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Showing posts from 2008

33 - Happy New Year

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Canon 5DmkII, 24-70mm at 70mm, iso 100, 1sec at f/22, +CPL

32 - Its Not All Sunshine

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Click to see complete image. Canon 5DmkII 20mm iso100, 1/30 at f/8, +CPL

31 - Shooting Stars

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Canon 5DmkII 20mm, iso1600, 30sec at f/2.8 Thought I'd share this lucky shot. While I was doing a night test, I hope to publish the results soon I caught the meteorite in this image. This is one of the best settings for this camera with the 20mm f2.8 lens

29 - 30 Bracket

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This is the bracket used for 29 & 30. The bracket is an aluminum "U" from an old water filter. In the bottom hole I bolted a simple tripod ball head. The camera strap, I use a wrist strap is locked in the top hole as security. The shutter release is taped on. The only real camera risk is to capsize the boat.

30 - Beauty Overhead # 4

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Click to see complete image. Canon 40D, 10-22mm at 12mm, iso200, 1/1000sec at f/3.5,+CPL Camera on leeward side.

29 - Beauty frm Overhead # 3

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Click to see complete image Canon 40D, 10-22mm at 12mm, iso200, 1/1000sec at f/3.5,+CPL Camera mounted at the top of the mast, homemade bracket with a Canon Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3. The time was set with a 10 min delay (to raise the mast and get underway), 1 minute interval (took a picture every minute) for 80 frames (only took about 30 to excited to stay out any longer). This was the second test run the first run I set the interval to long and didn't sinc my watch, so we never knew when the shutter went. This has no processing. The water, about 6 to 8 ft deep is that clear. Photographer driving, model on deck.

28 - Beauty from Overhead # 2

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Canon 5DII, 24 -70mm at 70mm, iso 100 1/45sec at f/4.5, +CPL

27 - Beauty from Overhead # 1

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Canon 5DII, 24 -70mm at 70mm, iso 100 1/45sec at f/4.5, +CPL

26 - No Fear of Flying

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Canon 5DII, 20mm 1/350sec at f/5.6 iso 400, +CLP This is our time of the year, down here in South Florida.

25 - Its a Walk in the Park

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Canon 5DII, 20mm 1/125 at f/4.5, iso 400, +CLP I am so blessed to have this park, Fairchild Tropical Park so close by. It is an amazing place, I've been photographing here for a couple of years and it has taught me a great deal. Figuring out this blogosphere is going to be harder than I had imagined. I must not forget its a self study, an open diary, a journal with some feedback. I am starting to understand what my major is going to be, as I know now the minor is photography. I do know one thing a creative writing course would sure help!

24 - Morning Sun Light

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Canon 40D, 10 - 22mm at 10mm, iso 100, 1/2sec @ f/8, +CPL

23 - The Fleets

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Canon 5D mrk II, 20mm, iso 200, 1/60 sec at f/6.7, +CLP

22 - Many, many Islands

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Click to see complete image. Canon 40D, 10- 22mm at 10mm, iso 3200, 30sec at f/3.5 In camera noise reduction. Always loved astronomy since my first 3 inch refractor telescope at 10 years old, the equipment is much better now. I like this image for the accindental red glow from my red headlamp and the green from the inside lights. The only post processing on this was to skew the house back into something a little more square. This image was taken in Eleuthera, Bahamas very little light and air polution. Another star image can be seen at TJ's Thoughts , he used a Canon 5D and the faster 24-70mm 2.8 lens. TJ has given a detailed account of how to take this type of shot, take a look.

21 - Floating through Sundown

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Canon 40D 70 - 200 mm at 70mm, 1/350 at f/9, iso 100, +CLP

20 - Wave Fun

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Canon 40D, 70-200mm w/2X shot at 400mm, iso200, 1/1000sec at f8, +CLP - click to view complete image While in Eleuthera, Bahamas I caught this surfer doing his thing.

19 - More HDR Images

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Canon 40D, 24 70mm at various mm & f, iso 400, +CLP, AEB -2,0,+2 , All hand held. More HDR images, this time I took a group of about 50 different images. 3 different exposures (-2,0,+2) for each image. Set the camera in Low-speed continuous mode to capture all images from the same point. Tripod of course will make these sharper. What I wanted to test was the batch processing part of Photomatrix Pro 3.0 and I can report it worked flawlessly and was very easy to configure. I used the Batch process to process all at one time. Took about 40 minutes of unattended computer time, about 75% of the images required no more processing. The images shown here came right out of PP 3.0 . I would love comments about this HDR program or any other.

18 - HDR Images

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Canon 40D, 10-22mm at various mm, iso200, all with CLP, all hand held. Shot in (AEB) auto exposure bracket mode -2,0,+2. Then processed in Photomatrix 3.0, no further processing. I like extending the dynamic range of my sensor and have been experimenting with HDR processing. These three images were shot on a cloudless day around 1:00pm. As you can see from the watermark on the images I'm using the trial version of Photomatrix Pro 3.0. So far I tried CS3, Dynamic Photo HDR and Photomatrix 3.0. I like this program the best so far. I would love any comments, experience, likes, dislikes, etc...

17.3 - Biscayne Bay Series

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Click to see complete image Canon 40D, 70-200mm at 90mm, iso100, 1/180 sec at f/8, +CLP Shoot northeast over the Atlantic ocean about an hour before sunset. This is one those times that your glad your there regardless of the photography.

17.2 - Biscayne Bay Series

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Click to see complete image. Canon 40D, 70-200mm at 140mm, iso100, 1/250sec at f/4, +CLP Skies take on an intensity when weather is nearby, this weather was still 200miles away but hurricanes have a very long reach. For my landscape work I'm paying more attention to weather and weather patterns. The houses in the image are part of Biscayne National Park they were privately owned until 1999. The lighthouse at Cape Florida is one of the oldest structures in Florida.

17.1 - Biscayne Bay Series

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Click to see complete image Canon 40D, 70-200mm at 200mm, iso100, 1/250sec at f/4.5, +CPL Late afternoon light with hurricane Paloma (cat 3) 200 miles south, the clouds popping up at the clear horizon caught my eye. First image in series of three.

16 - Always Spring in South Florida

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Canon 40D, 24-70mm at 50mm, iso100, 1/250 sec at f/2.8 My friend and fellow blogger TJ Avery has written a wonderful blog on the new Mindful Eye and Mike's Journal . If you've found your way here and have not seen these sights do yourself a photography favor and check them out.

15 - Clown-in Around

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Canon 40D, 24-70mm at 70mm, iso100, 1/60sec @ f/2.8 +CLP Happy Halloween

14 - Nature's Ever Changing Show

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Canon 40D, 10-22mm at 10mm, iso 100 1/20 sec at f/8, + CLP As you can see the same location as Post 13. Just 12 hours apart "post 13" sunset and "post 14" sunrise. I had not planned on shooting the same image, but when the sun broke through the storm I ran to this location with the thought of comparing the two. The feeling of sunset was warm and joyful, so different than the cold morning storm headed your way.

13 - Nature's Show

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Canon 40D, 10-24mm at 10mm, iso 100, 1/3 sec at f16 -1/2EV, +CLP Close to my style, clouds, ocean with a reflection from the above to below. This made me smile when it showed itself.

12 - My Definition of Perfection

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Canon 40D 10-22mm at 22mm, iso 100, 1/90 sec at f4.5 +CLP The perfect storm for a great evening. Sunset on Biscayne Bay with skating light shining on a sloop sailing below the fullmoon and of course four beautiful friends on the bow of the catamaran. I wasn't going to post this but after reading " Finding Your Photographic Style " by TJ Avery I felt that it more reflected my style and who I am better than the other image I was going to post. If you are looking for your style or just want to try and figure out who you are I encourage you to read TJ's article. This article very much reflects the name of my blog Svadhyaya which in sanskrit means "self study". I picked this name as this is a very important aspect of my yoga practice and I know that with continued practice in photograph that too will help me on my journey. Thanks TJ for your svadhyaya...

11 - Color

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Canon 40D 70 -200mm at 70mm, iso 100, 1/2000 sec @ f2.8 This is an image with my favorite color. What color is it? I thought about making the image not so obvious, but the answer is there. First a strong B&W subject, but Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum ; they absorb all such frequencies of light. White is the color of objects that reflect all parts of the visible spectrum. Sorry for the science. Next you see the reds, oranges and yellows they appear to move toward you. NO, not any of them. And last the touch of blue, hopefully the last color you see in the image. Thanks for taking the journey.

9a - Position Revised

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Photo by Craig Tanner on the Grand Teton Workshop. Canon 1 DS MarkII , 16 -35mm at 32mm, iso 400, 1/250sec @ f5.6. Let me start with the greatest of gratitude to Craig Tanner . Craig has helped me grow as a photographer , artist and human. His ability to communicate both his understanding of photography and the creative process makes him a unique and inspiring teacher. If you have an opportunity to take one of his workshops, by all means take it. Craig sent to me this image of me taking image # 9 - Position. I thought I would include it to clarify my description of how the image was taken.

10 - The Spotlight

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Canon 40D 70-200mm @ 70mm, iso 100 1/4sec at f13 Cropped to Panoramic This image is of course about light and how it can define your subject so easily. What made this possible was camera location, I had hiked up the side of a hill about 100ft. The additional height brought more of the mountain range in view and gave the image more depth. In addition the yellow leaves with the blue mountains and sky gives it color depth. When the setting sun cut through and lit up the aspens that was all I needed.

9 - Position

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Canon 40D 24 -70mm at 24mm, iso 100, 1/15sec at f5.6 Another beautiful setting with the Grand Tetons as a background. Again many photographers jocking for a good position to capture the light up of the mountains with an interesting foreground. As the corners and windows of the log cabins had crowds, I looked for another angle. At this cabin the wall in the back had partially collapsed alloying me to climb to the top of the wall, I managed to stabilize my tripod on the beams and then capture this image.

8 - Quiet Lake

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Canon 40D 10-22mm @ 10mm, iso 100, 1/20sec f6 + CPL This image is another from the Radiant Vista workshop at Grand Tetons. This breaks the horizontal mid image rule, I think it works because of the tree line and rocks in the lower right. The lesson for me about this site was finding this location. Our instructor, Craig Tanner brought us to this site based on his previous scouting and what the sky was doing, it would not have worked at many of the other locations. Being in the right place at the right time is not luck!

7 - Road to.....

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Canon 40D 10-22mm at 22mm, iso 100, 1/4 sec f8, + CLP I took this image on the Teton workshop at the first site the group visited. It was very significant for me and helped set my style and mode for the entire workshop. The back story on this was the 50 photographers 100 yards down this road crowded around the front of a log house with the Tetons in the background, THE SHOT. Although this will never be as famous as the log house it is a good image in terms of line, color and texture. It got me started on my creative process, which starts by leaving the crowd to think on my own. I did not realize it at the time but group creativity is never better than singles working alone, this thought comes from an article named "Capturing Creativity" by Robert Epstein google it. Back to the image, what caught my eye was the yellow leaves against the blue road and then the line they formed. I will quite often look for "line" when I'm in a creative stuck zone. Comment

Changing Direction

I have just returned from a photography workshop at the Grand Tetons. The workshop was taught by Craig Tanner of Radiant Vista soon to be "The Mindful Eye". Craig is a great teacher that is able to communicate his journey with photography. I say it that way because with Craig you get much more than a how to workshop. You are offered new ways to look at nature and life. If you listen carefully Craig will give you the tools to turn your photography into your art. This is my second workshop with Craig and Radiant Vista. The first was Death Valley in February 2008, which was equally as inspiring as this last one. I learned how to take great images, but was not ready to integrate other aspects of the creative process. Because of the experience of last week I am changing the direction of this blog and hopefully becoming truer to the title of Svadhyaya (Self Study). In future blogs I will attempt to describe my process of discovery in the hopes that I might help a fellow beginn

6 - Stiltsville

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Canon 40D 70-200mm IS @ 110mm iso 100 1/250sec at f 6.7 This image was taken from a small boat on the eastern edge of Biscayne Bay, South Florida. This area, called Stiltsville is part of Biscayne National Park. The homes here (7 left) were originally private, but lost their leases in 1999. The early structures, around 1920 were places to avoid Prohibition and other illegal behavior. Hurricanes have removed all but the remaining 7 homes which are now used as weekend stops.

5 - Safe Harbour

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Canon 40D 10-24mm @ 10mm, 1/60sec @ f8 +CLP Local marina just before weather and sunset.

4 - Barack Obama at U of M

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Canon 40D 200mm IS iso400, 1/250sec @ f2.8 Obama at the Women for Obama rally Univ. of Miami Sept 19, 2008

3 - Waiting

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Canon 40D EF 24-70mm @ 65mm iso 100, 2sec @ f16 +CLP&ND The eastern shoreline of Eleuthera, Bahamas is were the action is. Its amazing there is any shoreline left anywhere with the beating that it takes.

2 - Twin Sisters

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Canon 40D 10mm 1/3sec @ f19 +CLP&ND A beautiful beach on the west coast of Eleuthera, Bahamas right before sunset. On the way home I saw the clouds from the road and knew something would line up.

1 - Salt Circle

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Canon 40D 10-24mm @ 10mm iso 100, 1/4sec @ f8 + CLP I have shoot in this area many times. This area usually has seawater in it and it makes a nice reflecting pool. This time the water had evaporated leaving the salt. This is the beginning of my blog, it will start slow as I find my direction. I thank everyone and apologize for similarity between this blog and your blog. I've taken some ideas that I've liked and tried to add some of my own.