Boogie Boarders [Canon 5D with a Lensbaby Composer]
April 2, 2009 Honolulu, Hawaii
(click in the image for a larger version)
Another image from one of my end of day Lensbaby strolls along Waikiki Beach last week.
Next Workshop..
The Creative Eye: Digial Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials
Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 27 May 1
Destination
[Canon 5D with a Lensbaby Composer, 2.5 seconds]
Honolulu, Hawaii March 30, 2009
Another image from my Lensbaby Composer walkabout along Waikiki Beach a few nights ago. The blur in this photo, however, is caused as much by the handheld exposure time of 2.5 seconds as it is by the optical qualities of the Lensbaby. This image may be considered too blurry by some photographers' standards, but I really like the way this turned out. It has a dreamy, almost storybook quality to it that I feel works well for this scene. Although sharp focus is one of the most desirable technical qualities for many types of images, the more subtle and ambiguous qualities offered by the creative use of blur can also result in memorable and evocative photographs. By softening the sharp specifics of the scene, the image enters the ream of metaphor and symbolism, becoming more a photograph of an idea, or a dream, or a hope, than a photograph of a specific place.
Next Workshop...Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 27 May 1
By a Glittery Shore
[Canon 5D with a Lensbaby Composer, 0.8 seconds]
March 31, 2009 Honolulu, Hawaii
I'm in Honolulu this week teaching a series of three short workshops for Pacific New Media at the University of Hawaii. I have the new Lensbaby Composer with me and took it out for an inaugural outing the other evening when I went for a stroll along Waikiki Beach. I've been a fan of the Lensbaby since the first version and have followed it's development an evolution over the years. The design improvements in this new incarnation are very impressive and the Composer is the easiest to use Lensbaby yet. I'll have a more complete review of this very unique lens once I return from Hawaii (and after a few more Lensbaby outings).
A Note on This Image: In addition to the blur effect created by the Lensbaby Composer, this is also a handheld shot with a shutter speed of almost 1 second and this is also contributing to the blur effect. Depending on the level of blur that you choose to create, in Lensbaby shots with shutter speeds more sutiable for handheld photography there is usually a sweet spot that is in focus.
Join Me in New Mexico
My next workshop is coming up at the end of this month at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's called The Creative Eye: Digital Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials and it runs from April 27 through May 1. Click on the title of the class for more information.
Islands [Canon 5D]
October 2, 2007
(click in the image for a larger version)
This is a reworking of an image that I posted here about four and a half months ago. In the previous version I treated the color original as a split-toned black and white.
I revisited this because I realized it fit in very nicely with a new group of images I am preparing for the gallery section on my re-designed web site (it's not live yet, but coming soon). That series of images uses a color scheme similar to what you see here: muted natural colors with a strong sepia flavoring that I call sepiaesque. The foreground here has been slightly blurred in Photoshop CS3 using a gradient mask along with the Lens Blur filter. In the first version I posted here I decided that I had blurred it bit too much. I like this version much better. I also like the colors.
****************
New Newsletter!
Beginning in a week or so I will be sending out the first issue of a new email newsletter that will contain Photoshop tips and tutorials, musings on photography and the creative process, and updates on upcoming workshops, seminars and special offers.
This is a low volume mailing that will be sent out approximately every 4 to 6 weeks. For example, the tutorials in the first one are about using Photoshop Actions.The tutorials will not be in the actual email, so you don't have to worry about image-heavy mail cluttering up your bandwidth. A link will be provided where you can view them on my website.
If you would like to subscribe, there's a sign-up form near the top of the left column of this blog. Should you ever wish to unsubscribe in the future, there will be a simple link at the end of each newsletter that will allow you to do this. Your email info will never be shared, bartered or sold to nefarious spammers. I've had a world of trouble with spam myself so I am sensitive to this!
****************
Workshop News
I have some cool workshops coming up in Hawaii in mid April, Pacifica and Monterey, California in late April and early May, and near San Luis Obispo, California in early June. For a complete listing of my upcoming classes, click on over to the Workshops Page at my web site.
December Moon [Canon 10D + a Lensbaby]
December 17, 2004
This was taken 3 years ago in our front yard...a serendipitous alignment of a crescent moon and the top of a tall pine tree. This is a hand held shot at 1/13th of a second with a Lensbaby providing the uneven edge blurring.
Every Christmas I've meant to do something with this, but never got around to it. Finally, I resurrected it from the archives today. If you celebrate Christmas, then do have a good one. Gather round with those who are special to you and enjoy some good cheer, reflect on the things in your life you're grateful for, and hope for a better world.
The Guardhouse [Canon 10D]
Machu Picchu, Peru
July 12, 2005
(click in the image for a larger version)
I was rummaging around in the archive this past weekend and came across this shot from Peru taken a little over two years ago. The couple is consulting a map of the site before heading out to explore the ruins. The trippy lens flare and blur is from shooting into the rays of the early morning sun using a Lensbaby. This was my second visit to Peru and my second time at Machu Picchu. For more Peru images, see the "Peru" link in the Categories section in the right column.
*Upcoming Workshops *
My next workshop will be a 5-day class called Digital Black and White at the Lepp Institute along the beautiful central California coast February 18-22. Click the link for a course description.
Islands [Canon 5D]
Acadia National Park, Maine
October 2, 2007
(click in the image for a larger version)
The day after I took this photo I returned to the same location. Fog had cloaked the park all morning long and I was hoping for some interesting views of the island in the mist but the fog was so thick you could not see any trace of this island from the shore.
**Remember to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday night!**
Seascape, Maine [Canon 5D]
June 28, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)
Another from the same series as yesterday's photo. 1.6 seconds
Seascape, Maine [Canon 5D]
June 28, 2007
(click in the image to see a larger version)
This is a 10-second exposure taken in the full light of mid morning. I used two solid neutral density filters that cut back 8 stops of light, combined with an ISO setting of 100 and an aperture of f/16 to achieve the long daylight exposure that was needed in order to blur the water. The split-toning effect was applied in Photoshop Lightroom.
This image was taken on one of the class photo excursions during my Real World Digital Photography workshop last week at the Maine Photo Workshops. It was such a full week that I never was able to find the time to make daily posts as I had intended. I'll make up for that by posting Maine images all this week. I was fortunate to have a great group of people in my class who were really enthusiastic about learning more about digital photography and processing their images in the digital darkroom. So, thanks to all of you who took the class! I had a great time last week and all of your enthusiasm, boundless curiosity, energy and fine sense of humor really helped to make it another wonderful experience at the Maine Workshops.
Now I have a month to take a breather from travel before heading off to the equally magical Santa Fe Workshops to teach The Creative Digital Darkroom. That class is filling up, so if you're interested, be sure to click on the link to find out more about the workshop.
Tea Party in the Grass
[mint tin pinhole camera; paper negative]
May 20, 2007
(click in the image to see it larger)
Another photo from the AltoidCam. This is part of one of my daughter's miniature tea sets. The cup on the right was only a couple of inches from the front of the mint tin. A 15-second exposure in open shade...taken a couple of days ago on our front lawn.
