cedar campus

Intervarsity has a couple camps that we use as retreat and training senters.  These are beautiful camps to say the least.

I was able to visit Cedar Campus for a recent project. The uper penicula of Michigan truly is a beautifyul as the say.  Not sure if I can say much more than that to do it justice.

water like silk

One morning, I woke early and thought, “I should get out and photograph something.”  I remembered a stream I had recently discovered, so I grabbed my tripod and ran out to the spot.  Because the sun was still hidden behind the nearby hills, I was able to shoot everything with the same exposure...like it was all in the shade.  I proceeded to race around like little boy who just got a new bike for Christmas.  The fact that the light quality was great and that I brought my tripod (and filters like a polarizer and a new Graduated ND) really made this a lot easier than it should be.

How to: After finding a location, the biggest thing is that you need a good, solid tripod.  This is hard because usually this means really heavy or really expensive.  (Lets just say mine is not the lightest out there.)  Second: I used a Polorizer to cut out reflections on the water and on the green leaves so that things were of a more natural hue...and it drops the light levels a bit too so that I could have longer shutter speeds.  Finally, I tried out a new Graduated Neutral Density filter.  This is just a piece of glass that I hold in front of my lens, it has a darker area on the top and fades to clear on the bottom,  this makes the top of my frame darker than the bottom.  This really helped in images like the first and last ones, where the light values in the trees were brighter than those on the creak. 

new flashlight - new lightpainting

I tried my hand at Lightpainting again recently.  Both because I have not done it in a while as well as the fact I just picked up a 2 Million Candlepower flashlight!

[These look bigger when you click on them to make them bigger]

Lightpainting is basically when you set your camera to have a long exposure (like 15-30 seconds) and then use your flashlight to paint the scene.  Wherever your flashlight lights up the scene your camera see that part of the scene...and only that part.  The trick is to to create enough light (but not to much,) create even light (but no hot spots,) make it look natural enought to not feel like a street light (therefore paint unevenly,) and not catch yourself in the shot (wearing black and not pointing the light towards the camera help.)  Mostly it is a game of trying, looking at the LCD, laughing, and trying again and again.

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juxtaposition

What does this mean?
What does it say?
How does it make me feel?

I have no idea but thought it was interesting.
Two trees withing 40 feet of each other, when I realized I couldn't take a photo that was clear enough in concept that included both I decided to try this juxtaposition.

frustration in the forest

In a recent series of hikes in the woods, I became VERY frustrated with my photography.  Nothing was coming out as I was seeing, envisioning or even hoping.  This even after I wrote about how to photograph in the woods here.

I was so intent of finding the great shot (or creating it) that I was duped and blind.  I knew how to shoot, I know how to see light, I know how to implement complicated exposure calculations, and I know how to press the shutter button…but I couldn't make a photo.

I felt like everything that I was capturing had been captured before and therefore was not a good photo.  I felt like I had done this before, where is the ‘amazing?’

I tried carrying all my lenses, I tried only caring one, and nothing seemed to free my mind.  I was so worrying about what I was not getting that I didn’t see and enjoy what I was getting.

There may be a life lesson in here somewhere.

Now that I have time to look at these images apart from the experience, I see they are not that bad.

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lydia and josh's wedding

I have posted about Lydia and Josh before (portraits here, wedding portrait teaser here, and a timing issue here) but this is the actual wedding.  And one of the most visual weddings I have shot in a while.  Combine the Coptic wedding service in one of the oldest churches in Madison (the Deacons were literally pulling Steve and I onto the stage to get the best shots!) with a great reception hall in an old Theater.  We had a lot to work with.  In situations like this I am very glad that I have the option of a second shooter, it allows me to be a bit more free in getting unconventional or risky shots.

Thanks guys, I had a blast...despite the heat and no air conditioning.

right place...right time

Sometimes you just get lucky and you are in the right place.  (It also helps to know how to capture it too.)

[Post storm as the sun breaks, always look away from the sun, down your shadow.]