Bokeh

Bokeh is the use of depth of field so that different parts of the photo in focus. Typically, foreground is sharp and background is blurry. Changing aperture (f stop) on the camera allows you to make a large aperture (low number, e.g. 2.5) which gives you more bokeh or vice versa. In this shot, the center bird is sharply in focus and the farther back you go, the less sharp/more blurry the birds become. In this photo, Bird Bokah, depth can be conveyed by relative sizes (the farther birds appear smaller) and by selective focus (bokeh). Some photographers use Lens Babies to artificially create bokeh, but I prefer to not manipulate bokeh.

212 Steps Down a Cliff

Breaking in my new D300 while at a conference in California. This photo, Autumn Surf is from Torrey Pines State Natural Preserve just up the coast from San Diego. To get down to this beach required hiking down and back up the Beach Trail, including the 212 steps and a fairly rigorous incline. It was worth the trip though as the day was beautiful and the beach was busy with both people and seagulls. The shot looks fuzzy because it was quite foggy.

The Night of the Show - The Nova Crew

Thanks to the Nova crew for a wonderful evening at the combined grand opening and photography show.

Back on the blog after the summer recess...

Utah by Two Different IR Cameras

Both of these shots:  The top is Quail Creek Canyon and the bottom is "Orson Adams House" are from the Red Cliffs National Recreation Area, outside of a small town called Leeds, about a half hour north of St. George.  The cabin is from the original Mormon settlers of the area is on the road that leads up to the park.  Quail Creek Canyon is a slot canyon that was about a mile from the park entrance, uphill through a sandy path in 100 degree heat.  The best time to photograph slot canyons is noon since the light shines down most vertically illuminating the walls the best.  The top picture was taken with my Nikon D70 and the bottom is from the Olympus 2020Z.  Although the bottom picture looks a little sharper, the image size is jpeg only and is of a small file size so is not able to be enlarged significantly.  The top image was shot in raw and then converted to duotone.  The shutter speed is quite slow (since I didn't want to hike a tripod in as well) so not quite as sharp. 

Color vs. Black & White

Both of these shots of petrified sand dunes in Zion National Park are processing of the same image.  The top one has all of the color desaturated to leave only the lines and textures, while in the bottom one, the color is so bold that it becomes the story (with the textures becoming the subtext).  The bottom one was done first in Photoshop and Photomatix with HDR processing, then the color was used in the "Black and White" command in Photoshop.  

The photo was taken along Highway 9, just before the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel (heading west).   These are sand dunes that were once buried and became petrified.  Even though the ripples look like wind blown sand, it is solid Navajo Sandstone.

An IR Kind of Day in Utah

I'm channeling Ansel today.  This shot is of trees along the Virgin River in Zion National Park in Utah.  I'd like to think that if Ansel Adams was around today, that he'd be shooting IR (infrared).  Ansel was known for his landscapes in western national parks (especially Yosemite) and used sharp contrasts and depth of field.  He, of course, shot with wide format cameras on film with long exposures and using a tripod, but I'd like to think that if had the option of infrared, he would have loved it.  It is also little known that near the end of his life he also shot in color, which leads me to believe that he would have also used all the tools available to him, including HDR photography and digital cameras.

This shot was with my old Olympus, only 2.1 megapixil and non-DSL.  The light was perfect and at this moment the wind was rustling so gave some of the leaves a bit of a feathery look while the higher leaves were more still and clearer.