Last Of The Wedding Favorites

I Just Liked This One, That's All

More Wedding Shots...

...Not sure which version I like better... (above or below). Leaning toward the normal color one.


I've got quite a few more to go through. Pared down 1200 shots to about 250 or so... I'll need to do another cut yet.

Brigitte & Lorin

Been up to my ears in photographs (over 1200 on this job alone), work @ my TWO jobs, non-elective training, overtime and family. Yikes. Here's a few shots from the wedding Rhonda and I shot last month. More to come hopefully shortly.

Watchout!

It's dark out.

To Each His Own....

I enjoy using my camera to make impressionistic images - some may say it's nonsense - to these I say, visit some other blog! I like the play of the light and the colors and the impression that's still left of people walking in front of me as I strolled along the sidewalk on a cold night in Banff, Alberta.

Playground

A few shots I liked from a series shot in a frigid playground while the kiddies were at play. I think I need a snowsuit too.

Number 2

A B&W conversion using the "Calculations" dialogue, 2 red channels combined via linear light. I like the super-high contrast - it seems to really fit.

Bad me...

I've been off doing intense training related to the gas mask picture on the right... which cuts into my photography time. I'll be posting more work soon.

Another... Ortonized

For this image and the previous the gaussian blur layer had a pixel radius of 20 - it's just a random number which left some general detail in the image, and could definitely be played with. I saved this technique as an action and can see myself using it quite a bit. Leaving in the layers allows me to go back and fiddle with settings to tweak it after the fact, which is something that I've failed to do with most of my previous images, unfortunately.

The Orton Technique

...is apparently what I was trying for in my previous post "Flower and Pot". Didn't know it had a name, and I've come across some great links on digital versions of this technique. There's a great link here for starters. The photographer, Michael Orton, has a website here. Very cool. For this image i just modified the technique described in the first link to add a more pronounced color to the image, then gave it a ragged edge. For more info just google (or click the link) "Orton technique".

Better Half

Amaryllis blossom, Version 2.0

Another amaryllis - my wife seems rather fond of them. I noticed this one blooming today and it had some great colors, which i promptly downplayed a bit. Two layers - one gaussian blur, the other with monochromatic noise to simulate grain. I used manual focus to selectively note the red rims around the petals but it's lost a bit with the treatment I gave the overall image. I have a couple more shots of this bloom that I'll play with and post shortly.

"Memory Lane"

This shot was modified with an action called "Memory Lane - Low Resolution" which I obtained from the ActionCentral website. There are two versions, the other (unsurprisingly) being "High Resolution". I like the lo-res version better - it has more punch than the other, and produces a very nice high-key image. I had to sharpen the image a little after applying the action as it wasn't quite in focus, but I liked the composition so much that I wasn't going to let the image go so easily.

Not sure...

If I like the B&W or low-saturation color version better. Right now I'm leaning toward the low-sat version. The original shot has lots of punch and color but it's not really what I'm looking for. I used a layer with gaussian blur to soften the image - in the color version the blur layer is B&W which has the effect of slightly desaturating the colors as well as softening the image.

(A belated) Merry Christmas!

Just because I can!

She likes chocolate. She likes cake. Chocolate fondue with cake? 'Nuff said. Yes, this will be shown at her wedding - father's prerogative!

Favorites from the Christmas Bowling Expedition

Considering the low, poor quality light in the bowling alley and the fact that I absolutely detest on-camera flash, I shot these at ISO 3200 (or HI 1.0 as Nikon calls it) and in B&W to diminish the tendency of high-ISO digital to produce ugly noise. My Nikon tends to get grainy and VERY soft at 3200 but I don't mind it with the right material, and since there's no other way to really get the shot, it's fine by me. And yes, some of the are blurry... but that's part of the charm!