/dev/random

One of the best things about DLSR cameras is that they give you a lot of control over focus, exposure, and depth of field, allowing you to choose exactly how you want your picture to look.
When I photograph flowers or plants, I usually like to use a very narrow depth of field to emphasize the [...]

[Read more →]

Creaceed has released a new version of Hydra, which includes a new HDR plugin for Aperture 2.1.
It doesn’t offer as many options as Photomatix, but the results are very nice. These were created with the same source images I had previously processed with Photoshop and the Photomatix plugin. The results look very natural, although it [...]

[Read more →]

Dean Allen writes about his experience of switching to a Nikon DSLR after using point & shoot cameras for a long time:
I feel like someone handed a slice of hot toast spread with cultured butter after a lifetime breakfasting on Skittles and government cheese.
I can definitely relate. Using a D40x changed the way I think [...]

[Read more →]

I haven’t done one of these for a while, but the dark clouds inspired me to make an HDR image.

I spent most of the weekend (when I wasn’t working around the house & garden) writing some Cocoa code for FriendFeed. So far I only support the features that don’t require authentication.

[Read more →]

I’ve never seen a caladium flower before, so I had to take a picture of it. I didn’t have my D40x with me, so I took this with my iPhone.

[Read more →]

The D40 or D40x’s sport mode isn’t only for sports. It’s great for any time you want to capture fast action at the highest possible shutter speed. Using continuous shooting mode you can capture action at 1/500 or 1/1000 second shutter speed. I was able to capture this Polynesian dancer’s torch in midair.

[Read more →]

Today was Oakland Park’s Youth Day, one of our biggest events. I took over 2000 photos, which I’m still processing. I used the sport mode of the D40x and did lots of burst mode shooting of Brazilian Capoeira, Polynesian dancing, and martial arts events. Here’s the best shot I found so far. I managed to [...]

[Read more →]

You’ve probably seen photos where most of it is black & white with one bit colorized. If you have a photo with a strong contrast between subject and background, it’s pretty easy to do in Photoshop.
Earlier today I took this picture of roses blooming in my neighbor’s garden. I used the largest aperture for my [...]

[Read more →]

Fascinating story found at Flickr (Mundo Uno Photo Pool):

Hessy Levinsons was born in 1934. When she was six months old, Hessy was taken to a leading Berlin photographer to have her portrait taken. A few months later this picture appeared on the cover of the Nazi publication, "Sonne ins Haus" [Sun in the House]. Frightened [...]

[Read more →]

I really like the aged photo effect you can create at this Japanese website, so I attempted to duplicate the effect in Photoshop. These pictures I took in San Francisco last year seemed to be a good subject.
For my first attempt, I used the Aperture 2.1’s sepia tone & vignette effects and then used Photoshop’s [...]

[Read more →]

Everything is blooming in my garden, so I have 3 great pictures for today. I find that I prefer using Aperture Priority mode rather than program automatic, especially when I’m photographing flowers. It isn’t any more difficult than automatic and gives me more control while still giving the correct exposure. I like to use a [...]

[Read more →]

I planted this calla lilly today. It was my mother’s favorite flower.

[Read more →]

I noticed this beautiful rose and had to take a picture of it. I used my Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 lens with the maximum aperture of f1.8 in Aperture Priority mode, which gives a very sharp image with a narrow DOF.

[Read more →]

I tried a few more HDR images this evening, this time trying for a more subtle effect. My new tripod, a $30 Dynex, makes it a lot easier to align my pictures accurately.

[Read more →]

I took a few more pictures for HDR processing tonight. This time I used my new tripod, which is a lot more stable & solid than my old 48″ tripod (which I just sold), so I was able to position the shots more accurately.

You can see the rest of them at my HDR set at [...]

[Read more →]

Today I took a walk around the condo, photographing the best gardens, which I used to create a gallery at the condo’s web site. I also created a view where people can rate each photo and see the highest rated photos.

[Read more →]

I’ve been doing more experimentation with HDR processing. I really like the glow effect I got in this one. Since Aperture 2.1 now supports editing plugins, it would be great if Photomatix made a tone mapping & merge to HDR plugin for Aperture, so I wouldn’t have to export to Photoshop as I do now.

[Read more →]

I created this one from 3 exposures at -2.0, 0, and +2.0EV, with Photomatix tone mapping plugin for Photoshop CS3.

[Read more →]

I’ve been trying out more HDR processing using the Photomatix tone mapping plugin in Photoshop.
Here’s one I took tonight, using 5 exposures at -2.0, -1.0, 0, +1.0, and +2.0EV.

Here’s one I took a few days ago, using only 3 exposures at -2.0, 0, and +2.0EV.

[Read more →]

Here’s the Easter basket I got today.

[Read more →]