Little League again

I got a little bit closer to what I wanted out of little league photos.  This is the second team I've shot in as many weeks, but this time the weather was much more cooperative.  We started at 7 p.m. and the sun had settled behind some hazy clouds.  I need to photoshop that guy out of the background.  The one above is actually a little over-processed for my taste (and I did it :).

This is what the standard photos look like.


And here is the setup..  Softbox as key camera left (didn't have any lefty batters to shoot this time either).  Second light is an ABR 800 shooting through a Lastolite Tri-grip behind and right.

Monday Photo Roundup - April 22

The good news is that I've been busy... of course, that leads to less blogging, but thanks for stopping by to read this :)

The photo above is for the good folks at the Terrell ISD Excellence Foundation.  They do a great job of supplementing the school district in Terrell with grants for equipment, teacher training, and other things that regular school budgets do not cover.

Of course the big news stories of last week were the West, Texas explosion and the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

This slideshow includes some amazing images, including several from east Texas photog ace Mike Stone who went down to West the night of the explosion.

At an $800/day rate (plus expenses, of course) I gotta wonder if anyone is paying for a personal vacation photographer.  On second thought, it could be a pretty fun gig for a single guy or gal who likes to travel.  Come to think of it, for the right price you can hire me to go on vacation with you.  The joys of traveling with a two-year-old will just be a bonus for you :)

If you have some time to burn, the "learning to see" series of posts at Digital Photo School is an interesting read.

Good post on getting better color balance at night.   (and why some light sources look way off ... hint, they are way off.)

Very cool project - lights on wakeboards for long-exposure light trails.

In the market for a new camera strap?

Have a great week everyone ...

Monday Photo Roundup - March 4

The "Walking Man" sculptures in Deep Ellum are common photo subjects around here, but I like to stop by there when time permits.  Something about the whimsical nature of them that makes me smile.

Further east, there is a nice photo contest going on in the "Texas Forest Trail Region."

Strobist reviews the sub-$100 PocketWizard Plus X.  Looks good to me.

Great shots from young photojournalists...

Yes, post-processing makes a big difference in the look of your photos.  Even if you spent thousands on a camera.  The "Look" from most professional photographers comes from good work with the camera, and more work after the fact in the computer.  Simple tweaks to white balance, color saturation and contrast make a huge difference.

Speaking of which, photoshop guru Matt Kloskowski's Lightroom presets are a lot of fun to play with.  And free!

It looks like Canon has some nice new low-light technology in the works.  Looks like it is video-only at this point, but still... it is great to see even more progress in sensor sensitivity.

Have a great week.

Monday Photo Roundup - Feb. 25

Almost two months into 2013 ... I hope that is going well for you!  Are any of you ambitious enough to do a "365" or photo-a-day project?  If so, I would be interested in talking to you for a blog feature.

With Valentine's Day just behind us, love is still in the air, and brides are (hopefully) getting plans together for the big May-July wedding season.  Photogs, it is worth the 5 minutes to read, then re-read this nice article on what brides really want out of us personally, not just the images. (via @fstoppers)

While you are there.. a nice set of looks for bridal portraits using a minimal setup.

I saw very little of the Oscars last night, but it would be fun to make movie posters.  Chase Jarvis put up a nice collection from this year's nominees. 
My thoughts..  The bottom two Django Unchained posters my faves, followed closely by Beasts of the Southern Wild.  Lincoln and Les Mis are nice photographically, but just OK as posters.  Amour is a nice set of posters as well, but you almost have to have them together, or know the premise of them movie for them to click.  Silver Linings Playbook and Argo posters look like typical DVD cover material.  The life of Pi posters are ruined by seeing them both together.  Did they only have one picture of the actor and the tiger to work with for both posters?  Also, have you ever seen the ocean so smooth?

Wednesday night will be another Circle Meetups event at Weld, this time with Dave Onkels ... "Double your Price."

Finally!  How to be a happy photographer.

If you must shoot silhouettes, make them good.

Geek-a-riffic... Slow-mo video of how your camera shutter works.  It really is kind of violent.

Monday Photo Roundup - Dec. 10. And a large green man.

I was asked to so some simple head shots for a new ladies' mentoring group at church.  Which means trying to get the most out of a simple set up in a small space.  White cloth on the wall, two lights and a reflector and I'm pretty happy with the results.


Being the official White House photographer would be a dream job, even though it is pretty much giving up four years of your life.  Apparently things get really crazy on overseas trips.

Petapixel has so many interesting things.. just browse around over there.  This made a neat series - Everyday objects as sea creatures.

Photo-geekiness alert.  Reuters selected their 95 photos of the year.  And here is a breakdown of cameras, lenses and camera settings that were used to get them.

I saw this creative baby belly series a couple of places this week... maternity photogs, top that!

The Canon 6D looks like an interesting combination of features and price.  I have been pondering a 5D MkIII to replace my aging original 5D, but the wifi control could be useful from time to time.

If you are looking for fun photog Christmas gifts, I heartily recommend Photojojo.  Because most photog time is spent at the computer, the most useful gift may be these.

Speaking of which, you are almost out of time to do photo Christmas cards.  And you will need to come with something pretty clever to top these.

It is time for year-in-review photo sharing.  The Atlantic's InFocus blog is a good place to start, in three parts.  One.  Two.  Three.

From the flickr blog... use your lenses and glass objects in a different way.

It isn't easy being green.

Panorama-orama

Some days it is good to just have a fun shooting day.  Yesterday was that for me, and one thing I wanted to play with was panoramic shots.  There is a bit of a learning curve, but also lots of resources to make decent shots come together.

Panoramic images are a lot of fun to look at, but to do them well is often labor intensive.  Of course, there are apps for phone panoramas, which is great fun.  Here is my son playing in downtown Dallas, captured in the middle of an iPhone panorama shot.  Click through to flickr to see the full size photo.


A few attempts with the iPhone show its limitations, but if you have a very static scene and a steady hand, it is fun.

Later in the evening I took a 4-image shot across the downtown skyline from a different spot.  I had a 5D and 50mm lens with me, so the detail is good, but not great.  Again, click through to flickr to see it up close.  The vertical line about 1/3 in from the right is not a merging artifact, it is a light pole on the bridge where I was shooting.


This was automatically merged together quickly with Photoshop's automated photomerge option.  If it were a daytime shot, the problems would be easier to spot.  And there are always problems to correct.

Finally...   to see how it is really done, read through this post about creating a gigapixel pano of San Francisco with amazing detail.  It also highlights some good info on the how-to side of things.

Have a great Friday!

Marge and the moon

I was in the neighborhood of the Margaret Hunt-Hill Bridge this evening, which warranted some quick pics.


The occasion was a creative Circle Meetups gathering and presentation by Austin Mann.  To say he does good work is an understatement.

Most of the conversation revolved around storytelling and creative work for nonprofit and faith-based organizations, which is exactly where I want to be, so that was great.

The other thing that grabbed my interest was Mann's work on "motion fine art."  The idea of high definition screens as art displays is not new, but the idea of fine art with a time/motion element thrown in is intriguing.  The possibilities are quite endless.  Wouldn't have to be video, per se.  Digital mixed-media.  Or something.

Here is one of Mann's creations.
Covet from Austin Mann on Vimeo.

Where to shoot - Cedar Hill State Park / Penn Farm

First - a quick disclaimer.  The photos for this post were iPhone snapshots from a family camping trip, not examples of decent photography :)

I will update this "Where to shoot" series of posts from time to time when I find  a spot to share.  To that end I have also started a flickr group for area photo locations.  Feel free to come add to it.  If it grows over time, it could be a good source for shooting spots when you run out of ideas.

A few weeks ago we packed up and headed to Cedar Hill State Park for a quick camping adventure.  I intentionally left all photo gear at home except my iPhone and the camera above.  It was not to be a photo safari, but a family fun time.  As we left the house, Renee said that I should be bringing more camera, and, as usual she was right.

Any state park will offer a multitude of natural backgrounds and potentially great portrait spots.  Cedar Hill gives that and more.


There are a few unique spots like the "perch pond" for kid fishing above, a short hike back to a natural pond, some well maintained hiking trails, and great views of Joe Pool Lake.

The real gold mine here, though, is the historic Penn Farm within the grounds of the park.


There is a short walk from the parking area back into the farm (with restrooms near the entrance), but the dirt road pathways and trails are good enough for strollers or wheelchairs.  A variety of old farm equipment is scattered around the grounds, and old wood fences are in abundance.


An old windmill can be a great prop.  Unless the person volunteering to take your photo puts it right on your wife's head.


For my money, the best features are the old barn and house buildings.


Wood and stone features are everywhere, with lots of big shady spots to find good light any time of day.


There are also some wide open fields available, although it seemed to be a popular place for people to let their dogs romp around.


There were several photographers out doing the work on a beautiful but cold Saturday morning, and I see why.

Entry to the park is $7 for adults, free for kids under 12.  Park hours are 6  a.m. - 10 p.m., but the website lists Penn Farm as closing at 5 p.m.

It is a beautiful spot within an easy drive of the general D/FW area.  Enjoy!

Quick Pic - Lightning in Dallas

Our room in the new-baby section at Methodist Hospital in Dallas has a great view of the Dallas central business district, so when a nice spring thunderstorm rolled through, it made a great first shared photo experience for me with our new baby Joshua.

Missed a lot as always with lightning, but you have to take advantage of unique photo opportunities, right?

And the results.. nice!




I had debated bringing the Gorillapod, assuming I would shoot most everything hand-held. I'm glad I did!

Don J.

Photo Fun on the Web

It is always interesting to me to find out what what other people see in one of my pictures, especially the artsy abstractish stuff... For this shot from downtown Dallas, a fellow flickr member thought it looked like the one bolt was holding down the city.

My thought at the time was of adding the little bolt to the skyline of large buildings, so you really never know what will come through to another person's eyes.

Chris at ObviousInsight mentioned an upcoming National Geographic photography workshop in the Dallas area... I hope I can make it, but my lovely wife's birthday is on the 9th.

Chase Jarvis is a top-shelf photographer and has also made an art form of combining business with creative arts. If you haven't seen this already, take the time to get an interesting take on where media is headed, and for a good kick in the creative part of your brain.

Chase Jarvis Keynote Address hosted by Art Directors Club of Denver from R. J. Kern on Vimeo.

I am very excited about attending the Kelby Training Photoshop "Down and Dirty Tricks" training on Friday...

Football season starts this week for me... It will be great to shoot while there is still daylight.

Have a great rest of the week, and be sure to make some good pictures.

With slow shutter speeds, you can get some interesting effects quite by accident. In this case, the roof supports at the Reunion Arena demolition almost disappear, and it looks like the structure is floating..

Happy Shooting everyone...

don j.

New Toy Time... Gorillapod, Extension Tubes, Lensbaby

My wife kindly went to a camera store and bought me a lightweight knockoff of a Gorillapod, knowing that I would go pick out the one I really wanted. Very cool... today I made it over to Competitive Camera and walked out with a few new toys. Happy Birthday to me!

The real Gorillapod is very cool, and I think it will allow me to leave the "real" tripod at home on an international trip next month. I will review that later...

Gift #2 is a set of Kenko extension tubes... I enjoy Macro photography, but I do not do enough of it to justify a true macro lens. Extension tubes go between your lens and the camera body, allowing any lens to focus closer and become more macro-capable. You do lose some light, but not any sharpness as with a "close up" filter that screws on the front of the lens.

There are three extensions in the kit, 12mm, 20mm and 32mm... and you can use them in combination.

Quick test (full review after some use) says this is good!

There is very little downside to these. My quick test pics showed a great deal of potential, and this is very user-friendly.

For a quick comparison, here is an un-cropped shot with the Canon 5D, 24-70mm lens, set at 70mm.

Canon 5D, 24-70mm, f2.8, 1/60, iso 1000

(The lack of sharpness is because I was handholding these... yes, I could have used the Gorillapod!)

With all three extension tubes stacked on, (64mm of extension) I could barely fit the "F" into the frame.

Canon 5D, 24-70mm, extension tubes, f2.8, 1/5, iso 1600

Notice the exposure change... even bumping the iso up to 1600, the shutter still dropped to 1/5.

Also, the depth of field is very shallow at f2.8, but at least with this method, you can control the aperture and get some more depth if the light is available.

Present #3... Lensbaby Composer...

I have been wanting to try one of these for a while... a cheaper alternative to the tilt/shift lenses. It is difficult to explain the effect. Essentially, you get to pick a very specific point of focus in the frame, and everything else is wildly out of focus.

My quick take... it is painful for quick shooting. Manually changing aperture with the "aperture disks" and manual focus means you have to be very deliberate. It will take some time to really experiment and get the most out of this thing. If I keep it that long... tbd. I do want to try this at some football games, so who knows.

Here are some shots from Reunion to show the effect. All of these are shot on the 5D at f8.

I like the effect of making large things look like toys or a diorama...

More testing to come, but these are definitely fun gadgets, and very good for making you think creatively.

Happy Shooting,

don j.

Quick Pics - More Reunion Arena

Do you ever get sort of attached to a photo project a little more than you thought you would? I have no real affinity for Reunion Arena, but having watched it go from intact building to a mangled wreck, I now feel drawn to the place.

Of course, after a while, all of the photos start to look the same. The idea then, is to find new details and new angles to shoot from. (a full set of my Reunion shots here on Flickr)

Mangled twisted rebar... interesting...

Framing the shot within the photo is usually a nice touch. This has also been massively adjusted in Lightroom because I wanted the funky colors.

Walking farther than on previous visits gave me a shot of the arena with part of the skyline behind, and the Reunion Blvd. exit sign below.... I thought it was going to work better but it just turned out OK.

I thought this picture of the stairs would be neat, but after looking at it I think the broken glass and debris are what make it interesting.

Without any people to give scale to the size of the place, the machinery has to do the job. The area that looks like a ramp is a stairway covered in rubble. Where the equipment is sitting would have been blocked by the upper seating bowl.

I bought a used truck (new to me!) earlier in the week, so I wanted some tough looking truck shots... this was my favorite, with the sun doing some nice highlighting to pop it out from the background. You have to watch out for reflections in the shiny parts though...

Have a great weekend, everybody (and go make some pictures!)

Happy Shooting,

don J

Quick Pics - Reunion Arena

I mentioned a while back that I was occasionally taking photos as demolition of Reunion Arena progresses.  For those of you with lots of fond memories of events in this building, it may be sad.  For me, I have some good memories of a few Stars and Sidekicks games, and some concerts as well.  The building itself never really grew on me though.  It has a unique shape and is (soon to be was) a definite landmark, but it wasn't a building to fall in love with.  

As of this morning, it is down to a few seating supports, the roof, and a big hole in the ground.

The workday begins....

Photographic note...  having a person in a shot of something gives a sense of scale.  We can relate to the size of a person and feel how big or small something is.  

The wildlife don't seem to mind one way or the other about the building, as long as the trees remain.  

Happy Shooting,

don j

Random Fun Shoot - BMX Racing

My Brother-in-Law and Nephew wanted to check out some BMX racing, which sounded like a fun photo opportunity to me...

In the Dallas area, Metroplex BMX seems to be the place to go for such a thing. Racing was on a Friday night, and other than the website photos, I had no idea what to expect...

I did not want to take "too much" gear, so I packed for versatility... the Canon 40D and two zooms, 24-70, and 70-200. I was really banking on the facility having good lights. In retrospect, it would have been wise to bring at least one faster prime lens, because the lights were not very bright. High ISO is my friend, but the photos could have been much better. Most of these were underexposed in the camera and required pushing the exposure in Lightroom to look OK. Image quality isn't great, but it was a fun shoot so no worries!

First up was round after round of practice starts, then the riders would slowly make there way to the finish. Practice for me too... and looking for backgrounds.

One section of bleachers was almost empty... not bad.. can I move your trash can?

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/320, iso3200

Looking down from the top row let the dirt of the track be the background.

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/320, iso3200

Of course, I wanted to try some slow-shutter panning shots. The dirt was quite good for this, although my technique still needs work.

Canon 40D, 70-200, f8, 1/25, iso3200

Long range panning is harder... I was pretty happy with this one. Most of the riders were not getting any air, so that was a bonus.

Canon 40D, 70-200, f3.5, 1/30, iso500

From ground level, the tops of the jumps are quite high. I wanted to catch a rider's head peering over the top to show the size. I was surprised how hard it was to get focused and get a frame before they popped up the jump, and I never did get a good focus on a face. The helmet makes an easier target for the camera to catch.

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/320, iso3200

From the other side of the track, you could look over and come face-to-face with riders exiting the final turn...

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/320, iso3200

When racing finally got started, there were usually 3-5 racers per class/heat. After the start and first set of jumps, there was not a lot of tight racing action. I did like this formation of riders hitting a jump early in one race..

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/320, iso3200

This guy would rather be racing than watching..

Canon 40D, 70-200, f2.8, 1/250, iso3200

From the finish line, you can look back down a long line of jumps that make up the final straight. I was hoping to get one rider down in the valley and another jumping.. this worked out nicely with a bonus rider in the middle.

Canon 40D, 24-70mm, f2.8, 1/250, iso3200

And another with four... this is about as close a finish as we had all night.

Canon 40D, 24-70, f2.8, 1/320, iso3200

I look forward to going back, it was a lot of fun, and there are lots of other shots I want to try now that I have had time to think about it.

Happy Shooting,

Don J.