Parker Days - Through the Eyes of a Photographer

When I was offered the opportunity to photograph Parker Days, I was a bit taken back by how much it has grown over the years. I remember when I was in high school back in the late 90s, it was a relatively small event which catered mostly to the citizens of Parker and fast forward to today, there are more than 150,000 people that partake in the various festivities that Parker Days has to offer. As a photographer, I knew that I needed to somehow get that quintessential shot that showed how much the festival has grown and more importantly, show that Parker still has that hometown feel.

Now in order to get the photograph I wanted, I needed to get a different perspective and preferably, get access to one of the buildings downtown. After working with the Parker Chamber of Commerce along with 20 Mile Central, I was given access to the rooftop where Vines Bistro is located which gave me the perfect view of O'Brien Park with Parker Days in the background. Once I got on the rooftop, I noticed that the evening sun began to dip below a few clouds which resulted in sun rays casting beautiful shadows across the sky. As the beautiful scene unfolded, I knew that I was going to need to take multiple exposures varying in brightness to ensure that I captured all the available light that was presented to me.

When I got my composition dialed in, I set my camera to take a total of (7) exposures ranging from very dark to very bright and in post processing, I merged all the exposures into one photo and processed it to what you see here. The photographic process that I used is known as HDR and it enables me to capture all the dynamic range of any given scene to truly represent what our eyes can see.

After getting the photograph I wanted, I set out to capture the various events and people throughout the course of the next few days. As a photographer, my job was to document the festival while at the same time, tell a story about it through my photographs. I hope you have enjoyed viewing my photo of Parker Days and if you are in town from June 10-12th, I strongly encourage that you bring out the family and attend the festival. It is a very good time and there is something for everyone regardless of age.

Photo(s) of the Day - After Thanksgiving Dinner

It's starting to feel like Christmas...

Thanksgiving here in Parker Colorado was filled with snow this year and I am fortunate to have spent this holiday with a great group of family and friends. After stuffing my face with some good food and taking my son out to go sledding for the first time, I ventured out into downtown Parker to capture the city on Thanksgiving night.

Mainstreet facing the Parker Station1/125 * F/1.8 * ISO1600 * 85mm — Mainstreet facing the Parker Station
1/125 * F/1.8 * ISO1600 * 85mm

When I set out, I knew that the town was going to be empty since this is one of the few times out of the year when businesses are closed and everybody is at home enjoying each others company. As the evening progressed, the snow continued to fall and the falling snow muffled any type of sound around me. It felt like I had the whole town to myself which allowed me to focus on getting some of the shots you see here.

20 Mile Central in downtown1/100 * f/2 * ISO 1600 * 85mm — 20 Mile Central in downtown
1/100 * f/2 * ISO 1600 * 85mm

After shooting here for a few hours, I have come to the realization that Parker is a wonderful place to be at night during a snow fall.

Parker Station on Mainstreet 1/50 * f/4 * ISO 6400 * 35mm — Parker Station on Mainstreet
1/50 * f/4 * ISO 6400 * 35mm

Photo of the Day - Fiery Skies over O'Brien Park

The past few mornings have been a bit of a bust for sunrise photos but the sunset today was pretty amazing. These skies are few and far between so I am thankful that I had some time this evening to go out and shoot.

I really love the beautiful tones in the sky and when I processed this, I really wanted to emphasize that.  Hope you all enjoy the skypr0n ;)(5) bracket HDR * f/8 * ISO 100 * 16mm — I really love the beautiful tones in the sky and when I processed this, I really wanted to emphasize that. Hope you all enjoy the skypr0n ;)
(5) bracket HDR * f/8 * ISO 100 * 16mm

Photo of the Day - Sunset at St Matthew's Episcopal Church

Trying out some new HDR software - Aurora HDR Pro.

It's not often you see new HDR tools come out but once I heard that Trey Ratcliff and Macphun designed a new HDR program, I was excited to try it out. Just released today, Aurora HDR Pro is an HDR tool that has a plethora of adjustments with a Lightroom-esque layout and the added capability of using layers. After using the software on the HDR you see today, I was impressed by the initial results.

Check out Aurora HDR Pro here: http://www.aurorahdr.com

Here is my first HDR processed in Aurora HDR shot at St Matthew's Episcopal Church in Parker Colorado this past October.  (7) bracket HDR * f/10 * ISO 200 *16mm — Here is my first HDR processed in Aurora HDR shot at St Matthew's Episcopal Church in Parker Colorado this past October.
(7) bracket HDR * f/10 * ISO 200 *16mm

Photo of the Day - Winter is in the Air

We finally had our first blizzard of 2015 and it was a quick one dumping a significant amount of snow. After it had ended, I decided to go out for the evening and capture a few night shots of downtown Parker and much to my surprise, the town had Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving. Even though I wasn't expecting that, I made the best of it and ended up with a few good photos with a little bit of Christmas spirit in between.

Living in Colorado, the weather can be a bit drastic so by the time my workday ended, a lot of the snow had melted (7) Bracket HDR * f/8 * ISO 800 * 16mm — Living in Colorado, the weather can be a bit drastic so by the time my workday ended, a lot of the snow had melted
(7) Bracket HDR * f/8 * ISO 800 * 16mm

.....and Christmas is just around the corner!

A Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving?  I'll take it!(7) Bracket HDR * f/8 * ISO 400 * 16mm — A Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving? I'll take it!
(7) Bracket HDR * f/8 * ISO 400 * 16mm

Photo of the Day - Sunrise at Waterton Canyon

Not the best skies this morning but you work with what you got..

This morning I decided to go out with a friend of mine to Waterton Canyon to see if we can get some nice sunrise shots and also get some wildlife work in. Like the days before this one, the skies did not have any clouds and today was no different. After hiking a mile or so into the canyon, we decided to climb up a hill in hopes of catching the alpenglow to the west of us. After getting some of shots of the glowing mountains, I looked to the left and noticed this really old tree that I thought looked rather interesting.

I would have liked to have clouds in the sky to make it more dramatic but mother nature would have it otherwise and like most things in life, you work with what you got and in photography, it's no different. When I processed this photo, I wanted to give it an "aged" look and the way I accomplished that was by overlaying a texture over the original photo and tweaking it just a bit until I got look I wanted. Normally I do not add textures to my landscapes but as of recently, I have been experimenting with this technique just to see what I can come up with.

After climbing up this hill, I realized that I am a bit out of shape.  A little less beer and a little more exercise is definitely in order. (7) bracket HDR * 1/1000 * f/13 * ISO 800 * 16mm — After climbing up this hill, I realized that I am a bit out of shape. A little less beer and a little more exercise is definitely in order.
(7) bracket HDR * 1/1000 * f/13 * ISO 800 * 16mm

Photo of the Day - 20 Mile House

Reprocessing Old Photos - Photo 1 of 5

As many of you know, I am currently in a photography mentoring program called "The Arcanum" and one of the level requirements that I have is that I have to reprocess a photo that I took during my foundation levels and apply everything I learned up to this point either by using new post processing techniques or taking a new photo of the same subject.

20 Mile House (version 1)  * 5-Bracket HDR * f/22 * ISO 400 * 24mm 5/25/14 — 20 Mile House (version 1) * 5-Bracket HDR * f/22 * ISO 400 * 24mm 5/25/14

The photo you see here was in my first photographic critique and my mentor at the time had indicated to me that although the processing was nice, he had suggested that I re-shoot this as he felt that there was another shot to be had. Looking at this now, with a much improved eye, I can see that there are a few distracting elements in the photo such as the trashcan in the background as well as some minor bits and pieces on the pathway that could use some "tidying up". The tree branches on the left of the frame are also a bit distracting but the major thing that I noticed was that the greens in the bush almost look a bit "toxic"

I agreed with my previous mentor that compositionally, there was another shot to be had and after looking through all the photos I had during this shoot, I found something that worked for me that I think is better compositionally with less distracting bits:

20 Mile House (version 2)  * 5-Bracket HDR * f/9 * ISO 100 * 24mm 5/25/14 — 20 Mile House (version 2) * 5-Bracket HDR * f/9 * ISO 100 * 24mm 5/25/14

I decided that I wanted to go with a square crop on this improved version since I felt that the portions outside the photo didn't really add anything to the subject and the added benefit was that I was able to remove distracting elements. I also toned down the greens just a bit so that they looked more realistic and less toxic. Contrast was also added to the house to give it a little more "pop". Going through this exercise, I have realized that my eye now vs a year ago, has really improved a lot and now, I tend to be more critical of my work. I still have (4) more of these left to do so stay tuned for the remainders.