Yeah, I guess that’s technically where I was. Last weekend was camping with the boys out near Fayettville and Columbus, TX. A friend of a friend of a brother’s fiance’s uncle’s brother’s family owns some land out there, so we packed up (or other people did) and we headed out for a raucous weekend full of shooting, grilling, bonding, and (unfortunately) getting Loko’d.Read More
Tag
hdr
Behind the scenes – Mirror in the bathroom
I was very surprised at the amount of attention and praise my last work, the mirror in the bathroom, received. For something so strange and experimental, I was flabbergasted by how many people seemed to like it.
That being said, a few people were wanting to know how I put it all together. While I’m wishing that I had taken more photos of the setup itself, this will have to do!Read More
The mirror in the bathroom
Welcome to my nightmare. The mirror in the bathroom. But is it only that?
You might find yourself asking, do your nightmares always involve you wearing your wife’s pajamas? Typically no. But I have had recurring nightmares about strange clones and odd happenings since I was a child (which, I’m glad to say, happen with much less frequency now that I’m older). I would often dream that there were weird, invasion-of-the-bodysnatcher duplicates of my family following me around the house with lights for eyes (probably lifted from the “deadlights” description in Stephen King’s It). They were mainly chase dreams, never really reaching any kind of culmination (and thank god for that!), but they stuck with me.Read More
Inside the fuselage of a WWII glider
Here’s a shot from inside the fuselage of the CG-4A glider, the star attraction of the Silent Wings Museum. While it looks large enough, it’s hard to believe that 15 armed soldiers were crammed into such a tight space (not to mention the pilots!). And this was pretty much all the room they had since the entire tail section of the plane was fabricated of structural supports. I added a photo of the inside of the tail below, as well.Read More
Flying on silent wings
Have you ever asked yourself, “What did the military use before they had helicopters?” Me neither. After some initial research, I discovered that helicopters haven’t always existed. (I know!) You’re probably now wondering how the pyramids were really built, but rest assured it wasn’t with the aid of helicopters.
All kidding aside, I’ve never really taken the time to wonder about it. So it came as quite a surprise to hear that the military actually used gliders back in WWII as stealth infiltrators, towing them behind regular planes (like the one below) and then cutting them loose behind enemy lines.Read More
Twilight Over the Camel’s Back
I had a lot of fun shooting in and around the JW Marriott Camelback Inn while I was in Scottsdale awhile back. I got this shot after a pretty long day of shooting.
The sun had set while I was climbing down Mummy Mountain, so I headed back to the resort for some dinner. I ended up having the steak skewers and guacamole (along with a couple G&Ts) at the hotel bar at the suggestion of the bartender. And kudos to him, because all of it was top notch.Read More
The unboxing! Nikon D600 review…
So here it is at last, the unboxing and early review of Nikon’s newest model and most affordable full frame camera, the D600. Serving as a bridge between the pro shooter and “pro-sumer,” the D600 includes many of the features from the more expensive D800 all packed into the body of a D7000.Read More
Camelback at Dusk
First off, let me say that I am not a hiker. That being said, I will occasionally break out the sneakers and walk a trail or two. Luckily, I had some free time during my recent trip to Scottsdale to do just that. Scaling Mummy Mountain gave me a great view of the JW Marriott Camelback Inn and Camelback Mountain.
I hung out for awhile to catch what little I could of the sunset from my vantage point. Having missed quite a spectacular Arizona sunset the night before, I was determined to shoot one before I left. Unfortunately, the sunset this evening held only a fraction of the extravagance from the night before. But we do what we can, so I set up the tripod and started shooting away.Read More
It’s Friday, I’m Outta Here!
Okay, maybe not really. But my alter ego is! He’s taking off into the waning Barcelona sun on a pretty sweet ride.Read More
Ah, the Smell of Irrigation in the Morning…
The road to Odessa was an interesting one. Though the forecast called for a mildly overcast day, I encountered a lot of strange weather–rain, horror movie levels of fog, ominous storm clouds, then oddly striated sections of clouds that let the light pour through in slices.Read More
Sunset over Tyler Tech
I witnessed an amazing sunset the other night behind the Tyler Technologies building while I was out for a walk. There was a storm brewing which made for some amazing contrasts of color.
Unfortunately, by the time I ran inside to grab my tripod and camera, I had missed most of the really cool stuff…Read More
Flowers For My Mom
It’s been a few days since my last post (gasp, three whole days!!!), which I can only assume is from laziness (though, I have been pretty busy lately).
But today is a new day and I’m back in business. Been working on a lot of non-HDR photos recently. I feel like I’ve been pigeonholing myself with the HDR stuff, but what can I say? I love HDR and have been struggling with my technique ever since I started. It’s great fun and never ceases to give me new and surprising results each time.Read More
Chaves County War Memorial, Roswell, NM
Here’s another shot from Roswell, NM. Directly in front of the courthouse is the Chaves County War Memorial, which was unveiled late last year.
It’s taken me forever to process these HDR shots. For whatever reason, the contrast of the blue-gray clouds and the setting sun created such a strange mix of colors. Every time I processed them and started editing, I would waste so much time trying over and over again to get it to look right.Read More
Sunset Boulevard, San Diego
This was a throwaway shot I took near the bay in San Diego right across the street from the Star of India. It was another of those moments when I’m shooting away at the setting sun, then I turn around to notice, “hey, there’s stuff going on behind me.”
I loved the way the sun was reflecting off the buildings, bathing them in yellow and orange. It was a nice contrast to the darkening blue sky. I probably could’ve waited a few minutes for a more dramatic sky, but might have lost some of the color reflected off the windows. Oh well, I was late for dinner, anyway.Read More
Reflections of Reality Outtakes
Here are a couple more outtakes from my reflections of reality walk the other day. I flipped them to make the effect a bit trippier.
If I had realized this was the approach I would take, I probably could’ve set them up better while shooting, but either way, they look cool.Read More
Reflections of Reality
This was just a bit of fun. While walking around last night I noticed huge puddles of water flowing through the complex, so I thought I’d follow them around to see if I caught any cool reflections in them.Read More
Terminal Exposure
I’ve been told numerous times that this shot looks like something out of Resident Evil, but that really wasn’t my intent (not to say I don’t totally see it now).
Shot in one of the walkways between Terminal A and Terminal C at IAH in Houston, I just happened to be waiting for the train when I looked over to see this bizarre, ornamental stars hanging from the ceiling like Christmas decorations.Read More
Radiance
The scene was idyllic–the setting sun, the greens of the trees and grass, the warm glow of the lights illuminating the soft white of the chapel. Everything came together naturally. All that was left for me to do was shoot away (and keep people out of my shot).Read More
Boats At Bay
I had seen a photo like this (albeit one much more masterfully crafted) a long time ago and was fascinated by the juxtaposition of clouds and sea with rows of boats sandwiched between and reflected in the water.
In that photo however, the water perfectly reflected the boats in such a way that you could flip it 180° and not be able to tell the difference.Read More
Seaport Village Sunset
Seaport Village along the coast of San Diego, California is a bustling area full or restaurants, shops, and outdoor markets. Arriving there just in time for the sunset, I was treated to a plethora of colors reflecting off the water and rocks surrounding the village. I continued walking along the coast, but this was one of the more spectacular sunset shots I got.Read More