First day of sailing.  I wanted to create some "off the end of the world" shots.

Both images were photographed with the Nikon 10.5mm fisheye lens on a D7000 camera.



The sky cleared long enough for me to grab some shots on top of the Acropolis.  Unfotunately, there was a lot of construcion with scaffolding to be avoided.  One of the ways I usually do this is to include something in the foreground to hide the construction and roaming tourists.  Here I used a wide angle lens focused on the foreground detaisl and included the Parthenon just peaking out behind it.

 

This shot was done with the 16-35mm Nikkor zoom set to 16mm and focused on the foreground column.  At f/8 I was still able to still keep some detail in the background building of the Temple of Athena Nike.

On my way back to the hotel the sky turned very dark and stormy.  This lonely column from the Temple of Olympian Zeus made a nice shot standing out agains the stormy sky.  I do not have Photoshop on my small travel laptop.  When I return from this trip I will rework all these images and replace them on the blog.

Arrived in Athens.  The evening brought storm clouds and some rain so I relied on night time shooting to capture this image of the Acropolis.  It is possible to capture shots like this with a blue, night sky even in inclement weather. For more information on how to do this visit my other blog of photo lessons here: Learn Photography.  The shot was done with a Nikon D7000 and 24-70mm Nikkor zoom, f/5.6 and 1/6 second exposure with 100 ISO.  The camera was on a tripod but I didn't have a cable release so I set the camera self-timer for 2 second delay.  That way when I pressed the shutter the camera had 2 seconds to settle down and prevent motion blur of the image.

I'll be traveling for a couple of weeks and on my plane trip over I took some generic shots of the interior of the plane.  This one of a window could be used as a design background.  The washed out window is a place for the designer to put a message.  Shot with the Nikon D7000 and 24-70mm Nikkor zoom.

I've been saving wine corks to do some stock shots.  Here's one that can be used as a background for a designer.  Shot with the Nikon D7000 and 60mm macro at f/5.6.

By coincidence I ran across another interesting lock setup while walking about.  From the looks of it, no one is getting into this place!  The image was taken with a Leica M9 and 90mm Macro-Elmar lens at f/11 to obtain increased depth of field.

I found this lock attached to a chain-link fence near my studio and grabbed a side-angled shot with the Nikon D7000 and 50mm lens at f/1.4 to put everything out of focus except the lock itself.  Some color enhancement was later done in Photoshop.

Continuing with the theme of using wild flowers I decided to do some shots of wild flowers arranged in a models hair.  All photos were taken with fast prime lenses used wide open.  I also kept the ISO moderately high to add more of a softening effect.  Higher ISO's tend to have lower contrast and more "graininess".  This photo was taken with the Nikon D3s and 50mm f/1.4 lens.

The ultra soft look here was achieved by shooting directly into a soft window light with no fill on the model's face.  Shot with the Nikon D7000 and 85mm f/1.4 lens.

This photo has a little bit of fill to enhance the colors.  Nikon D3x and 135mm defocus Nikkor at f/2.

This is a continuation of the theme of a few days ago, the combining of delicate flowers with unusual subjects.  Here the flowers are set in a delicate still life with Euro notes.  Below is a birds nest.

Both photos were shot back lit by window light on a Nikon D3x and 85mm tilt-shift lens.

This cute baby was at a celebration gathering.  Her face was mesmerized by the surroundings.  I grabbed this shot as she was facing into the soft window light.  Shot at ISO 800 with the Nikon D7000 and 24-70mm Nikkor zoom set to 40mm and f-2.8.  A further treatment in Photoshop added the faded vintage photography look.

This stark,graphic image of a violin was photographed by soft window light coming from the left.  The deep black background was achieved by placing a black sheet of cardboard behind the violin.  The cardboard was turned to the right so it would not pick up any light from the window.

I needed a photo as part of an illustration for my new blog of photography lessons.  This photo of the rear of a Canon T3i was taken with a Nikon D3x and 85mm tilt-shift macro.  You can see the photo incorporated into the design and visit the new blog site by clicking here.

I set out to do some photographs using delicate flowers combined with unusual objects.  Here is a variation with a pill container serving as a vase.

This version with a mortar and pestle can suggest organic or homeopathic health, or even fragrances.  Both images were shot with a D3x and 85mm tilt-shift Nikkor lens.

This display of radishes and salt was laid out at a party I attended.  It was during the day with enough daylight to capture an available light photo with the 35mm f/2 lens on a Nikon D7000 at a moderate ISO of 400. 

Moving to the side enabled me to achieve a back lit vertical shot that put more emphasis on the two types of salt.  I found a piece of crumpled tin foil in the kitchen and placed it in front of the scene to add some fill that brightened up the dark shadows.

This photo was shot in a similar fashion to the one from yesterday with soft window light, and using the same camera and lens.  It does show how close you can get with the 35mm f/2 D lens on a DX camera.

The day was very overcast.  I always shoot in RAW and include a Qpcard in the scene so that I can calibrate the light balance to standard daylight later.  All you have to do when bringing the image in from RAW is click on the white square of the card with the white balance tool in Photoshop Bridge and the scene is automatically balanced.  From there you can warm or cool the scene by adjusting the color balance sliders further.  Doing that added a little more warmth to the top scene.

The white linen napkin helps separate the antique corkscrew from the wood background and also results in a more interesting composition that echoes and accentuates the strong vertical framing.  Shot by window light with the Nikon D7000 and a 35mm f/2 Nikkor lens set to f/8 for increased depth of field.  This lens focuses down to a little over 9", and on the smaller sensor of a DX camera becomes a handy close-up tool for still life.  That and the fast f/2 maximum aperture makes this lens a regular addition to my travel camera kit.

I wanted to do a series of still life images where the color was very muted and the scene just off white.  This image of law books and gavel is one of the results.  Shot with the 85mm tilt-shift Nikkor lens on a D3x.

Still life with herbs and antique book -- shot with the Nikon D3x and 60mm Micro-Nikkor lens at f/8.  The herbs at the local farmer's market have a fresh spring green right now so I have been doing a series of images with them for stock.

In vino veritas!  I have been saving wine corks for quite awhile now intending to do a series of stock photos with them.  Here are a couple I just did.

Both images were taken with the Nikkor tilt-shift 85mm lens on the D3x.  In the photo above tilting the lens forward kept both the corkscrew and tops of the background corks in focus despite using a fairly wide open lens aperture.  Lowering the vibrance control in Photoshop muted the colors.

To do this fashion runway shot in the studio we created the scene using seamless paper -- black on the floor, white for the runway, and gray for the interior wall.  The two side walls are simply large foam core sheets.  Lighting was done with five Nikon SB-900 flash units -- two on the floor on each side of the runway, and one overhead shining into the models hair and also creating a flare into the lens.   The camera used was the Nikon D7000 with a 24-70mm Nikkor zoom.

This scene was done similarly to the one above except that it is two images put together.  Both models are the same person.  First she was photographed out-of-focus walking away from us on the right.  Next she was photographed in focus walking towards us in the back.  The two images were then assembled in Photoshop.

Trying to obtain a new perspective on the Empire State Building is always a challenge.  Here I was able to photograph just its top spire framed in the girders of another building.

This is another version of the shot with the Empire State Building more abstracted into the scene.  Both photos were taken with a Leica M9 and 90mm Elmarit lens at f/11 for increased depth-of-field.

To do an image showing the global reach of the internet I first created an "http://www..." line in Photoshop and photographed it right off my computer screen.  Next, I combined it with a globe image I keep on file for just this sort of thing.  Finally, I rendered the star in Photoshop.

Since it began, I have been documenting the construction of the new World Trade Center.  Because I don't know what the final best angle will be, I have been photographing from six different vantage points.  In order to bring out the flag and building on the left, both of which were in deep shadow, I had to fuse three different exposures that were 1-stop apart.  I used Photomatix, an excellent HDR program to combine the three images.

Both images were taken with the Leica M9 and 21mm Elmarit lens at f/8.  This image shows 1 World Trade Center with 64 of the intended 104 floors completed.  A floor is added about once a week.  I document the progress every three months.

Happy Mother's Day! 

This model was in the studio for a group shoot.  I liked her face and wanted to do a soft and delicate portrait of her.  I placed her directly in front of a large window and shot without any fill.  This allowed the light to wrap around her and create a very bright and low contrast image.  To further enhance the softening effect, I shot with the Nikkor 135mm defocus f/2 lens wide open on the D3s. 

I was updating my portfolio when I took these two shots.  A wall of light was created by hanging a semi-opaque plastic drop cloth placed in front of some windows.  Gauze curtains were placed in front of this.  The model was photographed slightly out of focus to render an ethereal effect.

To create a hazy look for this image of an angel, the model was placed behind the light wall.  Both images were softened further by using very fast prime Nikkor lenses with wide open apertures.  Setting the Nikon D3s camera to a high ISO also contributed to lowering the contrast and diminishing detail.

It was raining lightly today, and the leaves in the park had their fresh spring green color.  I put a 60mm macro lens on the Nikon D7000 and took these close-ups.

All images were shot wide open at f/2.8 to provide a very shallow depth of field. 

This photo and the first one above were shot from underneath to make the skeletal structure of the leaves glow against the white sky.

This image of the flag reflected in the girls glasses was done in the studio.We set up a very large flag on light stands and had the girl stand very close to it.  Shot with a Nikon D3s and 105mm macro.

Close-up shot of oregano in a small green bottle.  This series of photos of herbs was done with the Nikon D7000 and 60mm Micro-Nikkor lens shot fairly wide open around f/4-5.6.

In addition to photographing each herb individually, I did several group shots.  These are often used in magazines doing articles on cooking.

Each herb was photographed in a situation with a vase and also on its own, like this, as a bold graphic without any accessories. 

Two variations on the same theme, each shot with a different color cast and soft focus to make them applicable for use as background photos.

Both images were taken with the Nikon D3x equipped with a 135mm defocus Nikkor lens at f/2.2 and an extension ring to allow for close focus. 

On a walk around the city today I found a street vender selling antique maps.  I bought this one to combine with a passport for a travel shot.  I shot at an angle to leave the top right of the map out of focus because the countries in that region have a very different configuration than they do today.  Nikon D7000, 35mm Nikkor lens at f/4 by window light.