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Happy Memorial Day

2010-05-31T16:21:00.001-07:00

Went on a little walkabout today. First time I've picked up the camera in Northern Virginia in a long time. Trying to get my inspiration back. Just snapped a few, hope you enjoy.

Mushroom!

Half of a little robin egg. Tiny! I'm amazed I even found it.

It was BEAUTIFUL weather today. Up into the 90s, good and toasty. Not too many clouds, but some were pretty.

Springing In the Blues Festival 2010

2010-04-11T07:41:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Blues Fest everybody!

We'll start out with some of the wonderful performers. Hello to Toots Lorraine:

Chubby, one of the best Zydeco accordion players I've ever heard. These guys WAILED!

More Chubby. He and the Bayou Swamp Band were having so much fun on stage, you could feel the energy in the air.

Conrad Oberg, making his first appearance on the Main Stage. GO CONRAD!

I think it's a rule that blind musicians have to totally wail...

...and have awesome spider-head guitars.

My wallpaper for the week:

-------------------------------------------
Now, of course, any post from the beach has to include some scenery:

This hairdo took some real work. Propz.

My brother-in-law Fred and Kyla, of course:

No one ever says we don't have fun here:

Well, back to Blues Fest, day 3.

Morning At Jax Beach

2010-04-09T11:07:00.001-07:00

Goodbye Bridge, hello Lightroom 2.6. HA! Had to upgrade. Old 1.4 couldn't handle D3000 files.

Spent this morning at the beach with dad and Paul capturing some of the beach activity. I'm finally getting better about introducing myself to strangers so they don't think I'm a creep with a camera. HA!

We'll start with the fishing lines off the pier. Fish must've been jumping to create a crowd like this!

My old friend Mr. One-Leg:

And a guest appearance by my old Nikon D40 (and its new owner, my dad!):

I took two groups of people-photos. I don't know names, but thanks first to "The Skinboarding Group".

Moving up the beach, I met "The Volleyball Group". Thanks to all!

Also, thanks to the US Coast Guard for cleaning up after all the trash-leaving slugs.

Jacksonville Beach again + New D3000

2010-04-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Farewell D40, Hellooooooo D3000!

Also, farewell Lightroom, hello Bridge CS4. Still getting used to that. No auto-watermarking, so all photos anywhere in this blog are © Brett Hack. Me. Mine.

Surfers:

Cyclists:

Frisbees:

And Puppies:

Ewwwwwwww Spiders

2010-03-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Eww... Ewwwwwwwww...

I'm arachnophobic. Eww. It's a miracle I got close enough to take this.

Random Post

2010-03-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

Just two random photos from recent days. First, an awesome lunch at the races.

And an entry for FredMiranda.com's weekly assignment, "Games". I title it "Three days til retirement..."

Tequila Sunrise!

2010-03-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

Just felt like it.

Documentary Post: February Blizzard of 2010

2010-02-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

Post moved to new Event Documentation blog, in an effort to separate my normally intentional artistic photography from the sometimes necessary need to just document events a little more straight-forward. Do enjoy!

http://eventerror.blogspot.com/

Jax Beach Sunrise

2009-12-27T06:45:00.000-08:00

No, seriously, I NEVER get tired of sunrises at the beach. The surfers help set the scene too. Just a few shots today.

Let's go on a walkabout

2009-12-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

After the rain storm, Emmy and I headed back to the beach for a little walk. The surf was up, the surfers were out, and people were everywhere enjoying beautiful weather on Christmas afternoon.

We start out with some more found objects:

I know I wasn't going to shoot birds, but this pelican was just hanging out asking for a little lens time.

Snack!

"Whattup dawg!" - Pelican

GREEN

BLUE

Christmas day, Christmas colors. Love it!

And let's do a little surfer set...

And a future surfer:

Jax Beach Christmas Bike Ride

2009-12-25T14:37:00.000-08:00

Took a few shots this morning while out for a bike ride with dad. I swore I wouldn't take any more bird photos after yesterday's bird-bonanza.

This sucker holds one MEEEEEEEEEEELLION volts

Meow, baby!

This one is for Weather Kim:

Dad and me via. fisheye mirror:

Bonus points if anyone can guess what this is/was:

DANGER!

Couple shots of my sister's neighbor's son. Dude is a killer skater for a youngin!

JUMP!

And as the red-cell storm moved off shore...

...the waves picked up bigtime.

More Birds in Jax Beach

2009-12-24T12:11:00.001-08:00

Took another trip to the beach. Saw birds. Lots of birds. Here, have some more birds.

Just hanging out...

Sunning himself.

There was a flock of 30+ pelicans...

...see!

That's all folks. I won't take pictures of birds tomorrow, I promise.

Bird

2009-12-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

Bird.

Jax Beach Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Oh no, the blizzard has hit Jax Beach. What ever will we do? Let's go out in shorts and a tee shirt and take pictures at the beach. It's 66 degrees and beautifully sunny.

To my friends in DC. I love you guys, but I prefer the winter down south.

Oh the blizzard... the snow... the ice... the...... seagulls...

Florida Penguins

A local Jax Beach resident shoveling snow.

Snow Trek III: The Search for Emmy

2009-12-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

Found her!

Braaaaaaaains

Uhhhhhh, you're going the wrong way...

Yes, I know it's dark. I kinda like how it looked.

Boo!

Snowplow 500!

Where we're going, we don't need lanes.

More Emmy!

It's cold. We're going inside now. Bye!

Blizzard Update

2009-12-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

***DISCLAIMER: This is not my usual artistic photography, this is documentation of the DC Blizzard of 2009.***

Emmy was out shooting too early this morning... still in her robe.

A few hours later (notice the snow is WAY deeper), I decided to go for a bike ride. It was a little deep.

And right now, it's virtually a white-out here at the apartment. Pardon the sub-par composition, they were taken from the living room.

Notice the depth of the fire hydrant.

***DISCLAIMER: This is not my usual artistic photography, this is documentation of the DC Blizzard of 2009.***

Documentary Post: Snow Post

2009-12-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

***DISCLAIMER: This is not my usual artistic photography, this is documentation of the DC Blizzard of 2009.***

At the start of what they're claiming will be the DC Blizzard of 09. I'll believe it when I can photograph it. It's gathering up fast though, might actually get some.

It was dumping hard, so I was protecting the camera and my face and didn't really go too snap crazy. I'll try again tomorrow when we're forecast to have up to two feet of this stuff.

Falling hard:

Yay DoF:

Found object:

***DISCLAIMER: This is not my usual artistic photography, this is documentation of the DC Blizzard of 2009.***

Backlighting

2009-12-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

I just spotted this lady swinging her adorable daughter at the park, and it was backlit nicely.

More Kyla from Jax Beach

2009-12-02T04:46:00.000-08:00

Another exciting visit to Jax Beach, another fun trip to the park with Kyla.

Four generations of the Hack Family:

Another view:

Kyla Adrienne Jones with Adrienne Hack, Great Grandma and the source of Kyla's name.

I guess we took too many photos...

Good Morning from Jax Beach Pier

2009-10-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

A few snots from Jax Pier this morning of a slightly late but beautiful sunrise.

This one is "Welcome to Jax Beach"

Kyla's Birthday Weekend #6 - Bonus Baby Portraits!

2009-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

And you thought I was done... HA!

Horsie!

What is she sticking her tongue out at?

And last:

Hope you enjoyed. Tha'ts the last of them, I swear!

Kyla's Birthday Weekend #5 - Family Portraits

2009-08-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

My sister asked for some professional portraits of the three of them for keepsakes. As her aspiring-professional brother, I was happy to oblige!

Such a happy family.

This one exported funny, I'm looking into it...

GIMMIE!

Tunkie and Mommy

Look what we found!

And CERTAINLY not least, GREAT Grandma Jane and GREAT Grandpa Frank, without whom none of us would be here, and we wouldn't have this beautiful mountain to gather on.

Kyla's Birthday Weekend #4 - Cake and presents!

2009-08-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Of course, we couldn't forget the funniest part of a baby's birthday. A good cake smashing and presents!

This thing is doomed!

What is this "chocolate" stuff?

Did I get some on my face?

Here Dad, you try some.

I think I've found food heaven!

Yaaaaaaayyyyy! Wrapping paper!

New toy!

Kyla's Birthday Weekend #3 - Red Wagon

2009-08-12T11:59:00.001-07:00

And now we travel to the Flying "O" Red Wagon, given to my sister and me by Grandma Adrienne in 1983. She wrote a note on the bottom, hoping we would enjoy and have fun with it. I bet she didn't expect to ever see her GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER riding in it!!!

Hey Grandma... Yes, we're having fun with it! Still!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Go Speed Kyla Goooo

Caption Not Needed!!!

GUARD PICKLES! (the pug's name)

Here's Dad again:

Time for a pit stop:

Alright, wheel is fixed, now we can win!

Coming up next, BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!

Kyla's Birthday Weekend #2 - Kyla, Fred, the Tractor, and a Hammer?

2009-08-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

Portraits of Kyla and Fred, and a random picture of my dad hammering something.

First up, some action shots of Kyla.

I love the smile!

Intermission: Dave with a hammer.

And now a few shots of Kyla and Fred. They're so much fun together.

VROOOOOOOOOM!

That's it for this post. Coming next, the red wagon.

Oh noes, family portrait!!!

2009-08-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Just having some fun.

Kyla's Birthday Weekend #1 - Baby and Family

2009-08-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

The first of what will inevitably be a few posts this weekend. I chased Kyla around with the camera all day. This is a totally new learning experience. Chasing an infant is insane! Hopefully I can get some portfolio material out of this trip.

The family has unanimously voted this one their favorite so far:

Although I'm partial towards this picture with daddy.

OM NOM NOM

I need to work on getting the eyes in perfect focus. Babies are hard to follow!

This one is to remind me to always watch the backgrounds.

See, MUCH better with a better background!

QUACK!

This one is just too cute.

And now for a few fun bathtub shots. I need a lot of practice here, never shot bathtubs before.

BLUE!

Falls Church Walkabout - Scenery

2009-08-03T10:43:00.001-07:00

Here are the scenery photos I took during the same walkabout on Saturday night.

Bumble!

A little patriotic litter left on a rusted sign post.

Does this go under portrait? Nah, I think this goes under WEIRD SHOES!!!

I love chrome. This reminds me heavily of a B&W film photo I took of my mom's Harley ten years ago.

The "technically correct" version of this was actually quite boring. A tweak here and a poke there...

And, last but not least, a picture which I have titled, "BUSTED!"

Falls Church Walkabout - Portraits

2009-08-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Some various portrait shots I took on our walkabout the other night. Again, playing with my new lens. Also starting to learn some more advanced post-processing techniques. I got some advice from a friend/pro who told me that I was editing for technical correctness, but I wasn't being very artistic. Whoops! Turns out she's spot on. I need to start violating reality a little bit, and hopefully I will be able to push this further and further over the next few months.

A couple shots of Emmy doing her thing.

Old photo trick... drag the shutter slightly and give it a little spin.

Puppy!

Here's our new friend Rafi the Pizza Man. Rafi was flippin' us an ultra fresh pie and gave me a few "flippin" opportunities to snap away. Thanks to Rafi and the crew at the local Flippin' Pizza for making us a fresh pizza at the end of our walkabout.

Rafi, concentrating hard!

Thanks again Rafi, that was some kick ass pizza!

Three Kitty Pics

2009-08-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

New lens, new toy, new pictures of the kitty. Meow!

Roll Bar Shot

2009-08-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Emmy and I experimented with long-exposure while mounted to the Miata's roll bars. Got a few interesting ones, thought I'd share one.

Night Thunderstorm

2009-07-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Experimenting with long exposure again, this time in the rain. Subject matter was limited because we couldn't really move off the porch due to the downpour, but that doesn't stop us!

Just a little fun in an otherwise nasty thunderstorm. Enjoy!

Emmy Portraits - MF Experimentation

2009-07-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

I needed a test subject to try out my 35 year old Nikkor 35mm f2.0 MF lens on the D40. Shooting MF again was a blast from the past, and this DEFINITELY has me itching to save up the $500 for the newest Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-S lens.

Thanks go out to my friend Karen, owner of Karen Lisa Artistic Photography for inspiring me to shoot prime again.

These were just a few experiments and a chance to get some shots of Emmy. I've got a lot of work to do.

Escape to West Virginia - Part Three

2009-07-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

On a roll today, let's keep posting!

Welcome to Seneca Rocks. Enjoy a few shots from the 1.5 mile, 1,000 foot climbing hike to the top.

I love water.

Oh look, Emmy again!

Halfway to the top. I tweaked the exposure on this one because the sky was just too beautiful.

And at the top of the world... almost!

A few others and I climbed past the "do not go any further" sign. Welcome to the Summit of Seneca Rocks.

Back on solid ground, a group of kids RAN past us to the observation deck. It was definitely a photo op waiting to happen.

I almost threw this one out because the lighting wasn't all that great... then I realized the little furry glow on the stem. A happy accident, really. I think the glow is cool!

Escape to West Virginia - Part Two

2009-07-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Shorter post this time, just a little night-time long exposure experimentation back at the Bed & Breakfast.

50 second exposure, the moon started and ended behind the clouds, it was a really fun shot to watch.

This photograph brought to you by iPod.

Oh no, ghosts!!!

Escape to West Virginia - Part One

2009-07-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Got lots of pictures to post from our trip, so we'll start at the Naked Mountain Vineyard just outside Linden, VA.

They had a really nice little two-piece German folk band.

A little macro experiment @ 38mm. I could've probably squeezed a little closer.

Call me crazy, but I actually like soft, cloudy-day lighting.

But there is also something to be said for a little bright sun and vibrant color.

My wife, my partner, and the best co-photographer I could ask for.

One more beautiful flower.

And a couple of HUGE stalactites, this one a few MILLION years old.

Great Falls Park

2009-07-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

A day of hiking and BEAUTIFUL weather gave Emmy and me a highly enjoyable day for picture-taking. She'll have a bunch of pictures for her photoblog later today @ http://blazespirit.blogspot.com

But until then, enjoy my rather large 23-image marathon (edited down from 83). Great Falls Park is so beautiful!

These suckers move so fast, they're nearly impossible to capture stopped!

Found this little beaver-dam-esque cave thing just upstream from the falls.

Neat looking curled tree.

I rock-hopped way out into the river for some of these later ones.

Seriously, I'm in the middle of the river...

...and it's WAY worth it.

You can almost get a sense in this one for how far I am from the shoreline. BTW: It was rather loud here.

And VERY loud here. The water beneath my feet was hugely powerful. One slip and... waaaaaaaa!!!

Same here.

This is a look at the top of the big falls from far away. I'm as far out into the middle as I can possibly get at this point.

Phyllis + Earl, 7-5-1965. Greetings from Emmy + Brett, 7-8-2009.

Okay, back to waterfalls. More climbing on rocks I shouldn't be on.

One of the loudest places I've ever stood. The water rush was absolutely incredible. Anything falling off the slick rock I'm standing on would've been lost forever instantly. I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be standing here, which, to me, makes the picture even better.

Seriously, this will eat you.

And one last clambering out onto a secluded rock in the middle of the river gave me this shot of the upper falls.

Back on shore, we found a serene little waterfall way off the beaten path.

And as an added bonus, upon arrival at home, we were greeted by a cute little baby bunny that Emmy has nicknamed "Foo." Hello Foo!

Great Falls Teaser - Weather

2009-07-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

Boy, we had some terrible weather today!

Teaser pic from our trip to Great Falls Park. I'm editing the rest now.

Arcs and Sparcs

2009-07-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my very good friends Frank and Paul for generously welding and grinding a whole buncha stuff just for the good of my blog.

Well, that, and they were fabricating something really cool.

Arcs and Sparcs!

Emmy's Eyeball

2009-06-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Just seeing what this not-so-fancy lens can do in a macro setting. Honestly... not too shabby!

OEM Nikon D40 Kit lens, 18-55mm.

15 floors of Magnetix

2009-06-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

Four photos of my 26" tall, 15 story Magnetix tower. Link to video of it collapsing at the bottom.

Link to demolition!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=213502320528&ref=nf

May 2009 Drift Nirvana

2009-05-17T16:59:00.001-07:00

Just two pictures I snagged from the Drift event going on adjacent to the T1 race.

T1 SCCA Race

2009-05-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Just a few snapshots from today's race. I liked some of them enough to post.

The race was a pretty heated battle between the red, yellow, and white Corvettes. Crazy stuff.

Joe Gaudette - www.Over1G-Racing.com
The friend I was out there to photograph and root on.

Who unfortunately finished a VERY close second to Dave Sanders. Both of them drove an incredible race. Congratulations Dave!

Photos from the 2009 Jax Beach Blues Festival

2009-04-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Springing in the Blues... 3 days of live blues and rock on the beach in Jacksonville. How can life get much better? Oh, I know how. VIP backstage passes! Don't ask, but dad and I got em. Here's a few photos from the weekend. Links and endorsements are strictly based on the fact that I listened to them play and enjoyed every minute of it.

Not sure who it was playin' the blues guitar:

Conrad Oberg, a fantastic musician, blind, and only 14 years old. Check out his website @ www.ConradOberg.com

Adorable little puppy:

The ever vibrant Robin Rogers. She's one hell of a Blues singer, so please visit her at www.RobinRogers.com

Jim Brock, drummer for Robin Rogers on the West Stage:

A few shots of Samuel James, who blew us all away on the main stage with his fantastic blues/gospel sound and a superb solo performance. Check him out at: http://www.myspace.com/sugarsmallhouse

Sam rockin' on the steelie:

Nicole Hart of the NRG Band. These guys WAILED and deserve your support, so please visit them at www.TheNRGBand.com

I don't know who this girl was, but her unfinished tattoo looked great. She said she has about 10 hours of ink left to go, and hopefully I'll run into her next Blues Fest to get a picture of the finished ink.

Baby Kyla asleep with Emmy's blanket right nearby.

And I don't know who she was, but it made for an interesting perspective shot.

Animals Doing What Animals Do

2009-02-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

Just a quick pair of photos. Gwendolyn and Truckie bring cute.

Frozen Pond at Peachtree

2009-01-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

The fountain/pond out back was frozen... I couldn't resist. And yes, before you ask... I did walk on it.

And someone threw a rock out there, hehe.

Howling Wolf

2008-12-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

Squirrel Post

2008-11-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

Our friendly porch-pet neighborhood squirrel. :-)

Back dating a bit to 10/17...

2008-11-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Two pictures I took at a lake somewhere in BFE Pennsylvania while on a road trip to Cedar Point, Ohio.

Ever been in JUST the right place...?

2008-10-24T16:02:00.001-07:00

...at JUST the right time, with JUST the right lens, facing JUST the right direction, and focused on JUST the right spot?

I couldn't have planned this if I tried.

Trip to Jacksonville Beach

2008-09-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

Last day here in Florida, so here are a few of the various photos I took while I was here. Heading back to boring DC tomorrow. Yay...

First up, bluetongued Emmy!

Fruit smoothie about to happen:

Making a rare double-appearance, Emmy again, in photo mode. Taken through the kitchen window screen, which turned out to give it a nice soft effect.

Turtle:

Now I introduce you to Kyla Adrienne Jones, my first neice:

Proof that Kyla rocks:

I like reflections:

One more:

Miata at Sunrise

2008-09-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Just a picture I took last week before the autocross. I'm quite fond of the lighting. Minimal editing beyond a crop and a small exposure tweak.

Link to full size one for dad.

Adventures in Pennsylvania

2008-09-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

It's hard to make this entry about the photos, not the adventure... but here goes.

First, we headed to PA in hopes of squeezing more horsepower out of Paul's Civic:

Well, we had some problems... starting with a broken wheel stud...

And ending with a completely blown motor... no picture of that, but here's the cliffnotes of the journey:
Car blows up, tuner gives us a ride to the bus station, we take a bus to Philly, then have a few beers during the layover, then take a bus to DC and sleep the whole way back (horray beer!) Arrived at 3am in DC.

So while waiting for the bus to Philly, out came the camera. Easton, PA is a neat little down, here's some shots from one block of it.

Random awesome monolith thing:

THE CRAYOLA FACTORY!!!

They were having a little problem with the new jumbo sized crayons:

I loved the textures on this building:

A random shape that I liked:

Random dragon cloud!

And a walking cup of coffee. We were so bloody tired we wanted to drink him.

Today's Episode: Flying, Buds, and FIRE!!!

2008-09-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

We'll start off with a pretty little tree bud that I found rather abstract:

Next up, us, flying! Photo by my good friend Frank J. using my D40, so it's safe to post here as a somewhat-self portrait.

Speaking of Frank, here he is. Fire God Frank!!!

Speaking of fire, here's the bonfire we lit up:

And some detail photos of it:

I'm rather fond of the floating particles in this one:

In Brighter News: Happy One Year Anniversary to Us!

2008-08-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

So yes, in other news, today is our first anniversary. We got married a year ago right here on this beach, while staying at this house, with our two kick ass friends Nate and Charity East. Cheers to them, and cheers to another eleventy billion years of Em and me.

SPECIAL REPORT: Tropical Storm Fay from Sunset Beach

2008-08-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

We're getting the outer NE arms of Fay, probably the weakest part. Yet, it's still turned our normally timid waters into a washing machine of rip tides. They posted a "DO NOT SURF" advisory last night for most of today, and after walking out there, I can understand why. These shots are documentary, not artistic, but should at least be technically decent. I was fighting heavy winds to even stand up. That was pretty cool.

Oh, yesterday's surf (sunny pic below) was 3-5 feet. These are easily double that. I will NOT be going in the water today.

Click on this photo for a link to the other 17. I don't feel like flooding my blog with the whole mess.

Yep, more photos from the beach...

2008-08-20T13:35:00.002-07:00

I can't help myself, it's beautiful here.

Today's surf

The overall mood of the beach here

Pilons

I was screwing with this bird until he flew, haha

And Sunset Beach's entirely unfamous pier

View from our Beach House

2008-08-20T10:48:00.001-07:00

The weather sucks today... Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Behold... MEAT!

2008-08-19T04:17:00.001-07:00

Our 4.66 pound sirloin that I grilled up last night. DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELICIOUS!!!

Welcome to Sunset Beach

2008-08-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

Because our last trip wasn't officially vacation, we're on vacation! This time we're really on vacation. No class, no train, no plans, no schedules, no clocks. Wake up whenever, do whatever, eat whatever, stay up til whenever, do whatever the hell we want. So, without further adieu:

Gentlemen, behold... BEACH!!!

First up, our ample supply of essential foodstuffs.

Here's where we will be consuming all of that:

And, since we're at SUNSET Beach...

This is just something I saw on my walkabout.

No title.

Splish splash, mother nature gave us a workout while we were bobbing around.

The row of beach houses and the dune structure.

Aww hell, one more sunset photo.

Final Edited Photographs from Class

2008-08-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

After a few lessons in Photoshop editing (true editing, not chopping), here are some of my final photos. I printed four of these on really really spiffy paper and I wish I could even remotely post the quality of the prints here. Without further adieu, here's some of the best of what came out of my week in Maine. Some of these you've seen before, but here are the finished edits.

Photographs from Tuesday's Field Trip

2008-08-05T16:39:00.001-07:00

Here's today's round of photographs. We learned some advanced editing techniques today, then headed back out to try out some new ways to see things, followed by more advanced editing lessons back in the classroom. Our teacher also had a special guest this morning tell us how to ask permission to photograph people. It paid off HUGE. I'm leaving these untitled and if anyone cares about EXIF data, just ask. I hope you enjoy these as much as I had fun making them. There are eleven to go in chronological order, enjoy!

Ice cream and clouds...

2008-08-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

Two shots taken after dinner tonight.

A busy ice cream parlor on a warm Maine evening:
Nikon D40 RAW
1/8 @ f4.5, no flash, ISO200, on a tripod
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR @ 55mm

And this is whatever you want it to be:
Nikon D40 RAW
15.0sec @ f5.0, no flash, ISO200, on a tripod
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR @ 125mm
Desaturated in Lightroom

Collection of photos from today...

2008-08-04T15:36:00.001-07:00

After our first classroom lecture on RAW, cameras, composition, light, etc etc etc... we went on our first field trip down to Camden Harbor. These shots aren't edited beyond making sure the white balance was alright, so please don't count them as final work. I'm skipping the exposure data for this post because I'm gonna post a few in a row. If you're interested in the EXIF data (exposure, lens, etc), just ask.

First up, a buoy that fascinated me:

This was a waterfall under the deli that Em and I ate at yesterday:

No title:

Tonight's dinner came out of one of these:

Then the rain kicked in, and we ran for cover... although some of the locals seemed to be enjoying it:

Last but not least for this post, I had been admiring this beautiful boat while I was at the harbor, then noticed the bright red keel that was almost entirely invisible until you were standing right up on it:

That's it for now. Tomorrow we're working with editing these and going on another field trip. Until then, happy shooting.

Welcome to Rockport!

2008-08-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

Nikon D40 RAW
1/1000 @ f4.5, no flash, ISO200
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR @ 72mm

Welcome to our new home for the next 10 days. Rockport, Maine. Home of Maine Media Workshops and the AMAZING Country Inn, which is where we are currently residing. There will be MANY more photos to come as I am here for a seven day photography workshop.

I have lots more to post from today's seven mile walk around town and the harbors, but in the meantime, I felt this was an appropriate introduction to the trip. Cheers, enjoy, and check back daily for more as the week presses on.

Compositing

2008-07-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Just doing a little playing around with color compositing and long night exposures. I wish we had better scenery.

Nikon D40 RAW
Mixed Exposures
Lens: 85mm MF prime @ f1.8

Friday's Sunrise

2008-07-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

Friday's Sunrise off the back porch of the house. Yes, poor us, we had to wake up to this view every morning. Boo hoo...

Nikon D40 RAW
1/15 sec @ f20, no flash, ISO200, Exposure Bias +2/3 EV
Lens: 18-55mm @ 38mm

30 Second Night Exposure Test - Edited

2008-07-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Just playing with extremely long exposures.

Nikon D40 RAW
30.0 sec @ f4.5, no flash, ISO800
Lens: 18-55mm

Cropped out the bright Ingles parking lot. Bastards ruining my view...

FINALLY captured one in free flight!!!

2008-07-07T13:01:00.001-07:00

Holy crap that was difficult. Those things are so bloody quick. The D40's burst mode definitely rocks. I think capturing a hummingbird in free flight is damn near impossible.

Nikon D40 RAW
1/640 @ f5.6, no flash, ISO200
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR

Two Hummingbird Photos from North Carolina

2008-07-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

Two shots of the hummers feeding and flying about. Em was shooting as well and got some excellent shots. Still learning the new camera. IN LOVE with the VR lens. I shot all of these hand-held with virtually no vibration-blur. High tech!

Nikon D40 RAW
1/160 @ f5.6, no flash, ISO 200
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR

Nikon D40 RAW
1/320 @ f5.6, no flash, ISO 200
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR

Gwendy shot #1

2008-06-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

Just a random shot of Gwendy I took. I think this was officially photo #0004 out of the new camera. Nothing fancy or artistic, just toying with the new cam.

Nikon D40 shot in RAW
1/6 @ f5.6, no flash, ISO 200
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR
Lightroom Selenium Tone filter applied

First pic post with the D40

2008-06-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

Playing around with the new toy today. Here's the first photo I'm posting in my blog. Just a little puppy named Bentley that I found in the park today. He was about the size of my lens. This is actually photo #0020, but the first post for the new photoblog.

Also testing out my new Photoshop watermark action. Seems to have worked.

Nikon D40 shot in RAW
1/125 @ f5.0, no flash, ISO 200
Lens: 55-200mm f4 VR