15. August 2011 by admin.

We are proud to present Renate Stolte, a photographer and painter, as our guest blogger. Renate’s images can be seen at the Gallery on the Square in Merced, CA. Enjoy her work!

During my Spring Break Trip to the Southwest I visited Antelope Canyon in Arizona. A beautiful Canyon with colors changing from light orange to red and purple depending on the light. Best time to visit is around noon, when the sun sends beams through the ceiling of the Canyon. The Canyon is accessible only via guided tours with Native Americans.

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29. July 2011 by admin.

David and I found several carriages in a stable at Columbia State Park. When the sun is harsh and he light outside is not great for creating images I always try to find either shady spots o some indoor places. Many times I came home with some interesting images.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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19. April 2011 by admin.

I photographed these “Curly ferns” at Muir woods National Monument. I created this image using two light sources, natural and strobe light. First, while my camera was mounted on a tripod, I underexposed the image to get a “dark background.” The I attached a flash via a six foot cable to my camera and moved several feet away to the right until I stood in a 45 degree angle towards the subject. I triggered the shot using the built in timer of the camera. The flash was strong enough to illuminate the curls beautifully but I left the background in the dark.

I also converted the image to black and white to create a more “dramatic effect.” Enjoy and happy photographing!

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4. October 2010 by admin.

Several times I heard the following sentence: “We live in the middle of nowhere two hours away from everything!” “Nowhere” is defined as the San Joaquin Valley in Central California “everything” usually means the California coast, Yosemite or San Francisco. I think “nowhere” is also an incredibly valley with farms that produce vast crops of a variety of species, wonderful people and spectacular sunrises. This week I like to share five image that I photographed on a farm. I like to thank Marc Marchini from Joe Marchini farms for the opportunity to photograph and share these images. If you would like to know more about farming and California farm products visit the company’s website:  www.jmarchinifarms.com/

Farmwork and Photography have in common that work stars early. I drove to the farm before 6:00 AM to photograph the sunrise over the foothills and discovered that the water truck has already watered the dirt road to keep the dust down. This gave me the opportunity for the above image.  Camera setting: 36mm focal length, f8, 1/200 sec., ISO 400, hand held. I brought a seven foot ladder which I climbed to get this shot.  Enjoy!

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16. June 2010 by admin.

I drove into the Oakland hills visiting Redwood regional park and Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve. While driving from Redwood to Huckleberry I stopped because the view of the City of Oakland and San Francisco was just breathtaking. In this image you see the Oakland Bay bridge on the left hand side and on the right the Golden Gate bridge.

Enjoy!

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24. November 2009 by admin.

Yosemite Falls is full of water during late Spring. In late Summer it is sometimes totally dry. We were very happy that there was water coming down the mountain even it was a relatively small amount. I decided to use three shots of the fall to combine them in a triptych. A triptych image was used during medieval times in churches in Europe. I thought it would create a nice impression of the fall by combining different views of the fall.

Enjoy!

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29. April 2009 by admin.

Soldiers shoot with guns, photographers with cameras. We are using the the word and still there is a fundamental difference. People with guns have the potential to kill,  photographers have the potential to create.  What would I rather do? I am glad to be a photographer!

Happy shooting (with your camera of course!)

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19. February 2009 by admin.

The problem with animal photography is that in most cases you can’t pose them. That means that you have to be patient for the right moment. I always use spot metering and try to get the eyes sharp. My lens is wide open because I want to blur the background.

Have fun and happy shooting!

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15. February 2009 by admin.

While Friedhelm was enjoying a day in Yosemite I was stuck doing long put off bookwork and a homework assignment (some old dogs take a long time to learn new tricks).

So when the mood to take some photos overtook me I just opened the fire insert door and came up with this shot. See there are opportunities everywhere. Though I would have rather been in Yosemite.

Keep clicking

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