A Trip to the City of Angels

I don't often get the opportunity to travel much to shoot outside the state of Colorado but when I do, I make sure I take advantage of it and shoot as much as I can. This year, my family took a trip out to Los Angeles to celebrate the holidays with family and friends and I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to shoot with fellow photographers in the Arcanum. I was really excited for this trip as this was the first time since 2011 that I got a chance to visit since we moved from LA

While in LA, our family friends Andrea and Silverio offered us a place to stay for a few days and after we all got settled in, I was able to link up with a Lisa, a fellow member of the Arcanum and we planned on getting some sunset shots of Santa Monica Pier. Given that I had part of the morning and early afternoon with not much to do, I went down to LA Union Station to kill some time and shoot before Lisa picked me up to shoot Santa Monica.

Day 1: Union Station and Santa Monica Pier

Union Station is just filled with interesting things and to me, it looks like it is trapped in 1940s with a special nostalgic feel to it. While at the station, I tried to do some HDR work to get some of the architectural details of the station and not even 30 seconds after I setup my tripod, I was quickly told by security that I was unable to use a tripod while indoors. Not a big deal and just shot hand held while I awaited Lisa to pick me up.

Union Station is a good place to photograph and has a very nice 1940s feel to it

After getting an ample amount of photos from the Union Station, Lisa finally arrived and we set out to shoot Santa Monica pier. Lisa is a smart cookie when it comes to photoshop and she has helped me quite a bit in regards to making my workflow more efficient while improving the quality of my work. It was great opportunity getting a chance to shoot with Lisa while picking her brain on her various shooting techniques!

Once we arrived at the Santa Monica pier, we had an hour or so before sunset and to kill the time, we shot around the pier. We shot a bit of street while on the pier and afterwards, we went underneath the pier to get some good shots of the pylons with the waves crashing into them. As one would expect, it was misty underneath the pier but it was well worth the effort as I came out of there with a few compelling shots using a 10-stop ND filter that I picked up prior to the trip.

Underneath the Santa Monica pier using a 10-stop ND filter.

My friend Lisa getting into the shot as the sun began to set

As it got closer to sunset, we made our way towards the beach and setup to get some sunset shots and thankfully, we were not disappointed at all! The sky was very colorful and we got a lot of great shots. We also got really wet in the process and coupled with the ocean breeze and mild temperatures, we got pretty cold and enjoyed a nice dinner at Bubba Gump's at the pier to cap off the night.

Sunset on the Santa Monica Pier. The sky was just crazy awesome and we definitely lucked out!

Day 2: Downtown LA and Rodeo Drive

The next evening, Lisa picked me up and showed me this really awesome spot to shoot the LA skyline. While we were there, we met up with Caleb who is another member of the Arcanum and we shot the skyline until the fog began to roll in and cover up some of the skyscrapers. While shooting, the sky had looked rather ominous and it almost appeared that the sky was half cool and half warm. Not sure what may have caused that but I am willing to bet that it was a combination of the lights on the buildings coupled with that LA pollution. Whatever the case, I loved the effect and came out with some great photos.

After the fog covered up some of the skyscrapers, we went down to Rodeo Drive to shoot for a bit. During the trip there, it began to sprinkle and once we arrived at Rodeo Drive, it was definitely raining. It wasn't raining too hard while we were there but it rained enough to the point where it got rather annoying as I kept getting water drops on my lens. I worked around that by cleaning the front element of my lens from time to time and shooting wide open or close to wide open to prevent the water drops from showing up on my photos. I figured since I was shooting at 16mm to 20mm, f/4 to f/5.6 would give me just enough depth of field without the water drops showing too much if at all.

Christmas on Rodeo Drive.  I think its best for me to visit a place like this at night since I can't afford to buy anything here.  Too rich for my blood... — Christmas on Rodeo Drive. I think its best for me to visit a place like this at night since I can't afford to buy anything here. Too rich for my blood...

The rain finally increased to the point where we were getting soaked and we pretty much called it a night after that. I had a real good time shooting with Caleb and Lisa from the Arcanum and I am especially thankful for them showing me around Los Angeles. Both Caleb and Lisa are both very talented photographers and if you are interested in seeing some of their work, below are links to there websites and portfolios:

See Lisa Speakman's work HERE

See Caleb Asch's work HERE

Day 3: Family and friends photos on the Beach

Since this was a family vacation, it was only fitting that I capture various moments of my family enjoying the beach. When I shoot photos of my family, I don't care much for shooting posed photos since they look too "staged" for me and prefer capturing them enjoying everyday moments and prefer the natural feel. My son loved the beach and he had such a great time playing in the sand and in the water!

Wife and son enjoying the setting sun in Santa Monica.  The light was fantastic which made for a wonderful scene — Wife and son enjoying the setting sun in Santa Monica. The light was fantastic which made for a wonderful scene

What a great trip!

I don't always take selfies but when I do, I do it with a DSLR.  Good times! — I don't always take selfies but when I do, I do it with a DSLR. Good times!

We enjoyed our time here in LA and I wanted to give special thanks to Andrea and Silverio for providing great hospitality during our stay. We had such a good time hanging out and if you ever need a place to stay while in Colorado, your always welcome.

Thanks Andrea and Silverio for letting us stay at your place!

I also wanted to mention that the photos you see here were processed using some of the techniques I learned in the Arcanum. The Arcanum is a great place to hone your photography skills and highly suggest you check them out HERE if you want to take your photography to the next level. I have learned so much from this community and what makes this so special is that everyone is willing to help you achieve your artistic goals. Come join me in the Arcanum as it is truly a blessing being a part of this group - House Lightbender Strong!

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.

Photo of the Day - Summer Stroll

HDR and Moving Elements...

As many of us know, cameras today (at least as of this post) can only capture so much dynamic range per exposure and we use various HDR techniques to get around this limitation to get as close as possible to what the human eye actually sees. HDR is meant for static scenes since the merge process relies heavily on the alignment of multiple exposures at the pixel level to give us the added dynamic range we want.

To that end, what happens when we get movement in between the exposure frames when we merge our files for HDR? We get what is known as "ghosting" in our HDR output and this issue can be eliminated in many different ways. Current HDR software out today such as Photomatix and HDR Efex Pro have "de-ghosting" tools that you can use to eliminate the ghosting in your HDR in the event that there is movement in between your frames. Another approach is to simply grab a frame from your bracketed set and in Photoshop, "mask out" any movement.

In the photo you see here, I decided to experiment a little bit and shoot my (7) bracket set from -3 to +3 since their was an incredible amount of dynamic range in the scene and wanted to ensure that I grabbed the detail from the shadows while preserving the highlights. After I had taken my bracketed set, I sat and waited for people to walk by and when people walked by, I took multiple shots with a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the movement. This was not a busy sidewalk by any means so it took me a bit before I had enough "walking shots".

When I came home and processed my HDR, I simply grabbed the frames that had people in them and just masked them into my HDR. It was a really simple process which in turn, made for an interesting photo.

I took quite a bit of photos after my bracketed set and masked in the people exactly were I wanted them. Quick Tip - Since I was shooting into the sun and wanted the people somewhat properly exposed, I dialed my exposure compensation to +1.5. Had I … — I took quite a bit of photos after my bracketed set and masked in the people exactly were I wanted them. Quick Tip - Since I was shooting into the sun and wanted the people somewhat properly exposed, I dialed my exposure compensation to +1.5. Had I not done that, the people would have been underexposed
(7) bracket HDR 14mm@f/6.3 ISO 100

Photo of the Day - Sunset on the Bridge

Just after the storm passed by...

If you are shooting into the sun and want to get a similar photo such as this, HDR is pretty much the way to go if you want to ensure that you capture the entire dynamic range of a scene. Given the amount of contrast in this particular case, one exposure would not have been enough as I would have had to either expose for the highlights while crushing the shadows or expose for the shadows and blowout my highlights.

I will admit that my HDR workflow is a bit convoluted and tedious but at the end of the day, I enjoy creating something that shows what I was able to see and feel in the photograph. In this HDR, I used a total of (3) HDR programs to create the photo you see here which to most, can be considered a bit overboard. My HDR workflow in a nutshell is to run my brackets through various HDR programs and the outputs are brought into photoshop where I mask each part of the photo I like from each output to get the final result. Now if I remember correctly, I used HDR Efex Pro for the sky since I really loved how the algorithm brought the blues and oranges in the clouds. I then used the 16 bit tonemapper in Photomatix to bring out the texture/detail in wood on the bridge and for everything else, I used the 32bit Photomatix plugin for Lightroom since I find that the greens with other HDR software can be a bit too "electric" for my tastes.

I think I will make a video tutorial using this HDR at some point so I can better explain my HDR workflow. Stay tuned....

I had set out to capture this bridge in hopes of catching the sun peek through the clouds and luckily I was able to catch it within the 5 minutes it was out. This was one of those instances where I was at the right spot at the right time and to me, … — I had set out to capture this bridge in hopes of catching the sun peek through the clouds and luckily I was able to catch it within the 5 minutes it was out. This was one of those instances where I was at the right spot at the right time and to me, I think it really paid off.
(5) bracket HDR at 16mm@f/8 ISO 100

Photo of the Day - Peaceful Abandonedment

Green but Empty

I am willing to bet that if you are looking at this photo, you are probably thinking that this is in a secluded place somewhere in the countryside and your probably wondering why somebody would leave such a beautiful place and go somewhere else. If that is the feeling you got then I have succeeded as this is the reason why I chose this particular composition.

In actuality, this is near a very busy street and only a few miles away from downtown. You would not know it by looking at this photo which is one of the reasons why I think composition is so important in photography. On the other hand, if the composition of a photograph is weak, then the photo as whole will be weak. Good composition is the base of a good photograph.

I think Ansel Adams said it best - "There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept"

I really like shooting landscapes in the spring since everything is so green and full of life.(7) bracket HDR f/10@16mm ISO 400 — I really like shooting landscapes in the spring since everything is so green and full of life.
(7) bracket HDR f/10@16mm ISO 400

Photo of the Day - Sunrise at Slemmer Barn

Waking up early has it's benefits..

With a full time job, photography, and a 2 year old running around the house, I don't get as much sleep as I should but after shooting this wonderful sunrise at Slemmer Barn, I think I need to shoot more sunrises. To me, the light seems just a bit different in the mornings and coupled with the fact that the days are getting shorter, I am less likely to capture sunsets given my current work schedule and family life. For the fall and winter months, expect to see more sunrise photos. Hope you all enjoy!