Robs "I cant believe Ive got a blog" blog

Have Math Homework Will Travel

2011-10-20T20:22:00.001-04:00

Caroline digg'n tunes and rock'n out the numbers.

A Great Day for a Ride

2011-10-13T09:18:00.000-04:00

Just outside the Western Maryland RR station in Cumberland, MD. Much to do here from bike riding the C&O Canal Tow Path to the south or the Great Allegheny Passage to the north, to taking an excursion ride on The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad up to Frostburg, MD. In between you can shop, eat at a few great restaurants. and otherwise enjoy a quieter slower way of life.

Salvation Lies Within

2011-10-12T18:17:00.000-04:00

After two days camping in the wilderness with two giggly 13 year old girls, Terry and I both needed some ME/US time. So we headed into Cumberland and set the girls free on the Great Alleghany Passage bike path while we enjoyed a couple of adult beverages and some appetizers. A special thanks goes out to The Crabby Pig for having a pet friendly patio dinning area, without which, Terry and I would have been left walking the dog for a couple of hours.

McNally enjoyed a free dog bone and bowl of water.

Another One From Green Ridge State Forest

2011-10-11T20:49:00.000-04:00

I rarely do this when I’m traveling with the family in the car but I had to stop along the side of the road and capture this image. Loved how the high power wires sort of point the way to the low lying clouds in the distance.

Smores Anyone?

2011-10-11T09:57:00.001-04:00

The giggling teens roasting marshmallows for their Smores.

Camp Fire Breakfasts

2011-10-11T09:45:00.001-04:00

One of the best things about camping is cooking over an open fire.

Bacon, Sausage, Cheese and Egg pie iron sandwich. Mmmmm mmmmm mmmm.

French Toast on the griddle. Smelling gooooood!!!!

Down a Country Road

2011-10-10T22:40:00.001-04:00

Green Ridge State Forest in Western, MD has got to be one of the most beautiful locations in the state. Along the Potomac, about half way between Hagerstown and Cumberland, this place has provided our family with more than 17 years of outstand camping and outdoor activates. This Columbus Day weekend was no different. Superb weather and changing colors every day were where there.

Where Were You? 9/11

2011-09-11T11:18:00.001-04:00

I was working at home with the news on. Watched the entire thing unfold while talking to my father about it on the phone. We were both in complete disbelief. I can remember first thinking that it had to be some sort of gross air traffic error but then the second plane hit the tower It became clear that this was no mistake.

In the mean time, Terry and the girls were in Georgetown working and at school. They could see the smoke from the Pentagon just across and down the Potomac.

It was all very surreal here in DC. The first reports of the issue at the Pentagon were that of a helicopter crash. Comparatively no big deal as helicopters fly to and from the Pentagon all the time. It was a plausible reason for the fire and smoke. However, it soon became apparent that we were under attack, that the Pentagon "fire" was actually a 3rd plane, and even more worrisome, one plane was still missing. With Georgetown's proximity to other potential targets like Embassy Row and the Naval Observatory, I decided it was just time to get the family out of there and home together. I called Terry and pretty much told her to get the kids and come home.

Ironically, due to 9/11, today I wouldn't be able to do that because the schools would go into immediate lock down and not allow staff and students to leave. Not really sure how I feel about that. At the time, the most important thing to me was to get the family out of there as soon as possible.

In this day of remembrance it is not only important that we honor the hero’s in NY, DC, and PA, it’s also important that we never forget how that event made us feel that day and the impact it has had on every one of our individual lives since. We can honor the fallen with memorials and ceremonies, but if we forget how 9/11 has changed all of our lives then we dishonor those who have given their all to help keep American safe and free; we will be bound to repeating the same mistakes that left us vulnerable 10 years ago today.

Never Forget

What Did I Do on My Summer Vacation

2011-09-03T13:07:00.001-04:00

For the first time in almost 22 years Terry and I spent almost the entire summer in the absence of children. Amanda has moved from school in Pittsburgh across the state to a new job in Philly. And between camp, vacations, and a trip to the beach with big sis, Caroline has been gone since just after school let out.

So what did Terry and I do? We dug deep into our youth and became groupies. That’s right, we pretty much followed one of our local bands around from bar to bar dig’n the great music. Hang’n with old and making new friends. Basically, enjoying our new found freedom.

On this particular night I brought along the camera equipment and shot a few for the band. Pretty simple two flash setup; one on camera with a CTO gel to help warm things up and a remote flash with a blue gel to provide just a hint of color.

Meet Chickenhawks Rock

A Little Steam on a Hot Summers Day

2011-08-07T18:04:00.001-04:00

On my way home from the family vacation a few weeks ago, I took a little excursion up to Scranton PA and visited Steamtown National Historic Site. Steamtown is an interesting story. Once called Steamtown USA with its home in Bellows Falls, Vermont, it started with one individuals, Nelson Blount, PRIVATE collection of steam engines and rolling stock and eventually wound up a National Park Service site in Scranton PA. It is unique in that its the only Nation Park of its type in the US; a park not devoted to preserving beautiful landscapes or mountain sides, its all about preserving a part of Americana that connected two halves of a country and slowly died the victim of advancing technologies.

Now housed in the heart of Scranton, PA at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad yard and round house, the park still services and restores these old iron horses. A fine example is this 4-8-8-4 Big Boy

Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy

Only 25 of these 4000 class 4-8-8-4 were built by Alco for the Unions Pacific Rail Road. The UP 4012 is one of only 8 still in existence today and is a beautiful sample of Steam’s hay day on the rails. It’s amazing to me that this monster found its way to one mans private collection but thank god it did.

Steam is not the only thing at Steamtown. This EMD F3, built sometime between 1945 and 1949 by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division is one of 20 A units bought by the DL&W RR. It has been beautifully restored and is used occasionally for excursion trips.

DL&W EMD F3A

Although slightly out of focus this photo reminds me of the look often see in a period ads for rail travel.

The greatest thing about a rail museum is it provides for all sort of interesting photography.

Manual Brake Wheel

2 of the 4-8-8-4’s 16 Drive Wheels

Mail bins inside a Pullman style mail car

It was a very hot day but very fun trip back to a time where Steam was king of the railways and train travel was romantic and glamorous. If you happen to be in Northeaster part of PA I strongly suggest you stop in and take a look around. Its an extremely educational location ; very well done by the US Park Services.

Legendary Sax Man Suffers Stroke

2011-06-13T19:14:00.000-04:00

The “Big Man” CC apparently suffered a stroke today. http://tinyurl.com/3frn9nq

Terry and I are huge Springsteen fans as well as Clarence Clemens and the entire E Street Band so the news was a downer for us.

Here’s hoping for a full recovery but in the mean time enjoy…

Thank You President Obama

2011-05-02T02:09:00.001-04:00

Thank you for not caving to your base and remaining resolute in our efforts to seek out Osama Ben Laden. Persistence has paid off in the end. Now you must resist the pressures to relax our guard. It is certain that our fight against Terror continues and we must remain as resolute into the future as we have these past 10 years.

We must also pay a debt of gratitude to the men and women of our armed forces, especially those who have given their lives in this fight. As tired and worn as our military is today it is still the best the world has ever seen and we as Americans should take pride in the work it does around the world.

Lastly a very special thanks must go out to the elite group of troops who carried out this operation along with the intelligence community who provided the vital information needed. Your country is proud of your actions and happy that none of you were harmed in the operation.

God Bless America.

Comfortably Numb

2011-01-25T11:07:00.001-05:00

One day I hope to see Amanda design a light show like this.

And, Amanda, who said the user of a crystal ball was out dated? LOL

Thanks Paula for post this on Facebook.

True Grit

2011-01-24T00:31:00.001-05:00

Yes as in the movie!!!

Disclaimer: I’m a huge True Grit fan, both the John Wayne movie and the book, so I may be a bit over exuberant. However, as a huge fan, what could have easily disappointed... Didn't.

TRUE GRIT is fantastic.

This version of the movie is a fusion of the book and original John Wayne movie. It follows the same basic story line as the original movie but, like the book, the story is told from the perspective of the girl, Mattie Ross. The Cogburn character is truly gritty and nowhere near as likable as the Wayne portrayal; again reflective of the character in the book. Although I thought the Mattie characters should have been just a bit more assertive, she too, followed much closer to the character in the book.

The acting is fantastic. In her first full length feature film 14 year old Hailee Seinfeld is a natural. She’s a bit cuter than I would picture Mattie Ross but she pulls the character off perfectly. Matt Damon is prefect as Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf and Jeff Bridges IS Rooster Cogburn. Although, it's never portrayed outwardly, you really get a feel for the relationship that grows between Mattie and Rooster. I credit this mostly to Jeff Bridges acting. His facial expression alone show you how impressed Rooster is with this 14yr old girl as she holds her own throughout the adventure.

The action is well done without being over played. The portrayal of the time period appears much more realistic than the first movie. The cruelty of the violence was very realistic but appropriate. Most importantly it kept just about every emotion stirred up throughout the movie. I laughed a lot and almost cried a couple of times.

Although the two movies share the same story line the their styles are so different that a comparison would be unfair. They both hold their own and on their own merits.

I don’t often go out to the theater to see a movie but I’m glad I went to see this one. If you have the chance go see it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It's certainly a DVD that I will add to my collection when its released.

A Droid X Shoots Caroline’s Spanish Project

2011-01-18T13:04:00.001-05:00

Shot exclusively with a Droid X

So Caroline comes home last Tuesday and announces that she has to produce a video for her Spanish class and it’s due in one week. Not only that, but she has to do this with two of her classmates which involves coordination of schedules so they can work on this project after school. If you’re familiar with the typical 12 year olds daily schedule you know that its filled with school, homework, sports, dance, and a lot more. This makes it almost impossible to coordinate any time together.

Uuuuugh!!! What's with these teachers and their group projects with short deadlines. Something just isn’t right.

Well after a couple emails to the teacher, I find out that the requirement is simply to do a live skit in class and they have al the time they need, IN CLASS, to write and prepare their skits; no video required. Where on earth did the video requirement come from? Like I had to ask. As you can guess, Caroline and her friends had their hearts set leaving me with the task of figuring out how we’re going to shoot video, edit, and have it ready in less than a week. Note that the only video equipment I have is an old analog 8mm Sony camcorder.

Then it came to me… My Droid X shoots 720p High Definition video. Yes my cell phone can do more than just make phone calls. For years I’ve been trying to figure out the practical use of camera’s on a cell phone and now I find myself readying a video shoot with of all things, a cell phone. When I told Caroline, she was more than skeptical and, as director of the project, pretty much ordered me to have the old camcorder ready to go just in case.

Video prep and preproduction: We managed to schedule about 2 hours Friday afternoon for all three kids to get together for the shoot. Oh my, only 2 hours. This aught to be interesting.

“Ok well Caroline for this to work you must have the script all worked out and your shot list and story board ready so when we get on location we know exactly what we are going to shoot.”

Of course I didn’t expect this to be done but to my shock and pleasure not only did she have it all written out but she told me that she went scouting locations with her mother and was all ready to go. Scouting locations? Really? How about that.

The shoot: Friday rolls around and I meet the kids at the school. First shooting location, The Tombs. A couple of test shots to get used to the Droid and then in two takes we’re done and ready to move on. Sure enough, the kids had it all thought out and written down. No need for rehearsals, just run it once and then once again.

Next location, Lafayette School and park near the house. With just a bit of rearranging because of the suns location, we managed two different shots in no time and were headed to the house for our last shot. Mind you we’re shooing in reverse order; thank god for Caroline’s preproduction work.

At the house we shoot the intro scene and a cutaway of Caroline and we’re done.

“We’re done!!! What time is it? Only 4:30? Well we have time to reshoot the last scene if you want. We can do it right up at Comet.”

We learned a few things while shooting the other scenes that would make the final scene better so up to Comet we went. In no time, we reshoot the final scene with a few script changes and now were really done.

Wow was I impressed. The entire video shot in an hour and a half. No way we could have done that if the kids didn’t do their home work before hand. Caroline did an excellent job of coordinating and directing. All I had to do was run the camera. Of course its up to me to get it all on the computer and edit it together.

Over all the Droid X did a pretty decent job. Easy enough to use with some preset modes for outdoors etc. I used AVS4YOU suite of software to edit and produce the final product. It took some learning over the weekend but its easy enough to use. It has some limitations but what do you expect for something that only cost $59 bucks.

It turned out to be a fun project and the Droid impressed me enough to try using it again for some more serious video shoots. Just have to come up with some cool ideas.

Ice Cream in the Cold

2011-01-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

Caroline insisted on a stop at Ben and Jerry’s while we were in Gatlinburg. Mind you it was in the mid 30s outside but we had to have our ice cream.

A Few From Biltmore

2011-01-01T00:29:00.001-05:00

Spent over 12 hours today at Biltmore and we didn’t even touch the grounds. We did the Architects and Butlers behind the scenes tour as well as the full house tour. We also had a great lunch at the Stables Café and dinner at Deer Park. At the end of the day we went back to the house to take a few night photos.

It was a long day and my feet are killing me but we had a great time, especially Caroline. We off to the Winery in the morning and then home.

Caroline and the Smoky Mountains

2010-12-31T00:06:00.001-05:00

Twelve years ago we took Amanda on a trip to Asheville, NC and the Smoky Mountains. That year the area was slammed with a huge snow storm while we were there. Although the snow presented some challenges we had a wonderful time.

Fast forward to today and we’re back with Caroline around the same time and once again in the mitts of another big snow. Today we made the trip from Gatlinburg, TN over the mountain to Caroline’s name sake, Asheville, NC. Just as it was 12 years ago, the drive was fantastic and provided several photographic moments.

Tomorrow we do Biltmore which is certain to provide more photographic moments.

I’m Dead… But I had the Right of Way

2010-10-23T12:35:00.001-04:00

Ok here's one to ponder. We all know that pedestrians, in a cross walk, have the right of way (in most cases.) I certainly have no argument with this fact. If I’m crossing with the light, in the crosswalk, I don’t expect to get run over by a car. Fair enough. However, I was taught to look both ways before stepping off the curb and my common sense tells me that in a collision with a 3500lb car traveling a mere 25mph, I’m most likely going to lose. It seems very simple to me, Common sense. right?

Well explain to me the people who take their “Right of Way” to the extreme by crossing the street, in the cross walk, REGARDLESS of the oncoming traffic.

Here in DC, along heavily traveled roads such as Wisconsin Ave and Connecticut Ave, there are cross walks in locations w/o traffic lights or walk/don't walk signs. Well there are idiots out there who exercise their "Right of Way" by simply stepping off the curb and walking across the street.

“Oh look there’s a truck barreling down the busy road with no chance of stopping in time but I’m walking anyway after all I’m in a cross walk and therefore have the right of way.”

I’m sorry did I miss a memo or something? Are cross walks now magical zones where no harm can happen to me?

Of course what this means is one pedestrian has just stopped up sometime 6 lanes of traffic as they mosey across the street. You can imagine the chaos this creates during rush hour. Cars slamming on breaks and sometimes accordioning into each other.

This problem is nearing epidemic proportions lately. I actually saw an AU student get hit on Nebraska Ave the other day and I almost hit some jerk a night or two ago crossing Wisconsin Ave, wearing all dark clothing. He was lucky I saw him at all!!!I Then he had the nerve to look at me like I was the idiot. Excuse me buddy but I’m not the one crossing the street, at night, wearing black cloths, as traffic is screaming by. A few mornings ago, I had to stop short on GW parkway, during morning rush, as two joggers and three bicycle riders just crossed the two lane parkway without hesitation. I’m not even sure they looked for on coming traffic. The entire line of commuters behind me almost ran into me.

Each time I have to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting one of these pedestrians, or the truck/car who had to stopped suddenly in front of me, I feel like getting out of the car and explaining to the pedestrian that, although technically in the right, his right of way will do him no good when he's splattered all over the street 'cause he was hit by a truck doing 35 on Wisconsin Ave. Unfortunately, it will most likely do absolutely no good as these people are so caught up in the black and white of their Right of Way, any discussion of COMMON SENSE would be wasted on them.

Frankly, I just don’t get it. My life is sooooo much more important to me than my right of way in a cross walk. I have more important things to do with my time than spend it DEAD on some street because I was bound and determined to make that 80,000 lbs truck stop in a short 10 ft. You know what? I’ll give up my right away or walk a few more feet to a corner with a traffic light before I risk my life and hold up traffic just so I could get to the other side of the street.

PLEASE people exercise your god give COMMON SENSE, how ever little you may have, and don’t expect some car to stop just because you’re in the cross walk. Right of way or not, you’re gambling with your life and just might lose. Walk a couple more blocks down to the traffic light. Your chances of survival will increase 10 fold.

Now and Then – August 28th 1963 and 2010

2010-08-31T23:53:00.001-04:00

It’s always cool when you shoot a photograph, take a look at it, and realize it reminds you of an image you’ve seen in news and print all your life especially if that photograph is of a monumental event in your history.

Below are two photographs I took at the Restoring Honor Rally this past Saturday.

I shot my images on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial 47 years to the day that the images bellow were shot from similar locations.

Of course, the black and white photos were shot August 28, 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This was at the height of the Civil Rights movement, where over 250,000 people, mostly of African American decent, marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial culminating with Marin Luther Kings I have a Dream speech. Unfortunately, for the movement, African Americans and the country as a whole, King was assassinated 5 years later in Memphis, Tennessee. I shutter to think how things may have been different had he lived to see his dream to fruition.

For those of us who lived through and were born in the 60s, these images are engrained in our memories, seeing them on TV and in news papers, magazines and now history books. It makes it specialty gratifying when you have an opportunity to photograph something similar, on the same day, 47 years later, that arguably may also have historical importance. Of course only time will tell but there is no arguing the historical importance of the 1963 photos.

Please note: I make no direct comparison between the Restoring Honor Rally and the March on Washington. I’m merely pointing out the satisfaction in producing similar photographs 47 years after the originals.

D.C.F.D. to the Rescue

2010-08-30T00:30:00.001-04:00

Although the air temp and humidity was very comfortable for a late August day in DC, the sun was still a scorcher this past Saturday. As we were leaving the Mall near the WWII Memorial the District fire department had this truck setup as an industrial strength sprinkler system. Kids and adults alike enjoyed themselves as they ran through the water and cooled off.

Restoring Honor Rally

2010-08-29T19:31:00.001-04:00

August 28, 2010

Spent the better part of the day yesterday on the National Mall at the Restoring Honor Rally. We, Terry Caroline and I, had the privilege of spending several hours with some of the nicest, courteous, proudest, and patriotic folks I’ve ever had the privilege of being around. It was a very enjoyable day and quite uplifting from what I was able to hear, as we walked all the way around the reflecting pool and Lincoln Memorial photographing the event. The only aggravating part of the day was coming home and reading the liberal press. “Thousands come to the mall for Glenn Back Rally” Thousands? Really? what rally was the press covering? The Al Sharpton rally? There were at least a few more than thousands in my humble opinions. You look at the photos and you decide.

Arriving on the mall around 10am. The rally is on the other side of the Monument grounds.

Love this kid!!!

The crowd at 10am; is this what the AP calls ‘Thousands’? Shot from the grounds of the monument.

Just relaxing under a tree.

Even good ol’ Abe was at the rally.

If this is his thing than it’s ok by me. It’s called respecting others beliefs.

The guy has a point. Don’t think it will happen but its a good point none the less.

Does this shot look familiar? How many were at the rally in ‘63? This was shot at 11am from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Again I ask you, ‘thousands’? It’s somewhat difficult to see but the crowd fills in both sides of the Reflecting Pool into the trees and across the pathway that runs on the other side of the trees. To the left is the Vietnam memorial and to the right the Korean. You couldn’t even get to the Korean for the people and the crowd extended to the grounds of the Vietnam Memorial. Looking to the Washington Monument the crowd fills in the entire WWII memorial grounds, crosses the street and runs up the Monument grounds just about to the Monument itself.

Ok now here’s the only fringe group we found all day. This group has protested Obama before, once reported on CNN during the 2008 campaign. The surrounding crowd politely asked them to move on as this was not the type of rally for protesting or politics.

Eventually, the Park Police moved in and the group moved on. They were very respectful to the policemen and respectfully acknowledged the regulations restricting such protests on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I thought for sure I was going to see some of the violence promised to me by the liberals but it was not to happen.

An impromptu tribute to the late Martin Luther King.

Some proud flag waivers. These flags were all around the area, state, and US alike, along with a few Gadsden flags and even a couple Join or Die flags.

Abe brought along his friend George.

Jesus meets Colonel Washington? I knew Glenn was religious but this takes the cake. ;-)

Love this shot even if I have to say so myself.

Dude!!! Love the shirt!!! Must really piss off your progressives friends.

What’s with the funny hats?

Yet another shot of the ‘thousands’ of people.

I’m not sure Glenn, the Tea Partiers, or any other conservative would use such violent a term as ‘Declare Eternal Hostility’ but if she added the word Marxism and used the word END I’m sure she’d get Becks full support.

And what’s up with this dude? Doesn’t he know he looks foolish? Is there some discriminating message in his dress about the people who attended the rally? Isn’t this the sort of behavior the left calls hateful? And why so crude? I thought the liberals were supposed to be the cerebral thinking type.

Both these liberal protesters where just outside the WWII grounds. Apparently they didn’t get the message that the rally wasn’t a political one. Frankly, I’m not sure why anyone would want to protest a rally fostering Hope, Charity, Faith and Honor.

Caroline enjoying a nice bottle of water.

Crowd at the end of the rally around 1pm, shot from the street between the Washington Monument and the WWII monument.

Just a cool shot of the subway system at Farragut West on the way home.

You can watch the rally in its entirety here

An Afternoon Around Annapolis City Docks

2010-08-25T13:00:00.000-04:00

Brian, Mary and Neal

Flash… Don’t leave home without it

2010-08-24T23:48:00.001-04:00

Went to the City Docks in Annapolis this past Sunday to enjoy a great afternoon of music from our friend Mary accompanied by her band mates Brian and Neal. More on Brian, Mary and Neal later.

Anyway…

We get down to the Dock just in time for a big black rain clouds to roll in. Bummer!!! I was looking forward to a beautiful blue sky with a few white fluffy clouds as a backdrop for for some nice photos of the girls and the harbor. Instead I have dark ominous clouds… What to do… What to do…

Whip out the flash and go dramatic.

Canon 1D Mark III, 1/2500, F/4, ISO 400, FEC +1 2/3

This is super easy to do with a flash and off camera shoe cord. In manual mode set your exposure for the desired background effect. In this case, I’m at least a stop or two under exposed. Now work you flash power until you get the desired affect. Despite the clouds, it was still fairly bright outside so the flash was set at +1 2/3 EV to over power the ambient light ensuring the flash is the primary light in the photo. Now with the flash set, hold it out for the desired angle and shadows and then shoot away. Note that the color cast is created with a 1/4 CTO gel on the flash; give sort of a sun set cast of color.

Canon 1D Mark III, 1/2500, F/4, ISO 400, FEC +1 2/3

Here’s a couple of examples but after the storm had past. Note the skies are now blue with white clouds but we’re able to really make them more dramatic using the exact same technique.

Canon 1D Mark III, 1/400, F/4, ISO 100, FEC +1/3

Canon 1D Mark III, 1/8000, F/4, ISO 250, FEC +3

Pretty cool!!!! I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have my flash with me and I seem to use it more and more all the time.

The Great Debaters

2010-07-24T12:35:00.001-04:00

No photos this time, just a reflection.

I grew up in a family of debaters. In this family you learned pretty early on to set your emotions aside and voice your opinions loudly. I can remember many Thanksgivings and Christmas’ sitting around the dinning room table “discussing” everything from taxes to war to politics to religion. To get a word in edgewise you simply spoke loader than whoever currently had the floor. Needless to say the room could get quite loud at times and to the outsider seem very heated. But as an insider you always knew that when the subject was exhausted everyone could still sit around the table and laugh as only a family can.

Well, sadly, our family lost maybe our last great debater this past Friday.

Ian had the unique skill of being able to make everyone bust out in complete laughter with his impute to the discussion. I remember once we were in a heated discussion about the existence of God, which of course Ian took the negative, and at the end of our debate the believer finished by saying, “May God be with you.” to which, with out missing a beat, Ian replied, “And may the Force be with you!!!” We were all in tears laughing. Maybe you had to be there but, I still bust out in laughter when I think about it.

Ian, we love you and you’re going to be greatly missed. Even though we’ve been thousands of miles apart, you always put a smile on our faces with your Facebook posts and sarcastic quips. “Discussions” will never be the same without you.

With a great deal of tears and laughter all I can say is, “May the force be with you, ALWAYS!!!!”

Nocturne

2010-07-02T00:13:00.001-04:00

So when I got back into photography, I made a deal with myself that if I got good enough I wouldn’t turn this hobby into a profession like I did computers many years ago. For the most part I’ve been pretty good at sticking to that pact. Most of the “work” I’ve done for other has been strictly on a volunteer basis and because I wanted the experience or fun. I guess you can say I did this job for the same reasons but, admittedly, I was paid cold hard cash for the work too.

My personal favorite

Pretty much your average everyday product shoot; capture images of a new line of show and club laser units, add a bit of mood lighting, some accent lighting, make sure the logo stands out etc, etc. The final images were to be used in advertising literature and website media.

Front View

Rear View

A look at the setup

We used a three flash setup for the shoot. The light you see up high was blue gelled and created the blue background off a piece of white illustrator board behind the laser. The gold/orange accent was added by directing a light at a low angle so it would catch just the edges of the laser. We used an orange gel to achieve the color. Lastly we used a pure white snooted light to concentrate its light only on the logo of the laser. Frankly, I don’t remember all the individual settings now but all the lights were set to manual and adjusted according to the look we wanted to achieve. As Ansell Adams would say, “We used the right settings.”

Please also note my two helpers in the background. Amanda seems enamored with the pretty blue light. :-)

The result of all that work can be seen here in this one minute video. The still images are the two you see above.

Video courtesy of X-Laser

Shooting in the Theater… White Balance revisited

2010-06-25T13:09:00.001-04:00

So it’s been a long time since I’ve discussed anything regarding theater photography but I happened to run into an interesting situation when shooting Alice.

First lets review our last conversation on this subject of WB in the theater. In short we determined that setting the camera’s WB to around 3200K best matched the traditional tungsten theater lights. This setting will best represent all the different colors used to accent the set and actors.

Lets also briefly clear up a common misconception I hear from other photographers when discussing WB. The particular gel color on theater lights should NOT determine your WB settings. As a mater of fact, quite the opposite. Setting the WB to that of a gelled light will do nothing but obliterate that color and throw everything else off. If we are to represent the colors correctly we must set the camera to the WB of an un-gelled (white) light.

Now with the house keeping expended, enter a new challenge…

The LED light.

That’s right, just when we get the Tungsten light all figured out, the theater world tosses in the LED fixture. It actually makes a lot of sense economically. An LED element burns for many many more hours than a traditional tungsten element. They use less electricity, and they are now just as intense and the traditional fixture. The one cool advantage they have over traditional lights is you can run the LED element in an RGB series and produce just about any color you want with out the need for gels. In addition, you can gradually fade from one color to the next removing the need for noisy gel rollers that can’t fade anyway. Way cool.

For these very reasons, LEDs are taking over the theater world but along with them comes a slue of photographic problems one of which is color temperature. LEDs can have a color temp as high as 8600K which will play havoc with your photographs when dealing with a mix of traditional and LED fixtures. Worse yet, I haven’t found any consistency between manufactures. Pulling the specs on several of the larger providers shows a large range of WB numbers between manufactures. Additionally, only a very few actually allow you to set the WB for the LED through the DMX controller. That’s right, SET the WB of the light. According to the manufactures specs, some allow you to set the temperature of pure white to a number that matches the rest of you lighting. Problem is, most LD (Lighting Designers) won’t bother as the human eye doesn’t have the same problems our cameras have when interpreting color. The LD is just going to set the light to the color that looks right and be done with it. The fact that its based on a WB of 8500K instead of 3200K doesn’t mater to the LD near as much as it maters to the photographer.

As an example, look at the following photo. The first version is processed at 3300K matching the WB of the tungsten lights. Notice the green on the fabric drops behind the Mad Hatter. The green is pale and dull. Note the blue drop just behind Alice. See the very little bit of green just evident behind Alice?

Image processed at 3300K to match traditional tungsten lights

Now look at this version of the same image processed at 5600K, the temp of the LEDs used to light the drops.

Image processed at 5600k to match the LED lights used to light the drops

Notice how much better the green looks and just how much green was lost in the drop behind Alice in the previous example. There’s a huge difference!!! But also look at how far off the color is especially with the actors skin tones. Yuck, way too orange. Of course, this is because the actors and table were lit with traditional tungsten lighting.

So what is one to do? Well the very first thing to do is talk to the LD and find out what fixtures are being used in the production. If you find that its a mix, then you need to hope the LD understands the problem and has compensated for it and/or hope you can find a good balance in post processing. The key is to find out what the primary lighting device is and set the camera to that temperature. Take a few test shots and adjust your WB setting to see if you can find a compromise setting that will work in camera. Short of that, your at the mercy of the LD and the camera.

At some point I suspect that tungsten will be replace with LED or something similar but until that happens we’ll have to deal with this mix of light. It’s going to be a real challenge but I hope the information here at least help explain why some of the colors in your photos just don’t seem right and how to adjust when needed.

Softball been bery bery good to… Caroline

2010-06-24T01:50:00.001-04:00

Just what in the hell have I been doing over the past few months which has prevented me from keeping up with my blog?

Well one thing I’ve been doing is going to softball games.

That’s right, Caroline played Softball this year, for the first time, and she absolutely loved it. But it’s easy to love it when you have a great program run by great people and great coaches.

It was a great season and we’re all looking forward to next season. In the mean time I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time at the batting cages.

Be Prepared

2010-06-22T10:12:00.001-04:00

Any good photographer will tell you that you must always be prepared for the unexpected if you want to get the good shots. This means having your camera by your side, at the ready, at all times.

Well a couple of weeks ago I actually followed that advice and I’m certainly glad I did. I was visiting a client in Annapolis where I was informed, that as apart of the Naval Academy’s commencement ceremony, the Blue Angles were due to put on a show. Being that the client is a yacht builder and therefore right on the water, I stood a good chance of getting some great photos. Gear at the ready, I continued with my business at hand patiently waiting for the thunder of FA-18s flying overhead. A couple of hours later, work all done, no thunder. DAMN!!! I have to get all the way back into DC to pick up Caroline at school… DAMN!!!

Well, I give up and hop in the car to head back to DC. Turn to head out of the yard and… well one can’t really spell out the sound and felling of 4 blue and yellow FA-18 thundering by what seemed to be an arms length away. I’ve seen flybys before at sporting events but nothing holds a candle to this flyby. I whipped out the camera armed with my 100-400mm lens and started to shoot away.

Note the corner of the building in the left bottom corner of the frame. Remember I’m shooting in the middle of a boat yard with buildings and masted sailboats all around me. Getting a clean shot is going to be difficult as demonstrated below.

But with some patients, a good eye, and admittedly some cropping in post I was able to squeeze off several decent shots.

Note the con trail of the airliner flying over at ~30,000ft

Needless to say I’m 1) glad I had my gear with me and 2) glad I stuck it out to get the shots. Unfortunately, I was late picking up Caroline. Cost me $25 bucks but I thought it was worth it.

Go Ask Alice When She was Just Small

2010-04-06T13:52:00.001-04:00

What makes a good theatrical production? A good script? Good actors? Great direction? Fancy sets? Well yes, those things would certainly make for a good show but to pull off Alice in Wonderland you also need the proper ambiance. For Alice, that means great lighting and effects. To that end, it was Amanda’s job as Lighting Designer to provide the perfect ambiance for the University of Pittsburgh's Repertory Theatre Production of ‘Alice’, an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland by Emilia Anderson and Tamara Goldbogen, directed by Sam Turich with original music by Buddy Nutt.

Well of course Amanda toiled over the entire project with her normal surface moans, groans, and bitching. All the while, everyone was telling her it was going to be great, but the perfectionist in her insisted that this wasn’t right and that wasn’t right and so on. The night I was there to shoot these photos, was near perfect but she stayed in the theater until 5:30 am tweaking things here and there.

All the hard work and long hours must have been well worth it because the final production was absolutely fabulous. We went up to Pitt this past weekend to see the final show and all I can say is WOW!!! What a great show. Well acted, the script was fresh and very funny, and of course the lighting was top notch. Certainly, a professional job by all involved.

Terry and I are extremely proud and really hope Amanda continues in the theater after school. She may wind up being a starving artist for the rest of her life but it’s very clear she loves the work. AND… If I have to say so myself… She’s damn good at it.

Congratulations Amanda and to the entire cast can crew of Alice. It was a wonderful show and we all enjoyed it immensely.

Double Wide Grill

2010-04-02T20:42:00.001-04:00

Very cool place up in South Side Pittsburgh. Took the family, including Dan and Jim, this evening and we all had a great time.

Check out the video… I thought it was pretty funny. :)

Ok, now how can you go wrong with this!!!

2009-12-29T16:43:00.001-05:00

Be sure to listen to the lyrics and…

CRANK IT UP!!!!

B Company

2009-11-11T10:43:00.001-05:00

That’s what my grandfather used to say every time he was asked if he served in WWII, B Company. What on earth is that? His answer…

“Be here when they go and be here when they get back.”

John Dodgson circa 1940s

Although both my grandfathers never served in the military they did serve their country in very important jobs. One had worked in the coal mines of Northern PA and the other in the NY ship yards.

The point is while on this day of thanks to our “real” veterans who deserve our debt of gratitude, let us not forget those back at home who support the troops by doing their jobs and providing the necessary equipment, supplies and support both here and abroad. We should never forget all the women who stepped out of the kitchens and into the factories to produce tanks and airplanes along with all those like my grandfathers who were unable to “serve” but still did their part right here at home to keep us safe.

So on this veterans day I’d like to thank all our troops active, retired, dead and alive and all those ordinary citizens throughout our history and today who provide supplies and support to our military insuring that they can complete their mission.

Keep us safe and Thank You.

Halloween Ghosts

2009-11-01T12:27:00.001-05:00

So the image in this post are a couple years old but I thought it was appropriate and I haven’t done a How To post in a while.

First the image..

1D Mark III w/ EF17-40"L F/4 @17mm, F/8, 6sec, ISO 100

The ghosting technique is really quite simple.

The camera is set on a tripod and exposure is set for the ambient light. In this case I used and aperture of F/8 for a pretty deep depth of field and to help slow the shutter speed. An aperture of F/8 dictated a 6 second exposure. Now, to achieve a translucent Caroline I held my flash off camera left and dialed it down just enough to light up her face. It was fired first curtain and then a second or so into the exposure I had Caroline step out of frame. The initial blast of the flash sets her image and because she’s not in the shot for the full 6 seconds she appears translucent.

The fun part about this technique is you can play around with just how translucent the subject is by varying the length of time they remain in frame during the exposure. You can also govern how much blur is exposed as the move out of frame by varying the shutter speed and/or the speed by which they leave the frame. The faster the subject steps out of the frame or the longer the exposure time, the less movement is captured and the more translucent they appear.

Three More from Cumberland

2009-10-27T11:00:00.001-04:00

Nothing spectacular, just three images that I like.

A Budding National Geographic's Photographer

2009-10-25T00:34:00.001-04:00

She looks like a natural doesn’t she?

And the subject of her attention?

TJ’s Place

2009-10-07T22:36:00.001-04:00

Monticello is known as Jefferson's experiment in architectural design and engineering. Unfortunately there’s no way my words and photographs can do it justice but the Monticello website has a fantastic virtual tour.

That said I did take a few exterior photos; interiors are not permitted.

A view of the South Portico shot from beside the Wash House at the end of the North Dependency.

1D Mark III w/ EF70-200 f/2.8L IS 1/125, f/5.6, EV –2/3, ISO 100

Another shot from the north side along the gardens that wrap the lawn.

1D Mark III w/ EF17-40 f/4L 1/60, f/9, EV –2/3, ISO 100

Anyone have a nickel? Your standard South Portico shot, the same view depicted on the US nickel

1D Mark III w/ EF70-200 f/2.8L IS 1/200, f/5.6, EV –2/3, ISO 100

South Portico reflecting off the Fish Pond near the South Dependency

1D Mark III w/ EF17-40 f/4L IS 1/500, f/4, EV –1, ISO 100

The Vegetable Garden Terrace just to south side of the house. Visible is the Vegetable Garden Pavilion a place Jefferson would use as a quiet retreat to read.

1D Mark III w/ EF70-200 f/2.8L IS 1/800, f/2.8, EV 0, ISO 100

And I’ll end with a picture of Caroline and Terry sitting on a bench clearly in some deep conversation most likely spurred on by the guide book Terry has in her lap.

1D Mark III w/ EF70-200 f/2.8L IS 1/200, f/2.8, EV –2/3, OCF on w/ +1 FEC, ISO 100

Apple Picking

2009-10-07T19:04:00.001-04:00

Went down to Charlottesville for an Apple picking festival this past weekend. Where it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting, it was still a lot of fun. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Temps in the low 70s, beautiful blue sky's and a complete lack of humidity. It wasn’t too crowded but there were plenty of people. The only real issues was there wasn’t much there except a barn, store, and of course the Apples. We thought maybe there would be some good home cooking, maybe some blue grass music and the other sort of things associated with a “festival”. Never the less we still had a great time.

Anyway, we didn’t get down to the apple farm until mid afternoon so it gave me an opportunity to try to make something out of the harsh mid day sun. With the help of my polarizer and some hefty exposure compensation I managed to get a few that I really like.

Of course like all fall festivals of this type you have to have the typical tractor pulled hay ride.

Canon 1D Mark III w/ EF 17-40 f/4 1/400, f/6.3, EV –1/3 ISO 100

And then there’s the people…

Canon 1D Mark III w/ EF 17-40 f/4 1/200, f/5.6, EV –1/3 ISO 100

More people…

Canon 1D Mark III w/ EF 17-40 f/4 1/200, f/5.6, EV –1/3 ISO 100

Pumpkins? in an Apple orchard?

Canon 1D Mark III w/ EF 17-40 f/4 1/500, f/5.6, EV –1 2/3 ISO 100

More people heading out into the Orchard or should I say down since this particular orchard was located on the side of a mountain.

Canon 1D Mark III w/ EF 17-40 f/4 1/320, f/5.6, EV –1 ISO 100

And of course the reddish/greenish/dirtyish looking APPLES!!! That's right folks, they don’t look as “good” on the tree as they look after being processed and put on the store shelves.

Canon 1D Mark III w/ EF 17-40 f/4 1/30, f/5.6, EV –1, OCF on w/ –3 FEC, ISO 100

How About a Bike Ride

2009-09-29T09:05:00.001-04:00

Finally getting this posted about a week or so late. :(

We’ve made two trips in as many weeks to The Great Allegheny Passage bike trail. The trail runs from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh, PA. No we didn’t ride all the way to Pittsburgh but we did do the 15 miles between Frostburg and Cumberland. Well to be accurate the first time we road 6 miles north from Cumberland and back again. This past weekend we took The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad from Cumberland up to Frostburg and then road the 15 miles back to Cumberland.

Frostburg Station and Trail Head for Frostburg to Cumberland run.

Caroline on the GAP

Caroline and Terry on the trail

The girls taking a break about half way down the trail

Blurry with blown out sky but I like this one anyway.

Ol’ 734 steams by

The girls at mile marker 6

Terry showing off; Look mom no hands!!

End of the trail, Cumberland Station.

Camping Anyone?

2009-09-23T18:45:00.001-04:00

What a better way to spend a beautiful weekend than camping in the great out doors. I couldn’t agree more and it’s exactly what Terry, Caroline, and I did this past weekend.

Terry and Caroline in front of the fire

Now we’re not talking camping with some sort of camper, nor are we talking camping with bathroom facilities or a 7-11 near by. We’re talking deep in the forest, dig a hole, deal with the dirt, no sign of any other human life for miles… REAL CAMPING.

Trust me there’s nothing like it; the sounds of nature, the stars at night, the cool crisp air, the smell and warmth of a good fire… It was one of the most relaxing weekends I’ve had in years.

We camp in Green Ridge State Forest up in Western MD. Green Ridge is MD’s 2nd largest forest located just between the Gap and Cumberland along the Potomac river.

Potomac River from Point Lookout – 8/9/2008

Short of a canoe launch area at the river, Green Ridge is completely unimproved with miles of mostly dirt roads throughout the forest. Camp sites are spread very far apart so the chance of hearing your neighbor campers is slim to none. Wild life was sparse this time around but we did see a few turkey and an occasional deer.

Roasting marshmallows

Better blow that one out Caroline!!!

Mmmmmmm Smores!!!!

Wait a minute are you checking the spelling or cheating.

And what was I doing while all this was going on? Why taking my weird photos as my family would say…

Canon EOS-1D Mark III w/ 17-40 f/4 1/800, f/5.6, OCF

It was a great weekend which also included a great 15 mile bike ride on The Great Allegheny Passage… more on that in my next post.

Catching up to do!!!

2009-09-01T23:01:00.001-04:00

Man it’s been over a month since I’ve posted here… Where has the time gone. ;-)

Well what better way to start catching up then to post a photo of my loving wife passing on one of her all time favorite childhood past times to my little lady Caroline.

Foggy Mornings

2009-07-26T21:12:00.001-04:00

Gazebo and duck pond at The Inn at Turkey Hill, Bloomsburg, PA

Canon 1D Mark III w/ 17-40L F/4 40mm 1/200s, F/4, ISO 640

Standing Guard

2009-07-12T08:19:00.001-04:00

Great Blue Heron shot on the rocks at Great Falls

Shooting the Rapids

2009-07-07T08:11:00.001-04:00

All images shot from the MD side observation deck

Great Falls from the MD side

Scoping out the run

Maneuvering into position at the head of the falls

The first big drop

Rounding the rocks

The second guy cuts it a bit close

The next big drop

Kayaker two, same drop. He looks a bit more concerned about his line.

Once again they both pass very close to the rocks

Bottom of the run looking back up at his conquest

Headed back up the rocks for one more run.

To add a little perspective, I created this composite image showing the some of the photo locations relieve to the first over all photos of the falls.

What could be better on the 4th of July

2009-07-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Having a back yard cookout with life long friends.

Jim, Paul, Mike and Me

Paul has been having a 4th of July party since we were all in high school together. Through the years we’ve all done some crazy things and seen our lives change and mature as we got older. But when you boil it all down we’re all still the same people we were way back then. We might not see each as often but when we get back together its like we’ve been together every day since High School.

Of course some do still see each other once a week but they’ve gone from Basket Ball to Tennis. What's up with that? An age thing? ;-)

Thanks to Terry we have some fantastic photos to share. Enjoy.

“You’re going down!!!” it was a pretty intensive round of pool Badminton.

Cool shades Linda… are they yours or Terry’s?

What can we say about Joan… She always has a smile.

Michael, who would have imagined him being such a good father to such lovely daughters. It verges on Irony. Can’t wait for the boy friends to start coming by. Call me Mike I’ll give you some pointers.

Jim, the “Gentle Giant.” Went from blowing up crabs with firecrackers so many years ago, to throwing little girls into the pool. She asked of course and Jim happily obliged not once but twice. I think that was about all he could muster… After all we are getting “old.”

It was a great time and Terry did a great job of capturing everyone's personalities… except mine… No pictures of me other than the group pic. I guess that show where I rank in the social structure.;-)

To everyone else who was there, thanks for a fun day and here’s hoping for another one next year. Of course thanks to Paul and Linda for putting up with us all and I can’t forget Paul’s mom and dad… they put up with us way back when we were a much more… well lets just say… adventurous bunch.

Happy 4th of July

Riding Along the Canal

2009-07-05T19:13:00.001-04:00

Grabbed this one while walking along the tow path along the C&O canal.

Canon EOS 20D w/ 17 – 40L F/4 @ 1/50 s, f/4, 17 mm, iso 100

Its really a pretty easy shot. I simply cradled the camera in my left arm much like a baby with the lens pointing out towards the path. Had it set in TV mode with a slowish shutter speed, then I fired off a 5 shot burst while twisting my torso to track him as he road by. Of the 5 frames this one was best but it was all I was really looking for anyway.

Old Friends, Good Bar, Great Band

2009-06-21T12:30:00.000-04:00

What else could be finer?

Last night Terry and I went out, yes by ourselves without the kids, to The Old Brogue in Great Falls, VA to see some old friends and to hear a band with a lead singer that we were promised was great. Well great isn’t the word… Any group that has the guts to cover California Dreaming is great in my book but Mary you were fantastic. Oh, Brian and Neal, you guys were fantastic too and thanks for letting us borrow Mary between sets. ;-)

It was great to see Mary, Maureen and Terry together again after so many years; you guys clearly had a good time and need to get together more often.

BTW: Mary, next time Terry and I see you perform we’ll be sure to bring the entire complement of camera gear. ;-)

A few more photos

A Trip to the Falls

2009-06-20T13:43:00.001-04:00

Great Falls that is…

Got an email this morning from Mike around 8:30am asking if I was interested in shooting some GBH. Well of course I would except that at 8:30 I was still sleeping. I didn't actually read his message until 9:30am. After a few txt messages we decided to meet at the MD Visitor Center around noon and boy am I glad I did as I managed to capture a few of my best to date.

Where’s Waldo… It always amazing to me how well these bird blend into the surrounding rocks.

Of course Great Blues aren’t the only wild life up and down the canal and out at the falls. There are an abundance of other birds, snakes, and plenty of turtles.

Just how many turtles can you count in this picture. If you counted only 5 you most likely missed the old fellow right in front that looks more like a rock than a turtle.

Occasionally, you get real lucky and catch a glimpse of a white tail deer. This yearling happened to be wondering unexpectedly close to the path out to the falls.

But the thing that made this trip special was I brought along a new budding National Geographic photographer, Caroline.

She sat patiently like this for almost 15 minutes waiting for the Great Blue pictured below to strike out and snag a fish.

Unfortunately, he never did but Caroline’s effort was a gallant one anyway. I think she even impressed Mike with her fortitude.

It was a great day and I thank Mike for the call even though he had to wait around for us late sleepers to get our acts together and get out there.

The rest of the images

Old Friends and Old Times

2009-06-14T21:22:00.001-04:00

Had the pleasure of accompanying Terry to Northwesters' 25th High School reunion. Wait you say, didn’t Terry graduate from Seaton? Yep, she sure did but she was part of the last class of Mount Rainer Junior High and most of her friends and class mates went onto Northwestern so when the opportunity presented itself to go to their reunion Terry jumped on it.

Roughly 150 of a class of 300 showed up for a two night event. Of course I knew no one but I was amazed, yet not surprises, at just how many people Terry remembered. All to often someone would seek out Terry to ask who someone else was and not only did she know but she remembered the back story on everyone from where they lived to how many bothers and sisters they had. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her have a blast meeting up with all these old friends, share old stories and catching up on new stories.

It was truly an amazing thing to watch and very clear that all these “kids” were very close growing up and even more amazing that so many of them would take the time to get back together with people they haven’t seen in a 1/4 century. A real testament to the friendships fostered so many years ago. We should all be so lucky.

Mixed Blessings

2009-05-15T23:11:00.001-04:00

Last weekend was a jam packed Caroline weekend ending with her schools annual Father Daughter Dance. Although I’m not really into shooting my “subjects” as Terry is, sometimes cool opportunities present the chance to work on technique. The Father Daughter Dance was perfect for some slow shutter off camera flash work.

The technique, dragging the shutter, is pretty simple. Open up your aperture to allow as much light in as possible keeping in mind the DoF. Dial your shutter speed in sloooowww, say 1/8 or 1/6; play with this a bit to adjust just how much of the ambient light you want to expose. Next, dial in your flash to provide enough light to expose your subjects properly and set it to fire at the end of the exposure.

Canon 1d Mark III, 1/8s, f/4, ISO 100, FEC –1 2/3 2nd-curtain sync

The trick now is to balance your shutter and flash to achieve the desired look. In the case above, I under exposed the background and let the flash do most of the work. I held the flash low and to the right to add the drama. Lastly I added a 1/4 CTO gel to help warm things up a bit. Pretty cool results if you as me…

A few more examples with different settings for different results.

Canon 1d Mark III, 1/8s, f/4, ISO 400, FEC –1 2/3 2nd-curtain sync

Canon 1d Mark III, 1/8s, f/4, ISO 100, FEC –1 2/3 2nd-curtain sync

Canon 1d Mark III, 1/8s, f/4, ISO 100, FEC –2 1/3 2nd-curtain sync

Canon 1d Mark III, 1/8s, f/4, ISO 100, FEC –1 2/3 2nd-curtain sync

Add a little twist to the camera and this is what you get.

Canon 1d Mark III, .5 s, f/4, ISO 100, FEC –1 2/3 2nd-curtain sync

Canon 1d Mark III, .3 s, f/4, ISO 100, FEC –1 2/3 2nd-curtain sync

So there you have it. Lots of fun and some pretty cool images to show for it. I still have no clue what I’m doing but sometimes you just hit upon something that works and go with it. ;-)

All the rest of the images.

Enjoy.

Lets Go Race’n Boyyyssss

2009-05-08T00:12:00.001-04:00

The first weekend of May always marks the spring NASCAR race down in Richmond. This year was no different. Terry and I left on our annual pilgrimage Friday morning after dropping Caroline off for school and were at the racetrack about 2 hours later.

Most of the track just prior to Cup race. Clearly, I need a fisheye lens and a gradient ND filter.

After arriving at the track and setting up for the tailgating, a little more on this later, and then it was off to pit road for a few hours of photography. A sign of the economy I guess, pit road was not as busy with fans as it has been in the past few years. Ironically, however, the people with expensive DSLR camera’s is still on the rise.

Dale Jr’s Car going through final inspection.

Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Bush’s car, pre qualifying inspection

A full brake job and service in under 5 minutes!!!

Jaun Montoya’s car, pre qualifying inspection.

Every time I’m on pit road I try out something different. This time a little voice in my head said, “Slow Shutter Speed”. I wonder where I’ve heard that before… Mike. Anyway, I set the camera to very low shutter speeds and got a couple that I really liked

Casey Kane coming done pit lane.

Michael Waltrip leaving the Garage for a practice run.

Kevin Harvick on pit lane, Tony Stewart on the track.

Of course, another way to capture the speed and motion is the typical panning shot as the cars scream by at over 150mph.

Matt Kenseth

Michael Waltrip

The race cars are not the only cool cars on pit road. This weekend’s Pace car was a 2009-10 Chevy Camero which I happened to find in a somewhat tucked away location near the Goodyear trailer. Here’s my lame attempt at shooting an auto magazine like shot of this very cool looking car.

Chevy Camero Pace Car

I managed a few other shots at more interesting angles but the sky was so gray that I really wasn’t too happy with them. I’ll put them in the fill gallery linked below.

Then of course there are the driver and crew chief shots. These can be hard to come by anymore. Seems that due to the volume of fans on pit road and what I suspect may have been requests from the press NASCAR has restricted more areas when the drivers are on pit road especially during qualifying. Never the less I was able to get a few shots in while dodging other fans and the pro photographer.

Bootie Barker, Crew Chief for Mikey’s 55 Napa Chevy

Tony Stewart with a pretty goofy look on his face.

Kasey Kahne… Does he remind you of the Wicked Witch of the East here?

AJ Allmendinger

And here’s one of Terry I caught when she wasn’t looking. ;-)

After practice and qualifying it was back to the car for some rest and food. Because of the threat of rain I didn’t bring the cameras into the track for the Nationwide race so photography for Friday was pretty much done after qualifying.

As most of you who have been to races know, NASCAR fans elevate the art of tailgating to an entire different level than other sports fans. The parking lot is a sea of tents, canopies, and campers, all sorts of elaborate grills and cooking apparatus, and of course thousands of the most friendliest people you’ll ever meet. Next race I’ll plan to cover the parking lot scene with more photos.

Saturday we left our hotel in Williamsburg around 11 and headed for the track. I decided to try something different this time and instead of parking in lot J and taking the tram to the track I headed back to gate 6 near turn one where we parked Friday. All seemed just fine until we turned onto Carolina Ave and it became apparent that instead of being in the parking lot close to the track we would have to park in the warehouse parking lot across the street from the track. CRAP!!! I was not a happy camper. HOWEVER, as it turns out this was not a bad place to be after all. We managed to have enough space to setup the canopy, table and grill and settled in for a few hours of relaxing before the race. The best part about this location was the fact that when it rained, which it did several times very hard, the asphalt parking lot didn’t turn to MUD!!!

While we were relaxing and eating burgers and brauts I did manage to fire off a few frames of the tailgaters. They’re not the best but what the hell.

Check out the glasses on the blond.

These guys and gal were playing some sort of game that involved beer. The games people bring are quite amusing. Many different variations of what we’d traditionally call horse shoes. I’m sure they all have different names but they are played much like horse shoes.

Fans headed to the track.

More fans headed to the track. This chopper along with two other shuttle people to the track all afternoon.

Eventually it was our turn to get ready and head off to the track. We packed the cooler, Terry packed a bag with snacks and other food, I gathered up the camera equipment and scanner and we were off to the track.

I have new seats up in the new Commonwealth Tower that turned out to be awesome. They’re up high but you can see the entire track and you have a great view of pit road and the finish line. Just under the upper deck is concession stands and bathrooms. How convenient. It all really remind me of being about halfway up the stands at Bristol. I was curious about what kind of images I’d get from these seats and I was actually pleasingly surprised with the results.

Harvick and Biffle getting ready before the race.

Tony and Jimmy ready to go.

Cloud obstructed fly over.

Pace Lap.

Green Green Green!!!

Harvick and Gordon in turn 2.

Reutimann’s crew in action.

The short track sparks begin to fly.

Marcos Ambrose spins out right in front of the pack.

Truex’s crew pounds out the damage from a late race incident. Note the crew member with the big orange sledge hammer. Not the kind of thing you want to see a mechanic with while working on your car.

Bobby Labonte going for one of his several slides of the night; tires inflated

Moments later sliding with tires deflated.

The Checked Flag!!! Kyle wins again.

Take a bow there Kyle. One of these days the weight of that helmet and his head are going to pull him over.

Victory Lane.

After the race we headed out of the track fully expecting to pull out the chairs when we got to the car and hang out for a while as the parking lot cleared out. Well once again the fortunes of what I thought was going to be a problematic parking location paid off. It seems as if these lots clear out first so by the time I dropped off the scanner and made the walk back to the car the lot was already well cleared out. We hopped in the car and headed out. We were on 295 in record time and on our way back to Williamsburg. Sunday we made a stop at the Williamsburg Pottery Factory and then headed home.

All in all a great race weekend. I was pleased with the images I captured but really need to figure out a way to get full access press passes. It’s become more and more challenging to capture new and interesting photos in the fan access areas.

Full gallery

A Peaceful and Fun Weekend

2009-04-21T00:58:00.001-04:00

Boy have we had a busy couple of weekends. Last weekend we were up in Pittsburgh visiting Amanda and had a great time. This weekend we took a quick trip up to Strasburg, PA primarily so Terry and Caroline could go to a Doll House/Miniature show but we also used the trip to visit one of our favorite places, the Strasburg Railroad and as an added bonus we stayed at the Red Caboose Motel in a actual converted Caboose car.

The Strasburg Railroad

Replacement sets of wheels in the yard

Caroline catches dad in action. I didn’t like the resulting image so don’t ask to see it

For those who haven’t been to Strasburg its a must see kind of place. The railroad sits right in the middle of Lancaster’s Amish community and runs from Strasburg to Paradise, PA. Its a short ride but the old 2-8-0 Baldwin engine is a site to be seen as it rolls surprisingly very quietly by.

No 90 rolling through the crossing on its way to the station

Old and young alike gather along the line to snap a few photos

Of course standing along the rails snapping pictures is only part of the fun. Taking a ride is what most want to do. I’ve ridden that train countless times since I was a little boy but it never gets old. You just can’t go up there without taking a ride.

Hanging out the window

Just a bit of the scenery along the way

The cool gals awash in amber light

Tired of the Paparazzi

Along with a normal out and back ride you can get an all day pass and ride as many times as you want or get off at the picnic area about a mile down the line and then hop a returning train later in the day. For the more sophisticated traveler they also offer a wine and cheese train every evening at 6pm.

If you look carefully you can see the waiter with a bottle of wine in the window.

Remember I mentioned the Amish? Well here’s one I took not long after the wine train went by.

Amish buggy crossing train tracks

Unfortunately, like just about everywhere, Lancaster and Strasburg streets are lined with telephone poles and wires. At first I didn’t like this image because of those wires but the more I look at it the more I see the juxtaposition of the Amish way of life crossing with our way of life. Don’t know… What do you think?

The Red Caboose Motel

Caroline hamming it up again

As I said at the beginning we stayed at the Red Caboose Motel which is right along the tracks and within walking distance of the station. This place has been there for as long as I remember and is literally a bunch of old caboose cars converted into motel rooms.

One of three rows of cabooses that make up the motel

Terry and I took Amanda up there once when she was about Caroline’s age so we figured we’d do the same with Caroline. Well I have to say I’m certainly glad I did. This has to be one of the most family friendly places I’ve had the pleasure to stay in. Lots of other families with kids of all ages for Caroline to play with and in the evening the owner set a large bond fire out behind the barn so the kids could roast marshmallows. During the summer months they show movies on the side of the barn and there is an old dinning car converted into a restaurant which serves dinner type food from 8am to 8pm.

The owner was telling us that he bought the place 4 years ago with only 6 cabooses in habitable condition. Since, they’ve been renovating and now have all the cabooses operational as evident with the full house this weekend. A family run business, all the kids help run, maintain and keep the place clean which lends a great deal to the family atmosphere.

Anyway, while Caroline was occupied with her scooter, other kids, and the petting zoo I took some time to snap a few images.

My Favorite

A lone tree in view as the sun sets over the farmers field

Cars stream by

As the title of this entry states, it was a peaceful and fun filled weekend.

Oh and we did manage to get to the Doll House show. The girls enjoyed looking at all the miniatures and gathering ideas for their grand mansion in miniature.

She’s a Techie Girl!!

2009-04-14T22:54:00.001-04:00

This past weekend Terry, Caroline and I, went up to Pittsburgh to see Amanda’s show, ‘Angels In America: Perestroika’. Perestroika is the second of two Angels In America plays written playwright Tony Kushner and deals with the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the gay community during the 1980s. The play is written for eight actors, each of whom plays two or more roles. HBO Film adapted it for a miniseries of the same name in 2003 staring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson.

The show was fantastic. Great acting especially in light of the subject matter. More importantly the tech was top notch. From flying angels to earthquakes to falling rocks and fabulous lighting much of which was managed by Amanda and her crew.

Tucked away in her small corner back stage

Amanda’s job this time? Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) and Deck Chief. Basically, she ran the back stage activities which was no minor job I can assure you.

After the show Amanda brought us back stage to show just how they pulled off all the magic. Having worked on these kind of shows, albeit on a much smaller scale, it was impressive how simple things were considering how complex the seemed from the audience.

Backstage Tour

Operating the Fly system

Demonstrating the Earthquake

Under the Stage

Through the Trap Door

Terry somehow getting in the middle of things. I think Amanda was explaining how the hinge came apart some time during run through.

Watch your fingers!!!

Of course there’s no way a back stage tour could be complete with out Caroline acting like a ham

Hamming it up

A rare sight… Both girls with smiles at the same time. ;-)

Again it was a great weekend and a great show. All the kids should be extremely proud of themselves. One thing for sure Terry and I are extremely proud of Amanda.

Next year Amanda is ASM/Deck Chief for Dracula and Lighting Director on Alice in Wonderland. Can’t wait!!!

Heinz Memorial Chapel

2009-04-14T00:34:00.001-04:00

Chapel? Isn’t Heinz some sort of condiment maker? Oh yeah they make ketchup right? Well yes they sure do but… what was it Hillary said when recalling the Barbary Wars… a long time ago Henry J Heinz, founder of that ketchup company, wanted to honor his mother, Anna Margaretta Heinz, with a building at the University [of Pittsburgh]. Although HJ died in 1919 he arranged in his will for the Chapel and ground was broken on the project in 1933.

The non denominational chapel is a site to be held. Incredibly beautiful cathedral like building that is deceivingly small looking on the outside and monstrously huge in the inside.

Most impressive are the stained class windows.

Terry and Caroline are standing in front of one of the 4 pairs of transept windows each 73 feet tall and among the largest in the world. These windows represent traits of tolerance, courage, temperance and truth. To quote the website, “The windows, which highlight an equal number of women and men, contain sacred and secular figures from history, literature, and science. A rosette above each set of windows contains a red-winged seraph on the north and a blue-winged cherub on the south.”

I don’t know about all that but I can tell you they are very impressive as is the entire building. I highly recommend a visit if you happen to be in Pittsburgh and while you are there make sure you visit the Cathedral of Learning right across the lawn from the chapel. It too is incredible inside.

Windows Live Writer

2009-04-08T22:09:00.001-04:00

So you thought creating posts for your blog using Word was cool (at least some of you did) well that pales in comparison to using Microsoft's Windows Live Writer. What an awesome tool.

This tool is a real time WYSIWYG editor which downloads you blogs styles and displays you posts, as you create them, just how they’re going to look to your readers. Background color, text color, text styles, hyperlink styles all displayed exactly how they will look on your finished blog.

In addition, it provides much easier access to items like hyperlink creation, insertion of images (note the fancy image reflection added by Writer. There are several options like this), photo albums, tables, maps, tags and video clips plus a bunch more add-in available on the internet. Particularly interesting is the hyperlink feature. It provides an easy to use dialog box with options to force the linked page into new window and a cool feature allows easy creation of links back to previous blog entries. It also has the ability to remember hyperlinks and automatically apply them the next time you type the key word. So for example if I often hyperlink to a site like NASCAR I can have Writer remember that and the next time I type NASCAR the hyperlink is automatically applied. Or, as I have it set here, automatically apply the hyperlink the first time the word is used in the entry.

Another cool feature is the ability to show a preview of you new entry in your full blog without actually posting it. I have often posted an entry and then gone back to edit things like text alignment or add/remove extra lines etc because I didn’t like how it looked when posted. Well now all I have to is click preview and there it is as if it was posted. Don’t like something then its back to edit change and preview again.

I’ve only begun to scratch the surface on the power of this tool. It has a full HTML editor so anything not provided by a click of the mouse can be added by hand. Text sizing, coloring and effects are a snap. Saving local drafts is very convenient and I can open previous posts and edit them as needed. The only draw back to this tool like the other set of tools in the Live suite is you need to have a windows live account to use them; this includes a Hotmail email account if you have one.

Despite the need to have a Live account the tool is worth the download and try. I think you’ll like it. I know Writer will now be my go to tool for authoring blog entries.

Abigail and John

2009-04-07T09:19:00.007-04:00

Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March - 5 April 1776 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/

I was working on an Abigail Adams project with Caroline this weekend and while looking up some reference material, Terry came across this site.

Adams Family Papers

This is one hell of a site if you are interested in history from the pen and minds of those directly involved. The site contains a completely transcribed and cross reverenced archive of John and Abigail's personal writings and letters including images of the pages. You could (and I have) spend hours on this site getting into the minds of two influential people in our nation's history.

It’s Show Time

2009-04-03T23:26:00.003-04:00

Yep it's that time of the year again… I spent the last three nights at Visitation shooting their spring musical, Crazy For You. Not only do I love Gershwin but the energy put forth by the kids was exhilarating making my job show so much fun. The show is great; a testament to all the work Mr Nastal puts into the program year after year. You've gathered quite a large following David.

The show runs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and is sure to be a sellout.

In addition to Crazy For You, Amanda's Angels In America opened tonight on the big stage up at Pitt. We plan to go up next weekend to see the show and we're all looking forward to it. According to Amanda the preview show last night was a fabulous success. Amanda is ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) and all around stage mother for this show and we're all very proud of her. I've asked if I could take pictures next weekend but I seriously doubt I'll be allowed.

Blogging with Office 2007

2009-03-27T07:01:00.010-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted a test post from Microsoft Word 2007. Pretty cool integration between Word and blogger. Since then I've also discovered that I can check blogs that I frequent with Outlook much like you would check your email. Soooo cool. Well today I thought I'd blog about how it works and how to set things up so other can enjoy the integration.

Note that you must have the latest version of Word and Outlook for any of this to work.

Posting with MS Word 2007

If you click the round button in the top left corner of Word you'll find the usual list of file options such has Open, Save, Print etc. There is one new option, however, called Publish. This button unlocks the ability to use Word as you blog entry editor.

When clicked you'll see three options one of which is Blog. Click it and you will be asked to setup a connection to your favorite blogging site. Choose you blog service, supply you username and password, choose the source and destination locations of images you will use in your entries and you're all set.

Now it's just a matter of typing in you blog entry and then clicking the Publish button when done. Note that you can choose Publish or Publish to Draft. Publishing will actually post you entry to the public blog space; Publish to Draft will save you entry to you blog but not post it for everyone to see.

You'll also notice in the ribbon bar along with the Publish button there are 4 other options in the Blog tab. Home Page lets you view your blog in its entirety. Open Existing lets you open draft and previously posted blog entries. Manage Accounts brings up a listing of you blogs and allows you to add new blogs.

Reading with Outlook 2007

If you think publishing with Word is cool lets discus what I personally think is much cooler and that's reading with Outlook.

First some background about how this works.

RSS is a standard method of posting information on a website usually used on site that disseminate information such as new sites or support sites. You may have noticed on these sites a small orange RSS icon or a link titled "Subscribe To" indicating that the site is indeed RSS compliant. Well if you look carefully at the Mail Folders list in the lower left corner of Outlook, you will see a new folder called RSS.

Within Outlooks RRS folder you can add any RSS competent sites and as Outlook polls the sites every x number of minutes, depending on your send/receive settings, it notifies you when new items are posted. In other words, it pretty much works exactly as with new email.

Guess what… Almost all blogging sites are RSS compliant. That's right you can add your favorite blogs to Outlooks RSS folder and then let outlook do all the work. No more launching a browser and navigating from blog to blog looking for updates. Way cool.

Setting this up is quite simple in Outlook 2007.

Navigate to the RSS folder, right click, choose Add New Feed and then enter the address provided to you from the blog site. How do you get this address? Simply click on the orange icon or the link marked Subscribe To. Copy the URL provided and paste it into the New RSS Feed dialog. Note that the Feed URL is not always the same as the actual website URL. For example the web URL for this blog is http://blog.rrkphotos.com/ whereas the Feed or RSS URL is http://blog.rrkphotos.com/feeds/posts/default.

Once setup you will notice a new folder under the RSS folder with the name of your blog. This folder is where updated entries are placed along with previous entries in the blog. Treat this folder just like you would any email folder. Click on an entry to read it in the reading pain or double click to open it in a new window. Notice that much of the web formatting is stripped but the content and photos are still there. If you need to see the post in its entirety you can click the View Article link at the bottom and launch the actual blog page itself.

One last tip/trick to make keeping track of all your blogs easy. Because the RSS folder is buried deep within the folder structure I suggest you add your blog folders to your Favorite Folders list. To do this, right click on the blog folder and choose Add to Favorite Folder list. This will place the folder in the list at the top right of Outlook just under you Inbox folder. Add all your important blogs and as new items are posted the folder name will turn bold and you can click on it to see the listing of new entries.

Enjoy.

Facebook

2009-03-25T20:16:00.004-04:00

Robert R Kircher Jr's Profile Create Your Badge

So first it was a blog and now its Facebook. Gaaaaaack…

First impressions… Not impressed. Great idea with lots of potential but poorly organized. Of course to all those who have been using it for a while think its fine but trust me it was clearly designed by the programmers who developed it. Nothing about it is all that intuitive.

I did figure out how to attach this blog to my Facebook page which is pretty cool. At least that way I don't have to keep up two sites. Just post here in the blog and it automatically updates my face book. Now that's how computers are suppose to work. ;-) I'm sure as I play with it I'll find other cool things but to be honest its all just a bit too much computer and communication for me.

That said Terry is having a blast finding all her old child hood friends. I think she's found just about her entire Mount Rainer gang. That pretty cool. I, on the other hand, have no desire to find old friends and those old friends who I do keep in touch with I do the old fashioned way… EMAIL!!!! ;-)

A Day of Sledding

2009-03-03T00:23:00.007-05:00

Well unless you've been living under a rock you know that the east coast was hit with a pretty big storm starting Sunday and going through most of Monday with accumulations from 4" – 12". Here in DC I'd say we had somewhere between of 4" – 6"; enough to have all the local school districts shut down for the day as usual. This, of course, meant that Caroline was home and eager to get out and play in the snow.

For me the morning was easy. She got up and made her breakfast, a donut, and immediately went out to find her friends. Gone for at least 2 hours or more the morning was quiet and I was able to get a fair amount of work done. Around 11am the door opened and I heard the thumping and thudding of her snow boots on the floor above me. Home already? Must be hungry after all I donut only goes so far when you're playing in the snow. Come to find out that the DC school system didn't actually close. Instead they opened 2 hour late so most of Caroline's friends went off to school so she came home.

Around 3pm she had enough of waiting for the friends to come home and she came down to me and asked if I'd take her over to the Carnegie Institute so she could go sleigh riding. Oh alright, so I gathered up my camera gear and she suited up in her coat and snow pants we trudged off to the big hills.

Trudging up the hill

No Fear

Here's a series I did while going down the same hill beside her on another sled.

Skidding to a halt at the bottom of the hill

Getting late, it was time for the long walk home

Over all it was a pretty fun day. Caroline got to stay home and play in the snow and I got a few cool photos to show for it.

The rest of the images

Testing… Is this thing working?

2009-03-01T18:34:00.002-05:00

Well now this is very cool. I can use Microsoft Word 2007 to create new posts and edit old post on my blogs. As a test this is my first post via this method. Let's see how it works.

UPDATE: See here for instructions on how to set this up. Blogging with Office 2007

Along the Rails

2009-02-18T23:07:00.013-05:00

I had a few hours to kill this afternoon after a client visit out in Laurel, MD so before I left the house this morning I loaded up my gear hoping to shoot a few frames. Of course the weather was somewhat uncooperative; rain, snow, cold, what better shooting conditions could one ask for.

Directly behind this client is a set of railroad tracks which at all other times are very busy with freight and passenger traffic. This morning was no exception. While I was working on the few items I needed to complete at least three trains called out to me as they grumbled past. Finally I was done and had at least 3 hours to waste so out into the cold and rain with camera and gear I went. A short trek though a wooded area behind the clients location and I was at the tracks. Surely it wouldn't be long before the next train right? Well maybe not. One hour goes by and no trains; then two and I'm now damn cold. Just my luck... the one day I actually have time to shoot and there seems to be no afternoon traffic.

All was not lost, however, as I did manage to get a few good photos without trains and the rain, snow and cold actually helped make these photos more dramatic.

And of course there's more along the rails than just rails.

The full gallery

Hopefully next time I'll actually capture some trains.

Wow!!! 2nd Place

2009-02-05T19:31:00.007-05:00

20D w/ EF 50mm f/1.8 1/13s, f/2.8, ISO 200, 50mm

So on a whim I entered the above photo into DPReviews new Challenges section and of 172 total entries in the Candlelight Portrait challenge I came in 2nd. Although the scoring system used is under heavy scrutiny its pretty cool to have you photo judged 2nd by your peers.

Of course I have to thank my wonderful model, Caroline, who sooner or later will figure out that she should start charging for her services. :-)

Oh those crazy kids...

2009-01-29T18:19:00.003-05:00

Full Story

Miscellaneous items from Williamsburg

2009-01-19T07:48:00.003-05:00

Just a few miscellaneous images that you may not immediately see while wondering Williamsburg.

The Enabler

2009-01-13T20:11:00.008-05:00

I've always heard that family can be the worst enablers and I found out today that its very true.

Thanks Mike... I really appreciate it...

Mike was gracious enough today to let me play with his latest photography toy a Cokin filter system. That's right it doesn't take much to excite us but the results of this filtering system are absolutely wonderful.

To explain maybe I should back up a little.

I've been complaining lately that the only free time, as little as there is, I have to get out and shoot seems to be from mid morning to mid afternoon and most times on days just like today, gray and cloudy. This doesn't make for the best light for photographs. You almost always wind up with near white skies and harsh shadows and colors. Well the other day Mike sent me a couple of photos shot on a cloudy day and I was intrigued at how cool they looked. None of that blown out sky or harsh color.

Well today mike and I meet out at Great Falls MD and I got my chance to try out the filter.

Wow!!! So very cool.

Mike attached the holder and slipped in a 2 stop graduated Neutral Density filter. This filter basically gradually darkens from clear at the bottom to 2 stops of grey at the top. The idea is if I adjust the filter properly I can reduce the exposure of the sky by 2 stops while maintaining the proper exosure for the lower part of the image and thereby avoiding that white blown out affect you'd have with out the filter.

Lets see how it works.
This image was taken without the filter. Notice the completely white sky. No cloud detail whatsoever.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L f/4 1/200s, f/7.1, iso 200, 22mm

Now with the filter in place. Check out the cloud detail. Yes that's actualy the sun behind the clouds. Couldn't even see the sun in the first image.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L f/4 1/200s, f/7.1, iso 200, 22mm

And an even more dramatic example. In this case I shot, at Mikes advice, in portrait mode to capture more of the sky. Lowering the exposure just a bit realy darken up the sky for a really dramatic look.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L f/4 1/400s, f/7.1, iso 200, 21mm

Pretty damn cool if you ask me. Makes shooting on a cloudy day worth it.

The other very cool thing about this system is it allows you to stack up to 3 filters for varying effects. Imagine stacking a graduated orange filter with the same graduated ND filter. If adjust properly from a fairly boring sky you could create an interesting sunset.

Of course, although new to me, none of this is really new. This filter system has been around for ages use long before computers and Photoshop.

But the fact is, I find it sooo much more rewarding to create a cool image by using the filters than taking that image into Photoshop and doing it in the computer. As Mike said today, this most likely comes from our pre Photoshop roots in photography. He may very well be right; I just find it much more rewarding to do the upfront thinking and creating the image in camera than manipulating the image in post.

Here are a couple more images done with the filter..

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L f/4 1/80s, f/8, iso 200, 20mm

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L f/4 1/250s, f/4.5, iso 200, 24mm

In any event, I have to thank Mike for turning me on to this cool set of filters and more importantly showing me that I now have to go out and spend yet more money so I can be as cool as he is. ;-)

For more on the filter system visit Cokin Standard and Pro Holders

I don't have my subjects

2009-01-10T17:27:00.011-05:00

You may not see Terry with a camera in her hands as often as me but that's no indication of her abilities. Often when you ask her why she doesn't have her camera you'll hear her say, "I don't have my subjects."

Subjects?

Caroline and Amanda of course. She just loves to take pics of the girls. Nada one photo we have on the walls, mantel or tables are mine. Terry’s just much better at posing and composing portraits.

Anyway…

Well a couple of weeks ago while we were wandering around Williamsburg I manage to catch her in action.

Here's the first one of mine. It’s a bit soft in focus... Ok it’s out of focus but I like it anyway.

And the resulting image from Terry. I love the smile from Caroline and the late afternoon colors in the photo.

The second capture on my part is much better technically but a little less dramatic than the first. Notice all the cameras and camera bag hanging on Terry... Looking very professional. ;-)

And the resulting image from Terry

Not quite as good as the first but fun none the less.

Lastly, I wasn’t able to capture the two of them togehter with this one but Terry’s picture is classic. Here’s Caroline shooting photos at the wheelwright shop. Caroline managed to shoot over 300 frames in 4 days. More than Terry and I combined. Some of them are pretty damn good too. Maybe I’ll post a few in a future blog.

In any event like mother like daughter.

Dance Dance Dance

2009-01-06T12:30:00.003-05:00

So at the end of every dance semester we get a chance to visit the class and see all the new things the little dancers have learned over the past few months. It's always fun for the girls as they get to show off to their parents and we parents get to ogle over just how brilliant our kids are as the skip and plie across the studio floor.

What could be a better opportunity for the capturing of historic photos as these future stars show off their first great dance moves… right?

NOT... or at least not for me.

The lighting is horrible, the backgrounds way too busy, and the freedom of movement is limited so the idea of creative perspective is limited at best. Honestly, I hate it but I take the camera with me every time anyway.

That said, I was able to pop off a few shots during Caroline's last jazz class a couple of weeks ago that I actually like.

This first one was done by simply placing the camera down on the floor.

1D Mark III w/ 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 1/250s, f/5.6, 53mm, iso 400, Flash on

The obvious problem with this image is the mat that seems to be growing out of Caroline's head.

Here's similar one, without the mat issue, but with a less interesting dance pose.

1D Mark III w/ 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 1/250s, f/5.6, 53mm, iso 400, Flash on

Both were cropped 16:9 to help remove some of the distractions and accentuate Caroline's stretching position.

This one is my favorite.

1D Mark III w/ 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 1/20s, f/5.6, 28mm, iso 400, Flash second curtain

This was shot with a slow shutter and the flash set to second curtain to help capture the movement as I paned with Caroline's leap over the shoes. Also notice the rest of the family, including the photographer, neatly framed by Caroline’s extended arm and leg. Yes, that's us in the mirror's reflection along with Caroline's instructor in the mirror frame left. Pretty neat capture if I have to say so myself.

This last one is the obligatory student with teacher portrait. It came out ok but I really need to leave these to Terry as she is much better at making these shot not look like simple snapshots.

1D Mark III w/ 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 1/50s, f/5.6, 50mm, iso 400, Flash on

Alas, today starts another semester and more chances to hone my skills within these difficult conditions.

Coal, Fire, and Steel

2009-01-01T00:09:00.009-05:00

After about an hour of trying to come up with something clever to say I give up.

Of all the places in Williamsburg which I like to photograph the Blacksmith has to be my favorite. After all, how can you not like the glow of fire light coming from a 2000 degree forge as it reflects off the dirty gritty faces of the blacksmith.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L f/4 1/60s, f/4, 35mm, iso 800

Or the sparks as they fly odd the red hot metal stock that's being pounded into something as simple as a nail or as complex as a hoe or shovel or in this case a Bench Dog.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L f/4 1/60s, f/4, 40mm, iso 800

The blacksmith shop is most definitely the best place to capture interesting images and is a must of stops every time we visit Williamsburg. It never gets old.

A little Java..... script can go a long way

2008-12-27T14:17:00.008-05:00

Yes this is a post that only the geeks will appreciate. Sorry.

So I was bored this morning and while looking over my photo website I decided to add some code that would handle keyboard navigation with in the galleries. Added one function to handle the keyboard message and a line of code to each page and walla you can now navigate the galleries with out touching the mouse.

Move forward with the right arrow key, space bar, or the enter key
Move backwards with the left arrow key
Move to the first image with the up arrow or the home key
Move to the last image with the down arrow or the end key.

Fun, fun, fun. ;-)

How Cute

2008-12-27T00:27:00.010-05:00

Haven't had any time to post lately but I managed to get this shot of little Kate Christmas Eve. I liked it so much I thought I'd post it here.

"Ok uncle Rob, cut it out with the damn flash already would ya!!!"

1D Mark III 17-40L F/4 1/15 @ F/4, 400 ISO w/ 580EX flash

Isn't she a cutie?

More Chirstmas Eve photos

Meet Thomas Jefferson

2008-11-10T00:47:00.018-05:00

One of the absolute pleasures of visiting Colonial Williamsburg is meeting and listing to a gentleman by the name of Bill Barker as he portrays Thomas Jefferson. Bill has brilliantly portrayed Jefferson for the past 20 years, 14 of which as one of the stars of Colonial Williamsburg.

Bill Barker as Thomas Jefferson - Kimbal Theater, Williamsburg, Va. - October 2008

Because I have enjoyed his conversations for many years I thought I'd post this video for everyone to enjoy. This was shot in 2007 and portrays Jefferson in the year 1807. What is so interesting is how Bill, as Jefferson, can draw so many parallels of current events to that of events going on 200 years ago. From contested elections, to the separation between church and state, to the position of the federal government, and maybe more relevant to today the nastiness of a presidential campaign and election, Bill can answer questions of current events with examples and text from over 200 years ago.

So please take the time to watch the videos. I know you will find entertaining and educational and if you ever get down to Williamsburg make absolutely sure you get to see Bill ehhm Thomas Jefferson. It’s always a real treat.

Please note the running time is about 90 minutes, however you can view the 9 videos separately by choosing them in the viewer.

Sarah

2008-10-15T09:08:00.017-04:00

Monday I took Caroline down to the Sarah Palin rally in Richmond; a first for me as well. What a very interesting experience regardless of your political leanings. Like her or not she sure can draw a crowd. Estimates put the crowd at 25k in Richmond alone and earlier in the morning John and Sarah spoke to a crowd easily as large in Virginia Beach.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400 L IS 1/2500 s, f/5.6, 400 mm, iso 200

Political rally… As with just about anything anymore, we all can experience these things by watching the nightly (24 hour) news media but there nothing like experiencing it in person. The energy was incredible; all very very positive regardless of what the press may want the public to believe. There was the typical rhetoric from the crowd and a fun round of press taunting but nothing the likes of what has been reported in the press lately.

For the most part Caroline was bored throughout all the speeches but over all she had a pretty good time. More importantly she got Sarah's autograph which to a 10 year old is really cool.

Anyway, I put together this little photo essay to help explain the experience.

The lines to get in… 1D Mark III w/ 17-40 f/4L 1/1250 s, f/8, 17 mm, iso 200
If you look carefully to the right of the photo just over the blue tent you can see in the distance the grandstands setup at the stage.

The people
Old
1D Mark III w/ 100-400 L IS 1/250 s, f/8, 260 mm, iso 200, flash

Young
1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS 1/800 s, f/8, 100 mm, iso 200, flash

Very Young 1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS 1/640 s, f/8, 100 mm, iso 200

Hippies? For McCain?
1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS 1/500 s, f/8, 160 mm, iso 200, flash

The Characters
1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS 1/500 s, f/8, 120 mm, iso 200, flash

The Crowd
1D Mark III /100-400L IS 1/250 s, f/8, 135 mm, iso 200

1D Mark III w/17-40 f/4L 1/800 s, f/8, 17 mm, iso 200

The Speakers
Gillmore
1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS IS & 1.4 TC 1/1600 s, f/8, 560 mm, iso 200

Hank Williams Jr.
1D Mark III w/100-400L IS & 1.4 TC 1/3200 s, f/8, 560 mm, iso 400

And of course Sarah
1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 1.4 TC 1/3200 s, f/8, 560 mm, iso 400

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 1.4 TC 1/4000 s, f/8, 560 mm, iso 400

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 1.4 TC 1/3200 s, f/8, 560 mm, iso 400

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 1.4 TC 1/640 s, f/8, 560 mm, iso 200

The Autograph Pit
1D Mark III w/ 17-40 f/4L 1/640 s, f/8, 17mm, iso 200
Caroline insisted that I get into this mosh-pit of supporters and get her an autograph. Although it was absolute chaos I did manage to get the the autograph

Without getting too deeply into the politics here I will say that Sarah’s message was very positive. Of course she pointed out the differences between the two tickets but mostly she stumped the McCain Palin view of the future. She did make one comment that I truly appreciated and will paraphrase here, ‘Our opponents are looking to the past and pointing fingers where John and I are looking to the future and providing solutions.’

I’m frankly tired of hearing about how bad off I’m supposed to be and who I’m suppose to blame. I think we can all agree that the current administration has had its troubles, however, I’m not one who subscribes to this idea that all of our troubles rest squarely on the shoulders of GW and is bunch. There’s plenty of blame to go around and what we need to concentrate on now is realistic non socialistic methods to improve our current state.

1D Mark III w/100-400L IS & 1.4 TC 1/400 s, f/9, 560 mm, iso 100

So for my final analysis all I suggest is you take a big swig of whatever kool-aide you are drinking , red or blue, and be sure to vote early and vote often… after all that’s what they plan to do in Ohio.

;-)

Bald Eagle

2008-10-11T20:50:00.004-04:00

I was going through some photos from over the summer and happened across this one. In my humble opinion one of my best for the year.

1D Mark III w/ 70-200 f/2.8L IS, 1/400 s, f/2.8, -1 2/3 EV, 200 mm, iso 400

Now I will admit that this guy is in captivity at Busch Gardens VA but I'm proud of the image none the less.

A Foote in the door of the Civil War…

2008-09-22T03:03:00.005-04:00

Who doesn’t like to curl up on the couch with a good book and a good drink and relax? Well those of you who know me know it sure the heck isn’t ME… Reading is not one of my favorite things short of a few trade rags and Google news.

“Wait a minute…” you say, “What the heck does this have to do with the civil war and do you know you misspelled foot?”

1D Mark III w/ 17-40 f/4L 1/320 s, f/5.6, 23 mm, iso 400

Well let me tell you. I’m actually in the process of “reading” Shelby Foote’s (see I didn’t spell it wrong) book, The Civil War a Narrative. I say “reading” because I’m actually listing to it on my iPod. Wow what an concept, audible books that fit in my pocket and I can listen to in the car while I’m driving all over town every day.

Foote’s book… well actually books…. Ahhh more like volumes… are fantastic. I’m about ¾ the way though book one, Fort Sumter to Perryville, and all I’m hooked. I can’t put it down. Shelby takes you every step of the way though the war from the economy and politics before the war to the characters involved in the war to regions and battles and even the little skirmishes that went on as hordes of troops were moving from one location to the next. This has to be the most complete works on the Civil War published.

More importantly it doesn’t read like a history book. Shelby has a way of writing that helps you see what’s going on in your mind’s eye. His descriptions of the locations and peoples activities are fantastic. Short of having to switch from the western region to the eastern region from time to time it’s very easy to follow without getting mired or lost in details.

If you are at all interested in the Civil War I strongly recommend you read these books. But be warned all three volumes are HUGE.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40 f/4L 1/25 s, f/4, 17 mm, iso 3200

Now for the photo. This time I used a three flash setup as you can see in the photo above. On the stand to the right was my 550EX attached to my 1D Mark III with a flash cord. I used this flash as the master to fire the other two flashes and as you can see its snooted to shine its un-gelled white light straight onto the iPod. To the left is my 580EX gelled with a heavy yellow/orange gel. Behind the box of books is my 430EX gelled with a dark purple gel and pointed at white illustrators board setup behind the table. All the flashes were set to manual mode with the 550EX (left) set to 1/32, the 580EX (right) set to 1/16 and the 430EX (back) set to 1/8.

The image was shot with my 1D Mark III with 17-40 f/4L lens. Shutter speed was 1/320 and the aperture was set to f/5.6.

More from North Beach

2008-09-03T03:20:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite things to do when I'm down visiting my mom in law is try, usually unsuccessfully, to capture images of the many aquatic birds that are abundant down there. Mom has a beautiful marsh area just behind her house which is the home of a flock of snowy egrets and there are osprey nests in several location up and down the shore. The problem is getting close enough to get good photos. These birds are no dodo's. They make sure they keep their distance.

Well last weekend was no exception. The very first thing I did when I got down there was walk into the house and straight back to the kitchen which over looks the marsh. Oh boy the egrets are out there in force. The weather was perfect, the sky was clear and all I had to do was wait for the right time of the day and I was certain I would get some great pictures as long as I could find a good spot.

Well the day goes by and the sun starts to set so I head out to find a spot.... A good spot. Hmmmmm. Around this side? Nope... Down the street? Nope. Can I walking in through the reeds a ways? Not with out sinking in to my knees.

Damn it.

I gave up getting close and setup right along the road. Pulled out the tripod and the 100-400 attached my 1D Mark III and took a look. Here is all I could get at 400mm.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/160 s, f/8, 400 mm, iso 200

Very disappointing. What to do....

I pulled out my 2x Tele Converter and added it to my lens to get these.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 2x TC, 1/200 s, f/13, 730 mm, iso 800

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS & 2x TC, 1/200 s, f/13, 730 mm, iso 800

Still not great but its the best I can do with the location and equipment. Note: to cut down on the sun glare off the water a polarizer filter probably would have been a good choice here but I was too lazy to pull it off my 17-40. Note to self... Need one more Circular Polarizer.

The sun was setting to the left and front of me meaning I'm on the dark side of the egrets. Again, not the ideal location but it was the best I could do. :-/ I do actually like the shots but I'm still on the quest to get up close and personal. Oh and yes that is an old tire just peaking out of the water in the second photo.

After the Egrets I turned my attention to the other side of the road to shoot the bayscapes you saw in a previous blog entry. While setting up on the beach I managed to catch this guy screaming across the sky and right over me.

1d Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/320 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm, iso 400

He's just a common tern but these suckers are fast. I fired off a couple more frames but nothing worth posting.

Now it was time to switch lenses and do a few bayscapes. While shooting I happened to look up in the sky over my shoulder and up there looking down at me were 3... that's right 3... osprey circling overhead and here I am with my wide angle lens mounted to the camera. Where's that 100-400? Back in the car!!! Well of course. I walked back to get it but by the time I got back to the beach the osprey had moved on. Grrr

I finished up the bayscapes and while heading back to the car I caught this green heron hopping out of the weeds. Not really a great pic but its the only green heron I have so its a keeper for now.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/100 s, f/5.6, 1 EV, 400 mm

Back at the car I looked up one more time in the sky for the osprey and sure enough they were back but this time circling much higher in the sky. None the less I did manage to get of a few good shots.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/160 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm, iso 400

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/320 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm

Notice this guy has a half eaten fish in his talons.

1D Mark III w/ 100-400L IS, 1/160 s, f/8, 1 EV, 400 mm, iso 400

All in all I'd say a pretty productive afternoon but the images still leave me with the desire to shoot even better and closer images of all these birds. Good thing I like going down there isn't in. :-)

War

2008-08-30T02:02:00.006-04:00

Again inspired by a challenge on DPReview I set out to tell a large story with the most minimalist image I could. Wanting to do something different then most, I thought about what I could photograph that the other participants wouldn't.

What to photograph?? Hmmmmm...

A Grenade!!! Who on earth would photograph a grenade. But wait what's the story? Destruction!!!!

Where on earth are you going to find a grenade?
Why the the local army surplus store of course. Didn't know you could buy a grenade? Whelp you sure can!!! No, not a real grenade; a hollowed out pineapple that used to be a real grenade.

While I was there I also picked up 2 50cal cartages thinking it may add some interest to my photo.

Now how to shoot these items. I need something dark, something that makes the objects stand out. My original idea was the idea of destruction so I was going to add some broken glass to the photo but as I positioned the grenade and 50cals on my black illustrator board I realized that adding more to the image would move it away from the minimalist idea so I nixed the glass and took a few test shots. Well I liked what I got and I sent the test out to a couple of family member who both remarked that to them the image said War. Right about the same time I had one of those eureka moments maybe even close to an epiphany and thought... War.... Yeah... Yeah that's the ticket... What larger a subject to represent than WAR.

So with that in mind I set up the shot one more time making a few changes from the original test shot and came up with this.

1D Mark III w/ EF 50mm f/1.8, 1/2000 s, f/2.8, 50 mm, iso 50

I like it!!!

But the composition leans so heavily to the right... Of course it does because after all we all know its the right wing who are the war mongers in our country don't we. ;-) Kidding aside, I did heavily load the composition to the right in an effort to depict, somehow, the current political atmosphere that is prevalent in this election season.

The setup was actually quite simple. Once again, following Mike's mantra that any place can be a studio, I set thing up right on my coffee table in the family room (see photo below). Placing a black illustration board down on the table, I positions the grenade and 50cals the way I wanted and then looked at the items to figure out the lighting. The first attempt used only one flash but this time I wanted to add just a hint of color so I went to a 2 flash setup. My key light is a 550EX flash down low and to the right. To cast a bit of red I used a secondary light, a 430ex with red gel, from above, behind and to the left. Both lights are set manually to 1/1 and fired with my 580ex on camera with the flash off. The line of lights in the background is actually the reflection of the key light off a brass fire place door behind the setup. At first this was a "mistake" but I liked how the reflection stopped the eye at the top of the frame and brings the focus toward the grenade so I left it in. To black out all the ambient light I cranked the shutter speed way up to 1/2000 and the ISO down to 50. This way anything not lit by the flashes would be black. Once set, I simply laid down on my couch and fired away.

Who says you can't lie down on the job. ;-) Sorry I just couldn't resist.

Good Food, Good Drink, and Good Fun

2008-08-27T21:30:00.001-04:00

Every year on the last weekend of August North Beach, MD has their annual Bayfest. A great number of vendors setup along the boardwalk to sell their wares; everything from paintings to jewelry to all sorts of trinkets that nobody really needs.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/200 s, f/8, 25 mm, iso 200,

One thing is for certain you can always find good food

20D w/ 70-200L f/2.8 IS, 1/100 s, f/4, 2 EV, 70 mm, iso 100

good drink

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/1000 s, f/5.6, 17 mm, iso 200

all sorts of fun

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/60 s, f/9, 40 mm, iso 200

20D w/ 70-200L f/2.8 IS, 1/800 s, f/4, 200 mm, iso 100

plenty to spend you money on

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/800 s, f/4, 200 mm, iso 100

and lots of people

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/320 s, f/8, 17 mm, iso 200

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/800 s, f/4, 40 mm, iso 200

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/80 s, f/8, 17 mm, iso 200

last but not least relaxing with the family and enjoying the view.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L, 1/400 s, f/8, 40 mm, iso 200

Three from the Bay

2008-08-26T11:39:00.018-04:00

Spent last Saturday at the mom-n-laws in North Beach MD for the annual Bayfest and of course Caroline's Birthday. Although the sun was hot the day was fantastic with cool temperature for August and a beautiful haze free sky. As always it was a fun day and presented several photo opportunities.

The three below are "bay"scapes from one of my favorite secluded beach along the shore.

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L 1 s, f/8, 1 EV, 40 mm, iso 100

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L 1/5 s, f/16, 17 mm, iso 100

1D Mark III w/ 17-40L 1.6 s, f/8, 1 EV, 35 mm, iso 100

Both these images were shot around 7:30pm with the sun setting behind me. I used a 4x ND filter along with my Circular Polarizer on my 17-40L f/4 lens.

I've got the need... the need for speed!!!

2008-08-24T12:35:00.008-04:00

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd post a few fun pics from our recent trip to Knoebels Amusement Park.

Abandoned

2008-07-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

An interesting word but how do you represent the concept in a photograph? Well its obvious isn’t it? Just go out and take a picture of an old dilapidated building… Yeah that says abandoned doesn’t it? Sure but isn’t that sort of the easy way out? Well not necessarily, I’ve view some pretty powerful images of abandoned buildings but the problem is I’ve viewed A LOT of great photos of abandon buildings. So when faced with representing this concept I wanted to do something different. What else says Abandoned? Something emotional. Something dramatic.

How about this...

I like it!!!!

The photo idea actually grew from its original concept of just a kid’s stuffed animal to what you see above. As usual here in the Kircher house hold, it quickly became a complete family affair. Terry suggested using Caroline as the model. Of course, ham that she is, Caroline was thrilled with the idea. Amanda, although not too enthusiastic about the project at first, really came through with making my lighting ideas work. And I’m the one who had to lay down on the dirty ground to shoot the photos.

As you can see from the photo above, we shot at night in the alley behind the house. The blue wash lighting was provided by a Source Four Jr with blue gel. We added the spider web gobo to break up the light and cast the shadow lines you see in the photo. The red accent light was provided by a Par can with a red gel. I angled it down toward the ground to help accent the debris on the ground and add some red highlights.

Exposure setting were made in manual mode and according to the theater lighting. I opened my 17-40 all the way up to f/4 which gave me a shutter speed of 1/3 second. A few test shots to make sure that looked the way I wanted and then onto the face.

The white face was done with my 430ex flash in ETTL and snooted so that the light was cast only on Caroline’s face. It was fired remotely with my ST-E2. Because of the slow shutter speeds, the FEC was adjusted way down to about -2 2/3. Once the flash was set and located properly, I used the A-B ratio control on the ST-E2 to fine tune the light give less or more power to channel B used by the flash.

The orange cast on the house in the background was provided by the underexposed light from a street light behind the setup. We couldn’t have been luckier with this because I think it really help set the mood of the photo.

All that was left was for me to lay down in the ground right next to the flash stand, frame, and press the shutter.

It was a fun project and I’m very happy with the results.

It's just like a gel dad!!!

2008-07-15T22:42:00.008-04:00

So we were at a restaurant in Williamsburg several days ago and while waiting for our food I was playing with my camera and flash. Well every one knows that the flash light by itself in a bar is just way too harsh and makes for a lousy photo so I thought to myself, hmmm lets try this. I placed the flash behind my full glass of Coke and fired it remotely with my ST-E2 and wala I got these photos.

Pretty cool I thought. Well Amanda wasn’t all that impressed and all she had to say was, “It’s just like a gel dad…” That maybe true but I’d like to see Amanda gel one of her theater lights with a glass of Coke.

Shooting in the Theater... White Balance and Color Correction

2008-07-15T10:26:00.004-04:00

(Technical assistance provided by Amanda Kircher)

Finally a new post. This time we’ll go back to the theater and examine color and white balance.

I know I said my next theater entry was going to be about working with directors and managers but this subject came up again on DPR so I thought I’d review my feelings about it now.

First let’s get the technical side of this conversation out of the way. Standard stage lighting runs around 3200K for pure, uncolored light. With this knowledge you could just set you camera’s white balance manually to 3200K and shoot away. Another option is to use a grey card and take a few sample shots of the card under the differing lighting conditions. Then use the gray card images to set the WB in camera or as a reference during post processing. Yet another option is to simply use Auto White Balance (AWB) and let the camera work it out. I can hear from the peanut gallery it now … AWB? Aaackkkk. Yes, yes, I know but shooting raw makes correcting AWB, when needed, a snap. In addition, if you shoot a few frames of a gray card you can use those images as a reference during you post processing. For my last show, I shot the first night in AWB then noted the correct WB setting during post. With that information I set that WB value, 3300K, into the camera for subsequent nights of shooting. It worked like a charm.

Regardless of the method you choose the most important thing to remember is to represent what the lighting director intended which often is not what, to the eye, looks perfectly balanced. You must remember that the color and intensity of the lighting have a direct impact on the appearance of costumes, sets and actors. Lighting designers develop and design a lighting concept that is central to the entire project… For example, an LD may choose a series of gels that will help accentuate the Yellow in Belle’s dress or in combination with the set designer help present certain color illusions that under normal “balanced” light would look strange or out of place. If an actress is washed in heavy amber light her skin tones are going to lean heavily towards orange. Usually the tone of the actor’s skin is very much a part of the concept and holds some type of significance. Knowing this, it is not our place as photographers to make “corrections” just because we have a need to have our whites balanced. Within reason, it’s our job to capture exactly look of a show and not what we think it should have looked like.

The art is to balance what is "right" and what the LD wanted to achieve and when in doubt ALWAYS lean towards the lighting director. I usually tend towards warm side when processing my theater work because more often than not the general wash is a warm tone of light. I can assure you, having a budding LD in my family; she would kill me if I misrepresented her designs by over correcting the color temps.

Same As It Ever Was

2008-05-14T22:58:00.006-04:00

Apparently the Colonials had problem following the rules too.

1D Mark III, 17-40L f/4

Images of Williamsburg

2008-05-12T11:52:00.010-04:00

Terry and I spent Sunday a week ago casually wondering around Williamsburg. It was a perfect opportunity to relax and notice things you wouldn't normally see or look a bit differently at things you would usually see.

1D Mark III, 17-40L f/4, 580EX

1D Mark III, 17-40L f/4, 580EX

1D Mark III, 17-40L f/4, 580EX w/CTO Gel

1D Mark III, 17-40L f/4

You can't use that here.

2008-04-28T12:39:00.012-04:00

All too often I read or hear about people being harassed by security while photographing certain areas of DC. Just yesterday I read blog entry from a guy who had problems in Union Station. Well today I had to bring Amanda to Union to catch a train to Philly so while there I thought I'd test my luck and shoot a few frames. I was not harassed by security, who did keep a watchful eye; however, a very nice old lady did question whether I was allowed to shoot in the station. :-)

Frankly, I've been all over DC with my camera and gear and I've never been harassed. Sometimes I think these reported confrontation are brought on by the photographer simply not using common since. Although pretty innocuous in reality, if you're going to stand out in front of the FBI headquarters with a huge zoom lens attached to your 35mm and take pictures of the building you’re just inviting post 9/11 problems. Of course the folly in all this post 9/11 hysteria is the fact that every one with a cell phone today has a camera in their pockets. If I really wanted to get clandestine photos of Union Station I’d send a bunch of teenage girls into the place armed with pocket P&S and camera phones; apparently they bring about much less suspension.

None the less, I managed to shoot of a few nice frames with my big 1D Mark III in the main hall and ticketing area with nary the stare let along any harassment.

Here are my results. Note they're not necessarily fabulous photos since I was really only shooting to see if I could flush out the security people. ;-)

All shot with 1D Mark III and 17-40L f/4

In this photo you can see in the lower right corner the security guard who kept an eye on me from a distance. At one point I thought about going over and talking to him but I decided not to test fate that much. ;-)

And here's one of Amanda waiting for her train. This was shot with the camera on my lap using Live View for composition. Once set I closed Live View and let the camera focus and take the photo. Again the warming affect is achieved with the use of a CTO gel on the flash.

The moral to my story? Well even though I find any 9/11 paranoia up surd the simple fact still remains; with the use of a little common sense you too can photograph just about anything you want around here.