Mourning victims and there families in earthquake stricken Kathmandu.

Lynn and I visited Earthquake stricken Kathmandu in 2012. Today we are sadly mourning those who lost their lives in this new, horrible tragedy. I posted a few photos from Kathmandu here: http://www.crazyabouttravel.com/12-04-India-0007.html

Night Photograph Opportunities

Recently my wife and I attended the special limited engagement event, Zoominations at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.  This was a great opportunity to test the nighttime capabilities of my recently purchased Nikon D750 camera.

These photographs were taken using the Nikon 24-120mm f4.0 lens.  My aperture varied from 2500-4000.  All were taken with the camera on a Gitzo monopod after the sun went down and the sky became an inky black.

Once again, I am thrilled with the results from my new full frame camera. I am finding that nighttime and event photography makes my best use of this camera. I also really like the Nikon D750's wifi capabilities.  It is fun to be able to take a photo and immediately be able to send it to my iPhone or iPod for quick posting on social media sites. Your thoughts?

Challenges photographing cityscapes.

One of my photography passions is photographing cityscapes and skylines. Recently a couple of friends and I decided to photograph the Tampa skyline at dusk. We all were shooting smaller cameras. I took my Olympus Micro 4/3 OMD-EM10. One of my friends took his Mirrorless Sony A7 and the third brought his tiny Sony A6000. We all just brought one wide angle lens. All of our photos were taken on a tripod. 

There are several challenges to getting good cityscapes:  

1) Finding the best location for the ideal photo, in this case, we found a spot across the Hillsborough River, behind Tampa General Hospital. 

2) Selecting the right time to photograph the skyline. We decided to be setup and shooting about an hour before sunset. We were at the location until about an hour after sunset until the sky became an inky black. We spent about 2 1/2 hours on this shoot. 

3) Getting the right settings to be able to get most of the scene in focus. It is more of a challenge than it might seem to get the signage and the buildings in focus. I think that all three of us felt most comfortable with an f8.0 aperture though we experimented with numerous ISOs and shutter speeds in Aperture and Manual priorities. 

We loved the contrasts that we got as the sun was setting and the city lights of Tampa were coming on.

If you want to invigorate your photography look for challenges and opportunities in your area to photograph skylines and cityscapes. 

Civil War Reenactments - A Great Place To Work on Your Creative Side

My friend Jim and I recently attended the Nature Coast Civil War Re-enactment in Williston, Florida.  I really enjoy photographing these historical based events.  Re-enactors are really cooperative when it comes to being photographed.  And, they have a natural instinct to pose in character.

I ran into this family almost immediately after entering the event site. It is one of my favorite images from the event.  The family was in perfect character. My only posing request was that the little girl sits in her dad's lap for the photo.

This is a candid photo.  I blurred the clutter out of the background in Photoshop in post.   Unfortunately I missed seeing the certainly not 19th Century Ray Ban sunglasses worn by the fellow in the plaid shirt!

The Civil War era photographer was a real find.  I converted the image to black & white in Silver Efex Pro.

It is a real challenge to catch a glimpse of the orange flames as the canons are fired. You have to set your camera to take multiple frames in a burst and press the shutter just as the leader signals to fire. My camera is supported on a monopod.  At the Nature Coast Reenactment there were many canons to choose from.  I counted more than twenty. The organization pays a bounty for re-enactors to bring out their canons. I was still lucky to get this image.  

Civil War Re-enactments take place frequently around the country.  For some real photographic opportunities add one of these events to your photo itinerary.

Search Your Photo Archives for Fresh Ideas

The Frank Gehry inspired Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic

All photographers have moments when they are searching for creativity, but nothing seems to surface.  Occasionally that happens to me.  When that happens I like to go back to my archives and recreate something from one of my old photos.  Photos that at one time didn't seem to have any purpose can be reborn. Software and ways to use the various programs are upgraded and developers find new ways to reinvent those programs. I just reinvented the picture from when I first took it in 2006.  Hell, do you even remember a technique called  HDR (High Dynamic Range)..or for that matter Adobe Lightroom?  Actually, I just checked Wikipedia and accordingly Lightroom was released in Beta in 2006. here is how my original photo looked when I shot it with my Nikon D200 with a 12-24mm Nikon f4.0 lens...

I removed the power lines and the red car in the left corner of the photo with the Clone Stamp tool in Photoshop to get the final image at the top.  I made a selection of the sky and replaced it with a blue background.  Additionally, I posterized the photo in Photoshop.  Granted, the final image is a bit cartoonish, but I like it...and at least for the moment it re-inspired my photography.

So, what do you think?

iPhone Photography Convenience

I never thought that I would be saying this. Lynn & I recently returned from a two week Colorado trip skiing and visiting with our daughter and granddaughter. 99% of my photos were taken with my new iPhone 6. 

It is so convenient to be in a restaurant and to hand a camera over to a server that they use everyday rather than asking them to figure out the knobs and settings on my regular camera. 

This is my granddaughter arriving at the Base of Peak 9 in Breckenridge after her first ski lesson. 

Lynn's chili rellenos at Mi Casa. 

This is one was taken with my friend Jeff's iPhone which has a waterproof case. 

I certainly look forward to taking my DSLR back out of the bag, but it certainly was a fun experience just using my new iPhone on this trip. 

Experimenting with Instagram

Recent feedback from my daily podcast diet has led me to try Instagram. I have always been a fan of square format (1x1) photos. Also, I have been told that more photo buyers congregate on Instagram than Facebook or Google+. I have yet to confirm this. So, I decided to jump in the pool with this photo that I took recently of a historic steam train arriving in Mt. Dora, Florida from nearby Tavares. 

I originally shot the photo in 2x3 format on my Olympus EM-10 and converted to black & white in Nik (Google) Silver Efex Pro. I am showing the original version of the photo above for comparison to the square version for Instagram below. As you see, with the square version I lose the train station and a few passengers. 

Your thoughts?