27. August 2010 by David.

While in Bodie I came across this window repair.

I liked the structure and the textures. The weathered wood, crumbling putty, and the wonderful antique lock. Don’t you just love the ingenuity of the person who made the repair. All against a white curtain background that is, in fact, in perfect shape because this in one of the houses that the State park employees live in.

I couldn’t however, decide whether it should be in color or black and white. You decide!

We’ll be counting the votes.

Keep clicking

Dave

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15. August 2010 by David.

Being high in the Sierra’s the sky at  Bodie was crystal clear with the deepest smog free blue.

I shot this with an eye specifically towards the lines of the roofs and the weathered siding.  The chimney also caught my eye as did the opposing ‘dead’ areas. That is the lower left and the bright blue of the sky on the upper right. Notice how the shadow on the left mimics the lines of the roofs on the right creating three distinct, if unequal,  areas of the photograph.

F18 at 1/100 sec. 65mm, ISO125, polarizing filter, tripod mounted.

Keep Clicking

Dave

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10. August 2010 by David.

 If you like dramatic landscapes and sunsets the Rocky Mountains in August is a good place to start.

This was one of those times when you don’t know which photograph to post. I was constantly moving and turning my camera and tripod in different directions trying to get the full effect of this magical evening.  Hope you enjoy.

f4.5, 1/4 sec, 20mm, ISO 125, and my trusty travel tripod.

Keep clicking,

Dave

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9. August 2010 by David.

I just got back from a short vacation in Colorado. This is the time of year when the weather is unsettled and that means great sky’s.

My sister took me to an old west town where a lot of movies have been filmed. Just as we were getting ready to leave I spotted this old wagon and the perfect sky, who doesn’t like puffy clouds. I debated whether to convert it to black and white, but decided that the blue of the sky, even though it is the background needed to remain somewhat dominate and that would be lost in the conversion.

Keep clicking

Dave

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3. August 2010 by David.

Yesterday, Friedhelm, fellow photographer Mike and I went on a quest to photograph Olmstead Point, Bodie, CA and Mono Lake. Armed with three Canon cameras, 10 lenses, 20 gig of storage (plus spares) and three tripods we set out on our 17+ hour journey.

This was of course taken in Bodie, CA. This State Park is a wonderful Ghost Town. Well preserved in a state of ‘controlled decay’. It shows a slice of life after the town was abandoned. It has everything from coffins still sitting in the funeral home to a roulette table, dusty and slowly decaying in a gambling hall. This is one location where there truly are just too many photo opportunities for one day. Some of the buildings though ‘rustic’ on the outside are still used by park service members as places of residence.

I shot this photograph laying on the ground trying to hold my camera steady, using a relative short depth of field to give it depth.  I like the texture of the wood and metal and converted it to black and white to give it an older feel. Bodie is filled with artifacts, some still inside the building and many just lying around. It is a tribute to the Park Service and visitors that these relics of the past are still there. It makes for a long day but well worth the trip.

f8 at 1/15sec, 75mm, ISO125

Keep clicking

Dave

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3. July 2010 by David.

I took this a couple of weeks ago. I like the simplicity of the lone antenna against the sky. I didn’t crop out the ever present power line to add some tension. I thought it almost looked like a fold in the photograph.

Keep clicking

Dave

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30. May 2010 by David.

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start for Italians in Northern California to head to the woods in search of ‘fungi’, wild mushrooms.

I found a different kind of ‘fungi’ in my lawn. You don’t want to eat these toad stools, in fact on one hand I wish I hadn’t found it at all.

I used my telephoto lens set at 110mm with two extension tubes, 1 second at F11, ISO 125

Keep clicking

Dave

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17. April 2010 by David.

I took a quick trip to the Merced Wildlife Refuge the other day. Year round there are still critters living there, from coyotes and bunnies to hawks and pheasants. Unfortunately they were all a little to quick for me that day.

Fortunately the sun and sky were very cooperative. I had to take a short, but careful, hike into a restricted area (don’t tell anyone) to get the right angle for this shot.

Full manual, F5 at 1/100sec, 75mm, ISO 200, polarizing filter, tripod mounted.

Keep clicking

Dave

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25. March 2010 by Friedhelm.

Many people think that you have to be at a beautiful place to get beautiful pictures. According to my kids we live at the most boring place on earth. Despite our boring cul-de-sac I photographed my neighbors truck right after sunset. The wind was going strong and moved the branches of the tree helping me to create this image. The blue and yellow colors work just fine together.  Camera setting: 109mm focal length, f8, 4sec., ISO 100.

Enjoy and find and create beautiful images right in your neighborhood!

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17. March 2010 by Friedhelm.

Thank you Robert Worrell for emailing me this image. It shows how I photograph wildflowers. I cut out the bottom and the back of this small light tent. It serves three purposes:

First: It creates a soft, diffused light which lets me photograph even in bright sunlight

Second: It helps in windy situations to keep the flower stable

Third: I can photograph the flower in the native environment and the cut out back preserves the natural background

I also like to mention that I use a small travel tripod as much as possible and the lowest possible ISO to avoid camera noise as much as possible. My favorite lens is a Canon f.4.0 70-200L lens which is extremely sharp and most of all not so heavy (every ounce counts when you are hiking in the back country). I use it in combination with a Kenko extension tube. I disable automatic focus and use the screen on the back of my Canon camera to pre-focus manually.

Happy photographing!

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