You should meet Rick

Rick Wargo is a guy you should know. His job is to help people have a great time becoming fit, and he's made some terrific programs to make it happen. If you'd like a fun way to get in shape and really LIVE then you should head over to Club Sport and talk with Rick. I see him at Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce events, and it's always a pleasure. His smile is infectious and you'll be looking forward to living life more fully in no time.

My Friend, Jonathan

Panasonic GH4, Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens, f/6.3, 1/200s, ISO 200.

This is Jonathan Puskas, and I think you should know him. He's a Navy man, and a he has a powerful business mind. His is the first portrait I made this year.

His wife, Rachel, and I are both on the board for the Young Professionals of Lake Oswego (a division of the chamber of commerce), so she introduced us, and I'm very glad that she did.

Jonathan has Efficiency and Proficiency, with capitals--you can just see it in the way he moves and talks and the twinkle behind the sparkle in his eye. It's clear that whatever he puts his hand to will become successful. Plus, he's a dedicated cyclist and he uses cycling to move more than his heart rate. I hope to be involved with him in some charitable ventures later this year. I'll keep you posted.

Panasonic GH4, Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens, f/6.3, 1/200s, ISO 200.

Panasonic GH4, Leica Notcicron 42.5mm f/1.2 lens, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 200.

Panasonic GH4, Leica Notcicron 42.5mm f/1.2 lens, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 200.

Greener Grass

You know that the grass is always greener on the other of the fence, right? "If only I could go to Yellowstone, then I could make some great pictures! Or the Grand Canyon! Oh, and Europe would really free me to create..."

Well, those places are wonderful, and I could doubtless find some wonderful (if commonplace) pictures. But I find that when I get out locally and really try to find inspiration on my side of the fence, those are the times that I find pictures that are not so commonplace and much more valuable to me. 

For this picture my family and a friend headed to the beach to beat the heat in Lake Oswego...little did we know that there was no heat at the coast. The air was 60, and the water was 50 (my elbows were numb, but I gotta take advantage!) and there was mist and clouds and beach fires adding a little something more to the atmosphere. All day long I couldn't take my eyes off of this tree at Indian Beach in Ecola State Park (which is one of the most beautiful places in the USA). It seemed like one standing on it's own and not suffering for it.

Nikon D7100, 50mm f/1.4 lens, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 400, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. From Lake Oswego, it's only an hour or so to Ecola State Park.

Now for the geek speak.

This image is a much wider field of view than you could possibly get in a single frame with a DSLR and a 50mm lens, and that's on purpose. I know that my 50mm is wide enough to get everything in, but it's the perfect lens for landscape work because it's clear and sharp and has no distortion. In order to maximize these things, I shot this as a panorama-like image.

First, I found an exposure that let me have a little detail in the clouds and nice enough detail in the dark areas, too, and set those settings in manual mode. I chose f/8 for an aperture because I wanted to make sure that I had all the important things in focus, and f/8 on 50mm focussed that far away lets practically the whole world fall within the depth of field. So I focussed on the top of the tree (with the clouds as a backdrop I was sure it was focussed on the main tree and not something else) and switched to manual focus so it wouldn't change. Ideally, I'd have the camera on a tripod, but I was going light and fast and handheld, so I used a higher ISO to allow a fast shutter speed to freeze my shake.

I then turned the camera vertical and shot three frames along the bottom of the scene, overlapping 25%, then shot three more in a row for the middle, overlapping 25%, and one more row on top. In Lightroom I made adjustments to white balance and contrast to the center image, as well as color toning, then applied those same settings to all the other images in the grid (one click with the sync button). Then I selected all the images, and chose to merge them to a panorama in Photoshop. I made sure to click the vignette control option and pressed go. A few minutes later, after PS worked its magic, I had the composite. I hit save and cropped it in Lightroom, then opened it in Nik Silver Efex for the black and white conversion. Back in Lightroom I used my special Grape Dreamcicle toning for the slight bit of color you see. (let me know and I'll share the recipe). 

Today I just got a Gigapan Epic Pro, and it makes this sort of picture automatically and I can't wait to try it!

I sure enjoyed making it. It came out just as I envisioned while being pounded by the frigid surf.

à la Robert Hall

There's a fine photographer I think you should know. His name is Robert Hall; click here to see his work. I met him six years ago at Summerfest in Logan, UT, and I bought two of his pieces. His work so intrigued me and reminded me of how much I loved photography myself. I was happy to invest in his works, and it's been a pleasure having his work hanging in my home. 

Well, after having seeing works hanging for a few months, it motivated me to find my high school work and hang it up. Before long, I'd bought a camera and here I am.

Each time I go out to shoot I think to myself, how would Robert Hall interpret this? Where would he put his camera? What height would he set his tripod? It's not like I channel Mr. Hall, and my work is not like his, but it gets me thinking, get me considering, and that stops me from just showing up and shooting.

Except for this one. I'm trying to copy the look and feel of one of the prints of his I have on my wall. Look on his sight under art cards, and you'll find an image of a Dahlia; that's one I have before me now. Please click on the image for the full view.

Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8 Micro VR lens, f/4, 1/100s, ISO 400, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, Luscher Farm, Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Working It

You know how it is: you get in front of the camera and you start working it, moving and making different poses, puckered lips, sassy eyes, a little GQ, perhaps. Well, it's different with waterfalls. When they are in front of the camera I'm the one who has to work it, hiking, squatting, rolling in damp leaves,  standing on my head--whatever it takes to get the shot. Especially at Multnomah Falls, which I've already photographed three times, I'm really trying to find a different picture to make.

And it's hard at National parks and famous places because I've seen thousands of pictures that are all really good, so finding something unique isn't always my goal. Just making a good one myself is quite satisfying, something I haven't shot. It's also hard at these places because you walk down the path and there's a beautiful picture, and you turn this corner and there's a beautiful picture...and that's it. You're not allowed to venture off the path in search of a different vantage or a fresh perspective. William Henry Jackson was the last one to shoot a unique picture of these places. Sigh.

So, I'm pretty pleased with this image I made with Mel Torrie last week because it's a view I've not made before, and it's one I've not seen, either. It's a panorama of six images using a 50mm lens tipped vertically, so it's a pretty detailed view at full resolution. 

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4 D lens, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 100, 6 frame panorama, Nik Color Efex Pro 4, CS6.

Are you sick of Waterfalls...?

...'Cause I'm not. Having lived in Deserts for most of my adult life, waterfalls are a fresh view that I won't soon tire of. I visited Yosemite as a kid, and falls there were impressive. Taiwan held the largest I have ever seen. Now that I live in this wonderfully lush land, I'm really enjoying discovering all kinds of waterfalls and the challenge of photographing them.

These happen to be on Mill Creek right outside the town of Prospect on the Crater Lake Highway. I've shot these before, but never shared that image online; it's my masterpiece to date, and I'm really proud of it. I may be a little scared that if I throw it out here it will under appreciated. "I'm just not sure I can take that kind of rejection."

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @16mm, f/8, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik/Google HDR Efex Pro2.

Creating this image was tricky. Last time I photographed it, I stood on the top of the cliff opposite right in the center of the frame. That was at the end of a road, and a pretty simple approach. This time I walked down a trail to access the creek, but it put me too low. See, the river falls about 100 feet in a very shoot distance right here, and it took me a long time scrambling over basalt boulders polished to glass by the stream and scaling the biggest manzanita trees I've ever seen to find a spot where I could photograph the tumble of water and the bridge without driftwood sticking straight up into the image or a boulder obstructing the view. This with my tripod and shoulder bag and my dress clothes on. Pretty fun, I must say. 

I tried hard to remember the scene as I experienced it. I don't want to visit these places and only make pictures. I want to be there, be present while I'm there, and then share an image with you that helps bring you into that instant as well. 

I used High Dynamic Range technics to create this one so that I could have both blue sky and bright sun on the bridge as well as running toffee water and detail in the shadows. HDR lets me show you the whole scene as I saw it. Less the raucous roar of the tumble, like a passing train and an airplane and a hurricane five feet away. 

Multnomah Falls

My wife and I had dinner at Outback Steakhouse last night; our first time there, and my second time inside in my life. The first time I was 15 years old, and an Outback had just opened right next door to Old Chicago in Colorado Springs, where I had just been hired as dishwasher; my first official job. One morning, the head prep chef asked me to go next door to the Outback and borrow their baking stretcher. I ran out the down and down the hill and inquired of the hostess if I could talk to someone from the kitchen. A chef came out, I asked to borrow their baking stretcher, and he said he'd be right back. About 15 minutes later, two guys came out of the kitchen laboring under a heavy box and placed it in my arms. It was heavy! They said to be careful not to drop it, and sent me back up the hill. I lumbered into the kitchen and set the box on the floor, heaving in deep breathes. The chef came over, giggling, and the rest of the staff gathered, too. He bent over the box, cracked it open and bust out laughing. He grabbed three other guys and they put it on the scale, tipping it to 80lbs! Finally, he opened the box for the rest of the staff to see, showing off the box full of garden gravel I had just 'borrowed' from the Outback.

That's got nothing to do with this picture. Mel Torrie was visiting this week, and we got out to shoot the last three sets of pictures you see here together. Be sure to check out his incredible work at the Summerfest in Logan in a few weeks. In the meantime, the only thing I'm lumbering around with is my tripod. Click on the image to view the whole layout.

Multnomah Falls, Portland Oregon. Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4 D lens, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 100, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

St. Johns

Now that I live in the Portland area, I can satisfy my need to go to this bridge anytime I want! Oh, Frabjous day, Caloo, Callay!

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4 D lens, f/11, 5 frame HDR, ISO 400, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

I love the 50mm f/1.4 D lens because it's old. It's two generations old, and it has some vestiges of the film days built in. It has a depth of field scale that says if I set the focus here, and use f/11, then the image will be in focus. The picture in my viewfinder looks out of focus, but the finished image always looks great. I love that ability, and it's especially useful at nighttime.