09-10-12 Purple and Gold

This purple and gold flower was a single bloom in a bouquet of cut garden flowers my wife bought at our local famers' market. Amongst all of the flowers in the arrangement, this one jumped out at me. And so, when our back deck was bathed in soft late afternoon light, I took a few photos.When I looked at what I had taken this morning, I noticed that a close view of this flower showed its imperfections. And so I had a dilemma: should I retouch it like I might a human portrait or should I leave it alone?This post is the answer. Aside from the standard corrections I make on many photos (contrast, sharpening, vibrancy, etc.) I left it alone.

09-09-12 I Have Photographed Royalty

I have been to Buckingham Palace but I've never taken a photo of the Queen. But I have photographed KiYi Royalty many times. In this case, I am showing you a picture of all of the 2006 Watertown High School KiYi royalty. The Princess and Chieftain (following a Native American theme) were Ben Dylla and Carissa Hauck.I am publishing this photo because Watertown High School's homecoming week starts today and, like small town homecomings all over the US, it is marked with pageantry, celebration and a general disregard for the primary purpose of high schools everywhere - educating the young. I wonder if they let school out early for such things in China?

09-08-12 Magical (HDR)

Generally, I use HDR tools very carefully when I work on photos. I'd like you to see a broad range of darks and lights in my HDR photos rather than an exaggerated HDR effect. I'm pleased that Joe Farace commented on this when he wrote about this blog in the October issue of Shutterbug.So why am I posting an HDR photo that is clearly less than "real?" I don't know. I worked on this photo for 30 minutes when, on a whim, I decided to see what Nik HDR Efex 2 would do to this scene. And this is the version that made the "final cut."Canon 5D 1/25s f/7.1 ISO250 40mm

09-07-12 Contradiction

Rick Steves, the American travel writer, says that for some Americans, a visit to Mostar is Bosnia can be "a bit jarring." This photo may be a good example of what he means: an inviting sidewalk cafe is juxtaposed next to a building that is riddled with bullet holes.I have been to Mostar twice and both times I am reminded of the long term consequences and scarring that war brings to people and cities. But Mostar also reminds me of the resilience of human beings. If you have a chance, I think you should spend some time in Mostar.

Meltdown!

Regular readers will notice that I have made significant changes to my blog theme. It wasn't intentional. In fact, I just got done telling my photo/media students that they should pick a theme and stick with it because potential customers don't want to spend time trying to re-learn how to navigate a web site.So I apologize. But last night I experienced a "major malfunction" with the Modularity theme I was using. Rather than take my blog offline until I figured out how to fix things, I picked a new theme. Frankly, I like it, largely because it allows for larger photos. It also has other cool features, which I don't have a clue on how to use. But learning is a good thing isn't it?In the October, 2012, issue of Shutterbug Joe Farace posts a screen shot of my blog and a description of the features of my homepage. If you came here expecting to see what he describes, sorry. Bad timing. :-( But a new, cool look. :-)Painting: "The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali, Museum of Modern Art

09-06-12 The Old Bridge, Mostar

Stari Most ("the Old Bridge) is a name I've seen for bridges in other places in for former Yugoslav Republic. But this particular bridge is the most famous Stari Most. It spans the Neretva River in Mostar, Bosnia. Though it is called "the Old Bridge," parts of it date back to very recent history because it has been reconstructed.It stood for close to 500 years before it was intentionally destroyed in the Croat-Bosniak war. In war there is a general convention that art and architecture are spared. But in this case the enemy made an exception. Fortunately, it has been meticulously reconstructed.

09-05-12 Full Bloom

As the flowers fade, the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, mundane shots of a simple flower in summer bloom start to look better and better. I took this photo in late June and the image file was gathering dust amongst the 12,000 photos in my 2012 Aperture library.Canon 5DIII 1/400s f/2.8 ISO400 100mm

09-04-12 I Like Frank

This is certainly not the first time I've posted a photo of Frank, by Chuck Close. One of the more interested illicit uses of one of my photos from this blog involved Frank (click here to read a tale of theft and Creative Commons copyright misdeeds).Finally, this is not the first art gallery photo. In fact art galleries are one of my favorite places to take pictures. Why not take a few minutes to look at a few of my gallery interiors? Just click here.And, as long as I've gone overboard with links in this post, here's the one art gallery post in this blog that I like the most.

09-03-12 25,600

This photo is ugly in many ways. It lacks contrast, it's subject is less than perfect and it is more than a little grainy. But consider this: it was shot with my Canon 5D III at its highest "normal"* ISO setting of 25,600. It was so dark where I took this, I couldn't read the writings on the buttons on the camera. I grew up in a photographic world where 400 was considered a "high speed" film. The 5D III's sensor is 64 times more sensitive than that!When I bought my Canon 5D several years ago, I told my wife that I would never need another digital camera. It was a beautiful, high resolution camera. But then I learned that one thing that improves with each upgrade of the DSLR is it's ability to take better and better photos in lower and lower light. So when the 5D II was released, you know what happened. And now I have the 5D III, which is a beautiful high resolution camera. Maybe this one is the last camera I'll ever need?*There is an extended setting that allows for 102,400 ISO, but I'm not brave enough to try that.Canon 5D III 1/13s f/4.0 ISO25600 102mm

09-02-12 Camera Blur

I know enough about sports photography to know that this is no "money shot" because there is way too much blur. I'll leave sports photography to the sports pros.But I also know that if it's done right, blur can add a sense of motion and action to a photo and I think this photo is a good illustration of that. So, while this photo would never make the sports pages, it does make my blog. :-)For those who care, Watertown won the game. (1996 KiYi Days)Canon 5D 1/80s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm

09-01-12 A Quiet Moment

I've been a little wordy in the photo blog lately. So I'll spare you today. This is Elise B in a relaxed moment in my studio a few years ago.Canon 1DII (?) 1/250s f/8.0 ISO100 58mmPlease take the "A Photo A Day" survey!

08-31-12 Hauptbahnhof, Berlin

I had some time in the main train station of Berlin a couple years ago and so I told Deb I was going to go looking for photos. I think I could spend all day in a place like this, surrounded with fascinating architecture and busy people.Sometimes when I take a photo I imagine that no one else has done so before. I'm a bit of a pioneer who is trying to show the world something that its never seen before. Yes, that's grandiose, I'll admit.This photo isn't one of those photos. I'm guessing many photographers have snapped a photo similar to this. So why publish it? Because even though it may not be unique and "new," I like it. And often that's enough for me.Canon 5DII 1/320s f/8.0 ISO320 70mm