Tag Archives: HDR

Bridges

Posted by Mike on

This is the first week on a new adventure! When I was on vacation, running around Disney with my camera like a mad man, I met a lot of photographers. I know, no surprise there since it was a photography event, but I guess what I really should say is I connected with a lot of photographers. There was one couple in particular that every time we ran into each other we would stand and talk like old friends. I wish we had spent more time exploring together but we have stayed in touch since returning to our respective communities.

It is with these new (old) friends of mine that I will be adventuring. We are going to work on our photography together. Selecting a theme each week, getting out with our cameras, posting the results and discussing each image. The main goal is to get ourselves out with the cameras with a subject in mind. Explore some themes outside each of our own comfort zones and basically have a lot of fun showing off our communities. The first theme is bridges!

The weekend weather didn’t understand that with the shorter days I needed to use Saturday and Sunday for my exploring. I did manage to get out around sunrise on Sunday for about an hour before the rain eventually forced me back inside. I had a few bridges in my head that I wanted to explore, one I had even captured before but I was going to go for something different this time. I also found a covered bridge about an hour away but those plans fell through. It made my list of places to visit in the future…

Both of these bridges are in South Rome next to the barge canal. I have typically used the second bridge in a supporting roll for the images I capture of the canal. This time is was the main player. The first image was something I wanted to capture while trying to bring out all the detail. I liked the fact that this railroad bridge also had asymmetric tunnels for the cars. Both images required multiple exposures to capture all the detail. I did push the HDR look of the first a little farther than I normally do but one of my goals for this adventure was to try different things. So it is what it is.

Bridge for One, Tunnel for Two Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.6, 1.3, 2, 3, 4 & 6s bracket), 28mm, f/16, ISO 100

Bridge for One, Tunnel for Two
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.6, 1.3, 2, 3, 4 & 6s bracket), 28mm, f/16, ISO 100

Support Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1, 2 & 4s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Support
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1, 2 & 4s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Wheel Well Motel

Posted by Mike on

I so enjoyed my trip to Disney but the work it takes to get back into the groove almost feels counter-relaxing. This week has been very busy and my opportunities to get out exploring with the camera have been zero. This leaves me with filling my posts with more images of Disney. Not something I get tired of seeing but I promise to move past this phase soon… 😉

Disney, to me, is all about the details. I enjoy looking for things most people walk past and hardly notice. This image is from the Cars section of the Art of Animation resort. I rode the bus to this resort one night since the line for the bus to my resort was ridiculously long. Disney never completed the second phase of the Pop Century resort and a few years ago converted the building shells into the Art of Animation resort. Luckily for me the two resorts are connected by a walking bridge and after ‘peeking’ at the details on my walk back to my room I grabbed the camera to do some exploring. It didn’t matter that it was almost midnight that night, the details were calling me…

Wheel Well Motel Nikon D5100, Sigma 17070mm f/2.8-4, (1/5, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3 & 6s bracket), 17mm, f/11, ISO 400

Wheel Well Motel
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17070mm f/2.8-4, (1/5, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3 & 6s bracket), 17mm, f/11, ISO 400

Disney and Photo Magic 2013

Posted by Mike on

I am so far outside my comfort zone with this Photo Magic 2013 event at Walt Disney World. I’m having a great time and meeting a lot of great people. Here are a few of my favorites so far…

Tomorrowland Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, (10, 25, 30s bracket), f/16, ISO 400

Tomorrowland
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, (10, 25, 30s bracket), f/16, ISO 400

Chim Chim Cheree Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/1.8, ISO 1600

Chim Chim Cheree
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/1.8, ISO 1600

Oscar's Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/1600s, 17mm, f/8, ISO 400

Oscar’s
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/1600s, 17mm, f/8, ISO 400

Autumn Falls

Posted by Mike on

I believe the car has a mind of its own. It seems like every time I am driving north on route 81 from Binghamton, the darn car ends up exiting at LaFayette and finding its way to Chittenango Falls State Park. It must know when the weather is favorable that I need to stop and stretch my legs.

Sunday turned out to be a nice day to do some exploring so I really didn’t complain when the car ventured off on its detour. The colors were at their peak this past weekend and added a nice change from my normal images at this state park. I was hoping there had been enough rain to provide water in the side alcove I had found early this year but it was not to be. I guess this view isn’t a bad second place… 😉

Autumn Falls Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/3, 1/6, 1/13 & 1/25s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Autumn Falls
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/3, 1/6, 1/13 & 1/25s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Morning Glow

Posted by Mike on

The colors of the sunrise were too good to pass up, so another image from my early morning at Hinkley Reservoir makes it into my stream. This is a 3 exposure bracket HDR image. It was the best way to capture the most light. The sunrise wouldn’t be as interesting if the rocks in the foreground were silhouetted.

Morning Glow Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, {1/4, 1, 4s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Morning Glow
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, {1/4, 1, 4s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Reservoir Sunrise

Posted by Mike on

I finally make it to the weekend and the forecast is for rain. I’m sure I’ll still enjoy the time off from work but I was looking forward to a few events this weekend. The Trenton Falls trails are open again this weekend (as well as next) and there is the Trenton Falls Art Festival. Hopefully Sunday will not be a total washout and I can get some exploring in along the trail and at the art festival.

When I awoke the moon was still shining brightly through the windows so I knew the clouds would have to be rolling in if we are going to get the rain predicted. I packed up the camera and headed to Hinkley Reservoir to capture the sunrise. It was a good plan. The clouds hadn’t completely obscured the sky and the pre-dawn light was incredible.

Pointing the camera into the morning light was going to cause the foreground to almost completely black out. This was the perfect scene for some bracketed images. I properly exposed for the sky and water and tried a few images to ensure I was balancing the histogram. Switched the camera into exposure bracketing, selected +/-2 and let the camera do its thing. This gave me three images, one underexposed by 2 stops, one exposed for the sky and one overexposed by 2 stops. This would give me enough detail in both the highlights and shadows to work with.

I used the ‘Merge to 32-bit HDR’ option in the Photomatix plugin for Lightroom to blend all three exposures together, producing an image with a wider dynamic range. A few adjustments to brighten up the shadows and lighten the highlights produced the image below. The clouds were moving fairly quickly but I let the merge process use all the information which smeared the clouds slightly but I like the results.

Although I am only 20 minutes away from the reservoir this was my first trip up and after the beautiful morning I will be making a more trips in the future. There is quite a few locations along the shore to explore…

Reservoir Sunrise Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.5, 2, 8s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Reservoir Sunrise
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.5, 2, 8s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Cavern Cascade

Posted by Mike on

Fading light and too much work have kept me from exploring with the camera so here is another image from my exploration of Watkins Glen State Park.

Cavern Cascade Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.8, 3, 13s bracket), 26mm f/13, ISO 100

Cavern Cascade
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.8, 3, 13s bracket), 26mm f/13, ISO 100