As you will see with these photos, some are candid, some are posed, but the one thing the candid and posed shots share is that nearly all of them have some unpredictable element to them. You can pose a shot, but you can never be certain what you will get, especially with other people around. Jokes can get cracked at a crucial moment, causing wonderful laughter during a posed shot like the second photo. The point is, capturing the reality of life can happen even in a posed photo, and that is a wonderful thing.

Hope you enjoyed!

-Patrick

Shoot More Weddings

Although I did not shoot any weddings in 2011, I did shoot engagement photos. Many people dread the thought of shooting weddings, but they can be quite the pay off both in terms of financial gain and in great photos. This year I plan to up the ante and shoot several weddings.

Process At Least On HDR Image A Week

While I am fully aware that many photographers scoff at the mere mention of HDR Photography(High Dynamic Range), I still find it an important technique to understand and have in your skill set. Being adept at HDR will make you a better photographer all around and will certainly help you find the limits of your camera in a given situation. Besides, there are many beautiful HDR photos out there and I think it is a fantastic form of art. Just check out Trey Ratcliff’s Stuck In Customs for some great examples.

Get Published!

2011 brought me a freelance photo job for a local paper here In northeast PA. This has given me the great opportunity to shoot frequently in a professional photojournalism environment. Though photojournalism is not my ultimate photography passion, it has led me to assignments that have really inspired me to shoot outside of my comfort zone. In 2012 I would like to have my work published in at least on national publication. Having my photos published in a local paper has really driven me to reach for this goal.

More Video

I started my love for imaging as a maker of videos, but as I became infatuated with still photography, I shot less video. This year I plan to bring video back to my life in a bigger capacity. I want to shoot some more video tutorials as well as some behind the scenes stuff when I go on photos shoots. Watch for more video soon!

Time Lapse Projects

I started planning a time lapse project a few weeks ago of landmarks here in Northeast PA, I will continue to plan this project and get it ready to edit by March. I love time lapse and its ability to show change over a longer period of time. This project is something that really excites me.

Take A Photography-Centric Trip

I hope to travel somewhere this year and have my primary focus of the trip to be photography. Many times when I travel, It is for some sort of outdoor adventure, and while I do get the opportunity to take a lot of photos, I do have many distractions that keep me from focusing on doing my best work. This year I will take a trip that allows me to focus one hundred percent on photography.

Well there you have it, these are things that are on my mind right now for 2012. There is no doubt that I can accomplish many of these things this year, and perhaps many other projects that come along. Are there any big goals you have for this year? share them in the comments.

-Patrick

1. Crater Lake Panorama

While I was traveling the country for several weeks in August I visited many places. Mount Rainier, The Hoover Dam, Arches National Park, but one place that was not initially part of my plan was Crater Lake National Park in Central Oregon. While I was at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, A friend asked me if I had planned on stopping at Crater Lake National Park. At the time I hadn’t even thought of that one. I put it in my mental “Maybe” list and continued on my way. After a fantastic but tiring summit of Mount Rainier, I decided I would do something relaxing. That’s when I decided to head to Crater Lake and ended up shooting this wonderful panorama.

 2. Land Of The Golden Sun

In August, while traveling the country, I spent a few days with my friend Eileen in Ventura, California. One night around sunset we went for a walk along the boardwalk area. A little ways down the beach we noticed a rock garden of sorts in the sand. The stacks of rocks ranged from a few inches to a few feet tall. With the golden light of the sunset as a backdrop, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to create a silhouette of these peculiar rock stacks. So I got on the ground and used the largest stack in my field of vision to block the sun and this image was born.

3. The Globe

In one of the rooms at my parents house lives the most beautiful reproduction of an old style globe. I had a little trouble at first figuring out how I wanted to frame it and light it, but after a little deliberation I knew that it needed to be framed like this against the wall which complimented the old look of the globe thanks to the color of the wall.

4. Blind Find

Next to photography, Climbing is one of my favorite activities so it is no wonder I enjoy shooting it so much. This was shot on a route called Gemstone in Northeast Pa. Prior to this climber climbing the route, I climbed a route to the top and perched myself on a protruding feature near to this route. Fortunately the sun was to our back which helped minimize the harsh midday light. Here the climber blindly reaches for a less than fantastic hold on his way up the way.

5. Lady A

In November of this year I picked up a gig shooting freelance for the local newspaper. I have been fortunate to be receiving exciting assignments. On a recent assignment I had to shoot a few shots of the country band Lady Antebellum for a review that was to be written. Though it wasn’t the one that got printed, this is one of my favorite shots from that event. I really like the well lit performers and the dark almost liquidy background.

6. 2317

The Steamtown National Historic Site has been a place that has always been close to home, but it took until just recently to get there. I was amazed at how much history and knowledge I found there. Oh and did I mention all the beautiful classic trains. This photo shows Engine 2317 in a storage bay in the roundhouse. The light being cast through the windows paints the side of the engine in beautiful light showing off the numbers well.

7. In The Spotlight

This was quite possibly my favorite paid photo gig ever. I was on assignment for the Citizens Voice at the Mohegan Sun Arena for Arenacross. I originally only planned on staying for an hour or so to grab the shots I needed for the assignment, but I was so enthralled by the action that I ended up closing out the event with nearly 900 photos. Standing right down on the track with the action made this such a great experience. In this shot, one of the riders is being tracked by a spotlight to dramatically introduce the event. I have the face of the rider focused and the rest of the shot blurred to show motion.

8. Crossing The Mississippi To Freedom

During my July/August/September trip of epicness I stopped in St Louis on my pilgrimage west. In this shot, my friend Bill is being contemplative as he walks along the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. I chose to make this photo black and white because I feel that it conveys emotion better for this scene. There was also not a ton of color in this shot to begin with.

9. Last Train Home

Earlier this year I began playing a bit more with model photography. Tessa was one of my first subjects. We shot around northeast, PA exploring our options, and this train trestle happened to end up in our list of locations. here, Tessa leans nonchalantly against the railing and gazes into the distance.

10. The Gingerbread Man

Christmas lights and bokeh (The shaped created by out of focus lights and shallow depth of field) seem to go hand and hand. I decided that the week before chirstmas I would play with this concept. Mr Gingerbread Man here cordially agreed to be my subject for this shot. This was shot with my 50mm 1.8 lens.

2011 has been a great year for me. Full of growth as a person and a photographer. This list is by no means a complete representation of my favorite photos of this year, but I decided to limit myself to only 10 for this post. for more of my favorites for the year, check out my Best of 2011 Albums on Google+ and Flickr and be sure to add me as a friend on both. For more of my day to day adventures, follow me on Twitter. And last but not least, have a safe New Years Eve and an exciting and prosperous 2012.

-Patrick

By:

If you are new to the digital SLR scene, you might have heard the term RAW tossed around from time to time, but what exactly does it mean, and do you need it? The short answers: RAW is just that, The raw image as the camera sees it without any compression or alteration. Do you need it? Not necessarily, but it will make you life easier if you do a lot of post production. Lets look at the benefits of shooting and using RAW.

1. Non Destructive Editing – Let’s say for the sake of this topic that you just shot the photo in Jpeg format, copied it to your computer and then spent several hours editing it. You really liked the end results, so you saved it and went on with your life. Fast forward six months! Now you look at the photo again and aren’t completely happy with the way it looks. The original file is long gone because you didn’t back it up(A topic for another post) and you want to make considerable changes to the coloring and exposure. The initial problem is that since it is shot in JPEG you don’t quite have as much control over these things as you would with RAW. The big concern though is that JPEG photos degrade in quality when they are edited or duplicated so doing further color or exposure correction could compromise the quality of the photo. With RAW, you could just reset the photo to the way it was originally shot, edit it, then export the final product as a JPEG. Software such as Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, or Adobe Lightroom allows you to do this.
2. Presets, Presets! – In many of the RAW processing suites such as Adobe Lightroom, you have the ability to create presets based on settings and changes you have made to a photo. Creating a preset will help in speeding up the process of post processing a group of photos that have similar qualities such as lighting, location and so on.
3. Dynamic Range – Dynamic Range is the range between the lightest and darkest parts of a photograph. RAW provides more of that light information for you to work with than a compressed JPEG image.  As long as you are mindful of over exposure, Shooting in RAW will provide you with the much more information to work with.
4. Various Output Formats – Shooting in RAW is great for post production, because you have a limitless list of potential output formats for your work. JPEG, TIF, PNG and the list goes on. Versatility is the word here.

A few downsides.

1. File Sizes – There is no other way to put this, RAW files are BIG! be sure to have a large card for your camera and plenty of hard drive space if you are shooting RAW.
2. Future Compatibility – Camera RAW is not standardized across all brands and there is no guarantee that any one iteration of camera RAW will be supported in the future.

So as you can see, the pros clearly out weigh the cons when it comes to camera RAW. Of course, it all come down to what you ultimately want to do with your photos. If you have no desire to change anything on your images, then shooting in RAW will only add unnecessary steps to your process, but if you intend to make changes, or one day hope to edit your photos, then perhaps shooting in RAW would suit you well.

My initial reaction when I saw this bag was that it seemed a bit small. I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit my 60D, an extra lens, and some outdoor gear into this pack, but after actually taking it out and using it, I was pleasantly proven wrong. I easily stowed my camera, with two lenses, a flash, tripod(Attached to the bottom of the bag), water bottle, food for a day and a jacket with room to spare.

The Photosport 200 AW is constructed from a coated 70 Denier nylon material to keep this bag tough while out enjoying the great outdoors. The listed weight of 2.9lbs seemed a bit heavy for a bag of this size, but with the way it hugged my back so well, the weight of the back is not noticeable, and the weight of all your fancy camera gear will surely provide the bulk of the weight.

Like many camera bags from Lowepro, the Photosport 200 AW features a side load camera chamber which is easily accessed on my fly by removing one should strap and swinging the bag around. Inside the chamber you will find padded dividers that provide your camera with a cushy ride, and if that isn’t enough, there is even a drawstring system to cinch your camera down tight. This great for the bumpy rides associated with mountain biking and skiing.

What would an outdoor oriented bag be without hydration bladder compatibility? The photosport 200 features and externally loadable hydration bladder compartment that will hold a two liter bladder. The compartment is located between the frame sheet and the rest of the bag and is accessed by a zipper. The hose easily exits out the top-center of the bag allowing the user to chose to route the hose to either the left or the right.

The foam padding on the back of the Photosport 200 is thick and soft which provided me with a comfortable fit. The padding is a bit thicker in the four corners of the back pad which helps channel the air across the back to help mitigate sweaty backpack back.

The top lid of the of this bag has a small zipper compartment which gives you easy access to items you may need quick access to like sunglasses, a headlamp, or any number of small items. The main compartment of the Photosport 200 is accessed by a drawstring under the top lid. Though the main compartment is partially taken up by the camera, there is still plenty of room for things such as a jacket, gloves, food, or any other items you might need on your photo adventure. There is also another small zipper pouch with a key leash inside the main compartment.

One of my favorite features of this bag is the pockets on the hip belt. They are just fantastic for providing quick and easy access to extra batteries or a candy bar. The zipper pulls on these pockets, like the rest of the zipper pulls on the bag are big and easy to grab, even with a gloved hand.

The bottom of the bag has two buckling straps to attach a tripod to. For me, this was a little awkward because my tripod is a bit longer, so it made for traveling in wooded areas a bit akward. I feel that if there was alternative vertical mounting option, it would make situations like mine a bit easier to manage. Although the tripod mounting isn’t the most ideal for my equipment, it still is a solid mounting system.

The Photosport 200 AW wouldn’t be AW if it weren’t for the all weather pack cover included with the pack. Hidden on the underside of the bag is a small flap that neatly hides the attached rain cover. The cover is attached with an elastic strap that prevents the user from losing it while being adventurous. The cover quickly covers the entire bag, protecting it from the elements. Out of the many backpacks I have used for various activities, this is the first one I have used that actually includes the rain cover, and the fact that it is sewn right to the pack is a great idea, for this application.

The bottom line on this bag, is that it is a very solid piece of kit. If you have any desire to shoot and play outdoors, this is certainly a must have item. It is comfortable, fairly roomy, and above all, it keeps your spendy camera gear safe and sound. Also! As you might expect, it is available in the super sweet Lowepro Orange. Oh and black too! The Photosport 200 AW retails fore $149.99.

Lowepro Sport 200 AW Digital SLR Camera Backpack Case (Orange)

All footage was shot using a Canon 6oD with the f1.8(plastic  body) 50mm lens. Editing and Color Correction done in FCP X.

The main interface of the 500px app displays 12 photo thumbnails and a few buttons down the left side to display a different group of photos. the groups include Popular, Editors, Upcoming, Fresh, You, Friends and Favorites.

• Popular – This displays the highest rated photos in the 500px network.
• Editor – Photos chosen by the 500px Editors.
• Upcoming – Upcoming photos that have started to get attention.
• Fresh – Recently uploaded photos.
• You – Photos uploaded by you.
• Friends – Photos uploaded by your friends.
• Favorites – Photos you have favorited.

Share

As would be expected with most content apps these days, there is a share button for each photo allowing you to share on Twitter, Facebook, Tumbler, email and also allowing you to open the photo in Safari.

Slideshow

Displaying 500px photos as a slide show is made easy with the small play button in the upper right corner of any given photo(also in the lower left corner of thumbnail view). In the slideshow options panel you have the ability to choose from three transitions (dissovle, wipe and slide) as well as adjust the slide time and choose whether you want to play music from your iTunes library or not. The slideshow feature is a great way to use your iPad as a digital picture frame to showcase your photos or the photos of the photographers you admire.

Comments

Photo comments are accessed by a quick swipe up from the bottom of the screen. This gives you access to the vote and favorite buttons and also allows you to leave a comment. One thing I did notice that was missing from the app is the display of photo metadata which is typically on the right side of the screen on the web site. Although not a deal breaker, it would be nice to see this information in the app.

Conclusion

500px has been an asset to getting my creative juices flowing over the past few months, and being an iPad user I am glad that they have made the jump into the iPad app store. The app is clean, simple, effective and make great use of the real estate available on the iPad . Offering just what you need and really nothing extra, this app delivers. As I mentioned earlier, I would like to be able to see photo metadata on the app, but it is not deteriorating my current user experience. If you are an iPad user, this is a great app to have in your photographer toolbox. I am looking forward to seeing how this product evolves.

-Patrick

Check me out on 500px: http://500px.com/patrickgensel

• Rotate
• Trim
• Stabilize
• Color temperature
• Saturation
• Contrast

Also included in classic Google style is the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button which attempts to correct the video for you. There are also a slew of video effects for you to play with though I wouldn’t recommend using most of them if you want people to watch your videos from start to finish. Google was nice enough to also include a library of free audio tracks to choose from though the current selection is quite limited.

All in all it looks like this will be a great solution for those YouTube users who generally take their video straight from the camera to the web. If you are a power user, don’t expect too much from this feature. I will post a full review once I get a chance to fully experience the product.

-Patrick
 

Title: Dam Time
Location: Hoover Dam, Nevada
Equipment: Canon 60D
Exposure: 1/200
Aperature: F10
ISO: 100

What is this: This is a shot of the top of the Nevada intake tower at Hoover Dam. I shot this photo at an off angle to alter perspective slightly. A side note: temps reached 110f when I was there.