Finally Back to Weird
Transition to Full Frame Complete!
I’m so jacked about having a full-frame DSLR with full-frame glass, I cannot contain myself! I never thought I’d actually own one, ever! But, after a few years of waiting, it finally paid off. It’s kind of like buying a luxury car, at least for us.. First you start with a “reasonably priced car” (as they would say on Top Gear) and then trade or sell for one that’s a little nicer and then trade or sell that one for one a little nicer, and so on and so on. After doing that for a few times, you can finally have the car, or in my case camera, that you want. I started with a Nikon D90 (reasonably priced), then went to a Nikon D300s (a little nicer) and now I have a Nikon D700 (luxury – for me anyway)! Granted, I bought it used, but it’s still awesome! Then, I sold my lenses (glass in photographer geek-speak) on ebay and used that money for new full-frame glass. Now I’m in full-frame nirvana! It handles noise so much better than my old cameras and it’s just a better camera all around. From the buffer size and speed to the size of the viewfinder, it’s just great! There are only a couple of things that my old cameras had that this one doesn’t.. The D700 only has one memory card slot. My D300s had a CF and an SD card slot so you could really pack in the pics. The other thing my old cameras had that this one doesn’t is a button for live view. The D700 has live view, but it’s on the select dial on the top and it’s not really easy to get to. I wish I could change one of the other buttons for this. I know you can change the function button, but I have that set for bracketing as most of the shots I take need to be bracketed. If only there was another button.. Oh well. Overall I’m ecstatic!
Finally Back To Weird
Since all of my glass finally arrived, I was just itching to get out there and get some HDRs with the new camera. So, on my way to work Friday morning, I stopped on South Congress Ave in Austin and took a few shots. The conditions weren’t the best as it was very drizzly out there, but I got several shots anyway. This is a shot of Doc’s Bar and Grill.
The last couple of weeks, Austin hosted the big South By Southwest (SXSW) music/film/tech festival. Now that it has wrapped, I think the people at Doc’s are happy. You see Austin has this saying, “Keep Austin Weird” which is pretty much “normal” for Austinites, and I guess Doc’s is happy that things are getting back to “normal”. The other side of the same sign says, “S Bye SW”. That was my other clue. 🙂 To be honest, I’m glad it’s over as well.
Moon Over Grace Heritage Center
When walking around Georgetown, TX last December, the square was filled with people and the moon was peeking through some fast-moving clouds. I took a few shots here and there on the square, but didn’t really get any shot that I was thrilled with. Too many people around. I did get a shot of the courthouse decorated with Christmas lights under the moon which was OK. But, off the beaten path of the square lied the Grace Heritage Center… an old chapel that is still in use today. The moon aligned just right with the steeple and the lights in the tree added a nice touch.
I created an HDR and then converted it to black and white. I did the HDR first because I wanted to make sure that I could get lots of tones in the converted black and white. I hope you like it!
Pennybacker Bridge in Morning Fog #2
This is a shot I took at about this time last year. It’s a companion to my other Pennybacker shot, but I just never got around to processing it because I thought it was a little too similar to the other. However, I think enough time has passed to maybe put this one out. This one doesn’t have the cedar tree in the foreground, but I like how vivid the sky is.
Black Angus
The field where I was taking my mesquite shots was quite barren – really just praire-looking. However, right next to it was another field that didn’t look so manicured and was an area where some cows were grazing. When the cows saw me shooting, I guess they mistook me for some one who was going to feed them or something because they all made a bee-line for me after I was there for a few minutes. This is one of those cows…
I processed this via HDR Efex… Just tonemapped one shot and gave the old “Grannies Attic” setting with a little vignette. Nothing else…
More Minimalist Mesquites
Here is a companion to my black and white mesquite tree shot I posted a little while ago. It was funny… When I was sitting on the service road of I-35 shooting these trees, a young kid showed up shortly after I got there and started shooting as well. He had a tripod and a pretty nice Canon point and shoot. He asked me if the place was popular to shoot and I told him I had no idea. He said he saw me shooting pictures and he thought he’d stop. He added that he was trying to get that perfect shot of a lone tree in a field. I should have gotten his name, but I didn’t. I wonder if he got the shot he was wanting?
Tetons in Black and White
OK, I think this may be the last of the Jackson Hole series for a while. I still have some other content to process, but they are similar to this yet from different perspectives. I think I will save those for other times so as to not get too monotonous.. Anyway, I took this shot from the vehicle we were driving in during our wildlife tour. I think it could have a little more detail in it, but overall I don’t think it turned out too badly. And, the shot just screamed to be converted to black and white. I’m still trying to get better at taking black and white shots, but it seems to be a genre I can’t quite grasp. Maybe I need to study that zone system thing more, but that seems a little too complicated to me…
Magpie
I took this shot of a magpie on the deck of the condo where we stayed in Teton Village. Apparently magpies are members of the crow family and are supposedly one of the most intelligent birds there is. Of course that’s what it says on Wikipedia so take it with a grain of salt. Anyway, these birds were all over the place. We would put pieces of bread and such out on the deck hoping to get some good shots. However when they landed, by the time you got the camera up for a shot, they took off. Most of the ones I took sucked, but this was the best of the bunch, with a little help from Photoshop, of course! 🙂
Clock Tower and Walk
The tram building in Jackson hole is also known as the “Clock Tower” and is the main landmark in the village. If you ever need to meet someone there before or after a good day of skiing, just tell ’em, “Meet you at the Clock Tower” and you’ll have no problems getting together.
Inside the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar
The town square of Jackson, WY is an awesome place! There’s a park in the middle where the entrances on each corner have arches made of elk antlers that you walk through. And then all of the shops that line the square have that old 1800s look with the porches made of wooden planks and such. You just get that old cowboy vibe when you go there. Speaking of cowboy vibe, there’s a bar on the square called “The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar” and it’s a must see if you ever visit Jackson. Inside there are a bunch of pool tables, two huge bars with saddle bar stools and lots of tables made of what I think are old cedar. I took some pics of them, but as of right now, they didn’t turn out too well. I’ll try working on those more, but no guarantees. Anyway, this shot is near the entrance. Not sure if someone really shines shoes there, but I thought it made for a cool shot.
Simple Mesquite Trees in Black and White
My First Official D700 Shot
Well, I’m gonna make a little change from the Jackson Hole series and post a couple shots I took with my new – new to me – D700. I’m still waiting to purchase some lenses for it, but I do have a 50mm 1.4 that I bought a while back and used with my D300s which works with a full-framer. So here it is.
Mesquite Trees in Black and White
So a couple of weekends ago, I was out driving around trying to find things to shoot and I didn’t have too much luck. I went down to the Snake Farm near New Braunfels for something to do. For some reason I always wanted to go there. Now I have and won’t need to go there again. Pretty touristy and not really worth it. Might be fun for the kids though. Anyway, while I was driving, I noticed this area where there were nothing but mesquite trees in a grassy field on a slope. If you get the right angle there was nothing on the horizon but sky. I thought that might be a cool place to get some black and whites. This spot is located on the southbound side of I-35 south of exit 195 if I remember correctly. I have linked up the location below the shot if you are interested in going out there to shoot them yourself sometime.
Tetons and Snake River
Ansel Adams took one of the most beautiful shots ever from a view overlooking the Snake River with the Teton mountains above. It is an iconic shot and is one of his most famous. Below is the one I’m talking about:
I don’t think I could ever accomplish anything close to his stuff and I must admit I’m a bit uncomfortable even trying to compare my work to his for that matter, but in this case I think the best I can do is at least compare locations. From there it’s all technique and he is the best and always will be. So, my try from his spot is this:
Our tour guide from Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris is the one who recommended that we stop here and subsequently took us to this famous spot. The location even has a little marker that talks about Ansel Adams’ picture and how famous it really is. So, I just had to try it myself and see how I could do. I must say, it’s my favorite from the trip! I really like how the light from the sunrise hits the tops of the trees in the foreground. I also like the cloud formation halfway up the mountains from the temperature inversion at this time of the morning. However, it’s no match to Ansel’s great image. He had a great sky and a wonderful view of the river and was able to convey that like no other. I bow to the master!
One thing I found interesting though, is the difference in the size of the trees in the foreground and how much of a difference there is between the two photos. Ansel Adams’ shot, which was taken in 1942 I think, shows a lot of the river due to the trees’ youth. Now the trees are so much bigger and the view is very different. From what our tour guide told us, apparently there are some people that would like these trees torn down so as to get a better photo like the one from Mr. Adams. I must say, I am not one of those people…
My Skis and My Shadow
Just a quick post of a fun shot I took while skiing in Jackson Hole. For half a day I ditched my poles and just skied with my camera hoping to get some nice shots on the slopes. That was mostly a miserable failure, but I kind of liked this shot of my skis and my shadow while riding the Sublette chair.
Big Horn Sheep
Bought a Full Framer!
Well, I did get a new full frame camera like I said I would in a previous post. Actually, it’s not really new, but it it’s new to me! I bought a used Nikon D700! I was torn between getting a D600 and a D800 but both have issues I really didn’t want to deal with. Plus, the price on this used D700 was one I couldn’t pass up. I can’t wait to start posting pictures from this baby! As a matter of fact, I want to thank Dave Wilson for his input on my purchase! He’s a great photographer who’s advise I appreciate greatly! Speaking of which, I will need to get new lenses for it since the ones I have are for a cropped sensor camera. Therefore, I have listed my current lenses on ebay if anyone out there is interested! They are in great condition with no scratches on the glass at all! I don’t have the original box or manuals for the fisheye, but otherwise they are all in mint condition!
Big Horn Sheep
This was a shot I got while out with Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris. I took this shot through the window of the Suburban we were riding in. This is a female sheep that was basically just hanging out and eating. She came down from the top of the mountain in a few minutes while we were out searching for other animals and by the time we came back, she was right by the road! This shot probably isn’t the best technically speaking because she’s in the middle of the frame, but I think it works here. Besides, when I tried to crop it to make it more interesting, I think it just got worse…
Teton and Trees
World Press Photo of the Year
If you haven’t seen the World Press Photo of the Year, you should check it out. It is a tragic photo, but depending on your perspective, could be a little political. It has to do with the Middle East. I must say that as tragic a picture it is, it is very powerful as well as technically impressive. It almost looks as though it was staged because the processing is so good. Anyway, it is quite a photo!
Teton and Trees
Speaking of technically impressive, I hope this one meets that criteria a little. I took this at a scenic turnout on Highway 191 in Wyoming on the suggestion of a tour guide from Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris. They really know where and when to get the great photos you are looking for as well as having the knowledge to find wild animals in the local area! I highly recommend them! As far as the shot goes, this is the Grand Teton mountain just as the sun was rising. The little cloud layer you see halfway down through the image is what’s known as an inversion layer where the temperature above the cloud is warmer than than temperature below. It could be a difference of as much as 20 – 30 degrees! When I took this shot is was about 5 below zero fahrenheit. So it was probably about 20 degrees or so above the layer. Interesting stuff!
Back from Jackson Hole, Wyoming
What a wonderful trip
It’s been a couple of weeks or so since I’ve posted anything to the old blog here, but I have a good reason. A couple of weeks ago, Eileen and I left with our friends, Doug, Tricia, Valerie, Theresa and Ellen for a week of skiing and fun in wonderful Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We had a great time! The skiing was awesome as were the views! Well, it was awesome for some skiers in the group. One of the skiers, Tricia, blew out her ACL in the middle of the trip after um, let’s say “catching some air”. It sucked because ski patrol had to bring her down off the mountain and she couldn’t ski for the the remainder. She took it very well and I think still had a great time as did the rest of us!
Not only was the area at the ski resort beautiful, but the whole Jackson Hole (no pun intended) area is unbelievable! It’s up near Yellowstone Park so the mountain vistas are just awesome! It made for exceptional photography opportunities as well as other great activities. We even took a snowmobile tour through Yellowstone to see Old Faithful! What a blast that was! Anyway, I’ll be putting out more content from this trip in the next few posts. There’s one shot in particular that I can’t wait to post, so stay tuned!
Tram Building
This is the main building at the bottom of the mountain that houses the tram that takes you about 4000 vertical feet up to the very top of the mountain. You get dumped off on a run called Rendezvous which a wide open black, but it isn’t too difficult as long as the wind isn’t blowing too hard and it isn’t snowing. 😉
South Walk-up at Texas Capitol
Superbowl Weekend Coming Up
Super Bowl Weekend! Woohoo! It’s always exciting to watch the two best teams in the NFL play for the ultimate prize. There’s nothing like American football, no? It’s the best! However, this year, I’m not really too enamored with either team vying for the bragging rights of “Super Bowl Champions!” The Niners are OK because they have a good coach and their young quarterback is fun to watch. Other than that, meh. The Ravens on the other hand are aging, have a good coach as well as a good defense led by someone who was accused of being involved in a double-murder a few years ago. Again, meh. When all is said and done, I will probably root for the Ravens because their head coach – John Harbaugh – is the older brother of the Niners head coach – Jim Harbaugh – and has been in the league a few years longer. Therefore, the older brother must win! Otherwise, I hope it’s a good game like the last few Super Bowls have been! Are you rooting for a particular team? If so, who and why?
Restaurants Banning Food Photography in New York
Did you know that food photography by restaurant patrons was a phenomenon? I know some people who like to take pictures of their meals, especially if it’s really good, but apparently some restaurants in NYC don’t like it. Maybe it makes the chefs work harder to present their meals or something? Whatever. Another reason why New York City is a great place to visit, but not a great place to live…
South Walk-Up at the Texas Capitol
I took this shot during the same visit as the shot in my previous post. This one was a bit more tricky to process and has a bit more noise in it, but I like how it turned out anyway.
Texas Capitol Dome Thru Trees
Now that I have my camera back from the shop, I decided that I should not let the repairs go to waste. But, where would I go to get some shots? Well the old faithful Texas Capitol, of course! That’s always a good place to go when you want to practice shooting! I decided to go on my way to work last Friday morning. I have shot so many photos of the place, but I wanted to get a new angle. I thought a shot through the trees might suffice and this is what I came up with. I didn’t have a lot of time to try many different angles, but I kind of liked this one. However, I’m not sure if I got too many trees in this one and not enough capitol or if it turned out OK. Let me know what you think..
Also, I have one more shot that I may put out soon from a more traditional angle, but it needs quite a bit of work. Hopefully it will turn out nice. So, stay tuned!
Siamese Twins #2
Got My Camera Back!
Woohoo! I finally got my camera back from the shop and can’t wait to get out there and get some new shots! I’ll still be posting stuff from the archives, but I should have some great new content in the next few weeks!
Siamese Twins #2
Speaking of stuff from the archives, this is another shot I took of the “Siamese Twins” from the “Garden of the Gods” in Manitou Springs, CO. It’s an HDR that I converted to black and white. The color HDR turned out nice and I may post it some day, but I really like the textures and the sky in the black and white conversion. Click here to see my other Siamese Twins shot.
RCAF 04
Camera Rumors
If you are a Canon or Nikon owner and want to know what your camera maker has in mind for product releases in the near future, try taking a look a the Nikon Rumors or Canon Rumors blogs. I visit the Nikon one just about every day. I don’t know how they do it, but they produce “bleeding edge” speculation about Nikons and Canons. Somehow they get information before anyone else has a clue! A lot of times, the speculation reported becomes reality. Sometimes not. But that’s why it’s a rumors site! Even if the info they provide isn’t always true, I have found that more than just the majority of the time what they say is on the money! It helps me get my savings together to prepare for the next big purchase! Just remember that what you read out there may or may not become reality..
RCAF T-6 Trainer
Here’s a shot of a Royal Canadian Air Force T-6 Trainer aircraft I took a few years ago out at the Georgetown Airport. I really like the yellow color they gave it, but I always thought Canadian aircraft would be red, wouldn’t you?
Waikiki Sailboats
Buzzword Bingo Buzzkill
Well, in my last post, I put out something I thought was rather clever and fun. Since then – out of curiosity – I decided to Google the words, “buzzword bingo” and all kinds of stuff popped up. There is this one link that will do all of the work for you as far as juggling the words and putting out nice cards. Check it out…It kind of put my little bingo idea to shame. What a buzzkill! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted… Maybe I should’ve checked Google before I posted?
Waikiki Sailboats
It’s cold in almost every part of the country this time if year, except for maybe parts of California, Florida and all of Hawaii. It can even get quite cold here in Texas. Most of the winter it’s quite mild, but we do get the occasional ice storm as well as a few freezes. So, when weather changes like this take place, I like to post something taken from a different climate. So, that’s where this picture comes in.
A few years ago, we took a trip to Hawaii and stayed at a great hotel on Waikiki Beach. As soon as we got to that hotel, we ran out to the beach to take in the view. Way out in the water were all of these sailboats and stand-up paddle boarders (if that’s what they are called). I thought it was just so cool and awesome! Nothing like being on the beach in Waikiki watching sailboats!
One thing about this shot though… I took this before I got super serious with photography and got my DSLR. I just took it with my little Lumix DMC-TZ5 and I cropped it a little and converted it to black and white. I still like it, though and I hope you do, too!
Oh, and lastly, we plan on taking another trip to Hawaii sometime this year and I will have my super serious DSLR with me to get some great shots! I can’t wait! Even if I wasn’t into photography, I still couldn’t wait! It’s Hawaii!!! Hang loose!!!
3 Levels Under the Rotunda
Buzzword Bingo
Ever been bored out of your skull in sales meetings or any other kind of meeting? Well, for your own amusement and possibly for your use as a listening aid, I have come up with the following buzzword bingo card:
| B | I | N | G | O | |
| B | due diligence | granular | 30,000 ft view | leverage | turn-key |
| I | 360 degree view | deep dive | deliverables | robust | efficiencies |
| N | low hanging fruit | drill down | going forward | tool set | single pane of glass |
| G | synergy | best practices | holistic | decompress | hybrid |
| O | capture | high level | governance | bandwidth | optimize |
| X | comprehensive | snapshot | seamless | autonomy | level-set |
This is a card (with a few extras) of some of the most useless terms used in business meetings all across our fruited plain. I’m not sure why they are in the lexicon now, but (oooh, lexicon… should add that one as well) I guess it makes people sound smarter and makes their product/project sound more important than it really is. So, copy and paste the above into a spreadsheet, make a few different versions by moving some of the terms around to different cells and then print and them out to meeting participants. It will make the meeting a little more enjoyable and you may even listen closer instead of being bored out of your mind. However, even if you are listening, you may not get the gist of the meeting due to the fact that you want to win the bingo game! (The X line at the bottom of the table are extras to shake up the different cards you may want to print.) If anyone knows of other words or terms that are just as useless, I’d love the hear them!
3 Levels Under the Rotunda
There are so many angles in Texas capitol building. If only there were more time… Plus, this is a year for the Legislative Session. In other words, in Texas, Congress convenes every other year and for only about 5-6 months or if the governor mandates a special session. I guess this way they don’t have as much time to screw stuff up! I wish the US government would take a page from Texas’ constitution in regards to this. Anyway, since the session starts next week, it would be a little more difficult to shoot there. Heck, my camera’s in the shop anyway so I guess it doesn’t really matter!
Cafe Du Monde in Black and White
Check out this robot that catches a ball… Man, they are getting smarter and smarter! Apparently Microsoft has been somewhat instrumental in the development of this. I used to think Google was Skynet, but maybe it’s Microsoft? (For all of you non-nerds out there, Skynet was the corporation in the “Terminator” movies that built the machines that became self-aware and tried to wipe out the human race. It’s beginning to seem more plausible, eh? ;-))
Texas Capitol From SoCo #2
Lightroom 4 Quirks
I got Lightroom for Christmas! Woohoo! It looks like a pretty powerful tool to say the least! Luckily, I also got Scott Kelby’s Lightroom 4 book to help figure this behemoth out! So far so good! However, there’s one thing in his book that he does not really address and that’s TIFF + JPGs. You see, when I edit a photo, I like to save it as a TIFF, then watermark it and save it again as a JPG to put out on the web. I keep the same file-name, but a new file gets created with the .jpg extension. However, Lightroom wants to organize it so both the TIFF and JPG files are just one, meaning the JPG is a “sidecar” file or a TIFF + JPG. I don’t like this at all and I can’t seem to find a way to turn this off, unless you do this during your import settings. So, what I had to do was create a whole new folder just for jpgs and move the file in there with Windows Explorer and then import that. There’s got to be a better way than this? Anyone out there have any ideas?
Texas Capitol From SoCo #2
Here’s a picture I took back in April of last year.. It’s a shot of the Texas Capitol from the hill up on South Congress Ave. I took it early in the morning so there wouldn’t be much traffic, especially since I decided to take this in the middle of the road! This is a companion to another shot I took where I had zoomed out a bit further…
Happy (Belated) New Year… maybe!
No More Photos?
Well, I finally went and did it. I decided to stop taking pictures. That’s right. I’m done! Most of you out there are probably thinking, “Thank goodness! His stuff sucks, anyway!” Well, hold on. I’m not through yet… I’ve only stopped taking pictures… temporarily! Ha! Gotcha! It’s gonna be a slow New Year starting off as far as picture-taking goes…
So here’s the story. Back in October when I was taking pictures of the balloons at the Georgetown Airfest, I accidentally dropped my camera! Ouch! Luckily all that was damaged was the control panel LCD on the top and my pride. Everything else worked fine. As a matter of fact the LCD worked pretty well, but it had a large black spot in it on the lower right side. Well, it started getting worse so I finally took it to Precision Camera to see what they could do. Sounds like they can replace it quite reasonably. I just hope it’s reasonably soon because I have some plans coming up where I’ll really need it! They said a “few weeks”, but I’ll need it in a “few weeks”! Fingers are crossed! Of course, if I make a few more sales from my gallery, I’ll be sitting pretty for a new full-framer! I’m close now, but just not quite ready to pull the trigger. Anyway, I’m not totally done taking photos yet, only temporarily. So, if any of you out there are just dying for some excellent prints to dress up your walls, stop by my gallery and order to your heart’s content! Help a brutha out! 😉
In the meantime, I’ll try and post some photos I’ve taken over the years that haven’t made it to the blog yet and I’ll also try to post some other interesting little tidbits about this and that. Hope you don’t mind.
First Interesting Tidbit, Me!
I always feel a little funny about promoting my work because it seems so arrogant or self-centered, like I’m bragging or something. But in order to make money and get my name out there, that’s what I have to do. Or that’s what anyone with their own hobby/business has to do, right? So, here’s a little something that was written about my work… Sebastian St. Troy, a colleague of Austin real estate agent Shannon Schmitz, posted a very nice write-up about my work on their blogs, “Shannon Knows Austin Real Estate and Fine Living” and Austin Fine Living Magazine. Not sure everything they say in there about me or my work is true, but I’ll take it! 😉 Thanks so much, Sebastian and Shannon! And, if you need some real estate help in the Austin area, I’m sure they will be a great help! Check ’em out!
OK, Finally a Picture! Peyton Manning Handing-Off
So this is a shot I took back in September/October when we went to Denver. Yes, another Denver shot! Sorry, but I have quite a few of those left. 🙂 This is when we went to the Raiders v Broncos game on Sept 30th. It was awesome! We had great seats and Denver kicked the Raiders collective butt! This shot is a tad bit out of focus, but I like it nonetheless! I thought I’d add this one since the Broncos not only made the playoffs with Peyton’s help, but they’re the number one seed in the AFC! That means home-field throughout! I think Peyton should be the MVP this year! A lot of people think Adrian Peterson of the Vikings should be which is a valid argument, but Peyton makes everyone on his team better! I don’t think Adrian does that! Oh, and Peyton is handing-off to Willis McGahee in this shot….
Evan's Expo 