Night Skies – Before and After…

December 21, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Anasazi ruins, Eagles, Grand Canyon National Park, HDR, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, landscape photography, Nelson NV, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Pronghorn Anterlope, Tuzigoot National Monument, Valley of Fire State Park | 3 Comments

In my last post, I shared pictures from my recent trip to Sedona, Arizona, for a Night Skies Photography Workshop. When one drives over 700 miles (one way) for something like this, one often plans little side trips to make the trip more worthwhile. This post is about the drive down and back. I hope you enjoy my trip as much as I did!

I left home on a nice Sunday morning and drove to Boulder City, Nevada. My goal was to get past Las Vegas and avoid the traffic on Monday morning. I got up early on Monday and drove south on US 95 to an ‘oasis in the desert’ named Nelson, Nevada. Situated about 21 miles from Boulder City (10 miles on US 95 and another 11 miles on SR 165) in the Eldorado Canyon, Nelson (http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/nelson.html) is the home of the notorious Techatticup Mine, where millions of dollars in gold, silver, copper and lead were mined from about 1858 until 1945. The town is now host to cactus, snakes, tourists, and photographers wanting to see life in those times.

A couple of the buildings and vehicles.

The water tower…not sure if it’s still functional.

This water truck under the water tower is definitely not functional, but the controlled decay makes for a fun picture.

Another of the wonderful photographic subjects around the town.

Colors and textures abound…with some very fun antiques.

This is not a very impressive subject – I would never try to sell this image. The process for making the image is worth discussing, however. Getting a single exposure that shows the shaded subjects inside the structure while viewing the sunlit mountains through the window is impossible. This image becomes possible by using a tripod to hold the camera in position and then making multiple images at different exposures, then combining the images in a high dynamic range (HDR) software. I recently saw a new technique that does not require HDR software. Using the underexposed image (for the mountains in the window), I made a copy of the mountains in the window and overlaid it onto the normal exposed image (covering the overexposed mountains) to create this image. Well, I did a little creative editing after the merge. A fun technique and worth the time to explore!

After spending some time taking pictures in Nelson, I continued south on US 95 to Laughlin, Nevada, where I made a quick stop at the Big Bend of the Colorado River State Park and stamped my Nevada State Parks Passport. Big Bend is at the southern tip of Nevada and I don’t expect to get back there anytime soon. From there, I headed for Grand Canyon National Park. I drove on I-40 to Williams, Arizona, and headed north on AZ Highway 64 to Mather Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

A Grand Canyon panorama…

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Another Grand Canyon panorama…note the tourists on the lookout on the left…

This is not a panorama, it is a single image cropped to near panorama proportions. I’ve talked about the ongoing ‘to pano or not to pano’ question before. Still a pretty shot!

I couldn’t resist including my ‘selfie’ from the Grand Canyon. It’s my new profile picture on Facebook, so many of you have seen it before. One of my friends told me it’s not a real selfie, but I disagree.

As I headed south from the Grand Canyon, I saw a band of Pronghorn Antelope hanging out by the side of the road. I pulled over and snapped a few pictures.

I processed this image in warm tones just for fun!

I’m very familiar with Pronghorn, as they are very prolific in my home state of Wyoming. I was excited that these animals were so unconcerned about my presence. The Pronghorn back home don’t tolerate people and most of my images from home are Pronghorn butt as they run away.

I arrived in Sedona in the dark of late evening, so I didn’t see the landscape until the next morning.

I grabbed this picture with my cell phone on my way to breakfast. As you saw in my last blog, this doesn’t do Sedona justice in any way!

Since the Night Skies Workshop didn’t start until Tuesday afternoon, I made a quick trip to Clarkdale, Arizona, to visit the Tuzigoot National Monument. Tuzigoot is an Anasazi ruin, and was definitely worth the trip.

From the ruins near the top, I made this panorama. I wish I had increased the height of the tripod to minimize the wall in the foreground.

I liked how the ruins in the foreground followed the lines of the mountains in the background. This image was taken in the morning with the wall in shadow. I might have had better light in the afternoon, but then I would have lost the helpful impact from the shadows.

This is the Visitor’s Center. It’s a beautiful structure and fits the environment well.

This is the view from the very top of the ruins, looking to the southeast and down the mountain. Can you imagine living in this community, climbing ladders to reach your living space?

When the workshop was over mid-morning on Wednesday, I began my trip home. I had been fighting a cold or some type of crud from the time I left home, so my goal of getting to Las Vegas was fairly modest – only 250 miles or so. When I crossed the Tillman-O’Callahan Bridge into Nevada, I was feeling a little better and decided to drive up the west side of Lake Mead. I stopped in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Visitor Center, stamped my National Parks Passport, and headed north towards Overton, Nevada. I made a couple stops on the way to take some pictures, but the water level in Lake Mead is so low that I didn’t get near the water.

You can see the ‘bathtub ring’ in this panorama of Lake Mead. I saw a few wild horses in the desert, but did not see any Desert Bighorns (darn it all).

When I exited Lake Mead’s north entrance, I came on the Valley of Fire State Park East Entrance. The sun was going down, but I paid my entry fee, stamped my State Parks Passport, and ventured into the Park. The light was fading and my sinuses were regretting my decision to make this side trip, but I found some pretty rocks and stopped for a couple sets of pictures.

The setting sun was behind me as I shot this panorama. I love the sky behind these rocks.

I cranked the tripod head 180 degrees and shot into the sunset. Yes, it’s a very over-processed image, and I won’t get into the details of what I did. Pretty sunset, and not a bad foreground.

I got a good night’s rest that night, and made it home safe and sound. The trip was fast (5 days) and I put about 1,800 miles on my Expedition. I picked up 3 stamps in my National Parks Passport, 2 stamps in my State Parks Passport and, of course, lots of images of Nevada and Arizona.

Since I’ve been home, I’ve been in the field a couple times checking out the local Raptor scene. The Bald Eagles are starting to return to the area. I leave you with this image from Diamond Valley, south of the Carson Valley just over the California line, from a couple days ago. Thanks for reading my blog. Merry Christmas!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

The Wonder of Night Skies…

December 14, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged landscape photography, Lightroom techniques, night photography, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Sedona AZ | 3 Comments

In the many photography magazines and websites that I read, I see all manner of advertisements for photography tours around the United States and the world. The tours range from a few hours for a seminar to a few weeks shooting with big names in the photography world, and can cost thousands of dollars. The more expensive tours include all lodging, meals, and transportation around the chosen venue. A couple months ago, I saw an ad for a night skies photography workshop with a couple locations within driving distance and at a very affordable price. The tours were offered by National Park Trips Media (visit their website at nationalparktrips.com) teamed up with Tamron USA (http://www.tamron-usa.com). I selected the tour in Sedona, Arizona.

Sedona is a community of around 11,000 people located in north central Arizona, about an hour’s drive south of Flagstaff. (Visit http://www.sedonamonthly.com to learn more about Sedona.) I arrived in the darkness of early evening and my Garmin took me on quite a tour before finding the hotel, the Andante Inn of Sedona (http://www.andanteinn.com).

The workshop started at 2 p.m., with a couple hours in the classroom. Tamron’s award-winning photographers – Ken Hubbard, Andre Costantini, and Marc Morris – provided a review (for me, anyway) of the photography triangle (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) and shooting in low light conditions. After, we loaded up the equipment truck and the van and headed to the Crescent Moon Ranch to photograph Cathedral Rock with Oak Creek in the foreground.

Cathedral Rock reflected in Oak Creek

Our group joined a pair of photographers who were after the same view on a small patch of dirt along the creek. The pair of photographers were a bit overwhelmed by 16 people invading their shoot with tripods and cameras, but they offered their spot to the highest bidder when they were done shooting! I got my shots and looked around the Crescent Moon Ranch for a different view and other subjects.

Cathedral Rock from the Crescent Moon Ranch

As the sun went down and the light faded, we loaded back up and headed to Bell Rock Park off SR 179. This is where the shoot got very interesting. I’m used to shooting in ambient light and being able to look through the viewfinder on my camera or use Live View to set the exposure and compose the shot. In the light of the half moon, we were literally shooting in the dark. I set my ISO at 3200, a relatively high setting, my aperture wide open, and shutter speed at 30 seconds. Hoping for the best, I manually set the focus at infinity and pushed the shutter release. When the shutter closed, I was able to see the image for the first time and it wasn’t bad. I made a few adjustments in the camera position and resumed shooting. Over the next several hours, I made around 130 images.

This is a rock formation in Bell Rock Park.

Bell Rock is on the left. The bright light at the bottom of the saddle is from Sedona.

The Tamron guys helped us experiment with a technique called ‘light painting.’ During long exposures, we used flashlights to illuminate trees to bring out some of the detail and add a new element to the image. Light painting is definitely an art, as controlling the light on the subject is critical. It’s very easy to put too much light on the subject and ruin the shot. The image below took several tries – still not perfect but acceptable.

Light painted tree in the foreground.

Long time followers of my blog know that I love a good panorama, and I had to try for a panorama in the dark. From the position of the light on the rock formations, you can see that this panorama is actually about a quarter of a circle – not just flat.

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The instructors used the star apps on their smartphones to get us in position to shoot Orion over the rock formation on the right side of this image. If only someone had a star app for my Windows phone (big sigh).

One of the members of the tour got separated in the dark and ended up a mile away from the group. After an hour of searching, we got word that he had called 911 and local law enforcement had picked him up. We got back to the hotel around 1 a.m. and got a few hours sleep before heading out the to local airport for an early morning shoot.

The morning was overcast, but we waited for a couple hours and finally got rewarded by good light. Here’s a couple panoramas from the early morning shoot!

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The sky was overcast, but not very sexy.

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A little different position and shot.

After the morning shoot, we returned to the hotel for breakfast and some instruction on Lightroom software to process the night’s work. The workshop was a fast 20 hours of exploration into a new photography technique. I learned a lot and look forward to continued exploration into night photography. I see that National Park Trips Media has a night skies workshop in Yosemite next August. Hmmmm – might have to register for that one!

Thanks for being a part of my journey. Until next time – enjoy!

PHOTOROGR

Behind the Scenes look at ‘A View From the Office’…

December 1, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Genoa NV, Genoa State Park, Lake Tahoe, landscape photography, mobile phone photography, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Rocky Mountain National Park | 1 Comment

I don’t know when I started the ‘view from the office’ series on Facebook, but I do remember why! I was trying to poke a little fun at my many friends who are still working, sitting at a desk or on a job site or somewhere every day. More bluntly, I was rubbing their noses in it!! I hope no one takes offense at this revelation – it’s all in good-natured fun and I love sharing my passion for photography with you.

One of my rules for the ‘view’ is that all the pictures and videos are taken with my mobile phone camera. They are frequently taken from the same vantage point as pictures with my DSLR cameras, but not always. I post them on Facebook at the earliest opportunity, since I am often in places with limited or no signal.

I must confess that I took a long time before embracing the multi-media device we all carry to do anything but transmit and receive voice communication. I thought a mobile phone was for making phone calls and nothing else. I started looking at mobile phones differently when I carried a PDA (don’t ask me what it stands for, something like personal assistant) in one of my last professional positions many, many years ago. When I finally bought a smart phone and I worked my way through apps and having my email at my fingertips, I still resisted using the camera. Then I began using the camera, but I avoided video. Last February, I finally touched the little movie icon on the camera screen and recorded the snow falling in my back yard through my breakfast nook window. Since then, I’ve been making lots of short videos with my mobile phone. The next step is to engage the video function on my ‘big boy’ camera, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to mobile phones.

The December 2016 issue of Shutterbug magazine has several articles on photokina 2016, the biannual event showcasing the future of imaging technology. The future is apparently perplexing -Editor Dan Havlik says as much in the issue’s Editor’s Notes. In addition to interesting developments by major photo equipment companies, Havlik laments that there were “…tons of – too many, actually – new Virtual Reality (VR) products at photokina…” A friend of mine received a VR device for his birthday recently, and he tells me his mobile phone provides the operating system to bring the VR media to the device. That’s a long way from making phone calls.

An article by Seth Shostak tells us what a camera of the future might look like, and how we might use and view the images it will make.

Joe Farace writes articles for Shutterbug’s ‘Geared Up’ column, which provides a discussion of new photo equipment. In an article titled ‘9 Trends That Will Change Photography Next Year,’ Joe gives his take on photokina and the future. Joe writes that cellphone photography is adversely impacting the point-and-shoot camera market, and that “…thanks to the smartphone boom the worldwide population of photographers has grown by a factor of eight over the past 10 years.” He continues, “…while smartphones represent the primary camera for a growing number of people…the opportunity for users to step up to a digital camera grows with every new photographer this trend produces.”

I hope I haven’t lost any of you by now – I have a point – really! I began taking pictures as a boy using the point-and-shoot technology of the time, my trusty Kodak 110 camera. I graduated up to a single lens reflex (SLR) camera just before our first son was born and carried that camera for decades. Almost 8 years ago, I bought an entry level digital SLR (DSLR) and have upgraded twice. The mobile phone is a much more advanced version of the point-and-shoot film cameras that my generation grew up with (it makes phone calls and connects to the internet, too).

For now, we have to be content with the tools we have and put them to their best use. For me, my mobile phone allows me to have the advantages of point-and-shoot technology. Further, it allows me to quickly and easily share with my friends and rub my retirement fun in their noses! Mostly, it allows me to quickly and easily share – that’s my story! Whatever your equipment or skill set, I encourage you to take pictures and share them, but mostly have fun.

Here’s a few examples of a view from the office compared with the image from the big camera.

I posted this image from Mormon Station State Park on November 29, 2016. I put my mobile phone on top of my DSLR camera for this picture.

This is the same shot from the DSLR and enhanced on the computer.

The Carson River on November 1, 2016.

From the big camera – love the sky much better!

Remember this image from October 27, 2016. The south shore of Lake Tahoe on a stormy day.

From the big boy camera and enhanced on the computer. Much better composition and drama.

There are some images that are fun to make, but are not deserving of getting out the big camera. This is the Welcome sign in Vernal UT. Mobile phone all the way.

Rocky Mountain National Park with the mobile phone, August 16, 2016.

Same view with the big camera. I shot multiple images and stitched this panorama.

Eden Vale Pond, October 3, 2016. One of the fun things about shooting with the mobile phone is that I can include the big camera in the image.

Same pond, big camera.

While this was not a ‘view from the office’ post, I include it because of the comparison between my mobile phone camera and my DSLR.

I haven’t mastered the art of the mobile phone selfie, hence I make very few and show even fewer.

I vastly prefer the DSLR selfie – I can make a good one that I’m willing to share. Thanks to my lovely bride for being seen with me in public!

That’s the behind the scenes look at ‘A View from the Office.’ I hope you’ve enjoyed the view on Facebook and now see the difference between the view and the final image.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

November 17, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

The Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce just released their 2017 Calendar. I am very excited and honored that they chose 4 of my images for this calendar.

THE COVER

I found these beautiful flowers last Spring, evidenced by the snow on the Sierra Nevadas in the background. I think the flowers are Balsam Root, but I’d take input from people who know more about flowers than I.

MARCH

My lovely bride and I were out and about one day and came across this scene on Waterloo Lane.

JUNE

This antique farm equipment is on display at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park.

OCTOBER

These trees surround an industrial park on East Valley Road. They provide this wonderful color display every Autumn.

Calendars are available for $10 each from the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce, 1477 U.S. Highway 395 North, Suite A, Gardnerville, Nevada 89410. Call 775-782-8144, or visit their website at carsonvalleynv.org. Tell them you saw the calendars here!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

…I’m at a creative crossroads…

November 3, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Eagles, Hawks, HDR, Job's Peak, Lake Tahoe, landscape photography, Owls, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Raptors, Scenery, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Wildlife photography | 3 Comments

When people embark on a journey, they plan their itinerary in great detail. Hotels, fuel stops, meals, sightseeing and other tourist stops are set with a timetable and destination in mind. If one is on a journey of discovery, however, there is minimal planning – because it’s all about the journey. A couple years (and lots of posts, don’t forget!!) ago, I started a journey in creative photography. My only plan was to learn how to make better images. This blog has been my vehicle to document and share my journey.

In the last few weeks, I realized that I was approaching a creative crossroads. There are two roads for me; the first continues on the path to making purely photographic images, while the other heads toward more artistic images. I never thought about the differences until I visited one of my photo mentors to learn about his workflow to process landscape images. He opened my eyes to editing techniques that I never imagined, so I’ve been experimenting with new and old images. When an artist takes a new direction or pushes the creative envelope, there is always a period when the work may be considered ‘overdone’ as the artist tries to find a balance – it’s just part of the journey.

I won’t get into detail about the editing for the following images. I think I’ll let them speak for themselves. Let’s start with a few landscapes.

I made this image at the Eden Vale Inn near Placerville CA (a wonderful ‘b n b’ – we highly recommend it!). I’m not satisfied with the sky, but I love the rest of the image.

These fall colors can be found along SR 207, Kingsbury Grade, between the Carson Valley and the Lake Tahoe Basin.

After I made the above image, I turned and saw this view into the Carson Valley. It was a beautiful stormy day, as you can see.

I made this image yesterday morning. The Carson River as it approaches SR 88, just south of Minden. The sun was just coming up behind the clouds.

This is the south shore of Lake Tahoe. I visited the lake last week, on a stormy day. I’ve never seen the weather cover the mountains so completely. I stitched together 10 images to make this panorama.

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The recent storms gave us wonderful skies and light. This a Jobs Peak (the snow covered peak partially hidden by clouds on the left) on a wonderfully stormy day!

Here’s some new Raptor images.

I just love this Great Horned Owl!

I used the same filter on this Hawk image.

It was raining when I made this image. This Hawk was focused on a potential meal. This image was selected as the ‘image of the week’ by one of the photography froups on Facebook.

I got a little aggressive with this image. The dark streak in the background is actually a branch.

Same picture, but with an added twist in editing. A little more detail in the chest feathers. I love this, but it doesn’t look like a photograph to me.

This Hawk was hunting along an irrigation ditch.

A little extra during processing, and the image has a completely different feel.

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I made this image last February. I struggled with the background.

New editing knowledge – new look for the image.

I hope you understand better my dilemma at the creative crossroads. I think my best direction is to assess each image independently and make the edits that bring out the best in every one. The journey continues – as does the fun for me! Using the digital medium, sometimes I will be a photographer and sometimes I will be a ‘cutting edge’ artist.

There’s much more on the way for this exploration. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

It was a little Spooky at The PHOTOROGR Project this week…

October 16, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Close up photography, Nik Efex filters, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop | 2 Comments

I needed to get a little yard work done before the first big storm came in; I backfilled a new wall (losing 2 lbs in the process), worked on the drip system, and mowed and fertilized the lawn. The weather came in on schedule – bringing lots of needed moisture and compacting the fill behind the wall – so I moved inside to pretend to be a studio photographer. It’s October so my lovely bride is getting out the Fall and Halloween decorations. They proved to be worthy subjects for my camera!

A little background – when I was finishing my engineering degree (several decades ago), my lovely bride, Susan, was at home with 2 little boys. Between my working, going to class, and studying, we didn’t have much time for conversation. One of our neighbors in married student housing was a mechanical engineering student and his wife was in the same predicament. Susan and the neighbor wanted to have a night out, so they found a tole painting class. Susan was a natural and became a world renowned tole painter.

For years, our home has been a revolving gallery of her work – the theme changing with the seasons. With the storm in full swing, I set up a little studio and made images of Susan’s work. I hope you enjoy her beautiful art and hope that I did proper justice to her talent. Except where noted, the figures are painted on 1/2″ plywood and the other pieces are cut from 1/4″ pine.

This pair of trick or treaters is painted on 1.5″ thick wood. The Witch is about 7″ tall, and the Pumpkin is about 6″ tall.

This little Witch is 18″ from the bottom of her feet to the top of her hat, and her Ghostly companion is almost 10″ tall. As with all her figures, Susan paints each piece individually and then assembles them.

This beWitching lady stands about 24″ tall.

This lovely little Witch stands about 20″ tall. Her hands are made of 3/4″ pine, and the spider is 1/2″ plywood and 1/4″ pine.

This little Wolfman also stands about 20″ tall.

Halloween wouldn’t be complete without a Frankenstein monster, complete with charging posts. He stands about 22″ tall.

This is our candy basket for the trick-or-treaters. The box is about 12″ square and 3″ deep. The welcoming Ghost is about 16″ to the top of the handle, and stands in the center of the box. This was my most challenging image, trying to get it all in focus.

This Witch is about 16″ tall.

I processed this image using different filters and techniques – always exploring!

This Scarecrow guards our kitchen counter from intruders. He’s really good, because no unwanted crows are hanging around in there! He’s about 12″ tall.

And, a little different processing makes a picture showing a different feeling.

Susan also has a fun collection of chenille pumpkins and baskets, helping with that Autumn feeling around the house.

The sign says ‘Pumpkins for sale,’ but don’t believe it. Susan painted the sign as a decoration, not an advertisement.

I experimented with another of Susan’s painted pieces, this Pumpkin, and a lantern. I found the lantern to be very challenging because of the glass door. In many shots, I had unwanted reflections (in several instances, the striped socks I was wearing) blocking the candle. I made this image using multiple exposures and assembled them in Photomatix, then applied filters in Nik Color Efex Pro.

I hope these figures didn’t scare you too badly, but you can understand why it was a little spooky around here this week. I’m just glad I didn’t watch Young Frankenstein, too! Just wait, Christmas is around the corner…

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Photo Fun in the Benson Sculpture Garden…

October 10, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Benson Sculpture Garden, Close up photography, Estes Park CO, HDR, Loveland CO, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop, Rocky Mountain National Park | 2 Comments

A couple months ago, my lovely bride and I loaded up and headed home to Wyoming to join family in celebrating my Dad’s 85th birthday! While we were there, we also celebrated Mom and Dad’s 65th wedding anniversary. (The anniversary actually happens in November, but we celebrated while we were all there!) I just realized that I haven’t shared our family portrait from the party.

The Van Alyne Family – August 2016

My lovely bride flew home the day after the party, so I was on my own for the drive home. The first photo stop on my trip home was going to be Rocky Mountain National Park, so I reserved a hotel room in Loveland CO (just downhill from Estes Park, the Gateway to RMNP, and about 1/3 of the price of a room up the hill). As I was driving to the hotel, I passed a brown road sign advertising the Benson Sculpture Gardens. While I was eating dinner, I looked up the Benson Sculpture Garden on my phone (yes, I know a little about technology) and decided to check it out. The Garden is a huge park full of huge sculptures.

I arrived at the Garden in late evening, so the light was a little dicey. Although the sun was nearly down, the sky was a bright white and the sculptures were in various stages of shadow. Knowing I was in trouble from a lighting perspective, I decided to experiment with a process called ‘light painting.’ In his book Night & Low Light Photography, David Taylor describes light painting as, “…the technique of lighting a subject during a long exposure. This can be achieved by using a handheld flash or with a suitably powerful flashlight.”

I chose handheld flash, and found myself popping the flash from different angles and sides to see what the result would be. I had to work around all the people in the park – hundreds of them – all walking around looking at their phones. The Pokemon craze had just hit and it seemed that Loveland’s populace had embraced it fully – at least those who were in the Benson Sculpture Garden that evening!

I’ve taken a very long time to finish these pictures. Sometimes, we try things in camera that yield good results easily, but some of them take more work. I look at this as a wonderful learning process. I need to push the limits of my equipment, but I also need to push the limits of my knowledge of photography and image editing. I succeeded in pushing the limits. Using these images made in camera, I learned a lot about editing images using multiple software packages and filters.

A BIG THANKS to all the artists who created these fantastic sculptures and put them on display, and to the City of Loveland for assembling them in this beautiful setting.

I think you’ll like the results, so let’s get to the pictures!

One of the first sculptures I saw – Shakespeare. I tried to frame the sculpture with the tree in the background, but the sky still made this a challenge. I introduced a light vignette to bring the sky down a little.

Probably not the best angle of this Eagle, but it’s the one I chose. I used a little fill flash underneath to negate the shadows.

This sculpture is called ‘The Potato Man.’ It is one of my favorite sculptures in the Benson Sculpture Garden. I combined three images to bring out the colors and the details.

I made two images of this sculpture, using flash on both sides of the head. I then combined the two images in Photomatix to get this result.

This is an HDR image, using 4 images with different exposures and flash placement.

I applied a black and white filter and adjusted the contrast a little to make this version of the image. I like them both!

This sculpture was in shadow as the sun was setting behind and to the left. A little fill flash made the image work.

I loved this statue of a musical trio. There is so much going on that picking a spot to shoot was difficult. I explored the black and white presets in Nik Silver Efex, and liked this one. I need to remove the car on the left side of the picture, but it’s a Mustang. Hmmmmm…what a dilemma…

This is a close up of the saxophone player. I combined three images in Photomatix to make this image.

I applied a preset filter in Nik Silver Efex to make this image.

Some people would say, ‘…make it stop!’ Filters can be overused, but I had to share one more using this preset from Nik Silver Efex. This is the drummer from the other side of the musical trio statue.

Ah, the fun of being young! My Mom has a Christmas ornament based on this sculpture.

And then there’s the really interesting sculptures. I tried to capture the setting sun in the background…

This sculpture is in a beautiful and natural-looking setting. I removed the concrete pedestal to improve the natural look.

Another of my favorites. I used a fill flash to make this side of the sculpture visible.

A couple of bucks running through the woods! There are visual treasures at every turn!

These kids were really enjoying the park. This is a composite of three exposures.

So, there you have it. These are but a few of the sculptures in the Benson Sculpture Garden. I’ll return another day, armed with better knowledge of photography, to make more images of this wonderful place. If you’re planning a trip to this area, this is a must see. If you’re on a journey in creative photography (like I am), this is a great place to learn your craft!

I hope you enjoyed these images. Thanks for joining me on my journey! Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

I’m just about to burst…

September 20, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged CA 120, Close up photography, fall colors, Ford Ranger, Genoa NV, Genoa State Park, landscape photography, Macro photography, Mormon Station State Park, Mt. Patterson, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Pine Nut Mountains, Porsche Club of America, Scenery, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Sonora Pass, sports photography, sunsets, Treffen Lake Tahoe | 1 Comment

I’m so excited about my photography right now that I’m just about to burst! I know, it’s been 3 weeks since my last post and I’m sure you’re all asking, ‘if he’s so excited, why so long since his last post?” The answer is simple – I’m having too much fun to make a post! The problem with that, however, is the backlog of images to share. I still have two posts worth of images from my trip home last month – stay tuned for them!

We’ll get to current pictures in a minute because there are fun things I want to share. First, I’m waiting for my new lens, the Generation 2 Tamron 150-600, to arrive. I’ve been shooting with the first generation 150-600 since it came out almost 3 years ago and have always loved the results. The new lens has better optics, faster autofocus, and a shorter minimum focusing distance (by almost a foot!). I found a nice home for my old lens (the new owner has already made some great images, and has nicknamed the lens ‘Godzilla’), so I’m without a super telezoom for the short term. My withdrawal is almost as bad as when my camera body fried a circuit board last June and I was without my 7D for a time. I’ll get through it – I promise. With the raptors returning to the Carson Valley, I’m excited to try out the new lens!

Second, I’m launching my exploration into Shutter Priority (Tv) mode. For the last couple years, I have shot primarily in Aperture Priority (Av) mode, which controls light using the aperture opening. Aperture size impacts depth of field, or how much the image is in focus from the foreground to the background (large openings = shallow depth of field, small openings = deeper depth of field). For wildlife shots, especially birds, I shoot wide open. Large aperture openings also allow fast shutter speeds, capturing detail and freezing motion. I don’t worry about the background being in focus because I want to highlight the bird or animal in the image. For landscapes, I use smaller aperture openings to have more of the scene in focus. I shoot my landscapes from a tripod, so shutter speed is not really a concern. I use Manual mode for my landscapes, allowing me to control exposure with either shutter or aperture priority, looking for the best settings for the particular subject and conditions.

What prompted me to explore Tv mode? Sports photography! One of my son’s friends has two little boys who play flag football. I took pictures at a game last Saturday (they won – it was very exciting), and asked a friend/mentor to critique my work. His comments were very helpful, pushing me to explore the wild world of Shutter Priority. Here’s a couple pictures from Saturday.

He had just intercepted a pass and was running into the end zone for a touchdown!

These little guys take the game seriously – look at the intensity (or maybe fear of getting hit) on their faces!

As you can see, the focus is just a little soft. I shot these in Av mode, so a shift to Tv mode will give me a faster shutter speed to freeze the action better. I’m excited to give it a try!

A couple weeks ago, I went to Mormon Station State Park in Genoa to take pictures of Treffen Lake Tahoe, the Porsche Club of America’s cruise around the Lake Tahoe area. The tour made a lunch stop in Genoa. Go to my Treffen Lake Tahoe page (https://photorogr.com/treffen-lake-tahoe-2016/) to see my pictures from the day.

My retired guy ATV group made the ride up Mt. Patterson the other day. Here’s a few images from the trip!

I took this on the drive up, with my mobile phone. Note the smoke low on the horizon.

This is the view looking west from the top of Mt. Patterson. It was mid-day when we arrived and I wasn’t happy with the light. I made the image anyway and am pleased with the result.

The view to the north. Lots of smoke low on the horizon. The signage going up the hill described Mt. Patterson as ‘Mars with vegetation.’ I love the colors in this mountain.

On the way to Mt. Patterson, we passed the turnoff to CA 120, the Sonora Pass Road, and I just had to go back and drive Sonora Pass. The leaves are starting to turn, and the PHOTORANGER loved the drive.

The PHOTORANGER at the summit of Sonora Pass.

Fall colors, on the east side of the Pass.

Hopefully a sign of a good fall color year. I found a great book on fall color in the Sierras, with excellent information on where to go. Fall color exploration, here I come!

I was amazed at the amount of water still flowing.

The mountains had a fresh dusting of snow.

This panorama was stitched from 8 images, then processed using a couple Nik Color Efex Pro filters. Some of my mentors/friends think it’s a little overdone. I like it!

The scenery was stunning, everywhere I looked.

I made several images of this mountain. I like this one for the trees in the foreground.

I didn’t forget to make images of the yard. Here are a few.

Remember the discussion of Aperture Priority above? This flower was shot with a wide open aperture and close up filters. The foliage in the background becomes a pleasing blur, while preserving the detail in the petals, stamens, and pistils. When I master focus stacking, the petal at the top will also be in focus.

I finally found a Daisy bloom that hadn’t been molested by the rabbits.

I love these Roses, but they are proving very challenging for me. I am constantly fighting the monochrome of the petals and work to introduce meaningful shadows to separate the petals. I was drawn to this composition by the dead bloom at the bottom of the image, in contrast with the vibrant blooms above.

The last image of this post. I took a quick trip into the Pine Nut Mountains, just a couple miles east of our house, one evening last week. The sun was going down and was shining through some clouds. I’ve never made an image like this, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m not totally happy with the result, so I’ll be working to improve my image capture processes in these lighting conditions.

That’s a lot of fun for me. I promise that I’ll get the images from my trip done and posted. They’re worth the wait – I promise.

Thanks for reading my blog. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Photo Editing Software…and Rocky Mountain National Park!

September 1, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Adobe Bridge, Close up photography, Elk, HDR, landscape photography, Lightroom, Marmots, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photomatix Pro, Photoshop, Pikas, Rock Chucks, Rocky Mountain National Park, Scenery | 1 Comment

In previous blogs, I’ve talked about the ways photography has changed due to the transition from film to digital photography. The basic principles of controlling and recording light have not changed, but editing processes have changed dramatically. Like many photographers, I work to get the best possible image in camera but further processing on the computer is essential to my success as a photographer. Thankfully, there are really smart people who have developed great software to make this part of photography easier. I use Adobe’s Photoshop (PS) CC (Creative Cloud – yes, I pay my access fee every month!) and Camera RAW (ACR) as my primary software. I also purchased Corel’s Paint Shop Pro X7 when it was cheap (PSP X8 had just come out) and work it every now and then, but PS and ACR remain my go to software.

As those smart guys at Adobe make their products better and easier to use, and I learn how to use the features I have along with the new stuff, I try to produce better images. Recently, the Adobe CC guys announced a new feature in Lightroom (LR), a sister software to PS. As background, I prefer PS to LR because I can use layers in PS. ACR and LR use similar menus and controls for processing, so I’m not missing out on those features. LR manages files which PS does not do, however, I use Adobe Bridge for my file management.

Back to the cool new tool in LR – Boundary Warp. If I create a panorama in LR, Boundary Warp allows me to adjust the image without having to crop and lose content. Regardless of how well I shoot a series of images to merge into a panorama, there is always inconsistency in the edges requiring cropping and/or filling. Boundary Warp minimizes data loss and is very cool, from my perspective. I processed several panoramas using both PS and LR to determine if one is preferable to the other, but I’ll let you be the judge in the images below.

Oh yeah, LR now has a High Dynamic Range (HDR) feature in PhotoMerge, but I prefer PhotoMatix Pro for my HDR images.

Today’s images come from the day I spent in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), located in north central Colorado, last month. I entered RMNP from the east side (US Highway 36 from Estes Park CO). After a quick stop in the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center for some shopping and a stamp in my national parks passport book, I proceeded into RMNP and that portion of US 34 known as Trail Ridge Road. Trail Ridge Road is only open in the summer months, as its 12,000 foot (+/-) elevation makes for a very snowy road in the winter months.

I came across a flock of turkeys, but failed to get a decent image of them. I drove by this beautiful vista.

I believe the peaks to be (left to right) Mt. Wuh, Stones Peak, and Terra Tomah Mtn, with Tombstone Ridge in the middle ground. This panorama was created and edited in Lightroom, using the Boundary Warp feature.

Here’s the same view processed in Photoshop.

The differences in brightness, contrast, and color are my adjustments and experimentation. I manually cropped the LR version to a standard 5:1 ratio panorama, the same as the PS version. What’s important to note is that there doesn’t appear to be geometric distortion from the Boundary Warp, however, there is more foreground in the PS version (check the tree line) which indicates a larger availability of data in the LR image. Based on my totally non-scientific experiment, I opine that the use of PS versus LR for panoramas is a matter of personal preference at the moment.

Back to pictures.

I believe these peaks to be Mt. Chiquita (l) and Mt. Chapin. This is a panorama merged in PS.

For comparison, I shot this image using a wide angle lens. For this view, either shooting method works fine.

This is a panorama of Sundance Mtn. While I was at this location, I visited with a very nice young lady who was shooting with her Canon T2i and a Canon 100-400 zoom lens. We had a nice discussion about lenses and photography.

One of my favorite shots on the day. This is an HDR. When I shot this, the flowers in the foreground were in deep shadow and HDR allowed me to bring them into the light, so to speak. The wind was blowing at 12,000 feet, as you might imagine, so there is a touch of movement in the flowers. A few minutes later, the clouds moved off but the wind came up. The flowers in the full light images were blurry due to the wind.

If you’re an Elk in the mountains on a hot summer day, how do you keep cool? They’re on a snow bank enjoying the cool. They were probably 1/2-3/4 mile away.

And these Elk were using the trees to keep cool, again, 1/2-3/4 mile away.

I believe these peaks to be (l-r) Stones Peak (the sharp pointed one), Sprague Mtn, Nakai Peak, Mt Julian, and Terra Tomah Mtn. This is a panorama merged in PS.

I came around a corner with lots of people looking up a hill, watching this Bear. He was a couple hundred feet away and cared less about the crowd at the bottom of the hill. I parked and came back for this shot, the best of what he gave us before disappearing behind the trees.

When he disappeared, the crowd dissipated. I hung around to see if he would make another appearance, and made a few images of the flowers and landscape.

Beautiful mountain flowers.

I made this image with my trusty mobile phone. Every now and then, it makes a nice image. Note the wildlife.

I believe the center mountain to be Terra Tomah Mtn, with Jackstraw Mtn on the immediate right. This is another panorama merged in LR using Boundary Warp.

Same view from a PS merge. I see a subtle difference in the foreground, especially on the right side, but not enough to conclusively say one is better than the other. Both images are stunning! oh yeah, the LR image is cropped to 5:1 ratio and the PS is at 3:1.

I was making a series of images for a panorama when I caught movement out of the bottom corner of my eye. This Marmot, also called a Rock Chuck, was very busy and unfazed by all the people just 30 feet away.

The rocks were alive with these North American Pika. About the size of a Guinea Pig, these little fuzzballs were busy working on nests for the coming winter.

I have established a page dedicated to Rocky Mountain National Park. Visit the page to see more images from this part of my trip.

Since I got home, I’ve spent some time in the yard with my flowers, so I’ll close with them. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

One of the Rose blooms in the backyard.

My favorite Candy Tuft. The sun was going down and lighting up the side of the bloom.

Seeing the world differently…

August 23, 2016 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Big Thompson Canyon, Big Thompson River, Bridal Veil Falls, Colorado, Happy Jack Road, Interstate Highway 80, landscape photography, Loneliest Road in America, Nevada, Provo Canyon, Scenery, Spring Valley, US Highway 189, US Highway 34, US Highway 40, US Highway 50, US Highway 85, Utah, Vedawoo, Wyoming | 4 Comments

A little more than two years ago, I decided it was time quit working for others and pursue photography on a full time basis. I started this blog to document my journey and share what I’ve been learning. While I’ve learned much about controlling light through digital media, I’ve learned two things that I think are more important. First – the more I learn, the more I’m surprised at how much I don’t know about photography. This realization keeps me motivated to continue the journey and helps to make it fun! Second – I’ve realized that I’m looking at the world much differently than I used to.

During my trip through Oregon in July, I watched the scenery go by with a different eye – evaluating the light and view to see if it was worth stopping and consuming a few pixels. I just returned from a 2,600 mile trip through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. My father turned 85 last week, and we also celebrated Mom and Dad’s 65th wedding anniversary, which actually happens in November. The whole family came for the party! We had a great reunion – the great grandkids put on quite a show and it was good to see my brother, sister, and all the nieces and nephews.

While on the road, I found some great pictures. A couple times, I saw something fun and had to turn around to make the image. Here’s my view from the road.

UTAH:

This rock formation is on I-80 in eastern Utah, near the Wyoming state line. The best camera is the one in your hand, and I took this picture with my mobile phone.

I-80-Utah-Panoramam2---LR---2016-08-11-e1a-z-w

I got out the big boy camera, too, and shot this panorama handheld from the same spot, but looking a little left.

WYOMING:

West of my home town of Cheyenne, Wyoming, is the Vedawoo Recreation Area. The rock formations are phenomenal. This is an HDR of this formation.

Happy-Jack_Panorama1---2016-08-11-e2-EFEX-f-w

This is a common scene along Happy Jack Road, Wyoming Highway 210, between Cheyenne and Laramie. When I was a Boy Scout, we frequently camped in this area. I chose a monochrome theme for this panorama.

Happy-Jack-Panorama4---LR---2016-08-11-e2a-z-w

As we got closer to Cheyenne, the rock formations changed in color and shape. A storm was coming from the north (left side of the picture).

COLORADO:

My lovely bride had to return home early, so I drove her to Denver International Airport. I returned to Cheyenne on US Highway 85, the Can Am Highway, instead of the interstate highway. Traveling on US 85 is old school – primarily 2 lane road and slow downs through the many communities. I drove by this scene, but turned around to make this panorama. The two bridges in the foreground were part of the original highway alignment. They were not razed when the new road was constructed, and they were the impetus for this image.

I drove home through Rocky Mountain National Park, but that’s a blog all by itself!

The Big Thompson River flows through the Big Thompson Canyon in Colorado. US 34 between Loveland and Estes Park shares the canyon. This waterfall is located near Estes Park.

I found this scene along US 40 in northwest Colorado, west of Craig.

Also along US 40.

UTAH:

This is Bridal Veil Falls, along US 189 in Utah’s Provo Canyon (between Provo and Heber City). I was please that there was enough water to flow this late in the year.

NEVADA:

Nevada markets US 50 as “The Loneliest Road in America,” but the stretch of US 6/50 between Delta, Utah, and the Nevada state line was a little more lonely. In Nevada, I saw Pronghorn Antelope and Deer. I also got all the stamps in my ‘US 50 Survivor’s Guide.’ I mailed in the card and am waiting for my reward!

Spring-Valley_Panorama1---2016-08-17-e1a-f-z-w

After a smoky stop at Great Basin National Park, just south of US 6/50 on the Nevada/Utah line, I found this scene in Nevada’s Spring Valley. Behind me, wind turbines spun slowly to generate electricity.

Also in the Spring Valley. I was channeling my inner Ansel Adams while I processed this image.

I couldn’t stop at just one monochrome shot.

If you go to Cave Lake State Park south of Ely, Nevada, , you’re greeted by this view on Nevada Highway 486.

This is the view from Stokes Castle, near Austin, Nevada, looking west.

As you can see, I had a wonderful trip. The Expedition ran great, got excellent fuel mileage, and I saw some pretty country! Watch for more blogs from this trip.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR