Oct 25, 2009 | Landscape Photography
There we were just cruising down Hwy1 when Sharon says, “You might want to turn around.” After doing a Bat Turn we were turned around an pulling into this small dirt lot next to the road. This really cool old building was standing there, what turned out to be a 150 year old Ice House. I shot it for a moment when I spied tucked away in the trees this very cool, old snow plow. Now we’re talkin cool!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3729.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
What made the photograph happen is the rain, it was pouring! Why is that so important? The truck which is being held together with moss and lichens wouldn’t be that shinny or the color so rich if it weren’t soaked with rain. The deep overcast permitted shooting under the tree canopy without any deep shadows. And the opening in the trees to the right of the truck let light bounce in on the truck making it visually pop. I was lucky that Sharon said to turn around and the rain was pouring. The worst weather can make for some of the best photography. I’ve heard that somewhere.
Photo captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 24, 2009 | Landscape Photography
Sharon & I are in ME getting very psyched about our ME Media Workshop that starts on Monday. We’re out cruising the amazing and gorgeous ME coast in the rain and just loving it. After stopping at our new friend Warren’s Oyster Winery (picking a couple of bottles of Red) we headed down to Old Bristol. OMG, it’s right out of a Norman Rockwell painting!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3649.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
This little shack on the side of the sheltered cove was just too cool not to stop to photograph. It has been pouring rain so everything is soaked and really full of rich colors. With -1 exp comp the colors really jump. You might be wondering how that can be when it’s raining. Color contrast is a very powerful visual and in the gray light, color jumps off the page.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3659.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Turning around from the shack shot was a harbor of lobster boats. This one with its great red bow against the rich green forest with the sprinkling of fall color really caught my attention. Now it was pouring rain when I took the shot so I got out of the truck, ran to frame up the shot, took the shot and ran back into the vehicle. It wasn’t until just now when I was finishing the photo (had some water debris to remove) when I say the name of the boat. I ain’t making this up, it says “Master..Baiter.” Someone in ME has a sense of humor.
Photos captured by D3x, 200VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 23, 2009 | Landscape Photography
Lakes of The Woods is this simply spectacular little preserved stretch of MI forest that is THE place to shoot. It is out in the middle of nowhere but the locals know about it, they are the ones preserving it and sharing it with the rest of us. What makes the place so special? The trees, leaves, Barred Owls calling off in the distance, it’s seclusion, all of this and a whole lot more, more than likely. I’m just glad we were able to share it with the gang.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3548.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
I kept working on my fall color B&W at first. What attracted me to this was the three different trees have totally different barks, each with its own unique texture. Continuing on my retro minimum DOF look at my work, I shot wide open at f/2.8 and tilted the 24mm just a tad to make the one trunk as out of focus as the other.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3522.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Still working with the same minimum DOF, I switched to the 200f2 and shot this at f/2. I knew I was on to something when my bud Joe wanted to plug onto the tripod and make the same shot. There’s hope for me yet.
Photos captured by D3x, 24PC-E / 200f2 on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 23, 2009 | Landscape Photography
After the Solon School house, we headed to a really cool barn on Hwy72. This is just a great structure. The one problem with the morning shoot was: great subject but suckie, suckie, suckie light. This means that while detail shots are possible and can be really cool, the overall landscape shots required some digital darkroom horsepower.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3358b.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Yeap, this is it, straight shot. You might not even stop if you saw this kinda light but as you can tell, we did. This was in part because I knew that the detail shots without direct light would really be cool. I also stopped because of the cool clouds over the barn. How to make it all happen?
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3358.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
The finished photograph was done entirely in NX2. First, W/B Point was done to remove the color cast. Then a Color Point was dropped in the sky to bring it down which brought out the blue. Lastly, a Color Point was dropped on the barn to bring out the contrast and color. It took less than a minute in post to finish. When you get everything done in camera that you can to make a finished image, finishing in post should be real simple and fast.
Photo captured by D3x, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 22, 2009 | Landscape Photography
You might recognize this structure, it’s not the first time it’s been on the blog. Maybe because I first shot this with one of the 1st D3s around, it’s in the middle of nowhere or it’s just cool, whatever it is I really enjoy photographing this part of history.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3310.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
We arrived well before dawn to the locale leaving most of the gang in the dark why we were out in the middle of nowhere. While standing in the dark, a school bus came and lit up one side of the school house casting some really cool shadows. Once it was gone, McNally took one of the vans and tried to imitate the bus light but it wasn’t as bright. Something to remember and come back to redo.
This photo was taken in really, really, dark, flat light but that didn’t phase me. To finish this photograph, I went into NX2 and did W/B Point and removed the color cast from just the school house. I then went into PS and used Nix Silver Efex Pro to convert to B&W. The final image turned out pretty cool. I was planning on making a video lesson of this today for you but realized my recording mic wasn’t with me so, I owe you one.
Photo captured by D3x, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 21, 2009 | Landscape Photography
Been on the road since the 15th Sept and I have no bloody clue what day it is and barely know we’re in MI, it’s a blur! The photography just keeps on smoking though; never had this kind of back log of images to process ever before. DLWS is great, a really killer group of really nice folks making this so much fun for me and the staff. I will post more and tell more later, even a new lesson to share. For now, enjoy this simple barn image shot yesterday morning.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3436.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Photo captured by D3x, 105VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
