Almost in Focus | Danny Gilleland |

A Floating Rose

2012-01-21T12:30:00.000-05:00

Deborah made a floral arrangement with cut flowers for her Mom's 80th birthday this morning. There was one rose bloom that was stemless. She dropped it in a glass of water. When I saw it, the wheels started turning, dark background, a a strong back light, little more light from above.....

One thing led to another, we swapped the glass for this cool vase, put a black cloth under the vase, added candles and another bloom of some kind and here is my favorite.

The lights were two on camera strobes used on light stands. The back light had a snoot to focus the light into a tight spot. I made the snoot with the cardboard from a cereal box and duct tape. Honey Nut Cheerios seem to work best, something about the cholesterol. The front light was above and to the left of the camera.

I had cut some tea olive blooms this morning and decided to see how they looked using the same lighting set up. Not a bad morning's work.

The Concrete Plant, Part 1

2012-01-20T09:38:00.000-05:00

There is an old concrete plant in Fort Valley. I have thought about doing some photos of it before, actually did a couple of quick shots one day, but was in a hurry and didn't really look the place over. I took some time yesterday and found a couple of interesting images.

The first thing to catch my eye was this slippery when wet sign that has been overtaken by vines. Not too slippery, I guess. The door below was an obvious target of my 3oomm. I had three lenses with me and shot some with all three. The 300, my 15-30, and the fish eye. We will look at some more next time.

We all have places we drive by quite often and think about shooting. Take some time and check them out. Doesn't cost a thing but a little time. And hey, you will have a camera in your had so it sure won't be wasted time.

The Reverend Pearly Brown

2012-01-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

I met Gary Harmon for lunch early last week. During our conversation he asked if I had any photos of the Rev. Pearly Brown, a blind street singer/preacher who was a fixture for years in downtown Macon. Then later in the week I met Jody and James Palmer at the Rookery for lunch. I was so happy to see the hustle and bustle at lunchtime in Macon's wonderful downtown. That brought back memories from my younger days, when everyone went shopping in downtown, no malls. Not a bad thing.

You always saw a man who was missing his legs from well above the knees. He pushed himself around on a small wheeled platform that resembled a mechanic's creeper. He had a sign and a tin cup for donations. The other regular was Pearly Brown. You would hear his rich voice and guitar well before you saw him.

Pearly was born in Abbeville in 1915, and raised in Americus. Supposedly be learned to play the guitar at age 7. He sang a bluesie style of gospel music, and an awesome guitar. Rumor has it that he tutored Duane Allman and Dicky Betts on the slide guitar. He did do several albums, one was "Georgia Street Singer" and another was "It's a Mean Old World To Try To Live In." You can check out his talent on You Tube.

Pearly was still on the streets when I began shooting for the Telegraph. He retired from the streets in 1979 due to poor health and died in 1986.

Play on, Rev. Pearly, play on.

Farewell, My Friend

2012-01-16T11:29:00.000-05:00

I lost a friend this morning. A.W. Dorsey passed away. And Peach County High lost one if its foremost and truest supporters. A.W. covered Peach County High's sports teams for the Leader Tribune. I had been around him for years. Our paths often crossed as I covered events for the Telegraph, he was there doing his thing. Always brought a smile when I saw him on the sidelines. When I joined the Leader Tribune I was blessed to work with him.

A.W. loved what he did, sure didn't do it for the money. He covered all the home events from the various sports, and most of the ways ones as well. The folks he worked for never fully appreciated what he did. A lot of local athletes got some ink because of A.W. He was the embodiment of community journalism.

I know it hurt him not being on the Peach County sidelines this year. Me and a lot of other folks missed him. Every home game he was asked about. Most of the information coming through his co-worker Victor Kulkosky.

Farewell, my friend.

Dandelion

2012-01-11T11:14:00.000-05:00

I have always been fascinated by dandelions. Even as a kid I was more interested in looking at all the little parachutes and the textures than blowing them loose into the wind. The way back light separates each little feather-like hair, such an awesome creation of God. Then I discovered how much fun they are to photograph. No telling how many dandelion photos I have made over the years, many on negative film that were never printed. Just so much fun to shoot.

Sunday evening I found this one while walking the dogs. It was really too dark to shoot, but I wanted to back light it anyway. I set up my old SB-28 on a little table top tripod about three feet to the right and slightly behind the dandelion, and fired it with my Cowboy Studio radio triggers. Shot was with the D70 and Sigma 70-300 using the Macro setting.

I shot at 1/250th second to darken the background.

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T14:13:00.000-05:00

I covered a town hall meeting last night involving three state legislators. Linmore James, Robert Dickey and Cecil Statam took questions from a gathering in Fort Valley. These kinds of assignments can make for some really boring images.

I shot from all the regular angles and still was not thrilled with what I had. Some decent stuff but not what I wanted. I moved around in front of the three with the 15mm, wanting to get the row of lights behind them. The old building where the meeting was held is kind of a neat environment with some bare brick walls. When I got in front of them I noticed the position of the two outside guys legs.

Thought this might make a cool shot, so I put the camera on the floor and shot a few frames. I did some

available light, and a couple with some bounced fill flash. The one above was available light. It was my choice.

Happy New Year.

An Overlooked Lens

2011-12-29T17:29:00.000-05:00

Deborah and I kept Zoey this afternoon. She had on a shirt with the message "I Am Ready For My Closeup" so I had to do some new pictures. She was on the couch with Deborah, they were playing, having a big ole time so I grabbed the camera. I dug out my old 50f1.8 Nikkor lens last week and decided to shoot with it.

THis is the original Nikon kit lens. Back in the day, if you bought a Nikon body with a "normal" lens, this was it. A really fast lens compared to today's kit lenses, Usually you get a short zoom that covers the 50mm lens, but it at least an f3.5. Can hurt if you want to shoot in low light.

These were shot in our living room, a pretty dark room. ISO 1600, at f2.8 and around 30th of a second.

On the digital camera the 50 is about a 70mm when you figure in the 1.5 magnification factor. Makes a handy piece of glass. Great for low light, great for blowing out the background. If I had used the 28mm, I would have had close to the lens speed, but even wide open a lot more background. Plus with these the compression was kinda nice.

I had forgotten about this old lens, it has spent most of its life unused sitting on a shelf. My friend and fellow Nikon shooter Erica Lewis had emailed me a while back looking for a 50F1.4. After talking with her I decided to find my 50 and give it a try. It is going in my bag.

Food With A 28mm

2011-12-22T10:51:00.000-05:00

I usually use a longer lens for food photography. Like doing portraits, they are supposed to give a more pleasing image than a wide angle. Like anything else with a wide angle, you need to get in close, and watch the distortion. Backgrounds are more important due to the extra depth of field. Composition is composition, regardless of subject or lens choice.

The top photo needed the extra depth to make this image work. The chip poised halfway between savory sauce and anticipating palate. A longer lens would have thrown the bowl a bit more out of focus, plus I could not have held the chip and shot the picture this close with much of anything else. Wider than 28mm would have been too wide.

The bottom photo really illustrates my life-time love affair with a good wide angle. You can get in close, use the exaggerated perspective to put emphasis on one part of the photo. In this case your eye goes to the taco ingredients while you still take in the overall textures, get a good look at the burrito and the rice.

Your focal point will almost always be an element that is nearest the camera, you have to slide around til you get it where you want it. Shapes and lines in the image can help draw the viewers eye. I guess that years of telling a story with one photo for a newspaper have led me to see this way.

And again I must say that a good 28mmf2.8 is a great addition to your gear. It is fast, focuses really close, and is very lightweight. A great one lens to have on when you want to travel light. Just remember, you have to get really tight most of the time.

But what image can't be made better by just getting a little closer?

Check That Camera Strap-NOW

2011-12-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

Most of us take pretty good care of our camera gear. Keep our lenses clean and secure, regularly clean our sensors, do all the regular maintenance. The one thing that we so often neglect is about the cheapest piece of gear we buy. But it is so important. And too often we don't realize how important it is until it fails us.

Check your camera straps, and often.

I have, or had two Nikon straps that had two swivels located near the camera body. Great idea, especially with a heavy camera and lens combo. Last night, my D200 with the 70-200f2.8 zoom fell to the ground. My strap failed me. Luckily no damage done.

The strap has some age on it, and the whole where the tab on the swivel fits through had worn enough that it just pulled out. No breakage, just slipped out of the hole. This camera and lens does have some heft to them.

I regularly check ny straps and also the lugs on the camera. Straps really wear at this location. Never occurred to me that I should be checking those swivels.

Anyway, I was very fortunate not to be sending a camera and lens off for repair this morning. So, go check you camera straps. Don't take any chances. Keep them clean, and untangled.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Try A Little Motion

2011-12-14T12:19:00.000-05:00

A friend asked how I shot photos that show movement like the two images here. The secret is to use the combination of slow shutter speed to get movement and a flash to stop part of the action. Use your camera meter to find a workable shutter speed that will cause the subject to blur. The top photo was 1/13 second. I metered to see what lens aperture would be correct for the shutter speed in the room light. I used the appropriate aperture to get correct exposure for the flash, and the slow shutter speed for the movement.

In the bottom photo, I did the same thing with aperture and shutter but I also moved the camera at the same speed as the golf cart, getting a blur in the background.

How Cool Is This?

2011-11-30T15:49:00.001-05:00

There have been thousands of Red-wing Blackbirds in a field of millet alongside Highway 96 the last several days. They fly back and forth between the millet and a sod farm across the road. I had to shot today and get a photo or two.
The birds will land, and nibble a while, then rise up and wheel across the field in a huge wave before landing again.

Not only is it an awesome sight, but the sound amazing. When the rise and turn, the number of little

wings beating the air is quite loud. Kinda freaky when they span the highway.

It is fascinating looking at the individual birds in each photo. So many shapes and postures.

Nature is way too cool.

A Very Good Friday Night

2011-11-12T16:30:00.000-05:00

I shot the Peach County-Worth County playoff game last night. I have not been real happy with my football this year. As I was getting my gear ready yesterday I began thinking about this year's work, and what I was doing different. I realized the only thing I was doing differently was shooting the 300/f2.8 from

a monopod.

I just don't have the movement with the lens that I have hand-holding. I guess I had decided that at my old age I should give it up and go the easy route. The last several years I have hurt Saturday morning after football

and decided to go easy on my old self.

Last night I shot without the monopod and it felt like football again. Really happy with what I shot. I know some games just work out better than others as far as art, but I could feel the difference last night.

For me, it makes a difference not being stuck on a stick.

The photos show here are a nice series. The top photo shows Worth County quarterback Rodney Farley as he was trying to pass. The Peach County defense was all over him all night. Debarrious Miller got a hand on him in the top photo, then Lamont Wray hit him(middle photo) and knocked the ball free. The ball bounced loose for a while, then Wray grabbed in and scored. The bottom photo shows him crossing the goal line with the ball.

Not bad for an old man.

Raindrops and Blossoms

2011-11-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

Found these blooms in the rain early yesterday morning. Too pretty to pass up. Love the detail.

The Praying Mantis

2011-10-18T00:03:00.000-04:00

Deborah found this guy in the garden yesterday. He didn't mind posing, being quite patient with me

as I moved around him shooting. The few times I have tried to photograph a praying mantis before,

the little creatures have been rather shy. This one looks me in the eye several times.

Take A Look A Some Great Images!!!!

2011-10-04T08:45:00.000-04:00

I mentioned last week that my photo group from church had a photo expedition to Rose Hill recently.

I just wanted to share some of their work. I love sharing the passion I have for this wonderful art, and it is so cool to see others discover their talent. The top photo is from the camera of Brian and Melissa Edwards.

Bruce Tamker did the cool photo of the wrought iron above.

Erica Lewis put my fisheye to good use with the pyramid and sun.

Mike Slayton got in close on this statue showing the detail.

Celia Tamker showed her skill with the composition of her "Thinking Lady"

while Vanessa Fields worked with the light and textures in the image below.

From the moment we arrived these folks were out shooting pictures. They have learned how to see the world on a different level, finding the different and the beautiful. Not only are they finding interesting subjects to capture, but they make them work photographically. Using the light, the angle, the right lens for what they see with their hearts.

They do truly inspire me.

Go For a Walk, What Can You See?

2011-09-27T08:50:00.000-04:00

Take a camera and go for a walk. Take your time, look around.

You will be surprised at what you see. Explore.

These were from a walk yesterday morning, on he way to the gym. I took the long way.

Morning light, sweet images.

Field Trip To Rose Hill

2011-09-25T15:17:00.000-04:00

I lead a photo group at my church, Harmony Community Church. We went on a little field trip to Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery yesterday. For those of you not from Macon, Rose Hill is an incredible place to visit with a camera. It dates back to 1840. The Ocmulgee River entrance is shown above. It is in the Holly Ridge section of the cemetery.. It has had its share of vandalism over the years. The graffiti has been added since my last visit.

The second photo is a tighter view of the right side of the top photo. We spent several hours looking and photographing. Hope to share some of my friends pictures with you all soon. We will meet next Sunday and share our work. Photography is a very personal art form, but it still helps to share your work with other photographers. Everyone can learn from the discussion, and from looking at others work.

Several of us shot the same subjects, and I can't wait to see how the others saw the images we photographed.

I am sure we will all have our own interpretation. I encourage you to find a photo group near you and check them out.

If you want to know more about Rose Hill follow this link: Rose Hill Cemetery

Bill and Billie Cox, Celebrating Life

2011-09-21T13:31:00.002-04:00

I went to a very special surprise birthday party last Saturday. It was Bill Cox's 100th birthday. That is special.
But it gets better. Bill married his wife Billie on his birthday, so the two were also celebrating their 66th wedding anniversary. Wow. That is Bill and Billie in the photo above.

I had been following them around as they were greeted by family and friends. The two finally took their seats and Bill picked up the small picture from the table. "This is me 100 years ago," he said. I was close enough to quickly grab this shot.

That is why I love my 15mm for doing candids. I know folks can get tired of me being right in their face, but you are tight enough for those sweet moments, and get some environment in as well. One picture tells the story.

More HDR

2011-09-14T12:55:00.003-04:00

I continue to play with the HDR software. These were some from a shoot with Courtney last year. The HDR is not for glamour work, but is neat with a model with good skin.

I will definitely keep playing with this software.

Love the look.

Remembering 911

2011-09-11T11:18:00.000-04:00

I was like most other Americans after 911, dazed, wondering about the way we as a country would react.

We had been seemingly so divided for such a long time. Viet Nam, Nixon, so many things had left so many folks feeling apart.

Later in September, a huge celebration had been planned for Robins Air Force Base's 60th birthday. A huge bash at the Museum of Aviation. Lee Greenwood was scheduled to preform. The Band of the Air Force Reserve had their Bag Pipers on hand. The largest American Flag I have ever seen was flying high.

So many people, so much emotion. I was very glad that I was assigned by the Telegraph to cover the event.

Definitely one of those Kodak moments, actually many, many Kodak moments. And I was still shooting with the old Kodak DCS620's.

A time for everyone to open up, share their fears and pain, and more importantly to share a common hope for the future.

So many flags, so many who were proud to be Americans.

Lee Greenwood finished his performance with "God Bless The USA."

I knew half way through his song that America would be okay. We would heal, but more importantly as a country we would bond.

God Bless The USA

New HDR Find

2011-09-10T09:05:00.000-04:00

I have been playing with HDR photography off and on for about three years. I have come close to buying Photomatix Pro several times, but decided it was not worth the price for what I wanted to do.

I have tried quite a few free programs, and like the results from Picturenaut about 60% of the time.

It just does not have enough variable control.

The new Popular Photography has a cool article on HDR and got me cranked up again.

A little surfing brought me to a new free program.

Well, it is really not new. It was formally Qtpfsgui, now Luminance HDR 2.1.0

I downloaded it yesterday and have been really playing with it. It works with RAW and JPG files, and you can use it with multiple exposures or with one. The photos here were all generated from one JPG exposure.

You can find it at http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/

Give it a try, it's free. But if you like it, send them a little donation for their efforts.

Getting Snooty Wit The Hibiscus

2011-09-08T16:58:00.000-04:00

Our Hibiscus was looking really good yesterday morning and I decided it needed shooting.

I shot a couple in the overcast light and wanted to bump it up a notch. I got a flash and a light stand, and then decided I wanted to concentrate the light. I have this old snoot I made from a cereal box and duct tape. Took me a while to find it. Have not used it in a while.

I shot several angles on the bloom, and liked this one best. The light(shown below, duct tape and all) was directly across from me and above. It was coming in at about a 60 degree angle. Like the results.

Light modifiers for shoe mount strobes have gotten to be the rage. Back when I made this one, you really could not find anything much. It does work.

The photo above was with the snoot, one one below without. You can see how the light spreads.

Not bad for a Cheerios box.

A New Venue

2011-09-07T11:33:00.000-04:00

I have really developed a love for sharing my passion for photography through teaching. I have taught classes for various organizations, from the Georgia Press Association to a small group at my church. Today I begin another session through the Continuing Education Department at Fort Valley State. I have been doing this class for several years. Last spring we began a new advanced class.

This class is always at night, and I have had people ask about morning classes quite a few times. Beginning in October, I will try a new venue, a morning class at Hobby Lobby in Warner Robins. This will be a class aimed at folks who just want to take better pictures, and learn a little about how their camera works.

But more importantly, hope to let folks see the personal creativity that is available through photography.

WE all have our own ideas about art, likes and dislikes. We all see the world a little differently.

That is one of the cool things about photography. It is easy to do your own thing. It really doesn't matter if anyone else likes what we do, as long as we are happy creating and growing as an artist.

If someone else likes what we do, that is just icing on the cake.

I did the above poster to go in the store's lobby. I did the collage in Photoshop Elements, and did the words and layout in Indesign.

Hope some folks will show up for class.

Exploring the Neighborhood

2011-09-01T11:05:00.000-04:00

Deborah asked if I wanted to photograph a Brown Recluse spider this morning. Of course I said yes. We went into the back yard and photographed the spider. She hates spiders, but she knows a cool photo.

On the other side of the yard I noticed this plant coming through the fence. The textures in the leaves and the wood were awesome as was the light.

Had to shoot it. I love old weathered wood.

Have you explored your neighborhood lately?

Think About Buying A Prime Lens

2011-08-29T07:59:00.000-04:00

Everyone is buying zoom lenses these days, including me. They are very handy, buy unless you spend some money on them, really slow. Most wide angle zooms are 3.5/4.5 maximum aperture. You can't do a lot of low light shooting with them. For years I carried a big bag of lenses, a 20mm, 24 0r 28mm, 35mm, 85, 105,

180 and a 300. All were f2.8's except the 300. The everyday 300 was a 4.5 , then later an f4. I still have a Nikkor 300f4. It is light, sharp and fast enough for lots of situations. High school football still requires a 300f2.8.

Zoey was with us yesterday, and I spent some time photographing her with the D70 and my Nikkor 28f2.8.

Our living room is really dark. Even with the 2.8 lens, I was shooting 1/20 second at 1000 ISO. If I had used my old favorite 15-30f3.5, I would have had to shoot at a slower shutter speed or gone way up on the ISO. The D70 really doesn't do well above 800. These are really grainy.

Anyway, if you are really interested in expanding your shooting experience and capabilities, consider a prime lens. Prime lenses are lighter, faster, and usually a bit sharper. They are not bad on the pocketbook either.

Another cool thing about shooting with a prime lens is that they make you think more and work a little harder.

You can't zoom in or out, so you have to get off your butt and move some, keep your eye in the viewfinder and figure out what you want in your image.

So, next time you are thinking about new glass, consider a prime lens.

Football Friday Nights Are Back

2011-08-27T08:16:00.000-04:00

High School football is back, which means that Daryl Hawkins, Peach County's Trojan Man is back in business. It's not officially football season until I get a greeting and a handshake from Daryl on the sidelines.
And by the way, I think this is my 41st high school football season. I must be one of the oldest dudes shooting on Friday nights in Georgia. I am even older than Gary Harmon, he just looks older.

I din't know I had the broken pass play until I was looking at pictures in the computer. I am really trying to cut down on my chimping this year. I captioned it as Peach County's C J Coleman breaks up a pass intended for Warner Robins Jalen Rountree. Actually on closer look it is really offensive pass interference. Rountree is grabbing Coleman's hand to keep him from the ball.

August is way too hot for football, but hey, this is Middle Georgia.

Twelve Years With Me????

2011-08-20T10:38:00.000-04:00

I am truly blessed. That beautiful woman in the pictures with the toad is my wife, Deborah.

Twelve years today. A patient woman, a loving woman. A woman of faith.

I had no intention of falling in love. Had ended a second marriage and was trying to get on with my life.

Two mutual friends suggested I ask her out. I never thought this tall beauty would go out with a short fat dude.

Don't let the photos fool you. She is 5'10" and I am not quite 5'6". Anyway, asked her out, she said yes, and we fell in love.

Deborah is my constant in a stormy world. She has always understood me and my photography.

She realized that sometimes I do have to work at odd hours due to the nature of my profession.

But she also knows that sometimes I will be gone

just because there is something

that I just want to photograph. No one else has ever been so understanding about my photography.

She is my heart, my life. I told her today I want it in writing, she will keep me for at least another 25 years.

Love you, Angel.

A Hummingbird

2011-08-18T11:14:00.000-04:00

Deborah has two hummingbird feeders hanging on our back porch. They have been very popular this summer with the little critters. We have had fun watching their antics. The hummingbirds, not the feeders.
I kept telling myself to get a camera and do some pictures, and finally got around to it this morning.

The only good vantage point is through our living room window. Only way to really get close to them. This has problems, they are backlit, and I am shooting through glass. I shot for a while and got this one that I kinda like. Needed to be a little tighter, but if you get too close to the window, you chase the hummingbirds away.

I still have time to try again. Will see what I can do.

Bruce's Butterfly

2011-08-16T16:38:00.000-04:00

I stopped by to see my friend Bruce today. Even before I stopped the car I saw this butterfly flitting from flower to flower. I grabbed a camera as I got out of the car and started shooting. At first I was afraid I would scare the butterfly away, but is soon ignored me and continued about its business. The top photo was one of the first I shot, the bottom towards the end.

I really like the bottom photo, with the good view of the butterfly's head, but I keep coming back to the top photo. Love the contrasting colors, vibrant pink flower, and the green background.

And it is so fitting that I found this image in Bruce and Celia's yard. They are truly to beautiful people.

Zoey Being Cool

2011-08-12T13:33:00.000-04:00

Well I was rollin' down the road in some cold blue steel,

I had a bluesman in the back, and a beautician at the wheel.We're going downtown in the middle of the nightWe was laughing and I'm jokin' and we feelin' alright.Oh I'm bad, I'm nationwide.Yes I'm bad, I'm nationwide.

ZZ Top

Playing in the sprinkler

2011-08-11T18:43:00.000-04:00

I love playing in the sprinkler. Would have thought I had outgrown this years ago. Well, now I stay mostly dry. I had the sprinkler going in the garden this morning, and had to do my annual "Slow Shutter-Streaming Water" shot.

I noticed light on these leaves and the way the water was high-lighted. I went in the house and got my old D70 and the Nikkor 300/f4 and gave it a shot or two. I started out is shutter priority and cranked it down to 1/20 second. The leaves were still a bit over exposed, so I went to manual. This was 1/20 second at f32. The light was pretty well balanced. It was shot as a raw file.

This old 300/f4 is almost too much for me to handhold at such a slow shutter speed. I had a few that had too much motion in them. It is still one of my favorite lenses, is razor sharp and great contrast.

Cheap Gas

2011-08-09T14:39:00.001-04:00

I stopped to shoot an old windmill out near Georgia 96 East of Fort Valley today and found this
old gas pump. Really liked the tall grass around it. This composition seemed very logical to me, but I did shoot one a little tighter. Didn't like it as well. The patterns and textures in both the pump and the grass
really jumped out at me.

The price wasn't too bad either, but the price is wrong. Guess it didn't matter too much on a farm pump.

I had just filled up for $3.20 a gallon, and thought I was getting a great price.

Oh well, it is what it is.

Thank God For The Beauty

2011-08-04T10:27:00.001-04:00

Deborah planted some cone flowers in our garden last year. I had some pretty nice images of them.

They are blooming again, and yesterday after I got our grass cut, I grabbed a camera and wandered out to

see what I could do with them this year. Made some nice images, and then I looked up and beyond the cone flowers and these leaves caught my eye.

I thank God for the beauty He has placed around us. Sure helps offset the some of the ugly, and there is way too much of that. And don't go blaming all the ugly on Him, cause we create most of it ourselves.

And Now For Something Totally Different......

2011-08-01T16:56:00.000-04:00

I guess I have been spending too much time in Photoshop here lately, but I shot a nice tight face shot of our little orange cat last week, and immediately saw possibilities. I knew I wanted to put human features on her little fuzzy face. I started thinking about various images I had to be the donor.

I settled on the photo of Kimberly Uso that I had shot a couple of years ago. She has some awesome eyes

and I remembered the cool makeup. I got the two images as close in size as I could, then grabbed the parts of the face I wanted from Kimberly's photo with the lasso tool, copied and pasted them into the cat photo.

This created a new layer on the cat photo, so I added a layer mask and blended the human features into the cat's face using the brush tool.

Now, to do some real work.

NASCAR, Coke and Pepsi

2011-07-23T16:51:00.000-04:00

I traveled to Perry this morning to photograph NASCAR driver David Ragan and his many fans. He was at a table signing autographs. Always a challenge to get a good shot since your main subject is on one side of the table, and other folks are on the other. You want both faces, good expression, and some action.

I also wanted the Coke 400 Daytona Race trphy. It was on a table in front of a window. I stood there looking at it, thinking how boring it was. Then some guy leans against the window and peers inside. Made my photo. I thought the crushed Pepsi can on the table was a hoot. And, no, I didn't put it there.

Some Cool Plugins

2011-07-22T14:10:00.000-04:00

I found some pretty cool free plugins that work with both Photoshop and Elements 9. You can find them at
http://www.filterforge.com/download/. The site has several free packs of plugins. This one has several effects.
The top photo is the LOMO filter. It gives a similar image as the LOMO Konpakt Avtomat, a Russian cult camera of some fame.

The middle photo was done with the sepia effect, and the bottom was using the "Old Photo" effect. It lets you ad as much grain as you want. Each filter has various sliders to control contrast and other features. You can change the tint in both the sepia and the old photo filters. With the old photo, you can distress the photo, giving the look of a damaged, scratched print. You really have to play with each one to see what you can do, and how much you like the effect.

There are other filters in the pack, you can do a colorizing effect, a softening filter called Dreamy, and one called Grunge. Check them out, the price is right.

Fresh Blueberries

2011-07-07T13:11:00.000-04:00

I picked a basket of blueberries this morning. What a treat, love these little things. First time I have picked any in over ten years. The City of Fort Valley has a bunch of blueberry bushes in one of our parks. They are maintained by the city, and anyone can go and pick, for free.

I had to do a few pictures, they looked so good on the bushes. I am shooting more and more as RAW files, and doing much better preparing them. Most of the work on these two was done in Camera Raw, very little in Photoshop.

It is amazing how much more information is available in a RAW file as compared to a JPEG. You have so much more latitude, like comparing transparency film to to color negative film. It takes little more time editing, but well worth it.

Happy Birthday To The Goat Man

2011-07-06T08:55:00.000-04:00

Today is the Goat Man's birthday. Charles "Ches" McCartney would have been 110 years old today. For those of you who do not remember this American legend, he traveled the United States for over 50 years with a wagon pulled by a team of goats, hence the name Goat Man.

McCartney was born in Iowa in 1901, and ran away to New York City at age fourteen. There he met and married a Spanish knife thrower ten who was ten years older than he was. The two moved back to Iowa and resumed life on the farm. They had a son, Albert Gene.

Supposedly he took to the road with his goats after losing everything in the depression. Not sure what happened to the Spanish bride and Gene. One story said he sold his wife to a neighbor for a $1000.00. He traveled America with his goats, the Bible, and a copy of Robinson Crusoe.

Lots of stories followed him during his road years. He was a spy(Cold War Years), another that he was a really quite rich. He would always gather a crowd as he camped each night. He would get out his Bible and share the Word with anyone who would listen.

He ended his travels in the late 1960's and settled in Twiggs County, living in an old school bus. I visited him fairly often during the early eighties. He was frequently seen hitchhiking between Macon and his Twiggs County home. He stank to high heaven. Anyone giving him a ride would have some interesting conversation and a smelly car. Gene came to stay with him at some point.

Ever the adventurer, Ches traveled to California , was beaten, robbed and ended up in a LA hospital. Writer Eric Velasco and I met him at the Macon airport when he returned home. Said he went to California to marry actress Morgan Fairchild.

He spent his last years in a nursing home in East Macon, dying in 1998. I was one of many at his funeral in Twiggs County. Gene was murdered about six months before Ches died. His murderer has never been found.

Happy Birthday to an American Legend.

God Bless The USA

2011-07-04T10:54:00.001-04:00

This is a rose from our yard. Deborah had put it in a vase and commented this morning; "How appropriate,
a blood red rose for the 4th of July." She had gotten some water the petals, and said it would look really cool in the sun, holding drops on its velvet-like surface. That was all the cue I needed to grab a camera and take it outside. She handed me the flower along with a small spray bottle.

I found a patch of sun that sort of spotlighted the rose and gave it a good spray with water. The top is pretty much side lighting, the bottom back lit. I had to change over to manual exposure to get the detail and texture I wanted. Letting the camera pick the exposure gave me a bit too washed out on one, too dark on the other.

Hope you have a Happy 4th of July, and remember our freedom and our heritage. God Bless the USA.

Make A Fake HDR Image

2011-06-26T07:50:00.000-04:00

Doing High Dynamic Range images has gotten really popular. I blogged about HDR several times in the past. This process involves shooting three or more versions of the same image at different exposures, then combining them to capture all the detail across the whole range of highlights, midtones and shadows in the photograph.

There are quite a few programs available to do this. Some versions of Photoshop have the ability to do HDR, but my favorite is Photomatix. Yes, that is Photomatix, not Photomatrix.

Here is a way to make a fake HDR using the High Pass filter and a few other steps in Photoshop. Start out with an image that has good lighting and obvious highlights. I selected an image from the Peach Festival of a kid covered in bubbles. The original is below.

So, lets get started.

Duplicate the Layer, then go Filter > Other > High Pass.
Set the Radius to 4.0 and then set the Blending Mode to Vivid Light.

Flatten the image, then duplicate the layer. go Filter > Other > High Pass.
Set the Radius to 6.9 and then set the Blending Mode to Color and the Opacity to 40%

Flatten the image, then duplicate the layer. Add a Gaussian Blur. Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Set the pixels to 9.4

Add some noise to the image. Filter > Noise > Add Noise, set the amount to 3%. Now add a mask to the layer. From the top menu, select Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All. Set the foreground color to white and background color to black, then use a soft brush at 30% opacity and start brushing over the entire image, except the eyes.

Flatten the image again, then go Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and use the following settings.

Amount: 100%
Radius: 20.00 (This value may be different , depending on how much detail you need)
Threshold: 0

Now add some curves to the image to bring out a little more details and highlights. Go Image > Adjustments > Curves.

Pretty simple.

You can use the High Pass filter to add detail to an image as well.

How Bout A Little Video

2011-06-25T01:25:00.000-04:00

I put this little video together with images from a shoot with Warner Robins model Aisha Logan.

Mommy's Gardenias

2011-06-17T14:46:00.000-04:00

Deborah's mom cut a gardenia bloom and brought it and put it in a vase.

Deborah told me it was quite photo worthy so I set about capturing this beauty.

It was sitting on the kitchen counter so I moved it to a more photogenic location.

I also decided it needed flash.

The top image was done with two lights, one on my right as I faced the flower. The other was on my left and behind the bloom at about a 45 degree angle. Both flashes were pointed directly at the bloom.

The light is a bit harsh, but not too bad.

For the second photo I used an umbrella for my main light, and left the back light unaltered.

It was still direct flash. The umbrella really softened the light.

For the last photo, I still used the umbrella for the main light, but put a red filter on the back light.

Tomatoes

2011-06-16T16:43:00.000-04:00

Photo for today, tomatoes, got any bacon?

A Photo A Day

2011-06-15T08:07:00.000-04:00

I am going to try to do a photo a day, to find something that will make a decent photo each day.
For today I offer up this leaf and wind chime.
Some mornings the sun hits the little pendant just right.
So, why don't you join me in this photo a day hunt?

Eat A Peach

2011-06-11T18:33:00.000-04:00

I shot the Peach Festival today for the Telegraph. I have no idea how many times I have covered this event, but a bunch. It can be a challenge to repeat something like this and come up with something different. This year there were two new things to shoot. One was a peach eating contest. There was only one other year when the competition was held, and I don't think I covered it that year.

Today gave me a really cool opportunity. One of the contestants, Elizabeth Stowe, wore her sunglasses. Each contestant was given a bucket with 20 peaches to eat from. I noticed the bucket of peaches was reflected in her glasses. I dumped the 70-200 for the 300mm and made the above photo.

Another new thing was these huge plastic bubbles folks were to try to navigate around a pool of water. Not an easy task, but one that did produce a couple of cool shots.

My last picture was the one above of Magdalene Volner. She was sitting under her brightly colored umbrella. I was talking to my friend Billy Powell when I saw her across the street. I excused myself from Billy and went for this photo. I really like it.

These three were worth spending the day in the heat.

The Digital Imaging Photography Guild

2011-06-10T07:51:00.000-04:00

Regenia Brabham invited me to come last night and speak to the Digital Imaging Photography Guild. I shared some of my forty years worth of photographs. The two here were in the slide show. It was fun digging through photos deciding what to take along, and even more fun visiting with this neat group of folks. They are a talented group, and very passionate about photography.

They meet the second and fourth Thursday of each month. The gathering place is Central Baptist Church on Lake Joy Road in Warner Robins. They meet at 7pm.
Check their website for more information. http://dipg.ws/

The website has all the details for finding them, but also has galleries showing the wonderful wotk of Regina, Pete Nichols, Ruth Nichols, Donna Sergelken, Frank Dean, Deborah Cruce, George Coffey, Sharon Lilly, and Michael Williams. It is worth a visit to the site to take a look at their images.

They have some great programs, awesome competitions and great fellowship. It is really helpful to have a fellow photographers to visit with, share ideas and techniques, and get advice. Check them out.

The Truck

2011-06-02T15:19:00.000-04:00

One of the most photographed objects, this truck under a shed in Peach County. I have not photographed

it in several years. Been thinking about doing something with it. Today was the day.

Hope you like it.

A Photo Challenge

2011-05-31T16:26:00.000-04:00

I have a photo challenge for you.

Walk out your back door and pick an object.

See how many different interesting photos you can take of this one object in 25 minutes.

I tried last week with this wind chime.

Use different lighting

Different angles

Different lenses.

See what you can do.

Memorial Day

2011-05-29T23:57:00.000-04:00

It's Memorial Day. Too many of us have forgotten the real significance of the holiday. To a lot of us its the Indy 500, a long weekend, a time to really kick off the summer activities, cooking out, going to the pool, lots of warm weather fun stuff.

It used to be a very solemn day, a day of mourning for those who gave the ultimate price for our freedom. Businesses closed, most towns had parades and speeches, gathering to offer up prayers honoring and remembering their fallen heroes who died in the service of their country.

Its not a bad thing to watch the Indy 500, its an American tradition. Always good to gather with family and friends and fire up the grill. But make sure you take time to remember those who died to give you all the freedoms that come with being an American. If you have a family member who died serving our country, then make them first and foremost in your thoughts and prayers.

The National Moment of Remembrance will occur at 3pm local time. Pause for one minute and remember and honor the sacrifices made by so many Americans. And take a moment to say a prayer those who are actively serving today, putting their lives in jeopardy for you.

Backyard Safari

2011-05-26T14:38:00.000-04:00

I came home from running errands today and noticed the sun falling of some flowers Deborah planted next to the walk. I unloaded the car and started taking pictures. The original flower selection did okay, but I found some other subjects that really rocked. I shot the tomato after the flowers, and went inside to grab my lunch.

I dumped my camera gear in the ofice and Deborah came in asking if I wanted to photograph a really cool bug. I followed her out and shot the top photo. She can spot a great picture. After shooting the bug, I shot the middle photo of the Hosta. Love the subdued light.

THese were all shot as RAW files. I am really enjoying the control you get by shooting RAW. I am doing a lot less in Photoshop due to using Camera Raw.

I also am using the Shadows/Highlights controls available in Photoshop Elements 9. I very seldom use full Photoshop any more. I miss the History brush, but it is easy enough using Layers and Layers Masks while working with images. The patches of sunlight on the tomato and the detail in the bug's wings show the effect of using the Highlights slider.

These three were shot in the backyard in less than thirty minutes, so I don't want to hear anyone else say "I can't find anything to shoot."
Go forth and create some kickin' images.

Shooting Raw

2011-05-16T16:00:00.000-04:00

I have been watching Lannie Fenster's wheat field for over a week now, waiting for the right photo. Today was my day. I was coming back from Warner Robins and knew I wanted the day's wonderful clouds in my image. I shot some with the 15mm, but was not getting enough sky, so I swapped the 15 for the 10mm fisheye. Love it.

I have been shooting a lot of my personal work in RAW for the last couple of weeks. It is nice to have the range to play with every part of the image that Camera Raw provides.

Both the wheat photo and the photo of Keyaira below were shot RAW and run through Camera Raw before Photoshop. The two photos show some of what you can do with RAW files. The two were processed pretty much the same except for the Clarity slider. The wheat photo was all the way right for maximum detail. The Keyaira photo was way over to the left, for the softer look.

Kinda neat.

Animal Week or What?????

2011-05-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

Guess this has been my week to grab some kinda interesting animal shots. The lower photo will probably upset some folks. Deborah didn't like the picture of her "Sweet Elsa" with the bird in her mouth. She is a really sweet and loving cat, but she is a cat. Stephen King so rightly stated that cats were the outlaws of the animal world. Too true.

I was at the Houston County Relay For Life last night when I spied Cloie, a miniature Dachshund and her master Mike walking down the Relay course well before the 6:30pm beginning ceremony. They were in the company of another small dog and master. Seems the Relay folks had asked that no doggies accompany the walkers, so Cloie had to leave. No telling what damage a three inch tall wiener dog could have done to the assembled masses.

Earlier in the week I was headed out to a shoot and found Elsa with her prey. She is quite the hunter. We have seen her snatch a flying bird from the air. Not like we don't feed her regularly. Purina should consider a Finch flavored cat food. Our four would be all over it. Guess it would not be the same, cats gotta be cats.

Photographers gotta be photographers, too. It was too good a photo to pass up.

Girls Soccer

2011-05-02T23:13:00.000-04:00

I shot my first soccer game of the year last week. I aways worry a bit about shooting soccer. I guess I have not logged the hours shooting soccer that I have other Middle Georgia sports. Soccer is the "new sport" to me. It is fun to shoot, and the action never stops. Not like football or baseball where you have an idea where you want to be aiming the camera. I follow the ball most of the time shooting football, but you still have an idea where its going.

The top photo of Warner Robins Maggie Dimes was one of those shots where I wished I had been on the opposite side. As you can see, it was a heck of a photo, but would have been better had her foot not covered her face. But even with her face partly covered, from the other side you would not have seen her toes against the ball.

The second shot I didn't turn offer up for the newspaper, but thought it was a cool photo of Erin Hill lining up her kick while team mate Maggie Dimes takes a moment to put her hair back up...all the while keeping her eye on the ball as she ran forward.

You won't see that at a boy's game.

Nesting Sparrows

2011-03-29T10:27:00.000-04:00

Deborah alerted me to a really nice photo opportunity Saturday. Mom and Pop Sparrow were building a nest in a vent in the empty house next door. The two were bringing in material one at a time. I took the 70-300 and eased out the back door. We have lots of birds around our yard, we keep our feeders full. We also are in the garden enough that the birds are kinda used to seeing us so sometimes photographing them is easier than normal.

I shot a few frames from a good distance away, then worked my way closer. We have a table with an umbrella on the patio that was the prefect place to shoot from. I sat under the umbrella and the two son ignored me completely.

I goit some nice images Saturday, will have to wait to see what happens when their young ones come along.
It is spring, get out and enjoy nature.

Pink Dogwoods

2011-03-27T11:30:00.000-04:00

Our one Pink Dogwood is blooming now. I love our Japanese Magnolia but this is my favorite bloom in our yard. No time better to photograph it than an overcast morning like today. I saw the blooms when I was walking the dogs, and knew I couldn't wait to shoot some pictures.

I took the D200 and the 70-300Macro with me when I left for church. I shot these before I got in the car, just couldn't wait to see them in my viewfinder. I was a little late for church, but I don't think God minded.

Up The Street

2011-03-21T16:32:00.000-04:00

The Hiway 49 Market is at the end of our block. Every night when I walk the dogs, I see this scene, and think, "That will be a neat picture." I had left my cameras in the car Saturday, and after walking Wesley and Maggie, went back out to grab them. The 70-300 was on the D90, so I shot a couple of frames. Just bumped the ISO up to 800 and popped a couple of quick frames.

Cherry Blossoms, Etc

2011-03-18T07:46:00.000-04:00

Its Cherry Blossom time again in Middle Georgia, and our tree is really showing off this year. I did my annual Cherry Blossom shoot yesterday, and was pretty happy with the results. I gave up trying to shoot these oh, so light blossoms using an automatic mode a long time ago. The only success I have had in getting the image I wanted was to switch to manual.

Otherwise, parts of the blooms were totally blown out. Then a bit of Photoshop to even the hot spots and shadows to get a decent image. I really like this photo, probably my favorite Cherry Blossom photo. The second version, I used the Watercolor filter, just to see what it would look like.

The Iris below, I am just throwing in for free. I really like the texture. Again, shooting manual to get all the detail, then bringing it together with Photoshop.

The Beauty Of The Human Heart

2011-03-13T13:32:00.000-04:00

Yesterday presented one of those mixed assignments that has elements that really make you feel good and then rip your heart out. I was covering the opening ceremonies at the Warner Robins American Little League. Little League is always good for happy, excited kids…lots of feel good photos like the one of three-year-old Stephen Laney in his just a bit too big baseball uniform, cap over his eyes, swinging a bat that was way too big. He wasn’t old enough to play, but he came to see his big brothers.

Also the joy, happiness and anticipation on the faces of the Red Sox players sitting with Kelly Nauss.

This was countered by a family that was experiencing a great tragedy. James and Melva Sullivent were dealing with the loss of their two daughters Bridget and Leslie. The two girls, avid softball players, were killed in an auto accident Thursday night. Had they lived, the two would have been celebrating the day with family and friends, kicking off a new softball season. Instead, their memory was honored by kind words and an outpouring of love by those in attendance

Not an easy thing for me to do, photographing folks during moments of pain and grief. Totally against my nature. I am torn between doing a job I love, and feeling a lot of guilt at my intrusion into a family’s grief.

Never has gotten any easier.

There is a beauty in all these images, although so very different. The beauty of the human heart.

Baby Kong, A Chrismas Village's Nightmare

2011-01-28T17:07:00.000-05:00

The above photo of our grandson Garrett trampling through a village began the day of his dedication. We were at his other grandparent's home in Macon. Billy and Nancy have a huge Christmas Village on display each Christmas. Thomas said, "Hey if I hold garret up in the village, can you do a pivture, put sky behind him?" I said sure.

The photo at the bottom is what we shot that day.

I had been looking for the perfect sky since Christmas. Week before last I found this night sky as I was leaving a Westside basketball game. I wanted to have him circled by biplanes ala King Kong. I was worried about finding good biplane photos, but found some royalty free online.

I put the images together in Photoshop Elements 9. I bought the program to teach a class, and hve really enjoyed using it. A great program. It is a great program for the cost. I have dumped Photoshop from the laptop and replaced it with Elements. If you are really interested in image editing, give it a try.

A Bit Of Solar Flair

2011-01-22T13:25:00.000-05:00

I photographed a training day for teachers this morning at the Museum of Aviation. It was presented by the NASA Regional Educator Resourse and had some cool classes. One of the things I knew I wanted photos of was the awesome array of telescopes set up by astronomer Stephen Ramsden. He was allowing folks to witness solar flair up close.

I had to wait a while for someone to stop and look therough the telescopes. He was set up in the amplitheater between the two buildins that housed the varoius classes. Quite a few folks passes by before Nancy Sills, a science teracher from Harris County, stopped to talk to Stephen and look through the telescopes.

My first shots were pretty standard stuff, nice light, low angle. You could see Nancy and Stephen in the photograph. Then I decided I should show the sun. First I shot with the sun peeping over the end of the telescope, making a bit of flair. Guess I made a photographic pun, if there is such a thing. For the last photo I moved a bit to the side, getting more sky and having the sun to the right of the telescope.

The lst two would have worked better with a little flash popped on the telescope and Nancy. This is one of those times when the old D-70 would come in handy with its ability to sync a flash at a really high shutter speed.

Oh, well, it will be interesting to see which one the editor picks.

The Red Canoe

2011-01-19T10:22:00.000-05:00

I had a very early assignment at Veteran's high School this morning. Was at the school by 7:30am, so I had a drive in the fog and darkness. All the way over, I was looking for a photograph, but nothing caught my eye.

It was lighter by the time I left the school. Driving down Woodard Road I noticed this tree standing on a small island in a pond.

It looked good, but I drove on by without stopping. I got about a mile down Moody Road, and turned around. I had to go back and give it another look.

The bottom photo was my first shot, kinda from the angle I first saw the scene. It didn't quite work for me, so I moved around a bit. I saw the red canoe, and knew I had my photo.

I also zoomed in a bit on this photo, isolating the tree a little.

Glad I went back.

Flashback to 1977

2011-01-14T13:47:00.000-05:00

Found these negatives from Gladys Laskeys, from 1977. Those wonderful windows made such swwet light.

Digital is wonderful, but sometimes I do miss my Tri-X, some Dektol and a good Leitz enlarger.

And I still miss Gladys.

This Ain't The Circus

2011-01-10T16:56:00.000-05:00

I shot for the Telegraph Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a full day, started with the Forest Hills UMC food giveaway and ended with Northeast-Central basketball. Sunday I was scheduled to shoot the Ringling Brothers Circus. At the last minute, they decided not to let us cover their show. Really odd.

I was on my way to an alternate story when Metro Editor Oby Brown(one of the best editors I ever worked with) called with another assignment.

The Macon/Bibb County officials were gathering at the EMA Center to discuss plans for dealing with the winter storm that was about to hit Middle Georgia. So I headed to City Hall.

This was a news story. News stories do not always make the most interesting photos, but because of their importance, come first. And often make you look a little harder for an interesting shot. EMA Director Don Druitt was leading the meeting which began with a statewide webcast by the National Weather Service.

I shot during the webcast, photographing Druitt, Mayor Robert Reichert, Commission Chair Sam Hart, and whatever I thought might be important or just photogenic.

The webcast ended and the weather map was still projected on the huge screen in the room. My idea was to get Mr. Druitt addressing the group with ther map n the background. He began talking and moved to the center of the room. THe projected map fell across his face and upper body. Made a really cool image, I had my photo.

Monday's work was photographing the actual storm My favorite MOnday photo was this poor little bird sitting atop an ice covered bird feeder. You know he must be thinking, "I know I flew south!"

Using the Radial Blur Filter

2011-01-06T16:25:00.000-05:00

Last week I was playing in Photoshop and rediscovered the Radial Blur filter. With this filter you can either add a zoom effect or a circular blur to an image. I tried the effects on these two photos of Beca. The top is with the zoom filter. Back in the late 60's and early 70's a cool thing to do was to shoot a photo at a really slow shutter speed and with a zoom lens, and spin the zoom ring while the shutter was open. Wtaever was in the very center of the photo would be kinda in focus. It was pretty hit or miss. Mine were mostly a miss.

The top photo was with the zoom effect. The bottom with the spin.

With both photos I went back after I applied the filter and used the History Brush to restore a little of the image.

A Look At Some Tri-X Oldies

2011-01-03T15:32:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have been able to scan any black and white negatives. Over two years ago I had to replace my old computer. My old Minolta scanner software was not compatible with the new computer, and since Konica bought Minolta, they were not interested in keeping software updated. Since I didn’t have a scanner I quit shooting film. I have several rolls of Tri-X and Ilford HP-5 stuck in the equipment locker waiting to be processed.

I decided it was time to get my scanner cranked back up. I checked for available scanner drivers and opted for VueScan from Hardwick Software. I have not been disappointed with it. It works much smoother than the old Minolta software, and gives better image control.

Two of the first images I scanned with the setup are these of Macon model Sheila Harvell. I always loved the umbrella photo but had completely forgotten the TV shot. It is a cool image.

I will be scanning in more old images, but as a goal for 2011 I want to shoot at least one roll of film a week. We will see how that goes. I have a roll of color print film in one of my old Nikon bodies, and have some Tri-X and HP-5 waiting to go in the F5.

I will share some images soon.

Playing in Corel Painter

2010-11-16T18:32:00.000-05:00

I have wanted a different look for some of my photos, and had no luck getting what I wanted in Photoshop. I have been experimenting for a while, and have several that I used the watercolor filter on to get an interesting look. Last week I downloaded a trial version of Corel Painter Essentials and think I have found something I like. These three photos I have run through Corel, and like the look.

Al three were worked in Photoshop,before I opened them in Corel Painter. I am still playing but will probably end up buying the program. I am still trying don't really know what I am doing, hard on an old man, I must say.

After doing the painting, I dabbled just a bit in Photoshop for the final image.

You might want to download the fre trail and give it a go.

Peach Trees In The Fall

2010-11-15T11:26:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you drive down the same road you drive almost every day, and then, WOW...you see something for the first time. You know it has always been there. Today was one of those days for me. I have no idea how many times I have driven from Fort Valley to Warner Robins on Highway 96, passing the Lane's various peach orchards. No telling how many times I have stopped and shot peach blooms or peaches on the trees. I have even shot bare trees against blue skies, and on occasion against angry winter skies.

But I had never shot golden leaves on peach trees. Not until today. I have no idea why the gold in the orchards never caught my eye before, but this morning with the sun coming through the trees I was caught by the beauty. Not only the leaves on the trees, but on the ground as well. Had to shop and shoot.

I did the top photo with the 15mm, on the ground. The bottom shot is with the 300mm on Macro. Just amazing the beauty God surrounds us with every day, and the joy that comes from finally taking notice.

Hope you find your beauty for this Monday.

Ad Water and Stir

2010-10-22T16:32:00.000-04:00

I noticed some of the leaves on our large dogwood were beginning to turn this morning. Some of them were really pretty with the sun coming through them. I got a camera and started shooting. The sun really lights that tree up in the morning, and it is so easy to shoot the leaves against a dark background.

By the time I got through shooting, I noticed a lot of stuff in the garden was needing water, so I turned on the sprinkler. After I got it set up, I noticed the water on the leaves, and decided I should do some more photos.

I began shooting at around 1/250 second, and decided to slow it down a bit. The top photo was before the water was on, the second one was shot at 1/40 second, and although the water drops make a long line, you can see separate drops.

The bottom picture was at 1/25 second, and the droplets make a solid line. I didn't use a tripod, so I was braced on the back of a chair to keep the camera steady.

A Little Motion, Please

2010-10-21T10:29:00.000-04:00

It is not too often I shoot images with a definite blur of motion. Sometimes it happens in the course of a shoot, and if it adds to the image, cool. Last week I did two different shoots a a slow shutter speed just to have movement in the images.

The top photo was the second shoot, Friday night at the Perry-Rutland game. I was shooting the Rutland band at halftime, and decided that a shot of the flags spinning would be cool with a bit of blur. I had been shooting at ISO 3200 during the game to stop the action. I needed a slow shutter speed to get the movement, ended up shooting 1/25 second. By the way, these were shot in the manual exposure mode where I chose the shutter speed and the aperture. To get the slow shutter speed and not overexpose, I dropped the ISO down to 500.

The image below was from the Hispanic Heritage program at Hunt Elementary in Fort Valley Thursday morning. The dancers are students from Peach County High. Their twirling dresses just begged to blur.

When you are shooting motion like this, you need to have part of the image in sharp focus. If people are the subject, their faces need to be relatively sharp. I shot a bunch in both cases to have the blur with some degree of sharpness in the main subject's face.

The dancers were done at 1/30 second. This is a fun thing to try. You can also use a slow shutter speed and pop some flash into the image. The slow shutter will give some blur, while the very short flash duration will freeze a part of the photo.

Go play with your camera.

Some Pictures From Mossy Creek

2010-10-18T16:07:00.000-04:00

Deborah and I went to Mossy Creek Barnyard Festival yesterday. We met Tracy, Ann and Sue. Spent the day listening to some cool music, watched some neat artisians at work, and took a few pictures. My favorite pctures of the day were of Lisa Lynne and George Tortorelli. She plays Irish Harp, he plays flute. Wonderful music.

Shooting pictures at a place like Mossy Creek can be a pain. You are under trees with patches of really dark shade and really hot spots of bright sunlight. If you shoot from the sunny side, the shadows can really mess you up. Just about everything I shot yesterday was backlite. That way, you didn't have to worry about the

difference in the light.

The backlight was a great help with the photos of Lisa Lynne playing the harp. The strings really jump out, and the light seperates George from the background. I did shoot this in the manual exposure mode. No way the meter could balance this one.

A Fallen Hero Comes Home

2010-10-16T08:52:00.001-04:00

Marine Cpl. Stephen Sackalosky came home last Thursday. He died serving his country in Afghanistan.

I rode to Warner Robins Thursday morning to stand on the side of the road with hundreds of other folks to pay my respects. He was traveling home to Cordele.

People were gathered along the roadway from US Highway 41 all the way to the base. I rode the length of the route trying to decide where to stand. By the time I reached Houston Road, I had such a huge lump in my throat, my eyes filled with tears. It was an emotional time. Carried me back to memories of 1968, loosing my first really good friend to war. Also made me think again about all the folks serving our country now, putting themselves in harm's way, protecting our freedom. Not only those serving in the military, but their families who have to wait at home, praying for their safe return.

It was awesome to see so many people coming out to honor someone they didn't know. Had no idea there were so many American Flags in Houston County.

Too many of us take this life and country of ours for granted. Don't think too often about our people serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places far away from home. The moms and dads, wives and husbands waiting at home. We owe them all a huge THANK YOU.

Take a few minutes sometimes to say a prayer for them all, and the next time you see someone in uniform, shake their hand and tell them thanks for what they do.

A Bit Of History

2010-10-11T14:27:00.000-04:00

I went to Byron Elementary last FRiday to photograph some Civil War reenactors who were at the school.

I have always loved history, especially American History, so I knew I would have fun with the assignment.

I was not the only one having fun. The 5th graders who were around the campfire were having a lot of fun as well. Not only were they learning by seeing the gear and hearing the stories of Billy,Beverly, Steve and Steven Smith, but they were seeing pieces of history as well. They had the chance to wear the uniforms, and even taste the bacon and hardtack Steve Smith cooked over the campfire.

The Smith's have a passion for this slice of history, and who better to share and teach it. More folks should take the time to share their talents and knowledge in our public schools. What a wonderful gift to give.

A Weekend of Photography

2010-10-04T12:14:00.000-04:00

This was a full weekend of photography for me. Friday I had three shoots, the last being the FPD homecoming game against Our Lady of Mercy. The game produced som e decent art. FPD still lays down a fog with fire extinguishers when their taem takes the field. I had to get a shot of the team tearing through both the sign and the fog.

Saturday I spent the day helping judge the Beginners Photography competition at the Georgia National Fair. Volunteers from the Middle Georgia Camera Club MGCC.ws and the Digital Imaging Photography Guild from Warner Robins DIPG.ws do an excellent job with the competition. I have judged this competition numerous times, and each time is a wonderful experience.
My fellow judges were Keaton Wynn, Assistant Professor of Art at Georgia Southwestern University and Nancy Floyd, a Profesor of Photography at Georgia State University. They were great to judge with.

Make a point to getting to the fair to see the entries. Therer were over 1500 photo entries this year, and some very good work. Take a walk through the Miller, Murphy, Howard Building and check them out.

Photo Mechanic, A Very Handy Program

2010-09-30T10:54:00.000-04:00

I shot the above photo last Friday night at the Warner Robins-Houston County game. It was the 37,274th photograph I have shot with my D90. AS of today, I have shot 16,724 frames with my D70 and 46,241 frames with the D200. And how do I know these numbers? Discovering your camea actuations is just one for the many things you can do with Photo Mechanic, a software program from Camera Bits.

http://www.camerabits.com/site/PhotoMechanic.php

It is not an editing program as much as an editing aid and archiving tool. It is a great program for looking through the ton of images you download from your camera. It is much easier to use than Windows Picture Viewer, or the varoius viewers provided with digital cameras. I use it to ingest images from my card into the computer.

You get a contact sheet of photos, and with a click, get a larger view of a particular image. You can select as many as you want to isolate and view, then open them in Photoshop or another editing program.

It lets you fill out file information such as photographer's name, copyright info, location ,a nd as much caption information as you choose to be added to each image when you download it to the computer. One of the bits of info you can ad to each image is the number of accuations by the camera.

You also get shutter speed, aperture, ISO, lens focal length, camera type, and a pile f other stuff. You can get really geeky with this.

You can also use it to burn discs, and to upload photos to an FTP site.

If you work with lots of images, it is a very handy tool.

Tattoos and Umbrellas

2010-09-27T10:08:00.000-04:00

I have been shooting direct flash when shooting outside, not using any kind of light modifier.

I really like using my flashes with outdoor portraiture, the extra light highlites the eyes, gives separation, and

just gives an extra umph to the photos. The direct flash makes a bit edgier photo, due to the harshness of the light.

We were shooting under a canopy on a walkway in downtown Macon. The harshness of the light added to the ambiance, with the strong shadows. I thought about using an umbrella for this and stuck tot he direct flash.

We moved down tot he River Walk, and shot with different outfit. This photo really had to have some fill to keep the detail. I opted for my umbrella on this one. The softer, more even light really worked well. The umbrella spreads the light across the models whole face, and is really easier to place than direct flash.

In the photo below, the shadows on her face are almost too much, in the wrong place.

The direct flash does work in this one because I didn't want the light to spread beyond my subject.

The walk area stays fairly dark.

A Visit To Back To Henderson Stadium

2010-09-18T09:06:00.000-04:00

I shot Rutland and Westside at Henderson Stadium in Macon last night. That was a trip to the past.My first high school football game was shot in Henderson, Central against someone I can't remember.

It is a tight stadium to shoot in, not like what has become my usual Friday night homes in the fall, McConnell Talbert, Perry and Peach County. They all have a bit more space between the field and the stands.

As a photographer you have less room to move, but the light is different. The backgrounds stay lighter when shooting from the sidelines. The home sideline at Henderson is a bit elevated as well.

Henderson's home sidelines used to be like a swamp, always wet. The water is gone, but the mosquitos are stiil there. So was Robert Davis last night. Had not seen him in a while. It was good to shake his hand. He had to be wondering "What happened to my team?" Westside was not playing like a Robert Davis team. Things change.

LIke the size of the crowd. Back in the day, high school football filled Henderson's stands. Last night two Macon teams were playing, and the parking lot was not even half full

Another memory was shooting football alongside a Macon Photographic legend, Bill Meriweather, Sr. Bill was an the commercial photographer in Macon, who contracted with several local school and shot sports as

part of the deal. He trudged the sidelines with lugging a hasselblad that was worth more than my car.
He was always a joy to be around. Merry Christmas, Bill.

Don't Forget About Prime Lenses

2010-09-15T16:15:00.000-04:00

Deborah took Garrett out to the front porch swing this morning. I was right behind them with a camera.

I shot some with the 70-200, but wanted to get a little closer. I do need my wideangle fix every day.

I didn't want the 15mm, and I really get tired of zooms, especially clunkers like the 15-30. It is a great lens, but it is heavy and a bit slow, like most of the day's wide zooms.

I came out of the house with two prime lenses(that means they don't zoom.) My 20mm and my 28. Both have been around, and are still good glass. Both are fast little f2.8's. They are small enough that the one that wasn't on the camera was in my pocket.

These little lenses are great for candids because they are small, light, and fast. Put one on the D70 or D90 and you are carrying no weight at all. Another thing, floks don't pay as much attention to them as a bigger lens. They pay less attention to you when you are using the camera.

And you can pick 'em up pretty cheap, cause most folks don't want them anymore.

Just Two More Reasons To Keep A Camera Handy

2010-09-13T15:05:00.000-04:00

I go very few places any more without a camera, and I find myself a lot more likely to shoot whatever catches my eye. Here are two such images. By no means earthshaking photos, but I like them both.

The top photo is our cat Milo. He is a very laid back individual. I walked out the front door yesterday, and saw him laying upsidedown in the swing. I had to take the shot, and just as I did, he broke into this huge yawn. If I had not has a camera in my hand, I would have missed it.

Walking from the car to the house today I noticed these leaves. First really pretty ones I have seen this year, and it is a bit early. I liked the light, and took the shot. Doubt I would have gone and grabbed a camera and come back to shoot them.

You never know what you might miss.

Just Out Of Reach

2010-09-04T16:30:00.000-04:00

I was back at McConnell Talbert Stadium in Warner Robins last night covering the Warner Robins Douglas County game. I guess I have shot more football in McConnell Talbert than any of the other stadiums ariound Middle Georgia. Henderson Stadium in Macon will be second.

McConnellTalbert has always been a good palce to shoot. Back in the day of Tri-X pushed in Accufine developer, it had the best light in Middle Georgia, making it a great place to shoot. The football has always been great as well, following Northside and Warner Robins.

The above photo was my favorite of the game, one of those "almost" moments, with the ball literally on the fingertips of Warner Robins receiver Akeem Taylor. He was wide open and had he caught the pass, and

an easy touchdown

But it was not to be. So far it has been that kind of season for Warner Robins, almost, but just out of reach.

Shooting Squirrels

2010-09-01T09:15:00.000-04:00

We have lots of activity in our back yard garden. We have quite a few bird feeders, a fountain, and several big trees. Wildlife abounds.

I have been trying to get decent hummingbird photos this summer, but so far have not been real happy with the results. I have kept a camera and 300mm handy, just in case.

Last week Deborah called me to the back door to see the antics of the squirrel shown above. He was covered by the leaves of our dogwood, but would rush to the end of the branch, poke his head through, and grab some berries. I scared him away trying to open the back door.

Monday he was back. We saw the commotion in the leaves, so I was ready for him.This time he performed a new trick. Eating berries while hanging upside down from the limb.

You don't have to go far, or have really expensive gear to get some cool animal photos. Do some research, watch your local critters to learn their habits, and find a location to shoot from. You want to be unobtrusive, but have a good view. Try not to shoot through window screens, glass you can live with.

So, go forth an capture some wildlife.

High School Football Has Begun!!!!

2010-08-30T17:43:00.000-04:00

High School football has begun for another year. Would think that after all these years I would be tired of shooting it. Wrong.

It is so much easier now than forty years ago. The new technology: autofocus, 300f2.8 lenses, the ability to shoot at a very high ISO. Don't think there is any high school stadium in our area where we can't shoot available light.

And no rushing back to the darkroom to process six of seven rolls of film. Then we had to make prints and hand deliver them to the Sports desk.

My first game was Tattnall and Southwest Georgia. For my first game I did ok. I had usable photos. My timing was a bit off. THis past Friday I shot Houston County at Perry. The rains stopped before the first kickoff so I stayed dry. I did take my rain gear. Last week I forgot my poncho and stuff.

One thing that has not changed over the years. Every year I have a least one nice photo that I can't use because the players number is left off the roster. The top photo falls into that category. The runner is Number 17 for Houston County. He was not on the roster.

Hope that will be the only one this year.

HD Video With The D90

2010-08-26T14:32:00.000-04:00

I have always enjoyed playing with video, but too often I would be shooting stills and think “Hey, this would be great video.” It was always a pain to swap back and forth between video and still cameras. And so often, the video camera was no where near.

Last week I was in the floor photographing Deborah and our grandson Garrett. Our living room is a bit dark, even a mid-day. I was using the D90 with my old 20mmf2.8, a fine prime lens. I was shooting at 2000 ISO. I decided some video for great-grandma would be a good idea and almost got up to get the video camera. I knew by the time I went down the hall to the office and got the video camera, cranked it up and started shooting, Garrett would be in a different mode.

So I punched two buttons and captured the attached video with the D90, HD video with sound.

Pretty handy that the newer DSLR’s can capture really good video. The ability to shoot at higher ISO is cool, so is the ability and the look you get using the DSLR lenses. I have tried doing video with every lens from my 10mm fisheye up through a 300mm. Pretty cool. I have never had a wide enough lens on a video camera, now I do.
Nikon’s newest is the D 3100. It also boosts the ISO to 12,800. Can’t wait to play with that puppy.

Politically Correct

2010-08-19T15:13:00.000-04:00

A couple of Saturday's ago I covered the annual Sonny Perdue Fish Fry in Perry.

I needed a good Sonny photo since it is his fish fry. but I also needed to shoot Gubernatorial candidates Karen Handel and Nathan Deal. The two were facing off the next Tuesday in the Republican primary.

Photographing the candidates is fairly simple at events like this. You just wait for them to arrive, and follow them around grabbing pictures of them shaking hands and kissing babies. Deal came fairly early and Handel was delayed. That gave me plenty of time to get good shots of him before she arrived.

I was waitong by the door when she came in and followed her as she hit the crowd. I had several nice shots of her, including the one below with Judy Smith. A few minutes later, as Handel moved between two groups of people, someone yelled, "Hey, I'm over here, I am the real Karen Handel." You never know what to expect any more. Last Saturday Nancy Grace had two armed guards standing over her during her Macon book signing. Anyway, a Handel supporter, David Bachman, was covering his face with a magazine featuring Handel's lifesize photo on the cover. I stopped, laughed, and took his picture.

I figured we need a laugh this election season.

A First Birthday Portrait

2010-08-14T15:04:00.000-04:00

Last week I was asked by my friend Ellen Foster to do a picture of her granddaughter Raelynn.

Ellen is a very creative person and had come up with an idea for the picture, including great background and props.We did pictures using ballons, bubbles, and even a really messy cupcake. We shot with two little outfits.

I was really happy with the images. I used one flash and a white umbrella for lighting. Ellen and her daughter Casey helped position Raelynn and kept her smiling. She is a very photogenic young lady.

When I was toning the top photo, I decided it would be kinda interesting to make the image black and white but keep a bit of color. I kept color in her hair bow and two of the ballons. I used the desaturation tool in photoshop and then painted using the history brush.

When I got to the cupcake photos, I knew I had to give it a go as well. This one was a bit harder because I wanted to leave color in the blts of icing on her chest. Turned out pretty well.

Happy Birthday Raelynn.

The First Day of School #40?

2010-08-10T16:19:00.000-04:00

OKay, I am not sure about the number, but I think yesterday when I did the first day of school in Houston County, this may have been Year 40. Man, that is a long time. I have done a bunch, but I still have a lot of fun covering the first day.

The best years have involved the younger kids. There is so much excitment, and anticipation with both the young students and parents. Usually the school staffs share in that anitcipation and excitment as well. This year I was at Perdue Primary in Houston County. Principal Leslie Schultz welcomed me into her school, and let me do my thing.

I still look forward to the covering the first day of school, I am as excited as my subjects. It is a milestone in the lives of parents and kids, especially the first day of school for kindergarten kids. It is cool to be there documenting the moment.

I was a bit worried about the day, my 80-200f2.8 is away for repairs. I rely on that fast lens when shooting candids like the one above. I had no choice but to use my 70-300 zoom. It is a slow lens, a 4.5/5.6, depending on where between 70 and 300mm you happen to be. I shot at 1600 ISO and had enough light to get by. The lens is light enough I got by shooting at 1/60th of a second.

The photo above is my favorite from the morning's shoot. Amanda Williams was kissing her son Aidan goodbye. Typical little boy, kissing Mom while still involved in what he had been doing, which was coloring. He didn't put his crayon down, and I framed the shot so their kiss was between his hands.

Not bad for my 40th year.

Beauty At The Landfill

2010-07-31T06:57:00.000-04:00

I went to the Houston County Landfill this past week to shoot the installation of two huge methane gas powered generators. Quite the cool green project. The generators will provide electricity for over a thousand homes, powered by garbage, or the gas created by the decomposing garbage.

The Houston County Landfill is not what one would expect, thinking of a garbage dump. It is literally quite green, the reclaimed areas looking more like a park.

There are always buzzards around the freshly dumped trash. They follow the tractor, trying to get a bite before the refuse is covered with earth. When the tractor gets too close, they take to the air. The view from below provided a great shot of the birds.

The sky was full of clouds that added to the scene, I wanted to capture them as well. I did my telephoto thing, but had to get a wide angle shot of the sky. That gave me the top image, a bit of 15mm action. One of the coolest cloud shots I have ever done. A bit of beauty from the landfill.

An Award Winning Writer?

2010-07-29T13:26:00.000-04:00

Over the years I have been truly blessed to win quite a few awards for my work, all for my efforts as a photographer. God has been very kind to give me this ability with a camera, and the opportunity to use it.

When I joined the Leader Tribune staff in November of 2008, I discovered another medium of expression, I began writing. During my time at the Telegraph, I occasionally did a little writing, but the pictures were my passion. Photography still is my constant, but writing has been fun. I really got into the words, often the story being accompanied by my pictures instead of the other way around. I was doing several stories a week and really enjoying my work.

One of my favorite stories was on Fort Valley animal control officer Jessica Weidner. That is Jessica pictured above. I spent the day with her, and wrote about her passion for her job, her desire to really make a difference. This story was entered in the Trib Publications annual Better Newspaper Contest. The story won a First Place for Best Feature Story.
One of my photos won First Place for feature photos. The win for a photo is cool, always a thrill to win an award, but the writing award is special. I got a call from a reader after the story ran this week, telling me about the win. There is a real irony to winning an in-house competition after being laid off.

I have included the story below if anyone would like to read it.

Jessica's Story

She began her workday Thursday dumpster diving behind Ace Hardware in Fort Valley. Her name is Jessica Weidner and she’s a cop. Jessica is also Fort Valley’s Animal Control Officer. Ace employees called Thursday morning after hearing puppies crying in the dumpster. Six puppies, maybe a week old, were under the garbage. “They were covered with ants and fleas, yelling up a storm,” she said while she washed the puppies, ridding them of the filth and fleas.

Jessica has been in the “animal business” for eleven years. She said she just kind of fell into the field. She spent over six years a veterinary tech, then time in animal protection with the State of Georgia. Last year she received her certification and spent about six months as a police officer in Reynolds, Georgia. She heard about the animal control position in Fort Valley and applied for the job. The first week on the job she had to crawl under a house to rescue three puppies, but said Thursday was her first time in a dumpster.

Jessica, Chief John David Anderson and a couple of colleagues gathered in the Chief’s office with baby bottles of formula and a box of puppies. The four feed the starving puppies. Chief Anderson said he and his wife would look after the brood until they were old enough to be adopted. Jessica said she can’t take animals home to recuperate anymore. Her young three children get too upset when they have to leave.

After the puppies were settled in Jessica hit the streets in her pickup truck fitted with a kennel and other tools of her trade. The truck bears the same lettering as the Department’s patrol cars. She said “I patrol within the city limits looking for problem animals. When I get a call I respond. Yesterday a lady called 911 and said cats were attacking her dogs and I needed to come out and do something.” Stray cats had been hanging around the lady’s yard attacking her Chihuahuas. One was injured enough to require a trip to the vet. Jessica had set up a trap for the strays.

After checking on the trap she rode across town. “I patrol high nuisance areas where there have been trouble dogs.” There are several ordinance violations she looks for. Dangerous dogs such as Pitt Bulls and Rottweiler’s have to be registered with the city and kept in specific enclosures. Dogs can not be running at large. They also have to have their rabies inoculation. Jessica encourages pet owners to check at the Police Department for a copy of the ordinances.

She often does drive-by welfare checks, making sure animals have shelter from the elements as well as food and water. She is a sworn police officer so she is also looking for criminal behavior.

Jessica spots a large white dog in a vacant lot near College Station Drive. She says the owner has been warned twice about the dog wandering the neighborhood. She stops and talks with the owner’s son who tells her the family has decided to surrender the dog instead of trying to keep in their yard. The dog is captured and loaded into the truck with the assistance of fellow Fort Valley Police Officer Stuart Williams. She said her fellow officers had been very helpful to her, assisting when she needed a hand. Stuart followed Jessica to her next call, an area where she had tried to pick up a neglected dog the day before. The owner was able to get away with the dog.

The dog had disappeared by the time she got to the location so she parted company with Stuart and headed to the office of Veterinarian Lori Giles with the dog she had picked up earlier. The city has entered into a program with Dr. Giles to handle impounded animals. She works with an out-of-county adoption service. The animals are spayed or neutered and put up for adoption. This program has earned the city’s animal control program a Low Kill/No Kill classification. The city is now able to apply for USDA grants to help with the animal control program.

Dr. Giles said that animals that are inpounded are held for three days. If they are not claimed in three days they will be sent to a shelter of foster home hopefully for adoption. Some animals will not adoptable due to aggressiveness or severe health problems. If funds are available the medical problems will be fixed. Dr. Giles said that animals will be scanned for an imbedded identifying micro chip.

Jessica said “When I approach people they think I am going to take their dog. I want to leave it in the home, just want to see it taken care of. This is something I enjoy doing, and somewhere I can make a difference.”

Don't Know What It Is, But What A Photo Opp

2010-07-18T15:24:00.000-04:00

We had a new bloom in the garden this past week. We are not sure what it is, but it makes a wonderful photograph. The previous owner was really into the garden, and there is no telling what kinds of bulbs are hidden under the rich black dirt. Every time we trim the huge Ginkgo tree and get more sun, we have new things pop up.

We first saw this one before the blooms opened. They finally were ready to shoot Friday. I took my flash and a light stand when I went to shoot, but the sun was hitting from just the right angle. Flowers almost always photograph better with backlight. Direct sun is usually too harsh.

Anyway, I just wanted to share these. When you photograph flowers, do one that shows it all, but try getting close, just doing parts. And watch the light.

Peach Still Life

2010-07-15T16:40:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to shoot some peaches since peach season began. I finally got around to buying

some peaches and doing my little shoot. The top two were done on a mirror, just thought it might make a

neat image.

They are out of order, the bottom was actually the first one I did. I used two lights, one behind and a bit to the side. The other was caming in at about 45 degrees on the left. THey are okay, but I will probably buy some more peaches and try again.

Want To See A Killer Photo?

2010-07-08T16:46:00.002-04:00

Photo by Dusty Martin

I am doing my photography class this summer at the Fort Valley State University Warner Robins campus. We had our third class last night. I have sixteen students who share a strong interest in photography. We have a homework assignment each week, and have seen some nice images.

Last week we had a class on composition. The homework assignment was to use what we talked about in class and shoot a killer photo. The above image is Dusty Martin's homework photo. This image rocks. I opened it and just went, "WOW. Someone is listening in class."

I love photography, I love sharing what little I know about this wonderful art. It is so rewarding to have a class full of people who are hungry to learn. Makes an old man happy.

You go, Dusty.

The Sprinter

2010-07-07T08:05:00.004-04:00

I photographed a high school sprinter yesterday. Peach County's Travis Richmond. I needed to get a portrait of him, and wanted to do something with a bit of drama to it. These are in reverse order as to the way they were taken.

The first shot was him in the blocks. I set it up so the sun was over his shoulder. To capture the sun and Travis both with detail, I dropped my ISO down to 100, chose to shoot in Manual, and had an exposure of 1/320 second at F10. The flash was on a stand set just to my left, at eye level with Travis.

For the second two I let him explode from the block, shooting from a low angle. My light stand would not go low enough to get the light where I wanted it, so for the center photo I was hand-holding the flash, aiming it at him as he flew by. I wanted the light to be more directional, so for the top image, the flash was laying on the ground.

All were shot with my 15mm lens. The extreme wide angle was needed to capture the scene, but also wanted that wide angle distortion on his body as he went past.

The top photo is pretty much what I wanted. Love the mix of light and shadow, the look of determination on his face, and the way the sun highlights his muscle tone. Wish I had a bit more sun showing. Oh, well.

Birds and Cats

2010-07-02T16:06:00.005-04:00

I came home from the gym Tuesday morning to find Deborah in the process of rescuing a baby Blue Jay. The little guy must have fallen out of his nest. Deborah took him away form one of our cats. We could not find hsi nest, so she put him in the top of a trellis in out garden.

The little guy was calling his mom and dad, but also managed to attract the cats again. Our cat hunkered down at the bottom of the trellis for a while, then sprang to the top. I shot a couple of pictures of her at the bottom eyeballing the bird. She jumped up the the top with the bird. There was a great shot of her face right behind the bird. I went to chase the cat away. I must be getting really old and soft. I didn't shoot the picture before I went to the rescue. I am still kicking myself for passing up that photo. Course if I had got the photo, and the cat got the bird, Deborah would have kicked my butt.

Momma and Daddy bird finally came, and I got a nice reunion shot. We kept the bird away from the cats for a day and a half, but he finally died. His parents seemed to give up on him. Just another day in nature, I guess.

This One's For The Birds

2010-05-30T14:52:00.005-04:00

Today after Deborah and I got home from church we noticed a lot of activity on our bird feeders hanging near our backporch. We have several feeders that we can watch through the windows.
I grabbed a camera and shot some from inside the house. The top photo was shot through the window and screen. The pictures had a softness to them caused by the screen. It was a cool photo, but I wanted closer.

I got my tripod and set it up in the yard focused in on a feeder. I went inside and waited for another feathered visitor.

Some birds came close, landed in the nearby trees, then flew away. Our cats were lurking in the bushes. The cats finally wandered away, and the birds came back. I used my ML-L3 wireless remote to trigger the camera. The Cardinal was a little jumpy at the camera firing but soon got over it.

This little remote is a handy little item. It cost less than 20 bucks from B&H Photo, and works with the D90, D200 and the D70. It is infrared, so it is line of sight; but still a handy item. Works great for getting yourself in the photo, too.

Life Is Full Of Changes

2010-05-29T14:47:00.005-04:00

We all go through lots of changes in our lives. Some more difficult to handle than others. So many people have gone through unwanted and unexpected changes due to our economy. Loss of jobs, homes. The paper I have worked for the past 18 months was bought by Tribble Newspapers. The good folks at Tribble decided that they no longer needed my services.

Since April my duties and pay had changed about four times. The last photo I did for the paper was Peach County's Special Olympics April 23. Since then I had been doing only layout. I need to be shooting pictures. Anyway, when last Tuesday rolled around, I was ready to be gone.

I have been working on a new website for the past few weeks. My old site was mostly photojournalism. Well, I guess it was about all photojournalism. It was time to feature weddings and portraits. These are a few of the probably too many images on the new site.
Top and bottom are from the same wedding, the center is from a fashion shoot.

Take a look at the site, and let me know what you think.

It is www.dannygilleland.com

Special Olympics

2010-04-23T11:02:00.004-04:00

Brandi Nunn and Justin Robinson give Bryson Flowers a boost as he does the long jump.
This was from the Kay Center's Special Olympics. Really special people working with some very special kids. The photo says it all.

The Dobro Picker

2010-04-20T06:35:00.005-04:00

Deborah has been playing Dobro since last spring. I have been wanting to do a picture since she
began. Close in shot f all those picks on the strings. I was doing a candlelight photo of some flowers last night and asked her to play for me when I finished the flowers.

The Dobro has a large metal disc under the strings where the hole is on a normal guitar.

I used one light placed behind and to the side coming in from about 45 degrees. These are not bad, but still not what I wanted. Not sure exactly what I wanted. Think I will try again with two lights.

The top two photos were done at 1/25 second, the botton one was much slower. It was 1/2.5

second and used what little ambient light was in the room. Not much. The middle photo does have some vibration in the strings that had just been plucked.

Not bad, but we will try again later.

Take A Walk And Find Some Photos

2010-04-13T15:42:00.002-04:00

I walked home from the office yesterday at lunch. It was such a pretty day, too nice to be in a car. When I started back, I took the long way, walking through downtown. I had a camera with me. Two actually. Got to have a telephoto and something wide. Both of these were with the telephoto.
The top picture are some little blue flowers, probably weeds. They caught my eye while I was walking. When I got down low to shoot, I noticed the brown leaf, and decided it fit nicely in the
bottom of the image. I tried a vertical but it didn't work for me.

When I got the photo in the computer, I played around alittle. This one has the water color filter added. Has a nice look.

The old door really jumped out at me. Think what got my attention ws the contrast between the wood, worn paint and the fairly new 'Push' sign.

I have a couple of more I will share later. Get out with your camera and see what you can find.

The Dogwood Blooms

2010-04-08T14:32:00.006-04:00

We have two Dogwood trees in our yard, a white one and a pink. The white one is right outside our backdoor. When you look through the storm door, you see the tree first. Especially this time of year. Today the blooms were screaming "Shoot Me." The overcast day made them just jump.

I shot them this morning. When I went home for lunch, Deborah asked if I had noticed the pink blooms. This tree is on the other side of the house. I had not.

It had begun to rain, but I grabbed my D200 and went shooting. Again the overcast sky made perfect light for these delicate blooms. I underexposed them a little bit to make the color really saturate. Did the same with the white ones. Had to do a little Photoshop work in the shadows.

After I had them toned, I played with them a little in Photoshop, and got this look. I kinda like the finished product.

The Grass Is Always Greener

2010-04-06T17:04:00.003-04:00

I have passed this llama several times when he has been stretched under the barbed wire trying to munch the grass on the other side of the fence. When I would stop the car and get out, he would make a hasty retreat,
Last week I came by and there he was. My camera was in the trunk of the car, so I went past, turned around and stopped. I thought I was far enough away not to panic him, but he pulled back under the wire. I had to go back up the road to turn around so I drove on toward him. With me back in the car, he resumed his position. I stopped and shot my picture through the open car window. Long as I didn't get out of the car, he ignored me.
I am sure there is a life lesson in that somewhere.
I got my camera out a

The Bug In The Iris

2010-04-01T16:59:00.003-04:00

We have Irises blooming in our yard. They make really pretty photographs. So many ways to
look at each bloom. I got out at lunchtime and started looking for a picture. Deborah shot some really nice ones earlier.
I got lucky and found a bug inside a bloom. The light was pretty awesome. I had to burn and dodge a bit in Photoshop, but I like what I got.