30. January 2009 by Friedhelm.

Both images come from the same digital negative. The first one was created simply by desaturating the colors. This is pretty similar what you get using the automatic features of your camera.

The second image was edited in layers.  The foreground snow was dodged to bring out the white better. To the river I added a 1% blue filter to make the water appear cooler. I also dodged the mountains and the clouds were edited with a 1% red filter. At the end I sharpened the entire image just a little bit.

I believe automatic pictures are snapshots and very seldom live up to there potential. David and I are committed to bring out the best of eaach pictures. It takes a little bit of time, patience, knowledge and effort. The results speak for themselves. What do you think? We welcome your comments!

Happy shooting and creating!

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29. January 2009 by Friedhelm.

My wife and I drove to Yosemite because the weather report announced a few inches of fresh snow.  When we arrived at the valley floor we only saw a light dusting, however the clouds were just magnificent. I had to rethink my plan and I photographed many scenes containing clouds and mountains. Two days later I am glad I did.

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28. January 2009 by David.

Since Valentines day is just a couple of weeks away I thought I’d share a photograph I took while visiting Fort Bragg. If you’re ever in that area be sure and visit the Botanical Gardens. Give yourself plenty of time, you can spend hours there (I did) and still not see everything. Be sure you have a large memory card and charged battery.

Keep clicking.

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28. January 2009 by David.

I was driving south on Highway 1 just north of Fort Bragg when I turned a corner and this is what I saw. Luckily the traffic was light and only a couple of people gave me that ‘what is that nut doing in the middle of the road look’.

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27. January 2009 by Friedhelm.

Yosemite is always magnificent, always fresh and always inspiring. I wish I could go there tomorrow again!

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26. January 2009 by Friedhelm.

Yesterday David pointed out the importance of the background. The background makes or breaks a picture and one of my photography teachers pointed out that he considers the background first.

During my last visit to Carmel, CA I saw this small tree with incredible colored leaves. I photographed them a few times then I noticed that there was a store behind the tree with insight lights. I decided to use the lights as part of my background. I opened my lens as much as possible to blur the lights and photographed the leaves. The background lights added a nice touch to the leaves.

Happy Shooting!

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25. January 2009 by David.

There are times when you find a great subject but the background is distracting. In this instance the background was cluttered with stems and dying plants. The solution was to use my sisters jacket as the backdrop. The result is a photograph that looks like it was taken in a studio. It was quite a sacrifice on her part since this was taken at the coast on a very windy day. But as they say, we got the shot.

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24. January 2009 by David.

There wasn’t any trick photography here. The reflections all depended on the placement of the glass, black mask, liquid and backlighting.  I placed the camera about 10-12 feet in front of the glasses to help control the depth of field so that all the glasses would be in focus. When dealing with glasses or similar circular objects being too close will create unwanted reflections.

Keep clicking

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23. January 2009 by Friedhelm.

Split lighting is used to create a dramatic effect. Half of the face is hidden from the viewer. Who is the young woman? There is more than we can see. Notice how your eyes are wandering though the picture. Eyes, ear rings and mouth fight for your attention!

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22. January 2009 by Friedhelm.

Many mornings I do my exercise walk around Lake Yosemite. Most of the time it is more an exercise for my camera since I always discover something new and exciting. Yesterday I observed that the cloud cover created wonderful blue and green tones that I could not miss. Enjoy!

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