I’d say more than I expected. My 9880 travels with me in my trailer. So far this year it has been in TX, OK, UT a few times, CO twice, NM a few times, and now here with me in AZ as I print today from it.

It takes a bouncing, but it keeps on printing.

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January 24, 2011

Last month I posted that I had the opportunity to photograph a Greek Orthodox Monastery here in Arizona. A beautiful day resulted in great photographs from the trip. I was able to photograph both interiors & exteriors and everything I photographed that day was photographed with the intent of creating HDR photographs using Nik’s HDR Efex Pro software to process the multiple exposures.

Deciding to photograph in HDR was really a no-brainer. The monastery is only open to the public in the hours surrounding noon – not necessarily the best time for great light. And photographing interiors in HDR almost always works out fine. Some photographs were created using only 3 different exposures, while others needed as many as 9 different exposures to capture the entire range of light.

All of the photos were initially processed using Nik’s HDR Efex Pro software. This allowed me to combine all of the different exposures into one photo, with exacting control over every square inch. Other software programs I used to finish the photographs included Photoshop, Nik Color Efex Pro, Nik Silver Efex Pro, NIK Viveza, and Topaz Adjust.

"St. Anthony's Church"

“St. Anthony’s Church” is the result of 7 different exposures. I had to take separate photos for the shadows around the doors all the way to the brightness in the sky to cover the entire dynamic range of this photo.

"St. Anthony's Church" in Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro

The above photo shows the image in HDR Efex Pro after all 7 photos were loaded into it. As you can see, I used 52 Control Points (the small white circles in the photo) in this photo to control very specific areas of the photo in terms of brightness, color saturation, contrast, and more. (To read more about Nik’s Control Points see my post The Making of my HDR Photo Jim’s Garage).

Once the photo was finished in HDR Efex Pro, I opened it up in Photoshop to further enhance the image. I straightened out the perspective and removed the contrails in the sky, and did other color and contrast adjustments.

"St. Nicholas Chapel"

“St. Nicholas Chapel”, above, was a three photo HDR. A number of contrails in the sky had to be removed. You can see the contrails in the iPhone photo I posted in my earlier post Photographing a Monastery Part 1.

"St. Nicholas Chapel II"

This interior photo of St. Nicholas Chapel, above, is a 3 photo HDR. Unfortunately the web just can not accurately show the incredible amount of detail in this image.

"St. Nicholas Chapel III"

“St. Nicholas Chapel III”, above, is a three photo HDR of the exterior of the Chapel. I love the detail that came through in the rock.

"St. Nicholas Chapel IV"

This detail photo, above, was photographed inside the entrance to St. Nicholas Chapel.

"St. George Chapel"

This photo of the interior of St. George Chapel, above, was the result of a 9 exposure HDR photograph. Nine photos were needed due to the extreme range between highlights and shadows. Again, the detail in this photo just simply does not show well online.

"St. Elijah Chapel"

“St. Elijah Chapel”, above, one of my favorite photos from the shoot, was the result of a 3 exposure HDR photograph. I intentionally knocked down the color saturation to give this a steel-blue sort of look.

"St. Elijah Chapel II"

Another of my favorites, “St. Elijah Chapel II”, above, was a 3 exposure HDR photograph that was later converted to black and white using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro software.

"St. Elijah Chapel III"

Lastly is “St. Elijah Chapel III”, above, photographed from a slightly different viewpoint than the black and white “St. Elijah Chapel II”. Another 3 exposure HDR photograph, I faded out the outer edges of the image to an off-white to give this a look quite different from the rest.

Want to learn how to create your own HDR images? Consider taking a HDR workshop with me.

Exterior of a chapel at the monastery, an HDR image photographed with my iPhone camera.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph a monastery in Arizona with friends and fellow photographers Christine Hauber and Scott Hinkle. Nestled in the middle of the desert surrounded by saguaros, this monastery graciously opens it’s doors to the public from 10:30 to 2:30 daily, with the added benefit of allowing photography of all buildings and churches. One can not photograph the monks, however, without permission.

We had to follow a dress code to be allowed inside the monastery. As you can see below, Christine had to wear a long dress (that they provided for her), long sleeves, and a scarf covering her head. Scott and I had to wear long pants and long sleeved shirts. Fortunately we didn’t come to photograph this area in the summer when the temps are over 100 degrees!

Christine obeying the dress code at the monastery while photographing the back of a church.

I have many photos that I have to look through, edit and process. There was great architecture to photograph as well as beautiful interiors of the chapels. Most of the photos I took will be processed as HDR photos using Nik HDR Efex Pro. I should have them posted online as Part 2 of this blog entry in a week or 2.

"Serenity"

April 27, 2010

Ahhhhhh the beach…

It has been nearly 3.5 years since I moved to Phoenix from Cape Cod, Mass. In that time I have not seen the ocean at all. In my nearly 40 years of life, that is the longest stretch I ever went.

I was born and raised in CT. The beach was only 45 minutes away, and I went regularly both as a kid and teenager. As an adult I worked at the Connecticut Post Newspaper in Bridgeport for 2.5 years – right along the coast. In 1999 I moved to Cape Cod, Mass. and saw the ocean nearly every day. In fact the ocean was all I would see when I went on my yearly overnight tuna fishing trips. I’ve always loved the ocean.

"Along the Beach"

"Along the Beach II"

I moved to Arizona to photograph the Southwest. Places like the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and Bryce Canyon was what I was after. I tell people I traded the sands of the ocean for the sands of the desert. Yet I always longed to get back to that ocean water.

"Beach Ripples"

When I noticed I would only be 170 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico when I was photographing the Spanish Missions in San Antonio, it was a no-brainer to head on down. And I am sure glad I did.

I remember when I would drive back onto Cape Cod via the Bourne Bridge – the cool air, the smell of the marshes, and the sound of seagulls making their presence known. I always enjoyed the ride to the beach. And I experienced that same feeling driving on the bridge on Park Rd 22 onto Padre Island.

"Along the Jetty"

The beach here was everything I remember. Gorgeous light at sunrise and sunset, the smells and sounds, and one thing I forgot: the mosquitoes and no-see-ums.

I had about a 10 minute walk from my RV to the beach here at Mustang Island State Park. And that 10 minute walk was something I began to fear. No matter how much bug spray I applied, the mosquitoes – as big as Texas itself – were there in force along my walk. I lost track of how many I’ve killed in my RV. And cooking on my grill was a real challenge – before I could even open up the grill cover to flip my food I was killing 3 or 4 or 5 of them on my legs.

But on the beach itself, with the offshore breeze, I was able to briefly forget about the mosquitoes and concentrate on making photos. Some of my favorite photographs on my nearly 2 week photo tour of Texas has come from the beach. No surprise, really, giving my past and my love of the ocean. I just need to make sure it’s not another 3.5 years before I see it again!

"Sunrise on the Jetty"

The six photos in this post are now online on my website and are available as fine art prints. I have a few more photos from my trip here that I will be adding to my online galleries when I have a chance to process them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

"Cross at Mission San Jose"

April 26, 2010

On Saturday, on my way from photographing wildflowers in the Central Texas Hill Country to the beach at Mustang Island in Corpus Christi, I stopped to photograph 4 missions in San Antonio, Texas.

The missions – Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada – are part of the National Park Service. I had a brief opportunity to photograph them at this time last year, but arrived too late in the day and was stuck with photographing them from outside. This time I started early in the day and was able to photograph inside and out.

"Cross at Mission Espada"

According to the National Park Service website, the Spanish missions were not churches and in fact were Indian towns with the church as the focus. The native people, in the 1700′s, were learning to become Spanish citizens and as such, had to be Catholic.

The churches on site are still active. In fact, there was a wedding going on when I was photographing Mission San Jose. Certainly a beautiful place for a wedding.

"Sun of Mission Concepcion"

In this post are three photos from my visit. They are also available on my website for purchase as fine art prints. I will add a few more photographs from my visit in a few weeks once I have the opportunity to process them.

April 23, 2010

Hello from the Hill Country in Central Texas. I am currently in my RV at Inks Lake State Park catching up on some business following 2 and a half days of photographing wildflowers throughout the area.

The timing of my visit couldn’t be better, as the wildflower display here is at it’s peak. I honestly have never seen anything like it before. Fields of blue and yellow with patches of flowers representing all the colors of the rainbow. Standing in a field of flowers, the smell from the bluebonnets can be intoxicating and at times almost overwhelming.

The first day and a half I spent the majority of my time photographing the bluebonnets. They were not hard to find as they were on display nearly everywhere – on the edges of roads, in fields behind businesses, along side roads, etc. The photograph below, taken with my iPhone, was photographed on one such side road.

Bluebonnets photographed with my iPhone

Yesterday the weather was cloudy and drizzly – perfect for macro photography – except for the wind. After over 100 photographs taken while looking through my macro lens of close-up flowers blowing in the wind – combined with the aroma of a dead skunk nearby – I was practically nauseous and had to rest for a while before driving on.

Below are two new releases, “Awakening” and “Morning”. These photos are now available in my New Arrivals Gallery. I hope you enjoy them. More photos of my wildflower trip will be added to the gallery in a couple weeks once I have more time to work on them.

"Awakening"

"Morning"

Tomorrow’s plans have me heading to San Antonio to photograph the missions again (I was there last year). Following that a possible trip to the beach at Corpus Christi – I haven’t seen the beach since I moved from Cape Cod in 2006!

Some days just are not made for photography…

The alarm woke us on Monday – our last full day at the Grand Canyon – at 3:15 am, and an hour later we were on the shuttle bus heading to Hopi Point. We were the only 2 on that first bus run of the morning, and arrived at the point in complete darkness about an hour before sunrise.

We were a little bit concerned with how the day was going to shape up photographically. The barometer had been steadily increasing, indicating sunny and clear skies ahead – not at all what we were looking for. The last thing we wanted was a cloudless sky, and looking up into the sky all we saw were stars and no clouds whatsoever.

Using our headlamps and the little light from the stars, we were both able to find locations from which to level our tripods and wait for the sun to rise. When it did come up, there was very little color and it was rather disappointing photographically. Not only that, but we could now see a thick haze in the Canyon, and not a cloud in the sky.

After sunrise we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon alternating between hiking the rim and taking the shuttle between points, looking for a location from which to photograph from later in the evening. It was hot at times, carrying 50 pounds of camera gear, food and water, and moving about with no cloud cover. Checking the barometer every hour confirmed to us that this was shaping up to be a poor day for photography.

We decided to stay at Powell Point. We hiked down to a ledge overlooking the Canyon at about 3:00 in the afternoon to wait out the remaining 4 hours till sunset. When we first arrived some clouds were starting to build, but they quickly disappeared, providing us with no photography possibilities. The point offered little shade and no protection from the wind. John did make the best of it, covering up from the sun and enjoying the view as seen in this photo:

We waited, and waited, watching the sun slowly create shadows in the Canyon. The haze in the Canyon was terrible today, and our hopes were fading fast for a good sunset. You can see some haze in the photo below of me waiting, and more so in the photo of John above.

Sunset eventually came, and just like the morning, lacked color and drama. We took the shuttle bus back to my truck and got back to my RV some 16 hours after we first left it this morning, with little to speak of in terms of great photos from the day. One last look at the barometer, holding steady, convinced us not to try for sunrise on Tuesday morning, so we slept in for the first time in 5 days, had breakfast, and left for home.

Despite the last couple days, the trip was a great success and I have some amazing photos I will be adding to my site in the next few days to a couple weeks. I am really excited about them and will post information here when they become available online. In the meantime if you have any questions regarding the trip don’t hesitate to ask.

Yesterday we ate lunch in the truck while driving 25 miles east to scout out the Desert View Outlook. This outlook marks the east entrance to the South Rim. We found locations there we each wanted to photograph from, and considering it was only 1:30 in the afternoon and no clouds in the sky, we headed back to camp to take care of a few errands – get gas, upload yesterday’s blog, groceries, etc.

We arrived back at around 4:00 – just in time for a quick rain shower – then set up our tripods in the locations we found earlier, and waited. Broken clouds were overhead, allowing for photos of sun rays piercing through the gaps, shining rays down to the Colorado River. A little while later a bright, 3/4 length rainbow formed behind us. While it wasn’t the rainbow I was hoping for when we first started out (I wanted it over the Grand Canyon), I was able to create a striking photo of it as it arched over some live and dead pinon pines.

A little while later we met Guido Tocci, from Montreal, Canada. Guido was after his own perfect photo: a photo of John at work with the Canyon in the background as seen in this photo taken with my cell phone.

The most striking photos of sunset came some 30 minutes before, when the sun was again behind some clouds, causing beautiful rays to shine down on spots in the Canyon.

This morning the alarm again went off at 3:45 am, and I was headed again to Yaki Point. John didn’t go with me this morning, as the knee he is rehabbing was a bit sore. No company made waiting for the bus this morning rather boring.

Not much came from photographing sunrise this morning, yet I was able to create some great photos from another side of Yaki Point – one John and I scouted a couple days ago and the main reason why I was back at Yaki Point again. The photo below is a photo I took of myself at that location.

This will be my last blog post until Tuesday evening when I return and am back in Phoenix. Tomorrow we will be without internet access as we are heading to the western part of the park. We will be parking my truck at the bus stop at 4:00 am and returning around 8:30 pm. Gonna be a long, fun day.

We are starting to fall into a routine after being here at the Grand Canyon for a few days – awake a couple hours before sunrise, photograph sunrise for a few hours, get back to the RV and cook breakfast, then edit photos, take a nap then shower, and have lunch. Afternoons are for scouting – then we get to our sunset location a few hours before sunset, come back to the RV in the dark, cook supper, sleep, then start it all over again.

I am writing now just after this morning’s nap. The alarm woke us at 3:45 am and an hour later we were on a 15 minute bus ride to Yaki Point. As you can see in the photo below, when your days are as long as ours are you try to catch some rest whenever the opportunity allows – John wasted no time to rest his eyes on our short bus trip.

We scouted Yaki Point yesterday and as such we each knew exactly where we wanted to set up this morning. Yesterday afternoon and evening the weather did not cooperate with us – heavy afternoon rain storm with light rain most of the afternoon leading up to a cloud-blocking sunset. When you are not able to photograph due to unfavorable weather, the next best thing is to scout a location to be ready the next time the weather allows. The photos of John and I and the one of myself below were taken during our scouting at the spot I returned to this morning.

Sunrise yielded a nice 180 degree panoramic photo for me. I had just a touch of cloud cover above the rising sun – the clouds glowing in a brilliant orange/red color.

This afternoon we plan on scouting another location that we are considering for sunset tonight. We are still waiting for conditions to provide us with that jaw-dropping sunset – maybe it will happen tonight.

Things that have surprised us so far: the many available spaces in the campground, the amount of car alarms that go off throughout the day (9 yesterday, 3 so far today), no cell phone coverage anywhere causing us to purchase phone cards yesterday, and shortly after buying said phone cards finding a cell phone signal in the middle of nowhere at Yaki Point just strong enough to enable us to make a couple quick calls.

Things we have enjoyed so far: the quite at the campground, the couple hours sleep we get, yesterday’s bus driver who recently moved here from Dallas, finding that cell signal, and the many people who come to chat with us while we are photographing or moving form location to location.

It’s 2:00 Friday afternoon here at the Grand Canyon. I finally found a wireless internet sight (a very slow one) after searching a bit yesterday and today. I didn’t think I was going to be able to have an update until we got back…

We arrived yesterday afternoon in the middle of a few rain showers, got to camp and set the rv up, and headed out to Yavapai Point to catch the sunset. This was a location I was familiar with, having photographed here last year, and John and I hiked down to a ledge I knew of. One definitely can’t be afraid of heights here, as the drop-off is some 3000 feet.

Sunset wasn’t spectacular – yet it wasn’t disappointing either. We got some 5 1/2 hours of sleep last night, getting up at 4:30 to catch the snrise at Mather Point. As you can see, we were not alone this morning:

After a few hours photographing we went back to the rv to edit some photos and catch up on some sleep.

Off to catch another sunset… will try to post more tomorrow.