Alone While Together

This is a photograph that I took last summer.  I was down in Galveston shooting portraits of some children.  After finishing with the kids, I walked around a little and saw these two girls setting on the bench across the street from me.  I sat and watched them for some time.  Although they were together, it seemed like they were both very isolated from the rest of the world and drawn totally into themselves.   Talking to some of my friends, it seems that this is almost a constant state of many of our teenagers.  I wanted this shot to reflect the isolation that I thought I was seeing. 

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 70-200mm f/2.8 at 200mm, shot at ISO 200, f/2.8 and 1/2,000^th of a second.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity and vibrance.

Photoshop—used nik Silver Efex Pro to add a black and white layer and then set the opacity of that layer to 45% and used onOne PhotoFrame to add edge treatment.

Old Sewing Machine

I had taken several photos before Cole and Chloe came over and was heading up to process the images when I noticed the light on JD’s sewing machine.  I really like the way the lighting was falling on the various parts of the scene; so, out came the tripod and down went the camera on it.   I immediately decided that I would process the photo as a black and white and wanted the overall tone of the image to be low-key photograph.

I think that the overall treatment complements the subject matter.

Camera settings:   Nikon D3, 17-35mm at 17mm, f/2.8, shot at ISO 200, f/22 and 3 seconds on a tripod

Post Processing: 

Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast.

Photoshop—used nik Silver Efex Pro with antique preset to convert image to B&W.

Chloe’s Favorite Christmas Decoration

My granddaughter, Chloe, who is three (almost four), has always loved this mouse.  She tells us every year that it is her favorite Christmas decoration in the whole year.  All we get out of our six year old grandson is “it’s really girly.”

I am not allowed to post any photographs of the grandkids on the internet—orders from grandma and “special daughter.”   I really got some good ones during the holidays.  I used David Hobby’s method—a strobe in each corner of a room set to manual and another on a flash bracket to give a little fill light (set at -2.3 EV).  I like the results and would love to share them with you, but, I would have to kill myself if I did.

Hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas!

Camera settings:   Nikon D3, 50mm f/1.4, shot at ISO 200, f/1.4 and 1/125 of a second with flash and softbox

Post Processing:  Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast, adjusted white balance and added a vignette.

Breaking the Rules

A couple of weeks ago, I was over at a friend’s house in the Heights (an old neighborhood near downtown Houston).  While in his backyard, I noticed this very interesting wall.  It is made of all sorts of material—old bricks, stone and cement.  It has a lot of character; so, naturally, I grabbed my camera bag.

I decided that I wanted to do two things:  break some photographic “rules” and use a little flash to add interest to a flat wall.  

I think that some people get all tied-up with this photographic rule or that one.  I think it is fun to just go out and break the rules.  I also think that it is one of the best ways to learn what really works, and why it works.  I centered the subject and tried to make sure everything in the photo was in focus and sharp.   I set my camera to record at vivid color.

I wanted just a splash of light across the walI, so I used a snot on my flash and set the flash at 1/64^th power.

Before my blog, this would have been one of those photos that I took only for me.  It would be a learning shot—did it work, why did it not work, how can I change it, etc., etc. etc.  Now I share it with everyone in cyberspace and let all of you out there decide.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 105mm Macro f/2.8, at ISO 200, f/11 and 1/30 on a tripod.

Post Processing:  Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast and increased color saturation of various colors to add depth to the image.

“Whatsthat?”

When our grandson was but one year old, his grandmother would carry him all over and he would point to something and utter:  “whatsthat?”   He is still very curious about everything, but, he no longer asked his question in such a unique manner—he now uses the Queen’s English to asked his questions, after all, he is SIX!

This summer we were visiting the mother of a life-long friend, when our grandson spotted the telephone and asked: “whatsthat?”  At first, I did not know what he was asking about; he then went over and pointed directly at the telephone and repeated his question.   I had grown-up with this type of telephone (and party lines), so I was quite dumb-founded that he did not know what it was.  I told him that it was a telephone; he was not sure of my answer and gave me a very skeptical look.   I pulled out my cell phone (a real phone!) and called the number.  It rang and we got him to answer it.  He was shocked that it really was a telephone.

As we drove home, I discovered that my son did not know what a “party line” was.  It is easy to forget about how much has changed in our lifetimes.  I wanted the photo to look like it is from an era long ago—like me!

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 28-70 f/2.8 at 45mm, shot at ISO 720, f/2.8 and 1/30 of a second

Post Processing: 

Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast. 

Photoshop—converted to black and white using nik Silver Efex Pro and antique preset with a few minor changes to the preset.

From a Simpler Time

I spent many hours sitting in these rocking chairs--doing little but watching the world go by and talking to my family and friends.   I wanted the photo to reflect the simple nature of this place and the time from which it came.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 28-70 f/2.8 at 40mm, shot at ISO 200, f/16 and 1/60 of a second, white balance set at cloudy

Post Processing: 

Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast, added clarity. 

Photoshop—converted to black and white using nik Silver Efex Pro.