Happy New Year!

Gosh, it's been a great year, and 2014 is really looking up, as well. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me. It's not that I've quit writing, it's just that I've been writing so much for Photofocus.com. Follow this link to see what I've been doing over there.

In other news, I got to make some pretty cool picture in Michigan the other day. I met up with my friend Bryan, who I met on the Photofocus page on Facebook, and we went shooting on the streets of Grand Rapids before work one morning.

While in Grand Rapids, I also got a minute with Breck to make a fun portrait.

Lastly, after shooting with Breck I was walking down the hall of the hotel and saw a horse and carriage pull up outside in the blizzard. When I got to the elevator, a couple jumped in, and told me they had just gotten engaged! I suggested we make a quick portrait, and they obliged. Congrats, guys!

I hope things are going well for you all, and I hope you get out and make some pictures with family and friends before the holidays are over.

A Horse With No Name

Jesse and I were heading across Utah to Delta to make pictures for USU a couple of months ago; it was a lot like this video. Jesse remembered a friend telling him about a ruins that was pretty cool and nearby. We found the old mineral kilns west of Santaquin right at sunset and had a good time hiking around them and exploring the graffiti. This was a favorite. 

Nikon D800, 14-24mm /2.8 lens @ 24mm, f/4, 1/100s, ISO 200.

Brothers Walking

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @135mm, f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 1600.

I was fortunate enough to attend Photoshop world in Las Vegas last week, and also to lead a photowalk with a bunch of terrific photogs. Lemme tell you, Vegas is different from Lake Oswego, but photography is the same everywhere. It was 100 degrees at night and all we could do was keep walking and shooting. It was a blast.

As we walked, I noticed this bright, soft light shining on R.'s face, so I begged a portrait of him. He was a little reluctant, but incredibly patient as we waited for the huge sign overhead to cycle through different ads and different colors of light. I love happening on this kind of thing, and I love that R. let me make a portrait with him.

R.'s brother, R., was also along on the walk, the two of them visiting from New York. There's this wonderfully lit stairwell we passed, and I just had to have a portrait with R. Funny thing is, as we made a few frames we gathered quite a crowd of international tourists. Apparently, R. resembles one of Bob Marley's sons who lives in Vegas. Who knew?

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @112mm, f/5.6, 1/80s, ISO 1600.

Walking The Strip at night shows all the lights of Vegas, and it's really fun to see. However, most of those lights are not the best for portrait lighting. In situations like this I search for light to make my subjects stand out, and that often means the portrait will be a few highlights on a black field. I like that. It fits my mood. High ISO's are my salvation when photowalking at night.

"Just Got Home From Illinois..."

The Chicago Skyline from nearby Navy Pier. I love Nightscapes like this.

I've been waiting four years to title a post for this song...

See, I spent last week in Chicago, Illinois, at Skip Cohen University's Sumer Session where I studied with the best photographers in the world to better my craft and make new connections for my business. It was a lot of work, a lot of late nights, a lot new information, and lot of fun. Stick with me a minute, and I'll lead you through some of my favorite pictures I made during the week.

Started it all with a venture downtown with my pals Sherry and Mark. Starting with a deep dish pizza at Gino's East, we spent the whole night shooting downtown. As we were shooting nightscapes, we met a man who's a broker for an international realty firm...and he asked to see our pictures! Needless to say, running into him shaped our evening's pictures and we started focussing more on the buildings in the neighborhood. That image at the top is a panorama I made from the pier looking back at town.

That was late night number one, but the walking and the shooting and the Pizza made it all worthwhile.

Next day we headed downtown again, this time with more people and we planned to wrap it all up by shooting the fireworks over Navy Pier in the evening. We started on the Mag Mile, a huge shopping district. Obviously, we didn't really make it into any of the stores...not with half naked skateboarders walking the streets and enormous panhandlers who wouldn't take 'No' for an answer.

Seriously, I saw some interesting light falling in the reflections from a sky scraper and asked the guy with the board if I could make a quick portrait, and he obliged. Next thing I know, this dude is telling me he can take off his shirt and run down the street and make an awesome picture...and it'll only cost me three bucks! Unfortunately, I didn't have any cash, but he said that's ok, other people will see how awesome it is and want to take his picture too, so my picture would just be the seed for a little street performance boom. Well, unfortunately, I didn't have the right lens for that kind of work. That's ok, says he, I'll just do some pull ups right here, then...and then Sherry walked up and said, "Let's do it! Let's see what you got!" So, there's me, the Reluctant Photographer, and Sherry shooting this dude in the alley. It was fun, to say the least.

What started that whole little exchange was the light I saw on this flower...

Which I thought would look great on a person. So I turned to Bob Coates, who I found to be a fine photo walking companion and incredible instructor at SCU, and asked if I could make a quick picture. See, I tested the settings on Bob before the skateboarder with the hairdo walked by.

We continued down the Mile, found a real Chicago style hotdog, and this guy waiting for custom at the pub next door. When I talked with him about a picture, he gave me the thousand yard stare that all professional tourist handlers have learned to adopt.

Fortunately, this officer hadn't quite perfected the stare, but was obliging anyway as we listed to this other fellow perform on the corner. The Police are important on the street corners of the Mag Mile: people are so often stunned by the sites that they forget to pay attention to traffic.

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Also, Carlos Danger was walking with me, but he couldn't seem to hold still for a portrait. After hotdogs we headed back over to the waterfront to make our way toward the fireworks, and of course we stopped at Millennium Park to photograph the Bean. It's quite a thing.

I taught a class on Lightroom myself the next day, and we had another wonderful pizza at Giordano's. Monday kicked off with our class time with the incredible instructors. I chose to learn with Suzette Allen, and she opened my eyes to lots of new tools I'll be using to make my pictures and video really sing. In fact, we photographed a family of singers in her class.

We all spent Monday evening at the hotel, but that doesn't mean we didn't stay up late! We had a great time making friends and making plans. My Tuesday class was with Ryan Schembri, Australia's photographer of the year, and a hugely decorated artist, and I had a wonderful time and learned some things that I have never seen before, and that's not common. I should explain, also, that at this conference I got to choose two instructors to spend the entire day with, and there were fewer than 20 people in each class. That's unheard of! These are people who usually speak to groups numbering in the thousands, and I'm on a first name basis with them now. Skip Cohen has really put together a wonderful program, and it's truly the best education on the planet in the Universe! 

NO photoshop work here--isn't that amazing?!?! I learned so many new things.

I can't wait for the next program. It's going to be amazing, and I'll be sure to let you know about it here. Finally, here's a little time lapse video I made at the Bean...

Spaceship Chicago

Nikon D7100, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @15mm, f/8, 3 frame HDR, ISO 200, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2. Movie in Millenium Park...can you name that show?

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. 

Resolutions

It's that time when we all look back on the year and make plans to do things better. We resolve that things will change. We resolve that we will change. And things will be better. All my pants will fit better.

Well, I don't know about weight loss resolutions, but I'm definitely resolved to return to this location and make pictures again.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @24mm, f/5.6, 1/320s, ISO 800, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

This is at Haceta Head in Oregon. The surf is crashing behind me, and fog is swirling about the cliffs to my left and right. The most picturesque lighthouse on the west coast is to my left...covered base to roof in flapping black tarps for renovation. That's one of the things I want to photograph when I return--sans tarps, of course.

But I'd like to explore this bridge again, too. I love the bridges in Oregon. I feel like they are all of a theme. Plus, they're always spanning these wonderful places. Just up the road to the North is a spot called Cape Perpetua that I'd also like to re-explore. To the south is the Sea Lion Cave.

I was there this day in September to photograph a wedding, and it was spectacular. Anyone else getting married? I know a great spot. Need a photog?

Freshies on Mt. Pisgah

Fresh snow always makes me think of my backcountry ski class and my backcountry camping class in college. I think of it because the text book was not written by Allen and Mike; but it should have been. They have a wonderful way of teaching sound principles with hilarious cartoons. The opening to one of their books has the author peeking through the blinds looking at the falling snow, drool dripping from his big grins with a thought bubble that says "Freshies."

Last night I reawakened my love for outdoor adventure in fresh snow with the Cache Valley Photographers as we strapped on our snow shoes and hiked around Mt. Pisgah. We made it in time for the full moon rise, and planted our tripods in the snow. It was cold, but hiking in snow is such a workout that I was toasty...until we stopped to shoot. Totally worth the numb fingers, though. Next time I think we'll climb Babbit Shanty Hill.

Looking south to Mt. Pisgah and Orion. Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @28mm, f/9, 30s, ISO 800, Nik Color Efex 4.

Looking toward Logan. Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @28mm, f/16, 349s, ISO 100, Nik Color Efex 4.

North toward the Wellsvilles. Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @28mm, f/8, 165s, ISO 100, Nik Color Efex 4.

Huckless

This is my pal, F. You may have run into him at the Cache Valley Gardener's Market, selling flowers to raise money for UPR. You may have run into him at the UPR gallery during downtown gallery walks. And you've certainly heard him on the air during the UPR fund drives. I always love running into him. We made this picture during our photography class a couple of months ago. I was reminded of it because he gave me a basketful of fudge for Christmas. 

I think he should ditch the flowers and sell the fudge.

Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro lens, f/4, 1/1250s, ISO 400.

Uncle John's Bridge

Actually, it's St. John's Bridge. In Portland. But there's no song in mind for "St. John's Bridge." Walking the lengths of the cables and stanchions a couple of weeks ago, though, I kept singing "Come walk Uncle John's Bridge, by the riverside. Come on along or come alone, he's come to take his children home." See, now you're singing it, too. And if you're not, you will be now (mind the language).

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, f/8, 5s, ISO 1000, Nik Color Efex 4.

There are a couple things about the making of an image like this I think you should know. Firstly, everyone always asks, "How do you get the rays on the lights?" I think you can do it in Photoshop, but I don't know how, and I don't know why you would when it's so easy to do. All you have to do is use a small aperture (opening in the lens), something like f/11 or f/16. In this image I used f/8, but in my experiences most lenses won't do it this well at such a wide aperture. This lens is pretty unique when it comes to these rays. For instance, the number of rays is usually the same as or exactly double the number of blades in the iris of the aperture (this is my personal observation, and I could be mistaken about the causal relationship). So, the kit lens you may have bought with your camera probably has five blades (every 18-55mm I've seen does) and they usually give off five rays on the lights. This 14-24mm lens I'm using here has nine rounded blades and there are a ton of rays! I think it looks cool. Also, you'll get more defined rays the longer the shutter is open. Which leads to the second part.

Five seconds was the shutter speed and that requires a tripod. The two of us (me and my tripod, that is; I'd love suggestions on a name for her/him...) are standing on the sidewalk making adjustments and triggering the shutter as the traffic drives by. Normally, I love to have traffic in this sort of image because it gives the streaking lines of the car lights as they drive by. But not on a bridge. Every time a car goes by the whole thing shakes and vibrates, pretty much negating the tripod (oh, for a name!). That's why this exposure is so short. I usually do these as 30 seconds with a smaller aperture and a way lower ISO. However, five seconds was the longest I could get between vehicles.

And 'C', always have a light pair of gloves in your bag; you never know how cold it will be 100 feet over the water on a long straight river in the Pacific Northwest.

Next time you're in Portland I hope you'll come down to Saaaaaaint John's Bridge, by the riverside...

Super Moon

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4mm lens, f/11, 25s, ISO 100.

I was teaching other photographers in Seattle the other day and it happened to be when the Super Moon was still on. We headed out together after my presentation to search out some cityscapes, when we realized the moon hadn't risen yet. We picked up our tripods and boogied as quick as we could to Kerry Park--that's where the really iconic images of Seattle are made from. The Space Needle is looking pretty slick in it's fresh coat of Orange paint. Yep: Orange.

Here's the thing: the space needle isn't really that tall! it's a couple miles closer to my camera and on a hill that makes it look so high above the rest of the town's buildings. Smoke and mirrors and camera tricks. Click on the image for a larger view.

Raining, Frosting, Fogging

When I went to bed last night it was raining. When I woke up there was frost on the roofs of the houses, and the tops of the cars. When I starting walking to the Mansion, there was fog rolling up the slopes across my feet. What a gorgeous morning.

iPhone 3Gs, 3.85mm f/2.8 lens, f/2.8, 1/3900s, ISO 64. Finished in Lightroom4, Nik Viveza and Color Efex4.

The Emerald City

A couple of weeks ago I was in Seattle for a photography workshop with the incredible Bambi Cantrell. I learned loads with her about working with people and making more flattering portraits of all kinds of people. It was really cool.

But I've got to say that the best part of the four days was doing photo walks and meetups with other photogs from Seattle, including the Seattle SMUG. I made lots of new friends, and met up with previous acquaintances. One of the nights we headed up the hill to the base of what I swear was Wayne Manor and made this picture.

They call Seattle "The Emerald City" (that's from the Wizard of Oz, people), hence this first image. And sticking with the Wizard of Oz theme, let's see it in color as well (seriously, go watch the movie; bring Pink Floyd along if you have to...).

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @28mm, f/18, 30s, ISO 200.

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @28mm, f/18, 30s, ISO 200.

Costa Maya

The colors in the ports in Mexico are so lively. I recommend making the trip...

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @90mm, f/8, 1/800s, ISO 1600.

Always Walking

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 48mm, f/11, 1/400s, 1/250s, 1/160s, ISO 400.

Made this on my way to work this morning. I used three exposures to reveal the high dynamic range of this image. I like it. It shows the temperamental weather we have around here in the Spring.

Walking and Classes

Wow. Just got back from Las Vegas where WPPI is going on. It's a big ole photography convention with education and networking opportunities galore. I learned loads and met so many wonderful people. It's amazing how giving and kind everyone is in this photography industry! I'm a lucky guy.

Here's a picture from my route to work this afternoon, followed by L., who is one of my new students this term.

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 48mm, f/10, 1/30s, ISO 320.

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 90mm, f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO 320.

Frosty Mornings

No place has mornings like Cache Valley in the winter. Seriously. I've never seen such fog and frost and mist and mountains. It's pretty incredible. Roosevelt has some terrific fogs, but lacks the mountains as backdrop. This place is really unique.

I made this image leaving the airport in Logan the other day after making some really fun pictures for a private jet pilot there. We worked early so we had the hangar to ourselves before the rest of the office arrived, and I had a good time making pictures--when you're limited by space (inside a small jet) and light inlets (windshields on very fast planes are disturbingly tiny) it makes for creative pictures. I had a speedlight in one window and an Alien Bee in another. What fun!

And to top it off, the sun was just rising and the mists were just getting started, too, as I left the airfield. I debated for half a second (it's cold, you understand?) then said, You only live once! and jumped out, grabbed the tripod form the trunk and started looking for the right arrangement. I shot several dozen frames, almost got run over by the garbage truck, and came away with this as a favorite.

It's good to shoot this stuff. It keeps me creative in my portraiture. Anyone want to go wading one of these mornings? The picture will be worth it...

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 250mm, f/9, 1/160s, ISO 100.

I think what stuck out to me in this image is not only the mist on the water, but the total depth. I love the circle of the culvert amidst all the straight lines. I love the telephone poles leading deeper and across the image. I love the fence drawing me inward (and wondering if I'm outside a prison). I love the selective sharpness, focussing on the reeds not far in. I love the trees and rooflines in the distance showing just how hazy it is. I love the little orange cone by the fence. I love the circle of the bridge bringing me back in. I love that I didn't get hit by the garbage truck after all!

Night Class

Ya know, like Night Court.

So, for tonight's class, I took the crew out on the streets. It was rough--late night in this metropolis and you've got to watch yourself. That's why we only go out like this when there are ten of us together: it keeps  our gear safe. If it was me alone, I don't think I'd venture out. Just not worth the risk.

Anyway, we tried some stuff showing movement in two ways. First, we set our shutter speed pretty slow and followed along with cars to show the car relatively sharp, and the background zooming by.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 56mm, f/5.6, 1/8s, ISO 800.

After a few minutes of getting dirty looks we changed gears and held the camera super steady on tripods with an even longer exposure to let the cars streak by.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 78mm, f/22, 13.0s, ISO 200.

PRetty fun. Things are starting to warm up enough around here that you can do more than five minutes before your fingers freeze to the dials...

Street Sweeping: Dubai

This is my day walking through Dubai from my hotel on Sheik Zayed Road. I headed out on Friday (the local Sabbath) and decided to go to the Dubai Mall--the largest Mall in the world.

Looking up as I walked out of my hotel--I like the way that the light reflects from building onto the other. 

Lots of tall buildings in Dubai. Funny, from these pictures it looks like clear blue skies all the time. This is early in the morning, however, and dust just hasn't gotten high enough, yet.

Dust from things like...construction! Which is the major descriptive word for Dubai. Loads of construction going on, and loads fo construction not going on after the recent economic crash. Most of the buildings are not finished.

This one is the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, and while the outside is finished, I'm told the innards are still incomplete. There was apparently a big to do at the unveiling because it was supposed to be the Burj Dubai, but at the unveiling it was named after the guy who bailed them out after the crash. How embarrassing; I guess. The wall on the left is the outside of the Dubai Mall.

Inside the Dubai Mall they have an aquarium. With big fish. 

Here's one of the repeating wings of the mall. Now, this mall is really big. I've been to Edmonton Mall, in Alberta, which I'm also told is the largest mall in North America. It's big, too, but no offense, it's nothing compared to the Dubai Mall. It's interesting, though, the similarities the two places and the drive for a big mall. In Dubai it's boiling hot most of the year, and the only respite is found in air conditioned buildings. In Edmonton it's freezing--no, waaaaaay below freezing--I mean seriously cold (even I couldn't get out to make any pictures) and the only respite there is within heated buildings. Hmmm...reminds me of the book Dune, by Frank Herbert...I wonder if Canada is using the hard conditions to train an elite corps of...mounties...

It's just huge. I walked through a third of it, but had to turn back to rest my feet and recharge my camera batteries.

Lots of very nice cars in Dubai. This is the first Porsche I have ever seen with four doors.

This was a little farther from my hotel; my friend Yasser took me around to show me the traditional Arabian architecture at this posh new hotel. Really a beautiful place.

This is the traditional looking marketplace. Lovely light in this building.

More construction going on here; but it's beautiful even unfinished.

That building on the right is my hotel. The bridge is the pedestrian crossway over Sheik Zayed Road (I just like the sound of it). It connects to the Metro light rail, and it's ar conditioned.

These are my friends, Kenny and Susan from China. I walked to the beach and made a few pictures there and met them on the jetty. It was a long walk from my hotel, I can tell you. It was nice to make some new friends on the way.