Seattle Space Needle

This photo was taken back in April on our trip to Seattle. Like most days we were there, it was cool and overcast. As we walked through the park near the Space Needle, I looked up and thought this was an interesting take on the landmark -- through the barren trees.

Connection

The photo above was taken earlier this spring at the beach during an engagement shoot with Shannon and Rene. Yes, at the beach. I shot it at f/2, so the water was just about nonexistent in the background in the original file, just a hint of blue. Me being me, I shifted the colors pretty heavily -- a few color grading layers, some blur/flare overlays and some bokeh texture blended in. I entered it in the Bay Area Photo Club's June assignment for "Connection." 1/4000 sec at f/2, ISO 200, 85mm, no flash, all ambient light.

Roxann #2

More experiments with color grading, back light and flare in postproduction. Lighting at the scene was from an SB800 in a 16" Cowboy Studio beauty dish from high camera right at about 1/4 power. 1/250 sec at f/4, 85mm, ISO 100.

Roxann #1

I got together with some members of the Bay Area Photo Club last weekend and did some portraits of Roxann Hales at Clear Lake Park. The photo above was taken near the church with some moderate backlight. One thing I've been experimenting with lately is color grading with curves adjustments to individual color channels. I think it helped this photo a lot. I also stumbled on a web site called Paintcandy Photography Art Tools, and used one of their freebie lens flare overlays here. Definitely added a lot of drama to the existing backlighting.

Ruby Beach

Another photo from Ruby Beach on the Washington coast. I've been comparing Nik HDR Efex and Photomatix for exposure blending. This one's with Photomatix -- 3 exposures blended, then enhanced with Nik Color Efex.

Sol Duc Waterfall

The photo above was taken on my hike up to Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park last month. Interesting trip -- snow, rain, and water everywhere. After stopping briefly at the main falls at the top of the trail, where it was raining heavily and there was spray everywhere, I decided to move further down the trail and shoot at this smaller stream falls. This was taken from a bridge with the falls running underneath. It was still raining pretty heavily here. You can see the wet rocks along the side, and snow in the upper corners. 0.6 sec at f/22, -0.7 EV, 22mm.

Snowy Egret in the Wild

The Bay Area Photo Club made a field trip to Brazos Bend State Park on May 4. This was my first trip there. The photo above, while probably not a thing of beauty, is a pretty interesting study on how snowy egrets feed. The bird would fly from one edge of the marsh to the other -- probably 4-5 feet -- and hover slightly and drop into the water trying to get a meal. Interesting behavior, something you don't see much in a more coastal environment. 1/1600 sec at f/6.3, -0.7 EV, 300mm, ISO 200.