's gonna put on an encore, I'll take my chances and see what happens. I ran back to the bathroom, spit out the toothpaste and as quickly as possible repeated the steps I'd gone through not half an hour before and ran out the back door. Last thing I hear is my wife saying "see you...sometime tonight".

Déjà vu running across the field for a second time. Ran back to the same spot and started again. This time the lightning was more faint, the second storm wasn't as grand and tall as the first one I missed. But at least this one gave me a few distinct bolts. Having a storm as defined and distant as this one made capturing the lightning much easier. I didn't have to guess where it would be, almost all of the light activity seemed to be focused in a smaller patch in the sky. I just had to hold open the shutter and hope my settings would match if a bolt showed up....and luckily a few did.

I've shot lightning before, but the image above includes something I've never captured before. That bolt in the upper left that reaches above the clouds into the stars. That's something unique I've never been lucky enough to get and maybe I never will again. Even though it's a small element, it's actually my favorite thing about this shot.

I think the next time I'm presented with a unique shooting situation like this I'll be a little more patient and won't pack up as soon as it appears the show might be over.

Apparently I didn't see the Fat Lady heading on to stage the first time out. I consider myself lucky I was there to listen to her sing.

A Day at Little Norman's Cay

2012-05-19T19:37:00.001-04:00

As the husband of a stellar Creative Memories consultant, I'm lucky that my wife not only earns some of the company's incredible incentive trips, but she's kind enough to take me along with her on occasion :) We recently attended the CM trip to Paradise Island, Bahamas. One of the excursions we could sign up for ahead of time was a day long boat trip to another island in the Exumas that included a snorkeling stop as well. The adventure was an experience to remember.

Here is a Google Map of the trip locations.

Feeding the Iguanas

Feeding the iguanas grapes.
Click for larger view.

Leaving in the morning, we rode on the boat across open water for a little more than an hour. Our first stop was on an island to feed wild iguanas. As the boats pulled up on the sand, the iguanas were all over the beach. Large and small, they all came forward to greet us knowing we'd have food. The trip coordinators had brought containers of grapes and instructed us to put the grapes on the end of a stick and hold them out for the reptiles to take (some people didn't follow that advice, as witnessed in the photo on the left). We were also warned to watch out for jewelry on our hands (like rings) and for women to be cautious with painted toenails as the iguanas could easily mistake those for food and try to grab a bite (not good!)

Eyeing me up. The iguanas were aggressive and cautious at the same time.
Click for larger view.

Two juvenile iguanas sunning themselves while the bigger ones fed.
Click for larger view.

Little Norman's Cay

View from the dock. The deck is where we ate lunch and tossed our lunch scraps to the sharks. Click for larger view.

Feeding the sharks and seagulls.
Click for larger view.

The next stop was at Little Norman's Cay (pronounced "key"). Right after the boats tied off we watched as the trip organizers tossed two milk crates full of scraps into the water. The lemon sharks, nurse sharks, and what seemed like a hundred seagulls that occupied the waters around the dock all took this as a sign it was time to eat as they swarmed the crates that has been thrown in the water. Then we walked around the island to a spectacular beach and enjoyed some time to explore.

The beach at Little Norman's Cay. It was just like a swimming pool. Click for larger view.

I found a trail leading up through the brush and vegetation, destination unknown. I decided to take it and after crawling through a few small tree branches and over coral steps I arrived at the highest point on small island. As soon as I got up there and took in the entire scene, looking down on everyone in our party, I knew it was the perfect opportunity for a 360° panorama. I've posted the shot here and a navigable panorama is embedded below as well. I also posted a huge copy (9,000px wide) on my Flickr page.

360° panorama from the top of Little Norman's Cay
Click the image for a larger view

Navigating the 360° Panorama
Click the image below with your mouse and drag to look around. Use the "A" key to zoom in and the "Z" key to zoom out. You can also use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in/out. Click and drag the image to scroll around.

You can also view the above scrolling panorama 4x larger. Click here to load a larger copy of the panorama in a new window.

Snorkeling

That's me with an underwater camera!

After exploring the island for a little while an announcement was made that anyone wanting to go snorkeling should board the boats. They didn't have to tell me twice and we high-tailed it to the boat, got some snorkeling gear (which they provided), and loaded up. It was a short trip around the island to the snorkeling spot (see the locations on the Google Map).

The snorkeling spot seemed to range in depth from 12-25' (~4-8 meters) and included a mixture of sandy and coral bottom. We observed a decent range of Caribbean fauna including angelfish, triggerfish, butterflyfish, surgeonfish, parrotfish, damsels, chromis, and wrasses. Also saw some pretty invertebrates up close too including many species of soft and hard coral and Christmas tree worms. I was especially tickled to find a bluehead wrasse because that was one of the species I used to have in my saltwater aquarium back home.

A lionfish in the Atlantis Resort's exhibit

One thing I didn't observe but was watching for was the venomous lionfish. People that know seem pretty upset that this introduced species is seeming to thrive and can be found in many reefs around the Bahamas. I went spear fishing on my last trip in November and our guide encouraged us to spear them just to kill them. When we did, he'd avoid the poisonous spines and toss them onto the exposed reef rocks above. Sure it was a drop in the bucket for population control, but a few less lionfish is still a few less lionfish.

There seem to be conflicting reports for the source of the species introduction. Some research points to a broken aquarium in southern Florida from Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Other research indicates that the species may already have been in the Caribbean and southern Florida waters since 1985. Some locals, including a couple people I heard it first hand from, blame the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island (they do have a large lionfish exhibit). In any case, it looks like that fish is here to stay.

The Sandbar

Our group enjoying time on the sandbar (me on the left)

The exact spot we landed.
Click for larger view or use the
Google Map to navigate

After snorkeling was done, we made one more pit stop while out on the water. And this pit stop was literally out on the water. Just northwest of Little Norman's Cay there is a sandbar in the middle of the water. It was just barely exposed when we went by earlier in the day, but when we got there in the afternoon it was exposed enough for us to explore. The two large boats pulled up and anchored only a few feet from the edge. We piled out and waded across waist high water to walk on what might have been the whitest, most pristine sand my feet have ever touched. We sat, walked, took photos, and just enjoyed living in the moment. But after about 20 minutes we were really starting to feel the hunger, and off we went to meet that exact need.

Lunch and Feeding the Sharks

After all those activities it is not an exaggeration to say we were starved and ready for lunch. We got back to the dock and wandered up to the bar where our hosts had laid out a nice lunch. Of course the bar was still open as it had been since our arrival. A few rum punches go quite well with lunch in a tropical paradise like this.

The bar on the island. Click for larger view.

As we finished lunch our island host told everyone that any scraps could be taken down to the shark feeding part of the deck and tossed into the water. It didn't matter what the scraps were: chicken bones, bread. pasta, veggies, fruit...it would all be eaten. And they were 100% correct. Although it wasn't just the sharks that get fed, it really ends up being more for the seagulls. They had no fear and would fly down to the surface of the water, dodging the jaws of the sharks to try and snag a morsel of food. If that didn't work, they'd dive to try to catch the food in flight. It was quite a competition to see how much food we could get to reach the water without it being snagged in mid-air by the gulls.

Lemon sharks awaiting more scraps to be tossed into
the water. Click for larger view.

The seagulls sat close by. Click for larger view.

After lunch we finished with a few moments to enjoy the beach one last time. We were then corralled back to the boats and began the journey back to Paradise Island. A day where I don't think there's a single thing I could complain about, even if I tried. This, my friends, is what a vacation is all about.

Cradle Me Gently

2012-05-18T20:41:00.001-04:00

As some of you know, I'm usually one to ask for forgiveness rather than permission when it comes to photography. But I almost gave up on this shot because I didn't want to break the rules.

The National Botanical Gardens has a strict no tripod rule, which sucks when there are so many awesome things to take macro photos of, and doubly-sucks when the day is overcast and the light inside the greenhouse is soft and even (but low).

The orchid exhibit was spectacular and I only saw this tiny drop sitting inside the orchid because I was really looking at everything closely. It was a flower about shoulder height just inside the door to traditional orchid room in the south-east corner of the building. If you walked through the door and didn't immediately look left, you'd miss it.

Low light, next to a door, people walking behind me constantly....not the best place to try and take a shot like this and not a place I could have tried to sneak a quick tripod shot. It just would have blocked everything up and pissed people off.

This is why we practice steady shooting and bracing. Bump the ISO, wrap the strap around my shoulder, hands in tight, drop exposure a stop, and hope for the best.

Full Moon Seascapes

2012-05-14T00:16:00.001-04:00

144 seconds - Under the Light of the Supermoon.
Click for larger view

I was lucky to have been in the Bahamas recently, and as luck would have it, the trip coincided with the rise of the supermoon in May. Unfortunately we weren't in a location where we could witness the moon actually rise. I snagged a few shots about an hour after it came up, but since I couldn't see it come up over the horizon the next best thing was to wait till late at night. A full moon is awesome light and gives a distinct, unique illumination to the world under long exposures.

Old pier by Chesapeake
Bay, 180 seconds

Chesapeake Bay under full moon light

Whether it's locally along the Chesapeake Bay or in the tropics, I love shooting under the light of the full moon. Coincidentally, when I was in the Bahamas in November it was also during a full moon and I learned first hand what full moon seascapes are like. The full moon can create very unique lighting conditions. The shooting times are much shorter than you might think, especially with a fast lens. With a fast 50mm (like an f/1.4) and a bump in ISO, you can even shoot sub 1-second shots and brighten them in post enough to see the scene well. The two shots below are ones I took last November. Of course, with a lower ISO and higher aperture, it's still easy to push exposures from 30 seconds to several minutes and get unique scenes captured.

"Short" exposure of only half-second for the waves (50mm f/1.4)
blended with a 30 second exposure for the cliffs

200 seconds of full moon exposure, really brings out the color in the water.

203 second exposure from the top of the cliffs. Large waves
were crashing on the rocks resulting in the misted exposure.

In November I was in the Exumas, a much darker area of the country than the city of Nassau (which is where I was last week). The three shots above are from Staniel Cay in the Exumas, a good 130 km southeast from Nassau. In Nassau the lights of the resort were flooding the sky and the beach so I went out to the edge of the coral rocks, as far away as I could. I couldn't get very far, but it was far enough. The only problem I had was picking up the slight yellow glow from artificial lights, which competed slightly with the full moon. I had to reduce the yellow tint a little bit in post processing but otherwise the colors came out true.

Tips and Techniques
One of the toughest things to do in shooting scenes like this is getting the focus right. Auto focus goes out the window and you usually have to do it all manually. If you know the hyperfocal distances on your lenses and have a flashlight, that's one way to ensure you're getting it right. But with the limited light you usually aren't working at extremely high apertures. If you're going for the horizon, the next best technique is to use live-view (or test shots) and focus on a distant light, getting it as a pinpoint. If you're working at closer distances, live-view and test shots can work as well and it also helps if you have a rough estimate of your subject distance so you can focus the lens using the marked guide first.

Another thing to remember is to set your white balance to sunlight. After all, the light of the moon is just reflected sunlight and sometimes the camera will get it wrong so it's best to set it manually. I also highly recommend shooting in RAW. You'll want as much luminosity information as possible to work with and the lowest noise (and ability to reduce noise in post if needed).

Other than that, just look for scenes that would do well as any normal long exposure. The fun and ease of working at night is that you don't need any neutral gradient filters to get those long exposures. All you need to sacrifice is a little sleep!

Results from the Supermoon

A lone palm tree on the beach. Hint of start trails are above.

Silhouetted by the full moon.
Atlantis resort in the background.

When I went out in May I started with the lone palm tree at the edge of the resort beach (the shot above and at left). Tried two angles, one facing away from the moon, one facing into the moon to bring it into a slight silhouette. Totally different effect, but both relatively short exposures given it was around 1am. Next I wandered down to the small, exposed area of coral rock beyond the edge of the sand. I didn't have a flashlight with me, but luckily the supermoon was more than enough to navigate by. The rocks are very sharp and dangerous, and you definitely don't want to fall on them (see the jagged surfaces in the shot below). The ocean was eerily calm too, so much so that I was able to get down to within a few feet of the edge and not get wet. The waves were very gentle and produced a small amount of sea foam at the edge of the rocks. I setup right where the gentle waves were crashing and the water was flowing between the crevasses and holes in the ledge. I didn't last long though as I had visions of a larger wave suddenly rolling in out of the dark, crashing over the rocks and knocking me over (or worse, damaging my equipment!). In all seriousness, I did keep a very close eye and ear on the sea. An environment like this at night is nothing to fool around with. I remained diligent in watching and listening for even the slightest difference in the swell/wave/crash pattern. I think I spent around 30 minutes on the rocks and figured I was ahead of the game since I hadn't gotten wet yet or dropped anything valuable. Grabbed my tripod, threw my bag over my shoulder, and headed back up to my room to get some shut-eye.

Oh, and one last hazard I had to deal with was a departing cruise line. Not sure which one it was but it decided to leave right in the middle of my shoot, streaking red and white lights across the horizon. Kind of kills the natural feel I was going for but I decided to keep the shot below. After all, if you're in a place where you have to complete with cruise ship traffic in your shots, you're probably in a good place to begin with :)

A cruise ship departs from Nassau at night while I was shooting along the shore.
94 second exposure @ ISO 160, f/6.3, 17mm

Besides silver bullets to defend against werewolves, what other tips and techniques have you used when shooting under the light of the full moon?

Open Bookmarks In A New Tab By Default in Google Chrome

2012-04-26T10:09:00.003-04:00

Ever wondered how to make a bookmark automatically and permanently open in a new tab by default? By just clicking the link without any additional keystrokes?

I'm all about efficiency when it comes to the browser. I've tried and migrated to just about all of them at one point or another, and the one that's stuck with me for the last couple years consistently is Google Chrome.

One of the behaviors I've unconsciously stuck with is the ctrl-click to open bookmarks in a new tab. It's more efficient that clicking the new tab icon, then clicking the bookmark, or even hitting ctrl-t (new tab) first. I found it's easier to go right to the bookmark and ctrl-click and tada, new tab. Over time I've realized that I open most of my bookmarks in new tabs. Rarely am I in the middle of something in the browser and want to overwrite the page I'm on with bookmarked site.

Poking around I found there is no setting in Chrome to set a particular bookmark to always open in a new tab. I want the efficiency of quickly left-clicking a bookmark like usual and having it open in a new tab without having to use the ctrl modifier key.

Solution
Right-click the bookmark you want to open in a new tab, then click "Edit"

This will bring up the "Edit Bookmark" window. The field you'll edit is the "URL" field.

In the URL field, surround the bookmark's existing URL with the following text:
javascript:window.open("original bookmark url here")

One key thing to remember is that the url must begin with the protocol, either http:// or https:// If the protocol is left out, the bookmark won't work. Then click the "Save" button and you're good to go.

Video Walk Through
The video below will show the steps as well.

As you probably noticed, I keep my bookmarks highly organized and visible in the bookmark bar so I have instant access to a large number of sites. I also typically remove the name of the site so that the favicon (the site's icon) is only displayed. Once I know what the site is, I usually don't need the name of it to know what bookmark I'm clicking on. Just like my computer, the icon is good enough and removing the name helps to keep the bookmarks very compact. You can fit a lot more on the screen w/o the names. If you want to do the same, when editing the bookmark as described above just delete the value in the Name: field. Leave it blank and click save.