Wow!!

WOW! Beauty is all around us. There are times when you can really make an ordinary photo look extraordinary through the use of photoshop plugins. I would not normally have my image in the center of the frame, but in this case it works. The green leaves on either side draw the eyes to the center of the frame. There will be times when you are hesitant about shooting a frame with your digital camera. Remember that these images can come to life with the use of photo software. Get creative and find ways to share your images with others. Summer is fast approaching, so keep your camera close by and ready to go. Happy shooting.

Blossoms of Spring

Spring is finally here. Get out your camera's and get busy. All of the flowers and trees are budding and there are so many wonderful photo opportunities to be found. This photo was optimized using a plugin with Adobe Photoshop. Some of the simplest of photographs can come to life with a little work with your software. Get in your vehicle and take a drive around to find all of the Spring flowers coming to life. Enjoy Spring. Summer will be here soon enough. Happy Shooting!

Josh Gracin - Jackson Community College

Josh Gracin performed at Jackson Community College in Jackson Michigan on October 16th of 2010. During the day of the concert, Josh drove with his band mates to a University of Michigan football game. Josh is from Michigan and is a huge fan of U of M. Mr. Gracin was late getting to the meet and greet at JCC because he got caught up in traffic. Maybe over 100,000 fans would slow you down a bit. The meet and greet went well. He posed for photographs and signed autographs for all who asked. He is a very nice man and the concert was wonderful.
Click here for a link to low light concert photography so you can learn a bit more about shooting in these types of conditions.

Look Up!

One thing that I always talk about with photographers is how you always need to look straight ahead, behind you, to your left, to your right, and up in order to find photographs. Sometimes just kneeling down can make or break a photograph. This image was shot during the Fall foliage season here in lower Michigan. You will find me in the Waterloo Michigan area most of the time during October. I love this time of year and I love to photograph beautiful Fall trees.
On this particular day, I was shooting some graduation photo's for my daughter. We were sitting under a very large tree when I decided to take my own advice and look up! These vibrant colors against a blue sky makes for an amazing photograph. Click here to view some interesting reading in relation to Fall photography. I hope you enjoy the article. Be sure to come back to see other images as well as links to other useful information on photography.
Click here to view an interesting RSS feed.

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JAZZ!

This concert photograph of Wynton Marsalis was shot at the Detroit State Fair several years back. Some of the concerts at the State Fair were free with admission. I recall enjoying a nice summer day at the fair and then finding very close seats well in advance of the jazz concert. Wynton put on a wonderful concert. I found that he looked right into the camera many times. I shot a lot of wonderful concert photographs that evening. Remember to shoot a lot of photos to get the handful of wonderful shots. This particular image was shot with 35mm film long before I even knew what a digital camera was. Every single concert shot takes on a different mood and expression. Happy shooting!

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Up..Up..and Away!

Every year at the Hot Air Jubilee there are many photo opportunities. When you can shoot a single frame that is so full of color, you tend to want to bring out the colors and bring a special "pop" to these types of photographs. This image was manipulated in Adobe Photoshop. This is one of my favorite images showing vibrant colors and the possibilities available with a little time and a photo editing program.

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Warm Ups!

This photograph was taken during warm ups last season at Tiger Stadium. When you first enter the stadium, the players are usually still warming up on the field. You can generally walk down to the very first row and have a lot of great photo opportunities just before the game. Always keep you eyes open for great photographs. Outdoor photography is a lot of fun. Be sure not to shoot straight into the sun. A slightly overcast day would be ideal for great photographs without the distracting shadows. Let us hope that the Tigers will have a very good 2011 season. Go Tigers.

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partial color

This is one of about 300 photographs that I took recently of my daughter Aubrey. She is graduating from High School this year. I love to work in photo editing software and create partial color photographs. The photo of Aubrey was taken in an industrial park and we found many rustic backgrounds to choose from. Why pay hundreds of dollars to create these effects at home when you can drive a few miles and get the same results.

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Go Tigers!

Spring is upon us. Baseball fever is in the air. The Carhartt can come off and we can once again smell the suntan lotion and sun blocker in the air. Go Tigers!
This photograph was taken a few seasons ago at the new Tiger Stadium in downtown Detroit. The architecture of the stadium is amazing. You will want to bring your camera as there are photo opportunities around every turn. Get some tickets and take your family to a game this season. You will enjoy it very much.

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"Willie Live"

This photogaph was taken several years ago while I was a staff photographer for the Jackson County Fair in Jackson Michigan. Willie Nelson has always been a very well recognized name in country music. There were country music fans of every age at this show. Whether it be young children on their parents shoulders, or long time fans dressed to the tilt, everyone enjoyed the evening. A tip related to shooting in low light. Use a high ISO setting and a low light lens if available. The lower the f stop lens, the better chance at a sharp image with the lowest possible ISO setting on your camera. A newer zoom lens with image stabilization would be a great choice. Using a lens with image stabilization would allow you to shoot without the aid of a tripod. You will want to shoot many frames in continuous mode and then later view these images to see which is the sharpest. Watch the stage lighting. The color of the stage lights will determine the mood of the photograph. Sharpness is a must. Be sure to know how to use your camera in manual mode. Stage lighting will fool your auto settings, so a predetermined manual setting is a must. It was just announced that Willie will be doing a concert once again this year at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. Click here for more information. Happy Shooting!

Chrome

A few years ago I attended a motorcycle show in downtown Jackson. With camera in hand, I made my way through the crowd, looking for a photo opportunity. Standing near a row of colorful motorcycles, I decided that I needed to get some of the fine detail of a particular bike. I looked down and saw something interesting. A good photo tip is to always look up and down and all around when in search of a photograph. So many things go into a well thought out photograph. Lighting, angle, camera settings, and composition are very important in fine photography. When I saw this Viva la Grease Monkey chrome piece with the "forever" engraved within it, I knew that this was a very good opportunity to get a close up. After looking at this photo in my image editing software, I decided it would look best in black and white. This is one of my favorite black and white close up images. I used a shallow depth of field with this image. I also was very careful in composition. Remember to use rule of thirds to optimize your images. Some images will look better when you convert them to black and white. Always shoot in color and then convert. You can easily convert a color image to black and white, but it is almost impossible to convert a black and white image to color. The reason I say almost impossible is because it is possible to convert a black and white image to color using photo editing software, but it is a very long and hard process left mostly to professionals in the editing field. Many wonderful photographs were taken during this local event. Sometimes you will find a lot of high quality images where you would least expect to find them. A local park, a car show, a fair or circus, a zoo, or even a local outdoor event such as a concert. Remember to look in your in-town articles to find a photo opportunity where you live. Happy shooting.

Ashes to Ashes

There are many people in Jackson, Michigan who are very sad, after hearing that Spartan Electronics burned to a pile of rubble this past weekend. As I walked around the perimeter of the building with my camera in hand, I saw many people stopping, pausing to reflect, and then leaving with a look of sadness and loss. Most of the men and women who were in my presence today were people who worked in this building. Some may have worked there a good share of their lives. Seeing this landmark building go up in flames gives those who worked in the building an opportunity to reflect on old times. The pile of rubble was once a place where many spent their time and built friendships and fond memories. One good thing about memories. The memories can not be taken away once the skeletal remains of metal and mortar is piled up and removed. The memories of those onlookers will live inside of them as long as they are breathing.

Nature's Perfection

This image was shot indoors and very close to Easter. I found that the colors were so very vibrant and the Summer brings excitement to a photographer. There are subjects all around us to choose from. This particular flower was found along the main aisle at Sam's Club. I was a full time photo technician for many years and we had access to many different camera's to try out on a daily basis. I do not recall what camera was used, but the image appears to have a very shallow depth of field. The front of the image is sharp and the back of the image is blurred slightly. when you use a camera with aperture priority, you can choose the depth of field that you would prefer, and the camera will then choose the shutter speed based on the available lighting.

Summer is just a few months away. Get out your camera, read the manual, and get ready to shoot! Below is a video that will help you to understand what is involved in close up flower photography.

Fair Fun

Growing up as a small child and hearing about August coming was a very exciting time. That means that the Fair is coming to town! I have been attending the Jackson County Fair for my entire life. I do not recall missing a year as far back as I remember. This particular evening was one in which I decided to carry my gear around. As I made my way past the rides for the third time, I thought that I would get a nice photo of the Zipper. This ride has been a part of the Fair for years. As I was looking for a good angle or composition, I decided that I would get down on my knees and shoot up at the ride. I zoomed in to get tight on subject.

There is nothing better than walking around the Fairgrounds on a beaeutiful August night eating a corn dog and sipping on a lemonade. Wow. One trick in relation to low light photography. Set your camera on multiple frames. Hold down the shutter through 3-4 frames. There is a good chance that one of these 4 images will be much sharper than the others. A good tip to getting a shot without a tripod on certain occassions. Give it a try sometime. Happy Shooting!!

Evenings Glow

Jackson Michigan offers a lot of exciting events throughout the summer. One of the events that has been attended by myself and my family for years is the Jackson Hot Air Jubilee. This image was taken at the Jackson County Airport at a Night Glow event. The fireworks images were taken at another event and were Photoshoped into the image. When you are working in Photoshop, you can open two images and clone between the two images. That is what I have done with this image. The burn tool was also used in the editing.

I recall this being a very nice summer evening at the airport. Our entire family was sitting on a blanket and enjoying a beautiful evening together. The balloons are so colorful, especially in the night during a night glow. If you have never been to a balloon festival, add it to the list of things to do. You will not regret it. One thing that I also like about this image is how there is an outline of a woman in the foreground as well as vehicles near the balloons. Having these subjects in your image gives the frame needed scale and perspective. When shooting low light photography, consider using a tripod if the exposure is under the focal length of the lens. For example, if you are using a 250mm lens, you should use a tripod if the shutter speed will be under 1/250 second.

Good news about the 2011 Jackson Hot Air Jubilee. The event is now going to be held at Ella Sharp Park, which is one of the locations in previous years. What is nice about that location is how you can find shade and comfortable seating. I am looking forward to attending the 2011 event.

winter's blanket

This image was taken during a significant snow accumulation a few years ago. One of my children's bikes was left outside and proved to be a nice subject for this photograph. When I look at this image, it sends me back to when the weather was warm and my children were enoying the days of summer. I can almost see them riding their bikes down the street and around the house. Even if just for a moment, I feel the warmth of summer and forget about the bitter cold of the day. A tip in relation to shooting in snow...remember that the camera will see everything as if it were 18% grey. If the subject is darker, the image will be overexposed. If the subject is brighter, then it will turn our underexposed. That is why when you shoot in snow, the resulted image shows grey snow and not vibrant white snow. Do a search on the web to find articles about shooting in snow for more info on how you can improve your winter photographs.