HDR images from Mill Creek Park

These are some HDR images I shot while I was at Mill Creek Park.

Idea for a project

I am thinking about doing a series of images showing people in miniature settings. I decided to do a test image using two old pictures of me. This was the result. I would love some feedback on the image and the idea.

Rust Belt Photographers One Day Yo Photography Shoot Out Part 1

The Rust Belt Photographers organized an event to get a group of photographers together and shoot as a group. It was a great time with some great people. These are the first shots from the day.

Final Portrait Project Part 3

My final project for my Creative Portrait project was to photograph people telling stories, hoping to capture that true emotion that seeps out when you let your guard down.

Lightning Photography

I made my first attempt at lighting photography the other night. We had a really vivid storm move through and I have always wanted to try it so I grabbed my camera and headed outside. Since I did not want to get my camera wet and I was just experimenting I decided to shoot from my back porch. Most of the lightning occurred outside the view of the camera but I did manage to get this one shot. The origin of the bolt lines up quite nicely with the pillar on my back porch. Not the best composed image but I was mostly interested in staying dry and experimenting with technique. 

Since I was shooting digital and did not have a setting to use a shutter release cable I just set the exposure to 30 seconds with an f11 aperture. With the available light I would barely get an exposed image but one good bolt of lightning and I would have enough light for a good exposure. The only problem with this is two bolts would overexpose the image most likely. This did not happen so it is speculative on my part but it should happen. To counteract this I placed my hand over the lens after every bolt ensuring that I only got one bolt per image.

If I had been able to use a shutter release I could have just released the shutter after every bolt and advanced to the next image. I also would have been able to capture a few more bolts. I had one gorgeous bolt appear in the sky about one second after the 30 second exposure finished. I was a little saddened by this. It was not the most fun sitting outside hitting the shutter every 30 secs but the weather was nice and looking through the 50 images I shot to find this one bolt of lighting was well worth it.

Thanks to http://www.uscoles.com/howtolightn.htm for a quick guide to photographing lighting. If you want to try yourself be sure to check it out.

Final Intermediate Digital Project Part 7

My final project is designed to show a view of people from media. I am photographing people from the point of view of the media. 

Basic Camera Guide - ISO or ASA

I have decided to try and do more with my blog than just show my work. I am going to try and write some pieces that will focus on teaching a little bit about photography which will mostly be geared more toward new photographers.

My first learning guide is going to be about ISO or ASA. These are traditional terms left over from film that has translated into the digital age. ISO and ASA are interchangeable terms that mean the same thing. ISO is the name referred to by the International Organization for Standardization. ASA is the American Standards Association term. Both have been used in the past a fair amount. As the world community has become much more connected the term ISO has become the dominant term in the digital age. These terms used to represent the speed of film. A higher film speed translates into less light needed to create an image. The down side of this is that a higher film speed also means a loss of quality. Speeds are pretty much listed as a doubling effect. Many digital cameras can shoot with film speeds as low as 100 or even lower. As the film speed becomes faster the number doubles, 200, 400, 800, 1600,... and so on.

Probably the most common speed known is 400. Most film bought at a store is 400 speed. It is a pretty average film. It is okay in low light and okay in bright light without losing much quality. Sometimes though I have seen disposable cameras with a speed of 800. A 200 speed film with be higher quality but require more light. When shooting with flash or on a bright sunny day it will work well and give you a crisper image than if shooting 800. shooting at 1600 though will allow you to shoot in less light but you will get pixelation and loss of quality.

I hope this will help you to better understand what ISO or ASA is. Later I will be doing another post that will tell you more about how to use ISO in conjunction with shutter speed and aperture size to create a better image. If you have an questions or comments leave them in the box below. Let me know what you think of the article and tell me about your experiences with ISO.

Final Intermediate Digital Project Part 6

My final project is designed to show a view of people from media. I am photographing people from the point of view of the media. 

Final Intermediate Digital Project Part 5

My final project is designed to show a view of people from media. I am photographing people from the point of view of the media. 

Lightning Photography

I made my first attempt at lighting photography the other night. We had a really vivid storm move through and I have always wanted to try it so I grabbed my camera and headed outside. Since I did not want to get my camera wet and I was just experimenting I decided to shoot from my back porch. Most of the lightning occurred outside the view of the camera but I did manage to get this one shot. The origin of the bolt lines up quite nicely with the pillar on my back porch. Not the best composed image but I was mostly interested in staying dry and experimenting with technique. 

Since I was shooting digital and did not have a setting to use a shutter release cable I just set the exposure to 30 seconds with an f11 aperture. With the available light I would barely get an exposed image but one good bolt of lightning and I would have enough light for a good exposure. The only problem with this is two bolts would overexpose the image most likely. This did not happen so it is speculative on my part but it should happen. To counteract this I placed my hand over the lens after every bolt ensuring that I only got one bolt per image.

If I had been able to use a shutter release I could have just released the shutter after every bolt and advanced to the next image. I also would have been able to capture a few more bolts. I had one gorgeous bolt appear in the sky about one second after the 30 second exposure finished. I was a little saddened by this. It was not the most fun sitting outside hitting the shutter every 30 secs but the weather was nice and looking through the 50 images I shot to find this one bolt of lighting was well worth it.

Thanks to http://www.uscoles.com/howtolightn.htm for a quick guide to photographing lighting. If you want to try yourself be sure to check it out.

Final Portrait Project Part 2

My final project for my Creative Portrait project was to photograph people telling stories, hoping to capture that true emotion that seeps out when you let your guard down.

Final Portrait Project Part 3

My final project for my Creative Portrait project was to photograph people telling stories, hoping to capture that true emotion that seeps out when you let your guard down.

Final Portrait Project

My final project for my Creative Portrait project was to photograph people telling stories, hoping to capture that true emotion that seeps out when you let your guard down.