Spring Portraits #2

Another photo of Denise. 85mm, 1/250 sec at f/4. Light from an SB900 in a Lastolite octa from above camera right, background light from a blue gelled SB800.

Spring Portraits #1

The photo above was taken several weeks ago at Clear Lake Park. This is Denise, a relative of a fellow photo club member. For the past couple of years I've been experimenting with various lighting gels and placing objects in front of those lights to alter the color and texture. In this case the background was a very neutral cream colored metal building wall that I made blue with a blue gel on an SB800. I also placed a plastic box fan screen in front of the light. The effect wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but the color shift seemed to work well with Denise's blue blouse. Camera tilt to mimic the corrugated texture already on the wall. 1/250 sec at f/4, 85mm, main light from above camera right from an SB900 in a Lastolite octa.

Jekyll Island

The photo above was taken on a recent trip to Jekyll Island, Georgia. For three mornings in a row, I'd get up around 6:00 and drive to the north end of the island and shoot at Driftwood Beach. This was one of my first shots one day -- pre-dawn, just as color was starting to appear. The bumps you see in the middle of the image are jellyfish that had washed ashore during the night. Three frames merged together with Photomatix Pro, base exposure at 2.5 seconds at f/14.

Well-Used Kayaks

The photo above was taken on Amelia Island, Florida in March. I was killing time waiting for sunset on the west side of the island where many of the marshes and wetlands are, and stumbled on the scene you see here. The residents of this subdivision had a rack system where you could store your kayaks ... kind of like a bicycle rack for kayaks. I liked the color and texture so took a few frames. 1/50 sec at f/5.3, 92mm.

Little Blue Heron

Little blue heron in breeding plumage, Alligator Farm Rookery, St. Augustine, Florida. 300mm, 1/1000 sec at f/4.5.

In the Dunes on Amelia Island

Photo above was taken last month on Amelia Island, Florida. This was the second morning shoot at this location. The first was full of frustration and awful photos, no foreground objects, nothing really inspiring. Then I really did a dumb thing, out of sheer frustration I began playing with a neutral density filter, which made things even worse since I really haven't mastered that piece of gear. So as I dejectedly walked back to the hotel through the dunes, I came across these fences that I assume are there to promote dune building. I later saw some mostly covered to the top with sand. So the next morning I planted myself in front of the fences as the sun came up determined to get a better photo. 44mm at f/11, 3 bracketed photos at 2 EV apart. Merged together with Nik HDR Efex, further enhanced with Nik Color Efex 4.

Shriners Hospital

I was leaving work a little late last week after taking photos at a guest lecture and came up on the scene above -- Shriners Hospital in Galveston. Couldn't pass up the moment of getting an exterior shot since there is much cooperative research and care provided between the staff at Shriners and the Department of Surgery where I work. Seems like there is always a need for photos like these for Powerpoint presentations and other publicity-type efforts. 21mm, f/8 at 1/400 sec, -0.7 EV, perspective correction in Photoshop along with a touch of Nik Color Efex 4.