23. January 2010 by David.

Once again I was inspired by a video on uTube featuring Gavin Hoey.

I won’t tell you how I got water to shoot out of a bottle. I will tell you that a friend of mine, Teri Seale, lent me a really cool bottle with four parts that allowed me to get two different colors of water, and Teri, I didn’t break the bottle, Thanks a lot.

I used two stobes to wash out the background and one to highlight the bottle. Manual focus at 1/200 to sync the flash, f14, at 75mm. Don’t forget the large bucket and towel.

Keep clicking,

Dave

Posted in Fun-stuff, Still Life | Print | 1 Comment »

22. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

The waves in front of the Point Sur were just magnificent. The strong wind was creating a white crown on each wave.

Enjoy and have a great week-end!

Posted in California Coast, Landscape | Print | No Comments »

21. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

I wish my computer desk would be here. what a place to work!

I was photographing so I did not pay too much attention to our docents; however I caught the sentence that the people on the lighthouse had to be self-sustaining. Besides having animals on the rock, they also had a carpenter and blacksmith station since the gusty winds did all kinds of damage to the property.

Also, this is a classic example of the difference how our eyes see and how the camera sensor picks up the light. In order to come closer to how we see the image I had to use one over exposed, one underexposed and one normal exposed image and combine them into the final image. The experts call that HDR (high dynamic range) imaging. Here are the three images that I combined into the above final version. You can do this manually with combining several layers in an advanced photo editor or you can purchase a special HDR editing program.

Underexposed (the beach is visible)

Overexposed (the beach is not visible)

normal exposed (a little bit of everything)

Posted in California Coast, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

20. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll

The staircase inside the lighthouse reminds me of this quote.  I believe it is true for every photographer. The year is young. Have a plan where you would like to take your photography this year.

During the guided tour, one of the docents talked about “ghost activities” on the rock. I decided to create a second more spooky looking image. Enjoy!

Posted in California Coast, Architecture | Print | No Comments »

19. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

Our guides told us about the history of this rock and how difficult it was in the 19th century to supply the families with food, wood, books and other resources. One thing got stuck with me. The guides told us that the children of those families that lived sometimes for months isolated on this rock later recalled it as the “happiest times of their lives.”  The unanswered question remains: How do limitations and happiness go together?

Enjoy the image!

Posted in California Coast, Architecture | Print | 1 Comment »

18. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

January is our favorite time to visit the coast.  The Central Valley is often fogged in while the coast is usually blessed with beautiful weather. We took the 3 hour tour at Point Sur, a lighthouse about 20 miles south of Carmel. The lighthouse is on the rock (left lower corner). It was windy and the clouds were just beautiful. Camera setting: 15mm focal length, f11, 1/160sec., ISO 10.

Enjoy!

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16. January 2010 by David.

Several months ago our photo club had a monthly theme of candles. My idea was to photograph candle smoke. Most candles don’t give off much smoke!

After recently seeing a u-tube video by Gavin Hoey I decided to give it another try. The key, use incense, and some lighting techniques. Nothing too difficult.  This isn’t a composite, I just dug a hole in the candle and put the incense inside.

Manual mode, handheld, 1/200sec, f11, ISO 200 with single strobe.

Keep clicking

Dave

Posted in Fun-stuff, Still Life, Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

15. January 2010 by David.

I went up to Sacramento last weekend and visited the Capital Building.I have to admit I was mesmerized.

So many opportunities, so little time. I will definitely be going back. This is just one of the many photographs I took of the dome. The inside of the building was gutted and restored to, I believe, the way it looked in 1934. We can be very proud of the building if not always the people and things that go on inside it.

Tripod, of course, 1/10 sec, f8, 19mm wide angle, ISO200

Keep clicking

Dave

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15. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

This is a typical image for the Central California Valley in mid January. I photographed these young trees at the “golden hour” yesterday. Camera setting: 85mm, f8, 1/80sec., ISO 100.

Enjoy!

Posted in Landscape, Trees | Print | No Comments »

14. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

While I was photographing at DC Cleaners in Chowchilla, CA I tried to make myself invisible. I was hiding in between racks when one of the workers walked towards me with clean garment in her hands. I photographed her while she was hanging them up. Camera setting: 85mm lens, f2.8, 1/50sec., ISO 400.

Enjoy and next time you pick up your cleaned stuff thank the cleaners for their hard work!

Posted in Place of work, Portraits | Print | No Comments »