Ring Flash Portrait

Last night I went over to Kyle's house to hang out and shoot some photos. I had just bought a new camera lens(more on that tomorrow) and he had just bought a Photojojo Ring Flash. We used the ring flash on my 580exII flash and then added two flashes 45 degrees behind Kyle on each side for a little bit-o-highlight. In Photoshop I tried something new - I used the high-pass filter for some sharpening and effect - not my usual style but I thought it worked really well with this lighting set-up.  

Strobist as all get-out, eh?

Morning Face

When I woke up this morning I saw a golden shaft of light shining on the wall - it was coming in through the small bathroom window. I had to capture it - I call this 'work' "East Light Portrait".

Bulldozing

Today I shot some photos at work from the Case 1150G Bulldozer. I had to bump up the ISO to 640 - higher than I would normally prefer on a sunny day - to get a fast shutter speed because of all the bouncing and vibrations. It was about an hour before sunset, so even though we were really trying to get stuff done, I had to take advantage of the great light. These were all shot with my super-wide angle lens so the perspective is quite distorted...

The Rules

My love for photography began in my High School photography class - shooting my parent's Minolta XG1 and Kodak Tri-X. One day our class took a field trip to Brandywine Falls to learn about shutter speed(blurring water/freezing water). I took a couple friends on a crazy hike down the side of the valley to get some different perspectives than the rest of the class - it was a fairly dangerous hike and we almost missed the bus back to school. Unfortunately, I exposed the whole roll of film while developing it(didn't have the tank lid on right).

Overall I learned a ton from that class - and you should really know the rules of photography(even though like any set of rules they are meant to be broken). 

Laura and I were at Brandywine Falls the other day and I was telling her the above story. When we got home and I starting looking through my photos I really liked this one - it follows two important rules I learned in that class - 'rule of thirds' and 'leading lines'....thanks Mr. Pierson!

Buttonbush Trail

Today on the way back from an estate sale in Aurora we stopped for a hike at Liberty Park - neither Laura nor I had ever been there before. We hiked the 1.6 mile Button Brush Trail which follows an old oil well access road. Most of the trail was wet and muddy which made the small bridges(above) kinda humorous. While it was a peaceful and secluded-feeling trail I assume it would be a much prettier hike in the Summer or Fall....

Polaroid Spectra AF Test

A while back my roommate bought a strange looking Polaroid camera from the thrift store and left it with me when he moved out. I never thought about it much as it seemed to be some specialized medical type thing. The other day I pulled it out of the basement to give it a closer inspection. Turns out it is a Canfield camera made to show the damage of UV rays on skin - I'll post more about this camera later - the important thing is that the case had 6 packs of 990 Polaroid film which works in Spectra Cameras. I have two Spectra cameras so today I decided to see if it still worked(it expired in May of 2007) in my Spectra AF. Above are my first four shots - the color is a little off but the images are pretty decent. It was pretty exciting because my last attempt to shoot expired Polaroids failed(that was 600 film and much older).

More Polaroids soon...

The Long Walk

I kinda cheated - I didn't take any new photos today...this one is from yesterday.

Anyways, when I bring a photo into Photoshop from Camera Raw the first thing I do is add a 'levels' layer and then hit 'auto' - to see "what they would do" (as I always think to myself). Most of the time I'm not happy with the results but it gives me a starting point, or I use a toned down version of the adjustment. On this particular photo it gave everything a reddish cast that had a film like quality about the color. I thought it looked really cool for the trees and sky but not on the snow - so I painted it in to half the picture.

Oh Photoshop, when you're right - you right....

Bridge Reflections

I've taken quit a few photographs of the Everett Road Covered Bridge - but whenever I'm in the area with my camera its hard to resist adding a few more. Today I was hiking and came upon it and had an idea for a new perspective - its reflection. I really liked the way it made it look like an impressionist painting. I flipped this image upside-down in Photoshop. There wasn't too much contrast in the original shot so I really brought out the blacks in Camera Raw and added a fair bit of saturation.

Cold Fingers

This morning when I got to work I snapped a few photos it snowing pretty heavily. I've always believed in the saying, "if its gonna be cold, it might as well be snowing" - especially photographically.

When I take photos in the cold I always seem to take my gloves off to adjust something on my camera or gear - before I know it I'm shooting away, totally consumed by trying to get a good shot, when I realize my fingers are so cold they are burning. Every year, every snow, without fail - freezing fingers. Maybe writing this post will remind me me to put my damn gloves back on!  

Use Your Imagination

Randomness - after eight straight hours of college football....

2011 Year In Review

Its that time of year again(well, a little late actually) - time for the Zipper City Photo Year in Review. The fourth annual installment follows the same template as the last two years - my favorite, best, or most representative 2 photos from each month of the year. Check out the Review here!.

I forgot to include film shots in the review so a mini-film Year in Review is below!

Rust and Weeds

During a break at work Dave and I decided to go for a walk - I had wanted to see if one of the old tractors from Szalay's was still rotting away nearby. It was still there and in better condition than I would have imagined - those old Oliver's were built to last. I hadn't been back there in 7 years and expected it to be just a 'pile of tractor'. Unfortunately its on private property so we had to be a little sneaky and quick...its a shame this classic tractor is dying this long, slow death.  

Levee Building

I had a busy last-week-of-the-year so I didn't get to shoot or post as much as I would have liked. However, I did get my camera out at work a few times...these are photos of the levee we are building in Billy's Field.

All these photos were taken with the kit lens that came with my Canon 7D - the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. Being a cheaper, kit lens it has many weaknesses(such as a lack of sharpness and its prone to color fringing) but there is a certain quality I like about this lens - especially at the long end as in the above photos.  

Analog Beer

With my Canon 7D I can take a photo, do a few tweaks in Photoshop, and then upload it to Mpix.com and have some beautiful, colorful, high resolution prints in a few days. So why am I relearning how to develop Tri-X 35mm film and make prints in the dark room? I guess the answer is that it is a craft - something made by my own two hands.

Laura and I are attempting to homebrew our first batch of beer, an IPA, and I feel there is a pretty good analogy here. Yes, we can go buy a multitude of great IPA's at the store - but there will be something about drinking there beer we made ourselves. I'll let you know how it all turns out.....

Christmas Morning

On Christmas morning I took photos using my wide-angle lens and flash bounced off the ceiling and then I switched to my 50mm and natural light...but that is irrelevant - its all about family!!

The Presents!

Laura double-fisting!

Merry Christmas!

'Twas the Night.....

Happy Holidays!

I hadn't taken or posted any Christmas-like photos yet this year....so here ya go!

Above is an "Ornament Self-Portrait" and below is my "Holiday Bokeh".

I guess I should start my Christmas shopping now that these photos are out of the way....