Competition

The contest I entered was the 2012 Adobe Design Achievement Awards. I chose to participate in the Adobe Contest because it would allow me to enter multiple photos into the competition, which was both convenient and fun because I had multiple entries that were different from each other. I entered the contest today March 23, 2012

The contest can be found at:http:
//www.adobeawards.com/us/

These three pictures all taught me something different. The boots shot was taken using natural light with reflectors and light filters during a portrait photo shoot. I decided to be a little abstract and focus on the boots and make the person the secondary focus. I really like the texture of the boots and once I applied some smart filters and did some adjusting in camera raw the finished product resembled what I wanted from the start. The golf sunset was edited in very similar fashion to the boots. However the actual picture taking process was very different. I used a tripod for both but beyond that my concerns were totally different. In the sunset shot I wanted to capture the dark mood that was present and show the hope fading on the horizon so let the exposer open for a long time to get the right amount of light.  The pipes were originally part of a two piece project that was built around a close focus and a focus on the foreground. I like the close focus because it leads you to the center of the picture and your eyes follow the pipes up.

 

Cowgirl at Heart
Canon EOS 10D, 1/45 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 60MM

 

Pipe Dreams
Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec, f/5.6/ ISO 100, 35MM

 

Golf Sunset
Canon EOS 10D, 1/1500 sec, f/4, iso 100, 35 mm

Night and Light

The Sailor

Canon EOS D10, 30 sec, ISO 200, f/4, 40MM

 

Dino Ball

Canon EOS D10, 10 sec, ISO 200, f/4, 40MM

 

Night Signature

Canon EOS D10, 30 sec, ISO 200, f/4, 40MM

All of the shots for this post required some common elements. I had to set up a tripod and use a timer to capture enough light. I used an LED headlamp for the light painting of the cap and knife and I used that same light for some fill light for the Dino ball shot. I also used that light with a lot of tape on it to make the signature, the tape helped narrow the amount of light. In the light painting I enhanced the exposer and brightness a little in raw because my favorite shot was still a little too dark. I also increased the brightness and fill light of Dino Ball in raw so the chairs were a little more visible.

Bannack Favorites

Danger Zone
Canon EOS 10D, 1/15 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 95MM

I came into this room and instantly knew what I wanted when I saw the hand gun being used as a prop. Everyone seemed to be getting the same two or three shots from it. So I wanted something a little different. I asked him to shoot me and this is what I got. The lighting was all natural and gave sharp contrast to his features and cloths. I didn’t edit this one at all.

 

Better Days
Canon EOS 10D, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 28MM

I put together an HDR of the old truck because it had suck cool colors and the grass was only growing around it so I knew it should have some good effects. I couldn’t get much of a sky line at that time unfortunately. I used a tripod and the only editing was HDR.

Homesteading
Canon EOS 10D, 1/350 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 95MM

I kind of stole this pose as she was posing for someone else from a different angle. I really loved the color of her shirt and the little bit of fence that got into the shot. I just warmed up the colors a little in RAW and brought out the blacks a little.

 

Cowgirl at Heart
Canon EOS 10D, 1/45 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 60MM

Sister Esplyn was telling people during this shoot to make sure and work the boots into their pictures and so I thought I’d just take the boots all by themselves. I really liked the feeling that came with the black and white in this one. I also used RAW to lower the exposer because it was kinda washed out.

 

Shattered
Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 60MM

I used Sepia on this picture. I found the pile of broken glass in a shed by the mill and thought it made a good macro. I zoomed in close and changed the setting to macro. I don’t feel like enough of it came into focus but it’s still an interesting picture.

 

Framed by a Door
Canon EOS 10D, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 28MM

I used the timer for this one and a tripod. I warmed up the colors and raised the blacks along with more fill light all in RAW. I added this shot in because my pose worked out okay and the color and texture of the wood is really good.

 

Broken Windows
Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 51MM

This shot is kinda boring but the wood and tar paper being framed around a partially broken window seemed worth capturing. It seemed to have a story to it. I used a tripod and added some warmth in Raw and raised the blacks for some stronger contrast.

 

The First Garage
Canon EOS 10D, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 28MM

The only editing is HDR black and white. The title was fun to do for this one. The composition of the wagon was great and the shadows were working in my favor at the time.

 

Lonely Nights
Canon EOS 10D, 1/45 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 33MM

I did a lot of editing for this one. I spot healed a lot of unnecessary junk of the counter with the bottles and cleaned some black spots out of the curtains. I lowered the exposer with a brush in the window area and raised the darks in the room to cast stronger shadows. I added some warmth as well. It still feels a little busy to me but I like it.

HDR

Still Waiting
Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 28MM

Tonight’s Bed
Canon EOS 10D, 1/8 sec, f/22, ISO 100, 28MM

 

One of the hardest parts of doing HDR for me is picking the effects that you want. There are so many different options and they all have different pros. because of how overcast it was when I took both these shots I only overexposed them by 1 and underexposed them by 1. Using Photomatix was pretty simple though. On the black and white one I opened it in RAW first and changed two copies of the same picture to get the exposers I needed for the HDR. I felt like the black and white turned out best for this one. Both were taken with a tripod.

MACRO ABSTRACT

Rope: Canon EOS 10D, 1/350 sec, /19, ISO 100, 100MM
Wood: Canon EOS 10D, 1/4 sec, /19, ISO 100, 19MM

 

Getting a Handle

I used a tripod for both of these pictures. The wood shot really required a tripod because of how long I had to remain motionless so that it could take in enough light. I used the macro setting on my camera for both of them and I really zoomed in for the rope which is part of why i was able to get such a close up shot with so much detail and texture and have good contrast to the background. I also painted out port of the wood overlay with black paint starting at the base of the rope and moving up. I faded it out about midway.

REVERSE SHALLOW DEPTH

Pipe Dreams

Close: Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec, f/5.6/ ISO 100, 35MM
Far: Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec, f/5.6/ ISO 100, 35MM

 

I took this free hand. It was  bit of a challenge to get the focus to adjust the way i wanted it so that there was a close and a far focus but after moving the position of the camera around a bit I got it to do it and then moved the position back so they would match up. I also used Raw editing to bring some warmer colors into the wood and brought out the blacks a little too. This was the back side of the Mill at Bannack.

Portraits

Blue

Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec f/5.6, ISO 100, 115MM

 

The Waiting

Canon EOS 10D, 1/30 sec f/5.6, ISO 100, 28MM

 

Hole in the Wall

Canon EOS 10D, 1/750 sec f/5.6, ISO 100, 135MM

 

The Sly Grin

Canon EOS 10D, 1/20 sec f/5.6, ISO 100, 85MM

 

I used a tripod for all of these shots. I took advantage of the natural lighting that was so prevalent that day coming through the windows. In three of the four, excluding “Hole in the Wall” I used a reflector to add a little light to the darker side of their faces. Generally I also zoomed in a lot on the subject.  The old wood of Bannack Ghost Town added some rich color and texture to my shots as well.

Action Freeze and Blurr

Spin Me

Canon EOS 10D, f/4.5, ISO 100, 28MM, 1/125 sec

Spirits of Bannack

Canon EOS 10D, f/4.5, ISO 100, 28MM, 3 sec

Enhancements

Tyler Plus Josh: Edit

Canon EOS 10D 0.7 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 80MM

I used the spot healing brush to remove his mole and some acne right next to his sideburn. These were the only edits I wanted to make to this picture everything else seems to work the way it is. I also cropped out his ear for more focus on the front of their faces.

 

Solitary: Color match

Canon EOS 10D 6 sec, f/4, ISO 100, 35MM

I used a tripod and patience to make this happen. I long shutter speed to all the light to get bright enough because it was at night was needed as well. I then actually used the first picture in this post to color match because it seemed to have more of the color I wanted for the color match.

 

Portraits

Alone at the Pool Table

Canon EOS 10D 2 sec, f/4, ISO 100, 35MM

I set this shot up with a tripod by my self in the lounge of our apartment. It took a few tries before I liked it at all and i’m still not satisfied. But it works. The lighting was fighting me and wouldn’t let go of it’s bleaching yellow effect on everything in the room so I switched to black and white and it works better for what I wanted.

Scott’s Homework Time

Canon EOS 10D 1/60 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, 80MM

I just zoomed up real close on scott’s face because I liked the look of concentration he was giving his homework and I also like the the way the shadow worked out on the wall which was actually like eight feet away. I did this free had using a flash and a quick shutter.

The Piano Man

Canon EOS 10D 2 sec, f/4, ISO 100, 35MM

I took probably a million shots of Tyler playing this piano before I got something that I liked. Unfortunately the lighting in this room was extremely yellow but I kinda like it for this shot. I didn’t adjust this one at all. I set up a tripod really low under him to get this shot and the shutter was open for 2 seconds because of the low lighting.

Superbowl

Canon EOS 10D 1/60 sec, f/11, ISO 100, 35MM

I set up a low tripod and took some random shots of my friends and I watching the Superbowl. It was a simple shot and I didn’t really like it much but it works as a candid shot of a group.