Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

-Anthony J. D’Angelo

Story behind the image…

After checking in to our hotel in Moab and dropping off our suitcases, we headed off to Arches to explore.  The Windows area is always a great start to the park with the beautiful drive  along the way and the treat of several windows within view from one location and all easily accessible for a closer look.  A short walk to the base of North Window provided a view and a great frame through which to photograph Turret Arch along with the sun.  A few people in the lower left add some scale to the image.  Once again bracketing was necessary to capture the tonal range from the bright sun to the shadows.  I usually choose five frames with my base expsure of ISO 200 f22 @ 1/180.  f22 to create the starburst effect and in all honesty, ISO 200 because I forgot to change it from the previous shoot when I needed the higher ISO to keep my shutter speed up.  Nikon D4, AF 16mm 2.8D Fisheye.

I may go to 3, 7 or even 9 frame brackets (on rare occaisions) as I feel the scene and my finished image will need to convey the look I am after in my final image.  *Note: you can always delete an extra frame or two if you find you don’t need as many exposures but, once that camera has been moved I find that you can’t easily regain the additional exposure information that may later have come in handy when processing the images.

I was doing a lot of HDR this trip for many reasons.  Number one was because this was NOT a photo trip.  Don’t get me wrong, everyone had seemingly unending patience with me and my stops to make images but, we also wanted to see as much as we could and so sometimes we were in wonderful places at a time when the light wasn’t within the range of exposure the camera could capture in one click.  Rather than pass by some excellent opportunities, I turned to the tools that I have at hand (bracketing and HDR processing software) to extend the hours of the day that I can make beautiful images.

Yes, they do have a different look but, it’s a look that I, for one, like and will continue to explore along with many other ways of pushing myself to expand my vision and my ways of sharing that vision with you…visually!  Stay tuned.

To Accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

-Anatole France-

Story behind the image…

A sneak portrait of my husband, Frank, pausing to enjoy the view as we walked along the rim of the Grand Canyon.  The late afternoon light cast the foreground in shadow while the shadow and light was beginning to bring out the visual depth that conveys the breadth and depth of this Grandest of canyons.  The light range was greater than a single click could capture so, I dialed in…yeap a 5 frame bracket with a base exposure of ISO 100 f8 @ 1/60 sec.  During the HDR conversion using Photomatix Pro 4, I adjusted the image in such a way that Frank wasn’t as bright as the background (a more natural look).  I wanted to create a compliment between man and nature and not a competition of exposures vying for the viewers attention.  Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR.

How beautiful it is to excel, and the goodness of giving from your heart.

-Robert Mondavi-

Story behind the image…

Sometimes the highlight of a trip is not at all what you expect it to be.  I rented a beach house on the coast and three fellow photographers joined me for a long weekend.  We were all excited about hanging out together at the coast and anticipated some great seascapes.  Upon arriving at the beach house we were pleasantly surprised to find a waterfall in our backyard.  While we all had a great time photographing the coast, we all agreed that our own little waterfall was the highlight!  In order to get a slow enough shutter speed to blur the water during the day, I added my Singh Ray Vari-ND and dialed it down shooting to see what shutter speed best captured the blur effect I was after.  Image captured with Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR @ 185mm.  ISO 100 f16 @ 1/4 sec

If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 MPG.

-Bill Gates-

Story behind the image…

I discovered this wonderful old car in Seligman, AZ along Route 66.  It’s condition and the fact that we were on Route 66 gave me inspiration for this image.  I began with a five frame bracket with a base exposure of ISO 200 f10 @ 1/15 sec.  I processed the HDR using Photomatix Pro and then added the “grunge” effect using NIK filters including a double dose of Tonal Contrast, some Brilliance and Warmth to liven it up even more, a bit of Classical Soft Focus to take the extreme edge off and then I took the image to NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 and then lowered the opacity of the B&W layer by about 50% to reduce the intense colors and enhance the age and wear.  Nikon D4, AF-S 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR @ 35mm.