Picture of the Day - 5/24/2011

Peacock Displaying, Oklahoma City Zoo, OK - Here's the last B&W conversion done at my recent workshop and this will be the last of the PODs, now that I'm caught up from our recent travels. More will come as we continue traveling through the summer. I was just ready to leave the zoo near closing when I saw this male peacock starting to display - certainly reason enough to postpone my departure! Because of the multitude of colors in the tail, I had to be careful during the B&W conversion to adjust individual color channels carefully to avoid ruining the detail. Extra sharpening and mid-tone contrast was added to enhance the edge detail in the patterns. This was taken with a 100-400mm zoom telephoto lens, handheld, using image stabilization. Settings: ISO 1600, shutter 1/50th second at an aperture of f10.

Picture of the Day - 5/23/2011

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ - I have two more B&W conversions made during the B&W Print workshop in Santa Fe I'd like to show you. These are both created from past images made during March this year. This one of Upper Antelope Canyon with the light beam is similar to a previous shot I posted in color. These beams last only a few minutes, so you need to know exactly where to be in the canyon during the time it appears. Our Navajo guide was a great help in getting us to the right place at the right time. This was a tough conversion because of the extreme difference between the highlights and shadows. Settings: ISO 800, shutter 1.3 second at an aperture of f8.

Picture of the Day - 5/22/2011

Red Rocks, Abiquiu, NM - Here's one last shot taken at the Red Rocks area across from Abiquiu Reservoir. This is one of several colorful Mesas in this area. One goal during the process of B&W conversion is to enhance the foreground by adding sharpening and mid-tone contrast. I also added additional contrast in the sky and clouds. Additional burning and dodging provides emphasis on the main subject and balances out the tonal variations that may be distracting. These are the same techniques used by Ansel Adams in the darkroom, but converted to today's current digital tools. Settings: ISO 200, shutter 1/40th second at an aperture of f16 for good depth of field.

Picture of the Day - 5/21/2011

Yucca at Red Rocks, Abiquiu, NM - Here is a B&W converted image of a small yucca plant - maybe 8 inches tall - in the Red Rocks area across from Abiquiu Reservoir, off Highway 84 in New Mexico. This was shot at a wide aperture to blur out the background, focussing more attention on the subject. I also thought it looked nicer cropped square. It required a lot of cloning (removal) of debris in the foreground and background in order to simplify the image.

Picture of the Day - 5/20/2011

Cross at La Santa Rosa De Lima Ruin, Hernandez, NM - Here is a B&W converted image of the cross at the ruins of La Santa Rosa De Lima Chapel near Hernandez, NM. This is close to where Ansel Adams made is famous "Moonrise Over Hernandez" image and where Georgia O'Keefe lived in Abiquiu (near Ghost Ranch).

Picture of the Day - 5/19/2011

Upper Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ - Here is a converted image of Upper Antelope Canyon - a popular slot canyon near Page, Arizona. This was a tough image to convert because of the dramatic dynamic range between highlights and shadows. The important subject in the picture was the light falling on the tumbleweeds, so I let the shadows go black. I like the effect, however...what do you think?

Picture of the Day - 5/18/2011

Zabrisky Point, Death Valley, CA - As a part of our workshop, I had brought several candidate images from home to convert to B&W and Dante's View in Death Valley was one of my favorites. Here's the converted image after massaging it using Lightroom. We'll be going even deeper into B&W conversions today. What's interesting about George DeWolfe's conversion techniques are that, as a past student of Ansel Adams and Minor White, he has translated their darkroom techniques to the digital realm to create a "presence" or depth to the 2D image. He's also pulled in specialized techniques from painters, such as outlining objects to make them stand out better.

Picture of the Day - 5/17/2011

Red Rocks, NM - As a part of our workshop, George DeWolfe had us spend the afternoon photographing in the Red Rocks area just north of Abiquiu, the town where painter, Georgia O'Keefe, spent several years. While the day started out overcast, the clouds eventually became nicely photogenic and served as perfect backdrops for the gorgeous rock buttes. We'll be converting some of these to B&W tomorrow! Settings are ISO 200, aperture f11 and shutter 1/250 second. The original and B&W conversion are shown for comparison. I like how both came out, but which do you prefer?

Picture of the Day - 5/16/2011

Santa Fe Architecture - As a lover of all types of architecture, I rarely walk around Santa Fe without a camera. Even the doorways are unique, Here, I show a very typical slice of Santa Fe adobe-style architecture in the soft light of the setting sun. I try to simplify my compositions, as well as look for complementary colors, and this image fits my style nicely. Settings are ISO 200, aperture f5.6 and shutter 1/2000 second.

Picture of the Day - 5/15/2011

Moonrise Over Santa Fe Workshops - Sorry; a play on Ansel Adams' famous, Moonrise Over Hernandez. Sheila and I arrived in Santa Fe last Sunday and we were scouting out the location of the well-known (to photographers) Santa Fe Workshops site near the Old Town District, where I'll be taking a week-long black & white print workshop. I just happened to catch the rising moon over the administration building and as a tribute to Adams, converted the color image to B&W. Settings are ISO 200, aperture f5.6 and shutter 1/1600 second. For more info on Adams famous image, click here and scroll down a bit.

Picture of the Day - 5/14/2011

Blue River - Here's a continuation from yesterday. A little further downstream, I came across this group of small waterfalls. By shooting down low, I was able to capture reflections of the sky in the water, giving a nice complement to the red bedrock. I used a slow shutter speed to depict movement of the water. Settings are ISO 100, aperture f20 and shutter 1/5 second.

Picture of the Day - 5/13/2011

Golden Potholes - I'm attending the annual Moab Photo Symposium and as a part of the program, joined one of the many afternoon photo shoots - this one led by organizer, Bruce Hucko. We headed for a somewhat hidden creek flowing over sandstone bedrock, just east of Moab. After hiking about a mile, we had dropped down to the creek and were ready to make photographs. As we worked out way downstream, I came across these potholes filled with recent rainwater. By photographing from a low vantage point, I captured reflections of the red rocks. Settings are ISO 100, aperture f16 and shutter 1/6 second. Because I was shooting in the shade, I used a cloudy white balance to counteract the bluish color cast in the rocks.

Lower Antelope Canyon - 2

Another section of Lower Antelope Canyon showing the multiple hues of oranges, yellows and browns.

Lower Antelope Canyon - 1

Tour participant, Stan, composing a shot in Lower Antelope Canyon. We're shooting in the canyon about 50 to 80 feet below the ground surface. These canyons are best photographed during mid-day; an unusual time for nature photography, but the reflected light bounces all through the canyon causing the walls to glow multi-earth tones.

Upper Antelope Canyon - Light Beam

Upper Antelope Canyon, near Page, AZ, is unique in that at certain times in mid-day, sunlight will shine for brief moments in various parts of the canyon. This was about a 1/8th-second exposure at f4.5 and ISO 400.

Monument Valley Sunset 1

This was a memorable sunset looking west from the edge of Monument Valley. It lasted for about 30 minutes and we were able to take several panoramics.

Monument Valley Sunrise 3

One more sunrise from Monument Valley. This was taken a little later than Sunrise #2 and we allowed the sun to create a starburst effect as it rose in the early morning sky. To get this effect, just allow a little of the sun to poke from behind the rock and shoot with your aperture closed down to f22, or smaller. The edge diffraction causes the burst.

Monument Valley Sunrise 2

Getting out of the sack prior to sunrise has its rewards! Fortunately, we were camped right on the rim above the valley, so I simply stepped out of the trailer to capture this view of the Mittens.

Monument Valley Sunrise 1

Sand dunes, totem pole and YeiBiChei rock formations at sunrise. We hired Navajo guide, Frank, from Blackwater Tours to bring us in here well before sunrise. For once, we had some interesting skies. Normally, it's rather bland just at sunrise.