Icy Cold

Scott is not able to make it today so you guys get me! We have all sorts of switches going on at 3C1D. But hey that is why we stay flexible around here. I had to laugh when I read Jay'me's post from yesterday because getting this shot I had some "fun" things happen to me as well.


Nikon D2X
ISO-200
Aperture F/7.1
Shutter 1/60 sec.
38mm but I zoomed in and cropped
No Flash, Aperture Priority

I took this picture down the road from my house outside of Nauvoo Illinois at a small waterfall they have. I had wanted to practice taking some ice shots. I got the picture home knowing I was probably going to be changing the picture to black and white. I tried my bi-color filters and just kind of liked how it looked.

Taking pictures in chilly weather is a bit of an experiment as to what works and what doesn't. I took both my cameras with two different lens on them as well so I wouldn't have to be changing lens out in the cold. Now obviously waterfalls fall into streams and/or small pools so I had to walk gingerly across these icy pools and streams to get close enough to my waterfall. I had to slide down and/or gingerly climb down a small hillside as well, caring both my cameras and praying to God that I didn't drop or bang them against something. I tried to stay as close to the edge as I could, which is usually safer. Everything went quite well until I had finished my picture taking. I was getting cold and wanting to head back to my car. Wouldn't you know it, that is when I stepped on a soft spot in the ice and my foot fell into several inches of icy cold water. Brrrr!! My supposedly waterproof boots, well they weren't so waterproof.

So there you have it, my connection to Jay'me is in the ice and in the story behind it. What we won't do to get a picture for all you folks to enjoy! Would love to hear any of your stories about crazy things that happened to while getting that "perfect" shot.

Not sure who is up tomorrow, but I am outta here for tonight.
Sere

Fall is Coming....

I wanted to get everybody into the fall colors mode with this picture. I love being in the midwest during the fall season, the colors are always so absolutely gorgeous! I know the east is supposed to have the "best" fall colors but I think I would have to argue with that :0).

Nikon D90
Lens 18-200mm at 48mm
Aperture f7.1
Shutter Speed 1/125 sec.
ISO 200
Natural Lighting

This was taken at Copper Falls State Park outside of Mellen, Wisconsin up near Lake Superior. The whole area is gorgeous with tons of waterfalls and rivers to peruse. The colors were at their prime while we were there and I have several other fall color shots taken from the area but this one ties in well with Scott's water shot from yesterday. Where he was HOT, we were on the COLD side although this day was gorgeous.

I was trying to figure out how to get the waterfall which was in shadows, along with the bright blue sky. As you can see I ended up blowing out the beautiful blue sky in order to get the water.

I hope this gets you all revved up for fall color. It does for me, so get those cameras out and start shooting!!! I can't wait to see what Jay'me comes up with for Friday Faces tomorrow. Enjoy!

Anything For a Friend Part Deux

Canon 30d
Canon 24-70 f2.8L
Shutter 2.5, 1, and 0.5
f22.0
ISO 100
Focal Length 24mm
Natural Light

This evening you get another round of Scott. Jay'me is traveling with her family and literally cannot get to a computer. I'm sure she took plenty of photos during her time in Florida and I look forward to seeing them! In the meantime, I'll pinch hit with this photo of the falls at McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer Indiana.

These falls are magical for some reason. I spent a lot of time here with my family as a boy and again this summer as a father. You can't tell from this picture but you can actually climb right up the falls! I've done it and someday, my boys will too. This time around, E built rock houses in the shadow of the falls and B just tried to stay on his feet. It's just one of those magical places from my life that I wanted to capture and share. Now, finally, I'm able to do that. On to the techie stuff.

The connection is the technique I used in the previous post called HDR or high dynamic range. In technical terms, dynamic range is the ratio between the maximum and minimum measurable light intensities (white and black respectively). The human eye is fantastic with dynamic range. We can apparently see the difference between "cotton white" and "snow white" and 100 other whites (according to Benjamin Moore). Cameras have limitations and it's one of the many reasons one camera is better than another (read: MORE EXPENSIVE!!!). Thankfully, for those of us without money trees, the digital era has ushered in software to enhance dynamic range.

You will notice I listed 3 separate shutter speeds above (2.5 seconds, 1 second, and .5 seconds). This is where the process begins. It's very important to mention that each photo must be as much like the previous in composition as possible. I accomplished this with a good tripod, a remote shutter, and mirror locked in the up position. Even the slightest movement can cause major headaches later. Continuing with the shutter speed explanation, the effect of taking 3 identical shots with different exposures is that I have one adequately showing detail in the shadows (at the expense of the highlights), one showing adequate details in the highlights (at the expense of the shadows), and one average exposure.

The next step is to combine all three exposures with the goal of good detail in both the highlights and the shadows. One can do this with only 2 images but I used 3 this time. You need software to accomplish this and I used Picturenaut, a freeware program anyone can use. There are many others and I'm sure they are great. I'm just starting with this and I find Picturenaut to be both user friendly and highly effective.

Once you've combined the exposures it's time to edit the photo. Picturenaut spits out a TIFF file, which means it's huge. I think this one was 47mb. The good news about the TIFF format is that it's a loss-less file format, meaning you can edit like crazy, save like crazy, and as long as it's still a TIFF, you are not losing information. JPEG's don't do that. They compress each time you save thus losing information - something to keep in mind. Moving on, once I was done tweaking contrast, white balance, and sharpness, I saved it as a JPEG for posting and poof, out comes another HDR photo. It's such a blast playing with HDR! I strongly recommend it.

I should also mention that when taking photos of water a slow shutter speed is often precisely the ticket. This is how you create the smooth effect of the falls and anyone can do it with a good tripod.

Though I simplified the process a bit for the sake of brevity it really is rather simple as long as you set-up well. Like any photo, the best time to do things right is before you take the shot. Alright, that's it for now folks. Have a great week and try to notice something new!

Scott

PS - I broke the rules again...DARN IT! Not going to re-post at this point
PPS - Hope you made it home safe Jay'me! Can't wait for your next post.