Please note, this image nor the accompanying writeup are mine. I am just linking to this because I thought it was very creative and ultra cool.
Here’s how to get this shot:
1) Step 1
2) Step 2
3) Step 3
What kinds of cool things are you trying?
On 11.30.09, In Do It Yourself, By Chester
This is the original version of the Reflections photo I first posted some time ago. This is the original, as it was the first thing I saw when I came upon the puddle in question. I like each version for different reasons. I prefer the first one I posted because of the outstanding clarity in the reflection. I like this one because it tells the story. You see the road, and you see where you are going. Pretty sure I am going to do a special edition run of posters including both, just not sure yet how I am going to put them together. For now, order this one and enjoy.
On 11.23.09, In Do It Yourself, By Chester
Hands down, most of the traffic coming to this site is because of my DIY projects. Clearly a lot of people are trying to save money and use PVC for their equipment needs. If this includes you, there is another Flickr group you should check out (and contribute to) – Tinker Tubes. More specialized than the DIYPhotographyNet group, this one is dedicated to things people make with PVC. Check it out, I think it is worthwhile.
To that end, I owe all my Flickr friends an apology. I have been out of the loop in a bunch of those groups for a long time. Heck, I was neglecting the entries to this blog as well. I pledge that I will become re-engaged. I won’t be as prolific as I have been in the past, but I am dedicating time each week to shooting new pics, trying out new techniques, building new gear, testing new gear and software, and all the things you like about my site and my posts. But this time there will be balance between that and my life. Enjoy, I know I will.
The image above is of a braided hose line on the primary lift motor of a Titan II missile. In September of 2008 I had the opportunity to visit the Titan II Museum outside of Tucson, AZ. The museum is actually a decommissioned Titan II complex, a relic of the Cold War. This photo is available for purchase as a print or digital download in my Art Gallery.
I took several interesting pictures on that day. It was one of the more fruitful photography days I have had, most likely because that’s all it was supposed to be. No doubt more of those images will make their way here as photos of the week.
More information about the museum can be seen at their website.
On 11.19.09, In Commentary, Gear, By Chester
As luck would have it, somewhere between my trip to Durango and a Senior Photo shoot for a kid I coached in Lakewood Junior Baseball, my Olympus E-510 had the LCD die. It *seemed* to still be taking good pics, but I felt so crippled by not having the LCD for all of the settings. I was able to get through my Senior Photo shoot just fine, and the following Monday packaged up the camera and sent it off for service.
At this point I was so thankful I had obtained the extended warranty because I thought my camera might be over a year old. Turns out it wasn’t, luckily I kept all the paperwork in an easy to find place (unusual for me). I was especially disappointed though that I wouldn’t have my camera for a business trip to Lake Tahoe the following week. Sure, I had my wife’s Canon P&S, but it wasn’t the same as taking my E-510. Took a couple of days to get to the repair facility. Once there, they said the problem was easily repairable (secretly I was hoping for an upgrade to an E-3 or something?) and it would be sent back out in a couple of days.
Wouldn’t you know it, my camera arrived home on Tuesday. My wife offered to overnight it to me, but since I was leaving Tahoe Thursday morning, it just didn’t make sense. When I got back, I was happy to see they had been able to replace part of back of the camera (the part with the LCD) and it felt and works fine. And they did a thorough cleaning to boot.
My point in all this? I have sent things in for repair to a variety of companies over the years. I was very impressed by how Olympus took care of my problem, which is saying a lot in this day and age. I’d say that right now, this is one of the key factors that is keeping me in Olympus gear and not jumping to Canon (I want the superior FPS and lower priced glass that Canon offers). I’d love to hear your customer service stories, good or bad, from your camera brand of choice.
On 11.18.09, In Commentary, Do It Yourself, By Chester
I have scored a few product shoots because of my demonstrated ability to take good pictures of glass objects. Truth be told however, there really isn’t a whole lot to it.
First step is to have the proper environment to shoot in. For me that means using my oversized DIY PVC Light Tent. It is big enough that the light is distributed really well within. For added measure, when I was building it and then making the second revision, I made sure that the fabric would cover any of the PVC so it would not show up as a reflection in the objects I was shooting.
Second step is, obviously, lighting it. When shooting in the big tent, I tend to go between two different placements for my lights. I use a pair of 27W, 5500K compact fluorescents in standard 10″ clamp light fixtures I got at Home Depot. Sometimes I will place them slightly ahead of center on either side of the tent. Other times I will put them overhead, either facing directly into the tent or bouncing the light off the rafters overhead (sounds goofy, but it works). I take a couple of shots, see how they look, and then readjust as necessary. Most of the time I can get a good idea of how the lights are working from peeking through the viewfinder and then adjusting.
I generally do one or two shots in auto mode to get some idea of the f-stop and exposure ratio, then start working from there. As you can see from the EXIF for the shot above, it can be fairly fast. But again, that depends on how you light it.
One key I have been working on is how to keep the camera reflection from appearing in the object. I account for this in a couple of ways:
1) The opening in my front curtain is only large enough to let the lens through.
2) I do not use any sort of lens hood.
3) When practical, I elevate above the object and shoot downward at an angle. Straight on shots are the worst for showing the camera lens, and I try to avoid this at all costs.
4) When 4 isn’t practical, I try to get any opaque objects on the surface of the object to be in the forefront.
5) When 3 and 4 don’t work, I just deal with the fact that the reflection is part of the image.
These things must be working, as I continue to get product shot engagements, and several specifically indicate it is because of my work with highly reflective surfaces.
I had an occasion where I needed to light an object from underneath (the glass of beer in the pic above). I wrestled with it for some time, and then came up with what turned out to be a pretty easy solution.
Using a flat fluorescent light fixture I picked up at Home Depot, and a piece of black craft foam, and my large DIY light tent with glass riser, I was able to get the photo above. I cut a hole in the black craft foam that was roughly the same size as the base of the glass. I then put my black backdrop into the light tent, set the fluorescent light on my workbench inside the light tent, and then placed the craft foam on top of that so no light escaped except through the hole I had created. From there I inserted my glass sheet to have a riser (which was conveniently about an inch higher than the surface of the fluorescent light), filled the drinking glass with beer, and turned on the light. This photo did not require any additional lighting other than the fluorescent underneath the product. And by using the pane of glass as a riser, a nice reflection appeared as well.
That’s all there is to it, hope it works for you if you need some illumination from underneath on an object.
This weekend we have experienced our 2nd Blizzard of the season (the first coming in October). Here are a couple of cellphone captures of the morning after. I took the dSLR out too, but I was more artistic with those shots and need to preview them first. The shots below came from an HTC Touch Pro2 on Verizon.
There is a spur that ends in South Fork, Colorado, and it is presently used for storage. There used to be a couple miles of spine cars here. Now they are storing a few miles of gondolas.
This is my favorite of the HDR compsites I created with Photomatix. This one was generated with the Details Enhancer as an HDR Image. This image is available as a print or digital download from my new online gallery.
Winter Walkabout
We received about 10″ of snow recently, so I took that opportunity to go get a new view of my normal surroundings (luckily my Sorel’s are good to about 12″ of snow). Got what I think is a great shot of this creek near my home. Converted it to a high contrast black and white in Lightroom. I wish it snowed more often.