Rusty's Mountain

I don't actually know the name of this mountain, but it seemed fitting.

We just got back from Cedar City. We go down every year for the summer Shakespearean Festival. We try and see as many plays we can, but it seems like with our new daughter and new jobs, we have less and less time. Anyway, we have our favorite places to eat while down there. One of the tops is Rusty's Steak house up Cedar Canyon (east of out of Cedar City towards Cedar Breaks/Bryce Canyon). When we got there, the mountain behind the restaurant was just calling to be photographed. Unfortunately, the left part of the sky was burned out due to the sun behind the clouds.

Secret Falls

A few weeks ago, a few of us from work took a long lunch break for another quick photo walk. This time it was up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Right at the "S" bend, there is a trail head. Off to one side is a small stream. a few hundred feet up the stream is this waterfall. We got there at the wrong time of day. The entire waterfall section was encased in shadows. Mixing the HDR images allowed me to get the brights and the darks into the one image.

Wheeler Farm's Barn

Everyday, I drive by Wheeler Farm on my way to and from work. Wheeler farm is a great family friendly place to visit, and it free, and yo get to learn about, yep, farming.

anyway, a lot of people know this barn from the front side where the enterence ios, but I get to see the back side all the time. I always liked the way that the back side is kind of hidden away, yet still quite prominent in the scenery.

When I shooting HDR images, most high end DSLR cameras have auto-bracketing (basically the camera takes multiple pictures for you at different exposure settings). but mine doesn't have this nice feature so I have to do it manually, which I don't mind because then I know exactly what its doing and I feel more in control. However when you do thid manually, it does take a bit longer. I didn't realize how fast the wind was blowing the clods by that day, and so I when I created the first HDR photo, my sky was in blured motion. I then burned it out and replaced it with one of the original skys for the image above. The image below is the HDR sky. Tell me which you like better.

HDR Tree

This is another of some of my first HDR photos. This is the same tree in my backyard as the previous post, but from a different angle. I loved how the sun was shinning through some of the leaves, and I wanted to try and capture that and all the detail. Only an HDR photo could help me do that. Any other photo would have lost detail in the lights and darks. I hope to shoot more scenery this way.

Due to the way that the HDR photos are processed, there is more "noise" and grain produced, which can be seen on the fence. I tried to use a noise reducing and smoothing program to fix it, but nothing is perfect.

My First HDR

This is my first attempt at an HDR photo. This was taken in my back yard, with my Nikon D40x, using a tripod and manually dialing in the multiple exposures.

Here is one of the more normal originals:


I'm trying out the trial version of Photomatix, but the trial version adds watermarks. I had to erase those out and touch up the image. I hope that with practice, I can do more of this type of photography. I've found a great website that deatails HDR photography. Check out some of his outstanding work at www.stuckincustoms.com

Burning Sky

Back in March '08, we decided to go on a whirlwind trip to Istanbul. It turned out to be one of the best trips I've ever taken. on one of the last days there, we took a ferry out to a set of small islands in the Sea of Marmara. On the way back in the evening, I caught a shot of one of the most spectacular sunsets, I had ever seen. It was twice as amazing due to the reflection from the sea.

Drivers Seat

Where I work, there are a few aspiring photography artists. Everyone once and a while, we will organize a little photo walk, technical class, or just a photo get together. We like to practice our techniques, help each other out, give feedback and generally help each other to improve.

On one such walk we went to Wheeler Historic Farm. This is a great place to bring kids, family, and friends to enjoy a taste of life as it once was.

test picture

Welcome

Welcome to my new Photography Blog!

Photography has been a great interest of mine since high school when I took some of my first classes. I started out with my fathers old Pentax SLR, which he used back in school with his classes. I still have it as a remembrance. I hope that this blog will serve as both a medium in which I can share some of special moments that I was lucky enough to capture, and also as a learning tool in which I might receive both feedback and tips. I can always use a little help, and learn something new.

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