Yarmouth Photo Group

January 3--365

2011-01-03T14:24:00.003-05:00

Gulls on the Royal River.

Mel's start for Project 365

2011-01-02T10:14:00.002-05:00

Mila in the yard

2010-11-04T22:06:00.003-04:00

Olympus Stylus Epic, 35mm, Fuji Neopan 400.

First Friday Art Walk Portland

2010-06-05T20:05:00.008-04:00

The shirt-pocket size compact camera is now so prevalent, there is an increase in social ease with its use. Everyone has a cell phone camera or a super compact, and an artist can hide among the snapshooters. Although creative success on the street is a function of the passion of the photographer, there's no denying the fact that capturing unposed shots is directly related to the unobtrusiveness of the tool. Quite the advantage to someone with an idea in mind. Canon S 90: ISO 640; 1/160th; f 3.5

Found objects in basement of art cooperative

Tango musician at Mayo Street Art Gallery

Singing and dancing on Congress Street

2010-02-18T06:12:00.002-05:00

Hello Photo Boys,
By random activity, I managed to guess my username and password for my blogsite account. Have missed you all. Miss the Wednesday night wine fest with photos. Have had to cut back on my Polaroid shooting because of scarcity and cost. Been doing lots of iPhone photography though. At least some credit goes to Dr. Billmeier and his 365 project with his phone two years ago. I'll attach a sample.
M

My Photo Contest submissions

2010-01-29T19:04:00.003-05:00

Three submissions for the Boothbay Photo Contest. One in each of the areas of Color, Water, and Black & white

One more

2009-11-22T10:19:00.003-05:00

This one's from a small lake near where I work in Charlottesville. It's with the 7D and the 2003 18-55mm EF-S kit lens and a polarizer.

Some fall colors

2009-10-27T00:10:00.003-04:00

Canon 7D

2009-10-21T21:49:00.003-04:00

I have the new Canon 7D right now to test out. Here's a snap from this morning.

Commercial Photography

2009-10-14T17:34:00.004-04:00

I shot my first commercial photographs for a friend's website last week. What an interesting and challenging process. Mixing your own ideas with the "client's" is more difficult than just shooting for yourself. My hat is off to Mark and the other pros. Mel

Handoff

2009-10-13T21:46:00.002-04:00

Boston, & U2

2009-10-10T04:42:00.002-04:00

Full Moon on the Casco Bay and an adventure

2009-09-07T16:16:00.007-04:00

The full moon was spectacular this month, as it was accompanied by brilliant, clear weather. Paul and I saddled up the Mako and witnessed the sunset/moonrise dance with Jupiter thrown in as icing. Here's one with Fisherman's Monument in the foreground. Very difficult to capture from a small boat, even with I.S.. Having to choose between the moon and the monument, I selected for the latter, leaving the moon to fend for herself.

There's a favorable balance of exposure when the moon first comes up, and it's possible to be at I.S., f 5.6, ISO 800 and 1/30th of a second to get both Eagle Island and the moon's definition. The sky still has light in it, allowing a more favorable exposure of the two items 250,000 miles apart. What I needed was f 16, ISO 100, & 1/500th second to get everything in focus, counteract the bouncing boat, and have both fore & back grounds exposed correctly. Still, a pleasing shot, taken at 105 mm and cropped in LightRoom.

One other composition includes the Maine landscape. I like this one, even though the seagulls' focus is, upon close inspection, suffering from the shallow depth of field that f 5.6 produces.

Nick to the rescue!

We went to Paul's Marina in Brunswick aboard the Mahuba on Saturday to get lunch - they make the best sandwiches around. Also needed some petrol, and here's where the drama began. As I was unscrewing the gas cap, the key dropped in the drink. I was not immediately concerned, however, for I've had it on a monkey fist rope "floatie" for the last seven years and would have bet the farm on the fact that it would bob on the surface. Imagine my surprise when it promptly dove to the bottom of the 12 foot high tide! We were screwed. Making a long story short, 18 year old Nick volunteered to go on a retrieval dive. After four attempts, he came up with the key. What a guy! He earned a reward and a great story to tell.

MacMahan Island

2009-08-20T21:35:00.002-04:00

So we're on vaca next week at this lazy, small island, located at the confluence of the Sheepscot and Sasanoa. These images are of Dave Barry's vegetable & bread boat. It travels thru the 5 Island area on Tuesdays and Fridays during the summer months.

This portrait of Dave was taken with theLens Baby Mel gave me. What a guy.

The boat has foldable wings to stabilize this low-rider, especially when laden with provisions and crew.

The crew plays music too. Smiles all around. Half a dozen stops or so around the islands.

Silhouette

2009-08-04T22:12:00.002-04:00

Beach Scene

2009-07-19T22:05:00.002-04:00

Some people enjoy being in front of the camera. Witness N.Y. Jess on the sandbar with balancing rock.

Adox 50

2009-06-15T18:43:00.002-04:00

I love this stuff. As a B&W neophyte, I find myself trying out a lot of different films. Adox is based on a formulation introduced in the 1950s (formerly known as Efke), and I can't really put my finger on it but I like the look. I can imagine it would look much better in a print.

Splash of Color

2009-06-08T18:52:00.004-04:00

I've never seen flowers that come out so quickly. At 5pm there was just a little showing and at 7:30am it looks like it has been out for several days. Mel

Working on Depth of Field

2009-06-01T18:43:00.004-04:00

Working on finding the sweet spot on this lens. Interesting to balance more depth with less background blur. Mel

L'il wiggler

2009-05-25T12:37:00.002-04:00

I modified my Holga for 35mm film using the method I found at Squarefrog — by using their handy click chart (sized perfectly for the back of your Holga), you can get 24 frames on a roll of film. Here's our little monkey girl, through the eyes of the Holga:

Artistic Wedding Shots

2009-05-22T20:32:00.004-04:00

Terry, a friend and father of the bride, asked if I could put together a show to take to family members in England who could not attend the Mass. wedding. I shot without flash. Here are a few from the creation that included G10 videos and still shots set to music.

2009-05-18T18:46:00.003-04:00

This is a picture I took with my trusty G9 in Tuscany last January. Besides the horizon issue, the picture did not capture the day... wet and cold. My first experience with the Tone Curve in the Develop module solved this. I was able to selectively adjust both dark and light details in the sky and adjust mid tones in the foreground. From now on, I think I will make most of my tonal and contrast adjustments here.

Sigma 50mm f1.4

2009-05-18T18:28:00.004-04:00

Shooting with the new Sigma 50mm f1.4. Lots of work to do to be able to correctly control the depth of field. Mel

Streets At Night

2009-05-16T10:43:00.003-04:00

Hello Gentlemen,
I have been shooting again, though sporadically, on the dusk/night shots I started a while ago with the polaroid. The images are mostly misses but those that hit have a a lot of impact. Here is my most recent favorite so far.
M

Spring Equinox in Alaska

2009-05-13T20:22:00.001-04:00

The sun’s apparent trajectory is illustrated in this in-camera multiple exposure made south of Bird Point on ice-choked Turnagain Arm. Eight exposures shot at 60-minute intervals were made on one frame of film beginning at 9:30 a.m. Center on the horizon is Mount Alpenglow, rising sharply 4,419 feet above the south shoreline of Turnagain Arm. This shot was taken near the spring equinox, the day when night and day are nearly the same length.

New York City Street Shot

2009-05-09T07:54:00.003-04:00

Time Square; 10:30 PM; rainy night. Practicing the art of street shots. Love it when there's the glance that captures the eyes, connecting the viewer to the viewed. Color or B & W? I have my favorite. What's yours?

2009-04-11T19:18:00.001-04:00

This is the photo we worked on at Rick's last week for the Atlantic Salmon auction.

Two set up shots

2009-04-11T19:12:00.002-04:00

So here's a pic I worked on. First as a snapshot, there were distracting background elements. I took over 50, tweaking minor elements. Used two flashes, then did a bit of massaging in Lightroom. Thinking of printing it big.

Pushing it

2009-04-08T22:46:00.002-04:00

I've been having a blast developing and scanning B&W film at home lately. Here's one shot on ASA 400 film, pushed 2 stops to 1600:

2009-04-05T17:19:00.003-04:00

This tree stand on Tim Sander's property has always looked like an interesting subject. I finally took the time to stop and capture a foggy morning mood. Fog always seems to add a little mystery to a photo. Taken with my G9, ISO 400, f/4.0. I darkened the fence enough to eliminate detail and hopefully make the trees the focal point.

Rick's first time!

2009-04-01T19:19:00.001-04:00

Thanks, guys, hope you enjoyed the wine!

More Pin Holes

2009-03-21T09:49:00.004-04:00

Portland Yacht Club, 1 sec, 400ISO, f185

Falmouth Foreside, 1/2 second, ISO 400, f185

(According to Holgamod the approx f stop is really 185)

Nice to be shooting again. Mel

Pinhole Photos

2009-03-08T18:22:00.008-04:00

Midmorning sun from garden room - pinhole, 2 sec; ISO 800

OK, so not much activity on the Lighting Boot Camp idea. How about this one? Zak tells me that the international pinhole camera day is on his birthday this year - April 26. Go to www.pinholeday.org for more information. In an effort to support this idea, here are 4 pics done with a pinhole lens on my digital slr. Also, in the March 8th Press Herald is a description of Chris Pinchbeck's trailer-sized pinhole camera. He has an exhibit at the Farnsworth of his 6 foot creations.

Winslow Park - 1/15th; ISO 400

Nancy's hand: 1/3 second at ISO 800; f ?

Winslow Park again; 1/60th and ISO 800

These photos are dreamy in that their softness and reduced dynamic range helped me to settle in on the composition. Lots of blacks. Because of the smallness of the aperature, the scene thru the viewfinder is very dark. Rather than being a detriment, however, this made it necessary to concentrate on the fundamentals. Your turn now. What are you up to?

New Project/Self Study Opportunity

2009-02-22T07:32:00.002-05:00

Anyone interested in doing this lighting " Boot Camp"? It's a project-oriented course. Take a look at http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/06/strobist-boot-camp-rules-guidelines.html and post your thoughts. Seems a good way to learn some essentials. The first project is to create a Headshot. He gives two weeks to do it, but we could compress this and perhaps others to one week. Mark would be twiddling his thumbs, but the rest of us would upgrade. What do you think?

Yurt at night

2009-02-18T05:59:00.004-05:00

The yurt is a fulfilling abode. There is an energy that comes from living in the circle. It just makes sense. Here are some of my favorites, most taken with a half moon from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

OLD SLIDE SCANS

2009-02-15T17:24:00.003-05:00

A closet remodeling project led to the discovery of a shoe box full of slides taken in Vietnam. Since equipment and experience were both limited, there were only a few worth scanning, and even fewer worth sharing. All scanned on an Epson V500o. I would be interested in any tips about photo or slide scanning. These were all in pretty tough shape, but between the scanning software and Lightroom... much imroved.

LAST PART OF TOUR WAS PLATOON LEADER OF A 4.2 MORTER PLATOON. ALL TRACK MOUNTED JUMBO SIZED MORTARS.
NEEDS A LITTLE HORIZON STRAIGHTENING. MINUTES AFTER THIS SHOT, THE TRAIN HIT A MINE.
TANK PLATOON ON THE BEACHES EAST OF QUANG TRI. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACHES I HAVE EVER SEEN.
MY 4.2 MORTAR PLATOON "STAFF". NOT A BAD APPLE IN THE BUNCH.

Holga

2009-02-11T19:26:00.003-05:00

The photo club did a Holga project in 2006, and I shot a roll of film but never had it developed. Well, I found that roll recently and brought it to my local photo lab for processing & scanning. It's Tri-X 120 film, c. 60mm, f/8ish.

I definitely plan to shoot a roll of baby pics with the Holga. Stay tuned...

Eye of the Beholder

2009-02-01T11:24:00.004-05:00

Finally, someone who will pose for me without complaining!!
All of these done with northern window ambient light and a shoot thru umbrella flash on manual, dialed up or down as needed.

Mark, Salomon has not contacted me yet, no worries....

Good light, bad light, ugly is still beautiful....

Lighting Assignment

2009-01-31T15:36:00.003-05:00

Hey, I think I've got this figured out. Been trying to post since Mel set up the blog. Very frustrating to be less that clever. Did a couple of shots as tests for Garnet Hill this past week with only two lights and a huge reflector (actually two pretty big ones attached to one and other) Thought you might find them interesting. Spotlight at very high power for a main about 12 feet away and the second head on a leaf image background. Big fill straddleing the fence in the hat shot and to the left in the shoe shot.
M

Lighting Project Examples

2009-01-27T21:41:00.008-05:00

Been reading the Stobist material, and it has me thinking more about using different light sources as variables - including ambient.

Cap is our 15 year old Coon cat, seen here in a regal pose at f2 on a 50mm. I squared, selectively sharpened, and vignetted it in LightRoom. He's a study in energy conservation, including his hooded eyes. Not a bad available light portrait.

Now let's look at him using light as a controllable variable. The background is pleasing, but I think a splash of light lower left would brighten him up a bit and reveal the character of his eyes.
There's a few ways to accomplish this without ruining the atmosphere. One way might be to bounce a flash backwards off the back wall. Problem is, that wall is brown, and the vertical angle is not right. The ceiling is white, but the angle from above will shade his eyes even more.

Another way would be to place a white reflector lower left and bounce a dialed-down flash off it. Of course an umbrella reflector would accomplish the same thing.

What about the distance of the reflector from Cap? Close up or far away? Here I believe being farther away will allow the background to be lit also. That means, therefore, that the opposite would be true - a reflector placed close by would tend to isolate him from the then-more darkened background.

The easiest and more cat-friendly method, however, would be to simply place a flat white reflector - a piece of mat board for example, on the floor in front of him. Plus the angle would be just right to see into the eye shadows a bit more. So here's the point: while there are different ways to skin the cat (sorry Cap), they don't have to include lots of equipment. Lots can be done by first seeing the light and using ambient sources as one of the variables with which to work.

Here's another, this time of the guy who feeds Cap. How was it lit? A hint is that I used a reflective umbrella, but where and from which angle? To confuse things, the natural light actually bounces around the room due to windows and a mirror behind the camera. The shadows give it away.

If I were to do this one again, I'd want to move the reflector to upper right to boost the existing natural light, add to the shadow on the face (it's washed out due to being lit evenly from both sides), and preserve the natural look.

So here were a few thoughts on seeing and using light. Lots to learn and fun doing it.

Suggestion - read the Stobist if for no other reason than to be more aware. It's all about seeing the light.

BEAUTY IN RUINS

2009-01-26T21:57:00.004-05:00

Check out coolhunting.com for the latest and coolest everything. Take a look at a recent posting of photos by David Creedon when Ireland was on it's ear. I found the colors inspirational. You might see some in my Fall 2009 line.

2009-01-25T09:29:00.002-05:00

And this one is with purple tissue on the lower left flash. Need to get some better colors and upgrade to gels. Just ordered an umbrella--shoot thru with detachable blck back, and an umbrella adapter.

2009-01-25T09:26:00.002-05:00

Adding a second flash. One lower left with green tissue paper over it, hitting mostly the "white" wall behind. Second hand-held flash on lower right. Need to work on positioning of the second flash.

2009-01-25T09:23:00.003-05:00

Starting to experiment with the Creative Lighting assignment. Here using a hand held flash on the lower right.

Watermark action for Photoshop

2009-01-20T20:57:00.003-05:00

Here's the action I use for making watermarks. It gives you a few different styles to pick from, and it's pretty easy to change the font size, move it around, or tweak it to your taste.

When you run the action, it ends up as a highlighted block of text that you change to say whatever you want. Making a copyright symbol is easy — apple-G on a Mac, and (I think) ctrl-alt-C on a PC.

Speaking of copyrights, a site worth reading is Carolyn Wright's Photo Attorney blog. Photography-related legal issues are discussed. If you've ever wondered what your rights are as a photographer in specific situations, Carolyn's site is great. And if you email her with a question, she'll get back to you pretty quickly. I check her site out about once a month to catch up.

Do it yourself

2009-01-20T19:57:00.002-05:00

If you haven't seen this site yet, it shows how to make and use equipment. Some rather ingenius stuff. Go to www.diyphotography.net

R

Roots

2009-01-19T21:13:00.005-05:00

Got this one on Saturday trudging around in the woods. The watermark is the one I use on my other blog. I tend to favor one that's unobtrusive, but what do you folks think?

Also, would you rather that photos pop up in another window (or tab) when clicked, or in the same window?

New Project - Creative Lighting

2009-01-19T20:56:00.004-05:00

So I've been reading The Strobist to learn more about the subject of lighting. I like the way he suggests techniques and equipment on a budget. One can start with the Lighting 101 Archive and simply read thru the subjects. I’ve ordered and just received the compact kit – umbrella & stand, clamp. Pretty inexpensive way to modify and mold light, and you can use the sun as one of the light sources. My two flashes talk to each other and can be dialed up & down to allow more creative control. Possibilities abound. Add www.strobist.blogspot.com to your blog list and sign up for the newsletter. To see a simple setup using an umbrella, off-camera flash, and multiple viewing angles, go the site and on the right is the On-Assignment Archive. Click on the down arrow and find “Light the Little Stuff” to see what I’m talking about. Pretty cool stuff. And portable. So here’s the project. It’s about using a flash. First, read a bit on the Strobist site. Then, using materials on hand, create a photograph that uses reflectors, cookies, gobos - any or all of the above. Share it on the Yarmouth Photo Group blog. Remember to pat Mel on the back for getting us back in the game. Project: read about lighting, get inspired, shoot using 3 sources of light - the sun, your flash, and a reflector. That's it!

2009-01-19T20:14:00.002-05:00

Been thinking a lot about Alaska lately. This was taken early one morning as the sun streamed up the valley. The Matanuska Glacier can be seen as a ribbon of white; the rainbow grew in brightness for a minute and then disappeared.

2009-01-19T20:04:00.001-05:00

This is an idea whose time has come. For the time being, at least, a forum for the group. Good work, Mel. Now to add others.
Randy

Gulls

2009-01-19T18:47:00.001-05:00

This is from a current project of mine. Lots of fun to shoot these with the right light.

Photo Group First Post

2009-01-19T18:43:00.000-05:00

Welcome Yarmouth Photo Group! I am hoping we can use this blog to keep in touch. Maybe post assignments, photos and perhaps critiques. You all should have the ability to upload photos and add comments. Right now, anyone can view the site but only we can add photos. Please upload a photo and add a comment to see if everything is working. It appears that photos could be saved elsewhere so think before you give something away--perhaps a watermark. Mel