Hemingway

Another from Key West. This is from inside Ernest Hemingway's lofted writing studio.

There was actually a gate at the top of the stairs to stop people from going all the way in, so this was shot with a long lens from quite a distance. Unfortunately, that mixed with low light means this photo has a touch of motion blur.

Photograph Info:
Location: Key West, Florida; Ernest Hemingway House
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel Xti
Lens: 75-300mm
PostProcess: Levels adjustment/burn and dodge/Curves adjustment/sharpen

Traveling

One good thing about starting this blog is that I tend to carry a camera a lot more and really look for things to shoot where I normally wouldn't... despite the fact that probably only three or so people actually look at the photos posted here.

For this, I had about two hours of wait time before boarding my flight back to Ohio, and while people watching in the airport is quite entertaining, I saw this scene out the window and really wanted to shoot it. I wasn't really sure what the regulations were on shooting in the airport so I ended up debating for quite a while whether or not to get out my camera. Eventually I just asked one of the police officers standing around if it was alright.

I ended taking this series of photos about two minutes before boarding, when the ground crew had finally cleared out of view. This is once again a panoramic, made from five total images. The full resolution file is actually 10,000 pixels wide, and as a side note, my computer really doesn't like working on a file that large.

Because of the dimensions and the details in burning and dodging, the final image took about 3.5 hours to edit. Maybe one day I'll get it printed large enough to take up an entire wall.

Photograph Info:
Location: PBI Airport, Florida
Camera: Canon Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm
PostProcess: Curves adjustment/burn and dodge/Sharpen/Color Correction/Cloud Composite

Wicker and Wood

If you've never been to Key West, bikes and scooters are pretty much the preferred way to travel for many of the people around town. You end up seeing every kind of bike imaginable... rentals, custom choppers, tandem, etc. This particular bike was shot from the patio of the bar Willie T's late on my second night there. I thought it was an interesting, old bike. It wasn't until I got home and started working on this photo that I realized the entire body of the bike is actually wood with wicker accents.

There's something I really like about this photo. The colors are really nice, much more saturated then most of my photos. I actually shot this with my white balance in the wrong setting and decided not to adjust because I really ended up liking the blue hues in it. I think the reflecting lights in the street and shadowing up top add some nice dimension as well.

Photograph Info:
Location: Key West, Florida
Camera: Canon Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm
PostProcess: Curves adjustment/burn and dodge/Sharpen

The Pier

So I just got back from my week long trip to Florida, and this is my first photo from the trip.

This was taken on my last day at the beach. A panorama of three images on a beach somewhere in the West Palm Beach area.

(Fullview recommended)

Photograph Info:
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
Camera: Canon Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm
PostProcess: Contrast adjustment/curves adjustment/saturation adjustment/crop/burn and dodge

Arcade Americana

A photo from Geneva-on-the-Lake taken sometime last year. If I remember correctly, it was actually winter, and I wanted to get out of the apartment for a weekend, so I made the long haul up to the edge of Ohio. Besides a few local people eating in the one breakfast cafe that was open, I think I was the only person in the whole town.

Not a great photo, but I like old americana imagery and yesterdays ferris wheel post reminded me of this shot.


Photograph Info:
Location: Geneva-on-the-Lake
Camera: Canon Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm (@ 55mm/F5.6/1/1250s)
PostProcess: Contrast adjustment/curves adjustment/saturation adjustment/crop/burn and dodge/noise

It's not all fun and games

It's not all fun and games. Sometimes, you have to head out to a hospital, re-enact a surgical procedure, dramatically over light and then process the hell out of it. Oh, wait. That is fun.

Actually, this was a shoot for Marymount Hospital here in Cleveland. One of our clients. Starring one of our art directors, John Ferguson, as doctor. I'm sure they won't use quite the dramatic post production on their versions. I like it though.

Photograph Info:
Location: Marymount Hospital, Cleveland Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 75-300mm (@ 75mm/F4.0/1/100 s)
PostProcess: Quick and Dirty

Night at the Rock Hall

So, I've neglected this for a few days. On the bright side, during my period of neglect I was actually out taking some new photos.

This Thursday we rented an F2.8 Fish eye lens for some work in the office. I figured while we had the lens, I may as well go out and shoot some stuff with it to see what I could get. Besides, I've always wanted to go down and shoot the rock hall, so after living in Cleveland for three years, this was as good an excuse as any.

I actually went down there right after work and shot for about an hour or so, and there's some photos that turned out all right. What I really wanted, though, was to get a good night shot. So, I met up with Jennifer for dinner and then we rolled back down to the waterfront together to get this shot.

You'll probably see a few more of these on here in time. I really like how they turned out.

Photograph Info:
Location: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 15mm Fish Eye (@ 15mm/F2.8/1/5 s)
PostProcess: Lens Correction/Sharpen/Curves Adjustment/Crop

Cafe Obscura

Another image from my walk in Tremont this past Saturday. Despite being sunny, the weather was actually quite chilly. We stopped at the coffee shop Civilization for a cup of coffee and a muffin. While I was sitting there going through some of the photos I had already taken, I looked up and this is what I saw. I liked it, so I grabbed one shot.

It's nothing fantastic in the way of content, but I like the fact that the words are partially obscured, how you can see the shadows of the letters on the wall, the effect the window has in reversing the letters in a reflection, and the way the electrical cords on the left (and corresponding reflections on right) provide leading lines to draw your eye to the images center.

Plus it looks neat. And coffee shops are some of my favorite places.

Photograph Info:
Location: Civilization, Tremont Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm (@ 180mm/F5.6/1/50s)
PostProcess: Burn & Dodge/Curves Adjustment/Saturation Adjustment/Vignette

A Walk in Tremont

Since this is my first post, and you'll probably see many portraits here, I decided to first post something more scenic. This Saturday I went for a walk in Tremont to take a few photos, and to specifically photograph this church after driving past it so many times. I've always envisioned it in black and white. Hopefully one day I can head back there and do something similar with my Holga to see how it turns out.

Photograph Info:
Location: St. Therdosius Orthodox Cathedral, Starkweather Ave. Tremont Ohio
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XTI
Lens: 18-55mm (@ 33mm/F4.5/1/1600s)
PostProcess: Burn & Dodge/BW Gradient Mapping/Composite Clouds/Crop