Udsigt photography

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2010-02-16T14:58:00.002-05:00

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In a snap

2010-02-14T22:58:00.003-05:00

Here is a few photos from experiments I have been trying in photoshop during the days with lots of snow and being inside all day. For all of them I used photoshop filters from the alienskin snap art collection.

The first one is from the summer/fall time where we went out to an orchard to pick apples. They also had a field of sunflowers and I tried photographing the sunflowers with HDR (taking 5 or so photos at different exposures to widen the dynamic range).

Here I applied a oil paint filter in photoshop (snap art landscape slightly modified).

These next ones are a couple of colorful flowers that I photographed a few years back. I loaded them up in photoshop and applied a snap art oil paint with a color boost to bring out the colors.

This one is one of the weeds from a field in the Shenandoah mountains. I know... Going to the mountains and I take a photograph of weeds... however this one I applied a snap art oil paint and centered cropped to get a nice even green background and have the colors stand out.

Finally I tried the same snap art oil paint with weeds from Denmark

I think it goes to show that even with some tools that makes the process simple it is possible to get some decent results in a "snap" so to speak.

Three light setup

2010-01-30T20:14:00.004-05:00

For the weekend we did have a single portrait shoot setup but due to the snow coming in and road conditions that one got canceled.
We (Emma and I) had been viewing several online videos describing different light setups to create portraits.

One that we liked in particular is The classic three light studio portrait from Pro photo life. Jim Talkington has made several great videos you can find in their video library section.

The three light setup we were going to do would be something like illustrated below.

One main light at 45/45 (meaning at a 45 degree angle to the camera and pointing down at a 45 degree angle). This main light will be setup to create Rembrandt lighting.

One reflector for fill in to minimize the contrast.

One hair light positioned opposite the main light.

One background light to create separation between the subject and the background.

For each step (inspired by the video) we are taking a single shot to show the progress.

First we position the main light to create a Rembrandt style portrait.

Second we add the reflector on the right side of the subject. After adding the reflector the contrast can be modified by simply turning the main light. If more light fall on the reflector the contrast will decrease. If less light falls on the reflector (or the distance is increased) the contrast is increased.

Third we add the hair light opposite the main light also pointing down 45 degrees.

And last but not least we are adding the background light to create separation between the subject and the backdrop. In this case the backdrop is a grayish muslin but it could be a painted wall or paper as well.

After final light is placed and lights are adjusted the little model of course had to dash off to get a touch of makeup on. So after a good half hour of rummaging around the bathroom I was allowed to take a few more photos.

This setup can be adjusted to fit the subject(s) by fine tuning each light. The setup we did here is pretty sturdy and will give repeatable and consistent results. Now that we have the setup up and running I am planning to put a few markers to indicate where to position the lights in the future making the setup quick to establish next time an opportunity comes knocking on the door :-)

Remember spring?

2010-01-22T22:30:00.006-05:00

While organizing photos I found that I am really ready for spring time.

I am ready for the sun to come out and warm me up and be able to spend the time outside in warmer weather and not inside all bundled up.
Going back to the mountains and hearing the water in the streams...

Taking a walk in the meadow finding that it's not "just" grass but full of life enjoying the warm sun.

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson

Family portrait session

2009-10-08T20:53:00.003-04:00

Past Saturday I got an opportunity to photograph a lovely family.

Kids are always interesting and it's not always easy keeping an eye on everything but I must say these children were very nice :-)

Here is a little sneak peak of the photos from the garden of the Carlyle house in old town Alexandria.

Twilight polo

2009-07-16T09:07:00.004-04:00

This 4th of July we found a new and very interesting horse event. Ok I know many people may not be into horse events but with this one it's a little different.
It's about having a good time and enjoy it with family and friends.

At the same time there is a good action packed polo match where a lot can happen.
I didn't know much about polo before the 4th of July but the twilight polo matches held at Great Meadow is pretty cool and a great time spend on a Saturday night.

Below is a few photos from the 4th of July polo match
-- See more photos in the store front (no purchase necessary) --

Budweiser-Upperville Jumper Classic

2009-06-13T21:48:00.004-04:00

From the recent Budweiser-Upperville Jumper classic here are a good handful of the Jumpers.

I didn't get the preferred photographer position (in the middle of the ring) so I had to do a little running from one end of the course to the other to get a few different angles.

You can view, send e-cards and purchase prints from here: http://udsigt.photoreflect.com

Sunday afternoon portrait shoot

2009-03-18T16:20:00.005-04:00

This past Sunday Lily stopped by to get a few headshots to use in her portfolio while pursuing her acting career.

I used a pretty simple setup. On camera right (about 45 degree angle) I had my alien bee B800 with a large octabox and on camera left (about 80-90 degree angle high) I had my Nikon SB800 with diffuser and roughly 1 stop brighter than the main light.

Now I got around to finishing up a few of the photos and I guess eventually I will get some of them incorporated in a portrait section on my web site (http://udsigt.webhop.net).

After capture my workflow is to import the photos to lightroom using the camera raw plugin which does a very nice job at ensuring colors and light is right. (read more in this post).

After import I had Lily pick the top 30 photos to continue work on these.
Retouching portraits like this got soo much simpler and faster. I am pretty sure Emma could actually do it... it's that easy.
To process photos I take a few simple steps in lightroom:
1. Adjust overall brightness, color and contrast.
2. "fix" complexion with portrait professional (right click and select edit-in)
3. Crop to print size and if multiple sizes are needed create virtual copies for these.
4. Select all and make virtual copies
5. Select virtual copies and change to black and white with the develop setting.

Now all that is left to do is export and/or create a web gallery (using lightroom of course).

If you noticed it in the steps above you are absolutely right. I did not use photoshop at all in any of these steps...
The key to quick processing is the portrait professional package. You can read more about it here.

photostudio inspiration for home

2008-11-04T21:28:00.003-05:00

Wouldn't it be nice having that 3.000 sq ft. studio with all the latest gadgets and lighting equipment you could ever find use for along with multiple cameras and lenses?

yeah well I would like it but then again I think I am short a few million $$ on that one. However there is actually quite a lot you can do at home at the kitchen table using anything from natural light with reflector cards, desk lamps and well any light for that matter.

Learning the basics behind light and the theory is well time consuming but strangely enough it's fun too. I just started reading a book on that (light, science and magic more about that later when I get further) and I have had a few aha moments as to why it works the way it works with studio light.

Anyway. I just recently found a great resource for those that would like to watch and learn and get inspired.
Photographer Jim Talkington is running a photostudio and on his website http://www.prophotolife.com you can find some really great video tutorials in his video library. Ohh and it may be worth to mention that these are free!!!!!

Mr. T. is easy to understand and it is really good information he is giving away here. If you want to improve your photography you can't help but to learn from him.

5 min studio shoot

2008-11-02T09:50:00.003-05:00

With Halloween we had Uncle Dave and Aunt Linda visiting from Ohio (yeah that's a long drive).

So here is what happens when you have family see the portraits hanging just about anywhere and you are asked the question: "So you are doing those picture here in the house?".

Yep, scramble to do a 5 min setup hoping that you can wing it and get the light just about right in about no time.

With that in mind I did a kind of simple setup with the Alien Bee B800 in a octabox on camera right and the Nikon SB800 in a shoot through umbrella on camera left. A quick measure had the AB coming out with just under f/8.0 and the SB800 at f/5.6 or there abouts ;-)

Here is a drawing of the above description. Sooo much easier on the eyes ;-)

Ok first up is the toned and bw version of the sit down, look at me and ... smile

But that's no fun at all.... So of course there are a few others where it was actually fun and games. Somehow the "relax... this won't hurt a bit" doesn't always work ;-)

But here they are a little less formal.

Soo it was just about 10 min... but a fun 10 min :-)

Butterflies and such

2008-08-21T10:30:00.005-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Here is another post with a line of photos from our trip to Hollins farm. This time looking at butterflies and bugs in that line ;-)

You can see the previous post on sunflowers right here.

Not that I am really the big expert on butterflies but Thanks to Cliff I now know that the next two photos is of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Here's a pretty orange one. Not knowing the name of it but hey let's call it Bob ;-)

And finally a couple of close ups made with a 105mm macro I borrowed from Cliff just to see how it works... yeah it's ... man it sure would be nice to have one of those ;-)

Sunflowers

2008-08-18T14:52:00.003-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

One weekend after getting back from our trip to Denmark we went on a smaller trip (just about 20-30 miles) to Hollins farm to pick peaches and other fruits.

While being there I finally had a chance to get a couple of photos of sunflowers against a blue sky :-)

These photos are the result of the short but very interesting trip.

All of these I created as HDR images which I did by creating multiple exposures bracket around the measured value.
Being rather new to shooting for HDR creation I setup a 5 bracket exposure +/- 1 stop.

Here they are:

Food photography

2008-08-15T09:34:00.004-04:00

Just like most of the world you probably know about Martha Stewart. You know all the good cooking, home making, tv shows and so on.

It's kind of funny in a way but I guess we are quite the little Martha Stewart family. I started with adding a tv in the kitchen and what better to watch while cooking and baking than the Martha Stewart show?

So now every episode is recorded and watched. Not "just" by my dear wife Jacki (which btw have a great cooking blog) but also our daughter Emma that just don't want to miss the show for nothing. I think she is paying more attention to Martha Stewart than the Little Einsteins.

Anyway to get on with the photo story... Jacki asked if I could grab the camera and snap a few photos for her food blog.
Now how could I say anything but of course my dear? adding a "let me just grab the flash too while I am at it".

So here is the setup in our kitchen:

Now to show how we prepare the tomatoes and spread them out on a baking sheet with a little bit of olive oil on it. How about getting a close up? and uh uh let's get one where we see your hand sprinkling the tomatoes on the baking sheet ;-)

And just like the cooking shows here are the tomatoes fresh out of the oven.

Ok before you say anything... I know... you don't sit on the table but on the other hand you have to be able to see something... right?
But yeah here is prepping for making a salsa to go along with the meal. Emma being the mini Martha has to be in on everything and we can even pose with parsley (bet that's a new one) ;-)

First we sort and cut the the parsley and pile it up. Gotta cut the stems off and chop it coarse.

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and tada you got the best salsa you could ever have.

Now this is an example what happens when you add a photo crazy husband with a dedicated wife that loves to cook and a mini Martha. It kind of all comes together :-)
Ohh and be sure to check out Jacki's food blog for some great food :-) http://accidental-cook.blogspot.com/

Taking a walk

2008-08-08T09:07:00.003-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Being back home (yeah it's confusing) in DK there were a few opportunities to just go out and take a walk. Now that I have been living in the states for a good 4 years the landscape and all seem kind of new to me in some strange way. Now I notice things I never noticed before. If for nothing else then because Jacki is asking about it ;-)

Here are a few flowers lit by the setting sun.

Sometimes simplicity just works better than whatever you construct. The next photo is very very simple. Just a straw with a calm out of focus background. All with the setting sun.

As much as I like waterfalls and all that. A wheat field captured while dragging the shutter... It just does something. Hope you like them.

And finally a little extra from the beach with a very blue sky.

Hope it helped getting you all ready for Friday and you know... Finally it's the weekend :-)

of all the photography blogs out there

2008-07-31T12:26:00.003-04:00

There is a lot of photography blogs out there in the big world wide web.

One that I would like to point you to is Rowe Portrait studios. If you should happen to be in or near IN this would be a very good photographer team to visit :-) If you are not in that area just drop by and visit the blog. It is well worth your time :-)

Double take

2008-07-10T22:00:00.003-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Just playing around and trying to learn the "new" camera and what it can do. I found a good old technique build in. In the film days it was possible to arm the camera without advancing the film. By doing that you could get two photos in one or make a double take. Of course with film you would have to do a little calculation with exposure and all that but it was fun.

In the digital age you can tell the camera how many photos you want in one and it will automatically do the calculation for you... Now how cool is that :-)

Here is one of mom... Probably wondering what is he doing now... yep just taking another little snapshot that turns out slightly different than usual :-)

Here a little motion is added and it's a double take so... yeah it's different but kind of fun.

Ohh and before you move on. Check out the Emma and dad photo story

Smoke photos - photo exhibit

2008-07-02T22:52:00.004-04:00

More in this series:
- Photos of smoke studio setup and lighting
- Photos of smoke post processing

A little exhibit of the artistic smoke photos. These are the first ones I got around to actually doing some post processing to.

I have used the techniques for post processing as described in my photoshop section and the setup is the one described on the "main" blog.

Here we go, hope you like them :-)

More in this series:
- Photos of smoke studio setup and lighting
- Photos of smoke post processing

All natural colors

2008-06-26T21:38:00.003-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

For this photo friday I dug out a few photos that are a from the fall season. I wanted to get a few showing the colors of nature and what better season for that than fall. Well other than spring and well ... anyway I chose fall this time around :-)

I couldn't even begin to tell you about how many times I got the comment sounding something like "what are you going to do with a photo of a single tree with red leaves???" followed by something like that is crazy...

Anyway those comment sort of faded a wee bit after a similar shot ended up on the cover of outdoor photographer. Here it is:

The next one I have had on my desktop at work and somehow just started liking it more the more I look at it. I dunno why but... there's just something... for me anyway ;-)

Now I like waterfalls, water, mountains, fall colors and all that. Here I have tried combining a little bit of everything and get some punch by doing some simple color isolation. One by removing all other colors and the other simply by have the main yellow color "stick out" from the rest.

That's it for this week. Hopefully soon I will get some more from the mountains :-)

Collage of the kids

2008-06-25T21:50:00.002-04:00

Here is the latest collage of the wee folks.

Interested in knowing how to this was created? Leave a comment and I will get around to making a tutorial on this one too ;-) If the interest is there.

Smooth new adventures

2008-06-19T12:53:00.007-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Sooo It's kind of a long story but I will try to keep it short.
I guess my opinion on artistic subjects or artists in general always has been kind of square and black & white.

What do you picture in your mind when thinking about an artist? and what is artistic?
For me I am thinking an artist is someone that use some material to create a piece of work that most wouldn't understand. Then some will do the standard thing and put one hand in support of the head while exclaiming a hmmm as they study it.

yeah I know... But bear with me ;-)

Anywho, with that in mind and once (while browsing through an exhibit of photos) I was asked if I am an artist... First thing that comes to mind... No way.... I take photos, capture nature, moods, portraits and all that. But an artist... come on now!!!

But I guess I am changing a bit on that one. Now I guess I am an artist. Not that I am putting out my work and stuffing my nose in the sky with the "if you don't get it you #$@%#!@" attitude.
But I ventured into a new area for me yesterday (and no I am not camouflaging nudity as artistic... don't get me started on that one). Anyway, getting my project through and viewing the first test photos I got one comment.
"yeah it's kind of cool but what are you going to do with that!!!"

So yeah folks there you have it... I guess now I am an artist ;-)

But on to the subject and mini project. Just keep in mind these are the first I have ever done in this line and I found a few things to improve on. But everything has a first.

If you want to see images from someone with a little more experience and read up on the subject here is a few links:
- Reading material
- Photo collection

Tickle me Tuesday - photographer edition

2008-06-17T09:45:00.003-04:00

Photographers are found in all shapes and sizes. Primary interests are different for different photographers.

So here are a few different photographers in different situations. These are maybe a little different ;-)

First remember the boy scout motto? Be prepared...

yeah I know... It's probably a guy thing but come on now.... Going to the car show to get some good shots of the cars... yeah well.... ain't gonna find one there buddy...
ohh I hope someone that knows him and even better a woman that dates him sees this one ;-)

Blondes and a camera... yep it never fails to create a funny moment. So the last tickle for today goes right here.

Have a great Tuesday and have fun with the other Tickle me Tuesdays...

Flash trigger

2008-06-17T09:03:00.003-04:00

After pre-ordering my replacement triggers I finally got it yesterday.
Can't say anything other than they just work... Even if triggered from the opposite end of the house (don't know why I would do that though).
Emma was a good help in testing them since she ran around with the trigger and kept hitting the test button to see the little red led light go off ;-)

Sooo sometime soon I might actually get to do a few photos in the studio again. There should be enough people around the house to grab someone for 5 minutes or so ;-)

Anyway. Strobist just had a blog on the triggers I bought. Read it here

Ohh and btw. doesn't this just look "cute" :-)

Photo story Friday: Reflections

2008-06-13T09:19:00.003-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Story telling with photos is always interesting. If nothing else it still holds that a photo tells more than a thousand words ;-)

The following photos are from one of many trips and not some of my usual photos. The theme is reflection. I wanted to try something different and catch the reflections of the sky with white fluffy clouds and colorful trees.

The second photo is kind of by accident. It's not really visible in the photo but this is one that I took while visiting a small store on the way to Shenandoah. Jacki and Emma went in the store to look at all the little things they have up for sale. And what better to do than walk around and see what the store has to offer outside all for free.

Turns out they have a lily pond outside and once again I was trying to get some nice reflections and "just" experiment to see what it would look like when put in a photo.

Tickle me Tuesday - photographer edition

2008-06-10T14:45:00.003-04:00

Time for a little Tickle me Tuesday fun and this time the special photographers edition. I got a few photos tucked away from here and there and just want to share them with you.

I bring you the ultimate event photographer. It's one you can find at many events and you can buy prints right then and there. This photographer is just taking it one step further. Best service ever... talk about photos on the spot!!!

Next up. Photographing in a museum with valuable antiques you really want to get up close to really appreciate the fine details in each fine piece of history...

Speaking of getting up and close. To get the best photo possible you have to fill the frame with your subject and unless you have a telephoto lens that means getting up close and personal. I dunno... somehow I think the parents maybe should have stressed other things than getting up close...

Speaking of family, parents and all. Who said photography isn't for everyone???
Sure it can be difficult to open the pill container but a full size SLR with a telephoto lens... no problem what so ever...

Have a great Tuesday and have fun with the other Tickle me Tuesdays...

Portrait professional

2008-06-10T09:57:00.005-04:00

So I have been trying out this new piece of software (well new to me). Portrait professional. You may have tried taking portrait photos and afterwards you need to do a few touch ups.
Photoshop is usually the tool of choice and you can indeed do just about anything (just about since it still doesn't make coffee and bring it to you).

However using photoshop you have to know the tools and all the little tricks of the trade or well at least it does help you.

Now trying to cut down on the time spend touching up on photos I was trying out the software package portrait professional.

Basically the software is doing what photo editors have been doing for many years. The good news for you is that you don't *really* have to know all the tricks or why it works the way it does. You just pick your photo to edit help the software correctly identify eyes, nose, mouth and outline of face (yep it does multiple people in a photo too).
Once you have identified the key elements a few adjustments can be done to ensure that the adjustments are done in the right areas. This sounds difficult but trust me once you get to it... it's a breeze. I think from start to finish it's less than 10 min. to begin with and once you get used to the interface it most likely is a 2 min. task tops... Gotta love that :-)

Once the portrait is done you can select degrees of adjustment using some very easy sliders. e.g. pick the eye adjustment and just roll the slider and it's all adjusted real time. Now how hard can that be.... btw. the skin controls can even give you a tan!!!

But that's not all (Ok now I really sound like a sales representative) if this is too much then there are a number of preset adjustments which most likely will cover all you need in 90% of your photos.
The presets include: complexion, dramatic, glamour, subtle, spot removal, sephia and black&white. If you do a custom setting you can save that as a preset too (yeah) :-)

Here is a quick example done with a low res (it was already on the blog) photo.
Here is the starting photo.

Using portrait professional to add a female complexion:

And finally trying the somewhat extreme dramatic preset:

And finally a side by side comparison of the different versions:

Right now the software package is $59.95 which isn't really bad for what you can get out of it. But check out the company website http://www.portraitprofessional.com/.

ohhh and btw. I am not on the payroll with them but well commissions or donations are accepted ;-)

photosites on the web

2008-06-10T09:30:00.004-04:00

Trying to keep up with several photo site or searching for quality photo sites that cover your interest?

I found one site that has news or latest posts from several of the top photo sites. It gives you a great overview of the postings and lets you quickly find what you are looking for. Just a little time saving trick ;-)

Check it out here: http://photography.alltop.com/

Blue angels

2008-05-27T20:59:00.001-04:00

Here is a collage of the Blue angels along with a inset of the 6 pilots.

Joint Service Open House - Andrews AFB

2008-05-21T09:42:00.003-04:00

Now here is a slightly different subject. Jets... Loud and fast.
Here I was thinking it was difficult getting a 3 year old to sit still and get a nice and steady shot. Try one of these:

Check out the full album too :-)

ﾠ

food anyone?

2008-05-18T22:10:00.002-04:00

So as you probably seen on Jacki's cooking blog we started doing a little food photography.

It looks so easy now doesn't it...

Open a magazine and you can advertisement for food items all over the place. Well in some magazines anyway. It looks like someone just made up the food and snapped a few pictures...

hmm let me tell you. It takes a wee bit more than that. Just a tad ;-)

I found an interesting video from a food and beverage photographer (yep they are out there) and well you might just pick up a thing or two.

Have at it: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9HMAHlqm4GU&feature=related

it's a boy.....

2008-05-02T22:05:00.002-04:00

Finally arrived and with a couple of photos from the hospital and a little collage creation here is the stats

A few from the studio

2008-04-23T22:03:00.005-04:00

So I have been following the alien bee blog (http://www.paulcbuff.com/forums) for quite a bit and recently saw one topic where a simple light setup was the topic.

So had to give it a go and one should think I have enough girls around the house to try it out sometimes ;-)

After Jacki's interview I grapped a couple of quick shots. Here is one that illustrates the simple light setup worked out pretty good (even though I forgot the reflector). You can btw. find the specific topic here

Update Update Update

And here follows the "old" ones

Just for the fun of it I was experimenting with darkening the edges and well ended up adding an overlay with a highpass layer. What do you think?

Just as I was cleaning up tonite Emma got in and wanted a few photos. So we played around for a bit and just for good measures here is one of Emma and Mom playing around in the studio. Not close to perfect but I guarantee it's fun :-)

Spring time photo contest

2008-04-16T11:47:00.004-04:00

Write from Karen is holding a photo contest and the theme is Spring Time! If you would, I’d greatly appreciate it if you’d hop on over there and vote for my photo (Voting is April 18th - April 21st).

Here from the front yard the flowers start breaking through and what says spring better than the flowers popping out of the ground :-)

Along with spring time the birds are coming back too. Nothing beats a sunny morning sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee just relaxing listening to the birds. Below is one of our spring time visitors which for a while was a very frequent visitor to this particular tree in our backyard.

That is my contribution to the spring time photo contest. If you haven't done so already be sure to visit Karen using the banner below :-)

Shenandoah in March

2008-03-28T11:26:00.001-04:00

This post is not about photoshop actually it's not even about computers or their use. This is about getting away from the computer and getting out there for a breath of fresh air.

Notice there may be quite a few photos in this post and well remember you can get a big view of the photo by clicking on it.

Up to the weekend the weather forecast didn't sound too good. Rain starting Friday and continuing over the weekend.
But to my luck it cleared up overnight from Friday and left Saturday full of sun and not a drop of rain in sight (well until evening anyway).

Soo I fired up the truck and headed west (sounds dramatic doesn't it). Anyway I went back to the mountains and Shenandoah national park (http://www.nps.gov/shen).

Usually I head for waterfalls of one kind or the other (got 2 out of 9 so far. Dark hollow falls and White oak). This time due to the time of year and recommendation from the park ranger I was looking for something with higher elevation.

I ended up choosing Stony man mountain where I have seen people standing but never been there. So I got to the parking lot and here is the trail map with info.

It's a walk alright. May not sound like much but it's all uphill and well it's a nature trail so the rolling sidewalks and conveniences like that isn't present.

Going up the trail I was on the Appalachian trail for a bit and got to the highest point where it intersects with another trail 3837ft but that's not high enough so up we go :-)

It seemed like the higher the elevation the more animals were around. Plenty of squirrels and white tale deers which I got some photos of. I did see a falcon zooming through the trees but those ones are fast and hard to get a photo of. So squirrels and white tales it is :-)

Getting to the first stop I found that there was quite a drop off the cliff. This first stop is Little Stony Man Cliffs which has a great view and well I found that I am not all that comfortable around heights and there seemed to be a long way down.
Notice how even in this terrain there is plants growing to the edge in nothing but solid rock (well kind of seems like it).

Now sort of getting over the awe of the height from Little Stony Man Cliffs I ventured on to the next spot. Not thinking that I was only about half way there and there would be some more uphill ahead but going through the woods and it's just ooh so quite (not counting all the animal noise) it's actually pretty cool and best of all relaxing.

Fast forwarding through the woods (got some more from going downhill) I got to Stony Man mountain. Now this is at 4010ft so yeah it was uphill but all worth it. If I had thought Little Stony Man Cliffs was high getting here kind of blew me away...

These truly are the blue mountains and usually there is always a haze in the distance. But then again the distance is quite a bit further away than usually. I am not sure the photos here can give you the full feel for the distance but it feels amazing standing up there looking out.

The next couple of photos are interesting in more than one way. Since Stony Man mountain is that high you have a pretty good look down at skyline drive which in itself is pretty cool. But I didn't realize that these photos are take from the same location and pointing in the same direction as the photo on the cover of the official map until I got home.
Sure the one on the official map has green leaves and all that... but still pretty cool huh?

Here is two zoom levels of Little Stony Man Cliffs seen from Stony Man mountain. This by the way is where I stopped first time and notice there is people standing down there (the location I thought was sooo high at first).

After sitting down drinking about a full bottle of water and just taking it in for a few I started back down the trail (trying to remember where to turn and all that). Turns out I did remember the way to go and well yeah I did take the long trail to get there but that's ok. These are the ones I ran into taking the longer less traveled trail. And btw. the white tails where close to the trail and not as jumpy as they get later in the season.

And no you are right I can't really leave you hanging without the squirrel ;-)

After getting an extra snack trail gating a little by myself I started back down sky line drive and stopped at one overlook to get a view of the "flat-lands".

Even though it isn't summer and it's not too warm yet it's a perfect time to go to the mountains and just take a walk. Shenandoah national park is great since there is a great variety in the length and difficulty of the walks you can take.

Most of them however offers great rewards with regards to views and animals. Later on there will be some great plant life to observe as well. I would guess early May sometime, most likely May 10th would be the weekend to start seeing things starting to bloom or start shooting.

Hope you enjoyed the photos. I know I sure enjoyed getting them :-)

Studio lights

2008-03-28T11:24:00.003-04:00

Found this one on setting up studio lights...
Pretty cool I would say. Now I just need the same space as in the test environment.

But check it out. Makes it look soooo easy ;-)
http://www.lowel.com/edu/foundations_of_lighting.html

Interested in buying prints for hanging?

2008-03-28T11:22:00.000-04:00

For once it didn't take place at 2am and despite the weather forecast there was no clouds what so ever.
On the other hand it was pretty darn cold but I did manage to get a few photos of the moon.
Of course I didn't use a tripod so some maybe a little shaken...
but I got a few :-) and here they are.

Nature photo prints

2008-03-28T11:20:00.000-04:00

Interested in buying prints for hanging?
Nature photography is the subject. This includes water, flowers, mountains and so on.
I am trying to get a store front started and have uploaded the first two photos and created a couple of packages.
It's automating the process a bit which is very nice (ie. the best way to get the job done... have someone else do it).

Anyway, my storefront will be at http://udsigt.photoreflect.com and you are more than welcome to stop by.
I still need to iron out some details with shipping packaging and options but it's a start :-)

Photo cards by e-mail

2008-03-28T11:19:00.000-04:00

A new feature is available on my storefront. When viewing an image you can choose to send the photo as a photocard to anyone with an email address.
Add a greeting to the card and off it goes ;-)
of course this is free so send as many as you would like

Questions and comments are welcome

--peter

Web: http://dyrholm.hobby-site.com
Storefront: http://udsigt.photoreflect.com

Christmas portraits

2008-03-27T21:27:00.001-04:00

Soo It's getting to be that time again. Christmas is getting closer and cards are waiting to be send out. But what are your preferences and experience with getting christmas cards?

I did the first test shot and trying to get ideas for a christmas card picture. This is just one example but you are more than welcome to drop a comment with your oppinion and/or suggestions :-)

As some may know I like doing photos in the studio and well it's fun stuff ;-) but what are your preferences for getting the special photo for a christmas card? Take the poll and see what others think.

Vovici Online Survey Software
Thank you for stopping by
--Peter

Hey all

2008-03-27T15:52:00.000-04:00

Here's the first test with a new light setup.

It is very nice having the chance to play with equipment that will get the job done right ;-)

Now I look forward to getting the Christmas pictures done and sending out cards to family and friends.

The setup consists of a white backdrop (botero) lighted by a Nikon SB-800 flash @1/2 power. front camera right I have a Alien Bee AB800 with a shoot through umbrella and everything is captured with my Nikon D70s teethered to a computer capturing the photos with Nikon Camera control and sending them directly to lightroom for a good preview.
Just in case you wanted the technical details ;-)