Night's A-Fallin'

I made this image a couple of weeks ago. Contrary to the title, the sunset actually led to a spectacular blue hour but I like the ominous tones so much that I left well enough alone.

Photo Notes
1 second at f/22, ISO 200 on a Nikon D300 + Tokina 11-16. I did very little by way of post processing – just applied a teeny bit of tone mapping to bring out the richness in the sky and reflections. IMO, the key to getting this shot was the rubber boots. They allowed me to set up in the middle of the creek.

Old Town, Shanghai

Today (January 23rd, 2012), about 1/5th of the population on this globe celebrates the Chinese or Lunar New Year. There will be family reunions and feasting, fond reminiscing of good times, and hopeful planning and eager anticipation of even better times. If you are celebrating this auspicious occasion today, I wish you a Very Happy New Year. May the year of the dragon bring you health, happiness and good fortune. 新年快乐! 龙年行大运, 恭喜发财!

Photog Notes
1/750 second, f/8, ISO 200 on a Nikon D300 + 18-200 mm Nikkor at 200 mm. I made this image on a gorgeous spring afternoon in old Shanghai last year. These decorations were on the vertical display of a streetside vendor. The symbolic shapes, bright colors and characters of good tidings are popular year round, and especially proudly displayed during the weeks surrounding the turning of the year. In making this image, I chose to isolate the bright red-and-gold fish with an especially short depth of field (f/8 which, not coincidentally, is the sharpest aperture on my 18-200).

雪天

We’ve had snow on the ground for the past several days. Not terribly unusual for Seattle, but interesting nonetheless because we get so little of it each year that the most people stay home and a lot of businesses, government offices and schools either shut down or have abbreviated hours. I made this image on Sunday, after the first snowfall.

Photog Notes
1/200 second, f/5.6 on a Canon Powershot S100 point-and-shoot set at ISO 200. I love how snow days make everything so monochromatic. This image is very much what came out of the camera. In processing, I applied a teeny bit of spot tone adjustment to compensate for the somewhat uneven lighting. No typical copyright watermark on this one – I decided to apply a Chinese-style stamp to reflect the art and other things that inspire me these days.

i live for days like today

It feels like once or twice every winter, Mother Nature pulls out all the stops and beams us a sunset to get us through the cold gray days ahead. This evening was one of those evenings. While heading home, I realized that the cloud patterns were about right for a nice end of the day – if there weren’t any clouds on the horizon (which I was not able to see). Grabbed the gear anyway, headed down to the water, waited a bit, and this is what I saw.

Photog Notes
ISO 200, 6 seconds, f/19 on a Nikon D300 + Tokina 11-16 at 11 mm. To combat the high dynamic range, I applied a 2-stop (soft edge) graduated filter at the time of the exposure. In processing, I reduced the saturation a bit to more accurately reflect the tones and light that I witnessed tonight.

Leaves on Dark Water

I was walking around the lake, and stopped for a bit on the south side. By this late hour of the day, the shoreline was almost completely in the shadow of the adjacent tree-covered hill. The water was dark and flat, except for two, maybe three, feet from the shore, where the weeds grew. Here, their tops created a beautiful texture on the dark, shiny surface, occasionally broken up by the brightness of fallen willow foliage. As I stopped to survey the scene, a narrow beam of sunlight cut through the trees, bathing this patch of leaves in a warm glow.

Photog Notes
ISO 100, 1/25 second, f/8. I made this image with a Canon G12 point-and-shoot. The RAW file was processed with Canon’s Digital Photo Pro, then tweaked and finished off in GIMP. What you see is pretty much what came out of the camera. I applied a bit of curves adjustment and tone mapping to bring out a bit more of the richness of color and to focus attention, and that was about it. Apart from it’s heft, the G12 is a joy to work with. I particularly enjoy the build quality, the quick access to controls, and the beautiful balance of the instrument.

Ringha Prayer Flags

Happy New Year, everyone! The Tibetans have a greeting, “Tashi Delek”. It means auspiciousness and wellness. I wish you many Tashi Deleks. May 2012 bring you much laughter, prosperity and health.

Photog Notes
1/10 second, f/27, ISO 400. I made this image at the Ringha Monastery, one of the most sacred places that I’ve ever been to. We arrived in the late afternoon. It was deafeningly silent, save for the gentle whispering of the wind in the trees and the flapping of the prayer flags, as they released their messages to the heavens. To help convey the feeling of the place, I decided to try to capture the motion and whirls of colors about me.

Christmas Eve, 2011

My last two errands on Christmas Eve were to pick up the cake for the party, and the eggs for breakfast on Christmas morning. While heading to the cake shop, I saw that beautiful clouds were beginning to form on the horizon and surmised that with the current conditions there was going to be the chance for a decent sunset. After picking up the cake, I headed down to the water. All I had with me was the Canon S100 point-and-shoot but no matter, I had been wanting to try out it’s low light capabilities anyway.

Photog Notes
This image is a composite of two images, one exposed for the sky and distant water, the other for the foreground. Without the big camera and filter set up, I knew going into this shoot that the game plan would entail multiple exposures, then blending them in post processing to create an even exposure across the frame (aka a high dynamic range composite, if you will). Luckily, I had my regular tripod with me – this sturdy setup allowed me to set up in the water without any movement or change in position between frames.

In post processing, I converted the RAW files with Canon’s Digital Photo Pro, then built the composite in GIMP. Both images for the composite were shot in manual exposure at ISO 80, f/8 to allow the sensor to capture the most detail. I exposed the foreground image at 3.2 seconds to allow the water surface to glass over. The distant scene was exposed at 1 second to preserve the colors and patterns in the clouds. As expected, the S100’s sensor-lens combination performed like a champ when satisfied with the proper amount of light.

Seasons Greetings Seattle Style, 2011 Edition

I made this image this evening at the International Fountain at the Seattle Center. This time of year, the center comes alive with festive activities such as the seasonal ice rink and the Nutcracker ballet. But the synchronized-to-music fountain continues to be a major draw with kids (of all ages), who laugh and giggle as they play chicken in the unpredictable spray.

Photog Notes
I shot this with the D300 set at ISO 200. To capture the motion of the water, I set the shutter at 20 seconds, with the aperture at f/16. This long shutter speed also allowed me to isolate the fountain and Christmas tree from the children who were running in and out of path of the water.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

winter style

We’re pretty spoiled in Seattle. Our geography and proximity to the ocean (currents) provide us with mild weather all year round. Wet maybe, but definitely tolerable. December, however, blew in with some attitude. I made this image earlier this week on a morning when the frost was thick on the ground.

Photog Notes
This is another image from my ongoing test of the Canon PowerShot S100. I made this exposure at 1/200 second with the camera set at ISO 400. To control the depth of field, I shot the lens at a wide-open f/2. What I like most is the cool tones that the auto white balance imparted. In processing the RAW image, I tried a variety of settings but nothing came as close to reproducing the light and color that day as the in-camera white balance.

Potpourri

For the past several weeks, I have been testing Canon’s new S100 point-and-shoot camera. I made this image while walking around Green Lake (our local urban lake). I had stopped at a local fishing spot to survey the fall colors that fringed the water and discovered this scene, undulating gently at my feet. As I leaned toward the surface to take a closer look, the sweet, earthy bouquet of maple rose to greet me. What a pleasant surprise gift of nature.

Photog Notes
I made this image at ISO 400, exposure set for 1/30 second at f/8. What you see is the full frame. The details and clarity speak to the sharpness of the lens and it’s superior integration with the sensor and electronics. The from-camera JPG was beautiful and eminently usable but I decided to process the RAW file to correct for a bit of blueness from the auto white balance. I also applied the tiniest bit of tone mapping to bring out the wonderful gradations in the scene.