The word “stacks” just reminds me of a library. I literally could have spent another couple hours in this building (and will probably go back just to shoot). I’m having fun going all “Right-Brain” on these images!
Month: February 2014
Learning…
I now know what people are talking about when they say they get lost in their work. I’ve just been playing around with more images and it’s all-of-a-sudden 1 in the morning! Anyway, I’m really digging this Lightroom workflow and am just grabbing any and every image to see what I can do with it.
Here’s one I did a couple years ago…
And here’s the revisit…
After – Before
I know the saying is actually “Before-After,” but here’s my OCD coming through. People read from left to right and the image portrays an after image morphing into a before shot (and it’s alphabetical). Anyway…
March marks my 5th year as “Production Manager” (I kinda just gave myself that title, but it’s pretty accurate) at my church as I’ve overseen the A/V booth since we launched the New Stone Gathering service in 2009! And here’s where having a crap-ton of photos laying around comes in handy.
Before…
…after…
…and combined.
Duck Hunt
I took Waldo (my awesome dog) to the park today for our morning walk. As always, I brought my camera. But the day was dreary and there was a little bit of snow (not enough to look any good) so I wasn’t sure what kinds of photos I’d get. Then we kind of stumbled on the ducks. So I put all my gear down and get into a shooting stance (more like an awkward squat) to shoot some ducks.
I suddenly hear a massive fluttering underneath me (I was perched on a bridge). I almost dropped my camera, but then had to laugh because Waldo had discovered his inner hunting dog! It was awesome – not the picture, but the moment.
Beyond…
What is it that’s making me really want to go inside?
“Old” Town
Downtown Winchester is really getting a facelift. I remember one of our first stories at TV3 Winchester was when the roof collapsed at the Taylor Hotel c. 2007. Read more about the renovation here.
The front porch of the newly renovated Taylor Hotel in Winchester, VA. Order a print of this image.
Switch?
Yeah, I think I might be making the jump over to Lightroom. I know a lot of people already use it and I suppose I’ve resisted because I’m such an Apple “fanboy,” but I’m already loving Lightroom after just a day of using it.
Better basic adjustments, better flexibility, easier presets, more powerful integration into Photoshop. I could go on – I just like it.
Here’s a before and after image with just a handful of basic slider adjustments within Lightroom:
Before…
…and after.
Lesson Learned
At least I wasn’t shooting for a client…
Sunny 16
Sunny 16. No, that’s not a forecast for the weekend – although, I think that’s pretty darn close for this Saturday (in Celsius, that is). Nope, this is a widely-accepted photographer’s rule for shooting in manual mode. By the way, it’s kind of a myth that all pro photographers shoot in manual mode. It’s an absolute must for photographers to know what all the settings are for and how to control each and every one of them, but I’d venture to guess that most photogs shoot quite a few of their shots in Aperture Priority mode with some exposure compensation thrown in on top to adjust for the scene. Anyway…
Given that this is, after all, a photography blog I figured I’d throw in some tips for good measure. All my photographer friends may already be aware of this, but for those of you who want to start shooting in manual mode – read on.
The Sunny 16 rule states that for any scene outdoors (during the day) with the camera set at f/16 all you need to do is set the shutter speed to the reciprocal of the ISO setting. Simply put – ISO = 100 then shutter = 1/100; ISO = 200 then shutter = 1/200 and so on. This is the very basics of the rule and, by all means, shoot how you want to shoot and stray from this rule as needed. But this rule will get you close if your goal is an evenly or properly exposed image during the day.
Here are my shots using the Sunny 16 rule. I color corrected and sharpened each image using the exact same adjustments without touching the exposure or levels. And, no this is not just the same shot posted 7 times.
ISO 100 | ƒ/16 | 1/100
ISO 200 | ƒ/16 | 1/200
ISO 400 | ƒ/16 | 1/400
ISO 800 | ƒ/16 | 1/800
ISO 1600 | ƒ/16 | 1/1600
ISO 3200 | ƒ/16 | 1/3200
ISO 6400 | ƒ/16 | 1/6400
Iconic
Had so much fun yesterday revisiting an old HDR image that I thought I’d give it a go with another one today.
Before…
…after. Order a print of this image.
What Have I Learned?
It’s been just over a year since I began dabbling in HDR so I’ve decided to go back and see if I’ve improved since then (September of 2012). This was one of the first images I ever processed using HDR techniques and I look at it now and think “what the heck was I thinking?!” There are so many things that make me cringe about this image and it’s a good thing that I still have the original RAW files so I can try again. If there’s one thing I’ve definitely learned, it’s don’t process/post-process too soon. Be patient with the images and take my time. Possibly to the point that I don’t even look at the images that same day.
A scene out in Frederick County, VA along Middle Road. I’ve ridden by this so many times and had always wanted to stop and photograph it. I just was a little too eager to get to the HDR process.
With a little bit of patience and lots of trial and error over the past year, I revisited this image. See more of my HDR images (many, of which, I’ll revisit). Order a print of this image
Move On
Shoot what you want and how you want. That’s what I would say to people just getting into photography. Sure, you should look at what others are doing and possibly see if you can recreate it. But in the end, you’re not shooting for them. You’re really not shooting for anybody except yourself. You’re going to be your biggest critic in the end so impress yourself. After all, does everybody like the Mona Lisa? Will everybody get a Jackson Pollock? Some will, some won’t. Some people will like your photography. Some won’t. If some people like it, great. If some don’t, accept it and move on. Gotta remind myself sometimes.
The ceiling of the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World. See more from Disney.
Glimpse
Most towns have those iconic landmarks that give you just a glimpse into the past. You know, those buildings that have the old business name built into it, but the business hasn’t been there for years. It really makes you wonder what life was like back then and what current buildings will create wonder for future generations.
Winchester has these types of landmarks scattered all over. This is one that most people just breeze right by every day without a second thought. I couldn’t find much out there on the web about this one, but I’m certainly curious.
Anybody know anything about the old Pine Motor Company?
- The old Pine Motor Company building on Cecil and Braddock Streets. It’s been an antique store for as long as I’ve been here.
Urban Exploration
What is it about urban exploration (aka Urbex or UE) that is so fascinating to so many people these days? In the midst of a huge photography boom, it certainly stands out as unique. I’ve been to this place on several occasions and it fascinates me every time. Today I got to bring my 18-year-old son to have a peek. He was a little creeped out and I swear he thought zombies were gonna come running out any minute!
It makes you wonder about what once was. It makes you wonder who once was. It makes for good photography. It makes for fascinating photography. It’s the thrill of exploration and discovery.
It’s just really cool.
One of the abandoned buildings of the Warfield Complex in Sykesville, MD. See more images from Sykesville.
Neighborly
I suppose you could call this neighborly. I mean, who knows what he could have actually been throwing through his snow blower. In the end, it’s easier (and cheaper) to deal with your own broken window than someone else’s, right?
Here’s to good neighbors.
How Deep?
Yeah, I’d say we got some snow today! And, of course, Waldo had loads of fun running around in it. He actually disappeared a couple times – it’s deep. How deep? About two Telly Awards deep – depending, of course, on where you measure.
Textures
I think I’m going to start my collection of textures for use in Photoshop – You can never have too many cool textures. The possibilities are endless and there’s a never-ending supply of them everywhere. Collected this one on my morning walk with Waldo this morning. Just somebody’s front wall along Tennyson Avenue in Winchester.
Shoot
The goal is to shoot every day – not “have something interesting to say” every day. I’m literally taking my camera with me everywhere I go now (sometimes I bring the entire bag). Kinda crazy. I know. It’s the only way I’ll get better though.
“Morning’s here…”
Drive
The mechanic jumpsuit, team jersey and race credentials from Team Shaklee and the USPro Cycling Championships in Philadelphia – 1999. Jim O’Brien had a friend who was connected to NASCAR who custom made our mechanic jumpsuits.
While grilling tonight I needed something to flip the steaks. I was in a fun mood so I grabbed the Park BBQ-2 grilling tongs I have. I’ve had them for a while, but figured I’d use them tonight. My daughter started asking about them so I began explaining how they’re made from actual bicycle tools – so I had to show her my set of tools that matched the BBQ set. I just think it’s cool.
And, of course, this got me thinking about my time with the pro cycling team. It’s not something that a lot of people know about me, but I was the head mechanic for a professional US domestic cycling team for 2 seasons. It’s something that I’m rather proud of since I had no formal training and essentially taught myself what I needed to know to get to that point and certainly learned a crap-ton from then head mechanic Jim O’Brien of The Right Gear (awesome mechanic and the real deal).
Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of photos from that time in my life because I was more focused on cycling than I was on photography. But I do have a couple fun stories from my first big race.
It was the USPro Cycling championship back when it was in Philly (1999). Shaklee wasn’t a huge team and certainly didn’t have a huge budget, but we did have some quality guys on the team and it was lots of fun traveling with them. Some of the guys on the team chose to ride their own machines as opposed to the team-issued Marin bikes. This caused issues when it came to spacing the wheels for the follow-car. I had to space the majority of the wheels to fit the favorites on the team so if/when they had a flat, the wheels were ready to go. This all went out the window when a guy riding a non-issued bike flatted. I then had to spend extra time properly spacing the quick-release to the bike when I should be just closing it and sending the rider on his way.
As luck would have it, a teammate on a non-issued bike flatted. And he flatted on the most visible part of the course – the start/finish stretch where the biggest crowds were. This was my moment to prove to the world that I could do it. The team manager and director sportif were awesome and confident that I was going to be fine. And I was – considering I had to re-space the quick-release on the fly. I wasn’t thrown off by the wheel change. I wasn’t thrown off by the thousands of cheering fans. I wasn’t thrown off by the cameras on motorcycles surrounding me. I was, however, thrown off by the commentator (I think it may have been Al Trautwig) who drew everybody’s attention to the wheel change and did what any good broadcaster would do. He began educating the masses on what was happening and engaged the crowds by starting a count to demonstrate to the crowd how quickly race mechanics change wheels.
That was awesome.
The second big incident happened in the same race, but I think the following year. Anyway, it involved another wheel change. This is the kind of thing that you just have to laugh at (even when it was happening). I had a rider (Eric Wohlberg) who had a slow leak and needed a new wheel, but he just had to figure out when was a good time to change it. He decided on The Lemon Hill section of the biggest one-day race (at the time) in the US. This was a section where the fans lined the roads with no barriers as the cyclists entered the park. Or, at least we thought he had decided on that section. It turns out, he hadn’t chosen that point. The race was just slowing down. Didn’t matter, I was already out of the car wheel in hand. My follow-car driver had a different plan though. He was still moving and was shouting at me to get back in the car. But, you see, I couldn’t. He had just driven onto my foot. Awesome.
Well, that was a fun trip down memory lane. Good times.
I’m hoping that the drive I had back then still exists so I can take a third hobby and turn it into a new career.
John Handley
What a fascinating story this is. I’m not from Winchester so didn’t attend Handley High School, but it’s a name that’s out there – a lot. So I’m interested.
What motivates a man, who never lived in the city, to leave a sizable portion of his estate to the educational betterment of the town? Fascinating. And apparently very problematic initially. I never really got into history, and I probably won’t dive to deeply into this, but it’s fascinating nonetheless.
I’ve decided that I’m going to start “investigating” my town (or at least the town where I currently live because “my town” in Bridgewater, VA) and will be posting my thoughts each weekend (at least for now) and John Handley is a big part of this town.
I also find it humorous that the Wikipedia page for John Handley High School lists, as notable alumni, Brian Partlow (who I know as a really nice guy) ahead of Patsy Cline! no offense Brian
John Handley High School. An endowed public school in Winchester, VA. Order a print of this image.
Cedarmeade Studios 