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Jeremy > May 29, 2009; Day 27. Recession. Remember last year when my rhubarb crop overflowed a 1-cup measurer? This year I’ve got enough rhubarb for a single slice of pie. Sigh. Everyone else in this state can’t kill this stuff, but I can’t grow it. Luckily my friends produce so much of the stuff without even trying that they take pity on me and bring me stalks, some of which can individually fill a one-cup measurer. Sigh. My friend Al promises to take a look at my location and soil and see what’s got my rhubarb in in a slow death grip. I hope he can figure it out and&mdash;better yet&mdash;fix it. This is lit with undiffused flash which is perched above and behind this. I wanted a hard light on this subject but I should have compared it to a shot lit through a close umbrella. I might have picked this one anyway. I like to think that my photography is improving with time. I have to admit though, last year’s rhubarb shot was way better than this year’s. Great. Now I’m competing against myself. :~) This rhubarb was actually used in a scrumptious rhubarb crisp that only got 1 vote in a dessert contest tonight. (I swear. My friends, who have rhubarb coming out of their ears, don't even like the stuff! Sigh.) Thank you Marty and Al for your prior contributions that allowed me to make this dessert. But next time, the crisp stays at home! Raw: Color Temperature: 5400K; Tint: -3 Raw: Recovery: 75 Raw: Fill Light: 10 Raw: Saturation: +8 PS: Curves adjustment for Velvia effect PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > May 13, 2009; Day 11. Green Still Life. My friend Dennis is an alchemist of art. He takes a few raw materials and produces a living room accent piece like this that just grabs me. His house is a little busy, though, and I wanted to show this without much distraction. Enter the flash and some camera settings that kill off ambient light. The histogram for this shot suggests that it’s a badly underexposed shot, but I like it. In later shots the candles were lit but the shadows cast by the tall candles were bad. The flash's direct reflection on the leather ottoman/coffeetable bothers me a little, but it helps explain the faint light you see at the right of the photo. I definitely didn't work this subject enough, but hey, practice takes time. Raw: Color Temperature: 5500K; Tint: +20 Raw: Saturation: +10 PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > April 14, 2009; Day 347. The Case for a Lens Hood. For the first time, I set up both of my external flashes and fired them via the built-in flash’s commander mode. I wanted to see if I could get different levels of light based on the proximity of the flash. The SB-900 is in the 11:00 position and serving as a “hair” light. It’s also producing the bit of green flare which the lens hood would have taken care of. (I had the hood with me, too.) The SB-600 is being held in a high 4:00 position about twice as far away as the first flash. The difference between the lights is a little much for this shot so there will be plenty of practicing with this again soon. This lion is a bookend that I retrieved from a shelf of my friend Bill. He has all kinds of fun subjects and I enjoy spending time there. Raw: Exposure: +1.0 Raw: Recovery: +100 PS: Curves: Medium Contrast preset PS: Lab b channel adjustment: “Soft light” at 50% opacity PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > March 25, 2009; Day 327. Pastry Bridge. Week 3 of my close-up photography class is going to be a doozy. The first photo we are to submit is a kitchen abstract. You find one or more items from your kitchen and make an abstract image out of that. Bryan’s example photo was a cheese grater with a lot of colorful light reflecting from wrapping paper. Easy, right? I guess I’m forgetting the word “abstract” in this first attempt. Here I’m trying to turn a pastry blender into the steel girders of a bridge. I’m using a sheet of light blue paper for the river and some potted yellow geraniums as a field of flowers in the background. I’ve gelled my external flash with Roscoe color #27 (Medium Red) which is sitting just to the right of the frame. I won’t be submitting this to the class. Even if the assignment wasn’t for an abstract, the blue paper isn’t a convincing water, the red flash is spilling into the flowers, there’s a lot of blown out highlights, and that lavender “abutment” just looks silly. Also the flowers are so full of holes that I needed a lot of healing brush to repair the background. This was fun even if not very satisfying. I only spent an hour on it so I’m happy I got this much to show for it. Tomorrow I will try other things. I wonder if I have challenged myself too much by selecting such a porous kitchen implement. At least Bryan’s cheese grater always fills the frame. I shot this with my 50mm prime lens wearing a 20mm extension tube. I manually focused until the highlight areas on the arches were in focus. I don’t yet know who “Princess” is. There are many suspects. I hope he/she continues to comment! Raw: Color Temperature: 2650K; Tint: 0 Raw: Saturation: +8 PS: Healing Brush to cope with dark spots PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > March 12, 2009; Day 314. Cockeyed World. Tonight I began work on my latest class at the Perfect Picture School of Photography. The class is “Understanding Closeup Photography.” This week’s lesson discussed the many ways you can achieve closeup work with (and without) a dedicated macro lens. The assignment was to chase after macro subjects using as many of these items as possible. Tonight I used my dedicated macro lens, the 90mm Tamron. Later this weekend I’ll stack my extension tubes onto one or more lenses and see how much closer I can get to things. Then I’ll try a wide angle close-up; ultra wide lenses usually allow you to focus close without any extra stuff. This is not the photo I’ll submit for the class. (This one is.) But out of nearly 200 shots taken, I got about 20 keepers, including at least 4 of these crater-in-crater shots. This was the only one where the inner crater is way off center. I like it. This is a drop of half-and-half cream falling on a white plate with a thin film of cream already on it. The drops fell about 12 inches to the plate. I’ve set my new SB-900 flash between the 10 and 11 o’clock positions relative to the camera, just out of flare range. Everything is in manual: I need the most depth of field so I’m at f/57 (the lens is at the 1:1.2 macro position). I also need the shortest possible shutter speed so I’m right against the flash sync speed of 1/250s. Since the subject is very smooth, I want the native ISO for the least amount of noise. Luckily, the flash was able to light under these conditions at 1/16 power. At this aperture, the tiniest dust specs on the sensor show up. Luckily I used a blower before the shoot to take care of big offenders. I may need to go in soon with my Sensor Sweep brush. Raw: Color Temperature: 5800K; Tint: +10 Raw: Exposure: +0.5 Raw: Recovery: +100 Raw: Fill Light: +13 Raw: Blacks: +8 Raw: Brightness: +15 Raw: Contrast: +47 PS: Healing Brush to remove sensor dust PS: Curves: Linear Contrast preset PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > February 4, 2009; Day 278. Western Conifer Seed #6. I do not care for these bugs. They wiggle their way inside my house for the winter and cuddle up in places so random that I am always startled to find them. If they are subsequently startled by me, they have gas. Bad gas. Luckily they conserve energy in the winter and prefer to walk rather than fly. Just before I introduced this specimen to the business end of a Eureka upright with hose attachment, I got close with my macro lens. He was not startled. The lint on this one suggests that he entered my house through the dryer vent. I’ll have to check it out. Raw: Color Temperature: 5250K; Tint: +6 Raw: Exposure: +0.5 Raw: Fill Light: +40 Raw: Saturation: +10 PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > February 3, 2009; Day 277. Serial Broccoli. OK, I’ve gone from the macabre to the ridiculous in my "death by food" series. I am having much fun trying, though. This is almost on-camera flash, but I wanted the shadows in this case. This broccoli is bad, for real. Raw: Color Temperature: 3250K; Tint: 0 Raw: Exposure: +1.0 Raw: Recovery: +50 Raw: Saturation: +6 PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > February 2, 2009; Day 276. Bad Apple. My friend Dennis suggested that I start a “Death by Food” series. I love his artistic eye, his endless fountain of creative ideas. I instantly loved this idea, and have started practicing. I need to make the bite more prominent and my head should have been completely against the floor. Please forgive the macabre nature of this shot. Dennis will help me look beyond the light, I hope. Raw: Color Temperature: 4450K; Tint: -6 Raw: Exposure: +0.8 Raw: Saturation: +8 PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > January 22, 2009; Day 265. Maui Sunrise. (Or is it a seashell plucked from my friend Bill’s end table, placed upon his deep blue carpet, and lit with a flash wearing an amber gel? I’ll never tell. :~) PS: Saturation: +5 PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
May 29, 2009; Day 27.

Recession.

Remember last year when my rhubarb crop overflowed a 1-cup measurer? This year I’ve got enough rhubarb for a single slice of pie. Sigh. Everyone else in this state can’t kill this stuff, but I can’t grow it. Luckily my friends produce so much of the stuff without even trying that they take pity on me and bring me stalks, some of which can individually fill a one-cup measurer. Sigh.

My friend Al promises to take a look at my location and soil and see what’s got my rhubarb in in a slow death grip. I hope he can figure it out and—better yet—fix it.

This is lit with undiffused flash which is perched above and behind this. I wanted a hard light on this subject but I should have compared it to a shot lit through a close umbrella. I might have picked this one anyway.

I like to think that my photography is improving with time. I have to admit though, last year’s rhubarb shot was way better than this year’s. Great. Now I’m competing against myself. :~)

This rhubarb was actually used in a scrumptious rhubarb crisp that only got 1 vote in a dessert contest tonight. (I swear. My friends, who have rhubarb coming out of their ears, don't even like the stuff! Sigh.) Thank you Marty and Al for your prior contributions that allowed me to make this dessert. But next time, the crisp stays at home!

Raw: Color Temperature: 5400K; Tint: -3
Raw: Recovery: 75
Raw: Fill Light: 10
Raw: Saturation: 8
PS: Curves adjustment for Velvia effect
PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
Jeremy > May 29, 2009; Day 27. Recession. Remember last year when my rhubarb crop overflowed a 1-cup measurer? This year I’ve got enough rhubarb for a single slice of pie. Sigh. Everyone else in this state can’t kill this stuff, but I can’t grow it. Luckily my friends produce so much of the stuff without even trying that they take pity on me and bring me stalks, some of which can individually fill a one-cup measurer. Sigh. My friend Al promises to take a look at my location and soil and see what’s got my rhubarb in in a slow death grip. I hope he can figure it out and&mdash;better yet&mdash;fix it. This is lit with undiffused flash which is perched above and behind this. I wanted a hard light on this subject but I should have compared it to a shot lit through a close umbrella. I might have picked this one anyway. I like to think that my photography is improving with time. I have to admit though, last year’s rhubarb shot was way better than this year’s. Great. Now I’m competing against myself. :~) This rhubarb was actually used in a scrumptious rhubarb crisp that only got 1 vote in a dessert contest tonight. (I swear. My friends, who have rhubarb coming out of their ears, don't even like the stuff! Sigh.) Thank you Marty and Al for your prior contributions that allowed me to make this dessert. But next time, the crisp stays at home! Raw: Color Temperature: 5400K; Tint: -3 Raw: Recovery: 75 Raw: Fill Light: 10 Raw: Saturation: +8 PS: Curves adjustment for Velvia effect PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
May 29, 2009; Day 27.

Recession.

Remember last year when my rhubarb crop overflowed a 1-cup measurer? This year I’ve got enough rhubarb for a single slice of pie. Sigh. Everyone else in this state can’t kill this stuff, but I can’t grow it. Luckily my friends produce so much of the stuff without even trying that they take pity on me and bring me stalks, some of which can individually fill a one-cup measurer. Sigh.

My friend Al promises to take a look at my location and soil and see what’s got my rhubarb in in a slow death grip. I hope he can figure it out and—better yet—fix it.

This is lit with undiffused flash which is perched above and behind this. I wanted a hard light on this subject but I should have compared it to a shot lit through a close umbrella. I might have picked this one anyway.

I like to think that my photography is improving with time. I have to admit though, last year’s rhubarb shot was way better than this year’s. Great. Now I’m competing against myself. :~)

This rhubarb was actually used in a scrumptious rhubarb crisp that only got 1 vote in a dessert contest tonight. (I swear. My friends, who have rhubarb coming out of their ears, don't even like the stuff! Sigh.) Thank you Marty and Al for your prior contributions that allowed me to make this dessert. But next time, the crisp stays at home!

Raw: Color Temperature: 5400K; Tint: -3
Raw: Recovery: 75
Raw: Fill Light: 10
Raw: Saturation: 8
PS: Curves adjustment for Velvia effect
PS: Smart Sharpening: 180-1-Lens Blur
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