Sean Duggan Blog

Memorial

 
Memorial  [Canon 5D]
June 14, 2009  Monhegan Island, Maine

This is very close to the tugboat shipwreck that was featured in the previous post. As with that image, this is also an HDR composite. Unlike the other file, however, which was made using 6 exposures from a tripod-mounted camera, this shot was made from 3 hand held exposures created using the camera's Auto Exposure Bracketing feature. As long as the shutter speeds are not too slow, for some shots this can be a viable alternative to using a tripod for HDR. The initial HDR blend was made in Photoshop CS4 and then the 32-bit HDR file was opened into Photomatix to create the final HDR blend. Some additional color "seasoning" was also applied in Photoshop. You can see the three source frames below.

It was raining lightly for the entire time of my visit to the island and I was constantly wiping rain drops off the front of the camera lens. For this shot, a drop was present on the lens and it reveals its presence in the form of a blurred area in the middle of the foreground rock and the clump of grass behind it. I may inspect other exposures of this scene to see if I have a shot with sharp detail of that part of the rock and grass that I can use to cover up the blurred area. The grass doesn't bother me so much, since that looks a little like motion blur from the wind, which is acceptable to me, but the blurred area on the rock is a bit annoying. Whether or not such a fix is viable will depend on a number of factors. If I do give it a try, I'll let you know how it turned out and how I did it.

Workshop News

My upcoming Creative Digital Darkroom workshop in Connecticut has fallen victim to the lagging economy and has been canceled due to low enrollment. Workshop enrollments have been consistently low for most of the year so far and this is a new venue so while it is disappointing, considering the current economic climate, it is not surprising.

I will be spending the rest of the summer on a family vacation, teaching my online class for the Academy of Art University and working on other projects and my next scheduled workshop will be in early October. It will be in Maine again and is a follow-up to the Real World Digital Photography class I just finished:

Real World Digital Photography II
October 4 - 10, 2009, Maine Media Workshops
Click here for More Info

There are already some sign-ups so if you are interested, please inquire about registration soon. October is a beautiful time of year in Maine. The trees are turning color and there is a wonderful crispness to the air.

Following that, I'll be in southern New Mexico in early November for a 4-day workshop on creative collage techniques in Adobe Photoshop CS4:

Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop
November 5 - 8, 2009, Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops
Click here for more info

Wreck of the D.T. Sheridan

The Wreck of the D.T. Sheridan  [Canon 5D]
June 14, 2009  Monhegan Island, Maine
(click in the image for a larger version)

This was taken a few days ago on Monhegan Island in Maine. It is an HDR blend of six source images. It was a thoroughly wet day when I was there and it rained consistently for my entire visit. Fortunately it was a light rain and not a downpour, but I was quite soaked by the end of the day. In addition to photographing the wreck with my Canon 5D I also made a few exposures with my Zeromage 6x9 pinhole camera.

The D.T. Sheridan was a tugboat that ran aground here in 1948. The wreck is broken into two distinct sections (the stern is in the foreground of this image) and is quite a ways above the current high water line so it either wrecked during a very high tide in a strong storm or over the past sixty plus years, storms have pushed the wreckage farther up the rocks. You can see a photo of it shortly after it ran aground, as well one of it in better days here.

Riding in Front

Motorcycle Headstone [Canon 5D]
Madrid, New Mexico  April 29, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

The 3rd day of the Santa Fe Creative Eye class was spent in the digital lab, using Lightroom to sort through all the photos we had taken the day before at Ghost Ranch. In addition to learning how to organize photos, apply keywords and filter images searches based on a variety of different criteria, we also delved into the Lightroom Develop module and explored the many ways to use that program to improve and enhance digital photographs.

The photo above was taken after class that day on a location scouting trip I made to the cemetery in Madrid, New Mexico. Along with many old graves with simple (and in some cases, very weathered and falling apart) wooden crosses or headstones, the Madrid graveyard also has many very unique and ecclectic markers that reflect the creative and irreverent nature of the town and many of its inhabitants. The motorcycle-themed grave marker in the image above was inscribed on the opposite side with "Riding in Front". The photo was taken just minutes before the sun slipped behind the distant hills. Minor adjustments were made in Lightroom.

If you're interested in spending a creative week in a beuatiful location improving your digital photography and digital darkroom skills, I have an upcoming class that is very similar in content to this New Mexico workshop: Real World Digital Photography 1 will be offered at the Maine Media Workshops June 7 to 13. Click the class title for more information.

Other Upcoming Workshops:

The Creative Digital Darkroom
July 6 — 11, 2009
CT Media/Photography Institue
Farmington, Connecticut

Real World Digital Photography 2
October 4 — 11, 2009
Maine Media Workshops
Rockport, Maine

The Creative Collage with Photoshop CS4
November 5 — 11, 2009
Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops
Mesilla, New Mexico

On the Edge at Ghost Ranch

Photographing Chimney Rock  [Canon 5D]
April 28, 2009  Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
(click in the image for a larger version)

On the second day of the New Mexico Creative Eye workshop, the class spent most of the day exploring the area around Abiquiu, with our final stop being Ghost Ranch. This where Georgia O'Keefe lived for many years and created some of her most famous paintings. Today, Ghost Ranch is an education and retreat center. The photo above shows Mark, one of the class participants, perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking Chimney Rock. The hike from the parking lot to here took about and hour and a half and the view from the top was splendid.

There's still room in my upcoming Maine workshop (June 7 — 13). Other classes are coming soon in Connecticut (early July) and southern New Mexico (early November).

Rail Runner Express

The Rail Runner Express  [Canon 5D]
Santa Fe, New Mexico •  April 27 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

The first day of the Creative Eye workshop was spent going over some fundamentals of photography with digital SLRs. The first part of the day was in the digital lab and for the afternoon we went into Santa Fe to work on controlling exposure in a variety of situations. After a short stop at the Plaza downtown we headed over to the Santa Fe Depot. The old observation car that was featured a few posts previous to this one is located there (in fact it is pictured above at the far left of this photo).

Since the last time I visited here a new train service between Albuquerque and Santa Fe has been launched: The New Mexico Rail Runner Express. Apart from being a very convenient way to get back and forth between these two major New Mexico cities, it's also one of the more stylish trains I have seen in a long while. Kudos to the designer who came up with that great paint job! The image above is a hand held panorama made from three separate frames (you can see the original frames below). The panorama was launched from within Lightroom and then finished in Photoshop CS4 (there was a minor alignment glitch that had to be addressed manually with a custom patch layer).

In addition to my next workshop, Real World Digital Photography I, which is coming up June 7 — 13 at the Maine Media Workshops, I also want to let you know of a few other workshops coming up this summer and fall.

The Creative Digital Darkroom
July 5 — 11, 2009
CT Media/Photography Institute, Farmington, Connecticut

Real World Digital Photography II (a follow-up to the June class)
October 4 — 10, 2009
Maine Media Workshops

The Creative Collage with Photoshop CS4
November 5 — 8, 2009
Mesilla Digital Imaging Workshops, Mesilla, New Mexico

Mesilla is in the south, right next to to Las Cruces and only an hour away from El Paso, Texas. It is also only an hour's drive from White Sands National Monument (where I spent a couple of days towards the end of my recent trip...pictures from there coming in the days ahead). If you have ever wanted to visit this amazing place, then combining it with a creative Photoshop workshop might be a good opportunity to make it happen.

The Road to Cerrillos

The Road to Cerrillos  [Canon 5D]
April 26, 2009, New Mexico

Here's another shot from the drive up the Turquoise Trail from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. The clouds and late afternoon light had a good vibe going on. Most of the adjustments were made in Lightroom. You can see a before and after view below:

Next Workshop....(there's still room!)

Real World Digital Photography I
Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, Maine
June 7 — 13, 2009  Click Here for More Info

Santa Fe Bound...

Vintage Observation Car  [Canon 5D]
Santa Fe, New Mexico   July 31, 2007
(click in the image for a larger version)

I am heading to New Mexico early Sunday to teach a new 5-day class at the world famous Santa Fe Photographic Workshops: The Creative Eye: Digital Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials. There's actually a few spots left, so if you're one to act on impulse and you're in the area and you have the time, think about joining me in "the City Different" for a week of photography, Southwest style, stunning landscapes and creative imaging.

The photo above was taken on my last trip there in the summer of 2007. This old train car has been a fixture in Santa Fe for years and I always love to stop by and admire its fine lines and retro styling (and take a few photos, of course!). The raw image was processed entirely in Lightroom, which is one of the areas we'll be covering during the workshop this coming week. The Before and After view, as seen in Lightroom, is below (click in the image for a larger cversion).

My aim is to try and post an image each day of the workshop (Monday through Friday), but sometimes during a workshop week the days are very full and we'll see how successful I am at keeping to that goal. After the class ends on Friday I'll be exploring New Mexico for a few additonal days in search of new vistas for my pinhole photography project, Artifacts of an Uncertain Origin.

Upcoming Workshops:

Photoshop Retouching & Restoration Essentials
May 16 – 17, 2009  Monterey, California

Real World Digital Photography I
June 7 – 13, 2009  The Maine Media Workshops
Rockport, Maine

The Creative Digital Darkroom
July 6 – 11, 2009  CT Media/Photography Institute
Farmington, Connecticut

The Windward Coast

Makapu Beach {Canon 5D]
April 1, 2009   Oahu, Hawaii
(click in the image for a larger version)

Another shot from my recent trip to Hawaii. This view is looking up the windward coast of Oahu. On the left is Makapu Beach with Manana Island (also known as Rabbit Island) on the right. This is a panorama made from two source exposures and assembled using the Photomerge feature in Photoshop CS4. I've been using Photomerge since it first came out in Photoshop CS and while that first version was a bit clunky at times and often prone to errors and awkward diagonal blending, with each new version it has gotten better and better. The Photomerge in Photoshop CS4 is a real pleasure to use.

Coming Up in a Week:

The Creative Eye: Digial Photography & Digital Darkroom Essentials
Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 27  May 1

Mirror, Mirror

Untitled
March 28, 2009
(click in the image for a larger version)

I've been a real stranger to my own blog for the past couple of weeks. I had a busy week teaching in Florida at the Palm Beach Photographic Workshops and then spent another4 days exploring wild, natural Florida and visiting with a friend in the north central part of the state. Tomorrow morning I leave for a week in Hawaii, four days of which will be spent teaching a series of three workshops at Pacific New Media on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. If you're in the neighborhood, I believe there still might be a few spaces left. More info on the Hawaii classes this week can be found here.

The photograph above is a combination of two image mirrors. An image mirror is created when one photograph is copied and "reflected" next to the original. They are a true gulity pleasure in the digital darkroom and can produce some surpising and very satisfying results.The 2-day class I am teaching in Honolulu this weekend is Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop. This image was created as a lesson in the class and also on a training DVD on the same subject that I am working on. More info on the Creative Collage DVD will be coming after I return from Hawaii.

Next Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico!

I'm looking foward to returning to one of my favorite cities at the end of April: Santa Fe, New Mexico. I'll be leading a 5-day digital photography and digital darkroom workshop at the world famous Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. Seee the link below for more details on this class. It's already more than half full, so sign up soon if you want to take this course!

The Creative Eye: Digital Photography & Digital Darkrom Essentials
Santa Fe Photographic Workshops
April 27 - May 1

 

Outstanding in Their Field

The Obligatory Valentines Day Image  [Canon 5D]
(click in the image for a larger version)

This was taken a few days ago here in Grass Valley. A local organic ranch is always very creative with their roadside displays. There is minimal post-capture processing on this image and all of that was handled in Lightroom. It was an obvious choice for a Valentines Day image.We have a lot more snow now (about 18 inches), with more scheduled for Saturday night and Sunday.

The next workshops I have scheduled for mid March and early April are filling up so if you're interested in attending a Photoshop class (4 of them in a warm climate!), I have classes coming up in South Florida and Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as Morro Bay, California and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Follow the links below for more information.

Selections, Masking and Creative Collage
Palm Beach Photographic Centre
March 16 - 19, 2009

**April Workshops in Hawaii:
Adobe Photoshop CS4: Restoration & Retouching Essentials
Adobe Photoshop CS4: Creative Digital Black & White
The Creative Collage with Adobe Photoshop CS4
More Info

Secrets of the Mask: Selections & Masking in Photoshop CS4
Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging
April 18 - 19, 2009

The Creative Eye: Digital Photography & Digital Darkrom Essentials
Santa Fe Photographic Workshops
April 27 - May 1