iPhone app solves dynamic range problem

iPhone HDR photo processed with an app

Photographers coming to tonight’s Meetup in Westerville are supposed to bring along something photo-related that they received at Christmas. We’ll get to see each others gifts and hear about how the new equipment will help them make better photos. I’m getting a head start. One of the things I received was an iTunes gift card. [...]

From a different angle

barn in afternoon light

Several days a week I pick up the granddaughter after basketball practice. I try to arrive early, especially in the winter, so she doesn’t have to stand around and wait on me to arrive. Some days my arrival time is early enough that I can work the area for photo possibilities. One scene that had [...]

Christmas tree sales manager portrait with G11

Christmas trees sales lot manager portrait G11 auto aperture

It’s that time of  the year again when I begin regular visits to the Christmas tree lot at Glengary Square on Westerville Road. The sales lot always opens on the day after Thanksgiving and yesterday was no different than any others. Everyone who works there knows me and my cameras. When I showed up with [...]

Not a prayer

Rosary prayer at sunset

I don’t always travel with a full complement of photo gear. Sometimes I carry just my Canon G9, which you read about yesterday. On this day, as we walked out of the house, I grabbed a Nikon D300 with the 14-24mm f2.8 lens.I love the wide-angle perspective both for its ability to emphasize foreground objects [...]

What time of the day do you shoot?

Lighting depends on time of day

The toughest time of the day for me is during the school year when I’m the one taking kids to school in the morning. There’s nothing more frustrating than sitting in morning traffic as the sun creeps over the tree line to my left throwing shadows across the road in front of me. I watch, [...]

So much to do in so little time

Spring training in 10 minutes

“Your pizza will be ready in 25 minutes.” Just enough time to find a feature. My daily hunt for another photo to add to the My Final Photo collection is the most challenging aspect of my daily life.

Giant unplanned softbox

Using the sky as a giant softbox

This is not the photo I intended for an afternoon shoot. It’s better. The plan was a quick stock shoot of a young model dressed as a cowboy in a field of fresh cut and rolled hay and straw. We had four shirt changes, some gloves and a few other accouterments to make some style [...]

Too many tomatoes. Too little time. Naturally.

Cherry tomatoes - more than I could eat

There were only three cherry tomato plants in our small garden yet they produced as if they were ten times that number. I did nothing to hasten the plants grown or speed up their ripening. There’s no regular application of fertilizer. No consistent spraying of insecticide or herbicide. The only moisture the roots receive is [...]

Into the light

Stepping intothelight

One of the pleasures of what I do is the discoveries that come from looking at the familiar. One of those places is Hoover Reservoir just a short drive or long walk from my home. When the afternoon sun aligned almost perfect down this hill near my home creating a tunnel effect. All I needed [...]

Pick your spot and time of day

afternoon portrait sunset background

Several days ago we talked about crawling out of bed before sunrise to find the perfect light for certain types of photos.

One of our discussions centered on finding the right place at the right time and waiting for the right light to appear for the right moment. Such a time was necessary for this youngster’s martial arts portrait.

On an early spring afternoon as the grass was greening and warm breezes closed the days I picked a time and place for the shoot. It was already planned for late in the day so we could take advantage of what promised to be clear skies at sunset.