Dean's Light Box

Storm Brews Over Park City

A storm brewed over Park City about 4:30 PM today.  I found myself intrigued by the flat-bottomed cloud layer that appeared to trap the more turbulent looking clouds just atop the peaks of Park City:

105mm, 3 frames bracketed around 4/5ths of a second (+/- 2 stops), f/11, ISO 200.  EV waited patiently as we were actually supposed to be walking down to the road to fetch the trash bin.

Devil's Slide

Late this afternoon we made our way over to Taggart for linner, or dunch if you prefer.  Taggart is a simple place for food in the canyon just outside of Morgan that we visit a couple of times a year.  The setting also includes the Weber river and frequently travelled Union Pacific train tracks.

On the way back, we stopped at a little view area for a rock formation known as Devil's Slide for it's two parallel, craggy rock fins.

3 bracketed images (+/- 2 stops), 18mm, 1/4 of a second, ISO 200.   The polarizing filter helped produce the sky as it really looked but removed many of the reflections from the water.  Choices, choices.  I expect that the sky is the more important element in this shot.

Black Friday Sunset

Why is the day after Thanksgiving called "Black Friday"?  I understand that it's the biggest shopping day of the holiday season, possibly of the year but what's so black about it?

Fortunately, we avoided all of that noise, stayed home to trim the Christmas tree, and photographed the sunset:

55mm, 2 images stitched together from two sets of three images, bracketed around 1/15th of a second, f/16, ISO 200 (+/- 2 stops).  Complicated but pretty.

The verdict on Autopano Pro is two thumbs up.  I'm a little hesitant to buy it now as version 2 is supposed to arrive soon.  Thanks for hanging in there with the "Autopano" watermarks in the meantime.  :)

EV Gets a Kick Out of Snoots

Before I move on to today's topic, I need to settle matters regarding my social network rant from yesterday.  I love my friends.  I like that social network sites have allowed me to stay in touch and reconnect with old friends.  My rant had everything to do with the fact that there are so many of those sites out there and so little time.  That's all.

Now, on to snoots and the fact that EV get's a kick out of that word.  In photographic terms, a snoot is a type of light modifier that allows you to carefully control where the light falls.  Typically you use a snoot to produce a rather dramatic lightscape.  Here's an example, though I don't claim to have perfected this art just yet:

55mm, 1/60th of a second, f/8, ISO 200, TTL flash to camera left with home-made cardboard and duct tape snoot.

This is Father Christmas, which I am delighted to present to you this evening now that the left-over Thanksgiving turkey is safely packaged up and stored in the fridge.  Note his dedication.  Also note that the room behind the snow globe scene (thanks to the parents-in-law for this lovely little knick knack) is not lit.  That's because the snoot contains the light so that it falls only on the globe and any spill falls out of the scene to the right.  The light also produces a pretty high-contrast scene that also adds to the feel.

More on the snoot technique and lessons learned later, and now on to EV's fascination with this silly sounding word.  She laughed the first time I told her the name for this funny looking cardboard and duct tape tube.  In fact, today I caught her walking down the hall repeating, "snoot...giggle...snoot..."  I suppose it is a funny name at some level.

Back to the technical details.  This high-tech device is made from a clean scrap of cardboard about 8 inches long folded to make a rectangular shaped tube.  I taped it up pretty well with duct tape.  It works, sort of...

You will notice that it produces a pretty distracting catch-light on the globe.  So while I like the overall effect, I now need to figure out how to tame that catch light which ideally would be a less imposing circle.  Hmmm.  Maybe I need to make another snoot with a circular opening at the end...

Photo a Day: A Temporary Reprieve

Dear blog friends,

I think I need a little reprieve from the daily photo project.  I'll still continue to push my photographic limits but it seems like the right time to push those limits in slightly different ways.  I've felt a need to experiment more and I find that when I experiment, I sometimes run up against limits that teach me valuable lessons but don't necessarily result in great images.  Here's an example:

I found this icy moss in the creek in Lamb's Canyon this morning.  I loved the contrast of the brilliant yellow-green moss on the rock and the cool, slick ice creeping over it.  Alas, I didn't get close enough and resorted instead to aggressively cropping.  The final result?  A camera-phone-like shot.  This was not the image I had hoped for.  I think the best way to take a more effective image would be to use a macro focusing lens.

Back in the 35mm film days, I had a macro extension tube.  I bought it for less than $40 at a used camera store in Tucson, just a mile or so from our apartment.  I loved that little tube because it allowed me to focus my 50 mm lens to within a couple of inches and the images were amazing.  It could produce images that were pretty close to 1:1 which is to say that the image was captured life-size on the film.  This kind really opened up an entirely new world, photographically.  I once managed to grab a shot of a tiny butterfly with an incredible creamy, dreamy background that is still a favorite (some day I need to scan my slides and negatives...)

Alas, Nikon does not make an extension tube for their newer lenses.  I think they prefer to sell macro lenses, often in the $800 USD and higher range.  That's good for them but not so good for cost-conscious hobbyists doing their best to stay out of consumer debt.

So I did a little research and it looks like a company named Kenko makes a set of macro extension tubes for Nikon.  Consumer reviews indicate that they work well and they are priced at a slightly-more-reasonable $170 USD.  Maybe Santa will bring me a set.  :)

I've also been playing quite a lot with flash lately but I have a little dilemma there that I haven't solved as yet.  DD and I decided a while ago that we didn't really want to post a lot of photos online of us and especially EV given the creepy stories you hear about internet predators/pedophiles.  So while I've gotten some pretty decent portraits lately, especially of EV, I haven't really had a place to post them.

Then one day not too long ago I received another one of those emails from facebook notifying me that one of my friends wanted to be friends on facebook.  I hesitated because I'm not in the market to maintain yet another "Web 2.0" social networking site.  Is it just me or is anyone else finding the supposed need to maintain not only LinkedIn and Plaxo, but also Facebook, MySpace (which seems to get creepier and creepier by the day) and several others to be a little high maintenance and of questionable long-term value?  And has anyone solved the dilemma of what to do when someone that you happen to be merely acquainted with requests to be your friend on facebook so now they can know all about your personal life?  And is it a good idea for me to be sharing all my thoughts publicly here on a blog like this?

Sorry for that tangent.

So I've settled for now, to show my new portrait images on Facebook where I can limit them to my friends.  It's not the best solution but better than the alternatives I've seen so far.  If you have any advice on a potentially better way, I'd be most interested to know about it.

So, for now, I will continue to experiment and post as often as feasible.  I may post some of my mistakes like today and talk about how I'd do better next time.  I may also take HeyLucy up on her suggestion that I post over on the Photoshop Sisters site though I might angle for a name change.  How does "Photoshop Siblings" hit ya?

Photo a Day: Day 106

Sunrise over Park City.

68mm, 3 images bracketed around 1/10th of a second (+/- 2 stops), f/11, ISO 200.  Polarizing filter.

Photo a Day: Day 105

Pattern and shape study:

34mm, 1/2 second, f/8, ISO 200, 4 strobe flashes.  Manually focused beforehand.  Enjoy the shape and pattern.  Don't ask too many questions.  ;-)

Photo a Day: Day 104

EV's shadow inspects a shadow rock:

55mm, 1/320th of a second, f/11, ISO 200.

Photo a Day: Day 103

Autumn leaves offered by the scrub oaks in Lamb's Canyon:

55mm, 1/6th of a second, f/22, ISO 200.

Photo a day: Day 102

Not to make excuses, but I've been sick and haven't had my usual energy to photograph.  It's been a little closer to work survival and sleep mode.  Nevertheless, the light just after sunrise lit Lewis Peak rather nicely.  Not one of my finest, but enough to keep me going on my photo a day project for now:

120mm, 1/4 of a second, f/22, ISO 200.

About a week ago I arranged to meet some friends this evening and have a little studio lighting workshop led by one of my co-workers that has a bit more experience than the rest of us with portraits.  Alas, the sinus infection confines me to bed.