Having some fun with my doggie Max Bean.Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Painting in progress
My analogous color assignment turned into something else - it's many hours away from completion.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wildflowers
I'm hoping there will be a good wildflower bloom in Death Valley this year. There has been lots of rain and there is reportedly some good ground cover already. I'm shooting for the middle of April and will be going up for the weekend of the 17th and 18th. With that in mind I booked a room at the lovely Motel 6 for Friday and Saturday nights. It is close enough to Death Valley to gain quick access to the park and doesn't cost nearly as much as the hotels in the park. (Not to mention they are sold out anyway.)
Currently the plan is seek out the wildflower blooms the parched landscape. Perhaps a Kayaker or two will be out in Badwater for the chance to do some paddling nearly 300 feet bellow sea level. I would also like to hit Racetrack Playa and would love to be there for sunrise or sunset but that will depend on the road conditions. Perhaps a trip through Titus canyon might be in order as well. The plan is open at this point and the main points thus far are the wildflowers, sunrise/sunset and Racetrack Playa.
I'm posting a bit earlier this time and anybody is welcome to tag along for all or part of the weekend. I have room for three or drive yourself. Currently the only plans that would require an off road vehicle would be the Racetrack.
If you have been to Death Valley before the rare wildflower blooms are wonderful contrast. If you have never been there then you have been missing some truely unique sights.
And I can guarantee it will be a better time than my last trip through Death Valley:
=8^o
Currently the plan is seek out the wildflower blooms the parched landscape. Perhaps a Kayaker or two will be out in Badwater for the chance to do some paddling nearly 300 feet bellow sea level. I would also like to hit Racetrack Playa and would love to be there for sunrise or sunset but that will depend on the road conditions. Perhaps a trip through Titus canyon might be in order as well. The plan is open at this point and the main points thus far are the wildflowers, sunrise/sunset and Racetrack Playa.
I'm posting a bit earlier this time and anybody is welcome to tag along for all or part of the weekend. I have room for three or drive yourself. Currently the only plans that would require an off road vehicle would be the Racetrack.
If you have been to Death Valley before the rare wildflower blooms are wonderful contrast. If you have never been there then you have been missing some truely unique sights.
And I can guarantee it will be a better time than my last trip through Death Valley:
=8^o
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Black and Whites
B&W from Canon
Monochrome Canon
B&W from PS CS at work (CS4 would have worked better)Sunday, March 14, 2010
Not really B&W
I had to pull these from the archives. I took these at a black sand beach in Hawaii a few years back. I thought they were cool because they looked like B&W photos
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Black & White Yum!
Unfortunately I ate quite a few of these after the shoot, but boy were they yummy!Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Iceberg Lettuce
Iceberg lettuce at 100X and 400X magnification - not very interesting, but it's a pattern, from nature...
Rhyolite
There isn't a whole lot to see in Rhyolite. As far as ghost towns go Bodie has a lot more to offer. The train depot is one of the nicer buildings but it is fenced in with an ugly chain link fence and razor wire.
Here are some of my favorite shots from the day.
There is also an open air museum with some unusual artwork.
Pale Rider
A local minor with his trusty penguin.
Last Supper
I had setup to take a shot of the Last Supper at sunset but it started to rain about 45 minutes before. It turned out that it was too overcast anyway and there wasn't any color as the Sun went down.
Instead I went exploring some of the off road trails. There certainly are a lot of scenic views off the paved roads. :^)
Here are some of my favorite shots from the day.
There is also an open air museum with some unusual artwork.
Pale Rider
A local minor with his trusty penguin.
Last Supper
I had setup to take a shot of the Last Supper at sunset but it started to rain about 45 minutes before. It turned out that it was too overcast anyway and there wasn't any color as the Sun went down.
Instead I went exploring some of the off road trails. There certainly are a lot of scenic views off the paved roads. :^)
Patterns on my tree
This is a very "curvy" tree in my backyard. The angle of the shot is looking from under the tree upward. The tree is always shedding its bark which is kind of cool looking.
Stone and Wood
This is just a quick snap from my trip over the Muddy Mountains. There were some really amazing formations on that drive and I could see spending a weekend just exploring the area.
These next two are from Saturday in Rhyolite. Weather worn wood has always fascinated me. This looked a lot better when I was setting up the shot, I'm not really happy with the composition of the shot but the texture of the wood is awesome.
Wooden planks that have been exposed to the desert for twenty five years.
One of my favorite pictures is a shot I took in high school using a pin hole camera. The camera is sitting on the plank of a bleacher and you can see the grain and chipped pain down the entire length. I'll have to see if I can find that picture and scan it in.
These next two are from Saturday in Rhyolite. Weather worn wood has always fascinated me. This looked a lot better when I was setting up the shot, I'm not really happy with the composition of the shot but the texture of the wood is awesome.
Wooden planks that have been exposed to the desert for twenty five years.
One of my favorite pictures is a shot I took in high school using a pin hole camera. The camera is sitting on the plank of a bleacher and you can see the grain and chipped pain down the entire length. I'll have to see if I can find that picture and scan it in.
Orange Yuccas
This is another combination of IR and visible light (red and blue from the visible light image and green from the IR). The focus seems a little soft (I read somewhere that sometimes the focus needs to be adjusted to compensate for the longer IR wavelenght...).
IR Test
Does anybody have experience with IR images? I took some shots yesterday and did some basic processing. The camera was set to automatic white balance and I was using a 720nm filter. This first image is after importing into Photoshop using the raw converter set to auto.
The second image is after swapping the red and blue channels with the channel mixer.
The final image is adding a B&W filter layer and setting it to the "Infrared" drop down.
Just some basic tests, I wasn't trying to do any real Photoshop work. I guess my questions here are how do you set the camera's white balance, what processing do you do to the image and how do you create a false color image? (That's not too much to ask for is it?)
From the above tests it looks like I will be able to produce some decent black and white images with the filter. I'm hoping the second image is so far out mainly because of the subject matter. (Not much greenery for a good Wood effect, overcast so not a great sky.) Any tips or suggestions are welcome.
The second image is after swapping the red and blue channels with the channel mixer.
The final image is adding a B&W filter layer and setting it to the "Infrared" drop down.
Just some basic tests, I wasn't trying to do any real Photoshop work. I guess my questions here are how do you set the camera's white balance, what processing do you do to the image and how do you create a false color image? (That's not too much to ask for is it?)
From the above tests it looks like I will be able to produce some decent black and white images with the filter. I'm hoping the second image is so far out mainly because of the subject matter. (Not much greenery for a good Wood effect, overcast so not a great sky.) Any tips or suggestions are welcome.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Sandstone Quarry
This is a combination of IR and visible light - not a very successful photo, but I may try more of this in the future.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Ghost Town / HDR Workshop
It looks like there is a slight chance of rain on Saturday. That means good pictures! So I am definitely heading up to Rhyolite. I don't know anything about the site other than there are supposed to be several buildings still standing.
Anybody is welcome to tag along -- you can either ride up with me or follow in your own vehicle. I am pretty sure the area is two wheel accessible so there won't be any trouble getting there. Unless I hear otherwise I would like to get on the road around noon. If anybody else wants to show up we can setup a meet time and location.
I know that some people have asked questions about high dynamic range photos in the past. So I would also be happy to give a demonstration and discussion on the technique if there is any interest. Just bring a tripod with your regular gear. If you would like to go shoot me an email at jeff.knox@igt.com before COB tomorrow.
Anybody is welcome to tag along -- you can either ride up with me or follow in your own vehicle. I am pretty sure the area is two wheel accessible so there won't be any trouble getting there. Unless I hear otherwise I would like to get on the road around noon. If anybody else wants to show up we can setup a meet time and location.
I know that some people have asked questions about high dynamic range photos in the past. So I would also be happy to give a demonstration and discussion on the technique if there is any interest. Just bring a tripod with your regular gear. If you would like to go shoot me an email at jeff.knox@igt.com before COB tomorrow.
Monday, March 1, 2010
New Camera Accessory
Last week I got a new piece of camera gear:
It is a Jeep Liberty and it will get me to a lot of locations I haven't been able to reach in the past. So Saturday I took it out for a trial run down the Bitter Springs Trail over the Muddy Mountains. (And to work on the rule of thirds assignment -- can you spot the assignment pictures?)
I followed the rain up to the Valley of Fire turnoff. When I got to the trailhead I stopped and took a look around. The skies behind me were clearing so I decided to push on.
Once I got into the hills I came upon a camp of half a dozen or so Jeeps and Trucks.
I didn't get many pictures taken as I was focusing on the trail. Unfortunately I didn't think to get some pictures of the more difficult parts of the drive.
There was a small dam in the hills.
A large cactus was growing on a boulder. It is hard to tell the scale but it is about a foot in diameter.
I only did a couple of HDR shots.
When I got near the end of the trail the Moon was blazing between the coulds but by the time I pulled out the camera it had all but disappeared behind the clouds.
I will definitely be returning to the Bitter Springs Trail to take some more time. It was an absolutely gorgeous ride. It took me about four hours to travel the twenty miles and I didn't scrape the undercarrage once. :^)
Next weekend I think I might go up to Rhyolite - the old ghost town near Beaty. If time permits I might take a spin through Death Valley as well. If anybody would like to join me there is plenty of room in the Photo Jeep.
Such a poser:
It is a Jeep Liberty and it will get me to a lot of locations I haven't been able to reach in the past. So Saturday I took it out for a trial run down the Bitter Springs Trail over the Muddy Mountains. (And to work on the rule of thirds assignment -- can you spot the assignment pictures?)
I followed the rain up to the Valley of Fire turnoff. When I got to the trailhead I stopped and took a look around. The skies behind me were clearing so I decided to push on.
Once I got into the hills I came upon a camp of half a dozen or so Jeeps and Trucks.
I didn't get many pictures taken as I was focusing on the trail. Unfortunately I didn't think to get some pictures of the more difficult parts of the drive.
There was a small dam in the hills.
A large cactus was growing on a boulder. It is hard to tell the scale but it is about a foot in diameter.
I only did a couple of HDR shots.
When I got near the end of the trail the Moon was blazing between the coulds but by the time I pulled out the camera it had all but disappeared behind the clouds.
I will definitely be returning to the Bitter Springs Trail to take some more time. It was an absolutely gorgeous ride. It took me about four hours to travel the twenty miles and I didn't scrape the undercarrage once. :^)
Next weekend I think I might go up to Rhyolite - the old ghost town near Beaty. If time permits I might take a spin through Death Valley as well. If anybody would like to join me there is plenty of room in the Photo Jeep.
Such a poser:
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