Tag Archives: monochrome

Dietz Lantern

Posted by Mike on

Monochrome

I tried photographing another of those wonderful gifts I received for Christmas. My shelves are full of items to capture, I am struggling with the figuring out the best way to present each item. I have a feeling I am over-thinking this too much. I should put the dang thing in front of the camera and click away… LOL

This is an old Dietz Lantern. There is a possibility it was manufactured in the Syracuse, NY factory (no promises, only wishful thinking). The entire Dietz lantern story is fascinating and I have only scratched the surface. I did find the following website where the factory in Syracuse has been converted to loft apartments (The Dietz Lofts). I have another lantern I received for Christmas, before I get that one photographed I’ll see what additional info I can find on the company…

  

MLCreations Photography: Monochrome &emdash; Dietz Lantern

Dietz Lantern
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/30s, 25mm, f/11, ISO 200

Barrel of Monkeys

Posted by Mike on

Game Pieces – GP11

Either I am a very slow starter or a very patient person… It was a little over two months ago I posted about my plan to re-start my Game Pieces project. I know a portion of the delay was my search for the next pieces I wanted to photograph. I started with a shopping list:

  • Paddle Ball
  • Sliding Tile Puzzle
  • Pick-Up Sticks
  • Barrel of Monkeys
  • Tiddlywinks
  • Marbles
  • Chinese Checkers
  • Checkers
  • Rubik’s Cube
  • Trouble
  • Yahtzee
  • Monopoly
  • Clue
  • Sorry
  • Rock ’em Sock’em Robots
  • Magic Eightball
  • Boggle
  • Stratego
  • Mousetrap
  • Space Shot Gravity Ball
  • Game of Life
  • Connect Four
  • Battleship
  • Operation

At first I was planning on picking up new games at the store, creating my photograph, and then giving the games to charity. I picked up a Yahtzee game and a Barrel of Monkeys before the Christmas season hit me and my efforts turned toward the Toys for Tots campaign.

Then I went to a consignment shop. Everything changed. My first find was a 1954 version of Monopoly. Next I picked up a 1949 version of Cootie. I was hooked. I know I will not be able to find older versions of everything on my list but the hunt is half the fun. Remember, it is the journey, not the destination…

I have not decided how best to display my treasured finds so I thought I would warm up with the Barrel of Monkeys. I’m still debating if a subtle approach would be better, i.e., maybe only a monkey or two, no barrel, etc. For now, I went with a full on assault for this version. Maybe there will be a different decision down the road…

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Barrel of Monkeys

Barrel of Monkeys
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/30s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 200

Fill’er Up

Posted by Mike on

Oil Can Project – OCP05

Another one of my great Christmas presents. This one is different in that it is a pour style can rather than a pump style. I like how this image turned out. The texture and age of the can definitely show through in this setup.  I was able to create a better reflection for this can which highlights more of the weathering on this can by the different shadowing.

 

Fill’er Up
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/30s, 14mm, f/16, ISO 400

Spout

Posted by Mike on

Oil Can Project – OCP04

My family went out of their way this Christmas to find more stuff for me to photograph. I received more oil cans for my project, the other two cans of oil to join the one I purchased a while ago and even a couple of new items for what will probably end up another series of stuff for me to collect… lanterns. I spent a few hours last night working on my setup for capturing photos of all this new stuff. I think I have a better understanding of what I need to do. I still need to figure out one last piece but for now here is one of the new items from my stocking… a little oil can.

  

Spout
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/30s, 32mm, f/16, ISO 400

Everest Enshrined

Posted by Mike on

WDW in B&W – WBW17
Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World

  

MLCreations Photography: WDW in B&W &emdash; Everest Enshrined

Everest Enshrined
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/60s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 400

Harambe in B&W

Posted by Mike on

WDW in B&W – WBW16
Harambe, Africa, Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World

There is an elegance to a black & white photo that trumps the color version in certain situations. I especially like processing mid-day images at Walt Disney World in black & white. Although normally photographers shy away from the direct light of the overhead sun I find the shadows it creates can add to the visual impact of the scene. Today I turn to the village of Harambe in the Africa area of the Animal Kingdom.

My normal B&W processing is done with Topaz Labs B&W plugin but it has been giving my fits lately. I believe it is related to the latest Windows update but I have not spent the time to dig into the issue. I turned to On1 Effects to process these images and the toning is a little different than I have been using. I am undecided if I need to tweak these to bring them inline with what I have been normally doing. At the moment I like them, we’ll see how the wear on me as they age… LOL.

  

MLCreations Photography: WDW in B&W &emdash; Harambe Port

Harambe Port
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, 1/250s, f/16, ISO 200

  

MLCreations Photography: WDW in B&W &emdash; Hotel Burudika

Hotel Burudika
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/16, ISO 200

  

MLCreations Photography: WDW in B&W &emdash; Harambe Market

Harambe Market
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, 1/160s, f/16, ISO 200