Boy did I mess up. I went flying recently and took the camera with me. I vary rarely take the camera with me because it's hard to fly and shoot at the same time, not to mention risky. When I do take it, I put everything on auto so I don't have to adjust anything, just hold up the camera and shoot.

 Wow was it beautiful! October here in the Midwest is wonderful. Gorgeous fall colors, brilliant blue skies are a pilot and photographers dream. As is the case, an hour in the air felt like 5 minutes. I followed a river for a while and snapped away.
When I got back on the ground I  took some photos of the airplane and  noticed that some ground shots weren't being exposed right. some were light some dark and some the correct exposure and then it hit me. I forgot reset the camera from shooting bracketed photos!

One of the few shots that were salvageable

Needless to say I came home with very few properly exposed shots. Only a few were salvageable. What I did save weren't too bad but man what a bummer!

So take it from someone who's been there, check your camera before you go shooting. 

This is airplane I fly. A 1946 Ercoupe. What a fun ride!

Back in October I sent the last of my entires into the Iowa DOT Aviation Photography Contest. Out of a number of my entries, 3 took home awards. I forgot about the contest until last Friday when this arrived.

I recieved 2nd place for Most Creative with an image of a Piper J3 Cub at Greencastle airport ( the one I fly out of), 3rd place provisional Air to Ground for an image I shot looking out over Coralville Lake and 2nd place provisional Ground to Air for a shot I did of a P-51B banking into the clouds at Oshkosh Airventure. You can take a look at all the entries at: http://www.iowadot.gov/aviation/photocontest/2013/index.html

I'm happy these photos were selected and looking forward to entering more next year.

Happy Thanksgiving all. Wow, this year has really flown by! It seems like yesterday it was July 4th and we're all hot and sweaty and now were cold and frostbitten!
President Lincoln set aside the 3rd Thursday of November as a time for us to give thanks for all that we have and all the bounty this country has given us. So in keeping with the holiday here's a list of what I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for a loving wife, a beautiful and talented daughter and my siblings. All of them have made my life richer.
I'm thankful for a job that I love. Not many people can say that. I love what I do and I love that i'm helping provide care for veterans.
I'm thankful for the friendship I have with my brother Mason's, the members of the local scale model club and for those that attend the Tuesday aviation movie night at the airport (more on that later). They all are great friends that are a very important part of my life.
I'm most thankful for the friendship I have with my buddy James. We've been friends for 20 years and even though we live several thousand miles apart we still remain close. Heck, we fly on flight sim every Sunday.
So there you have it. I have so much to be thankful for and I hope you do as well. So Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I shot this concert while back and really enjoyed it. The nice part is I didn't really have to use a really high ISO. Using a large f/stop f/4 to f/5.6 allowed me to shoot handheld which gave me more opportunity to move around to get the best shot.

 

 

 

 

We all need to be aware of our environment when out shooting. Leaving the place I shoot as I found it is something I strive to do wherever I am.

I shot the photo above with the yellow tree in mind. Because we are attracted to the lightest part of an image, I thought the tree would be the focal point. the curves of the bridge and it's reflection also draw the eye towards the tree.
This was also an HDR image. 9 seperate exposures 1/3 of a stop between each. The images were processed through NIK Effects.

I really enjoyed my time at Valley of Fire and really hope to get back there soon. There are seveal areas where ancient petroglyphs can be viewed.
The petroglyphs glyphs at Atlatl Rock are out in the open, visible to passers by, about 40 to 60 feet above the ground. The main panel is a relatively flat surface which faces EXACTLY east. Depicted on the rock is the atlatl, a notched stick used to throw spears.

 These petroglyphs were located at another part of the park and probably made by the same people some 500 to 1500 years ago.

 

It was very moving to stand and wonder at this ancient art, wondering who made them and why, trying to imagine what it might have been like to be there and watch as these ancient people created them.

LIGHTPAINTING

Lightpainting it really fun! This was done with a flashlight, a camera and tripod and a very dark room. Exposure time as 20seconds at f22 ISO 200. The blue cast is from the windows that leaked light. The cool part is that each try is unique, no two shots are the same.
Obviously you'll need a tripod, and a flashlight. Set your camera (if your camera will allow) for a 20 to 30 second exposure.Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction, and  If you don't have a built in timer, set the camera to B or Bulb. My camera lets me set the shutter speed down to 30 seconds. Click the shutter, turn on the flashlight and start painting. If may take several times to get what you want but this is the fun part. It took 5 tries to get it the way I wanted it.

The first shot was out of the camera, the second is after I tweaked it in Lightroom. It really is painting with light.

 

I tried my hand at HDR or High Dynamic Range photos recently and really liked the results. Using this method brings out more detail in the highlights and shadows, details that don't show up in a single photo. These images were created by shooting 7 shots and bracketing the exposure by .7 fstop for each one. NIK Effects Pro stitched them together. You'll need a tripod as it's really hard to shoot 7 or nine exposures all perfectly aligned (trust me on this one). I used Aperture preferred mode letting the camera choose the shutter. that way everything stays in focus. You can shoot just 3 exposures, normal, under and over exposed, but the more exposures you shoot the better the results.

 

 

 

The NIK software allows you to make HDR images from a single photos. Pretty nifty.

It takes more time to do create this effect but the results are worth it. I think I'll be shooting some HDR in the future.

Two of the most powerful tools in my arsenal are Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe Lightroom.

 

I don't think I could do my job as a Medical Photographer and do freelance and fine art photography without them. Lightroom is my primary weapon of choice. I can do so much with it, organize my images, makes changes to one photo or hundreds with the touch of a button. Make books, slideshows, web galleries etc. Not much needs to be said about Photoshop, the defacto standard for photo retouching, compositing and more. I use these software packages on a daily basis and love'em both.

If you don't have them, and you want to step up your game, you need to get them. Go to www.adobe.com for more information.

One of the new features of Photoshop is the shake reduction filter. This is going to be a game changer! No more do you have to toss out and great photo because it's blurry.

I shot this recently and while not horribly blurry, it was a little soft. One pass in the Blur Reduction Filter and lo and behold it's sharp! Amazing

 

This image was tweaked in Lightroom but with a few more adjustments it becomes a different image.

 

Lightroom and Photoshop, 2 powerful tools to take your photography to the next level.

 

 

When I'm out shooting, I'm looking for a lot of things, how the light plays across the scene, are their converging lines, is there a contrast of color. All these things provide structure to the image.

I was out shooting a few days ago and came upon this beautiful country church. I started to work my way around it, shooting wide shots, close ups etc. I knew there was a photograph here I just had to discover it. I heard a story many years ago, a big oil executive was having his portrait taken, and was annoyed that the photographer was taking so many photos, he asked him "Why do take so many photos, shouldn't one be enough?" The photographers reply was "Do you strike oil on the first try?

 I walked around and shot a few more and noticed an interesting pattern

I went home and after sorting out the evenings photos. This one popped up and I like it.

So I cropped it a little tighter, straightened it and did a little color correction. Not bad .

But what would it look like in Black and White.

Pretty good. It has some nice lines and nice patterns.

Who knows it might look better cropped even further.

So there you go. No too bad. Well that's all for today, now get out there and shoot!

Hey everyone Happy Halloween!.
Halloween is known and loved today as a time to wear costumes, go door to door asking for candy, and watch monster movies. But the holiday's origins go back centuries to the enactment of All Saints' Day, a Christian holiday. Along the way, it has also picked up traditions from Samhain, a Celtic festival celebrating the start of winter. Who would have thought it would become the 2nd biggest holiday after Christmas!

I didn't dress up this year, and haven't for a while but I'm planning on dressing up next time in a costume my lovely wife is going to make.

Next years costume

Yep, I'll be decked out in a Star Trek Movie Uniform. And the answer to your next question is, Yes I'm a Star Trek fan, have been since it first aired back in the 60's. I've seen every movie (yes even the dismal Star Trek V and Nemesis) and most of the TV series. And yes, I've been to conventions where I've met and chatted with stars from the various movie and TV shows.

 

So everyone have a safe and fun Halloween.

 

 

One of the other places I wanted to visit was Rachel Nevada. Most people have never heard of this place but for those interested in experimental aircraft and talk of alien spacecraft Rachel is infamous. Beyond the mountains to the west is Groom Lake, Area 51.
I've wanted for years to visit this place. I've seen and read so much about this area that I couldn't resist making the trek to Rachel. It's not an easy one. It's 2 or so hours North of Las Vegas through some pretty lonely and desolate county. There were many miles where I didn't see a car, house, road or animal.
There are several things to see once you get close to Groom Lake. One is this dirt road that leads to the base. I wanted to drive up the road but wasn't brave enough.

Next stop was the famous Medlin mailbox. Not sure why it's become famous but it's a must see on the way to Rachel. As you can see I'm not the first one to stop there.

On to Rachel and my goal, The Little AleInn. They've really cashed in on the whole UFO thing.

 

It a great place to stop and I highly recommend it. I had a great lunch and took a little time to get some photos. Looking at them again I noticed something that I could kick myself for. I got some photos but didn't take the time to really look around and stretch for some better shots.

Take for instance this scene. I look at it now and can kick myself for not going in and getting some better shots of the truck. So that's my thought for today. Don't settle for just a few quick pictures, really look, really see what's there. And yes it was that gloomy there. When I left Las Vegas it was around 80 or so, up here it was windy, rainy and about 50.

 

We were out taking in the fall colors and it noticed a family getting some outdoor portraits done.
It's funny how you can watch someone shooting and tell if they know what they're doing or not. In this case it was not. Poor camera angle, shooting too close, no fill light were dead giveaways.

Outdoor portraits takes planning and skill. Extra equipment, a tripod, diffusers, bounce cards, and a flash or two will go along way to kick your portraits up a notch. I've been using foam boards to bounce the light as well as homemade reflectors made from PVC pipe and ripstop nylon. They're easy to make and cheap, well under $50 to make. I'll post some photos of the finished panels soon.

If you would like info on the panels and how to make them, post a comment. I'll be happy to send you the information.

I had the opportunity to attend Photoshop World in Las Vegas last month. It was a great workshop and I encourage everyone to attend. There are dozens of workshops on shooting, lighting and of course using Photoshop. I've gone to these before and usually I go in the day before and leave the day after. This time I took time to spend an extra day roaming around Southern Nevada. My main objective was to spend some time at Valley of Fire State Park an hour's drive outside Las Vegas and then drive up to Rachel Nevada of Area 51 fame.
I got up at 4:30 am and made the hour long drive to the park and arrived just as the sun was rising. I was overwhelmed at how beautiful it is! Towering colums of stone, unique rock formations, ancient petroglyphs abound in the park. I hiked and photographed for 3 hours and had the time of my life! It's truely a one of a kind park and I hope to get back there soon.

 

 

AIRSHOW ACTION

I love going to airshows! Watching and photographing my favorite machines is one of my passions. I've been fascinated and enthralled by airplane since I was small. My first ride was in a helicopter and I can tell you I didn't want to get out!
Capturing the speed and power of these flying machines isn't easy, but it IS fun.  To capture the feeling of movement you need to slow the shutter speed down and get some clouds in the background. Higher shutter speeds freezes the motion and the airplane looks like it's hanging from a string, also the higher speed freezes the motion of the propeller. Start with 1/60th of a second and adjust as necessary.
Panning is an art and must be practiced to become proficient. Start by shooting cars or other vehicles.  Also don't grab the lens but cup it in your hand. Speaking of lenses, a good choice for aircraft in the air is a long lens in the 300mm range. I've shot airshows with 600mm lenses and not only are they heavy but hard to track the airplanes, but they do get great photos!! For ground or static shots, a wide angle around 28mm is a good starting point.
Something I plan to do at my next airshow is some portraits of the airplanes and their pilots. The machines are no good without their pilots.  So that's all from Airshow central. Once you start photographing these beautiful birds you won't be able to stop. Now get out there and shoot something!

1/80th @ f/22 ISO 200 300mm lens

1/640 @ f/11 ISO 200 200mm lens



1/250 @f/14 ISO 200 200mm lens

1/100 @ f/22 ISO 200 200mm lens

I enjoy flying and sometimes take my camera along. I usually don't shoot and fly but when the air's smooth I'll take out the camera snap a few. I took a ride in the Ercoupe recently and got some photographs of the beautiful Iowa countryside as Fall is upon us. Autumn is a great time to get out and photograph and shooting from the air is even better. I highly recommend getting a flight in a light plane and shoot photos. It's a great way to gain an new perspective. I followed the Iowa River southweast from Iowa City to get these shots.

Shooting photos from a light plane requires some pre-planning. Have an idea of where you want to shoot, talk to your pilot about what and where you want to go, use a UV filter to cut down on atmospheric haze, and use a high shutter speed, at least 1/125 of a second. Make sure your camera strap is wrapped around your wrist not your neck, you don't want to get choked if the camera wants to take flight as well!  Light aircraft cockpits are generally cramped so take only what you need. A wide to short telephoto lens eg. 28-105 range will do nicely. Early morning or late afternoon are the best times to fly, the air is smoother and the low angled sunlight makes great pictures.

Hi and welcome to my blog Lightpainter. Why Lightpainter? I'm a photographer and photography means "Painting with Light".  Makes sense no?
A little about me. I have a BA in Art and diplomas in Corporate Photography and Visual Communications and have 30+ years experience in photography. I shoot medical photography, portraits, etc. In my off hours I take photographs, build scale models, and fly airplanes. I'm a sport pilot with 100 hours in a 1946 Ercoupe.
I'll be here to share some photos, tips and advice. So here we go.

SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT

We went camping a couple of weekends ago. The weather was aweful with brief periods of downright nasty, rain, drizzle and near freezing temps. BUT that didn't stop me from getting some rather nice shots.

Moonlight 15 Sec. F7.1

 

My point is, don't let the weather stop you from getting out and shooting. By the way, the top photo was taken around 10:30 at night with temps near 35 degrees.  15 seconds at f 7.1. So get out there and shoot.