Timothy's Photography

Hazy Hills

2009-10-08T00:14:00.000-07:00

Still playing with this blog, too busy to post very often but I just recently printed this picture out in A3 size and have it hanging in my room.

I took it on August 31 from my son's deck in Vernon. The haze is from a forest fire that was burning in the Kamloops area and the wind had drifted it all through the Okanagan.

I converted it to black and white and then used the duotone feature in Photoshop. This is actually a quadtone.

What I like about it? The simple lines and the overall look with the hills just visible through the haze. The one thing I don't think I like? The gap between the trees and the bushes. My eye goes to that gap.

I shot it using my 70-200 Canon lens at 200mm and 1/500 @ f7.1, ISO 125. Taken about 2:00 in the afternoon.

*It does make a nice new header picture, though.*

October Wallpaper

2009-09-18T23:08:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been awhile since I posted on this blog no one reads, but I have been to Ontario for my son's wedding at the end of July, back to work for a month and then my 22 days off that just ended. I haven't had much time to do much. I had a lot of photos to process from the wedding week and then just seem to have been busy.

I never made a September wallpaper and it seems a little bit late to do so but here is one for October that I took recently from the deck at my son's place in Vernon. I thought the clouds were pretty cool. A 1000x667 size can be found in this album.

Here's a funny mistake I made while working on this picture. I cropped it to 1000x667 and Photoshop took forever to do it. I was annoyed at the program or the computer, whatever was causing the lengthy delay. I left the computer and let it do it's thing and came back a while later and it was finished. But, it was huge and I'm going "d'oh, what did I do?" I checked the settings and had forgot to change it to pixels from inches so it create this multi-gigabyte file that was 1000 inches by 667 inches. No wonder it took so long. I fixed it up and it cropped in it's usual fast time and I was just laughing at myself. It wasn't the computer, or the program but the operator. Oh well, live and learn.

RAW and B&W Shooting

2009-08-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

My passion for black and white is growing in leaps and bounds. From landscapes to people to anything, I am experimenting with it and trying to learn as much as I can about it and about printing because that is the final output which is more gratifying to me than simply posting on the net.

One thing that most experts agree on is that you should shoot in color and convert to black and white in Photoshop or whatever image manipulation program one uses. That way, all the data is there and this allows for greater flexibility when converting to black and white.

What had me a bit perplexed (just a bit) is how that relates to shooting in RAW. Most cameras have the option to shoot in black and white but, in my mind, if you shoot in RAW that shouldn't make any difference except that the picture you see on you camera screen would be black and white. I'm thinking that this could be a good thing because it would give you an idea of what the image would look like in black and white. But, since RAW captures everything it seemed to me that when you brought it into your software, it would be in color and you would still need to convert although I have never read this anywhere.

So, I went out this evening and gave it a try. I put the camera in black and white mode (still in RAW) and took a bunch of shots of whatever was between here and the video store we walked to in order to return a movie. The screen of the camera showed the pictures in black and white. When I got home I imported the movies into Adobe Bridge and when they came up, as I thought, they were in color.

Just a note here for those who shoot in JPEG, this won't work since the camera converts the RAW file in its own software according to what mode you tell it to, ie. black and white.

This presents an interesting option when I am planning to shoot specifically for black and white conversion because now the viewfinder can give me a general idea of what the final conversion might look like.

Above are two of the shots I took on my little walk and converted to black and white. After conversion, I then use the quadtone option in Photoshop to give a richer look to the image. Sometimes it helps, sometimes not. I also convert using the black and white adjustment layer. The pictures are within 2 1/2 blocks of where I live. On the surface, a boring area but with, I think, some interest to be found. All in all, it was a good exercise and, though I didn't care about what I captured, I ended up with these two shots that I kind of like.

August Wallpaper

2009-08-01T14:58:00.001-07:00

Whew! It has been a busy month since I last posted. I spent a lot of time working on a slide show for my son's wedding to his new bride. The show had 400 plus photos and was about 15 minutes long. I used a new program and it was just very time consuming. In fact, I finished it up about 2:00 a.m. on the day of the wedding/reception.

Of course, my wife and I also traveled to Ontario for the wedding and included a visit with my brother and his family in Oshawa before moving on to Peterborough for the wedding festivities.

I grabbed this picture just after we got off the commuter train in Oshawa. 12 of us had travelled to Toronto for a Blue Jays game as part of a stag party for my son. I thought it would make a good August wallpaper.

1/1000 at f5.6, ISO 100, 72 mm focal length, processed in Topaz Adjust for the HDR look.

Just some Fun

2009-06-29T01:02:00.001-07:00

I was just messing around a bit this evening with a cloud photo I took a few days ago. I mirrored the cloud and cropped it for the look I wanted and then played around with the filters in photoshop and really liked what the plastic wrap filter did to it. So here it is. I did a whole bunch of other stuff before I got to this point, like converting to black and white and then using a duotone on it. I got the darker looks from using multiply on one layer and then using a layer mask to make the center even darker.

I'm too tired to look up the camera specs, plus the computer is reacting to the big file this became in photoshop and is running a bit slow.

Hope you enjoy my "artful" endeavor.

Black and White

2009-06-25T20:33:00.001-07:00

I like black and white. This is from the shoot I did of my daughter and grandson a few days ago. As good as I think it looks on screen, it printed up even better on some Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta.

I converted to black and white in Photoshop using the black and white adjustment, then switched it to grayscale and used a quadtone present to get some richness to the image.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 38 mm (which is about a 61mm equivalent with the 1.6 crop factor), 1/60 @ f5, ISO 100.

Lighting info: I set up in a room upstairs in my daughter's house. Camera right had a window with light coming in so I used my 5 in 1 reflector using just the diffuser to let some softer light shine through. Behind the camera was another window that had light streaming in. I draped a white bedsheet over my daughters bowflex to soften that light. Then I used a Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox with my Vivitar flash shooting through it.

Who is a Real Photographer?

2009-06-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

No picture today, been busy doing other stuff like printing some 4x6s for my daughter and in between, installing some transition pieces on the new flooring I recently put down.

There is a great post by David duChemin on the definition of a photographer and some great comments following. It's a good read and raises an interesting subject.

Here's some further thoughts on it. As I mentioned above, I installed some flooring recently. It maybe doesn't make me a flooring expert but certainly a DIYer.

When I worked in the warehouse at the mill I told my kids I was a professional driver. Technically, I was because I got paid to drive around the warehouse getting paper rolls for loading. Certainly not on the level of a Formula One driver, but what defines professional versus amateur? Mainly, in my opinion, getting paid for it. The term doesn't define the skill or skill level. An amateur golfer/football player/photographer/floorer may well have the same skill levels or higher that the pros do, but don't get paid for it.

I consider myself an amateur photographer, a hobbyist, whatever. I have been trying to take it to a higher level by learning about lighting, etc. and buying additional equipment. But, I'm not really interested, at this point, in making it all a business with all the pressure, etc.

Just some additional thoughts.

Seth Triptych

2009-06-23T17:30:00.001-07:00

I've been busy the last few days but I had thought that these three shots of my grandson Seth would make a good triptych and I mentioned it to my wife and she thought it would be a great gift for a baby shower for my daughter. So, I threw it together and sized it to basically a 16x20 size and printed it out and put it in a frame I had sitting around. My daughter loved it and I was quite happy with how it all turned out.

I was thinking last night that I could have fancied up the text and done it in color, etc. but I like the basic black text. Suits the black background, I think.

Photoshop makes it all quite easy for this simple one.

It's a great hobby!

Pocket Wizards and a Self-Portrait

2009-06-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

The pocket wizards that I've had on order for some time finally arrived the other day and here they are, taken in natural light through an open door, sitting on a white piece of normal paper.

All they do for me at the moment is get rid of the cord which isn't that big a deal when shooting in close proximity to the subject or when the camera is on a tripod. But it will be nice to be shed of the cord.

Even though I don't have a TTL flash, which means I can't take full advantage of these puppies, the small size and the ability to mount the transmitter and receiver directly to the camera or flash is a great plus and is probably what sold me.

I set up my Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox today to take some shots of the only model I could find available, me. I did have some trouble getting the TT5 set up because the shoe is offset a bit and it was just a bit difficult to get everything to work. I'll have to make some kind of mods to the Ezybox system to facilitate this but I still managed to get it working okay.

So, here is one of the shots I took. I bought this straw fedora for $10 a couple of weeks ago solely because I wanted to take some pics of me wearing it. I really wanted some sunglasses to wear as well but couldn't find any cheap ones that I liked. (I normally wear glasses so don't have any sunglasses.

It took me awhile to get the lighting the way I liked and most of the shots were opposite to this one. I changed up just for a few with the flash on camera left. One Vivitar flash through a Stofen Omnibounce and then through the Ezybox on Camera left. On Camera right I had a 30" reflector propped up on a highchair to bounce some light onto the left side of my face.

The background was a wrinkled white sheet and I had another Vivitar flash attached to a slave firing behind it. This blew out most of the wrinkles and the couple remaining were dealt with in Photoshop. A bit of adjustment was done in Camera Raw and a bit of softening of my old skin in Photoshop and I cropped it to a square format.

The PocketWizards worked flawlessly. I thought I had a problem towards the end of my shoot when the odd time the flash wouldn't fire but then I discovered that the batteries were pretty much done in the flash.

Other Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 70mm, 1/250 @ f6.3, ISO 100, Manual mode.

Family Photo Shoot

2009-06-15T13:20:00.001-07:00

My daughter wanted some more formal pictures of her and her husband, Bryce and their new son, Seth so we did a shoot last night.

This one is just a fun one taken when Bryce took the soother out of Seth's mouth and put it in his mouth. I thought it would be fun to apply some Topaz Adjust filter work to it and this is what came out.

I like it.

The photos were all taken using one light off camera through my new Lastolite Ezybox softbox using a Vivitar flash.

Grandson Seth Quadtone

2009-06-14T00:57:00.000-07:00

I took this picture just the other day. I had my wife (Grandma) walk over to the window to get light on Seth's face and took 4 shots, two which turned out.

Since I've been playing with duotones and tritones and quadtones, I applied a quadtone preset in Photoshop to this shot.

It all comes down to personal preference. I like this one.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 89mm, 1/30 @ f6.3.

Further on Pictures I Like Most

2009-06-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here are two treatments of the same image, both of which I like, but which reflect something of the experimental nature of digital photography.

I took this picture the summer of 2007, when my digital SLR was just a bit over a month new to me. Here is the anonymous person, a young girl playing in the sand at Lightning Lake in Manning Park, B.C.

This picture combines two aspects of what I have mostly shot, people and nature. I love this shot. It shows the fun and enjoyment of a day at the lake. She's doing something. The hat is great. I just like it, a lot.

As to the experimental nature of photography. I had not done anything with this until I started playing around with the Topaz Adjust filter and started looking back to find pictures that suited this look. It is one option available to make the picture pop.

This treatment, on the other hand, I did just a couple of days ago and is the result of starting to play around with duotones and tritones and split-tones. This one is actually a split tone done in Adobe Camera Raw with some vignetting also done in ACR. What appeals to me here is the old-fashioned look to the picture, something that could be out of my childhood in the late 50's.

It's all in what you like and what appeals to you at a certain point in time. The great part is all the options one has today without having to spend hours in a darkroom with all the chemicals. Something, by the way, I always wanted to do but never had the opportunity. It's why I now love this digital darkroom stuff so much. Experimentation. It's fun.

Another Shot I Kind of Like

2009-06-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another grabbed shot from my trip to Powell River last week. I kind of like this one although I wish I had done a couple of things different. First, this is an extreme crop of the original, so I wish I had been able to be closer. As it is I'm zoomed all the way out to 200mm on this shot. I also wish I had been at f4 instead of f8 because I wish the background clutter was blurred.

But still, it is a candid shot. She is talking to an older gentleman who I would have possibly included in the crop but for an ugly yellow power pole guide wire that slices across part of him.

The shot does illustrate what I am starting to realize that I like a lot. Candid, informal. Her smile tells me she is enjoying her conversation and is relaxed and happy at that moment. Kind of neat, I think.

Obviously, I've got some work to do in getting where I seem to want to go, but it's a start.

I used my split tone preset in Camera Raw and then added a bit of noise in Photoshop.

Why I Like It!

2009-06-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I said that I would try and see if I could figure out why I like this picture so much. Not sure I can do justice to it but let me try for a bit.

When I look at some of the other pictures I like most, they all have people in it, mostly people that are not aware that a picture is being taken. It is kind of like candid street photography which is a legitimate form in itself and is most often seen in journalistic endeavors. While I am still new enough at it that I'm a bit embarrassed if I am noticed, I think the time will come when I can stop and talk with the person and explain what I am trying to do. But the best is getting a shot without being noticed because you catch all the candor of what is happening.

Now, if it descends to the level of paparazzi, or begins to invade privacy then that becomes a different matter, but I'm getting away from the main topic.

The shot above appeals to me on several levels and I was pretty lucky to get it and like it because I only took one shot. The engagement with the unknown person in the car that she is talking too, the interesting poles strapped to her back. I happen to know that they are oars because I paid attention as she walked by. The line of mirrors that lead you into the picture is appealing. Even the out of focus look makes the picture work for me better than if it had been crystal clear. Where is she headed? What is she doing? What is she talking about? All interesting to me. I'm not sure why. I just enjoy the candidness of the scene.

Picture preparation makes a picture, too. The colors were pretty muted in this. Lighting wasn't great since it was bright, almost noontime sun, so it seemed perfect for black and white with some split toning look to it.

Well, I really haven't answered the question. Obviously, I don't really know what appeals to me other than that it is unposed and unexpected. Over the next few days I'll try and post some other pictures that have a similar appeal to me. Some, I may have posted here before, but nobody visits this blog anyway so this is mostly for my own benefit and my own search for vision.

Finding One's Vision

2009-06-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

I have been reading David duChemin's new book, Within the Frame, The Journey of Photographic Vision and it has got me thinking about what I want to do with this hobby of mine. I had thoughts at one time of making it a business, but I don't think that is what it is all about for me. One of the things that is suggested by pros like David is to pick out your favorite shots. The pictures you like the best, and then analyze them to see the similarities, differences, etc. and this might help define what you like shooting the best and help point you towards your personal vision of photography.

I know, it all sounds kind of hokey to those who just want snapshots, and I take a lot of them, too, especially of my grandkids. I've got a bit of lighting gear, although not as much experience with it as I should considering the money I've spent. I've got one great lens that I use a lot and I'm thinking of purchasing at least one more great lens, certainly before upgrading the camera, or buying any more lighting gear.

But, to get back to the point I'm trying to get at, as I look and think about my favorite shots, there are some landscapes that I like, but I think I enjoy the candid, unexpected people shots the best. Consider this shot that I took last Friday and posted a version of the other day.

I really like this shot. I was sitting in my truck in the ferry terminal, waiting to go to Powell River and finally pulled the camera out to take some shots that had caught my eye. I saw this scene in my passenger side rear-view mirror and tried to take a shot. The camera focused on the mirror, not the image in the mirror and the shot ended up blurred like this. But, I really like it. I wasn't really happy with the cropping in the picture I posted the other day, so I recropped and like this one better. The only other work on it was using the split-toning panel in Adobe Camera Raw to get this look.

Now, the real question is why do I like it so much. Tomorrow, I'll try and find the time to answer that question (if I can figure out what the answer actually is.)

Colors in Coombs II

2009-06-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

The Old Country Market in Coombs sells all kinds of things from different foods and sauces, cheeses, vegetables, breads and a lot of non-food items including these colorful paper lanterns that are hanging from the ceiling throughout the store.

Again, it's the colors that appeal to me and make the shot.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 70mm, 1/13 @ f4, ISO 400.

Colors in Coombs

2009-06-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

We took a short trip to Coombs, about 20 minutes from where we live. It has some neat stores, the main one being the Old Country Market. It has goats on the roof.

Right next door is the Coombs Emporium with several more stores. As I wandered around the area, there was a store selling these outfits for women and these were on display. The models aren't stunning, but the colors are and that's what attracted me to this shot. Tomorrow, I'll have another shot of some colorful stuff inside the Old Country Market.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 150mm, 1/50 @ f8, ISO 100.

Picture Choices

2009-06-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

My string of posting every day got broken in the midst of all the busyness of my life. Mainly that consists of putting in some new floors. I still have more to do so the daily thing probably won't happen for awhile.

I had to take a trip to Powell River the other day that involved a whole lot of waiting in ferry terminals. I did bring the camera and pulled it out while sitting in my truck on the Vancouver Island side of the trip. It often surprises me when I look at pictures at what works for me and what doesn't. Sometimes, a quick grab shot becomes something I like. That's one thing I enjoy a lot about photography.

As I said, I was sitting in my truck and I noticed this women in my passenger side rear view mirror and I took a shot. I couldn't get the focus right (duh, never thought until after to adjust it manually) but I think it turned out better with the blur. I do wish I had gotten a little bit more of her because the poles that are strapped together are oars and that would add another element to the picture.

Though I played with this a bit in Adjust I found nothing I liked so I went back to Camera Raw and started playing with the split tone panel. I converted it to grayscale and then just adjusted sliders until I got something I liked. I also added a vignette in the camera adjustment panel and cropped to bring the focus on the woman a bit better.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 200mm, 1/500 @ f4, ISO 100, reflection in truck mirror.

Baby Flowers

2009-06-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at my daughter's place today after taking some day seven photos of her new son and I looked at this bouquet of flowers sitting on the coffee table ant took a shot. Some processing in Topaz, a bit of cloning and cropping and here are some flowers.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85 mm, 1/20 @ f5.6, ISO 200.

What's Been Occupying My Time

2009-05-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

My personal discipline of trying to post a picture every day got interrupted this past week due to this little guy. On Tuesday, May 26, my fourth grandson was born. This is the firstborn of my daughter, Terri and her husband, Bryce. They live in Port Alberni, B.C., where we live so this is the first grandchild who we will be able to see without a big trip across the water to the interior.

His name is Seth and he was almost 8 lbs. when he was born. I love the little fist he is making and I like to think he is getting ready for his three older cousins.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 47 mm, 1/15 sec @ f6.3, ISO 200.

New Grandchild

2009-05-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I had not posted a picture today, mainly because things have been happening. My daughter gave birth to this little guy yesterday morning and I worked nights last night and tonight so I haven't had much time to get to a posting.

But, I'm trying to keep some continuity so here is Seth, today's picture.

Specs: Born @ 8:08 a.m. on May 26, 2009, 7 lbs., 14 oz. @ 21.25 in. length, status: doing well.

Kamloops Lake

2009-05-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

On our way back from Vernon on September 18, 2008, we went via Kamloops. This is a shot of Kamloops Lake. I used Topaz Filters for this one, Denoise to remove, well, noise and then two different Adjust presets, one to pop out the foreground and background and one to smooth out the lake to get this look. Some masking to combine what I wanted for the final image and this is it.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 70mm, 1/250 @ f11, ISO 500. (Hmm, I definitely need to learn to reset to ISO 100 or check it before I shoot. I could have easily shot at ISO 200 with a shutter speed of about 1/100 and been good.)

Montreal Revisited

2009-05-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

This picture was put up in an earlier posting but I revisited the other day to see what I could do with it in Topaz.

I took the PSD file I had from my original work on it and applied the Denoise filter from Topaz before playing with the Adjust filter. I liked a black and white preset that I have and so I applied it. I had used a gaussian glow preset in the original treatment with some masking and when I put it back in play (at 39% blend level) it brought back just a touch of the original blue while maintaining the moodiness from the black and white treatment.

I guess this kind of underscores the importance of saving files in PSD with all the layers still there because it leaves it open for further adjustments in the future. Hard drive space is cheap these days.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 53mm, 1/25 @ f5.6, ISO 400.

Purple and White

2009-05-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Had Sushi take out after painting the living room walls the other day. I liked how the light was shining on the little Japanese Maple tree my wife got for her birthday so I grabbed the camera to take some shots. The maple didn't turn out but I took a few shots of some flowers around, this one first, and liked how it looked, so here it is.

The only adjustments were minor ones to pump the contrast a bit and I did clone out some web-like stuff that I found distracting.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 200mm, 1/50 @ f4, ISO 200, taken May 21, 2009.

Sunflower Visited

2009-05-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here a favorite "grab" shot of mine. I like sunflowers and we were at Davison Orchard in Vernon, B.C. on July 20, 2007 when I took this shot as I walked by these sunflowers. I hadn't had my SLR for very long and was just learning how to use it (although I did have prior experience with a film SLR) and I was quite happy how this turned out since I don't consider myself a flower or a macro shooter.

I revisited it a couple of days ago and the only real change was that I used Topaz Denoise for a little cleanup and Topaz Adjust to give it a color pop.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 76mm, 1/320 @ f11, ISO 800.

Ferry Chains

2009-05-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

I took this shot on June 26, 2007, a few days after getting my Canon 30D. I was on the ferry going over to Powell River and thought these chains would be interesting. I took another look a couple of days ago and used Topaz Adjust to bring out some details.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85mm, 1/13 @ f5.6, ISO 100.

View From a Rest Stop

2009-05-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

When returning from Vernon, we often stop at the Hunter Creek roadside rest just west of Hope. We stopped on May 7, 2009 on our way back (bathroom break) but I took a moment to pull out my camera and take two shots. This was one of them.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 70mm, 1/250 @ f4, ISO 100, Conversion to black and white using Topaz Adjust.

I've never really listed what camera mode I shoot in but pretty much everything taken without flash is shot in Aperture priority. Any portraits taken using a flash is usually shot in manual.

Happy Birthday Rena!

2009-05-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my wife's, Rena, birthday and I must put a picture of her up here on the blog.

Though Rena loves all of her grandchildren equally, there is a bit of a special bond with this one. Lucas was born prematurely last June, ended up briefly in Children's Hospital in Vancouver before eventually going home. Shortly after, Rena went to Vernon and spent a month helping Jen and Neil out with this one and his two older brothers. Naturally, she held this one quite a bit and bonded with him. So, everytime we see him, Rena wants a picture of him and her for her facebook profile. This is the most recent from May 6, 2009.

But, the main point is that today is Rena's birthday and I want to wish her a happy one. It has been a great joy growing older with her and I hope to celebrate many, many more with her.

Tall Ship HDR

2009-05-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Whew, this personal commitment to post a picture every day has me scrambling to find and develop pictures I've taken in the past since I don't seem to be getting out and shooting much these days. Laziness, mainly. I need to challenge myself to at least go for a walk in the evening just around where I live and see what I can find.

Anyway, this picture was taken on June 30, 2008 in Victoria, B.C. There were some tall ships that had been in and were departing. This one was still sitting here so I took three shots at three different exposures which can be great for HDR photos. I merged them to HDR in Photoshop, did the minor Photoshop thing by converting to 16 bit exposure, but then used Topaz adjust to really get what I was after. This is the result. The photo composure could be better because the ship sits smack in the middle of the frame, but cropping away the left would mean losing the mast and I'd rather have that.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 89mm, f11 and three exposures with the base exposure at 1/200, and then 1 1/3 stops faster at 1/80 and 1 1/3 stops slower at 1/500. I know, it sounds backwards but I think I have it right. You get faster by opening up the aperture (ie. f11 to f8) or leaving the shutter open longer which means a slower shutter speed allowing more light in thus making it a faster exposure. I'm not sure if this is right terminology for shutter speeds but I know it is for aperture. A f1.4 lens is faster than a f4 lens. Any questions?

Beautiful Amanda

2009-05-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

This beauty is Amanda, my future daughter-in-law, also taken at that ball game of Nathan's. Here she is playing catch with her fiance and my son, Jeremy. I won't comment on her catching technique.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 200mm, 1/800 @f4, ISO 200, Topaz adjust filter used.

Another Shot of Lucas

2009-05-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another shot of Lucas at Nathan's ballgame. What is it about babies that make them so photogenic? All kids, actually.

Nothing special done to this picture, just a bit of contrast adjustment.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 111mm, 1/1000 @ f4, ISO 200.

Clouds and Split Toning

2009-05-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

I know that this image is largely a bunch of nothing but I thought the clouds were interesting and I wanted a bit of the sun in the image as well. When I looked at it and started playing with it in ACR, I decided I best liked the split toning tab and adjusted settings until I got the gold and blue colors seen here.

I also played with it in Topaz Adjust and found some funky looks but ended up not using any of them. I did apply a Levels adjustment layer, but that was it.

There is something awesome and peaceful about this to me, so I like it and the colors. If you pay attention to f stops and shutter speeds you'll see that it is bright shooting into the sun.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 135mm, 1/3200 sec @ f11, ISO 100.

Grandson Nathan - The Baseball Player

2009-05-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here he is. The guy we all went to watch. Here's Nathan hitting the ball off of a tee. Looks like a pro swing to me.

I used the same high pass filter processing as yesterday in this picture.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 155mm, 1/160 @ f6.3, ISO 200.

Grandson Ben

2009-05-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of my grandson, Ben, also at his older brother's baseball game in Vernon last week. (I'd better get a picture of the baseball player posted.)

I used the high pass filter in Photoshop, using a technique I read about in the May/June 2009 issue of Digital PhotoPro magazine.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 70 mm, 1/250 sec @ f6.3, ISO 200.

Grandson Lucas

2009-05-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

My wife and I made a quick trip up to Vernon last week. We were able to my grandson Nathan's ball practice so I took my camera to get some shots of him playing baseball. I'll have some up in the next couple of days.

I also shot some other things including the baby of the family (at least until my daughter has her baby), Lucas.

This was shot in late afternoon light, with no flash of any kind. I did some adjustments in ACR and then used Topaz Denoise but not Adjust. I ran a couple of actions I have to increase contrast a bit and smooth the skin a bit. And I cloned out someone else's body part in the upper left hand corner.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 176 mm, 1/640 sec @ f4, ISO 200.

Fall Fair 2008, Part 3

2009-05-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

And one more from the Fall Fair. One of the things I enjoy about the Topaz Adjust filter is the ability to pop out the colors in all areas of the photo. So a picture that was taken that looked great to the eye and then looked a bit blah when you throw it up on screen, can now get back to something maybe even better than what you saw initially.

I have read some criticisms of this type of look saying it isn't realistic. While that may be true, it is also true that the human eye is amazing in terms of its ability to adjust for just about any lighting situation. The camera, as great as it is, is nowhere near the level of the eye. And so we use tools to try and get back to that level.

In this picture I was trying to get Mount Arrowsmith in the background through the foreground of the fair midway. I had made little effort at this particular shot but when I through the Adjust filter at it, it improved a bit. Not a huge keeper but the colors make it worth posting.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 111mm, 1/400 @ f8, ISO 200.

Fall Fair 2008, Part 2

2009-05-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here is another shot from the Fall Fair last September.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 700 mm, 1/125 sec @ f7.1, ISO 100, Topaz Adjust.

Fall Fair 2008

2009-05-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

We have a Fall Fair every September in Port Alberni. We usually try to get there on the first night because it is usually the cheap night.

I took my camera along this time and grabbed a few shots that I thought were interesting. And Topaz Adjust just makes the colors pop.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 70mm, 1/25 @ f 7.1, ISO 100.

Different Portrait Look

2009-05-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

I realized today at work that I had no post scheduled for today so here is something I was playing with a bit last night. I got this idea and suggestion from a Tim Grey's Daily Digital Question newsletter (sign up here) and it supposed to simulate a look used in the Wall Street Journal by Kevin Sprouls. Now, if you look at the link you will see that this really doesn't look much like the work done by Sprouls, but it is still a pretty cool effect I think.

I did this fairly quickly on a picture of my grandson, Ben taken a couple of months ago and I'm sure I could do a lot better job on it with some experimenting, but, since it is already tomorrow in the eastern time zone, I wanted to get something up so my consistency of late is not broken.

Here are Tim Grey's instructions on how to do this from his May 8, 2009 newsletter. I created an action to make it much quicker and there is a lot to play with:

"Start by opening a portrait you'd like to apply the effect to. Then create a copy of the Background layer by dragging the thumbnail for the Background layer on the Layers panel to the Create New Layer button (the blank sheet of paper icon) at the bottom of the panel. With the Background Copy layer active on the Layers panel, choose Image > Adjustments > Invert to invert the colors on this layer. Then change the blend mode for the Background Copy layer to Color Dodge using the popup at the top-left of the Layers panel.

Next, choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Adjust the Radius to refine the degree of detail in the sketch version of the image, then click OK. Add a Black & White adjustment layer without applying any changes, just to remove the color from the resulting image. Then add a Levels adjustment layer. Bring the black point (directly under the histogram on the left side) inward to darken up the lines in the sketch, and fine-tune overall as needed."

Garden Shovel

2009-05-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

A friend of my wife picked up one of these and my wife liked it so much that we bought one also for the garden.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 61mm, 1/125 sec @f8, ISO 100.

Bird Bath

2009-05-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely birdbath that our daughter and son-in-law gave to my wife for Christmas. I did use the Topaz Adjust filter just on the birdbath. (Layers are a great tool in Photoshop.)

The one other major adjustment I did was in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) with a great new feature in CS4 called the adjustment brush. In the original, the bowl part was quite dark. With the adjustment brush I was able to increase the exposure level and bring out the color in the bowl under the rim. Now, if I had made the effort I could have used a reflector, or a little bit of flash to do the same thing, but I was just grabbing a couple shots of the garden for facebook so it is nice to be able to make an adjusment in Photoshop.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 61 mm, 1/125 sec @ f8, ISO 100, Topaz adjust (on the birdbath and a mild contrast pop on the entire photo).

Daffodils Again

2009-05-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here is another shot of two different daffodils from the garden.

I definitely need to make the time to get out and do some shooting. Between work and painting at home and just plain laziness I haven't ventured further than the back yard so there will be a couple more shots from the garden over the next couple of days.

I'm off on a quick trip to Vernon to deliver some furniture so maybe I'll have a chance to shoot something a little different.

Or not.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85mm, 1/400 sec @ f5.6, ISO 100

Cruise Ship

2009-05-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Between living on Vancouver Island and having family in the interior of B.C., my wife and I spend a lot of time on the ferry. In fact, I was on the ferry yesterday for a quick trip to Vernon (but, because I pre-post these, it is actually the wee hours of April 29 as I write this.) This shot was taken last July 24 on my way home.

Sometimes I take my camera up to the passenger decks with me and sometimes I don't. (I should always because you never know.) This was one time I didn't take it up. But we came back down to the car a few minutes early and I noticed a cruise ship off in the distance so I pulled the camera out and took a few shots. And then the shot basically just sat there until I started posting regularly to a blog no one really looks at, but is nonetheless a good exercise for me. I played with this shot a bit in Adobe Camera Raw, mainly giving it a warmer look and I like the golden sky, the monochrome mountain in the backgroun and the bright reflection of the sun on the side of the cruise ship. I'm glad I rediscovered it.

Specs: Canon 30 D, 70-200 lens @ 200mm, 1/400 @ f11, ISO 100. Topaz Denoise.

Marigolds

2009-05-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

I like Marigolds. Not really sure why, just something about them appeal to me. Especially these mixed color types. The red and yellow together are just somehow extremely pleasing to my senses. My wife know I like Marigolds and so she bought a bunch for some planters we have around the house. And I took a picture of this one.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 200mm, 1/80 sec @ f4, ISO 100, Topaz Adjust for a mild contrast boost.

Two Tulip Views

2009-05-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

I took this shot in my wife's garden on April 22. Just like the daffodils I mentioned in an earlier post, I don't think we've ever had tulips, either. I have found it a bit fascinating to watch these flowers grow and develop and I found the formed, but unopened (at the time) flowers to have an interesting look about them. The reddish color at the top of the bud is an indication of the beautiful color of these tulips, but it also reminds me somewhat of lips and The Little Shop of Horrors. Beautiful, exotic, but with just a touch of danger about it.

Especially when you rotate the picture 90 degrees clockwise! It takes on some alien look in my mind.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 200 mm, 1/125 sec @ f4, ISO 100. Contrast pop in Topaz Adjust.

Victoria Street Scene

2009-05-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Even though I am getting very few visitors to the site, I am enjoying the exercise of posting every day for the simple reason it forces me to review pictures and eventually it will drive me from my complacency and get out shooting some more.

One nice thing as I go through pictures is to discover ones that I had forgotten I even took. I can be a rapid fire shooter, just wandering around and taking pictures of anything that looks interesting, not spending a whole lot of time. I believe this is the only shot I took of this group of young people on the streets of Victoria, B.C. making music. I think I shot from across the road, and, the color snaps out with the use of the Topaz Adjust filter. Taken just up the road from the Victoria Harbour shot posted yesterday. Also from June 30, 2008.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 135mm, 1/50 sec @ f4, ISO 100.

A Different Ferry

2009-05-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Last summer, my wife spent a month in Vernon with my son and his wife, after their third son was born prematurely. She went just to help out in those first few weeks. So we drove down to Victoria, B.C. on June 30, 2008 so she could fly out the next day. We stayed with my daughter-in-laws parents who lived in Victoria at the time.

This is a little ferry in the Victoria harbour that takes you around from place to place, kind of like a little water taxi. I thought it made a nice shot.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 70 mm, 1/320 sec @ f4, ISO 100.

Sunset from the Ferry

2009-04-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing on a bit from the last few posts from July 2007, this was taken from the ferry as we were finally getting away after the false bomb threat. There is some white balance post processing on this but no Topaz adjustments. You will note that this was shot at ISO 400 with a fairly high shutter speed. This is because I had been doing a lot of shooting inside the ferry and simply forget to drop the ISO down. I do that way to often although, hopefully, less and less.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 68 mm, 1/1000 sec @ f20, ISO 400.

Ferry Terminal Gates

2009-04-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

This was taken the same day as yesterday's picture (July 28, 2007). I just took a few shots while waiting in the ferry terminal parking lot and I kind of like what the Topaz filters added to this pic. Later on, while the ferry was partway to Vancouver Island, it turned around and returned here due to a bomb threat. What fun. We spent way too many hours on this ferry until it was verified that there was no bomb on board and we finally headed across the strait.

Spec: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 47 mm, 1/200 @ f11, ISO 100.

Campground Deer

2009-04-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

Another picture from the summer of 2007. Returning home from Vernon, B.C. we stopped for a couple of nights in Manning Park. The morning we were leaving a young boy from another site said that there was a deer that was grazing very close. This is that deer and I was able to get quite close.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85 mm, 1/125 sec @ f6.3, ISO 100.

Old Thresher

2009-04-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

I love old farm equipment because my Grandparents and many of my relatives on my mother's side of the family farm(ed) in Saskatchewan. In fact, for many years I think something like this sat in the tall grass at my Grandparent's farm. This is what they used to use to reap the grain and I think it was still fairly labor intensive unlike the huge modern combines they use now.

This was also taken at O'Keefe Ranch.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 50mm, 1/100 sec @ f8, ISO 100, Topaz Labs.

Serving Candy

2009-04-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

O'Keefe Ranch has an old general store where they sell a few things, candy mostly. The group I was with bought some candy and this worker sold them for us and I took the shot. I thought it worked good in B&W and I used Topaz Adjust to convert from color.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85 mm, 1/20 sec @ f5.6, ISO 1600.

Spinning at O'Keefe Ranch

2009-04-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things at O'Keefe Ranch is that they have employees in character and sometimes with interesting, old-time skills that they demonstrate. This is Carole (according to her name tag) and she was demonstrating this spinning thingamajig (I don't recall the exact proper name). It made for a great shot (I was just shooting at anything and everything with what was a brand new toy at the time) and the imitation HDR that you can get with Topaz Labs adjust just pops out all the colors and details.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 28 mm, 1/50 @ f5.6, ISO 800.

O'Keefe Ranch Church

2009-04-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

The old church at historic O'Keefe Ranch.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 17mm, 1/160 @ f9, ISO 100.

Skull

2009-04-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

While lost in the desert and almost dead of thirst I stumbled across this victim and managed to take a shot......

Actually, this was taken at O'Keefe Ranch just outside of Vernon, B.C. in July 2007. This display was indoors and behind glass but the benefits of shooting raw allowed me to just shoot and worry about white balance later.

Of course, I didn't know much about any of that at the time (I know a little bit more now, but still fairly new at this game). The great thing about trying to post a picture a day is going back to pictures that I've done little with because I didn't get into Photoshop much until later on in the year.

I took a lot of pictures at this historic ranch and will be posting a few over the next several days.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 38 mm, 1/10 sec @ f5, ISO 1600.

More from the Garden

2009-04-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here is another shot with the same info as yesterday's post except that, of course, this is not a daffodil, it is a hyacinth. I also used the gold reflector to get some light on the flower.

I did use a mild color pop setting in Topaz adjust.

Specs: Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 116 mm, 1/80 @ f8, ISO 100.

Daffodils

2009-04-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

There are two significant things about this shot. The first (and most obvious) is that I'm not a flower shooter so this is the best it gets. The second is that these are the first daffodils we have ever had in our yard in over 32 years of marriage. This past fall, in an effort to make our back yard look better, we set aside a spot for a flower garden. My wife planted a bunch of bulbs and she was happy to see them come up. I have been tardy in getting out with the camera so I missed the crocuses, but these will do and the hyacinth I'll post tomorrow.

The sun was not getting to these flowers since it was late afternoon and the sun was behind the fence in the background so I grabbed my 5 in 1 reflector and used the gold side to reflect some sun into the flowers. This helped pop them out from the background a bit. My wife held the reflector overhead to catch the sun and send it back to the flowers.

Specs: Canon 30D, 70-200 lens @ 111 mm, 1/125 @ f8, ISO 100.

More Trains

2009-04-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is another shot taken in October 2007. We were on our way from Fernie to Fort MacLeod when we had to stop on the highway and wait for this train to go buy. So, I got out my camera and took a few shots.

I like trains, maybe because I worked on our yard train for a couple of years in the papermill where I work.

Tomorrow a new shot from my wife's garden.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 59 mm, 1/125 @ f8, ISO 100, Topaz Adjust filter.

Fernie Downtown

2009-04-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is another shot from our trip to Saskatchewan in October 2007. My wife and I lived briefly in Fernie, B.C. back in 1976-77 and so we stopped in to have a look around. I took this shot of one of the gorgeous mountains that surround the town, including some of the buildings on main street.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85mm, 1/250 sec @ f10, ISO 100, Converted to B&W in Topaz Adjust.

Ferry Dock

2009-04-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

I took this in April 2008 while we were waiting for the ferry on our usual trip to the interior to see family. I liked the angle and color and contrasting colors on the posts. It was on this trip, possibly this day, that I purchased the 70-200 f4 IS L Canon lens, my current favorite (because its my best) lens.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85mm, 1/125 sec @ f8, ISO 100, Topaz Adjusted.

Banff Mountain

2009-04-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

In October 2007, my wife and I took a trip to Saskatchewan to see my mother and some relatives I hadn't seen in years. On our return, we came through Banff and somewhere along the way I took this shot.

October 24, 2007.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85 mm, 1/250 sec @ f9, ISO 100, Black and White conversion in Topaz Labs Adjust.

Blurry Grass at Kekuli Bay

2009-04-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Later on in July, 2007 we camped at Kekuli Bay Provincial Park just outside of Vernon, B.C. I noticed this grass blowing in the breeze and lit by the warm glow of the campfire so I took a couple of shots one night and a few more the next night. I specifically was looking for the movement blur that a slower shutter speed would give. I've played with this picture several times and this is my latest attempt making use of the Topaz Labs Adjust filters.

Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 28mm, 30 secs @ f10, ISO 200, Topaz Labs Adjust filter.

Fern and Leaf

2009-04-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

One more from Stamp Falls in July 2007. I liked the color of this leaf surrounded by the green grass and ferns.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85mm, 1/20 sec @ f5.6, ISO 100, Topaz Labs Adjust filter.

Torch Detail

2009-04-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here is another shot from Stamp Falls in July 2007, this one from our campsite. We have a couple of metal torch stands that hold citronella oil. This is some detail from it.

The interesting effect is from, what else, the topaz adjust filter. The background blur is a combination of the natural blur from the f stop which is enhanced a great deal with the filter effect. I like it.

Specs: Canon 30D, 17-85 lens @ 85mm, 1/4 sec @ f 5.6, ISO 100.

Mossy Branches

2009-04-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is a shot from a camping trip at Stamp Falls in July 2007. We live in a temperate rain forest so there is a lot of moss. I liked how the light fell on these mossy branches.

Specs: Canon 30D, 1/20 sec @ f 5.6, 17-85 lens@47mm. Developed in Adobe Camera raw and Adobe Photoshop. Topaz Labs Adjust filter used.

Coast Guard Hovercraft

2009-04-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

On July 28, 2007, while returning from camping in the Okanagan, the ferry we got on ended up being delayed a number of hours due to a bomb threat that ultimately turned out to be fake.

We were stuck on the ferry for several hours before, fortunately, we left and headed to Vancouver Island where we finally got home late that night.

I took a great many shots during that time and this is one of them. A Coast Guard boat came by and I took a couple of shots. The ferry in the foreground was another ferry delayed. The people there were offloaded before the bomb squad dogs searched the boat. They didn't offload us but they did bring the dogs on board. It was a very interesting several hours. The crew conducted themselves very well and there was no panic by passengers although a few were antsy. I usually don't believe these threats and so I just tried to enjoy the hours, although it was a bit frustrating.

Specs: f8, 1/500 sec, 17-85 lens at 85mm (I didn't have my 70-200 yet.)

Bluebells

2009-04-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

I was just wandering around our campsite area last June when we at the Living Forest RV park in Nanaimo, B.C. and saw these flowers (I think they're bluebells but I'm no botanist) after a rain shower.

Specs: f5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO 100, 70-200 lens at 200mm. Topaz Labs adjusted.

I'm still trying to get myself motivated to take the camera out and around to get some newer pics. Just haven't made it yet.

Hope Mountains

2009-04-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

While returning home from another trip to Vernon on March 16th, we stopped at Subway in Hope, B.C. When we came out I saw this scene looking across the highway and over the Fraser River. So I took the time to take some pictures. It probably contributed to missing the ferry we wanted to catch but I liked the shot.

I used the Topaz filters to convert this to black and white.

Specs: f11, 1/160 sec, ISO 100, 70-200 lens at 173 mm.

Arrow Lake from the Ferry

2009-04-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

While my wife and I were in Vernon last December for holidays (we go there often because we have family there, including our three precious grandsons) we traveled to Halcyon Hot Springs Resort and spent four lovely days there. The highway that takes you there requires a short ferry ride across Arrow Lake. I grabbed my camera and took some shots and this is the best one. This was taken on December 12, 2008.

Amazingly, I did not use the Topaz Labs filters on this one, but I did use some adjustment layers in photoshop with levels, curves, hue/saturation and black and white to achieve the look I liked.

Shot specs: f5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 100, 17-85 lens at 26 mm.

Stamp Falls

2009-04-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Stamp Falls is a small, but intense waterfall near where I live. The view in this picture shows the fast moving rapids just before the fall. It is intense enough that there is a set of fish ladders to enable the spawning salmon to get up the falls a bit easier.

Now, of course, I have applied the Topaz filters here to get a simulated HDR effect that is all the rage right now. The interesting thing to me is that the saturation aspect of the filter picked up some color that must be reflecting into the water that appeared pretty much solid white in the original. I was a little blown away when I saw it.

This shot was taken on July 3, 2007 not that long after I purchased my digital SLR. I used the 17-85 lens that I purchased with the camera. The other specs: f22, 1/4 sec, ISO 100, lens at 28 mm. I don't believe I used a tripod but I was stretched out on a rock with the camera stabilized on the rock.

More Remnants

2009-04-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another shot from last June while camping at Living Forest.

Just a bunch of cable remnants left from whatever industry used to exist along the Nanaimo River.

I did use Topaz Labs to get rid of the noise and convert to black and white.

Specs: f13, 1/160 sec, ISO 1600(!!??), lens at 100 mm.

Remnants

2009-04-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

In June, 2008 my wife and I were camping at Living Forest RV park in Nanaimo. I took this on a walk along the Nanaimo River. Obviously there was once a mill of some kind along here because there are many leftover remnants of something that was here including these support beams. You can see another funny remnant here.

This was taken just before the premature birth of my third grandson that cut short our camping trip. You can see he's come a long way since his incubator days here and here.

Specs on this shot: f13, 1/1000 sec, ISO 1600 (I forgot to adjust the ISO back down after taking some low light shots), focal length 70 mm with my 70-200 lens. Until I purchased the Topaz Labs filters, this was quite noisy because of the high ISO (the higher the ISO the more digital noise you will get.) The two filters I bought are Denoise and Adjust. Denoise is obvious and made a real difference in this photo and then I used the Adjust filter for the look that I've become enamored of.

Another side note about ISO. You can get away with a higher ISO with a digital SLR than you can with the point and shoot cameras. Most of the smaller sensor cameras (ie. non-SLRs) get noisy real fast as you move up the ISO ladder. You should do some tests yourselves but you probably shouldn't go much above 200. Most of the newer cameras have auto ISO that will ramp the ISO up in low light situations. The amount of noise that is acceptable depends upon how important the shot is. With my Canon 30D, ISO 400 is usually quite acceptable, 800 less so (especially on bright sunny days, but that's another mistake), and 1600 definitely needs some noise reduction work.

Englishman River Falls 2

2009-04-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another view of the upper Englishman River Falls. For this one, I climbed down, over the rail, off the path to get on a more even keel with the falls. I'm not real adventurous and this wasn't that dangerous, but I did have to take some care, especially carrying a camera and tripod.

Specs: f13, .06 sec, ISO 100, 30 mm focal length. Developed using my Topaz Labs filters.

Englishman River Falls

2009-04-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

There is a beautiful Provincial Park about 30 minutes away from us called Englishman River Provincial Park. Within the park are two waterfalls, upper and lower. This is the lower one. It was taken on September 3, 2008 while we were camping there and, of course, it has had the Topaz Labs adjust filter applied.

It was shot at f22, 5 second exposure, ISO 100 and I probably had a polarizing filter on although I don't recall with certainty. It was taken around 7:00 in the evening with my 17-85 mm lens at 17 mm.

I wanted that blurred look to the falls which is achieved by longer shutter times. Of course, I used a tripod.

Horseshoe Bay, B.C.

2009-04-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today marks 10 consecutive days of publishing photos in this new attempt at being more consistent. I am helped by being able to schedule these so I can do several in a row. Since I work shift work there I sometimes have more time to work at this than I do at others so it is a big help to just set them up.

As I mentioned in the first post of this new restart, we had a bit of a ferry wait in Horseshoe Bay, B.C. and I took a few pictures. This is a shot looking towards the park with a couple of walkways down to the marina in front. The blue building to the left is a lovely little coffee shop that makes a bold coffee comparable to Starbucks. (If you like Starbucks, which I do, a lot.) Unfortunately, it is closed during the winter months. A Starbucks has recently opened up across the road and, despite my love for Starbucks coffee, I sincerely hope it has no impact on this coffee shop. It will still be my preference when I want a coffee.

The other thing about this picture is that it is, like most of my pictures these day, processed with the Topaz Labs Adjust Filter. They recently released an upgrade and one feature is a button called "I'm feeling very lucky!" that randomizes all the sliders every time you push it. This look is one it came up with so I saved it and called it Lucky Dark Paint because it looks a bit like a painting to me.

The photo itself is shot at f8, 1/50 sec, ISO 400 with the lens at 89 mm. The lens I use most of the time (because it is the best lens I own and I love it) is a Canon 70-200 f4 L.

Kitty-cat

2009-04-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

I went outside in Vernon to take some pictures of my two oldest grandsons but they had disappeared into their friend's house or backyard by the time I got there so I took a few pictures around the house. The neighbor's cat was watching me so I took a couple of shots.

Now, I'm not a huge cat lover but my wife is. We have two cats ourselves and I seldom take pictures of them. But, I thought I'd play with the filters on this picture and so we have this cat, with a bit more vivid colors than it really had, although it was still a lovely color. Hey, the magazines photoshop the celebrities all the time, why not a cat?

Shot at f4, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, with the lens at 200 mm.

Log Yard

2009-04-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

One last shot from the car on the way back from Salmon Arm to Vernon.

Something like this is close to home for me since I also make my living from BC's forest industry. I work as a Power Engineer in the Catalyst Papermill in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.

The forest industry is a bit of a slump these days, especially paper but also many sawmills. This one certainly looks like it has a good supply of logs and hopefully is providing some good employment for the people of the area.

I used pretty much the same techniques as I have for the other pictures in this series. Shot at f4, 1/400 sec and ISO100 with the lens at 70 mm.

Now I need to find some other pictures in my library to post and then I'd better get out shooting again to provide some new material.

Note, too that I chose not to participate in April Fool's day since I haven't prepared a shot of any kind that would be suitable. Maybe next year if I can continue with this blog that long.

Trucks Big and Small

2009-03-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's is one more shot from the trip to Salmon Arm, taken through the front windshield and processed with those filters I keep talking about and tend to overuse, probably.

Rail Cars

2009-03-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Back to just another picture but today I thought I would show you the before and after. This is another shot I took through the window of the van on the way back from Salmon Arm to Vernon on March 13.

The first is what I see out of camera. The second is after I put it through the steps inluding using those Topaz Lab filters that I am enjoying so much these days. I just makes things to easy and I am a little lazy in Photoshop these days.

The data for those interested: ISO 100, f4, 1/800 sec, lens at 70 mm.

(Oh, and just as a side note, I am not getting up at 5:00 AM every morning to post these. That is the time I schedule for them to be posted. This post was actually written just after yesterday's post and both were written on Saturday, the 28th. Ain't technology great?)

Correcting for White Balance

2009-03-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I had a friend wonder at what type of camera I had since she thought my pictures turned out better than what she got. I did mention my expensive lens that I use but of just as much importance for any picture with any camera is lighting (that I will try and discuss later) and white balance.

So I thought I would discuss white balance a little bit. I took some pictures of my grandson Lucas in the bathtub recently and you can see the result in the first picture. Two things that have to be said about the first, very yellow picture. Most cameras have an AWB (auto white balance) setting that probably does a fairly good job of figuring things out. In the case of this picture, my WB was set at sunlight and this picture was taken with no flash and so all the light came from the regular light in the bathroom. This is what gives it the yellow glow. The second thing is that I shoot in Camera Raw so I wasn't worried because the WB can be changed in software. RAW requires a software step but it also gives you a lot more latitude for correction as we will see.

In order to attempt to simulate what might happen if I shot in jpeg format and then tried to color correct, this next picture is the result. It required a bit more work in software than the final picture below, but the result is much better than the yellow one above. I use Adobe Camera Raw software to do my corrections and the quick way is to grab the WB eyedropper and click on something that should be white or gray in the picture. A bit of playing with sliders got what I thought was the best. With a jpeg shot, the ability to adjust is more limited than in raw. I still see a bit of yellowish/green tint to the picture but it is much improved.

This final picture is the raw shot that initially looked like the first picture above. For this one, all I did was take the eyedropper and click on the bathtub to get what I think is the most natural look. (I did brighten this a little bit so it had the same brightness level as the other two pictures but it was a 5 second tweak with the levels adjustment tool in Photoshop.) This is the major advantage I find in shooting RAW because I don't worry about what my WB setting is. I still should because it could save a step in the workflow if I got the WB right in camera but I don't worry too much about this.

Not every camera has the capability of shooting in RAW and not every RAW mode gives the same flexibility that the SLR level camera has. Additionally, it does require extra work to process. RAW is the equivalent of the negative from the old film days that had to be processed first before prints were made.

You can see that white balance is quite important and you should do some experimentation with your camera to see the impact. Start with auto white balance and shoot in daylight, shade, with flash (pretty similar to daylight), fluorescent and tungsten (regular light bulbs). Then do the same with your WB set on sunlight or flash and compare the shots to see how effective the AWB is. Then, set the WB for each lighting condition. You will then have a set of comparison shots that will tell you whether AWB works in your camera or whether you need to manually set the WB to the proper conditions.

Hope this helps understand this. There are far better discussion about this around the net so do a search if you want to learn more.

Three Grandsons

2009-03-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

These are my three precious grandsons who live in Vernon. I set up to photograph them the day before we left. The flash is to camera left shooting through a white umbrella. I used my 70-200 lens at 70mm and shot at f5.6, 1/50 sec, and ISO 160.

I then processed it in Topaz labs Denoise and Adjust.

*UPDATE: I should identify them a bit better. From left to right, Benjamin, Nathan and Lucas.

Barn In the Snow

2009-03-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's another picture taken out the car window while coming back from Salmon Arm.

I doubled up on the Topaz filters for this one, creating one more normal type layer in Photoshop and then creating a highly detailed filter on top of the first layer. I then lowered the opacity to blend one layer with the other for this look. It probably hurts your eyes but I like it.

For those who thought all of the above is gobbledy-gook, it all has to do with a great feature in Photoshop called layers. For those who remember the old overhead projectors you'll recall that sometimes a creative type would have several overheads taped together and then flip them one on top of the other to add various elements. Layers is a similar type thing but with much more flexibility including various blending modes. Lots of fun.

Drive-in Theater - Drive by shooting

2009-03-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

While my wife and I were in Vernon we went for a drive with Phil and Bev to Salmon Arm. (Phil and Bev are the parents of Jen, my son's wife.)

I don't often get to be just a passenger in the car so I grabbed my camera for some drive by shooting. I'll post some of the other pictures over the days to come.

Drive in theaters are a dying breed I think and I don't see too many so I grabbed this shot of the Starlight Drive-In on the way back from Salmon Arm. I had my 70-200 lens on racked all the way in to 70 mm and shot this wide open at f4 and 1/500 sec. at ISO 100 through the side window. It was processed with Photoshop CS4 and Topaz Lab filters.

Restart

2009-03-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

I know that no one visits this site, yet, mainly because I don't post to it. Let's see if I can get to this a bit more regularly with pictures.

I recently purchased Topaz Lab's Adjust and DeNoise filters and have been playing with them quite a bit. The Adjust filter is especially fun and it can take a blah photo and give it some oomph.

This picture was taken on March 16th while waiting for the ferry in Horseshoe Bay. I applied the filter to make the colors pop and give it what I call a simulated HDR (high dynamic range) look.

I also belong to NAPP and they just included a Watermark feature for use with Photoshop CS4's new configurator feature that makes it easy to add the copyright watermark and resize the photo for web use. That should make it easier to post pictures here and on Facebook.

That's it for today. I'm going to try to post on a more regular basis and I have lots of pictures I've been working on with this filter that I can throw up. Maybe I can start to share a bit of what I've learned about photography the last little while.

From Montreal

2008-11-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures I took while in Montreal, Quebec last week for a convention. The first one was taken from my hotel window using an end table as a substitute tripod. The others were taken while wandering around the underground passages in downtown Montreal.

Victoria Sunset

2008-07-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

I took my wife to Victoria, B.C. on Monday so she could fly to Kelowna on Tuesday to help out with the new grandson and his parents and brothers in Vernon.

Of course, I took a bunch of pictures but most of them were taken in bright daytime sunshine and I knew they wouldn't be the best. Good practice though. After we hooked up with my daughter-in-law's parents, who graciously put us up for the night, we went for a drive to a couple of spots along the water front. I'm not real sure just where this was but I like the sky and the sun framed by the tree branch and the silhouettes of the trees and plants.

Painted Sky

2008-06-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

I ran out to the car last night to get something we left in it and the sky looked pretty amazing. I went back out with the camera and eventually took this from my back deck. It needed something a bit more than just the photo so I applied a dry brush filter in Photoshop to give it a painting effect. I kind of like how it turned out.

Hope Rest Stop

2008-06-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

Lot's has transpired since the last post. Things went well with the new grandson, Lucas and just when it looked like we would bring the other two to our home on Vancouver Island, it sounded like they would be sending Lucas back to the hospital in Vernon, where he was born. So we headed to Vernon instead on Monday with Nathan and Ben. Tuesday, Lucas and his mom flew home while dad drove back.

We stayed until Thursday because my wife had a dentist appointment on Friday. However, she woke up ill and had a tough time traveling. She asked if we could stop at the roadside rest outside of hope for a 15 minute lay down in the back seat. While she slept I walked around a bit without my camera and saw some things I thought might make for a good picture. After 15 minutes I got my camera, told her to sleep for a few more minutes and I took some shots. Because of this we almost missed the 3:00 ferry but we ended up the second last on (after speeding all the way from Hope.

This is an old highway behind the rest stop that is blocked off. A bridge nearby has a 1963 date on it so I'm thinking this may have once been part of the Trans-Canada highway before the current divided highway went in. I converted it to black and white and cropped it to a square format and I kind of like it.

New Grandson

2008-06-14T23:27:00.001-07:00

It has been a few hectic days. Wednesday, we were still camping. That night we got word that our daughter-in-law was having some labour pains and they were doing a test and then would try and stop the labour because she wasn't yet at term. Thursday morning the cell phone rang about 6:30 and we were told that our grandson had just been born, about 6 weeks premature. He was doing well but there was a need to send him somewhere better equipped and so he and Mom were flown to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver that afternoon with Dad and his other two boys following by car.

We packed up the trailer and headed home. Friday, after my wife's dentist app't. we headed to Vancouver to see the little guy and offer our assistance to help take care of the other two grandchildren. My daughter had headed over right away and was a real angel by looking after them while my son Neil was dealing with his wife and new son being admitted.

So now it's late Saturday night, the two grandsons, Nathan and Ben are fast asleep as is Grandma, and I'm heading there soon. The last couple of days seem like a week or more but things are going well. Lucas Jeremy Paul is doing fine, just needed some help with his lungs that were fully developed but still not mature enough to manage fully. He is cute, although I haven't seen him with his eyes open. Mom (Jen) was discharged today and her and Neil are at the Easter Seal house nearer the hospital so they can transport breast milk during the night.

They let me take my camera in when I went to see Lucas and I took several shots of him in the incubator. This is one of them. Life is precious and wonderful and the hospital and workers are fabulous and it is wonderful that Lucas is doing so well.

I Have No Idea

2008-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here is my picture for today. This thing sits in a field near where I'm camping. The field is near a river and there are some old steel pilings along the bank so I assume that there was once some kind of mill here and this is what's left of some piece of machinery.

Interesting, though. At least, I think so.

Abandoned

2008-06-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

The skies cleared up today, the sun came out and I thought I would take the camera and tripod out to see what I could see. Actually, since it was midday, not a great time for pics in the open sun, I headed into the forest because I saw this old, abandoned car that I thought would make a good picture. I used a preset in raw that provides an interesting effect and here it is with a few tweaks. I considered converting to black and white but the colors provide more drama in this case. Enjoy.

Rena Contemplating Flower

2008-06-05T11:05:00.001-07:00

Here is my wife, Rena, looking at the little flower that I posted yesterday. She was thinking about it being alone and strong, not part of a group. I'm not sure what message she got out of it because she does like to be with groups. Sometimes though, we have to be strong enough to stand on our own. I think that then makes us even more valuable when we are part of a group.

Anyway, this may or may not be the picture for today. It's raining and we're going shopping. I have lots of 1600 ISO pictures from yesterday that are still good enough for posting until I can get back with my tripod to retake some of them. There are some fascinating pictures around here that I am looking forward to capturing and then developing them.

Rena's Flower

2008-06-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are camping at the Living Forest RV park in Nanaimo, B.C. for a couple of weeks plus. As I have done a bit lately I plan on posting pictures during my holidays. I'll try to post one a day although I don't plan to keep it to a picture taken on that day only.

Today, we went for a walk along the Nanaimo River. I took a number of pictures, mainly to see if I could find anything that would cause me to haul my tripod out in the evening or early morning. I did find lots and plan on rewalking the trail with the tripod. Of course, I didn't sufficiently check my settings and shot everything at ISO 1600. No wonder my shutter speeds were so fast. D'oh! Anyway, this flower turned out not too bad. I've called it Rena's flower because she was impressed by it. There weren't very many of these along the way and they were always alone, not in clusters like daisies. She related to that because of her independent spirit and so this is the first picture posted on our holidays. If I get a chance I'll ask her to write a little addendum to this post explaining what she was thinking.

3 from Vernon

2008-05-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

Here are three pictures I took around the area where my grandson was playing T-Ball. I took them on a sunny day at the end of April when I was in Vernon, B.C.

I found this shadow interesting and wondered how it would like in camera.

This is just a picture of a wall. I liked the different textures.

This final one is a portion of an old freezer that was sitting in a parking lot a half a block from the ball field. I was intrigued first by the very fact it was in a parking lot and secondly, by the patterns of the rust and the MagicMatic logo and symbol.

Watering Cans

2008-05-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been too long since I've blogged a picture. I've been busy adjusting to the new lifestyle of shiftwork and 4 on, 4 off, plus the new HD cable box has me watching way too much tv.

Anyway, this picture was a shot I took of a display inside the store at Davison Orchard in Vernon, B.C. It looked pretty good after initial development but I applied a lomo style cross-processing action and finally used a hue/saturation adjustment level to get the final look.

Enjoy.

Another Shot of Nathan

2008-04-27T09:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a more "normal" looking picture of my grandson, Nathan. I used that Dave Hill technique on this one, too. I kind of like it.

Lot's more pics were taken during this short little game of T-ball but I need to take the time to work them just a bit.

1/200 sec, f4, ISO 400, 200mm.

Nathan and T-Ball

2008-04-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are holidaying in Vernon again because that's where my son and his wife and the grandsons are. On the way through Kelowna on Wednesday, I stopped at Lens and Shutter and picked up the Canon 70-200L f/4 IS lens, the best (and most expensive) lens I've ever owned.

On Thursday I had a chance to try it out at my grandson's T-Ball game. I took a lot of shots and am in the process of developing them but I like this one where Nathan is hamming it up while standing on third base. Usually he can be quite shy and uncooperative when I'm trying to take his picture but this time he decided to act up for the camera. In this shot, I applied an effect that is getting quite popular (and common) that is based on some of the technique made famous by Dave Hill.

Details: f4, 1/160 sec, ISO 400, 70-200 lens at 200 mm.

Too Busy to Post

2008-04-13T17:56:00.001-07:00

My apologies to those 4 of you who visit once in awhile for not posting anything here recently. I have had a job change in the mill where I work. An opportunity arose to post back into the Steam Plant using my 3rd Class Power Engineer ticket and I took it. Though it means going on shift it also means a considerable salary increase and more time off during the year due to the 4 on 4 off schedule. This, of course, means more time for photography (yippee).

Because they want to get me trained as quick as possible I have had only two days off since my last post on April 1. But, the extra overtime days should pay for the Epson 3800 I've decided to buy. I haven't ordered yet, but soon. That will be the next fun step in this hobby, printing. I can't wait.

I'll try to have a couple of more pics from my last shoot up soon. Maybe. If I can find some time.

Kitsuksis Creek Dike

2008-04-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

My wife and I went for a walk after supper yesterday and I took my camera along and grabbed a few shots. We walked along a walkway around Kitsuskis Creek which is about 3 block from where we live. This is one of the shots I took.

Another Cathedral Grove Pic

2008-03-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

One more picture from our walk through Cathedral Grove a few weeks ago.

For this image, I used a cross processing action and then converted it to black and white. I did a little bit of work to tone down the blown out highlights a bit on the bridge railing and cross beams. I like the look.

I think it's time to find another place to walk and photograph.